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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

My Promise

"My Promise"

I promise to protect you, and make you feel safe.
I promise to listen to you, because your voice matters.
I promise to accept you and embrace you with open arms.
I promise to guide, teach, and show you wrong from right.
I promise to encourage and support your dreams and goals.
I promise to nurture your mind, body, spirit and soul.
I promise to let you make mistakes, and learn from them.
I promise to kiss your ouchies and make it better.
I promise to chase the monsters out from under your bed.
I promise to LOVE you with every fiber of my being (I already do.)
and I promise you that no matter how old you are, you'll always be my precious son, my prayers answered, my baby.

-"My Promise" by Bambi

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Razzleberry Dressing Recipe (Mr. Magoo Inspired)

"Some Razzleberry Dressing would be nice!"

Have you seen Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol? Where Tiny Tim wishes for Razzleberry Dressing with his Christmas dinner? It sounds so delicious and magical, that I decided to do some research and found that it does exist! I put my own spin on the recipe, of course! Razzleberry Dressing is extremely EASY and fast to make, and it knocks boring ole Cranberry Dressing out of the water (in my opinion!) It's a fun option to add to your Holiday menu this year.

How to make Razzleberry Dressing:

1. Generous tablespoon of Brummel & Brown (or butter)
2. One carton of Raspberries (in your fresh fruit department)
3. One carton of Blackberries (in your fresh fruit department)
3. One tablespoon of brown sugar (add more to your taste)
4. One generous tablespoon of Bonne Mama Blueberry Jam
5. One generous teaspoon of all purpose flour
5. One tablespoon of lemon juice
6. A pinch of sea salt

 Start by melting your brummel & brown (or butter) in a saucepan on medium heat. Add your fresh berries and bring to a boil, breaking them down with a cooking utensil so that the berries become like mush. Add your brown sugar, jam, and lemon juice and bring heat down to low. Slowly stir in your flour, making sure you stir well so that there are no lumps. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir some more. Taste, and if you prefer it to be sweeter you can add more brown sugar. Remove from heat and let cool.

I am leaving my batch of Razzleberry Dressing in the fridge overnight and will serve it over turkey tomorrow for Thanksgiving Dinner. I've never been a fan of Cranberry dressing, but this Razzleberry dressing recipe is rocking my world! Enjoy! -Bambi

(all ingredients shown except for sea salt and flour)

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Husband Appreciation

My husband is my best friend, my soul mate, my partner in crime.. (well, not a literal partner in crime!) He is the most amazing man I've ever met. We've had four blissful years of marriage and are now expecting our first child. I know for a fact that I have not been the easiest person to live with during these past five months of pregnancy. First, there was the morning sickness ie. 'All day and night sickness' for three straight months. He took such great care of me during that time... I wasn't able to be the wife who cooked, helped take care of the animals and daily tasks and made his morning tea- instead, I spent almost all my time in bed, and if I wasn't in bed, I was in the bathroom sick, and if we happened to go out for a drive or a dinner date there were countless times my nausea would spoil the fun. I just want my husband to know how much I appreciate his gentleness and patience with me during that time. I was really miserable and honestly quite depressed because I was so sick that I wasn't really living my life, and of course for better or worse, he was by my side the whole time. Thank you honey.

Now, I'm half way through my pregnancy and my nausea has completely subsided... I am healthy as a horse and have the appetite of a horse too! But you can't have a rainbow without some rain, and my hormones have hit me hard this past week. I've been an emotional wreck! I'm ultra sensitive, I can be moody and irritable, and sometimes (like last night) my hormones get the better of me and I'll just sob and sob over the silliest of things. But through it all, my husband is gentle and compassionate with me... he holds me when I cry and strokes my hair back and gives me kisses and I feel better. This is as much of a roller coaster ride for him as it is for me, and I just feel so blessed that my husband is patient and loving. He is everything a husband should be. He's the greatest blessing in my life and I love him so much!

So ladies, don't forget to let your significant other know how much you love and appreciate them. Our bodies and emotions are going through a lot during pregnancy, but its no walk in the park for our partners either and we need to show them love for being so awesome!!!!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Pregnancy Hormones

My hormones have been off the wall lately! I'm 21 weeks pregnant and starting to feel the effects of 'Pregnancy Hormones' and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning! One minute I feel like 'Mega B*tch' and snap at my husband and my dog for no reason, the next minute I'm an emotional wreck and just want to cry and I don't know why! I'm ultra sensitive right now... EVERYTHING bothers me. I cry when I laugh, laugh when I cry, I cry because I want some fried chicken tenders and the drive thru is closed, I cry because I have to pee every five seconds, I cry because my cat is trying to cuddle with me and I just want to be left alone, I cry because our Christmas tree fell over when we were decorating it, and we had to start over... you get the picture! I feel insane! My husband jokes that I'm like Louis from Family Guy in the episode where she's pregnant and hormonal. Anyone else know what I'm going through?? What's your funniest pregnancy meltdown story?

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Pregnancy Cravings

 Did someone say food

I am a food lover! Being pregnant isn't an all access pass to eat everything in sight, but I won't feel guilty if I indulge in a couple of donuts every now and again... ya know?! My relationship with food definitely changed when I became pregnant, because in my first trimester I was so sick, I could hardly keep anything down... I seriously thought I'd never be able to eat 'normally' again. It is interesting to vibe on what the body wants/needs during pregnancy. So I thought I'd share my cravings so far.

My First Trimester:
In my first trimester I lost 10lbs because I had terrible morning sickness, which should really be called 'all the time sickness' because  I was praying to The Throne God at all hours of the day. But what I could eat was lots and lots of APPLES! We have an apple tree in our backyard, and I would eat about 5-6 apples a day. I also craved pickles, until they made me sick.... no more pickles for me! I drank a lot of ginger ale to soothe my stomach, and I also ate the entire half of a watermelon every other day.... we bought a LOT of watermelons!

My Second Trimester:
I'm 21 weeks pregnant now, so my second trimester isn't over, but I definitely re gained my appetite in this trimester (THANK GOODNESS!) I am starting to gain weight now, which makes me happy because I want my baby bump!
So far in my second trimester, I am craving fresh fruit like organic strawberries, blueberries, and banana. I like to drizzle honey on top of the fruit sometimes if I have a sweet tooth. Seriously, I crave just about anything and everything right now. I could totally go for a cheeseburger right now! Pizza, I LOVE pizza..... I eat a lot of spinach too. I eat pretty healthily, but I have no problem indulging in some chicken tenders and french fries every now and then too! And my baby loves it! Our little boy gets really active after I eat- but he especially loves it when I eat strawberries! So sweet! Feeling him kick is my favorite part of the day.

 So tell me.... what are you craving?!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Kevel: A Pregnant Woman's BFF

   The Kevel: A Pregnant Woman's BFF.
  We all love our jeans, but as our bellies grow it starts to become easier to reach for sweat pants or maternity leggings because comfort comes first, right?! Well have no fear, kevel allows your jeans to grow with your belly so you can be comfy AND cute! This little fly tie has been a life saver for me.... I'm in my fifth month of pregnancy and I still fit in my favorite pair of blue jeans. The Kevel comes in several sizes to grow with your belly, to keep you in your jeans as long as possible! Kevel is fast and easy to use. Seriously the best invention ever made for pregnant women! Find Kevel on her website: http://kevel.com/index.html
and start shopping!

-Bambi of Musings of a Mommy

Team Blue!

My husband and I are expecting our first son on April the 11th, 2014. We are so excited to be #TeamBlue.

We had a gender reveal party and it was the best night of our lives! I highly recommend this to any moms to be. We went to our Ultrasound the morning of the party, and I asked the doctor to keep the gender quiet. My husband was the one to be told the gender, and then we went home and he was to bake a cake that would either be pink or blue on the inside. We invited friends and skyped with family members who couldn't be there with us, and they all watched as I cut the cake. Obviously, it was blue inside. I had a gut feeling that it was a boy, so I dressed in blue! Always trust your intuition, ladies!  We are thrilled to be having a little boy- can you tell the excitement on my husbands face?

It was a night to remember :)


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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The 110th Annual Christmas Bird Count Has Begun!

blue jay bird countFor over 100 years, volunteers have been braving the cold to spend a December day outside counting birds.  It's the longest continually running wildlife-monitoring program in the world. Their data has become an invaluable resource for conservationists wanting to track  bird populations, and an example for other groups looking to conduct "citizen science."

It all began at the turn of the 20th century when Frank Chapman, an officer in the then-new Audubon Society, proposed an alternative to the Christmas "Side Hunt." He was concerned that this tradition of holiday hunting competitions (in which revelers chose sides and sought to shoot more birds and other animals than the other team) was harming bird populations. At Chapman's suggestion, the 1900 Christmas Bird Census took place in 25 locations, with 27 participants.

From that humble beginning, the Christmas Bird Count has expanded to over 2,000 events and 55,000 participants. Each local group picks a date between December 14 and January 5 to do their count, following a specific methodology developed by the Audubon Society. Birders of all levels are welcome; beginning birders are placed in a group with at least one experienced birdwatcher. Counts often culminate in a "tally rally" at the end of the day that involves food and drink with other counters, the modern equivalent of the bragging party that surely accompanied the original "side hunts."

Interested in participating? The Washington, DC, Bird Count will be this Saturday, December 19. Contact Larry Cartwright at prowarbler@verizon.net or Kathy Wilson at the Audubon Naturalist Society, 301-652-9188, to sign up and get your instructions.

Other local counts (and their organizers) include:

Sunday, December 20:

  • Jug Bay (Sam Droege, 301-390-7759, sdroege@usgs.gov)
  • Seneca (Mark England, 240-252-4218, markengland@canamcontractors.com)
  • Port Tobacco (Gwen Brewer, 301-843-3524, glbrewer@comcast.net)
Sunday, December 27:
  • C&O Canal near Whites Ferry in Central Loudon County (Joe Coleman, 540-554-2542)
  • Nokesville (Kim Hosen, 703-499-4954, khosen@pwconserve.org)
Sunday, January 3:
  • Patuxent River (Andy Brown, 410-535-5327, brownaj@co.cal.md.us)
  • Fort Belvoir (MD - Carol Ghebelian, 301-753-6754. VA - Kurt Gaskill, 703-768-2172 or kurtcapt87@verizon.com)
  • Sugarloaf Mountain (Janet Millenson, 301-983-9337, janet@twocrows.com)
For counts elsewhere, see the list on the Audubon website, or check in with a local group -- some seem to have counts that aren't on the main list yet.

Can't make it to one of these events? Stay tuned for the Great Backyard Bird Count, February 12-15!

Like the photos in this post? Mouse over for credits; a click takes you to the photographer on Flickr.

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Daily Archives: 28/07/2016

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Monday 18 February 2008

Charlie Brooker. Right About Everything?

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is one of those rarest of beasts... A television show that is both absolutely hilarious and actually quite informative.

On said show Charlie was right about cocks in advertising.

He was spot on about the intrinsic manipulation involved in editing reality television. (An obvious one in fairness.)

He offered his own Freudian insights into the ridiculous notion that Phil Mitchell is hard.

Introspection is also a talent of Charlie's as he considers what it is to be "The Talent" on a television show.

In fact, Charlie is apparently so preposterously wondrous that English band types The Attery Squash have seen fit to compose a song in his honour. It is called "Charlie Brooker Is Right About Everything":

Erm, sorry, what? Did irony just have a nervous breakdown?

nialler9 said...

sure is terrible but the man himself is a hero.

Anthony said...

Heh, never heard of this brooker fellow before. Excellent stuff! :D

John Cav said...

Nialler: That bastard chorus was lodged in my head for two straight days... Heroic or not, I'll resent Mr. Brooker for that :)

Anthony: He's a bit of a legend alright. His column in The Guardian is well worth checking out as well. Go forth!

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Nice to see you posting my video find! >_< Just for the record I want this played at my FUNeral!!!

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Charlie Brooker is a legend, totally is right about everything.
That song has been stuck in my head for days, it's funny, slightly ironic but true.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

National Organization for Marriage's Sleazy Tactics Exposed

A huge story broke late last night.  HRC was able to obtain a copy of a "confidential" internal document outlining the strategies to be pursued by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

Especially damning are their plans to divide gays and blacks by fomenting homophobia among the latter.  They also target President Obama in order to expose him as a "social radical."

Their strategy is explicitly racist, targeting blacks and hispanics in order to fan the flames of hatred and "defend" marriage.

Additionally, their status as a non-partisan, single issue advocacy group is clearly questionable, as they are specifically targeting Democrats -- and on issues other than marriage equality.

You can see the document here:  NOM Internal Document

from the Human Rights Campaign: HRC

Confidential NOM Documents Reveal Dark Underbelly of Anti-Gay Movement

HRC exclusively obtained copies of the National Organization for Marriage’s confidential strategy documents yesterday. As part of a continuing investigation by the state of Maine, this court-ordered disclosure shows NOM fighting a losing battle with strategy and tactics that are racially and ethnically divisive, filled with false political calculations, and out of touch with the majority of fair-minded Americans. The Maine Ethics Commission launched a formal investigation into NOM’s fundraising tactics in late 2009.
The key themes that emerge from the documents are:
Racial Politics
  • NOM’s admitted key goal is to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks.”
  • NOM aims to manipulate Hispanic communities by “making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity” and “to make opposition to gay marriage an identity marker, a badge of youth rebellion to conformist assimilation to the bad side of ‘Anglo’ culture.”
Facing a Losing Battle
  • They were 0 for 3 in their 2010 priority: “Roll back gay marriage in New Hampshire, Iowa, and D.C.”  Marriage equality remains on the books in all three with the New Hampshire Republican legislature just last week rejecting a move to repeal their law.
Huge Coffers Fund Phony “Research”
  • NOM outlined a plan to spend $100,000 on a “study of what schools are teaching in gay marriage/civil union regimes.”
  • $150,000 is earmarked for videotaping stories of those supposedly harmed by marriage equality called “The Face of the Victims” project.
  • $60,000 in salary earmarked for an “outreach coordinator to identify children of gay parents willing to speak on camera.”
  • $50,000 earmarked for “Expert Witness Project” that couldn’t cultivate a single credible witness to stand up in the Prop 8 trial for example.
Painting Themselves as Victims
  • NOM pushes the false notion that Americans are under attack: “Gay marriage is the tip of the spear, the weapon that will be and is being used to marginalize and repress Christianity and the Church.”
  • Embracing marriage equality supposedly “affects economic performance, expands the regulatory and taxing powers of government, and threatens the family businesses that generate economic growth and prosperity.”
  • Despite every court to hear the issue finding no evidence of any harassment or intimidation, NOM continues to claim “gay marriage advocates have focused relentlessly on harassing and intimidating local donors.”
Ignoring Campaign Finance Rules
  • NOM brags that “one key advantage we now have is the capacity to protect the identity of our donors.”
  • Worried about disclosure laws, NOM encourages donors to give to a slush fund for use around the country saying, “It is critical that we have a reserve fund to give to these efforts to ensure victory and protect donor identity.”
Small Movement with a Big Voice
  • Recognizing that they are a fringe movement, they brag about having wide media exposure writing: “there is an opportunity for a small countercultural community to have a disproportionate cultural impact.”
It’s Not Just About Marriage
  • NOM can no longer claim that they’re only focused on marriage.  Their “American Principles Project” seeks to “Expose Obama as a social radical” by “develop[ing] side issues” like “pornography” and veering off into issues around the Guantanamo Prison and opposing administration appointments.
  • As part of their “cultural strategies” they suggest “raising the negatives on homosexuality.”
  • Their state affiliate in Rhode Island “hopes to introduce divorce reform legislation in an effort to strengthen Rhode Island’s marriage and families.”
Taking their Movement Internationally
  • “The movement for gay marriage is global.  The counterrevolution protecting marriage needs to have a similar international reach.”

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

In Cupcake Heaven (Weekend Adventures part 1)

Here is how I started my weekend - I stayed up way too late creating some of my best cupcakes ever!

 Coconut cupcake frosted with coconut buttercream and topped with toasted coconut flakes. (Can you tell I love coconut?) This is simply the best cupcake I have ever made. YUM-O!

Then...because I wasn't satisfied with one cupcake at 11:30 pm, I made a chocolate latte cupcake frosted with an espresso buttercream and topped with chocolate (wish I would have had chocolate espresso beans). This too was pretty darn good. Next: I have been thinking of making a Smores inspired cupcake and then something with lemon for sure. I also want to make chocolate covered bacon. I have heard it is very tasty. Anyone ever tried chocolate covered bacon?

  1. What!!! not sharing?! These look fantastic and oh so yummy! Would you be willing to give the recipes?

  2. Oh yes I will absolutely share. I was on a time crunch when I posted. I will put recipes up ASAP. Glad you liked the pics enough to try. I also just made a smores inspired cupcake. It was good, but I will have to try again with a few adjustments I think :) Happy Friday!

  3. I personally, had one of those yummy coconut cupcakes you made and I thought I was gonna pee my pants! They were so yummy!!!!Dre

  4. Ahhh Thanks Dre. I wish I had time to make some more fun treats or just blog. I am so darn busy with school right now. Luv ya.

  5. Ahh...thanks Marge. I miss you too. I could try to send some in the mail, but I am not sure how they would look/taste when they arrived. LOL Maybe you and Tammy and Amanda can whip some up. Oh man....that reminds me that I was going to post the recipe for someone and never did. Darn it.
    Hugs to you Texas girls.

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Apricots Are Us

Katie Dahlstrom is a journalist with BBC World Service News. Originally from California, she moved to London after university, and fell in love with both England and Europe. After years of rainy summers, she and her husband Ben--a musician--sought out the sun and found it in southern France. They now divide their time between London and the tiny village of Le Barroux in the Vaucluse. Katie's crazy about the seasonal produce in Provence and these days, she's all about apricots. I asked her to share the love. She writes:

Summer is finally in full swing. Although it arrived late, no one's complaining about the heat just yet. The very cold winter and spring made us think we’d never see another summer. But the cherries ripened, albeit slowly this year, and now we’re finally enjoying our beautiful plump apricots here in the Vaucluse.

The most striking thing about the apricots is that they have gained their own equivalent of Appellation d'Origine Controlee--the Label Rouge, a sign of quality food production throughout France. Along with the cherries from the Mont Ventoux, these fruit set the standard for taste and quality anywhere on the continent. Originally from China, the humble apricot came to Provence from Armenia along the silk route. But it’s here in the Haut Vaucluse and the Drome that the tree and its fabulous fruit has truly flourished.

There are loads of varieties of apricots growing around the Vaucluse and Languedoc. But the two big guns are the Bergarouge and Orange de Provence (Orange Rubis). They thrive at an altitude of around 400 m above sea level, and particularly in the valleys around the town of Nyons. So if you head out towards Nyons from Vaison la Romaine you’re right in the heart of Apricot central. Local producers set up their stalls on the side of the road much like they do with the cherries early in the summer. So if you’re travelling around the region, do stop and grab yourself a treat.

In normal years we’d see the Early Blush variety in the supermarkets from the beginning of  June. This year with such long lasting cold weather in spring, everything’s about 2 weeks late. So I was seeing the first apricots in the markets just around the 15th of June. That will of course mean the season for our lovely late fruiting Tardive de Vaucluse  and Fantasme should come in late July/early August.

The Bergarouge and Orange de Provence are widely seen to be the best eating apricots, as well as for making jam. You can tell the Bergarouge from it’s colour: a fat orange skin, with a pinky red hue, bursting at the seams with juicy goodness. The Orange de Provence is slighly smaller, a medium sized apricot, with a light pink blush. And everyone who has the time gets out the pots and makes some lovely home made apricot jam from her mother’s recipe. Here in the upper Vaucluse, the jam you find in the markets is chunky--fat, sweet pieces of fruit in a thick unctuous syrup. Not too sweet, but absolutely delicious. Some people even leave in the apricot seeds which gives the jam a nice little crunch. And if you have the opportunity to go to one of the local markets around Carpentras, you’ll find a special apricot and lavender jam. Sounds slightly weird, I know. But believe me, it’s gorgeous. Put a little bit on the side with a perfectly cooked magret de canard, some mesclun salad leaves, and you’ve got a gourmet dinner in minutes.
The season is short, but the fruit is fabulous. So enjoy it while you can.

Katie can be reached at:

  1. We were in Provence a few years ago during the late spring, at what seemed like the height of apricot season, although I guess from your description it must have been the beginning. We stopped at a roadside stand after canoeing down the Gard river, under the Pont du Gard. The fruit we bought - well, as an American, I had never tasted apricots like that, even though I now live in southern California where fruit right off the tree is the norm. I pine for those French apricots. Thanks for reminding me that it's time to schedule my next visit.

  2. Katie, I'm anxious to get out the marmite à confiture and get going. Have you got a good apricot jam recipe? Thanks for the tips. Market day is tomorrow.

  3. The apricot confiture is one of my favorites. Really enjoyed this post! Hope you are keeping cool in Provence, Paris has been was better though.
    a bientôt,

  4. Julie: I've just disovered the Robata apricot here in Southern California. It is the best I've ever tasted. I wonder if this variety is grown in Provence. Just for my own info, I will ask the growers at the local farmers market where they are growing these apricots (frost or frost-free zone?) to see if this fruit could be grown in Provence.

    Amanda Frost

  5. Hey Julie gorgeous picture of those apricots, and lovely post! I can just smell the fragrant apricots simmering in the marmite!

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Friday, January 27, 2017

I would not have granted Confederate Major General John George Walker (above) a pardon in 1866. And not because he betrayed his nation. About one in four of the 31 million Americans actively supported the rebellion of the slave states in 1860, that killed 750,000 soldiers and civilians. But I believe John Walker should have been punished for the death of one young union private in particular, who died at the age of 23 for no other reason than because General Walker was stubborn and arrogant. And what inspired Walkers' belligerence was the unexpected appearance at the mouth of the Rio Grande River of the quixotic Union general Lew Wallace.
On 11 March, 1865, the bookish Hoosier met with Walker's subordinate General James Edwin Slaughter, and local regimental commander Colonel John Salmon Ford, at the southern end of South Padre Island in Port Isabel.
But instead of the expected topic of prisoner exchange, Wallace(above)  wanted to talk about an immediate cease fire west of the Mississippi, and the negotiated surrender of all rebel troops. Slaughter agreed to forward the proposal to the Confederate Commander of the entire trans-Mississippi, General Edmund Kirby Smith. But first the offer had to cross the desk of the Texas Commander, General John G. Walker.
On 25 March, from his headquarters in Houston, Walker berated Wallace for “seeking an obscure corner of the Confederacy to inaugurate negotiations.” Having insulted his own command, Walker admitted, “It would be folly...to pretend we are not tired of the war...”, but even discussing surrender said Walker, would render rebel officers “infamous for all time.” Walker then closed by saying, “With the blessing of God we will yet...extort from your government all that we ask.” Wallace accurately labeled Walker's rejection as “childish”. Nevertheless Walker was encouraged by his superior, General Smith,  to passively accept Wallace's cease fire.
The Trans-Mississippi (Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas) had been isolated from the rest of the Confederacy since the fall of Vicksburg in July of 1863. And while federal troops had withdrawn from Louisiana and Texas in 1864, they still occupied the barrier islands (above), blockading imports,  except for a trickle that could be hauled across the beach at Bagdad, Mexico, on the south shore of the Rio Grande river.
Walker was convinced his soldiers had driven off the Federal invaders, but an enlisted man stationed in south Texas wrote home, “The soldiers are getting very restless, and some talk of breaking up and going home.” At the end of December 1864, General Slaughter had only 2,600 soldiers fit for duty along the Rio Grande. By the end of March 1865, desertion had lowered that number to less than 1,200 men.
Then during April of 1865 the eastern Confederacy shattered. The Army of Northern Virginia surrendering on the 9th. , and on the 26th General Joe Johnston surrendered all Confederate forces in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. As their government melted away the inmates of The trans-Mississippi found the Confederate dollar was worth more as kindling than currency.
Plantation owners could only sell cotton to the government for worthless paper, and the few small farmers who were not in the army had trouble growing enough for themselves. By early May, in Texas' largest city of Houston, a 50 pound bag of flour cost the entire monthly salary of an army captain. Even to the die hard General Walker it was now obvious only a Yankee invasion could unite his disillusioned and hungry soldiers.
As far back as February of 1865 Union commanders on the barrier islands had wanted to raid the Brownsville area. That request was denied because Washington did not want to pay for land they expected to get back for free. But then a rumor reached the Federally occupied southern most of the barrier islands, Bazos, that the Confederate army was evacuating Brownsville.
The new commander on Bazos, 30 year old Brevet Brigadier General Harvey Barret (above), knew if he asked Washington for permission to check out the rumor, they would say no. So he didn't ask.
On the morning of 11 May, 1865, the “ambitious but inept” General Barret ordered Lieutenant Colonel David Branson to cross the lagoon over night and land 300 infantry and dismounted cavalry at Boca Chita – Small Mouth – of the Rio Grande River, before dawn. They were to carry 5 days rations and 100 rounds of ammunition each. If not resisted on landing, Branson was to push 7 miles east on the old military causeway road to the White Ranch, where the neck of land between the South Bay of the Bazos lagoon and the  Rio Grande was narrowest. There were thought to be about 65 rebel cavalry picketed at the ranch, but if he met no resistance Branson was to continue another 8 miles across the almost featureless landscape to the Palmetto Ranch. And if practical he was to probe another 12 miles toward Brownsville and Fort Brown. As a later report admitted, Barret's raid was “either without any definite purpose, or for some purpose that has never been made clear.” It was also without cavalry.
Colonel Branson's force of 8 companies – 250 men of the 62nd Colored infantry (above)  and 2 companies of the 2nd Texas (U.S.) Cavalry - 50 troopers without horses - landed at the end of the causeway about 2a.m. and pushed east ward. About 8:30 they got to the White Ranch, and found the place abandoned. Branson let his men grab a couple of hours sleep and then marched on to the Palmetto Ranch. As they approached the hacienda around noon on 12 May, the Federals took fire from some pickets, who fell back as the federals advanced. Left behind were 3 rebels on sick call, 2 horses and 4 Texas long horn cows, as well as rations for about 150 men. Burning the hacienda and supplies, Branson's men camped nearby.
The Confederates surprised at Palmetto Ranch were an under strength company of cavalry under Captain William Robinson. He gathered his 60 men in the sage brush a mile away, and sent word to his commander at Fort Brown, Colonel John Salmon “Rip” Ford.
Ford (above), who earned his nickname because he always filled his causality lists with the notation “Rest In Peace”,  responded that he would arrive the next morning with reinforcements. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Robinson realized the federals had no cavalry, and decided not to wait.
About 3a.m. he sent his men flanking the federal camp, and laid down an harassing fire. Unable to match the rebels for maneuverability, Branson woke his exhausted infantry and marched them in the dark back to the White Ranch with his prisoners – 3 rebels, a horse and 4 cows. Robinson chose not to follow. And amazingly, for all the marching and shooting, the only causality was one of the unmounted Texas federals. So far. It seemed nobody on either side wanted to be the last man killed in the Civil War.
Colonel Branson sent details of the encounter to General Barret back on Bazos Island, expecting to be ordered to withdraw. After all, the mission had been to confirm the rumor that Brownsville was being  evacuated. And with cavalry picketed 11 miles east of Brownsville, it was clear the rebels were still there. Instead, Barret himself arrived at the White Ranch just after dawn on 13 May, with 9 under strength companies – about 200 men - of the veteran 34th Indiana infantry. While the Hoosier soldiers rested, Barret pushed the 300 men of the 62nd and 2nd Texas Cavalry back toward Palmetto Ranch.
Marching out from Brownsville to meet the Yankees that morning was Colonel “Rip” Ford and 360 mounted cavalry, and six 6 pounder artillery pieces (above).
Given the flat, open terrain, with the only trees bordering the Rio Grande River, the battle would be decided by who best used their cavalry and artillery, and Barret had none, and no combat experience with either. Why he was being foolish was explained to Barret that afternoon, when after a morning spent sniping at each other - again with no causalities - he tried to outflank the Confederates. About 4pm on the afternoon of 13 May, Ford's mounted troopers easily out flanked Barret's flanking maneuver.
In his after action report, Barret admitted what he should have realized before he launched his misadventure. “....a heavy body of cavalry and a section of (artillery),  under cover of the thick chaparral on our right, had already succeeded in flanking us...our position became untenable. We therefore fell back...This movement...having to be performed under a heavy fire from both front and flank.” In other words, trying to move infantry in cavalry country, without artillery or cavalry support, was foolish. Barret's excuse was he didn't know any better.
Luckily, the 34th Indiana now arrived, and threw out the 48 men of Company B as skirmishers, to cover the retreat of Barret's over extended 62nd regiment.
In that line stretched across the hard dry chaparral, knelt Private John Jefferson Williams (above), a 23 year old blacksmith from Anderson, Indiana. The young man had been in the army since September of 1863, joining the unit after it participated in the capture of Vicksburg. And after duty in occupied New Orleans, this was Private William's first battle. And his last.
Firing in the skirmish line, Private Williams stood to reload his musket when a rebel cavalryman fired a ball that entered William's skull just above his right eye, killing him instantly.
Ford's cavalrymen herded the isolated Federal skirmishers into a bend of the Rio Grande River, and forced them to surrender, along with 30 stragglers from the 62nd and 2nd Texas.
The sacrifice of Company B and private Williams, allowed the 62nd infantry to form a longer skirmish line behind the retreating 34th. Their retreat was then covered by another line of the 34th Indiana. And thus began a leap frog 4 hour march, which Colonel Ford described as “a run”, all the way back to the White Ranch. From there the enclosing swamps restricted Colonel Ford's flanking attacks, and he satisfied himself with lobbing an occasional artillery shell, and long range musket fire. The last shots of this, the last battle of the American Civil War, were fired by the last skirmish line of the 62nd infantry, before boarding their boats for Bazos island.. Seeing the Federals heading to the water, Colonel Ford told his troopers, “Boys, we have done finely. We will let well enough alone, and retire.”
The final causality count from this final 2 day battle was, on the Union side, 4 dead – 2 from the 62nd , and one each the 2nd Texas and the 34th Indiana, 12 wounded, and 101 captured. The Confederates suffered “five or six wounded” according to Colonel Ford. The low "butcher's bill" indicated that not only were few of the soldiers on either side willing to die for their "country", they were not willing to kill for it either. The last man to die in the “Battle of Palmetto Ranch” had been John Jefferson Williams, the last man to be killed by enemy fire in the American Civil War.  The $45 found in his pocket was sent to his widow in Anderson, Indiana. And even he would not have died if Confederate Major General John George Walker had not insisted on fighting for a month after the war should have come to an end.
The next day, 14 May, 1865, the 400 man Confederate garrisoned in Galveston, Texas, tried to desert with their weapons. A soldier in Shreveport, Louisiana, wrote that, ”Mutiny and wholesale desertion was openly talked of.” A senior Confederate officer described “mobs of disorderly soldiery, thronging the roads, interrupting travel and making life and property exceedingly insecure”. On 20 May half the troops left in Texas did desert, and the remaining half refused to try to stop them.
Final proof of the collapse of the Trans Mississippi was that not only were the prisoners of the 62nd Colored Infantry captured at Palmetto Ranch treated like full prisoners of war, but they and their white Union comrades were all released by Colonel Ford within a few days. The rebellion of the slave states was over, even in the hearts and minds of the die hard rebels. Finally, on 25 May, General Walker himself admitted defeat, disbanded his command, and headed for Mexico with his wife and children.
Six months later John George Walker was in Liverpool, Britain, writing to U.S. President Andrew Johnston, asking for a pardon and restoration of his citizenship.
After a year of lobbying in person in Washington, he signed a pledge that he did, “solemnly swear in presence of ALMIGHTY GOD that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States... and...abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations...with reference to the emancipation of Slaves. So help me God.”  The  “ambitious but inept” Barret did not know better than to try and keep the war going. But the experienced professional John George Walker, certainly should have.
In November of 1869 the stubborn Walker (above) went to work for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, and in the spring of 1873 was seeking to attract European immigrants to the lone star state. In 1885 Walker was named U.S. consul to Bogota, Columbia by President Grover Cleveland, and while in Washington, D.C. John Walker died of a stroke at 72 years of age, in 1893. He was never held to public account for his part in the last death in the American Civil War.

The captured men of the Indiana 34th regiment buried the body of Private John Jefferson Williams about 200 yards south of the walls of Fort Brown (above)  and 100 yards from the Rio Grande River.
After the war the fort's burial ground became the Brownsville National Cemetery (above), where the earthly remains of Private Williams remained undisturbed for 44 years.
Then,  in 1909,  some 1,500 bodies, including that of Private Willaims, were disinterred.
He was reburied in the 8 acre Alexandria National Cemetery, in Pineville, Louisiana. The last man to be killed in combat during the American Civil War is still there, buried in plot 797.  Proof yet again, that starting a war is easy, but stopping always costs more than anybody wants to pay.
Rest In Peace
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15 May 2006

Tonight's Presidential Address

In a little less than four hours, the president is scheduled to address the nation. The subject of the address is immigration, and it has been widely reported that Mr. Bush will announce that he is sending the National Guard to help secure the border with Mexico. The president will undoubtedly give a number of reasons for this in the address (I predict that we will hear about 9-11 once or twice tonight) but the real reasons are purely political.

Bush is in desparate need of some sort of "win" right now. His poll numbers are heading toward Nixon-land. He's under 70% support from Republicans, and under 60 with Conservatives right now. His popularity with Democrats, Liberals, and Independents is getting so low that it risks becoming statistically indistinguishable from zero. He really doesn't care too much about the people who are against him, but the drop with the base is starting to really concern the administration.

They need a win. They need to show that they can get together with congress and solve a problem, and the solution needs to be bipartisan - involving both moderate and conservative Republicans. Right now, immigration is probably their only hope - social security, taxes, and health care definitely won't work anymore, and the war is off limits.

Unfortunately, immigration isn't working out too well. The House of Representatives wants to round up and bring to justice all of the illegals, and ship home all 12 million of them. The president and the senate want an immigration bill that is at least slightly responsive to reality, and recognizes that we might not actually be able to afford 12 million one-way airfares just now. Instead, they want to allow illegal aliens who have been here for long periods of time without getting into trouble to move into a legal status.

Right now, neither group is willing to budge, so the president is stepping up. In a bold move, he's sending thousands of National Guard troops (who, we all know, have nothing better to do with their time) down to the border. He's hoping that this will show the House Republicans that he's serious about enforcement, so that they'll back down enough to let some sort of guest worker program pass.

To put it another way, our troops are being entrusted with a mission of critical importance. They are being sent to guard our border from the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Their mission there is to allow the Republicans to make a deal with the Republicans, saving the President from political disaster.
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Archive | Scotland

Scotland travel information

Fabulous Friday Foto: An Out of the Way Red Phone Booth in the Scottish Highlands

Red Phone Booth Scotland

Ah, the ubiquitous red telephone booth.  It is such a well known symbol of all that is Brittish.  You never have to worry about being far from a phone in the UK.  You can be well connected even out here, on the western edge of Scotland in the Scottish Highlands on the Isle of Skye, where we […]


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Friday, February 13, 2015

Chanel Cosmic Violine

Short and sweet: found Chanel Cosmic Violine on eBay for a decent price; bought it; wasn't sure I liked it; put it on and loved it.  It is more brown-based than I thought it would be, but that doesn't stop the beautiful, red microglitter (shimmer?) from peeking through.  It's definitely a polish I would keep for a 'classy' occasion.  Two smooth coats and topcoat provided the glossy look below.

Chanel Cosmic Violine

Would you shell out money for Chanel polishes or do you feel they are overrated?

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  1. Oh wow! I love this colour! I have never tried a Chanel. Taboo is the one I really want.


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ROTHBURY 2009 – Lions & Hyenas

ROTHBURY 2009 – Lions & Hyenas

a note from the Editor’s Desk

Sunday, July 5, 2009
Contributing Writer : Rashon A. Massey
Contributing Photographer : Andrew “Disco Santa” Wyatt
On Board Crew – Benjamin Landsman, Aaron “Bosco” Miller, Raymond Grubb, Garret Woodward, Joe Young, Portia Mathews, Andrew “Disco Santa” Wyatt, Mr. & Mrs. Jason ‘n Brooke Turgeon :-), Melissa Mooney, Anna Whalen
[ Yup, the WHOLE family! ]

Vigilance is the one word I would use to describe the persistent efforts to make ROTHBURY 2009 a success to remember.  In fact – the cast and crew that is the production team putting on ROTHBURY have been working in hyper overdrive to assure everyone that the memories and music from the 08 inaugural year never died… even though the road to this year was paved in uncertainty.

After a year of legal battling, the festival comes back stronger than ever, and from an inside scoop – full ownership of the Double JJ Ranch was not acquired until two days before crew arrived.  Yonkers!  With the production staff upping their game in a much-needed race to secure ROTHBURY as the cool, music driven eco-summit of today, new bridges had to be crossed; Choppy waters had to be tested; Fresh fish had to start jumping, and you know, when the cotton is high during this time of summer, those fish love to bite.

This festival has been the dawning of a new era : ‘lions and hyenas in one prideland (circa Lion King)’.

You see, a long time ago in festival seasons past, media and artist did not interact.  Media was kept in an (sometimes) air-conditioned tent, given bottled water until they ran out and were told ‘never boss up on musicians’.  At ROTHBURY 2009, all conventions have been broken.  We co-exist in an area known as the Broken Spoke, a free range for artist, press, staff and guests to talk, drink (FREE!  ALL DAY!) ‘n socialize like it was after prom.  I haven’t seen people radiate with a golden sheen of happiness in Michigan in quite some time, and that should stand out as a testament to the power of what this festival could truly contribute to the possible revitalization of the state.

The sets have truly been top-notch but what distinguishes ROTHBURY from the other festivals are the whiz and whirls that elevate the experience.  Sherwood Forest is back with a bitchin’ burlesque show.  And who can forget … Sherwood Forest.

You see – I am still figuring out what is ROTHBURY, and I think the festival organizers are feeling the same way.  Scotty, the man behind Revolving Door, shared, “ROTHBURY is the new Woodstock,” and though I understand his sentiments, I think he meant this:  ROTHBURY is the best chance we have at merging ideals, music, community and action in one forum throughout the Midwest; an opportunity, larger than a drug counter culture, that should be celebrated through and through.

In the Broken Spoke, we had our Mi Photo Booth, the GROOVE BOOTH, stationed behind a table of FREE SHIT!  And who doesn’t love free shit?  We will be uploading all (Well, some gotta be censored :-) ) photo booth snap shots, Garret and Portia are writing our article coverage while Disco Santa and Kerry from will be the photographic eye behind lens.  Bosco and Ray have a lot of editing so we will share video footage ASAP.

For now, enjoy a couple of early ROTHBURY favorites by Disco Santa :-)  and our Summer Camp Part 2 video will be uploaded soon.

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Sentence Examples

  • Evidently. I'm wondering why you don't enlist help.
  • As it was, he had to enlist the help of Princess in order to move it a short distance.
  • It was inevitable, too, that ancient monarchies should enlist polytheistic conceptions of divine or half-divine men in support of the dynasties; "Seu deos regesve canit deorum Sanguinem," Horace (Odes, iv.
  • While there he probably came under the influence of the Dominicans, who were doing their utmost to enlist within their ranks the ablest young scholars of the age, for in spite of the opposition of his family, which was overcome only by the intervention of Pope Innocent IV., he assumed the habit of St Dominic in his seventeenth year.
  • The non-commissioned officers are, as usual in universal service armies, drawn partly from men who voluntarily enlist at a relatively early age, and partly from men who at the end of their compulsory period of service are re-engaged.

What's another word for enlist?

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: The Spirit of Dublin

The ever present flower ladies
'Living Statues' busking on Grafton Street
There is always plenty of live music on show.
Tourist travel options: the old and the new
Click on images to view larger versions.

Comments on this blog are always deeply appreciated; however, in the spirit of true collegiality, I ask that you do not write something you would not say to me in person.

This blog is CAPTCHA free, but because of spammers, comments moderation is in operation for posts older than two days.

Any comments that are mean-spirited, include URLs which are not connected to the post topic, contain misinformation, or in any way resemble advertising, will be removed.

Cheers, Jennifer

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The Unsuitablog

Exposing Ethical Hypocrites Everywhere!

Monthly Undermining Task, November 2010: The Online Infocrunch

Posted by keith on November 9th, 2010

Where do you go for information? I guess, because you are reading this as a web page, then your primary resource for information that you need in a hurry (and aren’t we all in a hurry nowadays?) is the Internet. As far as corporations go, online presence has now eclipsed printed and television media as the primary location for information. Well, I say “information” but that would be crediting the corporate world with far too much honesty: what I really mean is that the Internet is the primary location for propaganda. Call it PR, corporate information, spinning…whatever you like, but what the corporate world presents to the public is always going to be propaganda.

The Internet is manna to business, not particularly because it presents new opportunities for selling stuff – after all, the richest man in history (John D. Rockefeller, whose fortune is still being used to fund organisations like made his fortune in an era when newspapers were king – but because the “information” can be so much more tightly controlled. Want to know about ExxonMobil, and most people will just type “Exxon” into Google and, at the time of writing, the three top hits will be ExxonMobil corporate links. The fourth proper link, not unexpectedly, is to the Wikipedia entry; something I will come to later. By controlling the portals of “information” ExxonMobil are able to control the message that is sent out to the world – to wit:

And a lovely spinny molecular graphic which, presumably is some kind of hydrocarbon.

What if the logo changed?

There, that’s a lot more accurate – it would really piss the company off, and take the rosy hue from the public perception that ExxonMobil have been so careful to cultivate. But here’s the thing: no one is going to see my new logo because (a) it’s not on the official ExxonMobil websites, (b) my own website doesn’t have much presence compared to the other links, (c) even if it did, it wouldn’t fool anyone that this is the real ExxonMobil logo because it’s not on a corporate web site. And that’s besides the obvious problem of being sued for passing the logo off as genuine.

That said, spoofs are most definitely part of the game on the Internet, which is why none of mine have ever been subject to a “take down” demand; the corporations are far too savvy to draw any attention to something they really wouldn’t like in the public eye, whether it’s a more truthful logo, the wording on a pretend “genuine” website, or a Wikipedia entry. Which brings me to the next point: I bet from time to time you have wanted to change something on Wikipedia; you might have even made a change, only to find that the article reverts back to the original as soon as your back is turned. Moderation exists on Wikipedia – by far the most referenced source of general information on the Internet, if not the entire global information corpus – to prevent vandalism; regardless of how well-meaning changes may be, if a change is made for nefarious reasons then it is considered to be vandalism. This isn’t looking very easy, is it?

So what about creating a new website that will be referenced as much, if not more than the corporate propaganda one? You’ll be lucky. It can be the finest example of the genre; it can be Digg-ed, Like-d and Reddit-ed to the hilt, but to hit a major corporation with a Googlebomb is asking for a minor miracle. There have to be easier ways to undermine the world of online information.

Well, there are; but you can also do all of the aforementioned as well – you just have to be smarter than smart about it, which is what I am going to try and help with here. I may not be clever enough to actually execute all of this, but I reckon the two of us (and anyone else you want to work with) can do a pretty good job screwing up the online corporate propaganda machine if we set our minds and hands to it…

Quick Wins

The following Undermining actions are low risk and easy to do, so there’s really no excuse not to do at least a couple of them when you have a moment to spare. The first one, is one that sticks pins in corporations’ feet. Social networking has been monopolised by Facebook – and there are plenty of bad things to say about Facebook now, including how it makes people feel they have achieved something useful, when they haven’t – and many corporations, along with the more corporate-friendly NGOs (like The Nature Conservancy and WWF) have created Fan Groups to give themselves a wider online presence. If you have a Facebook account, then I would encourage you to look for these Groups, join them and make mischief. The worst that can happen is that you get blocked, but as with the Nestle group, enough people who “Like” but don’t like has completely destroyed their social networking presence, despite Nestle recruiting hundreds of people to make positive comments.

You might like to try the same with The Nature Conservancy and Chevron; keep your eye out for more, because the corporations would love to control social media as much as they control the mass media.

Talking of the mass media, virtually every newspaper in the industrial world now has a web presence, and in very many cases it positively loves people to comment on stories. Some papers like The Guardian have a very high level of comments per article, but some – like the New York Times, surprisingly – get very few comments on the articles they open up. This one on BHP Billiton, is crying out for a few negative comments. The point is that you and I are almost certainly not going to get enough web connectivity to attract readers to blogs about companies; the big newspaper web sites, on the other hand, are highly syndicated and reposted, so that’s the place to do the Undermining.

Some of the more widely read blogs, such as Huffington Post and Mashable, cover corporate stories on a regular basis – again, negative comments, correcting the assumption that growth and profit are a good thing (amongst other lies) are always worth a shot. Even if you get flamed, you will have still made a point in a place where lots of people are likely to see it. The Technorati list is a good place to start looking for potential Undermining targets.

The following three Undermining Actions are a little more involved – in fact they can be very involved if you want them to be – and are listed in approximate order of both risk and also effort. There is no real correlation between risk and effort, and often the more effort you put into something, the less risk you entail; but if something requires more effort full stop to attain, then there are more opportunities to make mistakes, so be careful if you find yourself biting off more than you can chew: it may be that you are not up to the task, and that’s no bad thing to admit.

I’m not one of those people who generally looks at Wikipedia and thinks, “That’s completely wrong, it must be changed!” Part of the reason is that as a media form, Wikis are supposed to be self-regulating, and the more people involved in the Wiki – in general – the better the self-regulation. Ok, there are some Wikis, like the infamous Conservapedia, that have such a bulk of prejudiced users that any attempt to correct information is doomed to failure (that said, it would be fun to try…) but in the main, a good Wiki, like Wikipedia is going to end up about as balanced as it’s possible to be in the context of Industrial Civilization. You can’t really expect it to go against the tenets of the industrial system, but you can make it more objective.

As an example, I stumbled across an article (presumably) posted by an employee of either IBM or one of their PR firms. The article in question was promoting the virtues of IBM’s Green Computing, and was a blatant advert. Simply by marking the article with the appropriate “Speedy Deletion” tag – in this case {{db-promo}} – the article was deleted by an administrator, never to be seen again. One bit of greenwash consigned to the virtual dustbin.

Of course, there is more to Undermining than just correcting obvious bias: what about exposing the real truth behind the corporate system? Yes, you can do it on Wikipedia, but you need to tread lightly…

It is easy for a person to vandalize Wikipedia. Since anyone can edit any page, the possibility is always there. The vandal might add profanity or inappropriate images to a page, might erase all the content of a page, etc.

However, there are tools that make it easy for the community to find and remove vandalism. There are also other tools available on Wikipedia to help corral users who are persistently destructive. For example:

* It is easy for anyone who sees vandalism to revert pages back to a pre-vandalism state.
* It is easy for any user to alert the rest of the Wikipedia community to vandalism that is in progress.
* It is possible for an admin to block or ban users (or IP addresses) who are persistently destructive.
* It is possible for an admin to protect a page temporarily to keep people from changing it.
* It is possible for an admin to delete an inappropriate page.

Tools like these make it easy for members of the community to quickly eliminate vandalism and prevent vandals from coming back.

It’s no good just steaming in with a rant as, certainly in the case of higher-profile pages, the changes will be undone. Therefore, you have three options:

1) Make sure the changes you make are evidence-based, referenced and written properly. Anything that suggests vandalism will be reverted. You have to justify inclusion of new information, and removal of someone else’s, so you might need to refer to “reinstating balance” or suchlike in your notes.

2) Make subtle textual changes that alter the meaning of entries, undermining any positive image the company or organisation may benefit from. Always mark changes as “This is a minor edit”, and explain it is for clarity.

3) Make changes to unwatched entries. From the point of view of a Underminer, the most useful Wikipedia page by far is (this is probably second: as it indicates those entries you cannot “vandalise” (a.k.a. make more accurate) without comeback. Also, look for the last edit date: if it is more than a year ago then you should be able to get away with more nefarious changes, even blatant hacking without the change being reverted.

In all cases, make changes either anonymously (for minor edits) or under a disposable alias.

Online Subvertising

Subvertising is the act of undermining the message that advertisers wish to present. There are many ways to do this, and I have gone into a great deal of detail elsewhere on The Unsuitablog. Here is the related Monthly Undermining Task, here is the Subvertising Gallery, and here is the Earth First! guide to subvertising billboards for anyone who wants to take it to a more practical level.

Assuming you have a new, more accurate graphic, the wider the coverage of it, the better; this does not mean getting a few mates to post it on their blogs – unless those blogs are read by thousands of people* – it means that the subvertising has to effectively usurp the advertisers’ message in situ, just like a subvertised billboard does. The difficulty is that, as I said above, you can’t just change the corporate web site (I’m sure there are a one or two people willing to hack sites just to change a logo, but it’s a big risk for a change that will likely only last a few minutes); you need to find places where the logo or advert is normally placed online and find a way of replacing it. Wikipedia is, of course, one such place – with the provisos above; and as an experiment I have changed the logo on the Rainforest Alliance entry:

Somehow, I don’t think this will last long, but are there better places for subvertising? What about getting your logo on Google Images? Google Images is often used as a place for people to download corporate graphics. If you have a fairly well connected blog, like this one, or are able to contribute to something like that then you could be onto a winner at least with smaller companies, organisations or campaigns. The Avon “Hello Green Tomorrow” campaign was something I blogged about, and as a result it immediately went to near the top of the Google search rankings for “hello green tomorrow”, but the graphic I used didn’t do so well in the Google Images ranking. What I did wrong was not to include anything in the Alt Text – so as another experiment, I have inserted the following: “Hello Green Tomorrow Avon logo”. Prior to making that change, the logo languished on page 3. Almost immediately, the image search has placed it; well, here you go:

I’m sure you can be more creative than that.

*You can check how many visitors almost any site has by going to

The final action, and no doubt the most complex, is the act of Spoofing. “Spoofing” means pretending to be somone or something you aren’t, but appearing on the surface to be that thing; a very common spoofing method is usually known as Phishing, which you will no doubt have encountered from time to time and, I’m sure, not been fooled by.

The basic techniques of phishing are certainly valid in spoofing a company or organisation, but like any method in this arena, they are not for the faint-hearted. However, by using a generic example of spoofing a corporation, including the option of phishing – not for money, but to damage their reputation – I can give an insight into at least the fundamentals of carrying out a large-scale spoof.

The best recent example of a corporate spoof (in both senses of the word) was that carried out by The Yes Men on Chevron in October, 2010. The non-technical details have been blogged by Andy Bichlbaum; but in a technical sense, what they did falls pretty much within the scope of the following, give or take a few steps.

1) Create your web page(s): make it as close to the look and feel of those of your target as works with the nature of the spoof you are carrying out. Ideally you should use as much of the source code of the original web site as you can, as well as (for all that you are not changing) using the original links. Test your page(s) thoroughly in every common browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari should cover it).

1a) If you are doing a complete bait-and-switch, i.e. presenting something completely different than the original, then the code is up to you; though be aware that anything more than a fake “holding” page will immediately be seen as a spoof.

2) Work out your hosting and URL redirection methodology. I’m assuming here that you have bought an appropriate domain name, such as, otherwise your spoof will have to be of the Phishing variety (see 2a) If you have admin rights where the web page(s) will be hosted then you can control the way the URL displays, but will need to change the DNS record for the domain, and anyone with a bit of nous will be able to find out the details of your server(s). Alternatively, you can just set up a Framed Redirection via your domain provider, which will mask the URL of your spoofed page(s).

2a) For a straight Phishing attack you will be using what appears to be the official URL to go to the spoof page(s). Most anti-virus software will detect phishing in emails, but you could always use this technique in forums and blogs where you can edit the HTML. Even if you use phishing, you will probably still need the redirection or DNS change in place.

3) If you are not sending out a press release or invitation to view and just relying on the spoof, then that’s all you need to do; but you won’t get much traffic unless you have a really convincing URL (see so you will at least need to publicise your efforts as in 2a) above. If you are sending out a press release then you will need to set up at least one mailbox under your fake domain name, otherwise your information will lack credibility. If you can use a third party email client then that will protect your personal details (and the security of your own computer); most domain providers have that facility for a small additional fee. Be aware, though, that this is a form of abuse, so you may lose your account if you are found out.

4) Send out your press releases: make them as similar to the official press releases as you can, including embedded logos (proper ones) and contact details as appropriate. It is up to you whether you respond (the Yes Men don’t tend to), but if you do then keep all responses in the official form of the original. Telephone numbers are not recommended unless you have a call centre to hand.

5) Follow up. As per the Chevron spoof, a good follow up, turning the tables, can really extend the life of any spoof: my own blog on this contains the original text of the Yes Men emails.

Note that I have been fairly light on technical detail: if you are not technically adept at something like this then you either need to learn, or find someone who is and you can trust to help you. This is also only a rough template – there are so many ways of spoofing that are more complex, but I think this provides as least a starting point for those of you who may, very soon, be undermining the very fabric of the online corporate propaganda machine.

4 Responses to “Monthly Undermining Task, November 2010: The Online Infocrunch”

  1. B Says:

    Resist the empire from the comfort of your home office.

    On spoofing: I finally got a chance to try this not too long ago. I learned a few things.
    1) You can use the free software HTTrack ( to copy an entire site. Then, you can alter the code and upload it to your server. Flash seems to be more difficult to copy or at least I haven’t figure out why it doesn’t copy over yet.
    2) Godaddy, and I suspect others, don’t care to check on any of the “WHOIS” data that accompanies a domain registration, fill in whatever you want. By using paypal to pay the registration cost you can avoid giving them any information that can be used to track you down later. The company I spoofed made all kinds of legal threats but never was able to get my name, home address, phone number, or personal email (I always make a new yahoo account for things like this).
    3) My site was taken down by the host about 6 hours after the press release went out. Host received emails from the spoofee demanding it be removed on legal grounds. However, I was able to still access the account and simply re-uploaded the index.html (main page) and the site re-appeared. It then took the spoofee 2 months to get an ICANN ruling that allowed them to take over the domain name I used for the spoof.

    On images: Posting on Flikr with the good titles and descriptions may also help elevate the google images rank of you subvertising.

  2. rl Says:

    Children at play. What a yaaaawn

  3. keith Says:

    When I finish “Underminers” give me your email address and I’ll send you the PDF. Sometimes you don’t have to smash things up to change things; in fact usually that’s a distraction from the real stuff that’s going on. Imagine the impact of just one decent spoof a day going to the world’s mainstream press: after a while they won’t know what to believe.

  4. keith Says:

    Thanks for the good advice, B, especially the last one – I notice that The Yes Men have handed over to Chevron, which I consider to be a cop-out. They could plead “public interest” in informing people of the way Chevron operate, and get a good deal of press coverage if they are threatened with legal action.

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Best Singapore Food Blogs - My Favorite Top 3

After the recent noise over Singapore food bloggers issuing juvenile challengers to celebrity chefs, I thought today might be a good day to list down the really great food blogs and bloggers from this island.

I have previously done a top 5 list or something, but that was when I first started out blogging myself, and had little knowledge of the food community here.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The Gordon Ramsay Hawker Challenge - A Bad Idea, And a Better Way to Engage a Michelin Star Chef

This is another topic I have been avoiding for a week now, as I originally thought it would just pass by like any other weekly water cooler topic. But, evidently it has not.

I wanted to avoid talking about it as I felt such triviality did not warrant a genuine blog post, but with this latest Gordon Ramsay hawker challenge, I am compelled to put this down.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Sergeant Chicken Rice - The Return of Sergeant Kiang in Hougang Kopitiam Food Court

I have been waiting to write this post for some time now, almost 10 months in fact, and the reason for this is twofold.

For one, I have hardly, if ever reviewed any food from a food court, and the reason is simple. Nothing really special ever comes out from food courts, and most of the time, you are getting overpriced but inferior hawker fare.


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The Slender Man Wiki

goood night

Cash12121 February 9, 2013 User blog:Cash12121

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, and every year before this one I spent this "national holiday" sitting comfortably at home, smugly congratulating myself on not being one of those exhausted consumers scratching and clawing their way through the stampeding masses on safari for the latest toy, television, or gadget. Every year I scoffed at the idea of waking up at 3am to stand in line in the cold November air, waiting to rush madly into the local superstore in a vain attempt to quell my own (and now, my children's) materialistic desires. Every year I refused to participate in this cavalcade of consumerism--every year, that is, until this one.

My wife is very much not like me. I hate crowds. She thrives on the chaos of a packed parking lot and the buzz of a crowded mall. I hate shopping. It breathes life into her soul. But I love my wife very much, and because I love her very much, I found myself at a WalMart teeming with shoppers at 12 midnight on Black Friday.

We all stood idly by large pallets covered in wrapping paper, waiting for the signal to come over the intercom that the clock had struck 12:01 and the free for all could begin. My pallet contained Lego sets of 405 pieces for a scant $15. Cyrus loves Legos. This is a great value. I can purchase his happiness at Christmas and pass on the savings to Eisley and Ezekiel. These were the thoughts running through my head when an unintelligible voice cackled over the intercom and my fellow consumers began tearing through the wrapping paper. There was a rush from behind me as arms came flailing through every available opening grabbing at the blue boxes (the green ones were Duplo--lame) full of Junior's happiness. I grabbed my box and moved away as quickly as I could, searching out a part of the store less populated by overly motivated parents.

When all was said and done, Breena and I managed to get what we came for (and a little bit extra, of course--that's how they get you!) without doing too much damage to our bodies, our bank account, and possibly our souls. This is not something I would ever do by myself or for myself. I participated in Black Friday because I love my wife and I wanted to spend time with her in her world. And because of that, it was fun.

Black Friday isn't for me. Maybe it's for you. It's certainly a smart consumer choice if you're willing to sacrifice some sleep and physical comfort. You can get your Christmas shopping done and spend less money doing it. But, for me, Black Friday isn't about savings, it's about love. I love you Breena!

1 comment:

Breena said...

Aww...I love you!! It was fun :)


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Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Meatless Monday Loaf (Gluten Free)

This loaf isn't just for Mondays it's flavoursome any day of the week! It's especially good with roast potatoes, slow baked tomatoes and wilted spinach with a smathering of brown onion gravy (but that's just my opinion!) This creation was a combination of a few different recipes that I worked together, so I cannot claim it as entirely my own creation (but I guess that's true for most recipes, an idea here, an idea there...)
It's a solid, hearty loaf, so feel free to adapt it to suit your own particular tastes. But don't leave out he cacao powder (or cocoa powder) as it really makes the flavour of this dish! If the mixture is too dry, add some water, if it's too wet, add a bit more besan or almond meal. As with most baking, the quality of the ingredients, the humidity of the day etc will all effect the recipe, so do it by feel.

Thumb length piece lemon grass
a couple of slices of ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon vegemite
1/4 cup cacao (or regular cocoa powder)
2 tablespoons ground sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons ground pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup besan flour
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1 chopped onion
handful chopped mushrooms
2-3 porcini mushrooms soaked in 1/4 cup boiling water
chopped fresh oregano, parsley, and thyme
balsamic vinegar
polenta to dust

Soak porcini mushrooms in boiling water, and set aside.
Saute onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and carrot until soft. Add mushrooms and spinach, cook for another couple of minutes, then set aside.
Mix besan flour, almond meal, cacao powder, and ground sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Drain porcini mushrooms and reserve liquid. Chop and add to vegetable mixture, then add all to dry ingredients, using your hands to mix through.
Add vegemite to reserved poricini liquid and blend to smooth consistency. Add to mixture, and combine thoroughly. Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. If mixture is too dry, add some more (it should be like cookie dough).
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Spoon mixture in and press firmly down.
Add a splash more balsamic over the top of the loaf, and dust with polenta.
Cover the top, and bake in the oven for approximately 50 minutes.

Leave for 5 minutes, and then gently pull out from loaf tin. Cut into slices and serve with gravy!
P.S Leftovers are also really good in a bun with dijon, lettuce, and tomato.

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

try Spur's salmon with what Food & Wine magazine writer Anya von Bremzen calls the "ultimate silkiness"

Utilizing the sous vide method to turn out an exquisite cold smoked salmon, Spur Gastropub's Chefs, Brian McCracken and Dana Tough received the ultimate accolades in the April 09 issue from food writer and author von Bremzen.

Von Bremzen, author of such books as The New Spanish Table and contributing editor to magazines like Travel & Leisure, has written the F&W article “Should Fine Dining Die”.

In it she discusses, “Now that chefs are busy opening burger joints and dumpling houses, the days seem numbered for fancy dining rooms. Von Bremzen makes a case for why we need haute places more than ever.”

After a chat in the article with chefs like Laurent Gras and Ferran Adrià, von Bremzen gives a shout-out to Spur’s salmon. “The salmon on the crostini at Spur Gastropub in Seattle is cooked sous vide for ultimate silkiness.”

Congratulations Chefs!
And for the advanced home cook with great kitchen equipment, email me if you'd like the recipe for this dish which the Chefs have very kindly shared.
photo for Spur by Kristin Zwiers

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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Seattle Met Magazine’s Style Editor Declares Film Festival in a Box A Classic Gift

Laura Cassidy reports:

“Inside the pizza-box like packaging, a themed film fest of indie flicks awaits. Zombies, maybe? Love stories? Documentaries, anyone? Watch ’em, discuss ’em, call one the best, one the worst, bond over your hatred of the villain, stay up all night dissecting the plot lines. Like a middle school counselor intent on you sharing your feelings, IndieFlix wants to get you talking about stories and characters. It’s the flip-side of the fun factor, the dinner-and-a-movie thing’s higher calling.”

Thank you Laura for your spot-on style.

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Must See: 9 Months of Pregnancy in 90 Seconds (VIDEO)

Julie Ryan Evans Awww!

90 Second Pregnancy VideoWhen you're pregnant it often feels like the months drag on and on. Even those who love every knocked-up moment will admit that sometimes it feels like they've been pregnant forever. Then the baby arrives, and we look back on that time as just a fleeting moment before things got real.

One couple captured this sentiment beautifully in a time-lapse video that's been making its way around the web. In just 90 seconds, they depict their journey from finding out they were pregnant until the baby's arrival. It's amazing how much emotion they're able to convey in such a short amount of time. See for yourself after the jump.

It's so simple, but so powerful. I love the way you see them change homes, and imagine them preparing for the baby's birth. As much as it's intriguing to watch her body change, I have to say I'm also fascinated by her moving bun and the pets coming and going as well.

More from The Stir: Woman in Labor Hangs Upside-Down for 75 Days to Save Her Babies

It's a gorgeous way to document a pregnancy, and a perfect look at the miracle of life when all goes as planned. Of course, some of us who struggled with infertility and traumatic births would have videos that look much different than this, and it definitely skips right over any of the hard parts of the process, but it's a lovely look at one couple's beautiful story regardless.

The end scene is the best with beautiful Amelie Amaya joining her parents. I can't wait to see how they decide to document her life.

Do you love this video? Would the video of your pregnancy look similar?

Image via YouTube

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baby prep, labor & delivery, motherhood, the pregnant life