JCMach1
JCMach1's JournalReconsidering the Percolator: Lost American Technologies
Percolators were a fixture in American households once home consumer versions became available towards the beginning of the 20th century. Here is an interesting link that gives a bit more of the history. By the time I was a kid in the 1970?s they were in every kitchen and the taste of American coffee was the taste of the percolator.
But, go into a kitchen today and you would be hard pressed to find a percolator. Even among coffee aficionados, you might find any number of exotic appliances for making coffee, but rarely a percolator.
What happened?... http://rationalista.com/2013/07/08/reconsidering-the-percolator-lost-american-technologies/
Just a short little article I wrote about re-discovering the joys of a percolator.
Nepal... really...? I suppose I imagined Dalit women breaking gravel with hammers
and the 5 year old boy with the beautiful smile and the ring of dirt and glue around his mouth and nose...
Or come visit Nairobi where I am now and we can take a charming visit to Kibera and Mathare.
Is The Guardian becoming neo-liberal?
Who owns the fish?
Corporations, even foreign ones, are taking over our fish resources.
But sweeping across the globe is a system that slowly and steadily hands over a $400 billion ocean fishing industry to corporations. The system, called catch shares, in most cases favors large fishing fleets, a review of the systems operating across the United States shows.
“We’ve been frozen out,” said Collins, who docks near the Golden Gate Bridge. “This system has given it all to the big guys.”
More and more wild-caught fish species and fishing territories in the United States are managed under catch shares, which work by providing harvesting or access rights to fishermen. These rights – worth tens of billions of dollars in the United States alone – are translated into a percentage, or share, that can then be divided, traded, sold, bought or leveraged for financing, just like any asset.
Catch shares have been backed by an alliance of conservative, free-market advocates and environmental groups, some of which have financed scientific studies promoting the merits of the system, the Center for Investigative Reporting has found...
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/12/who_owns_the_fish/
Odinga is filing a protest to the Supreme Court over irregularities
some sporadic violence has erupted per the last US Embassy warning.
Kenyatta was confirmed as President Elect this afternoon.
Am seriously hoping things don't go downhill from here.
Kenya Elections 2013
Am live blogging from my perch in Nairobi... I will be posting updates on DU and you can follow me here
http://rationalista.com
http://storify.com/usa2uae/kenya-election-2013
and on Twitter @usa2uae.com
The polls opened at 6AM this morning, but people began getting in line last night in some regions. I have NEVER EVER seen the lines like what are being seen here. It is putting the US to Shame. This is the line outside my window (2-3 miles long) 
4-10 Police were killed overnight. 4 were hacked to death in Mombassa per KTN by MRC (coastal separatist terrorists).
An ex-MPs car was set on fire in Kakamega in the west of the country.
The good news with the lines is that everyone who is still there at 6PM will still be allowed to vote.
I know the above sounds bad, but things are relatively peaceful up to now.
It's Election Day in Kenya
Thanks to the USA and the glacial visa process I am in Nairobi to help protect my fiance and 2 yr. old son. I will continue live blogging at my website http://rationalista.com and post updates on DU as the process unfolds.
Could use the good vibes right now...
How a Gun-Loving West Texas Girl Learned to Fear Assault Weapons
I love guns. I'm from West Texas -- most of us harbor respect for guns, if not outright love...
For the next hour, he held me hostage with a Glock pistol, which is a semi-automatic handgun. This has also been the gun of choice for Jeffrey Weise, James Holmes, Cho Seung-Hui, Jared Lee Loughner, and most recently, Adam Lanza.
In my case, it was a gift from my boyfriend's father. For "home defense."
It is the calmest I can ever remember being. He alternated toward pressing it against me, and pressing it against himself, threatening to kill us both.
Wait. Wait. Wait, said my mind. Be patient. Your chance will come. And if you don’t take it, you're both going to die here. Be patient...
http://www.xojane.com/issues/on-black-holes-patience-and-what-i-know-to-be-true?src=longreads&buffer_share=9b656
Excellent essay... this one is worth a read...
Am I the only one, or is the Shooting reminding anyone else of 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Need_to_Talk_About_KevinEstranged husband and wife... something clearly wrong with the son. Mother quits job to try to take care of son... shit... eerily, eerily similar stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Need_to_Talk_About_Kevin
Vendetta masks in UAE colours draw warning
Can I just say, I am very happy to be outside of the UAE now. The self-censorship involved in living in the most benign dictatorship was more than annoying to this freedom loving American:
Any person found wearing Guy Fawkes masks, also known as ‘Vendetta masks’, risks police questioning as any object or action deemed to be instigating unrest or insulting the UAE is illegal, police officials said.
The masks are a stylised depiction of a man who was behind the failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up the British House of Lords in London in 1605. The plot is commemorated with a fireworks displays in the UK on N... http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/vendetta-masks-in-uae-colours-draw-warning-1.1105928
Papa John's Idiocy has already cost the company $140M as of today
Stock price in 2008=14.81 ... Stock Price before controversy= 53.10, He's doing pretty well... Drop since threatened boycott and lawsuit for spamming customers= 47.06 and dropping... 53.10-47.06= 6.04 x 23.13M shares= wiping just under 140Million dollars of company value off the book the last few days. Just how much is that healthcare going to cost? a lot less than 140M
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Gender: MaleHome country: USA
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 27,553
