Krugman on Political-Economic Ignorance

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/worse-is-better/

Absolutely Devastating

This really gives you an idea of the scope of damage incurred in Japan, satellite images before and after. Whole homes ripped from the ground like loose debris. Beyond that, they are estimating 10,000 deaths and climbing, radiation sickness from overheating and exploding nuclear plants, and it is being called the country's worst disaster since World War II. In the whole scheme of things, looking out over geological time, this is a hiccup. The Earth has made no promises to us about our survival. We are just another animal, susceptible to extinction. This shows that no matter how advanced we become, no matter the supposed strength of our structures and the robustness of our technology, it can all come down in minutes. Be thankful for this moment, for those that surround you, the food and drink you get to enjoy and the comings and goings of the sun. The present is the only thing that we can be sure of and revel in. Enjoy it.


In other news, Libya's revolutionary spirit isn't ebbing a bit, with some youth turning it towards rebel violence (interactive map of the clashes). And the protests are spreading across the Arab world, from Yemen to Bahrain to Tunisia and of course, Egypt. Things are happening. The people are realizing that they outnumber the ruling class. This should be infectious and empowering. Hopefully some beneficial outcome will sprout from this unrest. Hopefully this can be an example to us as well. We should be the ones who dictate our existences, not power-hungry and greedy politicians. They are often in it for themselves, as we have seen countless times globally and in our own country.

Thanks to the New York Times and their wonderful resources, which I linked like crazy.

Ridiculousness, Starring Bottled Water

Most bottled water is just bottled tap water anyway. A lot of petroleum for a little bit of convenience.



Let's talk about the supposed cleanliness of bottled water vs. tap water:



How about we pull out those metal bottles and stop adding to this pointless waste.

ZUPPA!

So, I have had some people (for whom I've made soup of varying shades and flavors) ask that I give them a recipe for vegetable soups, to which I say, there is no recipe for my soups. The way in which I make soup is to first check the fridge and pantry, extricating the vegetables that most urgently need cooking or that I most would like to use (as decided by the interface between those numerous taste nubs and my sensitive head organ). There are some things I always do, such as sauté copious onion and garlic. Mostly from there it is intuition. Today, though, I happened upon another Mark Bittman article, which much more eloquently (and with prettier pictures) illustrates the simplicity of this intuitive kitchen maneuver. He splits it into four categories: creamy, brothy, earthy and hearty. Here are the corresponding pictures for those categories (three soups per):

 
Hungry anyone?
Check out the article.