Margie the sheep

For some reason, even though I agree with a lot of what you say here, I tend to use different words to describe it. A matter of being from different generations perhaps? A lot of what you say has been said before, many times in fact. When you say 'neo-liberalism' I tend to think of as 'progressive'. While I despise what that word has come to mean today, when I looked up the early history of the Progressive movement in California I would say I agree with most of what they stood for then. Somehow along the way it has mutated into something else though. When you talk about 'the age of selfishness' I still think in terms of 'the age of the anti-hero', where for some reason people glorify anti-social behavior; your term is probably more straight forward though. "and also a cultural and philosophical one, a new renaissance of sorts, considering the fact that stupidity and ignorance greatly contribute to these conditions. " ^Regarding this: There is something that I have become more aware of the last 10 years or so, that I don't put into words often since i am a fairly anti-social person. Perhaps that's not the best term, I would say I am more self interested then selfish, but that is a distinction most people might not bother to make. Getting back to the point though, before electronics sort of took over people's lives, I think people were more articulate, informed, and just intelligent through more frequent exercise of the faculties. In short, they read more, and wrote far more then the present generations. This come out very forcefully when you read books from before the electronic revolution; when I first started doing that, I found myself reaching for a dictionary a lot since they were more facile with their words and had a greater vocabulary then I did then. It's not merely a greater ability to split hairs or simply having more choices. I think the more visual and aural orientation of today's media has had a negative effect on our collective intelligence; just listening and watching does not engage our intellect to the same degree. The relentless simplification of everything down to the"NO U!" and emoticon level does not help either. Though Lord know I contribute to that myself since I love to use emoticons to express tone. Text is a lousy medium of expression by itself. Just watching people walk around all day with their attention focused on their phones almost to the exclusion of everything else will bring this point home. "The truth is that I, quite honestly, no longer care because I, as an individual, am powerless to do anything about it on the macro-level " You said it yourself already, but that is the worst sort of excuse a person can make. Maybe it is because you are a pessimist? I don't like just putting people into categories like that, things are rarely that simple, but the case can be made that people really do fall into one or the other category there, optimist or pessimist. The real question though, is whether it is possible to move from one group to the other? There was a movie I saw once, set in South Africa called "The Power of One" that kind of refutes that statement of yours that I just quoted, you might want to look it up some time? This may all come down to perspective, some people are just relentless when it comes to looking for the silver lining in every situation. Those people tend to be the one who have self confidence, which seems to be the key to moving forward despite seemingly insuperable obstacles. I just saw a magazine cover the other day that had Steve harvey featured on it. He went from being homeless and living out of his car for three years to being worth over $100 million. Do you think HE is a pessimist? Besides, what ever happened to,"A good deed is it's own reward"? Whether you succeed or fail in your endeavors, doing what you know or believe to be the right thing should be able to bring you to at least emotional equilibrium. You may very well not be able t changes things for the better at the macro level, but that isn't the point of life anyway. I find the Eastern religions are far more coherent on this sort of thing. I'm sorry for the wall of text Malik, but when I see someone talking like this it really irritates me for some reason. "The struggle is the glory" works for me, and I get really frustrated with people who sit around doing nothing because they think nothing matters. If we don't try, nothing will change, that I can guarantee.

Sorry I am late, I was stalking the celery, and lost track of the time. Really? Not appropriate? ^See He gets it! Parasites, the Neutral Menace, creeping around in the shadows...I admit I was a little surprised myself when they first brought it up, but it works. @King William: That Director of Communications. Or Cookies. I forget which. I get to read all the forum posts and keep the membership informed though, it's like being paid to watch the soaps! Hearing The Count being bleeped is simply ludicrous though.

Agreed, I mentioned that too. So far meatballs, chicken, and sausage have worked out. I haven't tried ham yet, that might be next.

Yes, the cold and the snow have been driven back into Canada, Siberia, Antarctica, and the other Icy Hells from whence they came for another year by our friends Mother Nature and Mr. Sun! The water is running, the air is warmer and the GPA's favorite time of year has returned; everything is Green again! In celebration of new life and in memory of those who fell in the frozen fields we like to hold a feast at this time of the year. We were putting this feast together when we had the happy thought of bringing this tradition to our neighbors of the other alliances and colors. Thus we would like to share some of our favorite recipes with all of you, and would like to know of your culinary traditions of the season. Does IRON in fact still use the traditional pans, or have they upgraded to the non-stick variety? Does the Brown Team still brown everything, or have they resorted to the microwave? Inquiring minds want to know! One of mine, for starters: EASY VEGETABLE SOUP 2 carrots,diced or sliced 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 onion, large or 2 onions, small, chopped 2-3 potatoes, medium, diced 2 quarts beef broth 1/3 or 1/2 a box of small shells, or other pasta (Yes Jeric, pasta DOES work with beef soup ) salt, to taste(1 tsp?) pepper, to taste(1 tsp?) This is a crock pot recipe; I simply love mine since I pretty much live on soups or stews and I have to work a lot so I don't have the time needed to cook properly most of the time. Being able to start it before I go to work and have it ready by the time I get back is wonderful, though someday I may come home to a burned house. It's also absurdly simple to throw it all together; when I first started using it on my own I was sort-of-frying the vegetables for a few minutes before putting them in the pot like the book said to, but that absolutely isn't necessary and adds extra fat to boot. All you need to do is throw everything in the pot, and set it on low for 4-6 hours, EXCEPT for the pasta. I cook that separately when the soup is done, or just before, and then toss it in as soon as it is done. Some notes: Use LITTLE pastas if you can, they do swell up in soups, especially if you are going to save some for later. I often cook on my day off and then have meals ready for several days. Also, you can pretty much add anything you want to this, it's a great base recipe. I often throw meatballs or sausage into it, chicken would probably work too. I'm constantly experimenting with this recipe. The original recipe I found in a book had turnips in it, and added hot sauce into the soup just before serving it. All kinds of veg can be added, so it is quite versatile. Now, does anybody have a good salad recipe to go with this?