"Slumbering People"

to kill a man and drink his blood from the skull bowl
to search for the soul in between barren mountains
and to eat the world away in pursuit of phantoms
limbs that hold together syndromes, complexions
and fictions.

the argument is over doGs as usual
and the deeper waters are horrifically murderous, call it
business. call it justice. Celebrate
erratic on the steps and
howling with drunkenness
flagging hidden ammunitions
perpetuate your messing around
onto the names of children
spit the saliva of your fellow man
onto the green grass of your own lawn
and call it

enemy
separate
evil.

"4th Horse= the first world war on the 3rd"

the color of night shades
melting into the moon's reflection
ebony scaled
dimensions incomparable
to the earlier this afternoon
the horse is sitting silently
waiting for the tribe
waiting on the wind
tasting all the delicate
ripples composing of the sky
a war horse on board
a peace horse on board
a war for peace
a war on peace
a peace of war on war
war and peace
the warring peace
the warring war
a jumble, jungle
jigsaw puzzle

horses scattered
horse confused
a high horse
a dead horse
a pygmy of a horse
a barking horse of orders
a timid broken legged horse

the voice is hoarse


send the stallions to horse around
the old woman and her children have been
stripped naked of their hidden innocence

"Off the Back Porch of My Memory"

"Off the Back Porch of My Memory"

the large oak stood still
while its leaves quivered ceaselessly
in the hard, hot wind
time passed and the moon rose
to the horizonal edge

good evening my shining friend


 © 2011 Seamus Kevin Orion FItzgerald

"To all you Sorcerer's of Commodities...eat this..."

"To all you Sorcerer's of Commodities...eat this..."


a drifting spire of hegemony in the mists
that is what the wall says to the pauper
who can see through all things in corridors
of grocery stores and rat-race mall markets

"these sorcerers do not blind me!"
 says the enlightened boy
"they are but nightmares within my dreams--
I am their downfall for I am their creator and sustainer
exclaims the pauper boy with the eyes to see

"why should i hate them?" he asks
"Why, if i were to give them such time
as to permit them to be like leeches upon all my days
I would not be able to rise in the morning
or settle at night...all would be hopeless and drawn with danger!"

"they do not care for me. Why should my time care for them?
let them rot to themselves. Only the dirtiest of creatures
would feast on their bones, And I ask, what creature is
even close to being deemable as low as their ashes?"

I find these saints of commerce boring and suckish
they are like children in a sandbox always fighting
about trivial things as small as grains of sand
they have no comprehehnsion for the greatness of a wo/man.
I say we best not listen to their drudgery. it is spell casting
to the blackest degree and takes away from the potential to create
things that are not to the blackest degree but to the highest degree
things not stagnant but moving--kinetic in nature
easily transferable from one pillar to the next.
why take them seriously. yes they kill. yes they disregard the earth
pillage the forest burn the fields.
yes they have no care or concern for the creatures
of places and peoples of all stories. but why feed them with time?
why take them so hard? they are clowns! they like to hide behind fantasies.
do not let them make their fantasy yours.
for if you do, it will doom you for sure.

Yes, says the enlightened pauper
I see their evil. but rest easily
for their eyes are too blind to anything but themselves,
they can not see me, the me that I am
their shadow hiding with a knife.
biting like a viper one fang at a time.



 © 2011 Seamus Kevin Orion Fitzgerald

"Rain: A Looking Glass"

"Rain: A Looking Glass"

hear that, the rain
how it dances on the window
rushing into tempo
along side the frogs
who chitter in the swamp
listen, they are exalted
they are blessed and
wholly blessing, even
when they are cursing
from one perspective to another
there are a million others
scattered on this window
passing by in seasons
moving out debris
bringing in additions
leaving back its traces
forgetting itself;
erasing memory
participant...

time
space
continuum


 © 2011 Seamus Kevin Orion Fitzgerald

"It was early in the morning and..."

"It was early in the morning and..."

there were two great spotted owls
swooping from shadows in the pines
and across the misty field
to the stark stands of birch
jarring the morning sky like
bones poking through the dirt.

The sun was glowing golden.


 © 2011 Seamus Kevin Orion Fitzgerald

"Marijuana on the River Shore"

"Marijuana on the River Shore"


a doorway onto heaven; a hole into paradise
standing near the entry way between the shaking
pines. Walking onward through the blue. clouds
hanging pregnant with the capability of storming.

lined by gnarly snags of wood and groupings of
flat rocks. talking to the windowless
world all before me. History layering onto my
consciousness. taking drags into the whispering
wind and river waves, lapping rhythmically
upon the muddy, boot sucking shore

© 2011 Seamus Kevin Orion Fitzgerald

Permaculture Activist Magazine

Permaculture Activist Magazine

Check these guys out!

Interveiw with Rosi Braidotte author of the book Nomadic subjects: On Nomadism.

On nomadism: Interview with Rosi Braidotti


Rosi Braidotti’s work lies at the intersection of political theory, cultural politics, gender theory and ethnicity studies. The core of her interdisciplinary work consists of four interconnected monographs on the constitution of contemporary subjectivity, with special emphasis on the concept of difference within the history of European philosophy and political theory. She has been Jean Monnet professor at the European University Institute in Florence, a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and is currently Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Utrecht University.
By Sara Saleri with Rigenerazioni* Rosi Braidotti has explored the notion of “nomadism” which has become the key concept for the development of an extremely rich and original research, varying from poststructuralism, to the history of feminism, to ethics. In her theory, the nomadic subject is a subject in becoming and, at the same time, grounded to a determined historical situation, embodied and situated. In this conversation, we talked about ethical gestures, feminism and the possibilities of a nomadic political practice.

Q: The idea of the nomadic subject was born as a philosophical concept, as an existential condition, as a (non structured) form of one’s own identity. In recent years you have especially reflected on this concept in an ethical dimension, as what should be the basis of political action. We especially think about Transpositions, where you maintain that “a nomadic and not unitary vision of the subject, instead of impeding ethically relevant positions, constitutes a necessary precondition for the formulation of an ethics which measures up to the complexities of our time”.

Which are the concrete practices you think of, when you talk about politics of location, of multiple becoming, of the necessity of going through differences and belongings that can also be contradictory? Which could be the figures and everyday experiences of nomadism?

RB: The project on nomadic subjects emerges from feminist philosophies, post-colonial philosophies and anti-racist philosophies, critical theory, social theory. And then it develops into an analytical tool to look at three classes of problems. First of all, the cultural mutations, which I call “the cultural cartography”: what is happening to bodies, identities, belongings, in a world that is technologically mediated, ethnically mixed and changing very fast in all sort of ways. Secondly, there is a clearly political project: can we think other ways of being globalized, of becoming planetary, or are we stuck with this neoliberal model? Is there another way in which we can rethink at our interconnections? And then, finally, the ethical issue: what are the values of subjects who are not unitary but are split, complex, nomadic? These three dimensions are reflected in my trilogy of books: Nomadic Subjects (1994, Columbia University Press) is the starting social statement, Metamorphoses (2002, Polity Press) deals with the cultural part, while Transpositions (2006, Polity Press) focuses on ethics. In terms of practical implications, there are two clear areas in which nomadic subjectivity can be seen. First, the actual practice of flexible citizenship, which I explored in my work on Europe: a temporary, interim citizenship based on delinking ethnic origin from nationality and citizenship and then recombining them in different ways. Our European citizenship allows us to recombine nationality and ethnic origins in very unprecedented ways: in fact, we can delink citizenship from ethnicity and connect it to participation, belonging. And I think that this model of nomadic citizenship, that would be pragmatic and grounded, instead of abstract and based on nationality, is what we have to focus on. Second, connected to this, the idea of nomadic subject allows us to have a different take on immigration: we have to stop looking at immigration as a problem and see immigration as simply the fact of globalization. We have to start from the fact that the world will never be culturally and ethnically homogenous again: that world is over. Then, we have to think about the multiple forms of belonging of subjects and map out different configurations of nomadism, different ways in which a subject can have multiple belongings, multiple ways in which ethnicity, nationality and citizenship can actually be combined, even within the same nation state. A model of nomadic post-colonial theory would allow you to de-criminalize, depenalize, de-pathologize the problem, and also not to discuss post-colonial theory only in terms of other possible identities. The crucial thing about nomadic subject is that it is post-identitarian: nomadic is a verb, a process by which we map out multiple transformations and multiple ways of belonging, each depending on where our particular location is and how we grow. So we have to map out the alternative cartographies of the non-unitary subjects that we are, so that we can get rid of any idea that there are subjects that are completely unitary, belonging entirely to one location.

Q: This concept of “flexible citizenship” seems to recall the idea by Hanna Arendt of reversed human rights, which would guarantee the right to citizenship at an international level. A political citizenship in a political space, wider than the one possible within the nation state. Arendt saw a possibility of this kind of citizenship in the project of federal Europe: do you think this notion could be realised in the Europe we have, increasingly more constructed as a fortress, opposed to those who try to enter its borders? Instead, how can we imagine and how can we build a different Europe, really post-national, which would open to this kind of citizenship?

RB: We obviously have the Europe that we deserve. Europe is made through elections in which very few people vote. Clearly a political project that construct a post-national Europe is not there. And Daniel Cohen Bendit, the leader of my party, the European Greens, has been forever working within the institutions, to have the political Europe on the agenda. It’s a political decision if we do it or not: the institutional and legal means are in place. If you look at the work done at the European Institute in Florence by armies of lawyers who have worked out the structure of a possible European citizenship, it is absolutely feasible and easy to delink citizenship from ethnic origins or even nationalities. So the entire infrastructure is in place, there’s no political will. And I think in the last ten years – I was talking with Luisa Passerini about this – the political project of Europe has regressed enormously, under the combined forces of the delirious nationalistic right and the equally delirious old fashioned left: I hold them both entirely responsible. A middle way that can allow us constructing a Europe where – as Spinelli, Schumann and Monnet were pointing out – the European framework would actually allow us to bypass nationalism, would be actually to postulate citizenship on participation, on belonging, on taxation, on being there… allowing people without countries, stateless people, to be citizens. To give everyone the right to have rights, using precisely the European legal framework as an unprecedented legal framework, that would allow us to transcend the nation state. This is the greatness of this project, but it is not highlighted in the public debate.

Q: A keyword in all your work is “responsibility”. In “Transposition”, you defined ethics as a whole of “intersected forms of situated responsibility”, linked to a politics of location: we have to become “other”, to take the responsibilities linked not only to the roles we act, but also to the roles we can keep in memory (a memory which is intergenerational and collective). How do you think this becoming-other, becoming-multiple can be translated in practice, beyond an increased awareness of oneself as a subject (or many subjects)? Is it a project which ends in the individuality of a subject, or do you think it also as a collective project?

RB: I think we have to start from eliminating identities. We will never arrive anywhere if we identity as a starting point. In fact the whole process of becoming is a process of abandoning identity and entering in the construction of subjectivity, subjectivity being per definition transversal, collective. This is an enormous switch because even the political movements I have known in the 70s were identitarian movements: women movements would fight for women, gay movements would fight for gays... There is sometimes a sort of one-on-one equivalence between the grief and the remedy, what you are complaining against and what you propose as an alternative. This one-on-one equivalence has to switch, transcending the merely identitarian claim and look at the broader issue. This point was already made back in the 80s by poststructuralists, when there was a critique of Hegelian and Marxist identity politics. It went for a large part unheard, but if you read early Foucault, middle Deleuze, Derrida, it is clear that the only possible ethics for the global world is collectively shared, because the scale of the problems is planetary, gigantic. An example for this is what people continue to call “the environmental problem” – as if it were a problem, when it is in fact the possibility of the future. It is like immigration: these issues are not problems, they are either a fact or a condition of possibility for survival. You can’t address a problem today, whether it is water, or clean air, without having to take into account a common condition, planetary, almost global, and future generations. That is the clear example of the ethical shift that we need. And of course our morality – Kantian or Judeo-Christian – is not only individualistic but it is like a contract between self and other, a negotiation: “I don’t do to you what you don’t do to me, etc.”. A kind of capitalist driven negotiation of boundaries. No matter what neo-Kantians of today – such as Martha Nussbaum – say, that model is simply inadequate to the scale and dimension of problems we have. We need to be able to think for future generations who cannot do anything for us. The future per definition cannot be reciprocal, so we should exit the Kantian morality “I do that for you, you do that for me”... No! You do that for the love of humanity, because if we don’t do that, there is no going to be a humanity! So we have to give up the idea of reciprocity and we instead to know that we share a specificity of a certain condition. And we have to give up a certain notion which, by the year 2010, has lead to an assimilation of progress with further consumption: you will consume more than we did, we consume more than our parents did, our parents consumed more than their parents did... as a consequence of that, now we are at the verge of a catastrophe, financial, environmental, demographic. The eco-philosophical problem highlights the size of the issues we look at. When we look at war and peace, development, problems in the third world, increasing poverty in the first world … I think either we understand we are in this together, or it’s not going to work. It’s not a matter of choice but of necessity, to think of collective responsibility in a non-reciprocal manner, covering humans and non humans. We need an ethics for our times, and not the application of moral rules that are based in an 18th century world – I’m sorry, but I don’t live in that world. I don’t even think we have to see it as a choice.

Q. In Transpositions, you denounce the emergence of new macro-narratives, like the claim of the inevitability of the free market, or the biological essentialism. These macro-narratives, taken for granted and considered as untouchable, participate in defining some developments of the contemporary gender politics: a neo-conservative post-feminism, which considers financial success as the main, if not the only, index of women’s liberation; a neo-colonial attitude which sets “our women” (supposed as emancipated) against the “women of the others” (to be emancipated and liberated, sometimes with arms, as in Afghanistan). How can we challenge these macro-narrations?

RB: I think we should start to map the different kinds of subjectivity women have acquired, all kinds of women, and also look at other variables, like ethnicity, race, age, fundamental rights, class, income, social inscription – and from this look at differences. There is clearly a strong right-wing feminism, coming from the nationalist groups, from Jean Marie Le Pen, to the Lega Nord, saying: “We don’t want the Muslims, they are backwards, they will make us lose what we have gained through feminism”. There is a clear contradiction, so we need a much deeper analysis of the different locations of different possible feminist subjects, to find out that many of them would be right-wing, liberal, neoliberal, nationalist, some europeistic in a very defensive way (the “Fortress Europe” form). But all them will share the idea that women should be emancipated. So there is a core of emancipation, of equal opportunities, as a nucleus which is generating a whole range of mutations, and I don’t like many of these mutations, but they are all expression of the subjectivity of women. That subjectivity didn’t turn out to be singular univocal, but polivocal, and it’s not what we have dreamt of politically… but it is the risk of any revolution. I think it is interesting is to look at intersections of configurations of womanhood and foreigners, illegality, precarity, youth, disadvantage, and to look at the pockets where the level of oppression accumulates and where emancipationism proves rather empty. It’s like: “Integrate!”, but how am I going to do that if it means leaving my religion? This is the example of Muslim woman, but of course also with youth and unemployment: “Build up a career!” in the present state of the precarious market. About the possibility of feminism, we need to nomadise the concept. So, not think that we will agree – we will not –, but that we all will act, that we will have a platform for action, whatever it would be. And it will probably be very contradictory: for example, on the matter of the war on Iraq, even the feminist American community was split. Think of feminism as a coalition of interests on common issues: it is historically contingent and changeable and it has to be reconstructed at each generation. Now there are many possibilities, but you need to map out the contradictions of our generations and take the responsibilities of your generation seriously.

Q: In more than one occasion you have insisted that “becoming-women” doesn’t coincide with a classical emancipationism that would resemble a “becoming-men”. Do you think we should enter into the system in order to change it? For example, in “Nomadic subjects”, you talk about a “nomadic practice of institutions”, which would create structures flexible and functional at the same time. Could you explain us what you mean with this?

RB: You have to consider it historically: when we entered the institutions, in the 80s, early 90s, when we could see the new capitalist system evolving, the information society coming, the idea was to enter the institutions to consolidate and not to lose the archive, the memory, and let the institutions change, so that some of these ideals would permeate them: appoint more women, teach some emancipation... very basic things, to inhabit the institutions but not to assimilate into them. And it worked quite well, because we managed to be quite respected professors and directors, but we never really stopped fighting for an alternative. So, that was the original idea. What has happened since, is quite simply the huge mutation of capitalism: our information society is the height of flexibility and changeability. It has completely perverted that concept, to the point that now you will not have a career, you will have a sequence of jobs, if you are lucky. So flexibility and moving in and out has become so much the motor of neo-capitalism, that now we have to look at this again and still maintain that nomadism as a qualitative shift is necessary. But nomadism as a quantitative proliferation of multiple little jobs is the reality, so we need more of that. I don’t call that nomadism, I call that the perverted fragmentation of advanced capitalism. Nomadism is a qualitative shift of consciousness, that makes you inhabit the positions of power so as to change it.

*Rigenerazioni is a group of gender studies formed by PhD students and scholars in Semiotics at the University of Bologna. rigenerazioni.bo [at] gmail [dot] com

HERB OF THE MONTH

Suffering from seasonal colds?
Or are the ones around you
falling like meteors in the apocalypse
to the dreaded flu?

Chew on Garlic!

Here is why.

Garlic has been in use as a medicinal for thousands of years. Around 4000 known to be exact. Pliny the elder, Hippocrates, the Talmud, the Bible and Galen, to name a short few, all mentioned garlic for use in combating parasites. Archaeologists have discovered sculptures and paintings of garlic in ancient Egyptian tombs dating as far back as 3200 B.C. The famous young Pharaoh Tutankhamen himself was buried with a head of garlic. In Palestinian tradition, a man who wears garlic in his button hole is guaranteed a most joyous wedding night. Early 18th century French gravediggers drank a concoction of crushed garlic steeped in wine, that they believed warded off the plague. The 12th century German mystic Hildegarde von Bingen prescribed garlic simmered in water for 20 minutes as a treatment of bronchial conditions such as asthma. And in World Ward I and II, on account of the scarcity of penicillin and sulfa drugs, a garlic solution was sprayed on wounds to prevent the on set infection and gangrene.

The list goes on and on and despite any evidence that garlic can guarantee a good honeymoon whoopeeeeee, one thing is for sure: GARLIC IS GOOD! Plus recent and not so recent scientific evidence is backing that up!

In 1858, Louis Pasteur studied the effects of garlic on bacteria and found that just one millimeter of raw garlic juice is as effective as 60 milligrams of penicillin! More recent evidence backs that up. With the advance of science and studies into nutritional science through the lens of chemistry, the Allicin in raw, fresh garlic has been shown to kill 23 strains of bacteria. These include salmonella and staphylococcus.

The vitamins A, B and C contained in Garlic have been shown to stimulate the body in the fight against carcinogens and the expelling of toxins. Some evidence suggests that garlic may even
be a useful in the fight against cancer, especially of the stomach. The sulfurous compounds of Garlic also stimulate and detoxify the liver, help in opening up the circulation of blood, stimulation of the nervous system and regulation of blood sugar and metabolism.

Now that we know a little history and science behind the use of garlic, let's talk about the actual using of garlic. I know not everyone is wanting to subject themselves to the consumption of raw Garlic. And if you don't want to, you don't have to! As I have stated before and will confidently state again, true medicine lies in it's capacity to fit into an entire way of being. And what is more essential to life than food?  Garlic is a prime candidate for use in our everyday consumption and is in fact already a large part of the diet.With garlic, medicine can found in tradition and you might not even think of it as medicine. Those garlic mashed potatoes at supper may be saving your life and that old spaghetti sauce recipe your real Italian grand-mama passed down, you know, the one that causes dad to have horrendous breath, helps you digest all those carbohydrates found in pasta, plus makes the whole dish taste GREAT. Medicine is even in the Middle Eastern Restaurant down the street, the Indian Curry sauce you bought at the Co-op and  that delicious Thai soup your girlfriend makes. The point is, all  of them are more than likely to contain at least some garlic and all of them are EASY to eat, making garlic a 'Super Flexible Power Food".

Here is short list of medicinal properties of Garlic from earthclinic.com

* Garlic is a gastric stimulant & helps with digestion.
* It acts as an anti flatulent, carminative and diaphoretic.
* It stimulates the kidneys and is diuretic in nature.
* It is a tonic, giving strength & vitality
* It is an expectorant having a special effect on the bronchial and pulmonary secretions.
* It is beneficial for eyes & brain.
* It helps to heal fractured bones
* It is a great antiseptic.
* It has allicin, which has the property to destroy germs which are not killed by penicillin. As      such, it is a very powerful germicidal.
* It rehabilitates sexual malfunctions.
* It improves functional activity of heavy smokers.
* Half a raw garlic clove a day can increase body activity to dissolve blood clots, thereby preventing heart attacks and strokes.
* A couple of raw garlic cloves daily can bring blood cholesterol levels down in heart patients.


Now lets talk about the beautiful basic biology of garlic. I mean gorgeous! Garlic is a perennial with origins in central Asia, but presently cultivated all around the world, growing best in the northern hemisphere. The stalks are round, smooth and hollow. There are 500 species of garlic. The A. sativum branch grows to about 2 feet while the A. scorodopasm to about 1 to 5 feet tall. The part we all know is the root which is normally composed of anywhere from 4-20 bulbs. The flowers are small and grouped in either loose or compact clusters that are first surround by a teardrop leaf that later falls away. As the flowers are usually sterile, seeds are not normally produced. Although, small bulbs may form between the flowers. The leaves are long, flat and linear, growing from tubular sheaths at the stem's base.

Growing garlic is pretty easy to grow, especially if you have success with growing onions, for the needed soil composition is the same--a friable (crumbly) loamy soil that is fertile and high in organic matter. Remember to keep the soil evenly moist as dry soil can cause irregularly shaped bulbs. Clayey soils will also misshape bulbs. So, if your soil is to heavy, cut it with well rotted manure and compost every year.


Keep the adage, "Excessive luxury kills", in mind when fertilizing your soil. Just like if you were to eat too much garlic causing your stomach to upset and keeping your friends, family and lover(s) a bay , the soil if over-nourished can be like wise upset as well making harvest and health of plants diminish noticeably.

The best time to plant garlic is in mid to late fall, according to your local seasonal patterns. a good rule to follow is about 4-6 weeks before the first predicted frost. This gives the cloves plenty of time to establish strong root systems in preparation for winter. If you live in a warmer climate, especially one in the southern hemisphere, you may have a difficult time with garlic as it is more suitable to a northern hemisphere climate. (if you are from a warmer climate and have tips, please let me know!) When planting garlic do not separate the cloves from the bulbs until right before you are to plant. Before you begin, make sure your soil is that friable loam we talked about before. When ready make sure you have a bucket of well rotted compost (basically "new" soil)  and a bucket of your cloves. Now take your hand and use it like a blade to "cut" a trench in the soil. Make the incision about three inches deep going across your raised bed. Make as many of these trenches, each about a eagle spread hand width (4-6) inches apart. Now you are ready to plant the cloves. Space each clove about 6 inches apart and gently press each clove, scar side down (the scar side is where the clove was attached to the root of the bulb). When finished with the trench take a large handful of your compost from the bucket and fill in. Repeat this until all is filled and finished.

After the ground freezes in early winter, mulch your garlic bed(s) with a three our inch layer of straw or shredded leaves. This insulate the garlic over the harder parts of the winter season, along with any following snow, ensuring a more than likely success story.

when spring hops around there is very little work to be done. You should check to see if the garlic sprouts have enough room to "breath" under the mulch. If the stems are moving in spirals then you can simply remove some of the mulch from around the plant(s). This really shouldn't be a problem if you used shredded leave or well separate straw. Do not under any circumstances remove all mulch. It plays a vital role in providing the newly borne garlic nutrients essential for ensuring the proper and wanted growth.



Harvesting garlic is a pure joy. I have not harvested large amounts of garlic myself, but while on my internship at a garden in Northern New Mexico, I did get to take part in and witness the process of curing garlic. Here is how.

After harvesting your garlic, clear off any large clods soil. Leave the entire stem, along with the leaves intact. Next you should prepare an area to hang your garlic. Make sure it is a relatively shady, dry area where it is ensured not to get wet for the next 2-3weeks. I recall an ex-garlic farmer telling us that he always hung his garlic on the west side of the fence as the east sun is too hot. I don't know. Sounded like it worked for him. Or so he said. What I do know is you must keep it dry. it is best cured outdoors, but if you do not have the proper space the rafter of a shed work fine. The basics to remember are shade and dry with plenty of air circulation. You can figure out what that means for you from there. As I mentioned before it will take about 2-3 weeks to cure. I would recommend not harvesting all of your garlic at once. This way you can enjoy the unbeatable flavour that fresh from the garden garlic has to offer.


So, now that we have covered the basics of garlic in history, garlic in medicine, garlic biology and garlic growth and processing, I will end by providing a few great garlic recipes. Remember, one of the greatest powers of garlic lies in its "flexibility" to be incorporated casually into the diet. Food and medicine should and do not always have a line drawn between them. Garlic is a mascot of this fact. Bon apetite!


 Garlic Mashed Potatoes

- As many potatoes desired
- As much peeled garlic as you can safely handle
- chives in proportion to prior two
-water or milk in proportion
- Olive oil (around 2-3 table spoons)
-salt to taste
-pepper to taste


Boil or steam your potatoes until vulnerably soft.
You may skin them if you like. I usually use red so I say keep skins on.

When the potatoes are done.
Mash them immediately and vigorously with a masher.

When the mashing is done and you have worked up a good sweat.
Add the desired amount of water or milk, usually the rule here is not too thick
and not too thin, the beauty in this dish is that you decide! If you want soup have it--
if you want glue have it!
Set burner on low and cover.

while the mash is heating. Quickly chop the garlic and chives in desired size.
when the chopping is finished place a medium iron skillet on a burner turner to medium-high.
Wait for the skillet to warm up. you can check the mash as to make sure it doesn't burn.
When a few touching moments have passed, add about two table spoons of olive oil, don't worry about being exact here, just feel and pour. When the oil has achieved needed temperature (usually you can tell by the consistency, it will thin out when subject to the heat) throw in the garlic and give a few shuffles with a spatula. Let it fry a few moments then throw in the chopped chives. Let the garlic brown and chives soften before turning of the burner and adding to the mash. When added to the mash stir the chives and garlic lovingly. Cook this concoction of simple delicious until thoroughly heated. You may add in the pepper and salt at any time, before or after finished. When the mash is decidedly done, you may add 2-3 tablespoons, depending on amount of mash, of olive oil.




Spicy Lemon Pepper, Garlic, Chive and Onion Corn with Garlic and Chives Brown Rice

-1 Large Onion
(red is best)

-10 cloves garlic

- 1 cup fresh chives

-Lemon Pepper to taste

-Red Pepper Flakes to taste

-About 2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked and de-cobbed corn.

-two cups rice


Always cook the rice first. This entails knowing the standard 2-1 ratio of water to rice; 2 cups water for every 1 cup rice. I usually add a titch more just in case. Cook initially on high heat until water comes to a boil then turn to low--keep pot covered for entire process. Make sure the pot is a proper size for the rice expands and trust me, you do not want any overflow!  cook until all water is absorbed by rice and evaporated. This usually means around 50-60 minutes. Using a pyrex pot makes sure you avoid removing the lid to take a peek. Letting out any pressure and steam can affect the consistency of "doneness". When making the following parts factor in the 10 minute sitting period (covered with burner off) for the rice.

soaking the rice overnight greatly enhances the likely hood of "getting it right".
 
In the last 30 minutes of the rice cooking. Place de-cobbed and cooked corn in a steamer, cover and turned to high until water boils then turn down to medium-low. You only need about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of water in the pot.

While the rice is cooking and the corn in steaming chop your onion, 6 cloves garlic and half the chives.
About 10-15 minutes before rice is done place a large iron skillet on medium-high heat. When properly warmed add about two tablespoons of oil and wait until hot enough to add the onion. Fry the onion to about 1/2  way to browned before adding the garlic. Then add the desired amounts of red pepper flakes and lemon pepper. When onion is browned add the steam heated corn to the mix. Stir in and make any spicing adjustments as desired. Then cover and leave burner on low or even off if called for until the rice is surely done. While waiting on the rice quickly saute the remaining 4 cloves and chives. When the waiting period on the rice has expired, add the thoroughly sauteed garlic and chives to the rice and serve.

this meal could go well with a salad or soup, or both.


This next and final recipe is from "Mexico One Plate at a Time" with Rick Bayless. (Founder of Frontera Foods)


Mojo de Ajo--
or literally translated as, "Bath of Garlic" .

Ingredients

4 large heads garlic
    OR 10 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) peeled garlic cloves
2 cups fruity olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

---

Directions

Heat the oven to 325˚.

Break the heads of garlic apart, then mash each clove (a fist against the side of a knife is what I do) to release the clove from its papery skin; if using already-peeled garlic, scoop the cloves into a heavy recloseable plastic bag and use a rolling pin to mash them slightly.

Stir together the garlic, oil and salt in an 8x8-inch pan (make sure all the garlic is submerged), slide it into the oven and bake until the garlic is soft and lightly brown, about 45 to 55 minutes.  Add the lime juice and return to the oven for 20 minutes for the garlic to absorb the lime and turn golden brown.

Using an old-fashioned potato masher or large fork, mash the garlic into a coarse puree.  Pour the mixture into a wide-mouth storage container and refrigerate it until you’re ready to enjoy some deliciousness.  This mojo will keep for up to three months in the refrigerator as long as there's enough oil to keep the garlic covered.

From Wall Street to the White House: Obama Taps JPMorgan Exec William Daley for Chief of Staff

From Wall Street to the White House: Obama Taps JP Morgan Exec William Daley for Chief of Staff

A CHANGING IN NAME

Hello my none existent readers...and relatives who put up with this shit,
I am writing to inform you of the obvious name change to the title of my blog.
Upon thought on how to create traffic and how to not conjure images of fetal excrement...
I have decided upon a a more proper title. "The Raven on the Barbwire Fence."
Why?, you ask. Well, here is why...and you can quote me on this.

"because I felt like it."

The End,

Orion
the writer, editor and founder of this little piece of
nothing that floats subversively through an infinite count
of zeros and ones.

THIS VIDEO IS AWESOME! JUST SEE FOR YOURSELF.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CHICAGO: A Hidden Past of Excellence

Here is one of those rare occassions when a poem feels at its basic finish on the first to third tries...enjoy...hate...speak

"Great Spirit Moon..."

January moans
I wheel in the fire wood
with an old wood-wagon
my boots slip around
on the ice under a
noon blanket of fresh snow
I begin to think I need spikes
when I quickly disappear
from eye level vision
to the ground below
I've had this feeling before,
falling, in some time passed
and visibly forgotten
I wonder why such things
stir my blood and shake my bones
as I am pulling the wagon
nearing to its rest
one of the dogs scratches
at the glass sliding door
and I am taken back
to the moment and task
of hauling wood to the stove
load by load
by load

Orion © 2010

The Hard Truth is a good Jest and Stab in the side of the "Sorcerers of Commodity"

Good n' Simple Root Recipe

So, here is a recent dish I made with the help of family.
It is beautiful, simple and most important of all--
nutritious and delicious!


"Roasted Roots"

I always try to use organic everything as much as possible, but
if it is not in your budget use what you have. Remember that the joy
in cooking is the feeding of the soul. If you can make one person happy
through the act of cooking, you have made ten thousand hearts shine!

So,
first we need a large roaster
and three tablespoons olive oil.
pour 2 into the empty roaster.

start preheating the oven to 420 F


Second,
an assortment of hardy root vegetables

about a pound of small-medium beets
a large yam or two medium or four small
four large carrots
6 large red potatoes
1 large rutabega

clean and wash these into about 1inch pieces.
you can leave the skins on the potatoes, beets and carrots
if you like.
skin the rutabega and yam.

throw these in the roaster as you chop.

Next we can take 2-3 medium to large onions--red, white, yellow--mix it up.
peel and chop these into 1/4 inch strips and throw in with the chopped roots.

Now get out a bottle of chili powder or smoked paprika
and that last tablespoon of olive oil.

take 1-2 tables spoons of chili powder/paprika
and sprinkle on the mix.
now, pour the last table spoon of oil in as well.

stick your hands in and turn
until the mix is thorough.

you can accompany with salt and pepper to taste.

cover and escort to the oven.

set a timer or keep track for around 50 minutes

in the meantime,
grab one whole head of garlic.
break and peel.
leave cloves whole and unharmed.

when the fifty minutes is up
check the mix's consitency
to make sure it is close enough to done.

pull out the roaster, uncover
and throw in whole cloves of unharmed garlic.
mix thoroughly.

leave cover off roaster, escort back to oven and
turn the temperature down to 350 F.
cook for about 15-20 minutes
or unitl the garlic is done to your satisfaction.

This dish can easily be tweaked to meet your individual
needs. Expand it, shrink it, change the roots, change the spices--
really this recipe is so simple that you would have to try very hard
to actually mess it up.

I would recommend serving it with brown rice, whole grain couscous, quinoa, millet--
really any grain of your choice.

EAT EAT EAT!