The Kitchen: Beef Vindaloo

The Kitchen Beef Vindaloo [Right-click image & select 'Open Link in New Tab' ] *spelling error 'Portuguese' on pic ... I always forget the final 'u'. Beef Vindaloo inspired by:   Sehar Syed - recipe The dish is from Goa.  Portuguese occupation:  1510 to 1961 http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/goa/history Portuguese Empire History http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab48   ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Adjusted this a little bit by adding a tin of diced tomato, diced carrots (they go in just about everything ... lol), small diced capsicum, fresh red and green chillies as well as several dried chillies, & I amped up the vinegar content to 5 TBSP total + added 1 TBSP brown sugar. *my 'tablespoons' are dessert-spoons because I like it like that.  Couldn't be bothered with small fiddly measuring spoons. Basic idea here is to fry up a vindaloo spices to a reduced 'paste' in which to coat meat before simmering: seal / lightly brown meat & set aside; fry key (crunchy) spices, bay leaves etc; toss in onion, garlic, ginger; add ground spices (eg tumeric, coriander, chilli); add tomato paste (lots -- key);  add vinegar (key); add liquid; simmer 1 hr; final (garam masala (I think), green chillies, coriander). 'Garam' is 'hot' and 'masala' is 'spice mix'. I threw in my garam masala, along with other ground spices (so as not to forget, & I reduced the amount as I was worried it would be too overpowering for me). DIY garam masala here ... but I've got a massive amount of store-bought right now, so I used that. I added tomato & water to mine, for more flavour & more liquid, as I was worried about sticking & prefer to rapidly reduce things down after a long simmer, than to worry about sticking.  Works out the same, I think.  Flavour eventually gets intensified. I stuffed up that bit -- forgot to reduce it right down before throwing in the beef.  But it worked out fine.  I've made a note, so I'll get it right when I do this again ... I hope.  lol If doing the end stage rapid reduction, watch the base sticking -- it doesn't take much to reduce it & it sticks quickly. With the additional chillies that I've thrown in, it's very hot.  But yoghurt helps.  This is very good.  I'm no Indian food expert, but it tastes really good to me.  Well worth trying. ** Amount of chilli, all up, that I put in is sooooo hot, you've got to puff like you're in labour to take off the edge ... & it breaks a sweat to go with the runny nose and eyes.  lol

The Kitchen

The Kitchen [click image to enlarge] ---------------------- ---------------------- Adapted Manjula's fried yellow rice. Cooked up an insanely huge batch. Having mine with the left over Dal Makhani, while my somewhat pissed (and most annoying) companion is just having a rice snack, before proceeding to polish off the rest of the week's cabbage rolls (yay) ... and the latest batch of 'breakfast' donuts.  Rice is very nice.  Added sultanas, cashews, onion, garlic, chopped tomato.   Worked out fine. Toasted the cashews a little too much (distracted).  But still good. Next time, I might do just under the liquid measurement for the rice prep, as I like a drier rice.

Breaking News

BREAKING NEWS Think I've accidentally discovered Krispy Kreme's secret recipe. Had pouring cream I had to get rid of, as I find it isn't long-lasting once container opened.   Anyway, I did something like 1 cup cream + abt. 1/2 cup milk combined, while preparing a smaller batch of Greek donuts (abt. 2 cups flour).  Yep, donuts again.  The resolution didn't last long. The donuts are super fluffy and melt-in-the-mouth.  Not quite Krispy Kreme, but close.  Reckon if I did 100% cream, I'd have DIY Krispy Kreme donuts.   Did a sugar sauce with rose water essence, but I'm thinking melted chocolate & cream combo with a liqueur would have been nicer for dunking these. ---------------------- ----------------------

The Kitchen

The Kitchen [Click image to enlarge] ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT DIY:  Pakora, Jeera Rice & Dal Makhani. Pakoras were on the lame side, but still tasted good. First time I've used besan (otherwise known as 'gram flour,' or chickpea flour).   Checking out all the mysterious products in the Indian grocery was fun. Henna was tempting.  Had urge to darken my hair.  But I wasn't sure.  Wasn't brave enough to try henna.  Maybe next time I'm down there, as I've got a small list of things I need. Inspired by this pakora recipe, but I otherwise did my own thing ... which might explain why my pakoras aren't 100%. I was just getting rid of the vegies I had on hand:  most of the red cabbage I had went into my mix, along with potato, carrot, parsley, onion.  All grated.  Not sure if that makes a difference, or if it is better to cube things.  Was grating the cabbage in the food processor thingy, so I just kept going with all the ingredients (because I'm lazy). Mine turned out sort of gluggy  :( Obviously the consistency wasn't right.  Maybe cubing would be better? Began with too hot oil but then wound up turning it down too low. They were all eaten, so the pakoras were still good.  But I might need some practice with these. The best was probably the Jeera Rice.  Yuummmm! Think I like stove-top rice better than rice-cooker rice, in terms of the clean-up.  The non-stick rice-cooker pot is a pain to clean without damaging the surface ... so the clean-up is way too fussy for me.  With the stove-top rice, I can scrub the stainless steel pot like a madwoman, and there's no problem.  Also, there's surprising little stuck on the bottom, whereas use of the rice-cooker leaves quite a bit of residue. The Dal Makhani  was quite nice, too.  The lentils I used were what I had lying around, but I'm not sure what kind they were, as I didn't keep the labels.  Took me forever to boil them, as I don't have a pressure cooker.  Kind of irritating, as I didn't know what it was that I was boiling, so I could at least look up the time factor. Pressure cooker's on the wish list.  It would probably pay for itself quickly, as it's not much more than the cost of some take-way food. Caution:  don't eat the cooked whole dried chillies, unless you really like hot food ... lol.  One was enough to bring tears to my eyes and make my nose run.  Felt like it had taken a layer off my tongue.  Meal was a hit.  But the kitchen is a disaster zone that needs cleaning, and I'm wiped out from all that unfamiliar cooking and coordination (plus face stuffing).  Find timing things really stressful.  It's probably my least favourite kitchen thing -- the timing.  If I was on my own, I'd probably eat just one thing, so there's nothing to time. The pakoras are sort of addictive.  Want more.

Assange Interview Pagina - Sept 2015 - US Unilateral Universal Jurisdiction | Various Subjects Discussed

Article SOURCE http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elmundo/4-281541-2015-09-13.html THE WORLD Interview with Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks "US It has created a unilateral universal jurisdiction" Under the Congress of Universal Justice Garzón Foundation, he talked about the immigration crisis and the absence of laws and institutions of human rights in the global legal architecture that emerged from 9-11. By Santiago O'Donnell Julian Assange has spent three years, two months, three weeks, one day, 21 hours and several minutes exile in a small apartment which occupies part of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, when it appears on the big screen this city Teatro Cervantes to answer questions via videoconference. He looks more tired, weaker, hit a year ago, when excited with the possibility of leaving his prison before the end of the Obama administration. But it remains active. His site, Wikileaks still leaking new documents. In so far this year has posted a military plan for the European Union to sink boats of refugees before they leave Africa, an instructional NSA for US spies on how to avoid detection in European airports, secret clauses two megatratados US trade talks with Europe and the Pacific Rim and the confessions of a crew engineer British nuclear submarines warning of impending catastrophe because the security protocols are not respected. Also, this week came out in Britain Assange's new book, The Wikileaks files on the impact that has had the leak site in different corners of the world. His lawyer Baltazar Garzon invited to participate in the Congress of Universal Justice this week was held in the Teatro Cervantes in this city, with Garzón listening intently from the stage, Assange spoke with Pagina / 12 double impact of the war on terror and the technological revolution have had on individual liberties in general and freedom of expression in particular. I'd like to ask about the child's photo Aylan Kurdi that shook the world. What does the immigration crisis, the rise of anti-immigrant parties in Europe and its counterpart in the United States with the candidacy of Donald Trump? How all this relates to your own situation of asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador in Britain? There was a major change in migration flows to Europe in the last ten years. We have published some papers on it. In fact the document published on the European Union plan to destroy boats coming from Libya before leaving ports shows a very interesting militarization of the European Union. I know this is a lecture on Universal Justice, but I must say that the right to universal protection invoked by many human rights lawyers has been used as an excuse in recent years to bomb Serbia in Belgrade, bomb Tripoli and introduce weapons significant in Libya and more recently destabilize Syria to the point where we now see the emergence of the Islamic State, which is pushing these refugees causing a humanitarian catastrophe. This catastrophe is caused, in terms of intelligence and geopolitical level, the various factions and propagandists of the European intelligence services, who always need to justify their budgets and want to pursue their geopolitical knock out Syria ambitions, to make Israel to consolidate its position in the Golan Heights, to marginalize Hezbollah, and to get into the navel of Iran to influence key decisions about its energy program and its future. As for the legal aspects of my situation, there is something interesting and has to do with the right to asylum. In the debate in Europe on how to stem the flow of refugees, there are two perspectives. Is the conservative perspective, it is to eliminate the flow completely. And there is the humanitarian perspective, which is that we must reduce the number of drowning. The conservative approach has led to the emergence, particularly in Sweden and Finland, anti-immigrant far-right parties. In Sweden are divided but is growing much anti-immigrant party the Democrats and anti-immigrant party in Finland party is part of the government coalition. And from the perspective huamanitaria we say we do not want people drown as that famous Syrian child, then we will process asylum claims in our embassies in the southern Mediterranean, in Libya and elsewhere, to give people direct access asylum, without having to risk their lives so that their rights are recognized, and to facilitate their asylum within the European Union. But Sweden, which is me, that I have held for more than five years without presenting a single charge against me is now in an awkward situation. Because even though there are no records that have done that (process orders asylum in foreign embassies) now knows that this process exists, which is an accepted international practice and that Ecuador has the right to do so (me). Moreover other humanitarian items within Sweden are saying that to meet the quota of refugees proposed by the European Union, should process asylum claims in northern Africa. The UK faces the same dilemma. If processed for asylum in embassies, legitimizes the argument Ecuador is legal practice to decide on asylum for a person, not just when it comes to a territory but when you are in a jurisdiction, and that jurisdiction includes the embassies and ships of war. To British justice I am neither arrested nor asylum, does not accept a pass so you can get to Ecuador. 'And about Trump? 'I looked at him from the following perspective. I followed Hillary Clinton for years, you know that I have a personal issue with Hillary because she was Secretary of State when we published the diplomatic cables and more recently emails refused to disclose. And she is much more warlike than Obama. What happened in Libya, the destruction of that country and the collapse of its state, was above all a war of Hillary. Hillary was behind everything. Pentagon generals opposed Hillary intervene but was pushed to bomb. So now comes in Donald Trump's even more warrior than Hillary. So whoever wins will be even more aggressive than Obama. The Trump phenomenon is interesting. Right now there is not a massive flood of Latin Americans wanting to enter the United States. So it is interesting to see where does this phenomenon. Trump is appealing at the same grotesque nationalism it can be seen in discussions on refugees in Australia and Europe. The issue of migrants was not really on the agenda significantly until Donald Trump started lifting. The rest of the Republican Party has more decency and more willing to like the voters of Hispanic roots. By going to the theme of this conference, the doctrine of universal justice, the case seems to be the opposite of what is being discussed here. Because while Dr. Garzon and other proponents of the doctrine seeking to create a legal architecture which is above the legal systems of each country, if a country, the United States, seek to impose their own legal architecture over the international system. And seeking to judge you, who is granted asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador in Britain, through an order from the Swedish justice for questioning in Sweden so we can extradite him to the US from Sweden, so you can be tried for terrorism. At the same time, you and WikiLeaks have complained that the United States seeks to expand its legal jurisdiction over much of the rest of the world through trade agreements with whole regions such as Europe and the Pacific Rim and global reach through its Internet servers. As a result of having more than 400 military bases in over 120 countries around the world the United States is the world's largest military empire. Therefore it has great influence in many countries. But as we speak formal universal jurisdiction in this Congress, the US has been doing something else, it has created a unilateral universal jurisdiction, which only applies from the United States to other countries, and that's my case. In the past five years the United States has subjected me to a very aggressive investigation of Grand Jury investigation remains open, which I am accused of espionage, computer hacking, destruction of public documents and conspiracy. But I'm not American. WikiLeaks is not registered in the United States. We do not publish in the United States and have not published in the United States during the period covered by our judicial investigation. The US government claims for itself universal jurisdiction in any subject having to do with the US government. Then they claim that if someone publishes information related to national defense, they have jurisdiction, even if the documents are not government reached with the government referring or relating to US defense apparatus. Then US demands full universal jurisdiction and therefore was able to follow this case against me and my organization so long, to the point that research is the longest in American history against a publication. It is also the largest legal case that led the Pentagon, which has been admitted a few months ago by the prosecutor who conducts an aspect of the case that has to do with Chelsea Manning, my alleged co-conspirator who was sentenced 35 years in a military prison. But it's not just about me or WikiLeaks. The United States has done the same with many other publications it considers a threat, when it considers that the political cost of pursuing them is less than the benefits. Then the Islamists who have published articles in favor of the Taliban, although they were not directly linked to terrorism, were charged to give ideological support for the right to resist US troops invaded Afghanistan. The center of the US attempt to impose its jurisdiction on other countries is in Alexandria, Virginia, an elegant suburb of Washington DC There the grand jury meets once a month to advance the case against Wikileaks. They've been five years doing that. Alexandria has the highest density of government employees across the country, then the jurors are chosen from among employees of the Department of Homeland Security, the CIA, Air Force, National Security Agency and other state agencies, all based near the town. So how do they justify their jurisdiction over my case? Well, turn to a number of legal rinses to ensure that a grand jury national security take the case. One example is the recent case of CIA mole (Jeffrey) Sterling, the man who allegedly leaked information to a journalist from the New York Times (James Risen) on a program of the agency (Operation Merlin). The did not live in Virginia, lived in another state. Then the US government commissioned a book Amazon shipping the reporter from the New York Times had written, which contained information about the CIA Sterling, to be sent to an address in Alexandria. When the book came to Alexandria the government claimed that the shipment was a mail fraud because Sterling had signed a contract saying he would not reveal any information from the CIA. Then they use all kinds of tricks to bring cases there. So we have people of 67 different nationalities being tried in Alexandria. It is the explicit policy of tax of Alexandria jurisdiction try to win one way or another, with respect to the greatest possible number of countries and to publicly boast of being able to get to 67 countries within its jurisdiction. There is the case of Kim Dotcom, Megaupload manager, who did not want the record because people up to music to your site. Who's up? Kim Dotcom was not, but that hardly mattered to the authorities and did the same with many other cases of alleged piracy in different countries. And Kim Dotcom is in New Zealand. Yes, he is in New Zealand, fighting to avoid being extradited. Lives and works in New Zealand, the site is registered in Hong Kong. has nothing to do with the United States and less with Virginia except that the owners of the copyright, as Universal, are based in the United States. Here it has been argued that the new generation of offenses punishable by universal justice should include environmental crimes that produce disasters and economic offenses linked to crimes against humanity. Do you think that this list should be added cybercrimes committed by countries, corporations or individuals? -The Topic interests me because WikiLeaks has been attacked by state actors, has been hacking, but I wonder whether it is a war crime because we have a strong infrastructure that is damaged and sometimes destroyed by these actors. It is an interesting question but a legal question, it seems to me that is a political question. If you're all for all the people you end up being nothing to anyone. Diluís the concept to the point where it ceases to be effective. With this idea you can get to a point in the United Nations and countries. The concept of universal justice can collapse if you use it as a defense for all human rights violations. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions related to freedom of expression. Through diplomatic documents on Argentina that you gave me from the place of his house arrest in London four years ago I learned how thin is the line between diplomacy and espionage. Following the event also I learned how thin is the line between journalism and terrorism. My first question is this: the so-called war against terrorism, the war against supranational organizations such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State already has fourteen. What has been its impact on freedom of expression? My second question is how it has affected freedom of expression technological revolution we are living. Something very serious has happened here in the UK in recent days because Britain was first launched drone attacks in Syria. And these attacks are targeted assassinations. They have been used against its own citizens as a result of these attacks two or three British citizens have been killed. There is now a blacklist of five British citizens to be killed. It is argued that these murders are justified under the law because these citizens participate in a variety of plots against Britain. But the reality is more interesting. You may participate in the Islamic state with the idea of ​​carrying out terrorist attacks in the UK, but not in the UK. They are in Syria and anyone who wants to project force on a country to reach that country to do so. Now if you encourage people through the internet, or if involved in a conspiracy against the United Kingdom over the Internet, do it with people in the UK, or people who could go to the UK. People who are not in the UK can be stopped at the border and the people inside can be arrested as long as he gets to intercept your communications. But if you kill the communication is interrupted, as the agents of the Islamic State in the UK remain undetected. Then the justification for police level is quite weak to kill people in Syria who might be willing to conspire to do something in the UK. If there is a plot want to identify and arrest the people involved. Like to allow the coordinator to continue communicating to identify who are the ones who commit terrorism act. The British intelligence service GCHQ, is very advanced, the most advanced in the world, and control all communications, with few exceptions, communications coming out of the UK and should be able to use that to thwart the plots. Either way using a secret list of murders, no trial, no way to know if one is listed. It is an example how the policy of targeted killings of Barack Obama has expanded to the UK, which is worrying because soon will wishlist New Zealand, Australia yours. Another disturbing revelation this week is that Sweden has a representative on the committee of targeted killings in the United States, along with Germany. Germany says US pressured him to join the committee to cover geopolitically, but at the same time is very concerned about the legality of what is being done. Instead Sweden so far seems to be happy with their participation. I should also note that the International Criminal Court in theory is a very important instrument, but to the universal jurisdiction for something that resembles it. In my last book I came out yesterday (The WikiLeaks files) have a whole chapter on how the United States has sought to marginalize and undermine the International Criminal Court. Basically what happened is that Bill Clinton had accepted with reservations form part of the ICC, to have some control over the court, tried to sell the idea to his security council but failed, and when he arrived W. Bush United States ICC was. At that time the United States began a strong campaign against the CPI, trying to close deal with a variety of countries, so-called agreements of Chapter 97, that every country could convince the United States, signed an agreement guaranteeing that never send yet US citizens to the ICC. Through incentives and sanctions the United States managed a number of countries sign these secret agreements Article 97. When Barack Obama came, the policy was more subtle but continued in the same direction. The result is what we see today: only citizens of African countries have been tried by the ICC. Now we see that Palestine has joined the ICC despite a strong campaign that does not happen. The interesting thing is that the campaign was so strong, demonstrating a real fear of ICC. That means that even the remote threat of prosecution at the ICC brings an extraordinary effort to eliminate that possibility. The threat of being judged even if it is remote, change behavior and it is important to learn to value universal jurisdiction. 'And with regard to freedom of expression? Some of our research has had legal consequences. we have shown war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, in relation to torture, the killing of civilians but the United States government did not investigate any of these cases, investigated the source of information and that source was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Similarly, with the former agent John Kiriakou leaked information that waterboarding in interrogations of the CIA, was tried and spent two years in prison. Now he is free again, but the only person who was tried, nobody was judged by what he denounced. Wikileaks, in recent months has been reporting and publishing information on two treaties being negotiated secretly almost worldwide: the TTP (Strategic Agreement Trans-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and the TPIP (Association of the Transatlantic Trade and couple Investment. -United States has decided to leave the World Trade Organization as an effective tool to regulate international financial exchanges. So it is getting out, creating different mechanisms and you are doing it at high speed to encircle China geopolitically and legally with a new trade bloc, a new legal block. That is building block is the most significant since the creation of the European Union geopolitical event. Fifty-two countries representing two-thirds of global GDP, 2.6 billion people and a new legal system that does not eliminate the existing systems but that is very intense and aggressive covering the main topics of the economy, property, internet , corporate structures, intrusive covering topics of property rights for corporations, transportation. But something is not covered and is the idea of ​​human rights. Follow economic criteria such as the European Union, but without its Enlightenment values. No envisages Court of Human Rights and the European Union. It is no secret that we have obtained and published some chapters. At the geopolitical level it is the most important thing that is happening now is the broadest more ambitious and more comprehensive legal relations and economic restructuring that has ever been attempted. This is an interesting event, which may offer some opportunities, if you can gather enough political strength to derail some of these agreements unless the system incorporating the appropriate human rights instruments. Any message for Argentina? More than anything I order. I would much rather be in Argentina. I've heard good things about your country. The ambassador in London, Alicia Castro, expressed strong support and I want to thank Argentina for that support. Argentines already know how difficult and misleading they can be and are the British in a negotiation, and what they do with the law. Argentina acts from the legal standpoint, geopolitical and development in Latin America is very important, integration and independence are important not only for Argentina, also for many people living in Europe, also for WikiLeaks and me. My basic policy philosophy is that when a group of people or a nation has no bargaining power, then there is no freedom of choice, which leads to unfair situations. What more honest world is not electoral politics. What makes the world more honest, which makes people more honest, it is that you can go the other way, that you can choose another. In terms of electoral politics, able to choose between one or the other party. At the national level is the ability to say, "if the United States is misbehaving in some aspect, I have the possibility of negotiating with China, or Europe or any other country." This is very important. There has been an explosion of freedom of expression and there have been many different writings on what the world is and what it can be in globalization, where publications need not be tied to a single public, why be subjected to a only the police department that touched their jurisdiction, they can compare and choose. They can choose which they prefer state education. This interactive dance between states, jurisdictions and power groups is allowing people who have been harmed can choose another place to stay. So it works the law of supply and demand and that freedom is what makes the world more honest, beyond what the political system or the legal system you have to deal with. http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elmundo/4-281541-2015-09-13.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ꕤ Summary Universal Protection 'right' to 'universal protection' = invoked by many human rights lawyers = used as an excuse to bomb:     -- Serbia in Belgrade     -- bomb Tripoli (Libya)     -- introduce arms in Libya     -- destabilize Syria - to emergence of the Islamic State     -- which is pushing these refugees -- causing a humanitarian catastrophe -- catastrophe is caused at intelligence & geopolitical level -- factions in European intel services need to justify their budgets -- as they pursue 'knock out Syria ambitions' -- to enable Israel to consolidate its position on Golan Heights &:     1.  -- marginalising Hezbollah     2.  -- & gaining advantage over Iran, by gaining position to         influence key decisions re Syria's (*?) future & energy program                 *That's how I read it, but I could be wrong. Refugees Europe two (2) perspectives: 1.  conservative:  eliminate immigration flow completely 2.  humanitarian perspective:  reduce drownings CONSERVATIVE *Conservative approach, according to Assange, has led to emergence (particularly in Sweden & Finland) of anti-immigrant far-right parties [comment:  I strongly disagree.   It is the liberal (humanitarian) approach -- or pretext -- leading to flooding those European countries with mass third world immigration in basically homogeneous European nations that has led to the strengthening of support for what is described as 'far-right' parties, owing to the SOCIAL COSTS of such mass immigration & the failure of mainstream political parties to consider such costs or the concerns, preferences etc. of the people that they represent, and failure to prevent what is:  invasion and displacement of native European populations, on a path to what is undoubtedly the genocide of native Europeans.] HUMANITARIAN from humanitarian perspective -- seeks to process asylum claims in embassies in:     -- southern Mediterranean     -- in Libya     -- elsewhere -- to give direct access asylum -- without risking their lives -- so their 'rights' are recognised -- to facilitate their asylum within the European Union Sweden -- have arrested Assange over 5 years without producing a single charge against him Processing asylum via embassies -- records do not exist of process -- but process exists -- accepted international practice -- Ecuador has right to grant asylum Meanwhile, Sweden's humanitarian elements have put forward -- processing asylum claims in north Africa -- to meet quotas of refugees proposed by the European Union [comment:  'quotas of refugees' would suggest that this is an orchestrated invasion inflicted on native European populations by their political masters] Britain -- same dilemma -- processing asylum requests in embassies -- legitimises Ecuador's granting of asylum -- not only when asylum is on national territory -- but also right to grant asylum from a jurisdiction -- which jurisdiction includes embassies & ships of war -- yet to British justice, Assange is neither detained nor asylee Hillary Clinton -- more war hawk than Obama Trump -- said to be appealing to "same grotesque nationalism" -- that can be seen in discussions on refugees in Australia & in Europe -- Latin American refugees in USA not seen as a 'massive flood' -- issue of immigrants was not on agenda significantly until Trump's rise -- remainder of Republican party seen as possessing more 'decency' in relation to Hispanics [comment:  issue may not have been significant on political stage because the media and politics is very much controlled in the West, and related issues are SUPPRESSED by media and political parties, who go so far as to agree NOT to use immigration as an issue against one another. American elections are a joke and Trump is clowning around, I guess. Maybe Trump's the controlled 'opposition' or something? Any real grass roots opposition to immigration stands absolutely no chance -- especially in the hijacked American political system --  in pursuing and maintaining European interests and integrity. Nationalism tends to only be seen as 'grotesque' when it is expressed by the European man.  In the non-European, it is acceptable 'pride' in one's identity, culture and heritage and something to be honoured, even by Europeans who are denied the same. So there's some double standards in operation. I believe preserving European territory, identity, culture, heritage, character, political, military and administrative representation etc and political strength (among much more), is of utmost importance to Europeans. The only 'grotesque' element is that this truth is obscured, denied, and suppressed while European people and the societies that they have developed over many thousands of years are being destroyed by capitalism and its companion, 'Enlightenment' ideology.] Doctrine of Universal Justice -- Garzon & other proponents of the doctrine -- seek to create legal architecture which is over the international system USA -- seeks to expand its legal jurisdiction over much of the rest of the world -- by trade agreements with whole regions, eg. Europe & Pacific Basin -- via global reach of its internet servers USA -- 400 military bases over 120 countries -- planet's largest military empire -- USA much influence, in many countries -- USA has created a unilateral universal jurisdiction -- universal jurisdiction only applies from USA -- to other countries, as in Assange case -- eg over 5 years aggressive Grand Jury investigation -- longest investigation against a publication in American history -- largest case led by Pentagon -- USA has taken an aggressive approach -- with many other publications it considers a threat -- Islamists who have published articles in favour of the Taliban, -- although they were not directly linked to terrorism -- were charged for providing ideological support for the right to resist the invasion of Afghanistan by US troops -- accusation of espionage, computer hacking, destruction of public documents & conspiracy -- Assange is not an American & WikiLeaks is not registered in USA -- nor do they publish in USA -- nor have they published in the USA during the period covered by US judicial investigation -- US government claims for itself universal jurisdiction in any subject having to do with the US government -- USA claims that if someone publishes information related to national defence, USA has jurisdiction [comment:  the Americans have a history of slippery behaviour when it comes to law.  Look at the WWII designation of German POWs as  'Disarmed Enemy Forces' or 'Surrendered Enemy Personnel', so that the Americans could deny the Germans (who observed the Geneva Convention) Geneva Convention rights, and so that the Americans could deliberately abuse, starve, and murder German POWs who were murdered en masse on the banks of the Rhine, in the heart of Europe, while survivors (including civilians) were enslaved and used as slave labour abroad for many years. This dodgy US attitude to law has applied to CIA torture, CIA kidnappings, US incarceration, US invasions, US orchestrated coups etc, the Illegal bombing of Serbia, illegal invasion of Iraq.  The list is endless. Redefining the legal arena to suit the American empire's agenda is nothing for the US oligarchy's government servants:  they are the masters of lawlessness, deceit and hypocrisy.   Law and honourable conduct means nothing to them.  So all this discussion about 'rights', 'Enlightenment' and other bullsh*t is a waste of breath.  We're all doomed and the destruction and enslavement of the European people has been in progress for hundreds of years. ] Alexandria, Virginia -- suburb of Washington DC -- at centre of US attempt to impose jurisdiction on other countries -- Alexandria =  highest density of government employees across the country -- Grand Jury meets there once a month to advance case against WikiLeaks -- jurors - chosen from employees of:     -- Dept Homeland Security     -- CIA     -- Air Force     -- National security Agency     -- + other agencies -- through legal manoeuvres ensure that grand jury national security take the case     -- likewise re CIA Jefferey Sterling, who allegedly leaked info to reporter from NY Times (James Risen)     -- re CIA program:  Operation Merlin     -- not residents of Virginia     -- so US govt ordered an Amazon shipment of the book that the NY Times reporter had written     -- containing info re CIA / Sterling     -- to be sent to Alexandria     -- on receipt of shipment, US govt claimed 'mail fraud' (re confidentiality contract signed by Sterling) -- through these legal manoeuvres, there is 67 nationalities being tried in Alexandria -- eg. Kim Dotcom, Megaupload, alleged piracy -- Kim Dotcom resides and works in New Zealand -- the site is registered in Hong Kong -- it has nothing to to with USA or Virginia, except that the owners of the copyright (Universal) are US-based Concept of Universal Justice -- New generation of capital offences re universal justice should include crimes that produce disasters -- & economic offences linked to crimes against humanity envisaged by some. -- Should cybercrimes committed by countries, corporations or individuals be included? -- concept of universal justice can collapse if you use it as a defence for all human rights violations Freedom of Expression -- thin is the line between diplomacy and espionage -- thin line between journalism and terrorism -- interviewer suggests -- what is impact of 'war on terror' / war against supranational orgs such as al-Qaeda & Islamic State -- on freedom of impression? -- how has it affected freedom of expression from tech aspect? Targeted Killings: -- Britain has launched first drone attacks in Syria -- these are targeted killings -- targeted killings against own citizens (2 or 3 British citizens killed) -- blacklist of x5 British citizens to be killed -- argument that killings justified under law b/c citizens participate in conspiracies against Britain -- however, the targets of killings are in Syria & must project force to UK to carry out terrorist attacks in UK -- by going to UK -- those at the border can be stopped -- those within the borders can be arrested -- as long as communications are intercepted -- but by killing targets, communication is interrupted -- agents of Islamic State remain in UK without being detected -- justification for killing in Syria is weak -- if there is a plot, arrests should be made -- continued communications enables identification of conspirators etc -- GCHQ very advanced & control all communications leaving UK -- GCHQ should be able to use that info to thwart plots -- it is instead using secret lists of murders with:     -- no trial     -- no way to know if one is listed -- Obama's policy of targeted killings has expanded to UK -- it will soon be on the intel wishlist of New Zealand, Australia & others -- also disturbing:  Sweden + Germany have representatives on the committee for targeted killings of USA -- Sweden is happy with their participation -- Germany claims USA pressure to join committee  concern re legalitiy Universal Jurisdiction -- International Criminal Court (in theory) very important instrument -- entire chapter in 'The WikiLeaks Files' re USA seeking to undermine & marginalise ICC -- Bill Clinton accepted (with many reservations) to be part of ICC -- tried to sell idea of security council to have control over court, but failed -- USA began strong campaign against ICC -- agreements of Chapter 97 deals with range of countries -- had other nations signing guarantee NEVER TO SEND US CITIZENS to ICC -- USA got several countries to sign these agreements through:  sanctions & incentives -- Obama was more subtle, but followed same path -- result:  only citizens of African countries tried by ICC -- Palestine has now joined ICC, despite strong campaign against this -- strength of campaign demonstrates fear of ICC -- therefore, even the remote threat of prosecution at ICC provokes extraordinary effort to eliminate possibility -- merit in universal jurisdiction = change of behaviour even if threat of being judged remote [comment:  I don't think so ... it's business as usual, combined with sanctions and threats + threat of military intervention if anyone stands in the way of the Western oligarchy's geopolitical aims and crimes. The only behaviour that alters is the defensive behaviour of the criminal state, to ensure that the American empire and that its off-sider, Israel, are not held to account -- however remote the possibility. Therefore, like all (false) universal doctrines, it is just another tool for the Western oligarchy to actually further their own political aims.] War Crimes Exposed: -- WikiLeaks has shown war crimes in Iraq & Afghanistan re:     -- torture     -- killings of civilians -- but US govt did not investigate any cases -- instead, USA investigated the source of information (Manning) & that source was sentenced to 35 years in prison -- John Kiriakou, former CIA agent who leaked waterboarding interrogations by CIA info -- tried & spent 2 years in prison -- Kiriakou the only person who was tried:   -- nobody was judged by what Kiriakou denounced US Trade Agreements: -- US to leave World Trade Org as effective tool to regulate international financial exchanges -- US creating different mechanisms at great speed -- to encircle China GEOGRAPHICALLY + LEGALLY with new trade bloc -- building block is most significant since creation of European Union geopolitical event -- 52 countries represent:     -- two-thirds of global GDP     -- 2.6 billion people     -- new legal system, aggressively covering main issues:         -- economy         -- property         -- internet         -- corporate structures         -- property rights for corporations         -- transportation             *but does not cover idea of human rights     *lacks Enlightenment values     *does not contemplate a Court of Human Rights & European Union         = broader and more ambitious,  more comprehensive legal relations + economic restructuring ever attempted     -- represents opportunity to incorporate human rights into instruments, given sufficient political strength Argentina -- ambassador London, Alicia Castro -- supportive of Assange Assange -- basic political philosophy -- when a group of people or a nation has no bargaining power -- it has no freedom to choose -- this leads to unfair situations -- ability to choose makes world more honest -- eg. choose b/w one political party or another / ability to negotiate with another nation etc. -- in terms of education, choice is available as result of explosion of freedom of expression -- re writings about what world is & what it may be in globalisation -- interactive dance between states, jurisdictions & power groups allows those who have been harmed to chose otherwise -- law of supply & demand & that freedom is what makes the world more honest, beyond political system or legal system [comment:  I'm not convinced.  All political parties serve the same master & pitch for votes from the same gullible and indoctrinated audience. The ability to chose is an illusion, especially given (a) power of corporations and (b) power of hidden interests at play behind the scenes, serving corporate & other elite interests (see PM Whitlam removal etc). Look at the Europeans who do not want their societies destroyed by mass immigration. THE ONLY GUARANTEE OF FREEDOM & THE ABILITY TO SAY 'NO' IS THE ABILITY TO SAY 'NO' MILITARILY eg.  Novorossiya guns & tanks + courage + willingness to die + willingness to kill to ensure + manifestation + defence of one's choice Western plebs don't have access to arms or access to meaningful choice.] ----------------------------------- COMMENT Must have had this article in my drafts for ages & I've somehow  accidentally published it when I was last on here, while cleaning up what had become a massive collection of draft posts. Getting into this article was a bit of a chore at first.  I couldn't remember what it was about or why I might have set it aside.  Also, I'm not that focused at the moment, so even skimming the material didn't help me quickly get to grips with it. Doing my little summary helped me understand (or I think it did ... lol). Anyway, the comments are my take.  I'm obviously no humanitarian and I'm not opposed to nationalism, so my outlook is entirely different to that of Assange. While I'm a supporter of freedom of information, I'm not a supporter of mass population movement or of anything that threatens the integrity of European identity or European soil. No other consideration comes before the preservation of Europe and what is European.  None whatsoever.  Nothing.  Zilch. No idealistic, universalist 'humanitarian' cause warrants the destruction of Europe.  And the destruction of Europe is the antithesis of 'humanitarianism', if you stop to think about it. The universalist ideology and agenda is detrimental to European nations and is an entirely illegitimate doctrine that is being imposed on Europeans, who are at risk. There is a vast difference between a nation choosing to grant political asylum to the occasional individual from another society, to opening its borders to mass population movement that is, in fact, invasion. Principle of UNIVERSAL CHAOS Debrecen, Hungary Third World Invasion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhZeHEOovLk

In the Kitchen

The Kitchen [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] ---------------------- ---------------------- Cabbage Rolls Watching 'food porn' on YouTube was the inspiration for stuffed cabbage - here. I've made stuffed cabbage before, but it's probably been over 2 years since.  As it's not a regularly prepared dish, it's almost like starting over figuring out how to best put it together. There's lots of ways to cook, so I like to watch or read several recipes before sort of plotting what I want to do (which is what I think might be simplest and tastiest, according to my judgement). This seemed simple, but it took me a lot longer than I thought it would.   It's just a 4 step process:  (1) ready the cabbage; (2) prepare the stuffing (3) roll and anchor; (4) pour on sauce; and cook for 1.5 hrs. As I'm without an oven element at the moment, I've had to do this on the stove top.  The cooking pot opening wasn't wide enough for the size of my dinner plates to rest on top of the rolls, so I used two side plates and that worked out fine. Intended to just prep the cabbage and to precook some rice in readiness for the next day, but once I got going I kept going, so this was finally done at about 3am. There goes the body-clock readjustment -- again. Happy with the form of the rolls and the texture etc, but seemed way under-seasoned for my tastes.  So when I do this again, I'll be throwing in loads more paprika, pepper and probably some toasted and ground fennel seeds (although that's not traditional). The version I did was varied by introducing a flour & paprika roux/gravy to the liquid at the very end.  Turned out good. Served cabbage rolls with potato mash.   Loads left over, so it's more of the same next day ... and the next.  Uh-oh, I could get really sick of this.  Not one of those things I'd like to eat constantly.  I think I just get carried away thinking I could eat the same thing all the time, but I can't really. Might have a look online and see if I can freeze this, because there's a lot there. The slow cooker bread was a disaster.    Began as a disaster and ended that way. I forgot that I wasn't to have donuts for a while  and I began whipping up a batch for a mid afternoon 'breakfast'.   Not happy with the mix, so I changed my mind and made it a pancake mix instead.   Bad move.  Results were rubbery.  But I was too hungry to care. Had to figure what to do with the mountain of batter.  Hit on the idea of bread in the slow cooker, which I'd been eyeing off. Too lazy to check the video recipe again.  Seemed simple enough.  Thought I'd just wing it.  LOL ... bad move. Kept waiting for my bread to be 'done' by monitoring the top of the loaf, as I don't have a thermometer to check the heat in the centre.  Planned to just wait till it 'appeared' done. I didn't factor in that the top would never appear done because the loaf is steaming in the slow cooker utensil, creating condensation which moistens the top of the loaf, while the parts that are against the base and sides of the ceramic bowl are receiving more heat with less moisture  and are baking and drying off.  Of course, this means the longer you leave the slow cooker on waiting for the top to somewhat harden, the more hardened and browned the bottom gets.  Oops. The hard burnt bits are like rock, but the soft centre bits are edible (if you're desperate), although they're discoloured & probably a health hazard or something.   Would definitely do this again ... more carefully. Saved by the Ganges On the bright side, I was saved from stuffing my face like I usually do when I'm cooking:  saved by burnt bread and saved by the Ganges. Not long before dinner, got onto some Chinese site with photos of some guy's holiday in India, with bloated corpses floating down the Ganges, skulls lying around, packs of dogs eating corpses, an expanse of space dotted with close together, side-by-side, deposits of nothing but human excrement etc. The memory of the images kept haunting me as I tried to eat the cabbage rolls.  LOL Only got partly through my meal, close to throwing up.   If I'd tried to focus on the memory of images that were sort of haunting me, I think I seriously could have thrown up all over the place. Got told off for looking at sites that are 'bad' for me, but maybe it's not such a bad thing not being able to eat, when you could do with losing a few kilos.  Should run off some 'diet' pics to stick up on the refrigerator door, but I don't think that would go down well.   LOL --- Slow cooker bread should have been roughly 1 hr & 15 minutes ... instead of the 4.5 or whatever I did.  LOL

Korma & things

Chicken Korma [Click on Image to Enlarge] ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Rollercoaster here last night. No sleep until something like 6am. Back to smoking again.  Coffee & cigarettes. Relaxed a little looking for photos of Joan Crawford for a GIF I felt like doing.  Didn't wind up doing anything with the images, but it was fun at the time and it got me sleepy. Playing with photos and GIFS sort of relaxes and tires me.  Next time I'm wired, I might have a shot at making something random.  Although it was an insanely late 'night'/morning, body-clock seems to be slowly adjusting itself.  Was up before noon, so that's good. Did a bit of spot cleaning here and there.  Got so much crap I'll have to get rid of ... just odds and ends (bangles, books, shoes I don't wear and whatever else produces clutter). Got onto kitchen drawer and cupboard shelf reorganisation and drawer lining with contact paper.  Needed it.  But it's such a pain when space is limited.  Not so good with contact paper or anything that requires patience, so the lining's a bit wonky.  lol Found all sorts of things I'd forgotten about:  bottle stops, dough hooks (that don't fit anything), nut crackers, piping tools.  And food I'd forgotten:  powdered milk (must have another crack at gulab jamun); papadums; pearl barley; flava beans etc). Fried up some papadums for a snack (got oil on standby, so that's really handy and cool). A lot more oily than I remember them.  Maybe my oil wasn't hot enough.  Tasted like pork crackling to me. Haven't caught up with much in the way of news or history.  When I'm not wired and distracted, I'm too tired. Dinner was Chicken Korma. Same recipe that I used recently, only this time around I've used cashew nuts only.  Walnuts weren't a success here.  Made a paste with the caramelised onion and the cashews this time.  Very nice. The only thing I'll need to adjust is to go a little easier on the spices.  Tend to be a bit heavy-handed (especially with chilli ... oops).  This one needs a light touch, because you want it mild enough to taste the cashews.