American Thanksgiving is fast approaching and my
email account is overflowing with EPIC, DECADENT, OVER-THE-
TOP recipes for the great culinary blow-out of the year.
Well I'm one of the elderly, and I can hardly imagine making
some of those recipes, or eating them without keeping an
ambulance on fast-call. In that spirit, here is a modest yet
tasty chicken recipe for 4. Oh, and a reminder of food/wine
pairings (never serve anything with vinegar if there is wine!)
😄...
One stuffs chicken breasts with a mixture of brie, yogurt and
chives and, after browning them, they will cook in chicken
bouillon in 15 minutes.
Tell your guests to bring rosé - which goes with anything - and
serve up the perfect bottle yourself. Older people have a weaker
taste experience, but acidity is very noticeable. I would also counsel
staying away from dark chocolate, which is the contrary problem.
Fruit is a joy.
http://www.lesrecettesdecaty.com/fr/recettes/plats-principaux/poulet/poitrines-de-poulet-farcies-au-brie-et-yogourt-grec/?gallery=22043
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/foodnews/the-best-wine-to-pair-with-any-meal/ss-BBOhzXC?li=BBoPRmz&ocid=spartandhp&parent-title=these-were-the-biggest-drinking-trends-of-2018&parent-ns=ar&parent-content-id=BBPgsdi&fullscreen=true
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Sunday, November 4, 2018
The Original
There is no lack of interest in purchasing cannabis products, since this became
legal October, 17 here in Canada. But I am concerned that a large number of new
users might be experimenting with it without contextual information, about the
cultural significance of pot in the civilizations which first used it, or any real sense
of the dangers because we associate it with the elderly and the terminally ill, and thus
with personal - rather than social - use.
Wikipedia is explicit here: hashish, or the resin product of cannabis, was first and
foremost an edible. People in Europe only started smoking it with tobacco, hence
after the Spanish had brought tobacco back from the Americas. In its native Morocco,
using hashish was always a group activity.
There was a phase in 19th century Europe when it has was used medically, but all said
and done, it was useless. The only positive effect was on mood - psychological well-being
- and today we recognize that the danger of addiction lies in the possibility for causing a schizophrenic episode in a lone user. So pot is a social drug.
Indeed in India, where cannabis itself was first inhaled, it was thrown on hot embers
or in a communal steam bath. It was a religious experience, as we understand religion
to be what binds people together around important life questions and not a solitary
pleasure. It is there that people came to use water pipes to inhale it.
Our oh so individualistic culture has thus decriminalized use, for the individual user. And
many are debating at what age, and in what spaces smoking should be permitted.
If you smoke, everyone around you will be affected; it is the nature of the beast. As for
the giggles, and munchies, they are real. But we are here in a very different situation
from original uses.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Midterms Explained
source: Huffington Post Quebec
translation: doxa-louise
The midterm elections are coming: what you need
to know and why they are important
On November 6, Americans will be going to the polls for midterm elections that
might allow Democrats to regain control of the Congress to the detriment of
Donald Trump and Republicans. Here is what you need to know.
GETTING CLEAR
MIDTERM ELECTIONS IN THE US
ON NOVEMBER 6, AMERICANS WILL BE VOTING IN THE MIDTERM
ELECTIONS.
SO WHAT ARE MIDTERM ELECTIONS AND WHY ARE THESE SO
IMPORTANT?
MIDTERM ELECTIONS HAVE TO DO WITH THE AMERICAN CONGRESS.
AND NOT THE PRESIDENCY.
EVERY TWO YEARS, AMERICANS VOTE.
TO REELECT THE ENTIRE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
AND 1/3 OF THE SENATE. GIVEN THAT SENATORS ARE ELECTED
FOR 6 YEARS.
THESE ELECTIONS HAPPEN EITHER SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE
PRESIDENTIAL ONE, OR ... IN MIDTERM.
BOTH HOUSES ARE CURRENTLY CONTROLLED BY REPUBLICANS.
BUT THE MIDTERM NOVEMBER 6 ELECTION COULD CHANGE THAT.
DEMOCRATS EXPECT TO RETAKE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THEY WOULD NEED TO ADD 25 SEATS TO THEIR CURRENT COUNT
TO GET A MAJORITY.
COMMENTATORS AGREE THAT THIS IS A REAL POSSIBILITY FOR
THE PARTY OF EX-PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT TO TURN THE SENATE
DEMOCRATIC.
REPUBLICANS CURRENTLY CONTROL 51 OF THE 100 SEATS IN
THE SENATE.
AND 23 OF THE 33 SEATS UP FOR ELECTION THIS NOVEMBER 6 ARE
ALREADY DEMOCRATIC.
THYE MUST HOPE TO RETAIN THEIR SEATS AND TAKE AT LEAST TWO
MORE FROM THEIR ADVERSARIES (8 REPUBLICAN AND 2 INDEPENDENT).
TWO DEMOCRATIC VICTORIES WOULD SERIOUSLY COMPLICATE
LIFE FOR THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY.
EACH OF THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS POSSESSES IMPORTANT
POWERS WITH IMPACT ON POLITICAL DECISIONS.
WITHOUT THE BACKING OF CONGRESS, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY
HAS A MUCH REDUCED SPHERE OF POWER.
TO BE ADOPTED, ANY NEW LAW MUST OBTAIN THE APPROVAL OF
BOTH HOUSES.
THE SENATE HAS AS WELL RESPONSIBILITY FOR APPROVING
TREATIES AND CONFIRMING CERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS.
INCLUDING THE VERY IMPORTANT ONE OF JUDGE TO THE SUPREME
COURT.
MOREOVER THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAN ORDER THE
OPENING OF INQUIRIES...
AND EVEN SET IN MOTION THE PROCESS TO IMPEACH A PRESIDENT.
* * *
source: Huffington Post Quebec
author: Virginie Montet, Agence France-Presse
translation: doxa-louise
The United States are maxing out on debt
While the economy is doing great
The steaming-hot economic growth which is the pride of Donald Trump
does have a cost: the level of borrowing of the federal state to finance
itself has not been this high since the recession.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this week a record
volume of debt emission for the last trimester of 2018: 425 billion dollars.
This makes for a total of 1 338 billion dollars of funds which will be borrowed
in one year, the highest since 2010.
Economic orthodoxy orders one to pay back debt when the economy is
doing well - for the US it is running at full steam -, but the Trump administration
is borrowing as much as that of Barack Obama when it was a matter of pulling
the country out of the worse recession since the 30s.
The president has reduced taxes drastically in particular for business and
upped spending (mostly for defense) which worsens the budgetary deficit.
The latter has gone up by 17% for the fiscal year ending in September at
779 billion dollars. It will be in the 1 000 billion neighborhood next year.
The total amount of debt for the State is thus that of the Gross National Product
for the number 1 world economy, at more than 20 000 billion dollars.
At a meeting Wednesday of the Consultative committee on borrowing, the
Treasury explained that although income from income tax had gone up for
the Department because of economic growth, these gains had been ‘largely
wiped out by a fall in receipts from business’.
Taxes from business collected by the State went from 297 billion dollars in
2017 to 205 billion in 2018 (-31%). In this same interval, total budgetary
expenses went up by 5% to 4 198 billion dollars.
An aging population pushing up expenses for retirement and health, a hike of
investment in defense (+36 billion) and also repeated natural catastrophes
(18 billion in aid) explain this swelling up of expenses.
More expensive interest charges
But the largest extra outlay is caused by the debt itself and heightening of
interest charges. Because of higher yields on Treasury Bonds, the State had to
find an extra 83 billion to keep up with servicing the debt.
This makes understandable the ire expressed by President Trump who heaps
reproaches to the Central Bank for its rate hikes which make all borrowing more
expensive, that of consumers who are also voters at the important November 6
legislative election, as well as the State.
The Fed which upped the cost of money by a quarter point percentage (.25%)
three times this year and six since the election of Donald Trump, is expected to do
it again in December. Further it is in a phase of reduction in its holdings in Treasury
bonds, which also pushes up rates.
To aid with economic recovery after the slump of 2008, the Central Bank bought
a massive amount of Treasury bonds and shares on real estate, as way to inject
liquidity into the financial system and kick-start investment and loans.
Currently though, it is doing the reverse to lighten its load and has reached the
high point in this procedure by no longer reinvesting in some 50 billion dollars
worth of paper per month ( including 30 billion in Treasury Bonds).
worth of paper per month ( including 30 billion in Treasury Bonds).
In order to meet its needs in a costlier environment, the American Administration
in this trimester will be relying more on short-term bonds (2, 3 and 5 years) but most o
of all on a new type of bond indexed for inflation (5 year TIPS), an offer meant to lure
investors at a moment when inflation might be coming back.
In a country profoundly divided on social questions such as immigration at the
eve of important legislative elections, worries about indebtedness of the United States
don’t seem to be much of an issue.
Still a large majority of voters (74% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans), according
to a poll by the Peter Peterson Institute, believe that solving the swelling of the debt
should be a priority for government.
The Republican party, eulogist for economic orthodoxy during the Obama
Administration, has softened its approach with Donald Trump in the White House
and is considering cutting social programs to reduce expenses in the future.
The Trump Administration for its part continues to affirm that lower taxes will
eventually finance themselves.
‘If we can to reach in a sustainable manner growth greater than 3%, we will
generate an additional 1 000 billion dollars in revenue’, has recently proclaimed
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Wading
Got a bit of a flash on the climate change problem, and all
that flooding. Venice under 1,56 meters of water is a sad sight
but maybe we need to think outside the box about it.
How did Europe end up with so much brick everywhere? The
influence of Rome no doubt, and they in turn picked it up from Greece,
who got it rom other parts of the Mediterranean area and, ultimately,
the Tigris and Euphrates valley. Long story short, men living in brick buildings
seems to have originated as a means of protection from wild animals,
and not for climatic reasons. And eventually became an element of
warrior culture.
So folks wading in water up to their knees in their châteaux might be
deemed a little out of touch.
Need to sleep on that one ...
Migrations
source: Huffington Post Quebec, Les Blogues, 30/8/2018
author: François LaRochelle
translation: doxa-louise
François LaRochelle was a Canadian Diplomat, and is currently a Fellow
with the Institut d’études internationales de Montréal (UQÀM).
MIGRATIONS: the issue is planetary
The United Nations’ agency responsible for refugees estimates
at 66 million the number of people currently displaced in the world; the highest
number ever recorded.
Bangladesh had to deal with a massive number of Rohingya
refugees. The largest refugee camp in the world is now established
there, a half-million people.
number ever recorded.
refugees. The largest refugee camp in the world is now established
there, a half-million people.
The migrations question has become a major election issue in a number of
countries. Be that in Europe or North America. Without forgetting Asia or the
Middle East. The massive arrival of migrants has caused division in the European
Union. Welcoming one million and a half refugees from Syria and neighboring
lands has put in peril the political survival of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
With our Southern neighbors, politicians have used immigration to demagogic ends.
In Hungary and Poland, one evokes the ‘protection of Christian civilization’
against the ‘hordes’ of Muslims to refuse entry to refugees. One might think oneself
back to the time when the Ottoman Empire was at the doors of Vienna! In
Austria and Italy, governments have been put together as a function of
anti-immigration views.
Millions of displaced people
In total, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates
at 66 million the actual count of refugees or displaced persons in the world. Thus
the highest number ever known. The reasons behind this are numerous: wars in the
Middle East, violence and crime in Central America, poverty in Africa, genocidal
practices in Burma, etc. The most recent crisis has seen two million Venezuelans
leave their countries and seek refuge in neighboring countries and even all the way
to Chili.
«Climate change will cause droughts and flooding, which will force populations
to leave their lands for a better life or even survival.
Unfortunately, these statistics will only get worse. Not necessarily because conflicts
will multiply, although, but certainly because climate change will cause droughts and
flooding, which will force populations to leave their lands for a better life or even
survival.
The UN in a recent report predicts that 800 million citizens of Asia (Pakistan and India,
in particular) will be negatively affected by higher temperatures. These countries
quite obviously are not equipped to deal. Lack of rain is bad for crops in Central America,
pushing farmers toward the North. This is not about to reverse. Neither is desertification
in Africa. It is predictable that increasingly difficult access to drinking water will
destabilize the Middle-East even more, given a population in constant augmentation.
Iran is grappling with this problem. Egypt, with 100 million inhabitants, has but the
Nile to count on.
Looking for solutions to mass migrations
In order to allay the fears of an uneasy electorate, western leaders are looking for
solutions. Thus the European Union has tried to stem the migrations from Africa
with financial aid to the countries of origin or transit, as is the case for Niger. With
a certain level of success, it would seem.
Brussels helps Libya repatriate its citizens. President Trump pummels the idea of a
wall with Mexico and reinforces border controls, to the point of separating children
and parents. Canada tries to convince Haitian or Central American communities that
entering the country illegally will not lead to automatically getting refugee status. We
are currently seeing fewer arrivals on the coasts of Europe, at the Mexican border and
to Canada as well. But for how long?
«It is illusory to think richer countries will ever be able to halt the flow of
migrants to their doorstep.
Given the problems caused by climate, the presence of incompetent leadership
clinging to power as in Venezuela, Nicaragua, bloody regional conflicts and despair
in African youth or that of the Maghreb who prefer risking their lives crossing the
Mediterranean to dying a slow death at home, it is illusory to think richer countries
will ever be able to halt the flow of migrants to their doorstep.
Thus, western governments will finally have no choice but to accept more migrants,
chosen or not. And help them integrate. It is statistically impossible, notwithstanding
what leaders or right-wing candidates might be saying, to carry on and believe they
will be able to stop economic migrants and the oppressed from wanting a better life
in our countries, legally or not.
The solution would be, of course, for the international community to act concretely to
protect the environment, find solutions to regional conflicts and work for the economic
betterment of the poorer countries. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely for the present
given some of our leaders, the strengthening of nationalism for some, and the inability
of nations to work together in a progressively fragmented world.
«It is not with short-sighted projects, trying to complicate matters for migrants or
their integration, that this issue will be settled.
It is not with short-sighted projects, trying to complicate matters for migrants or their
integration, that this issue will be settled. This but pushes back the inevitable. We need
an international strategy that goes beyond slogans or unfulfillable promises. There is
no other choice.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Spooky
I had something of an epiphany about my identity the other day.
I was born in early December, and always thought of myself as a Winter
baby. But in strict astronomical terms, I was born in the Fall. So I am
actually a Fall person.
Couple that with the fact that, like most people of my age, my youth
was spent listening to the radio, which was always on in the house and
pretty much everywhere one went. Like the supermarket or the pharmacy.
So that my mind is filled with scraps of tunes and lyrics from innumerble songs.
I might not always remember my current phone number, but there are things
one never forgets.
Wahoo...
* * *
Below, a cookie recipe using chocolate candy:
https://www.simplystacie.net/2014/03/celebrate-canada-coffee-crisp/
* * *
I outdid myself: prepared one envelope of orange diet jell-o
with the requisite 1 cup of boiling water, and one small can
of fruit salad. It's firm and totally appetizing!
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Midterms
President Trump does speak uneasy truths sometimes:
Canada profits on Defense, and gets to prosper from
its safe place next to a militarized US.
Reading about the current debate within the Democratic party,
where the Progressives are challenging the Moderates with policies
of universal healthcare and a strong minimum wage, pretty
much dead center ideas here in Canada.
For the record: 15$ US is 19.70 CD!
In terms of PPP, Canada gets a 3% boost.
source: Wikipedia on the USA
source: Wikipedia on China
Canada profits on Defense, and gets to prosper from
its safe place next to a militarized US.
Reading about the current debate within the Democratic party,
where the Progressives are challenging the Moderates with policies
of universal healthcare and a strong minimum wage, pretty
much dead center ideas here in Canada.
For the record: 15$ US is 19.70 CD!
In terms of PPP, Canada gets a 3% boost.
source: Wikipedia on Canada
source: Wikipedia on the USA
source: Wikipedia on China
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