nourishing obscurity

Who runs Westminster – Brussels or Whitehall?

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Filed under: Politics & economics

My turn – you stay out of it! In China, it doesn’t seem to be going all that well: According to a recent report in state-run China Daily, mothers who have been selling their excess breast milk on e-commerce sites, such as Taobao.com and Ganji.com, aren’t getting much business lately. “It’s creepy,” the China Daily [...]

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Filed under: Diversions, Society & human issues

Last week, there was a post on Uriah Heep, a band labelled “prog dinosaurs” by one critic but I’ve heard the term “hacks” also bandied about. The Obermann Syndrome is that tendency to not only be a hack but to be acutely conscious of it and be neither able to rise above it nor to [...]

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Filed under: Society & human issues

Sackerson points us to a CNN article on Daniel Ellsberg.  I posted on Ellsberg a long time back, here, asking if whistleblowers were heroes or traitors. The PBS series POV is streaming “The Most Dangerous Man inAmerica: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” on June 13 and 14. In this interview, Ellsberg says, “Richard Nixon, if he [...]

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Filed under: Politics & economics

From VegParadise: Considered the most useful tree in the world, the coconut palm provides food, drink, clothing, shelter, heirloom history, and financial security. Hardly an inch of the coconut palm goes to waste in countries such as the Philippines where families rely on the coconut palm for survival and refer to it as the “tree [...]

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Filed under: Diversions, Society & human issues

Noches de Fuego en Madrid- fiesta de San Isidro 2011

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Filed under: JD

This article on the most difficult places in the world to travel to/through was an eye-opener in places: Russia Simply scoring a visa is a bureaucratic nightmare on par with passing government legislation. Then once you’re in, the locals can be stand-offish at best. Japan

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Filed under: Politics & economics

Many of you may already have seen this one [h/ts Lord T and Chuckles]: Jumping the shark, as many readers know, is an expression from the wonderful world of TV.  When the original premise of a show has gone stale, producers try to recapture audience interest by putting familiar characters in outlandish settings where strange [...]

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Filed under: Politics & economics

Questa canzone mi fa impazzireee -semplicemente stupenda … altro che i cantanti di oggi!!! Alla mia rosa…pericolosa,ma preziosa e deliziosa … Il dolce col fondo amaro che non mangi piu:

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Filed under: Society & human issues

The moral and intellectual bankruptcy began at this school above. I was once a Fabian, susceptible to  talk of evil capitalists and fascists on one side … and kind and compassionate socialists who only wanted fairness, equality and help for the oppressed on the other.

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Filed under: Politics & economics

Orphans of Liberty appears to be down at this moment.  There are no explanations as we seem to have lost communication with the host.  I have some ideas of what’s happened and from whom.  More later. UPDATE:  One of the admins is able to be communicated with.   Immediate thoughts at this end are that the [...]

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Filed under: Blogging

The footballer, his wife, his brother … and the slappers

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Filed under: Diversions

One week ago – June 9th: A wildfire believed to have been sparked by inattentive campers continues to burn, largely out of control, for its 12th day in eastern Arizona.  Here are some photos which show a little of what it’s like to be in such a situation – I’ve been in it before a [...]

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Filed under: Society & human issues

…….. in Barcelona Is it because we asked for, and were served with, cerveza madrileña? As such we became non-persons to be ignored in the hope that we would go away. _________________________ JD‘s profile and a list of his posts can be found by clicking on JD in the left sidebar.

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Filed under: Diversions, JD, Society & human issues

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Filed under: Diversions