Ah, the wonders of organic farming and living in a rural tropical paradise. Right now, we are in the middle of rice growing season (which started later than usual because the rains came late). So time to make the fertilizer. To grow organic rice, it means more preparation of the fields (plowing under and flooding the fields so weeds won’t grow) before planting rice seedlings by hand. But we need fertilizer, which we “make” by mixing carbonized rice husks, good bacteria, chicken manure, and the minerals according to the analysis of the soil. As a result, when we sit out in[....]
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Tag: Entertainment
(Credit:Boxee) In an attempt to capitalize on the talk surrounding the Apple TV, Boxee revealed in a blog post earlier this week that it will start selling its anticipated Boxee Box in November for $200. “We all watched the Apple announcement,” Boxee CEO Avner Ronen wrote on his company’s blog. “We walked away feeling confident about the space it left for Boxee to compete. We have a different view of what users want in their living rooms.” Ronen then said that the Boxee Box “is going to be $100 more expensive than the Apple TV, but will give you the[....]
With all the hyperbolic political rhetoric in the blogosphere, one wonders if the American people are indeed “having a temper tantrum”. Or maybe the patience of the American people with political correctness is now finished. Example one: After years of the American public watching news reports of suicide bombings, or lashing raped women, destroying Hindu temples and forbidding Catholics to attend Mass in Saudi, or the nincompoop in Iran threatening to destroy Israel, the “Ground Zero” mosque is the last straw. Now, I don’t object to a mosque being located a[....]
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Follow the money. Yes, that’s right, follow the money. You really didn’t think that the “Wikileaks” scheme was about being anti war, did you? From ZDNET, a computer related website: …Wikileaks founder Julian Assange…(is) now blackmailing Amnesty International and other human rights groups for $700,000 to remove names of Afghan civilians who might get killed by the Taliban if their names get released on Wikileaks. Ah yes. Must have money. Last week, five Human Rights groups asked Assange not to release documents with the names of innocent[....]
Yes, Plum fans, it’s summer, and the latest Stephanie Plum book has been released: Sizzling Sixteen. Think of it as pure Plum the bounty hunter, with a hint of hobbits. All you intellectuals are now free to log off, because we Plum fans read books where the heroine doesn’t moan about existential angst but worries about jelly donuts. The latest is pure Evanovich: A mixture of romance, zany characters, and slapstick, where the plot is less important than finding out if Stephanie will go to bed with Ranger. (Alas, for this book, the answer is no). Most of the joy of the books are[....]
One of the best things about the Clintons is that, during their time in office, they protected Chelsea from publicity and criticism. This allowed her to go through her teen years without the glare and criticism of, say, Sarah Palin’s children or the politicization of the Obama girls. So we are now hearing about her happy marriage, with a huge celebration that includes some of her parents friends, but rumors insist most of the guests are in her age group, while political friends of her parents are few (e.g. no invitation to the President for a photo op). The wedding ceremony will[....]
The blockbuster book “The Pillars of the Earth” will probably become a blockbuster miniseries, if the promise of the first episode continues. The plot of the book has it all: A king without an heir, whose son was probably assassinated when his boat was sabotaged, a wicked bishop who is trying to manipulate things to get his candidate chosen as the next king, a King’s daughter who as a proto-feminist resents that she cannot be the next monarch, and the horrors to common folks of a civil war that will hurt the innocent more than the nobility. Against the forces of anarchy[....]
A bit of an uproar in Massachusetts, where the local papers have discovered that Senator Kerry bought a yacht, but has parked it in nearby Rhode Island to get out of paying the local sales tax. The good news is that, now that he has been caught and shamed, he will pay the half million dollar sales tax. The dirty little secret is that there are lots of places where people buy “big ticket” items across the state line to save a couple of bucks. This is illegal, but rarely prosecuted for small ticket items. And then there are internet sales. I used to buy books from Amazon, since[....]
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It’s hard to believe that Tell Me a Secret is a debut novel. It reads like it came from the pen of a seasoned author. Not only does the novel deal with the sensitive topic of teen pregnancy, it also digs deeply into issues of grief and how that affects family dynamics, and does it all well. The opening sentence sets a tone for the story and the central character, Miranda. “It’s hard living in the shadow of a dead girl.” The dead girl Miranda refers to is her sister, Xanda. None of the family has adjusted to her death, and the sharp pain of grief seems to drive[....]
I had originally intended the subheading of this piece to be called, “Why Fox News Should Change its Motto From “Fair & Balanced” to “Remember the Maine,” due to having recently debunked a handful of their “news stories.” My original criticism of Fox News was going to be its poor journalism at times, which then resulted in a mere blogger, that’s me, to knock down these stories produced by professional journalists. However, after pitching the idea around to several people in my personal life two items became readily apparent. The first item being that although Fox has[....]
Did Hillary Clinton actually win the Democratic nomination in 2008, but lost the caucus vote because of intimidation by Obama’s minions? That’s what an up and coming film is claiming. A film is floating around with interviews with many people who claim intimidation, vote stealing, and other shenanigans aimed at winning the small caucus votes resulted in Obama “winning” many state caucuses. Those of Problem two: The caucuses went to Obama big time. It is easy for well organized groups (in this case the “Move On” left) to win caucuses. Here’s a few examples[....]
Most of the sharks are out attacking Mel Gibson’s shocking behavior. Well, it’s better reading that the other stories in the news, such as the oil spill or that suffering Haitians still need help. And it allows lots of folks to wax self righteous. Ironically, it is Whoopie Goldberg, a celebrity who also defended Roman Polanski, who came to his defense. Drunks say stupid stuff to people all the time because they’re drunk. They’re out of control. They are not thinking they are idiotic. That’s why I don’t like alcohol. I can’t say anything about that because I know [....]
A couple weeks ago, I ran across a strange story about Zimbabwe: a couple of known terrorists were caught crossing the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa at Beitbridge. 33 year-old Imran Muhammad…was arrested last Sunday while trying to get through Beitbridge border post to South Africa on what officials believe was a fake Kenyan passport. He was traveling together with another Pakistani national. The Herald newspaper says that man is 39-year old Chaudry Parvez Ahmed. They are reported to have come to Zimbabwe from Saudi Arabia, via Tanzania . The paper says that an Imran[....]
The screen-time debate lives on. This round goes to the opponents. According to a new study from Iowa State University, television and video games cause attention problems for children. The study, published this week in the medical journal Pediatrics, examined 1,323 kids in “middle childhood” over a 13-month period. The participants were asked to play video games and watch television. (Twist their arms.) The researchers then asked for reports from the children’s parents and teachers to see how well they were paying attention at both home and school. Based on those[....]
The powerful array of talent behind “The Social Network,” the upcoming movie about the origins of Facebook, continues to grow larger: Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor has announced that he is composing the film’s score. “It’s really f***ing good. And dark!” Reznor wrote in a post on the Nine Inch Nails Web site on Friday. “I’m happy to tell you we’re nearing the completion of this and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out. The level of excellence that (director David Fincher) operates on is inspiring and the[....]