more heat than light

The Second Best Breakfast Spot In California

2009-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

Is at my house. It's the one with the lovely, lovely fresh laid eggs. People are always saying how great fresh eggs are, so Mr. Strangely and I tried to conduct an experiment.

As you can see, the eggs we get are varied in size. Most are not as large as a "large" egg you'd get at the grocery store... the grocery store egg is the white one in the carton dwarfing the others. We have gotten one or two eggs that are bigger than store ones, but they're rare. When we make scrambled eggs, we're using 7 eggs for the two of us rather than 5.

When we ate the fried eggs, the difference was obvious but hard to describe. The white was more tender and not as chewy. You can see that it held together more, instead of spreading across the pan like the store egg. The yolk was very different... the store egg wasn't bad, but it was decidedly pasty in contrast to the creamy fresh yolk. Scrambled eggs were a revelation. The flavor is totally different. When I was young, my dad would sometimes comment about how different food tasted to him as a child. And as a child, I thought he was crazy, but I wonder now. What else am I missing out on? Why are they different? Is it just the freshness or is there something else? I've read that farmers can feed marigolds to hens to get the yolk color deeper. Personally, we don't feel like we're doing anything special. It's almost like magic. Our chicken magicians make em out of weeds and our kitchen scraps.

Ta-dah!

The Best Breakfast Spot In California

2009-11-08T19:55:00.001-08:00

It's not anywhere you'd expect. For the last two years though, we've made a pilgrimage to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, for the annual donor breakfast. They open the aquarium two hours early and you get all the docents and tanks to yourselves, to enjoy with coffee, fruit and a surprisingly good variety of scones and pastries. It's one of my favorite things, and I took some video this morning, so I can enjoy it again and again. Hope you enjoy it too...

My Election Rejection

2009-11-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last year I witnessed the birth of a wonderful use for the creative force of the internet. During the presidential election, a page called Design for Obama emerged. You could participate as a designer or a user. Designers uploaded poster after poster for the Obama campaign, then, they and the users voted on them and downloaded them for use at campaign events and house parties. It had nothing to do with the DNC or Obama's campaign or staff, it was just a mass of people feeding off each other's inspiration. It was such a neat experience. I uploaded a couple posters, got involved in the election locally, and promptly forgot. Until April, when I got an email. It said that a big publisher was going to be releasing a collection of works from the website, in honor of the election, on the anniversary. And it said one of my posters had been selected. It had some instructions for how to transmit my file and a release, and when I went searching for information I found others who had gotten the same email. We congratulated each other and I was thrilled to be participating. I was also relieved that there was no further culling process, according to both the bloggers I found and my own queries to the publisher representative. We could start bragging immediately to our friends.

I submitted my file on time, as directed. We only had a few days to get our paperwork together before their deadline, but for an opportunity like that, I really would have done anything they asked. That's why, a week later, when they told me there were problems opening my file, I leaped into action. Even though I was on vacation with my parents in New York. My dad helped me out a lot. A few files flew back and forth, and eventually, they had a file they could use. I double-checked to make sure.

That is why I was so surprised to get this email a couple of months later:

"Thank you very much for contributing your poster design to Design For Obama, the book from *. Unfortunately, I must inform you that, due to insufficient print quality, your poster was one of several not able to be included in the book."

I wouldn't have been nearly as angry if I hadn't emailed over and over, "Are you sure this will work? Please let me know so I can supply a file you can use!" I've tried to remember who I told about this, so I can let them know it fell through, but I'm sure I'll still get a note or two wondering and that will still be painful.

Now, the reason I bring this up is to highlight a particular quirk in our copyright system. I had wanted to use the design in question for food drives with my MoveOn council, but they had balked, fearing copyright claims from... I don't know, but at any rate, they wouldn't touch this piece. So, you can imagine how tickled I was when a major publisher had decided to include it in a book that would actually be for sale. If anyone would check the legality or illegality of this work, it would be someone like that, right? Corporations don't just adopt works without checking for license snafus, right? Well, maybe they do, but they said my piece was rejected for quality reasons. And it's a shame that they never asked for a higher quality work. I still don't know what was wrong with it. One fundamental truth of working with volunteers is that they take exclusion extra hard, because the reward is serving the cause. It's not like they also got paid for their time and labor. At least a little feedback would have been nice.

At any rate, I am still proud of the piece, and obviously someone, somewhere wanted it in this book, right? So, here it is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43103096@N00/3003609570/

Feel free to download it and staple it into your copy, should you elect to seek one out. No hard feelings, but this is why I give my work away before anyone toys with my emotions like this. I would rather just see it out there, and that means I can't wait for large entities to show interest. It was a nice compliment, but it also confirmed that we've set up a very bad system for artists to inhabit. I would also like to point out the comment I got on one of the other designs I submitted:

"Just wanted you to be aware of someone trying to profit from your art. Did you give this person permission to sell your image? http://www.zazzle.com/weoffermore/gifts?cg=196918861616767696&pg=9"

If you ever see someone wearing this shirt or bag or whatever, PLEASE send me a picture. And for your enjoyment (one of these appearing for the first time ever (because I found DFO a little squirrelly)) here are a few more pieces of election art I did last year. And if you add any of these to any books you happen to buy... or anywhere else... I'd be thrilled to know. Permission is nice, but for the work, there is really no greater compliment than imitation and proliferation.

This Is What It Sounds Like

2009-10-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

When chickens purr.

It's hard to hear, but she's just purring her little head off.

It's a partly beautiful day today. Mostly sunny with some light rain. And the chickens are sitting on the back porch purring.

Enter the Chickens

2009-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time, garden blog, hasn't it? It's my fault, really. It was just kind of painful to think about gardening, without thinking of all that I had lost. My giant pine cross section and the neat old tractor couldn't come with when we moved, so they were left behind, along with the bench and the catpost (buried for everyone's protection). I needed some time not to think about it all, and if nothing else, the heat of the summer gave me a good excuse not to do any gardening. We moved a few survivors into the new ground, and for a few months, there wasn't too much to write about.

But fall has finally come to California. The wind comes tearing through the yard and we've even had a storm or two. And it's time to start a really great garden. I've got a ton of notes and ideas to sort through, but I'm most excited about the fact that we're chicken farmers. More to follow soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the pictures ~

What To Do With Leftovers...

2009-09-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Leftover Rice:
Glo's Sausage Fried Rice

Leftover Reality Tv:

Leftover Tomato Cages:

Comfort Food

2009-09-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend with my sister. We went to all those spots you need an excuse to see when you live here on the bay peninsula. We went to an art fair in San Jose and to Golden Gate Park. We had tea in the garden there and saw geese and gophers and hummingbirds. We had dinner at my three favorite restaurants. And this morning, before we drove to the airport, I invented a recipe for her.

Almond Butter Breakfast Cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate covered almonds + 1/4 cup
3 tablespoons butter

Combine flour, the baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt and set aside. Cream together the brown sugar, the almond butter, and the butter. Add the vegetable oil and beat in the egg and the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, beating well after each addition, and stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Wrap the almonds in a kitchen towel and crush with a pan or kitchen mallet. Add 1/2 cup to batter. Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack and let them cool completely.

In another bowl combine the remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips and the butter and microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring until melted and smooth. Wrap the 1/4 cup of almonds in a kitchen towel and crush with a pan or kitchen mallet. When cupcakes are cool, dip tops in melted chocolate and roll in crushed almonds.

Share them with someone you love.

Caught By the Copyright Fuzz

2009-08-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today, as I was nonchalantly wandering the interwebs, I happened to click on a link to a Youtube video. And instead of going to the video, I was confronted with a weird, red page.

If you're having a hard time making that out, it says:

We have received copyright complaint(s) regarding material you posted, as follows:

from Sony Music Entertainment about Bill O'Reilly and the Fetal Position: Subtitled Version - craftyactivist
Video ID: Tq9PSHf_XK0

Please Note: Accounts determined to be repeat infringers will be terminated. Please delete any videos for which you do not own the necessary rights, and refrain from uploading infringing videos.

The odd thing here is, that I have two copies of that video uploaded. The one removed was the subtitled version. I don't know if that was a choice or an accident, but so far, they have not disabled the non-subtitled version. If you look at the blog where I first posted these videos, you'll see that only one is still playable. The videos are identical except for the addition of subtitles and a subtitle key.

And now I'm at a loss. Both videos were initially flagged, but only one has been removed. Am I supposed to just delete the other one? When I was first aware that Sony had made a claim on my videos, I disputed both claims, and now I can't figure out what additional steps to take to figure out how to follow YouTube's Terms of Service.

The thing that concerns me most, is that I don't have any idea what steps to take to prevent this from happening in the future. To date, I've made and uploaded about 10 videos. This is not the first time the content matching system has picked up on my work: I posted a video just about a year ago that featured content from National Geographic's special, The Human Footprint. I was delighted when they decided they would advertise on that channel. The music that accompanies it is originally by Nine Inch Nails, but I used a remix that was created by a remixer in Germany, TweakerRay.

He commented on my video and actually keeps a collection of videos featuring his work on his channel. We could be creating a community that rewards artists for trading and re-contextualizing content. I wasn't secretive about the song I chose to accompany the video. I specifically chose Alice In Chains and the song Rotten Apple as a metaphor, highlighting the way some pregnant women have been forced to give up their bodily sovereignty. Some people commenting on the videos have asked what album it was on, presumably so they can purchase it. I highly doubt anyone wants to listen to the song with O'Reilly screaming over it.

Unfortunately, that is not the direction that music companies have decided to go in. Earlier this year, the EFF was soliciting test cases to fight Warner Brothers as they used automatic content matching software to disable videos. That seems to be what happened in my case, though I can't be certain. I do know that the one they chose to remove was the one that appeared in the responses to the YoungTurk's video analyzing the same Bill O'Reilly show. So was I punished for trying to participate in the larger conversation?

Or for being nice enough to type out the lyrics for deaf viewers?

For those of you who haven't seen it, you can still watch the video in question. I would love to talk to anyone who has successfully fought one of these takedown notices. I also would like to get people's opinions on whether or not my work qualifies as fair use:

And for the curious, here's TweakerRay's playlist, "Cool Videos with my Nine Inch Nails ReMixes". Give that man a hand for being so talented and so nice about sharing his work, would you?

Conspicuous Absence

2009-08-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County met, and national health care reform was on the agenda. Loins were girded. Songs were composed. We even brought notes that said "Talk, don't Shout", so we could confront any angry people who might have attended gracefully.

And there were none.

And that is why there was no mention of that
meeting in the news whatsoever.

We must start thinking about the reality of this debate. If you are willing to scream and threaten people, you are rewarded with national and local news coverage. Even if you say stuff that makes no sense, you will have the ear of the nation.

If you wait your turn and speak in a civilized manner... you are easy to ignore.

I wish I could make some other conclusions. But in the meantime, I think that fact explains much about our national discourse.

But! I have some encouraging news to report. I went to a book signing yesterday afternoon for Barbara Boxer, because I had heard that there would be another Tea Party. I'd also gotten an invitation from MoveOn, who were (for some reason that escapes me) encouraging support of green jobs and clean energy. And sure enough, when I pulled into the parking lot at Barnes and Noble, the sidewalk was already lined with a sea of grey hair and Gadsden flags. And unlike the last time we crossed paths, everybody was pretty civil. Someone must have given the tpers a stern talkin' to, because absolutely no one threatened to shoot me this time.

And I have to say, I love these things. I really dig most any protest, but the Tea Partiers have really started to indulge their artistic sides. They're like arts and crafts extravaganzas. With a smattering of uh... Hitler.

Unfortunately, I still wasn't able to get many of them to talk to me. A few did, and I would like to sincerely thank all of the people who are willing to share their views with their fellow citizens. Just holding up a sign has never been enough to enact change. You have to be willing to generate support for your ideas and explain them as many times as it takes. You have to rally the majority to your side. That stuff is boring and far less satisfying than wielding a colorful sign and screaming into traffic with some friends.

At least, that's my hope. If our country actually reacts to the whims of tiny, yet vocal and scary minorities, then we're really not much of a democracy. I was struck on Thursday by the fearfulness I saw in the board of supervisors. You could sense their relief when they realized no one was there to yell at them. But, there were few there in the hall with us that day, to hear the various reasons and statistics that were presented in favor of health care reform. At Boxer's book signing, many people complained about feeling ignored by the Senator. One woman told me despairingly about how she was frustrated by being unable to meet the Senator, face to face, to tell her how she felt. When I pointed out that I bought a book, only so Barnes and Noble would let me in to meet her in the store, she seemed offended by the suggestion. Shoot, I'd buy Ann Coulter's book just for the sheer joy of telling her what a destructive bitch I think she is. Then I'd relish shredding it page by page. You can't be choosy about these opportunities if you truly want to be heard.

That's why I keep going to these things. I try to keep abreast of all the facts and "facts" that might come up at these things, but that is a very tall order. At this particular event, I met a man who volunteered at the Ted Talks, but still worried that the country was screwed. He was worried that the government was being too intrusive and controlling with health care reform... but was basically comfortable with the notion that we could hold people with no charges and torture them for years. One guy just kept calling me stupid, and a very chivalrous teenage boy tried to rescue me. Another man was really intent on discussing evolution and "the myth of peak oil". He wrote some resources on the back of my sign for my education, and it will be interesting to see if we can continue the conversation.

But I have to confess, my favorite moment from yesterday, was when I waited at a crosswalk with a man who had plenty of tea bags dangling off a cowboy hat. We commented together on how comparatively few people were willing to come out and try to make themselves heard on a hot Saturday afternoon in the baking sun. And he hung some teabags on my Woodstock. And for just a few hours yesterday, it was kind of nice to be among people who while not exactly like-minded, were at least likable.

Veni Vidi Lebowski

2009-07-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Our first Lebowskifest was a blast. I had a hard time trying to come up with a costume, and so I popped the movie in on Friday to try to find some last minute inspiration.

And I did.

beaver picture courtesy of krrrista

I wasn't brave enough to wear Maude's outfit, but this awesome girl was! Here she is posing with her trophy as "Best Maude" with the Best Dude and Best Jesus.

I'm not much of a golfer, so I was happy to give up my turns as I wandered around asking people if they wanted to be in my beaver picture.

Bunny said she'd have to check with her agent before she could be in my beaver picture.

Liam not only agreed to be in my beaver picture... he turned around to show off to his friends! (This is where I regret not painting the other side of the bags...)

It was awesome. It was silly and surreal and at times, oddly reverent. If it lasts a hundred years, will it become a bona fide holiday?

I Got Me A New Cameraaa!

2009-07-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

The Face of California's Budget Cuts

2009-07-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

On June 23rd, activists blocked traffic in front of Schwarzennegger's office in San Francisco.

Your browser is not able to display this multimedia content.

This is the cost of our choices. How much does it cost to book a man instead of caring for him?

How much to imprison him instead of aiding him?

How many other people are struggling, but too weak to make a stand?

What kind of nation would you stand for?

I do not know who these people are, or how to contact them. I don't know why our media covers the dead while we fail to care for the people who still live. But I thought everyone needed to see this.

Duck Redux

2009-06-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

I know I must not be a proper hippie, because I get too excited about the new smokehouse addition to Whole Food's butcher shop. Yes. I know my friends who eschew even leather shoes would be horrified, but I can't help myself. They have a triangle to ring when they set out free samples, and I think is must be awakening some deep-seated, Pavlovian reflex we Southerners possess.

One day, the free samples were entire ribs. They're training me. And I like it.

Anyway, I did a double-take as I passed this display on Friday. Hanging in the case was an entire smoked duck. And I thought the tag said they were $9.99 each. What a deal!

I hassled the first man who came to help me about where the ducks were from, and as he went to check, another came to wrap up the duck for me. I'm not up on my duck's rights arguments, and this is how I tried to silence the little voice that jumped up to make me feel guilty. Thankfully, the young man came back at about this time to show me the packaged ducks so I could read the label: Pitman Farms.

It was also about this time that it dawned on me that the little sign really said the ducks were $9.99 per pound. So much for frugality!

But really, when you think about it, that's really not so much. The whole duck cost $28, and we ate it all weekend. Six meals so far have managed to squeeze inside that $28, and I know six meals based off duck would never be that cheap in a restaurant. I recently had Peking duck in a restaurant in Manhattan, and it was $50 or so for the three of us. And yes, I thought that was reasonable. I love duck.

But wait, there's more. We've only managed to scratch the surface of the duckly goodness. I carved a little bit into tacos. I rendered the skin in a frying pan for some fantastic duck fat infused Yukon Gold fries. And then I broke down the carcass and the rest of the meat for cassoulet. I'm guessing that total, we'll squeeze another four dinners out of the little guy.

So, if you too noticed the ducks hanging at Whole Foods, or if you're lucky enough to live in Chinatown... Here's what to do with duck.

Duck Tacos for Two
4 tortillas
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 sweet potato
2 apricots
1 cup cooked duck meat
1 cup mache
sriracha

Turn on your broiler and set up a tray about 3 inches from the heat source. Dice the potato and slice the apricot thinly. If your apricots are sour, sprinkle with a little sugar. Toss potato and apricots together with vegetable oil, and spread on your baking sheet. Broil for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the diced sweet potato is cooked through. You might need to turn once, depending on your oven. Meanwhile, heat your duck meat up on a plate with the tortillas laying on top. This will also serve to warm and soften the tortillas. To assemble, layer mache leaves, duck meat and warm apricot/sweet potato relish in the tortilla, and serve with sriracha to taste.

More Duck Tacos for Two
4 tortillas
1 sweet potato
1 red onion
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup fresh salsa (by this I mean a salsa that isn't cooked before being packaged, like Pace... cooked salsas tend to have a vinegary flavor to me. The fresh salsas are generally found in the refrigerated part of the store...)
1/4 cup beer
duck meat
mache

Again, preheat broiler and set tray near heat source. This time, quarter your potato and thinly slice the quarters longways. Quarter and thinly slice your red onion. Toss red onion and potato slices with vegetable oil and broil for about 3 minutes, until the potatoes are done and the onion looks a bit charred. Meanwhile, take a small pan and melt the little pat of butter in it. When the foam subsides, add your salsa and cook for about five minutes. You will smell a difference as you cook your salsa down a little: it will lose a little bit of the tang from the fresh tomatoes. Add your beer and turn up the heat a little to reduce a bit. This is one of my favorite ways to use up old salsas, and the result is reminiscent of ranchero sauce.

Again, heat your duck meat in the microwave with the tortillas. To assemble, layer your mache and duck with the sliced potatos and onion, and then top with the sauce you made. Serve remaining potatoes and onion as a side dish with more sauce and cheese if you like.

Duck Hash

1 cup worth of fatty bits from your duck
6 yukon gold potatoes
1 red onion

Set your frying pan on the stove at medium, and allow it to preheat. Add duck bits and stir until the fat is rendered. Scoop out the bits with a spoon and reserve (you're basically making duck-pork rinds, which may sound either appealing or disgusting to you, but they are DELICIOUS). Slice your potatoes into a convenient shape for frying and let them get nice and crispy and brown in your rendered duck fat. Swoon. Remove potatoes and drain on paper towels, then add the red onion, which you will have sliced thinly. Once your onions get a touch caramelized, drain off the fat and toss the potatoes and crispy bits back in the pan to rewarm. This was fantastic with a fried egg on top. Do not tell your cardiologist.

Utterly Inauthentic Cassoulet
(But it could be quick, if you used a purchased and substituted chicken stock... that's the time consuming part)

for the stock:
1 meaty duck carcass, skin removed
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp peppercorns
water to cover (about 10 cups I would say)

Place everything in a stockpot and add water to cover. Bring it to just about a boil, then crank the heat down to simmer, skimming the top from time to time. Allow this to cook for two or three hours, and I personally don't cover my stock and then reduce it... I let it simmer uncovered because I am lazy.

1 sweet potato, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sopprasetta, diced
1 can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
3 pork sausages, casings removed and broken up
2 cups duck meat
1.5 cups duck stock
1 cup beer
1-2 cups coarse breadcrumbs
1 can diced tomatoes, drained

Saute the potato, celery, onion and garlic until translucent, then add sopprasetta. Cook until the vegetables and sausage are starting to brown. Remove from the pan and reserve. Add your beans to this mixture and stir to combine. Add your crumbled sausage to the pan and allow it to brown. Deglaze your pan with the beer, then add tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a deep casserole dish (I used two, a 9-inch square and a round 8 inches in diameter), and spread a layer of the bean mixture across the bottom. layer duck meat on top, and then use a spoon to remove the sausage and tomatoes from the pan, adding that on top. Repeat layers, then top with bread crumbs. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour. This is wonderful over rice, with crusty bread.

Smooth Criminal Mindreaders

2009-06-27T00:49:00.001-07:00

Let me first state, I am not a huge Michael Jackson fan. I was a deprived child in the 80s, and my parents told us we couldn't afford cable. As evidence, for years, I thought Torture was a Michael Jackson video. I was watching it on a 13 inch screen, what the hell did I know?

But I'm not really here to write about how lame I was. No. I wanted to write about a peculiar article here that was posted on the occasion of Michael Jackson's death. JimGalt wrote a post titled, Death of a Child Molester. I'm not linking it here, so that link goes to a post where he ponders self-deletion.

If you choose to read his post, please enjoy this fine tune as an accompaniment:

But if you stay, let me just say, that the title really says it all. If you need more, I'm pretty sure this is him on Yahoo Answers. And I commented because I used to feel similarly, until I read this article from GQ. And he wrote back, and we had a very disturbing conversation with several other voices, all of whom had decided that Michael Jackson was a pedophile, based on the fact that a court had acquitted him of all the charges he'd faced. Now, I don't for one moment believe that our system is perfect. OJ Simpson even wrote an ill-advised book to rub our faces in how poorly it can work. But I was surprised by how bothered I was by the way they had decided that Michael Jackson had to be guilty, based on the words of children, and the fact that he was a goofy bastard.

Now, don't get me wrong. Child abuse and molestation really happens, and by no means am I encouraging parents to ignore their kids when they tell them that they've been touched inappropriately. That's not what this is about. I'm more concerned about the way we have accepted the notion that people who have been accused of something must be guilty of it, when there is no evidence. Perhaps I saw this relationship most clearly yesterday, because earlier I'd been at the march the San Jose Peace and Justice Center organized. We rallied in front of Jeppesen's headquarters to protest against their participation in the extraordinary rendition program, organized by the CIA. It astounds me that this country I love has become so fearful and paranoid that it will ignore the very reasons it was formed, Fedexing people to be tortured. When our founding fathers rebelled against England, it was in protest of the monolithic brutalizing force of that state. They rejected taxation without representation. They rejected the notion of presumed guilt. And they rejected the idea of law implemented capriciously, to punish the poor, the misunderstood or the powerless.

We inherited a country with those values, though we've often failed to uphold them. And now we are a country where the President can simply shove people in a hole, because of a case of mistaken identity. Now, we are a county where demagogues rouse us to violence because they grow impatient with the law and its workings. And finally, now we are a country where once a man has died, we remember what his accusers have said, instead of what was proven in a court of law.

I'm sure this always happened. Rumors proliferate because they are so much more colorful and satisfyingly spiced than truth. But we have means of finding what is true and what isn't these days, ways our ancestors lacked. Yet still, the messages that find their way into my inbox are unbelievably silly. I can disprove them in a heartbeat, the way I disproved the claim in the comments somewhere around here, that Timothy McVeigh only had one book, written by Al Gore.

And that's why I wanted to say something about JimGalt's post, even though it seems to have disappeared. It's a symptom of this paranoia we're infected with, that teaches us to fear each other and erodes our communities. His post is like a boil, erupting on the skin, where all the fear can bubble up. Where people slap each other on the back for indicting men who don't seem to have any genuine crimes to their name, besides maybe a freaky appearance and a penchant for dressing weirdly.

I was so fascinated trying to find out how he was so certain about this, when the police weren't, and then he closed the comments. And when I sent him that GQ article, he said I was stalking him. So that's why I posted this. If you can't even stand to read about what might exonerate this person you've decided is a monster, then I only feel it's right to demonstrate why that's so frightening to someone who values freedom and the rule of law. Yes, men can be monsters. And so can children. The Salem Witch Trials ran on the words of children. In LA in the 1980s, a DA went on a crusade against child molesters, getting statements from children who took the stand as witnesses.

And now, years later, we know those children were intimidated into lying. And that means that all those people went to jail, based on hysteria. That means the children who testified against them grew up with the horrible knowledge that you could be sent to jail on a lie. One man wouldn't even bathe his own baby girl because he was so fearful about what someone might say about it.

I can't imagine what it could be like for someone who has truly experienced the horror of being molested. I don't know what those memories would feel like, or what brings the bile up in the back of your throat. But I do know that innocent people are accused of crimes. Our system is slow and reliant on process because often, the truth is not obvious. But that slowness is a feature, not a bug. When it runs off those ponderous tracks, we get more horrible realities than those we thought we were correcting. And please, don't take my word for it:

"It screwed me up; the guilt of thinking I put my mom in prison for the worst offense possible," Donald Grafton says in an interview. He claims he was forced to falsely testify that his own mother had sex with him as a child. His mother, Margie, endured hellish treatment from other inmates. "Mom got black widow bites and they pushed her hands into machinery and busted them up because she was a child molester. It was directly on me because I lied and put her there."

When it runs off the tracks and we convict people based on patterns of behavior rather than evidence of a crime, we put innocent people in prison. That's what happened to the people in Kern County. That's what is happening to the people it Guantanamo Bay. And that's how JimGalt believes justice should work. For him, it's enough to just have the patterns of activity. Two people accused Jackson of molesting them, 10 years apart. Repetition equals guilt.

But he doesn't seem to consider it significant that the first molestation case was in all the papers, because of course Michael Jackson is a celebrity. That can't possibly have anything to do with people who came to accuse Jackson later.

And several times, he thought it was significant that La Toya had accused her brother of being a pedophile. And it doesn't matter that she recanted... that's when she's crazy apparently.

And what few in the comments seemed willing to acknowledge, was the pain of the children who are involved in this whole thing. What does it do to you, when one of your parents drugs you, and then puts you in a courtroom? What must it be like for Jackson's real children, who are getting to be old enough to google him, and who will inevitably find these things?

I can't know, and I won't guess. I only find it sad, that this is what followed Jackson to his grave, when the man left us with so much more.

Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
Uploaded by melkor75. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

I've Been Cheating On You

2009-06-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry. It was just a little bit! I worry occasionally that my gardenblog is infested with politics (like the post I just published)... and that's probably annoying for the people who just want to see the purty flowers. I can't really put up a wall of separation, but I decided I needed another outlet. So, if you enjoy stories about my activism, you are cordially invited to read my blog here on Open Salon. Many pieces will be cross-posted, but some are unique. Bill O'Reilly is probably happier there, where liberals can gnash their teeth at him. And some pieces belong in both blogs, like this haiku I'm sharing with you...

anonymous sex

a little pornography

for giant voyeurs

Open Source, Open Democracy

2009-06-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

I've been following the news in Iran, as I'm sure all of you have. And this may surprise you, but I've been reticent to take a stand on whether or not their election was corrupt. How can you tell if an election is flawed from the outside? If their system is like ours, it relies on the secret ballot, which theoretically protects individual voters from being punished for exercising their right. If you vote for the loser, there is no list that publishes that data so you can be jailed by the dude that won. When you approach the ballot box there are no guards to "help" you fill in the forms correctly: it's just you and the ballot. And that's why I am so fascinated watching all the unrest and the conjecturing about whether or not Ahmadinejad or others altered the totals when the Iranian ballots were counted: there is really no way to know. Unless you have a system that checks the results and somehow verifies votes with the person who cast them, it would be impossible to know after the results are in.

Unfortunately, this is the same situation we're in in the United States. I'm not denigrating the secret ballot, but if you are going to have such a feature in a voting system, the chain of custody for the ballots becomes the most important check on malfeasance. And there are huge, documented problems with our chain of custody. I'm not talking about Acorn registering Superman and the Dallas Cowboys to vote... I'm talking about the 2000 and 2004 elections, which many people were very concerned about here. We just weren't concerned enough to riot, the way the Iranians are doing. If you google for stories about stolen elections though, there's a lot to be worried about.

That is why I wanted to pass on this note from my friend, Alan Dechert. If you cannot check the results with any certainty, then the system must be transparent enough for us to keep track of the ballots after they're cast. He's invented such a system and it was tested last year at LinuxWorld.

And it works. The difference between the Open Voting Consortium's system and the systems we usually use for electronic voting, is that we're all entitled to see how that system works. The typical electronic voting machine will let you cast your vote, and then it sends your choices off into the ether somewhere. Often you will get an opportunity to check the ballot on the screen and make changes, but how do you know that what you selected is what is getting sent?

The short answer is, you can't. That ballot only exists digitally. There isn't a record of it that you could ever expect to find. Like grains of sand, these things just accumulate somewhere to be counted, and who knows if any of them reflect your choices? You're not even entitled to see the code that runs on the machine to see if it adds or removes data.

The OVC's machine in contrast, isn't a machine at all. It's just code on a disk. You're free to look through it line by line, and if you pop it into a computer, your computer becomes a voting machine. All it can do is present you with a ballot for you to fill out. Once you've made your choices, it prints out a hard copy, so you can verify that your vote says exactly what you wanted. And then, you place it in the box. There is absolutely no trust required for using that machine. You can watch it in action here:

And did I mention its price tag is a fraction of the machines we use now? How many times have you waited to vote because there weren't enough ballots or machines for your precinct? How much easier would it be to print your ballots as you need them, instead of ordering expensive, preprinted ballots? Imagine how much more easily you could add new nominees and propositions.

This is why I'm passing along this note from my friend, Mr. Dechert. He's been working on this system for years. He can't do this alone. This is our country, and our responsibility. This morning, he asked me for help. So now, I'm asking you. The Iranian election should be a wake up call for all of us who wondered if Bush really won those elections in 2000 and 2004. We don't have to be trusting when we can be smart.

Dear Friends of Open Voting:

I need your help today. As you may recall, US Representative Rush Holt has introduced several badly flawed voting reform bills in the past few years. We have opposed them for a variety of reasons.

Last week, Holt introduced his new one: The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009 (HR 2894)
http://holt.house.gov/voting.shtml

In general, the bill is not as bad as the previous. Some provisions are good. Ban DREs, ban wireless, provide some funding for voting software that would be publicly available. However, overall, the bill is still bad. The deep flaw with this bill, generally speaking, remains the same: it would put the federal government too much into running the voting system. Holt is trying to do too much and making a mess of it.

Parts of it are outrageously bad. The main offending part for me is where they say the machine for individuals with disabilities must allow the voter to "independently verify and cast the permanent paper ballot without requiring the voter to manually handle the paper ballot;" No machine has this capability currently, and such a machine would be many times more expensive than necessary. Potential solutions would solve one almost non-existent problem and create several others -- besides the expense.

It's the same mentality that led to adding the expensive printing mechanism to the DRE voting machines. Vendors didn't mind doing it as long as the government was paying for it. Guess what? Government paid for it. No wait, YOU paid for it. Now those machines are getting junked. So, tax-payers underwrote stupid voting architecture. Diebold et al got paid to develop it and sell it. Now the stupid machines go in the trash and Diebold keeps the money.

If we can't get this changed, the bill must be killed. Other parts of the bill should just be removed rather than fixed. We might support it if chunks of it were simply removed.

SEC. 102. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
...

(II) allows the voter to privately and
independently verify and cast the permanent
paper ballot without requiring the
voter to manually handle the paper ballot;

I need your help contacting Congress in opposition to this bill.

I also need your financial support so OVC can continue to develop and demonstrate sensible open source voting technology, and defeat crappy legislation like this.

PLEASE DONATE NOW
----------------------------------
The PayPal button on our web site http://openvoting.org is probably the quickest and easiest. This is the address for PayPal: donation@openvotingconsortium.org

If by check, please send to:
Open Voting Consortium
4941 Forest Creek Way
Granite Bay, CA 95746

Thank you again for helping OVC to continue progressing toward the establishment of OPEN VOTING.

Alan Dechert
President, Open Voting Consortium
http://openvoting.org
alan@openvoting.org

What a Difference 6 Miles Makes

2009-06-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

An Important Announcement From Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger:

We moved. We were evicted... sort of. So if the garden looks a little different, there's a good reason for it. Some of the cast remains. Some were, by necessity, abandoned. But we're happy with the change. Sometimes you need to be pried out of your cave, just to see how dark it was in there. And in those cases, it's nice when someone provides a soft landing, in a sunny spot, where you can just be.

I'll be back with a more detailed post soon, but in the meantime, I am posting links for both of us, to remind me what I'm not missing:
my neighbor takes a page from monsanto
a garden plot
cold feet and warm hearts
absent
nerds
prayer for a potted tree in a storm
promoted
ouch
welcome, students
varmint update
i wish i had raccoons

And because I am a sucker for forcing meaning into my life, I feel it's only fitting, to end with this comment, from the wise Mr. Brown Thumb.

"Sorry you are having trouble with the neighbor but one day you may be able to look back on this and laugh."

That day is not today, but I can feel it coming soon. Absence might get all the credit, but distance also makes the heart grow fonder.

Tea Party Post Part Two

2009-04-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

I survived!

I'm getting to be a regular feature in downtown San Jose. I got to the tea party close to the end. My husband was all freaked out by the rhetoric on Fox News and online, so I did not wear any costume. But I needn't have worried... There were much more interesting people there to yell at. I belong to all the peacenik mailing lists, so I wasn't surprised to see a counter protest in full swing: I'd gotten invitations for it.

I didn't join it, because that wasn't why I came. I thought a lot about whether I really wanted to come and if I'd be able to talk to anybody productively or just piss people off. But upon reflecting on my own experience at these kinds of things, I remembered how I had always hoped that the other side would show up, ready to join my cause, or at least hear what I had to say.

I wanted to be that person, so I didn't bring any signs or anything. Just me and my camera. I arrived to see two groups held apart by police. As I watched though, the battle lines eroded, and the cops started to leave.

And eventually, it was just a few heated discussions. And though I was apprehensive about going, I'm glad I went. We could use these moments to rekindle something of the spirit this country was founded in. We could stop letting the parties play on our emotions, deploying us against each other, instead of rallying together to improve our government and our communities. Maybe we will someday. That really would be a new way forward, wouldn't it?

My favorite moment was watching this gentlemen explaining the origin of his flag to a young'n. For another perspective on the San Jose event, click here.

A Tale Of Two Parties' Tea Parties In Two Parts

2009-04-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Stop reading this post now if you're not into the minutia of media and politics. You have been warned.

I went to one of the events organized Saturday, under the name, A New Way Forward. I hadn't been certain about going. I hadn't really gotten the connection between the action and the goals articulated on their website, and I'm the kind of protester who likes to know what she's screaming about. But on reflection, I realized that I didn't have any notion of what I would suggest if Geithner was ever in front of me, but I sure did want to shake him around by the lapels. That was enough. So I carpooled up to San Francisco with the Grannies, with some songs we'd written about the banks. As we approached the Federal Reserve Building, we were a little disappointed by the size of the crowd. I would say that there were probably a little over a hundred gathered as we passed, but by the time we'd parked and made our way back to the plaza, it had swelled to about 200. It was still disappointingly small.

There were many distinct groups in attendance. A few were familiar: the Grannies of course and Codepink are usual sights. This event had also attracted a group of anarchists and some who were affiliating themselves with a website called End the Fed. I have made it my goal to try to talk to as many attendees as possible at these events, so I can understand their reasons for coming and ask them about their views. The End the Fed people piqued my interest because I've been trying to wrap my head around economics for years now, and have only accumulated a huge list of scary stories. It can be illuminating to see what resonated with other people and wrestle it down to its bones together. This is the goal anyway, since I've come to the conclusion that I don't have good instincts for understanding economics: I need a tag team.

It started in the car, where I started talking with the Granny next to me about whether or not the Federal Reserve should be abolished. She thought so, but before we could get into why, we had to practice, so this conversation didn't get very far.

Then I spoke to two ladies who had passed the protest and wondered what exactly we were protesting. My self-consciousness pays off here, and in gently eastern European accents they seemed relieved that I wasn't there to demand the immediate implementation of a socialist government. "You have to have hope," one said, patting me on the arm and I assured her that I did.

Eventually, I made my way through the crowd and found black ops bankers in a helicopter. Tiny ones. There is a special place in my heart for activists with accessories, and I figure you wouldn't go to that kind of trouble if you didn't want folks to ask...

The man who was patient enough to deal with me gave me fliers with web addresses and a DVD. But I am still apprehensive about the Tea Parties scheduled for tomorrow. The more I read about them, the more open paranoia I find about liberals infiltrating them on behalf of Huffington Post or the President or something. And that is really interesting. How do you know who is an activist, a populist or a plant? I can't say I'm very good at that game, but this:

"Please note that although all of us attending are (of course!) extremely supportive of our First Amendment rights, it’s crucial that the message we are presenting not be distorted. To that end, protesters with signs that are not in line with the theme of the event will be asked to remove them from the demonstration. Such signs include but are not limited to: campaigning, racially inappropriate slogans, anything that suggests violence or unlawful activity, and/or partisan slogans."

... isn't particularly populist. No one made the people holding the giant "End the Fed" sign take it down. No one came to make sure the Grannies were on message. I read some coverage on Indybay about Saturday's event, and while there were some who were unhappy about the presence of anarchists, they were not run off. No one I saw asked them to remove their props. They hung their lovely effigy a little bit away from the speakers and the banners... but all still together before the Fed, and within view of the forty some odd cops who also attended.

I know this only because I was there. And that's why I do intend to attend one of the area's tea parties... so I can be there too. As I said, I went to protest at the Fed because I'm angry and I'm not certain about who to listen to. And in full disclosure, I must admit that I was probably pretty obnoxious to the guy who was patient enough to talk to me. But I did listen. And I did email him. I might even watch the DVD. These things have to start somewhere.

If they don't burn me at the stake, I'll be back with Part II!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Fear of Flying

2009-04-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

I thought about writing this as an open letter to Barack Obama, but then I thought, "Why would my voice be any more compelling than the thousands of people who voted on the town hall questions the other day?" As the President said, “I don’t know what this says about the online audience.” Though it pains me, I have to take him at his word and presume he honestly has no idea, even though the laughter in that clip suggests otherwise.

Instead of letting him insult me again, I thought I'd tell you, in the hopes that you might understand. This particular member of "the online audience" has a condition called CVS, or cyclical vomiting syndrome. That's what the question about legalizing marijuana said to me. Every so often (and thankfully, not since August!) I just throw up every twenty minutes for about 12 hours. I also have horrible burning sensations in my stomach that make me moan and thrash around.

This is apparently kind of a rare condition. It took years to get any diagnosis and I seem to have a minor case: some people can have episodes lasting several days, and some people have much more frequent ones than I do, so believe me when I say that I'm not trolling for sympathy. Still, when I'm sick, I tend to get dehydrated, so we'll often go to the hospital so I can get an IV. They usually give me a combination of Phenergan for the nausea (which was developed for morning sickness) and morphine for the pain.

That combination is not nearly as effective as smoking a bowl. You might think that in California, my solution should be pretty straightforward: medical marijuana is legal here, and it's relatively simple to find a doctor to write you a prescription. But the fact is, marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level, and the Federal authorities have continued to raid dispensaries, even after Obama took office. His belittling answer does nothing to address this reality. If you take advantage of California's program, you are essentially admitting that you're breaking federal laws and risking arrest.

I don't find that funny at all. I don't like the fact that when I'm sick, I get drugs that make me hallucinate. I don't like the fact that I get heroine's little sister instead of a drug that works and isn't terrifying. If I could ask the President again face to face, do you think he'd find it funny that I have get so high when I go to the hospital? These legal drugs scare the crap out of me. There's a reason I prefer this particular chemical, which I don't even have to swallow. In the past, when my episodes were more frequent, they even prescribed Phenergan to take at home and I don't have to swallow that either. It's not better.

Do you think he'd be amused by the fact that I'm terrified of going out of state to visit my family, because the stress of traveling has prompted episodes in the past?

I'm not going to get into any of the more objective reasons for decriminalizing or legalizing pot... I only know why it's important to me. Mythology is not medicine, and it isn't justice either. These laws force me to risk arrest, to consume harder drugs, and to pay for them through an insurance plan that often makes them cost several times what they should. All this, instead of letting me grow my own medication in my garden.

While I know we're still years away from that reality, and I don't expect the President to step in and magically fix everything, did he have to laugh so hard?

My Neighbor Takes a Page From Monsanto

2009-03-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

Just when I really got into the kale... so did our old friend next door:

I have no problem sharing the fruit trees. But the kale? Really??

I wouldn't mind so much if he left me some. Currently, I'd rather let the rabbits eat it than a belligerent old man who hates me.

When this was discussed, he tried to negotiate. (via proxy of course, because he really can't stand me. two weeks ago, he was walking down the driveway with their caretaker and she pointed me out to him as i crouched in my yard weeding. he said, i think, "raaaah" as he walked faster and flapped his arms in a sort of dismissive gesture. maybe he is an ostrich...)

Apparently, he has decided that all generations of kale belong to him. I can't help but feel like I'm not paying for the privilege of being his grocery store. It's bad enough just to know that this land doesn't belong to us. It's bad enough when they pull up or step on plants I want. There's a primitive kind of anger that kicks in though, when you know that some old man just lays claim to everything you plant, simply because he feels like some of it once belonged to him.

Anyone who has ever planted mint knows how prone to escape it is. And anyone who has ever gardened knows that there are precious few seeds magical enough to produce crops without any tending.

I know he knows this, because it's not like he doesn't garden. In fact, today I had to go call 911 when he fell in his yard, and heard him hollering for his 90 year old sister. And he could even bring himself to talk to me like a civilized person when he needed help. When the firemen got there, I receded so he could have a little dignity. They've been there before and he likes them.

So today, I celebrated Cesar Chavez Day, mostly thinking about property rights... but at heart, I am obviously a communist. You can't just leave old men bleeding on the ground because they've been obnoxious. And in such cases, it sure is nice to be able to get on the phone and call nice burly men in a truck to patch him up. I know they say good fences make good neighbors, but I'm starting to think Frost had some much nicer neighbors than I do. Mine require strong local government services.

Dancing for Democracy

2009-03-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

I was at City Hall, seeing off the crew who will march from the bay to Sacramento. They are hoping to convert the hearts and minds of those in the inland counties, where Prop 8 was heavily supported in the polls. I don't get up to San Francisco as often as I'd like. I wish the occasion were happier, but it wasn't somber either. The Brass Liberation Orchestra played everyone across the street to the steps of the Supreme Court. Here's hoping the justices inside decide in favor of equality, in favor of families, and in favor of love.

Six Years

2009-03-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

I wish I did not have to write this. It pains me to see how little coverage the war commands, six years in. Last year, I spoke to David Ledesma about his experience protesting the war every weekend for five years and counter-recruiting. This year, I wanted to call attention to another military family that I met yesterday. Karen Meredith spoke about losing her son at a rally I attended, and the importance of not forgetting the soldiers, even though the war is no longer front page news. Her son, Kenneth Ballard, was killed in action in Najaf, early in the second year of fighting. I am so grateful that she shares him with us, because I believe voices like hers are sorely absent from most people's experience.

I'd recently read about conversations playing out among widows of soldiers, regarding the recent decision to let families opt to allow the media to film the return of soldiers' remains at Dover. Such coverage was banned since 1991, and this change has sparked a debate over the appropriateness of that decision. It saddens me to see how antagonized some are by the notion of their friends being documented. As an example, I found this piece, recommended in the comments at the LA Times accompanying this article by Lily Burana. I can understand how they've noticed the press hounding some of their targets and that they fear how such photos will be used once in circulation. I can understand the desire to offer some final protection or comfort to the fallen. But I cannot understand the desire to compel any other family who, though grieving, would let us know of their sacrifice. I do not side really with the press here, who often is intrusive when granted access. I will always side with the people who, in their stricken moments, still find ways to share some tiny part of their pain with a community increasingly insulated from the fallout of their politicians' ideas. I saw Karen speak last night for the first time, and I just learned her story (her's is the second one) today. When she requested the photos of Kenneth's body returning to Dover she was refused. This was before the media was allowed to document these ceremonies. What could be the purpose of denying his mother those photos?

That's why I am sharing these photos. These events are powerful. Our military families deserve an audience if they want it. It's the least we can do. Thank you, Karen and Lily, for trusting us with what you love and what you think.

First Baby Blue Eyes...

2009-03-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Like most of the other gardeners in California, I'm worried about the water. We've nearly caught up this year, and I can tell the difference in the way the trees have flowered. Still, the reservoirs have not managed to capture much, so parched was the ground. So, I'm glad to say that I've already begun a native garden, so that half of the front lawn can (hopefully) do without water completely this summer. My Nemophilia and Echscholzia have both reseeded, along with a multitude of Clarkias. This is no sign of my Gilia though! I am thinking of this project less like a painting these days, and more like choreography. This year, the seeds didn't have to rely on me for scattering, and the plants are way ahead of last year's generation because of that extra time and water. I planted good parents! I didn't log last year's first bloom date, but I'm guessing this photo on the right is a good hint: it was taken March 28th. This year, I first saw flowers on Sunday, March 8th.

And this year, only the trees, the edibles and the old man's flowers will be watered. Be strong babies! And I probably shouldn't tell them about all the things I forgot to do when planning this tiny meadow (like, not planting annual wildflowers the first year so the weeds can be mowed... instead of painstakingly pulled out by hand after they've woven themselves into what I wanted...). If you're interested, here are some notes I wish I had last year. The plants listed are for the Northeast, but I think the methods are probably portable, even if the cast isn't. I was gratified to see that there's an open call on the West Coast for plants that aren't ugly and won't die, so hopefully we'll see even more interest (and success!) in native gardens this year!

In the hopes of taking better notes next year, I'm going to start keeping a list of what is flowering by month.

In bloom right now:
Baby Blue Eyes
Evergreen Currant
Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry
Candyflower
Hellebore
Giant Coreopsis
Fleabane
Cyclamen
Mirabelle
Nectarine
Santa Rosa Plum
Apricot
Peach

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.