Category Archives: ~ my 2cents …

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

One Caribbean or several different faces of ~ Caribbean Island Countries ~


RTX1H6EIHaitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent yell slogans during a protest in Santo Domingo June 18, 2015. People took to the streets to demonstrate against the risk of deportation from the Dominican Republic due to a deadline of a national immigration law.  Reuters

just another rantRTR4YTSMHaitian Rolando Joshept (R), 19, sits near a Dominican soldier on a bus of the National Migration Office in Santo Domingo June 24, 2015. Joshept is returning to Haiti voluntarily after a new Dominican migration law requires hundreds of thousands of Haitians and people of Haitian descent to show identity documents or register for a so-called “regularization” program.  Reuters

Just another rant …

In 2011, Officials of the Dominican Republic warned DR nationals and after many changes to the rules, they seem determined to deport at least onehundred thousand Haitians.   According to the media, approximately 250K applied for residency but only about 10k had the proper paper work.  This means that DR Officials might implement the papers please rule as the U.S. state of Arizona tried.

It has gotten worse.

There are reports that the Dominican Republic seems to be engaging in what some consider ethnic cleansing.  The idea that DR officials decided they needed to deport DR nationals without due process is disturbing. When In fact, some are of DR descent, others  are undocumented most have worked and lived there for all their lives to only have a few weeks before being “rounded up” as stated by DR officials.  So far, approximately 26K undocumented DR nationals have left voluntarily.  Is it possible that Dominican elites want to regain their privileged lives at the expense of families, possibly family ties as well?

Why is this bothering me? The last time I asked folks to boycott, there were reports of fights about who looks more Dominican or not and in the wake of men women and children being assaulted based on their looks and skin colour dealing with a papers please law is beyond my understanding. I know this is not a new problem, but in this 21st Century, one would think the Caribbean Community would come together and implement solutions.  The problem seems to be an archaic caste system that needs to end.

Where is the CARICOM community and what side are they on?

Thing is, the Caribbean and i use that to cover a wide range of territory …beyond being a beautiful, a paradise, a tourist destination, sadly it is reported as having corrupt government police and always under constant threats of natural disasters so these issues of color, land, looks, legacy religion seem petty when some serious money can be made … but the government needs to be legitimate …the soul of the Caribbean kept intact

the question: Is the government and police both corrupt?

There is a Common Wealth of and a Republic of, yet both are a part of the Caribbean Community.

Folks are suffering victims of crime, corruption, and a huge debt due to economic austerity. While some visitors choose to ignore it others conveniently bring up the label given to differentiate the face of one Caribbean Community member from another.  I have read it so many times and though I roll my eyes at the clichés “ they are very very serious about making sure folks “are not confused with” or “pronounced as”. The fact remains, the Dominica and all the islands on that coast are still apart of the sum total called the Caribbean Community, and more often than not; “the not to be confused” locales are groomed island destinations for the rich.  I know, not all rich folks are, but a whole lot are buying land, usually white and from the UK, France and now so are folks from the US, making it a place that is or once was 86% to 95% black (Caribbean) now a  place that provides low wages for resort bartenders,  house cleaners, ethnic-entertainers while being another place beaten used and eaten up by eco-tourism. Studies show that when tourism flounders so does the economy …duh. so, alternative sustainable options need to be considered.

Most of us would say eco-tourism is not bad as it mostly helps protect against deforestation, but nowadays you need to ask what are the locals getting out of it. We need to think about all the Caribbean islands or similar hard to get to places with extraordinary weather, climate, food, mountains, rainforests, freshwater lakes, hot springs, waterfalls, and diving spots that tourists tend to trample or buy up.  The waterfronts are now home to cruise liners that not only take up space, it has resulted in a loss of land,  some fishing rights, and reports are that cruise ships have been quietly dumping environmental waste into what used to be pristine waterways. In the end, like so many destinations of paradise or eco-tourist friendly places succumb to new developments and or modernization of facilities now have fewer visitors, even with all the tax perks which happens to negatively affects the locals and their overall economy in far too many cases.

There is a difference between the Commonwealth and a Republic in my opinion.   If you read the news, the commonwealth is far more likely to be groomed for “the people” most are hard to get to.  That means a whole lot of tourists and definitely user friendly; the other is usually a little more urban, rugged a lot less likely to have many tourists.  The leaders in a commonwealth are more likely and able to make a deal with countries like the US, UK or France while the people of a Republic probably choose to talk with China or any other resource seeking nation.  The fact remains that fifteen CARICOM members include the Dominican Republican, as well as Dominica, are all in this crisis, all members need to step up.

In a letter to CARICOM, chair Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie, the organization expressed shock that the regional body has not commented on the issue.  “We are shocked but not surprised about CARICOM’s silence during this period when the Chair has fallen to the Prime Minister of The Bahamas”.

In the image to the left, a Haitian man is pulled back toward the Haitian side of the border by Dominican soldiers, at the Jimani border crossing, in the Dominican Republic last Wednesday. The man was later allowed to pass. Authorities are prepared to resume deporting non-citizens without legal residency in the Dominican Republic after largely putting the practice on hold for a year, the head of the country’s immigration agency said. For decades, the Dominican Republic has deported non-citizens, the vast majority of whom come from neighbouring Haiti to work in low-wage jobs. (PHOTO: AP)

I don’t know the answers … though I think Caribbean island nations and those that have, like the Republic of Madagascar similar weather, lakes, waterfalls,  forests and amazons want to export what they make not have folks come in and take it, promise or build massive structures making the indigenous people’s give up land, fishing rights only to get a small amount of return or actual help then it ends with a series of broken promises.  Some thinking they are doing well, talk about having jobs like being tour guides, cultural dancers are helping them or giving them an opportunity because they had nothing before … this is such bs! We need to help our fellow man with income inequality, demand not only human rights, see actual humanitarian acts completed, and a legit government. We must always try to prevent or stop the slashing, burning, and deforestation because it is one of many things that will prevent the next generation from thriving not to mention trying to keep the next generation healthy

These nations, regions or countries considered islands of paradise ultimate vacay destination is home to people that should not be poor … We need to ask who what where and why this is happening!

Resources:

jamaicaobserver.com

wiki

ft.com

Barbados today

12newsnow.com

Jamaica-gleaner.com

ibtimes.org

A Case of Mistaken Identity: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture By Ernesto Sagás

started June 18

~ Culture & History, ~ my 2cents ..., ~ pop culture

Bertolli … 5 Tips for Cooking with Garlic and Onion


 5 Tips for Cooking with Garlic and Onion

Nearly every savory Italian recipe starts with the dynamism of garlic and onion. Whether you are slicing onions thin to caramelize them for a pizza or peeling a whole garlic clove to add a touch of flavor to crunchy toasted crostini, this powerhouse produce combo enlivens cuisine from all regions of Italy.

Whether you are an avid cook or a weekend kitchen warrior, you know that they are not the easiest things to work with. Here are five tips for making sure your cooking with garlic and onion is successful and tear free.

  • 1
  • Does cooking with onion and garlic leave your hands or cutting board a little odoriferous for days? By rubbing your hands and work surface with a fresh lemon cut in half, you will naturally disinfect whatever the vegetables have touched and eliminate the smell. For a bonus, cut the used lemon into small pieces and pulse in your garbage disposal for a burst of citrusy-fresh blades.
  • 2
  • What causes the dreaded tearing up we experience while cutting vegetables in the onion family, known as alliums? They emit a sulfur product called a lacrimator that escapes into the air when we chop an onion and then breaks down into sulfuric acid, an irritant that stimulates your eye to release tears to flush out the foreign substance. The best way to prevent tearing up is to rinse cut onions, leeks or shallots in cold water, or let them sit in chilled water, for a full 30 to 60 minutes before cutting.
  • 3
  • The water method works for more than just keeping oniony tears at bay. If you are adding onions to a recipe in which they will be eaten raw, let the chopped onions soak in water for roughly an hour and a half. This will reduce their bitterness. (If you don’t have that much time, a hearty rinse in a sieve under cold water will help.)
  • 4
  • When sautéing garlic and onion together, the garlic will always cook first. To prevent undue browning (which makes onions taste sweeter but makes garlic bitter and harsh), start your sautéing in a cold pan with a little olive oil and butter combined. The oil-butter mixture keeps the butter from burning, and the slow increase in the pan’s heat will balance the difference between the two vegetables’ cook times.
  • 5
  • If you love serving garlicky food but fear the after-burn on your breath, try eating an apple. A component in garlic stays active in the digestive system a full 6 to 18 hours after eating, which is when it peaks in our mouths; but the same enzymes that cause fruit to brown will counteract the potent garlic and keep it from sneaking back into your breath.
~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

You Put WHAT in My Ice Cream??


You Put WHAT in My Ice Cream??

 

by Justin Gammill
After all of the research that has gone into the food articles I’ve been writing, I have to admit that there are more things on my “List of Stuff to Never Put in my Mouth” than there has ever been. Razor blades, small woodland creatures, marbles, and burning embers are now joined by anything from McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, or Arby’s. Admittedly, that’s probably a good thing, but one such item that got added to the list recently really hurt.

 

See, out there in the food universe, there is a fun little ingredient called Castoreum. A seemingly innocent enough looking word since there is no questionable “-izine” at the end of it. “Hey can you pass the Castoreum?” sounds perfectly normal. Well, take it from me, you don’t want to pass the Castoreum, you want to throw it out the nearest window … possibly after lighting it on fire.

Castoreum is literally a secretion from the anal glands of a mature North American beaver. For the sake of conversation, we’ll just go ahead and call it Beaver Butt Juice, because that makes me giggle. I wish I was making this up, because the idea of putting beaver butt juice on anything other than a beaver recliner or beaver toilet paper is pretty disgusting. Unfortunately it’s a common ingredient whose most common use is for vanilla flavoring. Normally you’d expect people to try to prevent the anal secretions from a beaver from getting into your food, but not in this case. Beaver butt juice is FDA approved, and is listed as “natural flavoring” on most food labels. I can respect that, “natural flavoring” sounds better than “exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver”. But wait, my beloved Blue Bell has “Natural flavoring” listed in its ingredients … Have I been Beaver Butt Juiced? I’ll never know!

Well, It’s official Blue Bell Ice Cream, you’ve broken my heart…

I guess I shouldn’t single you out Blue Bell, you might not be the only one. Those crazy creamers Ben and Jerry might use it. Those silly Danish-sounding guys over at Häagen-Dazs might use it. Heck, even the weirdo’s over at Breyers might be slinging beaver butt juice around like Columbian drug lords. But I thought we had something special Blue Bell. You were always there in my childhood; at birthdays, holidays, school functions, everything. You covered my brownie. You accompanied my cake. You cooled me on hot days. Only for me to discover that after all these years you may have been beaver butt juiced up.

This is one of those rare chances in life where I will take the synthetic man-made alternative, Vanillin in this case, over the “All Natural” approach. Even with this being said, I guarantee you that there is some hippy out there that will read this and say “Wow, I’m only eating Blue Bell now because it’s all natural”. Have at it, buddy, the Vegans and I will pass. Well, the vegan is going to pass no matter what unless it’s soy ice cream; because heaven forbid we torture the poor cows by milking them. I don’t know if the beavers enjoy being “juiced”, I haven’t heard back from their press agent, but the vegans usually don’t think anything is good. Ever. And I’m pretty sure they hate puppies, freedom, and roller coasters too.

Random Side Note: Next time you think you hate your job, at that very moment there is a guy squeezing juice out of a beaver’s butt so that your ice cream is extra vanilla-y. All the sudden being the head cashier at the Dollar Store isn’t so bad…

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

skin care products …. how about sleep water and good food


shoesandblackgirl

Have you been getting digital product ads for Holiday events that are months away. I have and while I do love and buy products from certain sites, others are annoying offensive and you have to wonder how the FDA gave them the greenlight. Anyway, the ads in both print and digital have been focusing on women’s looks … how awful or our sagging skin or wrinkles … lest we talk about those aging spots oh and don’t stop there why not just lighten brighten and whiten your skin to make yourself look younger. Say what? I have admitted to having had a tough time with my skin when I was in my 20’s. I did not have acne in high school but moving to the city and indulging in food I had no idea existed … probably full of Tran’s fat and the environment forced me into doing time under the lights. I had allergy issues eczema and so on but the dermatologist was fantabulous. I did what I was told which is the most important thing during those years so my skin recovered, but the issues of wrinkles, lines and saggy parts of the face actually seem to be less when you go to sleep at a reasonable and consistent hour and to-be-honest water has and will always be our body’s savior. I have to admit, 2015 has been stressful, the heat, and working odd hours has a tendency to bring out wrinkling sagging in the neck area while the face is fine right now.  I look at those commercials, scream then wonder if I should finally break down buy the anti-aging stuff.  I actually decided to product test anti-aging wrinkle reducers’ in 2013 and did not feel the product I used made a difference.  If you just test my advice for a month in 2013 let me know if you saw a big difference; by going to sleep earlier than usual, drink 2 liters of water, and eat right you will definitely see positive changes. I love coffee tea and prefer water mixed unless it’s seriously hot or cold then I will drink what I call “naked water” … they say try to drink half your body weight though getting advice from your friendly doc or nurse is a better suggestion.   I try to drink 2 liters of liquids a day…. I do drink naked hot water. I stand by my statement in 2013.  I also went back to using coconut oil, moisturizer/creams with high SPF, vitamin C, E and B5 least we talk about adding more fan time

 

~ Nativegrl77

~ my 2cents ...

let the madness of March commence …&some News


rain wind and more rain…more wind …

just another rant …

What worried me before the mid-term elections was the possibility that people who have no experience, civility, common sense or clarity may get on the floor of Congress and really ruin what used to be a great country if they “take back their country.” I guess you can plug in whatever that means for you though it sounds like an awful way to live if you are a minority on any level. Now, 7.5 yrs. later you would think, maybe people have experienced enough bs and now understand that elections have consequences. The true answer is no, not many constituents in red states have been laughing, listening or have learned  from what has occurred on the floor of Congress .

The grim reality is that a vote for Republicans is a vote against your own best interest people.

If you live under a Republican controlled state, you have to ask yourself what have Republicans really done for you lately especially if you have family friends who are Federal Employees…  co-workers Teachers, Cops, Emts, Firefighters. Honestly, i don’t get it. The Republican mission remains unchanged and is as clear as the nose on your face and what you are hearing right now is only about winning the primary, you cannot be telling me Republicans can or intend to do a 360 or 180 if they win. The mission of Republicans in congress has been to seek out and privatize public service jobs or destroy them while dismantling the ACA by any means necessary. Unfortunately, the “thing” (Women) they have chosen to use as a Political football reared its ugly head again, a need to shutdoen homeland security, EPA,Education. republicans hate immigration reform while the XXL pipeline got vetoed by POTUS, rumors are it may still get built anyway and that boggles my brain.

In 2010, Republican Governors told their constituents their focus was on JObs Jobs Jobs though as time passed it was clear the mission included eliminating unions, defunding education and every social service program available while eliminating Working Families at the same time. This was not just a rude awakening it was a slap in the face, which brought out that sleeping giant that gained speed and culminated into millions of folks fighting back voting POTUS back for a second term. Now, in this 2016 year, the 21st Century the Party of No wants to roll back the clock, stir blue collar workers into a froth with instantiated anger that they, their wives and neighbors will march into that voting booth and vote based on everything other than who really is qualified to be President of the United States . The results from the midterm elections should have been a warning shot; their votes will and have affected our children, our lives, and now a trump president could ruin our future for years to come.  Think of the possibilities, if voters put the Democratic Party back in charge.  There will still be differences of opinion but changing out the extreme and partisan Party for a Congress that might be willing to work together for the greater good, rids America of Citizens United, makes sure that equality in all its forms finally reigns and that income inequality gap starts to fall away. The choice is an obvious one to me as this group of Republican lawmakers on the local State and Federal level decidedly agreed to take an extreme hard right. The Political Party of no made the unseemly choice to sign a pledge to stick by Grover  Norquist! it hurts all Americans, supports Paul Ryan’s farst of a budget that will change Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security as we know it. We cannot afford to give power to Rep.Ryan and  McConnell power that has in my opinion been abused  misused far more than their constituents understand or accept.  Mr. McConnell’s famous statement, that his job, his only goal was and still is to make President Obama a one term President will go down in history, and not in a good way. President Barack Obama has done more for the middle class and poor on his own while in office than those running states, let alone a Congress that has been an obstacle on so many levels during his Great 2Terms in office

Voting is a Right NOT a Privilege ….

below is just one of many stories of brave people who took a stand for us, Annie took a stand for my right to vote … NOW, we all have to Stand Up ! We will NOT let them turn back the Voting Clock !

Annie Lee Cooper

–The Selma Times-Journal reports:Annie Lee Cooper, a civil rights hero, died Wednesday afternoon at Vaughan Regional Medical Center. She was 100 years old.

Cooper became known worldwide in 1965 for a confrontation with Sheriff James G. Clark.

Historian David J. Garrow tells the story in his book, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” which was released in the 1970s by Yale University Press.

According to Garrow’s documented version, Cooper had stood in line for hours outside the Dallas County Courthouse to register to vote. Clark ordered the 224-pound, 54-year-old African-American woman to go home. Cooper clamed he poked her in the back of the neck with either a billy club or a cattle prod. Cooper turned and delivered a right hook to the sheriff’s jaw. He dropped to the ground. — Read the whole story –> Annie Lee Cooper, civil rights legend, dies | The Selma Times?Journal