10 simple things to make the world a better place

A lot of people complain about the current state of the world and say it's pretty much going to hell in a hand basket, or it's going to end in the new future ( The Mayan Calendar says in the year 2012). Well I have 10 simple steps to make the world a better place, only if we ALL followed it! It is really that simple and doable.

1. Population: No one on Earth should have more than 2 biological children-That's it! If you want more kids, than you need to Adopt (There are tons of kids out there who need to be adopted). Do not have any at all if you are on drugs, crazy/schizophrenic, cannot afford them, and/or are incapable of taking care of them for financial, emotional, psychological or physically reasons. The world cannot support the number of people it has in it now, stop adding to it's burden.


2. Resources: Conserve all resources. Remember we have a limited number of natural resources and that's it! Once they are gone, they are gone forever! So turn off the faucet when you're brushing your teeth, never take a shower that is more than 5 minutes, turn off any unused lights, don't leave your computer on all night, use public transportation as much as possible, drive hybrid cars, recycle, use solar and wind power as much as possible. Refuse to use products that waste natural resources and/or are not GREEN as it were. The list in endless and we can all do our part. Also demand that all cars made and driven in the future are hybrids or electric cars, we are way too dependant on (foreign) oil.

3. Education: You must get an education! It doesn't matter what it is in or how long it takes, just make sure you get a proper education. Education is one of the most important things you can ever acquire in your lifetime and it is the only thing that can never be taken away by anyone for any reason. It is important that everyone has as high a level of education as possible. We should all be college graduates, earning a degree in something. So many problems in the world would simply vanish is everyone had a proper education.


4. Eat right, Diet and Exercise: I know this is something everyone knows, but who actually does it? This goes especially for children or the parents of children. You control what they eat, how much they watch TV and if they go outside to play or not. If we were all healthier, eating right and exercising a lot of the world's problems would (also) cease to be. Medical costs would go way down, adult and childhood diabetes would decrease, we would live longer and so on. Healthy people are also happy or at least happier people and everyone wants to be happy?!

5. Tolerance: I do not care what religion you are, what your skin color is, what your sexual preference is or how much money you have or do not have. You are not the end all be all of the world. Everyone needs to be more tolerant and understanding of those around them, especially religious people. For there is no single religion on Earth that can claim their religion to be the one and true religion. Religion is a personal choice or set of beliefs and the notion of God or any God is based on Faith, not fact! So until Faith actually becomes Fact, people should just keep that in mind and stop imposing their wills and judgement on others.


6. Economics:Spend Wisely. This goes without saying, but don't buy more than you need and don't spend more than you have. If you ant afford a Mercedes, than do not get a Mercedes. If you cannot afford 10 kids, do not have 10 kids! If you cannot afford a mansion, do not buy a mansion and so on and so on. This is a really simple one and will help everyone stay out of debt and especially stay away from credit card debt. The economy sucks at the moment and it is because people are spending more than they have or can actually afford. We do not have to be a greedy or capitalistic as we have been.

7. Sex, Drugs & Alcohol: This is a no brainer, it's about over indulgence and being responsible with your body, your health and other people's health and well being. Or in other words, don't go whoring around picking up STD's and then spreading them around to other people. People are always going to have sex, but make sure it is legal, consensual and safe. We have enough problems with over population to begin with without adding Herpes and AIDS to the mix. Don't become an alcohol or a drug addict. If you want to get drunk or smoke pot every once in awhile, I have no problem with that. Moderation is the key! Just don't become some worthless drunk or crack addict trading blow jobs in the Macy's parking lot for a bump. And don't operate heavy machinery while high! Especially if said heavy machinery is a car, boat, plane or an Amtrak train! And finally do not let additive behavior get the better of you. Whether it's sex, drugs, alcohol or gambling! If you have to pay your rent or your mortgage, you do not gamble your rent away! If your newborn baby needs diapers, you do not gamble way the diaper money! If you cannot stop yourself, you have a problem and you need to find a way to stop! Stuff like this is destroying America and it needs to stop!

8. Respect: This should be a give, but I do not think enough people respect the environment or more importantly themselves. This has more to do with allowing themselves to be treated in a certain way that is detrimental and covers a lot of ground. Like if you are in any sort of abusive relationship, you are not respecting yourself. If you allow another individual to lie to you, cheat on you, abuse you, use you or hurt you, than you are not respecting yourself. This also goes for Big Companies. If the neighboring factory is filling the local water reserve with pollutants, and you don't do anything about it, you are not respecting yourself. If you allow big companies to steal all your money, go bankrupt and then use Government bail out money to give everyone in the company multi million bonuses, than you are not respecting yourself. The list goes on and on and it basically is make sure that you respect yourself and that other respect you as well, but not allowing them to mistreat you in any (significant) way, shape or form.

9. Ethics: I am not the most moral person in the world, but I do have them when and where it counts. I think a lot of people in today's world don't and this needs to change. Too many decisions are made in this world based on money, greed, power, personal gain and just plain selfishness. Individuals, groups and especially companies needs to start making decisions based on what is the right thing to do. Not just for them, their stock holders and their wallets. Companies cannot continue to manufacture a product if they know it is killing people or ruining the planet in the process and so on. The world cannot survive so many selfish interest groups as they will bankrupt the world, and not just in terms of economics. Everyone needs to make sure that what they do in life is not making matters worse. And this is from the little man on the bottom of the totem pole all the way up to head honcho.

10. Common Sense: Everyone is supposed to have common sense, as well as use it on a regular basis. But how many people actually do exercise common sense?! Think of the old woman who won millions because her hot coffee spilled on her and now McDonald's coffee has labels that say Caution Coffee is Hot on them. Or the woman who called 911 because they were out of Chicken McNuggets? These are all examples of common sense going out the window and it has to stop. The same goes for Mother Earth. You would never load 30 people into an elevator that has a maximum allowance of 10 people. It would be suicide and we should all know this because common sense tells us so. Yet we now have a world population that exceeds what the Earth is able to naturally provide for. This is where common sense needs to come into play. Do we really want to have law after law enacted just so people are forced to use common sense or do the right things? Wouldn't you rather do the right thing because it's the Right thing to do or it's common sense? Do you want to be forced to do the right thing or use common sense? Think about it.

Gender Bender: How embarrassing is that?!

I really do not follow sports as a rule, even though I come from a family of athletes...How sad my late Father must have been having a 6.5 son who hated to play or even watch most sports, including his Dad's favorite-Football. But I digress as this is about a recent development in the wide world of sports. The very public and I am sure very humiliating revelation that the world's fastest woman is not technically a woman, or at least not all all woman. As Olympic Gold Medalist Caster Semenya was found to have both male and female parts, or to put it another way she's a hermaphrodite. Now how fucked up is it that not only are you born a hermaphrodite, but it is revealed to the entire world! Or worse yet, that your gender was questioned publicly to begin with! I mean not everyone in the world is handsome, pretty, smart or whatnot, that is just how life is. But to not even look enough like the sex you supposedly are that you have people openly questioning your actual sex cannot be easy and then on top of that to have it publicly asked must be a nightmare.

Taking Best Buy to Court via the Labor Board : Lying Scum Bags!

I use to work for Best Buy back in the day. At the Woodland Hills location in Southern California, store number 116 I believe. And during the entire time I worked there, my immediate managers and supervisors used to tell us in person, face to face, in writing and during monthly or store meetings, "That breaks were not mandatory and were as the business needs allows." And you can quote me on this as I have the paperwork where they actually wrote the above statement. A statement I might add that is 100% false and 100% illegal in this state! California Labor Code 226.7 clearly states that for every 4 hours you work you need to get a 10 minute rest period. During this rest period you cannot perform any work and technically you cannot be called off your break either, or else you never got the break to begin with. If you are not given a break, and/or called off it early, than your employer has to pay you for an additional hour of work at your rate of pay when the break didn't take place ( If you didn't get a break in May and in May you made 10 bucks an hour, they owe you an hour at 10 bucks an hour and so on). So as a result I missed at least 50 breaks if not more, and I documented every time that this happened. because early on I realized that I could not trust management there, for when I or someone else tried to talk to them about our rights or something that was illegal, we were punished. Like having our hours cut, a bad review, and numerous things like that.

Another thing that is illegal that a lot of companies ignore or simply don't know about is access to personnel records. If you submit a request in writing to get copies of your personnel files, your employers have a maximum of 21 days to comply with your wishes or else it is a $750 fine. My employers refused to give me access to my files and so I sued them for the missed breaks, as well as not getting my personnel files on time ( Your request has to be in writing, make copies of your request, and also send in your request via certified or registered mail and/or keep a fax confirmation if you can fax in your request. make sure the receipt you get actually says personnel file request on it. This is important because you need to prove when you sent it in, what was said and to where you sent it).

The last thing I sued for was that if you quit (Giving at least 72 hours notice)or even if you are fired, you have to get all of the money you are owed right then and there. That very day! Otherwise there are penalties which are your daily rate of pay ( If you make 10 bucks and hour and normally you work 8 hours a day, your daily rate is $80.00) up to 30 days or whenever they pay you if they pay you before the 30 days are up ( Whichever is the shortest period). So even if they only owed you like 20 dollars, the fines for not paying you upon your last day of work can really add up. In my case I am entitled to the whole 30 days and so that is close to $3,000 in fines.


Now my case went well I think, as I had a lot of evidence, while Best Buy had nothing to offer aside from their testimony and on cross examination I got them to contradict each other and also admit that they clearly violated California law on more than one occasion. Plus Frank V lied repeatedly in court and committed perjury! I couldn't believe how many times he told blatant lies. He even denied that he ever said, "Breaks were not mandatory," when he even said it during a previous meeting with the labor board less than 3 months ago! So I believe I will win for sure on the Personnel files and the late payment of monies owed. The breaks are a little trickier as it is my more word against theirs, although I had made detailed notes on the actual daily trackers Best Buy gave up every day which show dates, managers names and so on on them. All I am really concerned about now is that Best Buy will appeal the case if I win and we will have to do the whole thing all over again, possibly in Civil court. Though I will be able to present witnesses this time. Unfortunately my trail was scheduled while I was still in Europe and I only had 10 days to prepare my case and find people to testify. Some of whom had changed their cell numbers so I couldn't locate them in time or were in London, which really messed things up. As I had a lot of people lined up or that I was planning to subpoena, if I had time that is. But we will see how everything turns out. I will keep everyone here posted, and if you have a similar story please feel free to share it. I could also use some more witnesses if you have a similar story and/or worked at the same store around 2005 to 2006. Just let me know!

Back from Europe Malaise

I recently returned from Europe and have been somewhat out of it ever since. Although that is pretty much the norm with me when it comes to such trips. You know that strange or odd feeling you can get, akin to dread, that comes over you when you return to someplace you have haven't been to or seen in awhile. Where you know things will not be the same as you left, or in some cases exactly the same...Though said feeling is nowhere near the strange kinds of feelings I was having after having lived in Europe for 3 years non stop. As that was really an ordeal coming back to the US, and just in time for E3 ( You would not believe how quickly one can get used to not having a lot of noise or flashing lights on a semi daily basis. Which made E3 almost a painful experience as there is a lot less noise and light pollution in Europe!)

Anyway Europe was fun, but it is not the same as it was. In fact it is getting a little bit worse. Most of my friends are of course older and naturally have girlfriends/boyfriends, wives/husbands, kids and a lot more responsibilities. So it is harder and harder to see my friends, and I spend less and less time with people I actually knew from before. Which while understandable is also a little bit depressing. Plus I can't stay out all night drinking everyday like I did before and found myself recuperating for longer and longer periods of time in between drinking and party sessions. I also just don't enjoy taking trains everywhere, staying up all night and sleeping in tents during music festivals in the pouring rain and mud like I used to. So I have to wonder how many more Europe trips I have in me. After all I went to Europe a total of 3 times within a 365 day period, which I haven't done for about a decade now. Plus the economy sucks! I hate losing 30 bucks for every 100 I spend! That is 30% and it quickly adds up. It wasn't that bad when it was within 10% as you can write that off mentally to tax or something, but 1/3 of your money going to exchange fees is ridiculous! All that wasted money was at least a mini vacation's worth somewhere in Ibiza or Majorca and I could have definitely enjoyed myself if that was possible!

Asian Style Meatballs

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!



INGREDIENTS:



Meatballs:
3/4 pound ground pork ( Can use Chicken if you are Kosher/don't like pork)
1/4 cup Grated White Onion
1 egg
3 Fresh Minced Garlic Cloves
2 ts Fresh Grated Ginger
1/4 ts Salt
1/8 ts Black Pepper
1/2 ts Red Chili Pepper Flakes
2 ts Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Panko Flakes ( These can be hard to find, so try an Asian store/supermarket)
Chopped Scallions or Chives

Garlic-Honey Black Bean Sauce:
2 TB Honey
4 TB Black Bean Garlic Sauce
4 – 5 TB Soy/Ginger sauce (Most ethnic supermarkets have something similar to this, so just look around or try the 99 cents store even)

Peanut Fried Rice:
3-4 cups cooked rice ( I am horrible at making rice, so I use instant)
1 ts canola oil
1-2 TB chopped garlic
1/4 cup Chopped Carrots (strip size)
4 Chopped Green Onions
1/4-1/2 cup Chopped Water Chestnuts (99 Cents store usually have these for cheap)
1/4 -1/2 cup Chopped Bamboo Shoots (99 Cents stores usually have these for cheap)
A couple dashes Soy Sauce
1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts ( I hate peanuts so I don't always use them)
3 TB of Pad Thai sauce (or Sweet & Sour Sauce or Sweet & Sour Thai sauce)


Before you start you might want to cut up all your vegetables, pre measure out your liquids/sauced and make sure to preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the ingredients needed to make the meatballs in a large bowl, mix everything thoroughly & form 1 to 1-1/2 inch meatballs ( larger or smaller as you desire). In a large frying pan heat up canola oil/oil & fry the meatballs. Make sure they are brown on all sides & place them in a preheated 400 degree oven & finish cooking (Roughly 15 minutes or so, just check on them to see if they are done or not). Drain the excess oil from the large skillet/wok, but leave a little bit of the oil in there along with pieces from the bottom of pan ( not quite like a Roux, bust it has a nice taste). In a large bowl combine all the Black Bean Sauce ingredients, mix well, then transfer everything back to the preheated large skillet/wok & stir. When the sauce is hot and bubbly, add the meatballs back in. Coat the meatballs thoroughly in the warm sauce.

It's pretty easy to make the Peanut Sauce, just heat up some canola oil/oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the garlic, then add the rice, stir well, & ass the Carrots, Bamboo Shoots, Water Chestnuts, & Peanuts. Mix everything. Then make a small well in the middle of the Wok & add in the Pad Thai Sauce, Soy Sauce, then mix into the rice. When everything is mixed, sprinkle the chopped Green Onions/Scallions, & combine everything and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!





INGREDIENTS


Several Chicken Breasts

This is a pretty basic recipe for homemade Chicken Pot Pie. All you need is some Chicken, mixed vegetables of your choice, fresh creme or creme fraise, chives, white wine, a touch of whole grain mustard, and you can use a store bought pie crust or dough if you like.
This tastes so good, you won’t believe how quick and easy it is to make.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup instant biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1 stick melted butter
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
Salt and pepper, optional
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
2 cup chopped cooked chicken breast
1 cup chicken broth

Directions




Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a greased 2-quart casserole, layer the chicken, eggs, carrots, and peas. Mix the soup, chicken broth, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Pour over the layers. Stir together the biscuit mix and milk, and pour this over the casserole. Drizzle butter over the topping. Bake until the topping is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Servings: 4-6 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Difficulty: Easy

Turkey Yakitori Burgers

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!






INGREDIENTS
1/2 - 3/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 t garlic, minced
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 T chopped spring onion (or scallion), white part only (we chopped the greens & put them in with roasting potatoes
1/2 t honey
1/2 T soy sauce
2 T well-beaten egg
1 t corn starch
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Sweet Soy Glaze

1/4 c Mirin wine or sweet sherry (I used regular sherry & a teaspoon of sugar)
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T maple syrup
1 T brown sugar
2 t fresh ginger, minced
2 T lemon juice
1 t cornstarch
1 T cold water

6 spring onions, trimmed & cut to about 8-inches long
1/4 c mayonnaise

In a small saucepan bring the Mirin, soy sauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, ginger & lemon juice to a boil. Mix the cornstarch & water together to dissolve the cornstarch. Stir into the boiling mixture. Let boil for about 15 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool. Once cooled mix 1 T of the glaze into the mayonnaise & set aside to top the burgers.

Mix all the burger ingredients together with your hands & form into two patties. Grill over medium-high heat for 3 minutes per side. Brush with glaze & flip. Grill 2 more minutes. Brush with glaze & flip again cooking 2 more minutes.

When the burgers have about 5 minutes left put the onions on the grill & brush them with the glaze. Grill until they are soft.

Brush both the burgers & onions with glaze once more before serving.

Serve the burgers on rolls (sesame would be good) topped with the mayonnaise & lettuce. The onions can be eaten on the side or on the burgers.

Romeo and Juliet's Balcony: Verona, Italy

It has been over 10 years since I was first and last in Italy. I went to visit a friend in a very small village-esque part of Italy and have never returned since. Despite the fact that for years I lived only 20 minutes away from the Italian borders. So this summer I made it a point to see something I had always wanted to see, Romeo and Juliet's balcony.

Tangerine Teriyaki Chicken

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!




1 cup fresh tangerine juice (from 3 to 5 tangerines)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
4 strips tangerine zest (each about 1-1/2 by 1/2 inch)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and gently crushed with the side of a cleaver
2 scallions, trimmed, white parts gently crushed with the side of a cleaver, green parts thinly sliced
2 slices fresh ginger (each 1/4 inch thick), peeled and gently crushed with the side of a cleaver
1 cinnamon stick (2 inches long)
2 to 3 tablespoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds


Place the tangerine juice in a nonreactive saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Let boil until reduced by half. Add the soy sauce, honey, tangerine zest, garlic, scallion whites, ginger, cinnamon stick, and 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil. Let the mixture boil until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool to room temperature.


Trim any sinew or excess fat off the chicken breasts and discard. Rinse the breasts under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Place the breasts in a nonreactive baking dish.

Pour half of the tangerine mixture over the chicken, turning to coat both sides. Set the rest of the tangerine mixture aside; you'll use it as a glaze. Let the chicken marinate for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator, covered, turning the breasts once or twice so that they marinate evenly.


Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.


When ready to cook, drain the marinade from the chicken and discard the marinade. Brush and oil the grill grate. Lightly brush each breast with some of the sesame oil. Arrange the chicken breasts on the hot grate, placing them on a diagonal to the bars. Grill the breasts for 2 minutes, then brush them with more sesame oil and rotate them a quarter turn to create an attractive crosshatch of grill marks. Continue grilling the breasts on that side for 2 minutes longer. Turn the breasts over and grill until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes longer, again rotating them after 2 minutes. The total cooking time will be 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. To test for doneness, poke a breast in the thickest part with your finger; it should feel firm to the touch. During the last 2 minutes of grilling, using a clean brush, baste the breasts with the reserved glaze.


Transfer the grilled chicken breasts to plates or a platter and pour any remaining glaze over them. For a fancier presentation, you can slice the chicken breasts crosswise on the diagonal and fan out the slices. Sprinkle the scallion greens and sesame seeds over the chicken and serve.

The Naked Race: Roskilde

This is the 3rd summer I have traveled all the way to Roskilde, Denmark to camp in the open, drink my fill of booze, listen to some great bands, oh and look at a bunch of Vikings run around butt-naked the last Saturday before the end of the festival. Though more and more, not all the participants are actually Scandinavian. As this summer there were some Americans, Europeans and even someone from Brazil guy who came all the way from South America just so he could run around in his Birthday suit (He tried to register for the race too late and wasn't allowed to participate). Only 15 males and 15 females are allowed to compete in the race, and the spots for male racers fills up about 5 times as fast as it does for the ladies. Which just goes to show you that men like to get naked and show off their goods more than the ladies do ( Such a shame, though some of the participants really should never be naked in public if you ask me).


The Naked Race itself is not officially part of the 10 day long Roskilde Music Festival, as it is (mainly) sponsored by the local Roskilde Radio Station. It started something like 10 plus years ago with only a few people participating, with the male and female winner of the (mini) race getting free tickets to Roskilde for the following year as a prize. Tickets are currently over 300 bucks US, and continuing to rise. So it is not actually too bad of a prize, especially with the current economic situation. I believe they also get free drinks at some of the local bar within the festival as well, which is not too bad of a prize as well. Though I didn't see any of the participants heading over towards Gringo's bar this summer, like they normally do. In fact there were no previous runners from the 1st two times I observed the race present, which I thought was rather odd. Especially since some of the same exact people have been participating, and winning, for the past 7 or 8 years. Some friends of mine actually plan to race next summer, but we will see if they actually go through with it. There are a lot of people with cameras there and you are naked for at least 30 minutes in public if you count all the pre and post interviews, the race itself and then the meet and drink afterwards.