Reflections From a Murky Pond

President-elect Barack Obama is a smoker! He hasn’t so far managed to shake his addiction to tobacco. Obama still either needs or enjoys a cigarette now and then. This is apparently newsworthy. WTF???

Variations of this non-story keep popping up across the MSM, much to my confusion and mild concern since this should be considered a non-issue by anyone with a brain.

Strangely it doesn’t seem to be the Right who are keeping this foolishness in the news; it’s the Left. Apparently the Stop Smoking arm of the Liberals has a problem with Obama’s cigarette habit. Has political correctness – and smoking is so politically incorrect as to be nearly as bad as being Pro-Life – reached the point that the Liberal-driven MSM has to keep reporting on this? Or is it just a “safe” topic that the MSM can take Obama to task for?

OK, people – Obama smokes cigarettes. He seems to favor Marlboro Lights. Why do any of you care?

America is about to pass through a crossroads. With Barack Obama about to take office as President of The United States of America a great deal will be subjected to change in our nation. Most of us aren’t truly cognizant of what those changes are expected to be or encompass.

In an attempt to give people the opportunity to educate themselves on what to expect and/or fear from the upcoming Liberal administration I’ve compiled three resources that I believe can provide a basis for understanding what Obama and his administration plan on doing.

Whether you’re a Conservative, Moderate, or Liberal these three books are important reading. The Plan, Change We Can Believe In, and Rules for Radicals outline the threats posed and/or promises offered by the incoming administration and some of the tactics they will probably use to implement them.

Read, learn, be studiously aware! Whether you loath and fear Obama or see him as the hope for a brighter American future, learn as much of the truth as you can and manage your own expectations.

It is sad and scary how political correctness can be a totally invasive, totalitarian, and hateful phenomenon when it is wrongfully given the force of law. It doesn’t seem to take much for the Liberals in any western nation to twist the ideas of racism, racialism, and tolerance in a loosely codified structure of “hate crimes” and “thought crimes.”

Recently the owner or manager of the Black Bull, a pub in the north of England was arrested on what in America would be labeled hate crime charges because the local police didn’t approve of the newspaper clipping he had posted in his pub.

According to The Evening Post in Nottingham, UK:

A pub landlord has been arrested on suspicion of committing a racially-aggravated public order offense because of newspaper clippings on the wall.

Peter Mailer was arrested after a complaint from a senior Notts Police officer who visited the Black Bull in Warkworth, Northumberland, while on holiday.

Mr. Mailer, who admits he is an active supporter of the British National Party, was hauled into the nearby Alnwick Police Station.

He has been bailed to return to the station on December 23, when he will learn whether or not the Crown Prosecution Service will charge him.

The 52-year-old said he was stunned to learn that the complaint had been made by the Notts officer. He said the officer had been in the pub with a friend and their wives. They chatted to him, but never mentioned the cuttings, which are mainly from national newspapers. Three days later, police arrested him and took everything off the walls.

Is Mr. Mailer of the Black Bull a racist? Probably – he’s an avowed supporter of the British National Party (BNP), most if not all of whom are white supremacists. So what? That shouldn’t be a crime in and of itself, nor should posting clippings or cuttings from national newspapers on one’s establishment’s walls.  Sadly, it is now  crime in England. This is what seems to happen all too often when the Liberals are allowed to start dictating laws within a western country.

This is currently happening in England – and in many European countries – so many Americans will just shake their heads and ignore this. They shouldn’t.  America is not proof against such outrages; this same sentiment of intolerance and political correctness exists in the US and is growing amongst the Liberals in our land. They’ve already emplaced the foundation laws necessary to bring about similar further legislation in the US and implement their Thought Police.

If we’re all not very observant and careful, this sort of thing may well be coming soon to America.

H/T to MK at Down under on the right side.

Kefir – also called kifir, keefir, kephir, kewra, talai, mudu kekiya, milkkefir, or búlgaros – is a yogurt-like (probiotic) fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus mountains near Turkey. It is both very tasty and very nutritious. It’s also quite easy to make at home.

Kefir is made from kefir grains, which are a active bacterial cultures, and milk.  Just about any type of milk can be used – cows milk (whole fat, reduced fat or skim). sheeps milk, goats milk, buffalo milk, or other. Just add the kefir grains to the milk and set it aside for a day or so to do its work.

Kefir (makes 2 cups)

Ingredients

1- 2 tablespoons milk Kifir grains.
2 cups fresh milk

Tools & Equipment

3 – 4 cup capacity clean glass jar with lid. The lid should not be completely airtight.
Strainer and spoon.
Wide mouthed jar or bowl

Directions

Sterilize the jar (including the lid!), strainer and Wide mouthed jar or bowl before use. A good cleaning followed by a hot (180º+) water. This is a necessary step in any fermentation process so as to avoid wild strains of bacteria from ruining your product.

Pour the cool milk into jar. Do not fill the jar more than 3/4 full, otherwise the milk may overflow at some point during the fermentation process.

Add the kefir grains.

Close the jar and gently shake the contents, then let stand at room temperature in a reasonably dark location for 24 – 48 hours. The longer the kefir is stored the thicker and sourer the resulting kefir will become.

When the desired level of fermentation and thickening has occurred – usually in 24 – 48 hours – Pour the contents of the jar into a strainer and strain the kefir into a suitable clean container to separate the kefir grains from the liquid kefir.

The resulting liquid kefir can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for several days. Alternatively, you can pour the kefir into a sterilized airtight vessel and store it at room temperature for up to 24 hours in order to make the kefir richer (sourer) and increase its nutritional value.

The solids that you’ve strained off are kefir grains and can be stored or you can wash out the fermenting vessel and start your next batch of kefir right then.

Kefir is a rich and creamy drink, but it can be quite sour in flavor. Many people add honey or fruit juices and/or nectars to the kefir in order to make a variety of smoothies. Kefir is also a wonderful ingredient in other dishes as a milk or cream substitute.

I hope you enjoy – especially you, Christy!

Coffee – the dark and invigorating brew that fuels Americans every morning – could soon be providing energy to far more than just our bodies and minds. Engineers at the University of Nevada have proven that used coffee grounds can be effectively used as a source for both biodiesel and solid fuel pellets.

Details of their findings can be found here [PDF].

Every 1,000,000 pounds of coffee grounds can produce just slightly over 13,900 gallons of biodiesel and 847,600 lbs of solid fuel pellets. Since Starbucks generates an estimated 210,000,000 – yes, 210 million – pounds of spent coffee grounds per year in the US, the researchers at the University of Nevada believe that Starbucks could amount to 2,920,000 gallons of biodiesel and 89,000 tons of fuel pellets. This would represent just slightly less than 2.00% (1.986%) of the estimated 147,000,000,000 gallons of diesel fuel required by the US and Europe annually. Now that’s some go juice!

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