Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Last Vestiges Of A Sane And Civil World



LAST VESTIGES OF A SANE
AND CIVIL WORLD

Written by : J R Hilton


***
Sometimes we cling onto what we know and what we are comfortable with in life,  and any variations of this can throw us off and make us uncomfortable.  Adaptability is King,  these days,  and there's never been a time when we needed to adapt so quickly and often as we do right now.  Oh sure there are lots of us that don't feel we need to change or keep up with the times and their crazy goings on. These are mostly older people that know that their time left on earth is limited enough that they don't need to worry overly much and will carry on just as they always have.

The fact is that there isn't much that hasn't changed.  Cities have swollen to population sizes that have infrastructures that can't keep up to the demand.  The same people that used to be locked up in mental hospitals are mostly free to roam the streets and carve out some kind of meager existence, usually with Government assistance.  Criminals often have more rights than their victims. Jails are always at capacity or more and parole boards constantly let out offenders to make more room for new prisoners and those released often go back to what they know best and kill again.  

Hidden agendas abound in Government and the private sector that are self serving with roots in greed.  Cost of living pay rises are quickly either becoming a thing of the past or so paltry as to make a mockery of the average person keeping up with the inflation rate.
Companies use WCB to hide behind when a worker gets injured while WCB does an astounding job of blowing legitimate injury claimants away and turning their lives upside down.  I know, I'm one of them.

We have guys like Mitch Romney running for the presidency in the USA.  This guy makes George Bush look like Steven Hawking in comparison.  Not much has changed in Canada.  We are still subjected to the same kind of Governments that don't believe in transparency and let agencies like WCB run their business like the Mafia.  " We are cutting you off, there's nothing wrong with you, and if you don't like it,  well,  just piss off now !  Ha Ha you're screwed, because we can do whatever we like.  

Accountability is out the window these days with many organizations and institutions,  and with many people.  By the time we reach a certain age, we know explicitly whom we can trust and whom we cannot.  Everyone is suspect until they prove otherwise.
When we are young, we have little tolerance for the vagaries of life and other peoples differences,  are strong willed and mostly unyielding to change unless we see instant gratification connected to it.

As we get older we mellow out and become more tolerant of others,  hopefully,  and we see things differently.  We are not so quick to fight for others causes, and more inclined to fight for our own.
Death becomes more of a certain reality and makes some of us wish we could of done more with our lives and reflect on how we would do things differently if we could do them over again.  We reflect on our immortality, and if we can think long enough and hard enough we discover a kind of second chance that's always been there,  but we used life's inconsistencies as an excuse for not thinking we could have realized this earlier.  

That's the thing about life,  death,  is the only time it's truly too late to start over and do it better.  At least as a mortal. We are always stronger and more resilient than we think we are.  We go through tragedies,  misadventures,  and endure great failures and at some point, we get back up and dust ourselves off and go on our way.  
While not everyone does this or does it well, we all have the power to do it.  Without failure, successes would be little or non existent.
Life is all about trial and error.

I believe we have passed a milestone in life of gross excesses and economies worldwide are now suffering and crumbling.  Of course in some countries the excesses were only shared by the heartless murderous regimes that ran them,  but in the Western world,  excesses were enjoyed by the masses.
Having so many countries in the EU with different views and goals,  all connected to the same monetary system is proving to be baptism by fire.  Trouble is,  all these economies including our own,  are connected one way or other and have worldwide repercussions.

The present days state of affairs is nothing to brag about.  If you're still with me here, I cannot resist a chance to voice my displeasure with the way other countries are handling the crisis in Syria. It seems everyone's afraid to do anything about it and when in these modern times ethnic cleansing is being perpetuated on a scale of what is going in in Syria,  this raises serious questions.  Where the answers to these are is a mystery.  

Conspiracies are alive and well still to this day and more are coming to light all the time.  Kudos to the many people that expose these.  Corruption always hides behind whatever and whoever is willing.  There is still hope for humanity,  but how much and how soon is anyone's guess.  We just have to keep on going and keep trying and be willing to fail before we succeed.  Bottom line keep trying and try harder.  Expect change,  and embrace it.  Never stop fighting for what you believe in.

***   

  
DO HAVE A GOOD DAY
AND NEVER GIVE UP

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Jeff R Hilton















Sunday, May 27, 2012

DESTRUCTING NATURE





DESTRUCTING NATURE
Written by: Jeff R Hilton



New order has taken over the last few places in Alberta where you can camp freely in mountain forests and have a vast choice of where to camp from low valleys near rivers and streams or up on higher elevations and be able to drive to them,  preferably with a 4X4 for some of the sites farther back in.

Unfortunately this new order is clear cut destruction of some pristine lands by people that have little brain capacity and no respect for these kinds of surroundings which are blatantly being  taken for granted and that these pristine wilderness areas are their right to destruct and access. Of course this will lead to,  not being able to access these places that you can camp at for free without the usual annoyances  that staying at paid private and government run campsites offer up.

The responsible Eco conscious campers that do still frequent these areas and respect nature would like to continue to have access to these areas.  Pulling out whole trees with a chain and a 4x4 because you're to stupid to bring firewood or forage for it responsibly will ensure that nobody will be able to access these last few wonderful places.

Perhaps I could offer up some tips so maybe your kids, and their children get to camp at these places as freely as we did.

If your TV set suddenly breaks down while you're out there which to me kind of defeats the purpose of being there but don't put it in the fire to see what will happen then smash it up and leave it in the bushes.  This has got to be the worst and most irresponsible thing I've ever seen in the mountains of Alberta. To the perpetrator, if you should read this, you are truly an un-muzzled boil brained miscreant.


Entering an area of dense forest and immediately getting a roaring fire going while the area is clearly marked with a total fire ban isn't what people do that actually know what the brain in their head is for.


Finding your perfect camping spot, then removing 3 or 4 trees within the sight to use as firewood isn't exactly clever either as not only is it unlawful but when other campers might want to stay there, there is suddenly not enough trees close enough to tie off tarps to.


Keeping your campsite in a complete disarray of food and garbage out in the open,  gives the bears a good reason to check out everyone's site after they tear up you and yours.


If you packed it in, pack it out. Don't leave sites strewn with rope,  nails,  broken glass,  beer can plastic rings,  live bullets,   garbage,   bags of excrement and broken equipment.  It makes the forest look too much like your back yard.


Show respect for other campers by going farther away into the bush if you plan on shooting guns and fireworks off every 5 minutes.  Respect trail signs that are marked, no motorized off road vehicles. Yes this applies to you to.


Put the fire out completely and thoroughly.  This ensures that the same forest,  may still be there next year.


***
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DO HAVE A GOOD DAY
AND USE COMMON SENSE OUTDOORS

Jeff R Hilton




  






Tuesday, May 8, 2012

SESAME GINGER AND GARLIC BLACKENED PRAWN BAKE



SESAME GINGER AND GARLIC BLACKENED PRAWN BAKE
Created exclusively by : Jeff R Hilton

***


This recipe is a 5 star * dish and a hearty meal in itself.

Ingredients :

DESIRED AMOUNT OF PRAWNS, DEFROSTED, DE-VEINED AND TAILS CUT OFF.

2 CUPS OF LONG GRAIN RICE.

10 FRESH WHITE MUSHROOMS SLICED.

3 TBSP. FRESH MINCED GARLIC.

14 MINI GRAPE TOMATOES CUT IN HALF.

SESAME GINGER MARINADE.

FRESH GROUND PEPPER TO TASTE.

STEAK SPICE,  LIBERAL AMOUNT.

SEA SALT CRYSTALS, HALF HANDFUL.

OLIVE OIL.

BUTTER.

MONTERREY JACK CHEESE,  GRATED

PARMIGIANA REGGIANO CHEESE, GRATED


PUT PREPARED PRAWNS INTO A BOWL AND COVER WITH MARINADE AND ADD SPICES.  LET MARINADE FOR APPROX. 2 TO 4 HOURS REFRIGERATED.

IN A WOK,  POUR OLIVE OIL TO BARELY COVER WOK BOTTOM.

ADD A KNOB OF BUTTER AND SOME MINCED GARLIC AND HEAT TO MEDIUM HOT.

ADD MUSHROOMS AND STIR CONSTANTLY UNTIL THEY ARE ALMOST BROWN, DO NOT OVERCOOK.  REMOVE AND SET ASIDE.

NOW WOK TOMATO HALVES ON MEDIUM HIGH HEAT WITH CUT SIDES DOWN 1ST UNTIL SLIGHTLY BLACKENED THEN STIR GENTLY FOR 5 MORE MINUTES,  REMOVE AND SET ASIDE.

DRAIN MARINATED PRAWNS INTO A BOWL SAVING MARINADE FOR LATER.

NOW ADD A LITTLE MORE OLIVE OIL AND MINCED GARLIC TO WOK AND WOK PRAWNS ON HIGH HEAT UNTIL SLIGHTLY BLACKENED STIRRING CONSTANTLY.

POUR 1 CUP OF PREPARED RICE EACH INTO TWO SEPARATE SINGLE SERVE OVEN SAFE DISHES ( PYREX ).

TOP THESE BOWLS WITH EQUAL AMOUNTS OF PRAWNS, MUSHROOMS, TOMATOES, PLACING ON TOP OF RICE.

POUR SAVED MARINADE EQUALLY OVER THE TWO BOWLS CONTENTS.

SPRINKLE WITH GRATED CHEESES OVER TOP.

PLACE BOWLS ON BAKING TRAY AND BAKE AT 350 FOR 20 MINUTES.

AFTER 20 MINUTES MOVE BOWLS UP A RACK AND BROIL FOR 6 MINUTES OR UNTIL CHEESES BROWN.

SERVE AND ENJOY !

**

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DO HAVE A GREAT DAY
AND A GREAT MEAL TO END IT

JEFF R HILTON






















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