October 18, 2012

Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?

Just brilliant. Between this and Bindergate, I'm ROFL! Whoever made this is a video genius.

October 14, 2012

Meet the Crawfish-Peeling Guestworkers Who Inspired Walmart Walkouts

Meet the Crawfish-Peeling Guestworkers Who Inspired Walmart Walkouts

How a few courageous workers in small-town Louisiana sparked nationwide actions demanding better wages and working conditions for those who pick, pack, stock, and sell the mega-retailer’s products.
by Cecilia Garza


Guestworkers at Walmart supplier C.J.'s Seafood, where they were forced to work up to 24-hour shifts with no overtime pay and locked into the plant to prevent them from taking breaks. Photo courtesy of the National Guestworker Alliance.


In the small town of Breaux Bridge, La., Martha Uvalle and her co-workers at C.J.'s Seafood, a Walmart supplier, faced abuses many Americans imagine only take place in poorer, faraway countries: They were forced to work shifts of up to 24 hours, with no overtime pay; threatened with beatings if their breaks lasted too long; and, on at least two occasions, locked inside the facility to work. Some fell asleep at their workstations from exhaustion.

Uvalle had heard that there were organizations that defended the rights of immigrant workers like her. In 2011, someone had mentioned a group called the National Guestworker Alliance (NGA).
...

So when Uvalle gave the NGA's number to her feisty co-worker, Ana Rosa Diaz, it was an act of tremendous courage. Diaz then actually called the NGA to report the working conditions at C.J.'s.

“Apart from the fact that he (general manager Michael LeBlanc) screams at us, he humiliates us all the time, apart from the fact that we were being made to work these excessive hours, this year the supervisors blocked the doors to the plant so we couldn’t take breaks,” Diaz told YES! Magazine of her C.J.'s experience. “One supervisor threatened to hit us with a shovel. And finally the thing that pushed us over the edge was that the employer threatened our families if we reported him.”

...

A climate of intimidation...

...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/10/14-0

October 14, 2012

There's no corn syrup where I am, so here's my substitute

This makes about 2 cups and takes about an hour

2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch salt

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to a simmer and put cover for a few minutes so sugar crystals won't form on the sides of the pan. This is very important.

Uncover, keep stirring on a simmer until it reaches the soft ball stage.

Cool and store in a covered container at room temperature.



Whatever you do, don't skip the cream of tartar because that's what breaks down the sugar into fructose and glucose:

Sucrose is actually two simpler sugars stuck together: fructose and glucose. In recipes, a little bit of acid (for example, some lemon juice or cream of tartar) will cause sucrose to break down into these two components.

...

One way to prevent the crystallization of sucrose in candy is to make sure that there are other types of sugar—usually, fructose and glucose—to get in the way. Large crystals of sucrose have a harder time forming when molecules of fructose and glucose are around. Crystals form something like Legos locking together, except that instead of Lego pieces, there are molecules. If some of the molecules are a different size and shape, they won’t fit together, and a crystal doesn’t form.

A simple way to get other types of sugar into the mix is to "invert" the sucrose (the basic white sugar you know well) by adding an acid to the recipe. Acids such as lemon juice or cream of tartar cause sucrose to break up (or invert) into its two simpler components, fructose and glucose. Another way is to add a nonsucrose sugar, such as corn syrup, which is mainly glucose. Some lollipop recipes use as much as 50% corn syrup; this is to prevent sugar crystals from ruining the texture.

...

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html

October 14, 2012

I can't wait to try this. It sounds and looks wonderful!

Mayo variations, please? Clockwise from top right: cilantro-ginger, curry, anchovy, sun-dried tomato.

Milk Mayonnaise Recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup very cold milk
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, peeled
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
About 3/4 cup vegetable oil, or 1/2 cup vegetable oil plus 1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt

Directions

1. Combine the milk, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper in a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Using a handheld blender (or a blender), buzz on high for 30 seconds until frothy. With the motor running on high, slowly pour in the oil a few drops at a time, and gradually increase this to a fine thread, moving the blender up and down, until the mixture thickens lusciously and resembles a soft mayonnaise. You may need more or less oil. Season with salt to taste. The mayonnaise will last up to 1 week in the fridge.

Variations

Cilantro and Ginger Mayonnaise | Maionese de Leite com Coentros e Gengibre
Add 1 loosely packed cup of well-dried fresh cilantro leaves and tendril-soft stems and a 1 1/2-inch peeled and grated thumb of fresh ginger to the cup along with the milk, 1 3/4 teaspoons of lemon juice, and the pepper. Omit the garlic. Whir in the oil as directed above. Stir in 1 scallion cut into thin slices on the diagonal.

Anchovy Mayonnaise | Maionese de Leite com Anchovas
Add 6 anchovy fillets (generous 1 tablespoon) packed in oil to the cup along with the milk, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper. Whir in the oil as directed above. Omit the salt.

Curry Mayonnaise | Maionese de Leite com Caril
Add 2 teaspoons of your favorite curry powder to the cup along with the milk, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper. Whir in the oil as directed above. Before using, let this sit for an hour or so in the fridge to bloom.

Tomato Mayonnaise | Maionese de Leite com Tomate
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of double-concentrate tomato paste to the cup along with the milk, garlic, and pepper. Omit the lemon juice. Whir in the oil as directed above. Stir in 1 tablespoon minced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.

http://leitesculinaria.com/32983/writings-milk-mayonnaise.html

October 12, 2012

Rest in peace Amanda. Bullied Teen Commits Suicide After Posting Last-Ditch Cry for Help on YouTube

Bullied Canadian Teen Commits Suicide After Posting Last-Ditch Cry for Help on YouTube



A 15-year-old girl from Metro Vancouver reportedly committed suicide last night, just over a month after posting a YouTube video recounting how bullying forced her to switch schools and drove her to drugs, alcohol, and self-harm.

In the video, Amanda Todd describes on cue cards her experiences with both real-world and online bullying. She says she recalls being severely beaten by classmates and having nude photos of her circulated on the web.

"I'm struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply," Todd says. "I'm not doing this for attention. I'm doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong."

Sadly, police in Coquitlam confirmed this morning that Todd committed suicide on Wednesday, though would not elaborate. An investigation into her "sudden death" is ongoing.

...

http://gawker.com/5951070/bullied-canadian-teen-commits-suicide-after-posting-last+ditch-cry-for-help-on-youtube




Rest in peace Amanda Michelle Todd

I can't say what I want done to the slime who did this to a 7th grader. I can't stop crying.


On Facebook: "Rest in paradise Amanda Michelle Todd" but there are several more, you can find them easily. Sadly her personal page is still up with a few of her public pictures and some pictures, including this one




Twitter hashtags #RIPAmanda and #RIPAmandaTodd