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Coup D'Etat Rumblings in Venezuela
Monday, November 19 @ 08:00:27 UTC
Venezuela and Chavez
by Stephen Lendman
November 19, 2007
The Bush administration tried and failed three prior times to oust Hugo Chavez since its first aborted two-day coup attempt in April, 2002. Through FOIA requests, lawyer, activist and author Eva Golinger uncovered top secret CIA documents of US involvement that included an intricate financing scheme involving the quasi-governmental agency, National Endowment of Democracy (NED), and US Agency for International Development (USAID). The documents also showed the White House, State Department and National Security Agency had full knowledge of the scheme, had to have approved it, and there's little doubt of CIA involvement as it's always part of this kind of dirty business. What's worrying now is what went on then may be happening again in what looks like a prelude to a fourth made-in-Washington attempt to oust the Venezuelan leader that must be monitored closely as events develop.
Since he took office in February, 1999, and especially after George Bush's election, Chavez has been a US target, and this time he believes credible sources point to a plot to assassinate him. That information comes from Alimamy Bakarr Sankoh, president of the Hugo Chavez International-Foundation for Peace, Friendship & Solidarity (HCI-FPFS) in a November 11 press release. Sankoh supports Chavez as "a man of peace and flamboyant champion of human dignity (who persists in his efforts in spite of) growing US blackmail, sabotage and political blasphemy."
HCI-FPFS sources revealed the plot's code name - "Operation Cleanse Venezuela" that now may be unfolding ahead of the December 2 referendum on constitutional reforms. According to Sankoh, the scheme sounds familiar - CIA and other foreign secret service operatives (including anti-Castro terrorists) aiming to destabilize the Chavez government by using "at least three concrete subversive plans" to destroy the country's social democracy and kill Chavez.
It involves infiltrating subversive elements into the country, inciting opposition within the military, ordering region-based US forces to shoot down any aircraft used by Chavez, employing trained snipers with shoot to kill orders, and having the dominant US and Venezuelan media act as supportive attack dogs. Chavez is targeted because he represents the greatest of all threats to US hegemony in the region - a good example that's spreading. Venezuela also has Latin America's largest proved oil reserves at a time supplies are tight and prices are at all-time highs.
Sankoh calls Washington-directed threats "real" and to "be treated seriously" to avoid extending Bush's Middle East adventurism to Latin America. He calls for support from the region and world community to denounce the scheme and help stop another Bush administration regime change attempt.
More information on a possible coup plot also came from a November 13 Party for Socialism and Liberation article headlined "New US plots against the Venezuelan Revolution." It states Tribuna Popular (the Communist Party of Venezuela) and Prensa Latina (the Latin American News Agency) reported: "Between Oct. 7 and Oct 9, high-ranking US officials met in Prague, Czech Republic, with parts of the Venezuelan opposition (where they were) urged to convene social uprisings, sabotage the economy and infrastructure, destroy the food transportation chain and plan a military coup." It said Paul Wolfowitz and Madeleine Albright attended along with Humberto Celli, "a well-known coup-plotter from the Venezuelan party Accion Democratica."
The article further reported Tibisay Lucena, The National Electoral Council chairman, said the Venezuelan corporate media was "stoking a mood of violence amongst right-wing students" through a campaign of agitprop, and Hermann Escarra from the "pro-coup" Comando Nacional de la Resistencia openly incited "rebellion" last August and then called for constitutional changes to be stopped "through all means possible."
The Venezuelan news agency, Diaria VEA, also weighed in saying "anonymous students planned on committing acts of destabilization" as the December 2 vote approaches. Venezuelan Radio Trans Mundial provided proof with a recorded video of a youth dumping gasoline into an armored vehicle, ramming metal barricades into police on top of other vehicles, and knocking them from their roofs and hoods onto the ground.
The Threat of Street Protest Violence
For weeks, protests with sporadic violence have been on Venezuela's streets as anti-Chavistas use middle and upper class students as imperial tools to destabilize the government and disrupt the constitutional process. The aim is to discredit and oust the Chavez government and return the country to its ugly past with Washington and local oligarchs in charge and the neoliberal model reinstated.
Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro, weighed in on this on November 8. He accused Washington of meddling by staging violent Caracas street protests against proposed constitutional reforms to extend the country's participatory social democracy. Referring to a November 7 shootout at Caracas' Central University, he said: "We don't have any doubt that the government of the United States has their hands in the scheme that led to the ambush yesterday" that Chavez calls a "fascist offensive." Several students were wounded on the streets from a clash between pro and anti-Chavez elements.
"We know the whole scheme," Maduro added, and he should as it happened before in 2002, again during the disruptive 2002-03 oil management lockout, and most often as well when elections are held to disrupt the democratic process. These are standard CIA operating tactics used many times before for 50 years in the Agency's efforts to topple independent leaders and kill them. Chavez understands what's happening, and he's well briefed and alerted by his ally, Fidel Castro, who survived over 600 US attempts to kill him since 1959. He's now 81 and very much alive but going through a difficult recovery from major surgery 15 months ago.
Chavez has widespread popular support throughout the region and from allies like Ecuador's Raphael Correa and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega who expressed his "solidarity with the revolutionary people of Venezuela and our friend Hugo Chavez, who is being subjected to aggression from a counterrevolution fed by the traitors from inside the country and by the empire (referring to the US)." He compared the situation to his own country where similar efforts are being "financed by the United States Embassy" in Managua to support elements opposed to his Sandinista government even though it's very accommodative to Washington.
Even Brazil's Lula chimed in by calling Chavez's proposed reforms consistent with Venezuela's democratic norms, and he added: "Please, invent anything to criticize Chavez, except for lack of democracy."
Constitutional Reform As A Pretext for Protests
Washington's goal from all this is clear, but why now? Last July, Chavez announced he'd be sending Venezuela's National Assembly (AN) a proposed list of constitutional reforms to debate, consider and vote on. Under Venezuelan law, the President, National Assembly or 15% of registered voters (by petition) may propose constitutional changes. Under articles 342, 343, 344 and 345, they must then be debated three times in the legislature, amended if needed, and then submitted to a vote that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. Finally within 30 days, the public gets the last word, up or down, in a national referendum. It represents the true spirit of democracy that's unimaginable in the US where elitists control everything, elections are a sham, and the people have no say.
That was true for Venezuela earlier, but no longer. In its history, there have been 26 Constitutions since its first in 1821, but none like the 1999 Bolivarian one under Chavez that's worlds apart from the others. It created a model participatory social democracy that gave all citizens the right to vote it up or down by national referendum and then empowered them (or the government) later on to petition for change.
On August 15, Chavez did that by submitting 33 suggested amendment reforms to the Constitution's 350 articles and explained it this way: The 1999 Constitution needed updating because it's "ambiguous (and) a product of that moment. The world (today) is very different from (then). (Reforms are) essential for continuing the process of revolutionary transition" to deepen and broaden Venezuelan democracy. That's his central aim - to create a "new geometry of power" for the people along with more government accountability to them.
Proposed reforms will have little impact on the nation's fundamental political structure. They will, however, change laws with regard to politics, the economy, property, the military, the national territory as well as the culture and society and will deepen the country's social democracy.
The National Assembly (AN) completed its work on November 2 adding 25 additional articles to Chavez's proposal plus another 11 changes for a total of 69 articles that amend one-fifth of the nation's Constitution. The most important ones include:
-- extending existing constitutional law that guarantees human rights and recognizes the country's social and cultural diversity;
-- building a "social economy" to replace the failed neoliberal Washington Consensus model;
-- officially prohibiting monopolies and unjust consolidation of economic resources;
-- extending presidential terms from six to seven years;
-- allowing unlimited presidential reelections so that option is "the sovereign decision of the constituent people of Venezuela" and is a similar to the political process in countries like England, France, Germany and Australia;
-- strengthening grassroots communal councils, increasing their funding, and promoting more of them;
-- lowering the eligible voting age from 18 to 16;
-- guaranteeing free university education to the highest level;
-- prohibiting foreign funding of elections and political activity;
-- reducing the work week to 36 hours to promote more employment;
-- ending the autonomy of Venezuela's Central Bank to reclaim the country's financial sovereignty the way it should be everywhere; today nearly all central banks are controlled by private for-profit banking cartels; Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul wants to end that status in the US and correctly explains the Federal Reserve Bank is neither federal nor does it have reserves; it's owned and run by Wall Street and the major banks;
-- adding new forms of collective property under five categories: public for the state, social for citizens, collective for people or social groups, mixed for public and private, and private for individuals or private entities;
-- territorial redefinition to distribute resources more equitably to communities instead of being used largely by economic and political elites;
-- prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination and enacting gender parity rights for political candidates;
-- redefining the military as an "anti-imperialist popular entity;"
-- in cases where property is appropriated for the public good, fair and timely compensation to be paid for it;
-- protecting the loss of one's home in cases of bankruptcy; and
-- enacting social security protection for the self-employed.
The National Assembly also approved 15 important transitional dispositions. They relate to how constitutional changes will be implemented if approved until laws are passed to regulate them. One provision is for the legislature to pass 15 so-called "organic laws" that include the following ones:
-- a law on "popular power" to govern grassroots communal councils (that may number 50,000 by year end) that Chavez called "one of the central ideas....to open, at the constitutional level, the roads to accelerate the transfer of power to the people (in an) Explosion of Communal (or popular) Power;" five percent of state revenues will be set aside to fund it;
-- another promoting a socialist economy for the 21st century that Chavez champions even though he remains friendly to business; and
-- one relating to the country's territorial organization; plus others on education, a shorter workweek and more democratic changes.
Under Venezuelan law, and in the true spirit of democracy, these proposed changes will be for citizens to vote up or down on December 2. The process will be in two parts reversing an earlier decision to do it as one package, yea or nay. One part will be Chavez's 33 reforms plus 13 National Assembly additions, and the other for the remaining 23 articles.
Coup D'Etat Rumblings Must Be Taken Seriously
Now battle lines are drawn, opposition forces are mobilized and events are playing out violently on Venezuela's streets. The worst so far was on November 7 when CNN falsely reported "80,000" anti-Chavez students demonstrated "peacefully" in Caracas to denounce "Hugo Chavez's attempts to expand his power." The actual best estimates put it between 2000 and 10,000, and long-time Latin American expert James Petras calls the protesters "privileged middle and upper middle class university students," once again being used as an imperial tool.
In their anti-government zeal, CNN and other dominant media ignore the many pro-Chavez events writer Fred Fuentes calls a "red hurricane" sweeping the country. An impressive one was held on November 4 when the President addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters who participated in an 8.5 kilometer Caracas march while similar pro-reform rallies took place at the same time around the country. They're the start of a "yes" campaign for a large December 2 turnout that's vital as polls show strong pro-reform support by a near two to one margin.
In an effort to defuse it, orchestrated opposition turned violent and officials reported eight people were injured in the November 7 incident. No one was killed, but one was wounded by gunfire when at least "four (masked) gunmen (who looked like provocateur plants, not students) fir(ed) handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd." In an earlier October demonstration, opposition students clashed with police who kept them from reaching the National Assembly building and a direct confrontation with pro-Chavez supporters that might have turned ugly.
It did on November 7 when violence erupted between pro and anti-government students, but it wasn't as reported. Venezuelan and US corporate media claimed pro-Chavez supporters initiated the attack. In fact, they WERE attacked by elements opposing the President. They seized this time to act ahead of the referendum to disrupt it and destabilize the government as prelude to a possible planned coup.
One pro-Chavez student explained what happened. She and others were erecting posters supporting a "yes" referendum vote when they were attacked with tear gas and crowds yelling they were going to be lynched. Avila TV had the evidence. Its unedited footage showed an opposition student mob surrounding the School of Social Work area where pro-Chavez students hid for safety. They threw Molotov cocktails, rocks, chairs and other objects, smashed windows, and tried to burn down the building as university authorities (responsible for security) stood aside doing nothing to curtail the violence. Another report was that corporate-owned Univision operatives posing as reporters had guns and accompanied the elements attacking the school in an overt act of complicity by the media.
The pattern now unfolding on Caracas streets is similar to what happened ahead of the April, 2002 aborted coup attempt, and Petras calls it "the most serious threat (to the President) since" that time. The corporate media then claimed pro-government supporters instigated street violence and fired on "unarmed" opposition protesters. In fact, that was later proved a lie as anti-Chavez "snipers" did the firing as part of the plot that became the coup. A similar scheme may now be unfolding in Caracas and on other campuses around the country as well.
In his public comments, Foreign Minister Maduro accused the major media and CNN of misrepresenting events and poisoning the political atmosphere. It's happening in Venezuela and the US as the dominant media attacks Hugo Chavez through a campaign of vilification and black propaganda.
US Corporate Media on the Attack
On November 12, The Venezuela Information Office (VIO) reported that growing numbers of "US print newspapers lodged attacks against Venezuela" using "outdated cold-war generalizations" and without explaining any of the proposed democratic changes. Among others, they came from the Houston Chronicle that claimed:
-- constitutional reforms will "eliminate the vestiges of democracy" in Venezuela when, in fact, they'll strengthen it, and the people will vote them up or down;
-- Chavez controls the electoral system when, in fact, Venezuela is a model free, fair and open democracy that shames its US equivalent. The Chronicle falsely said reforms will strip people of their right to due process. In fact, that's guaranteed under article 337 that won't be changed.
VIO also reported on a Los Angeles Times editorial comparing Chavez to Bin Laden. It compounded that whopper by claiming reforms will cause a global recession due to higher oil prices that, of course, have nothing to do with changes in law. In another piece, the LA Times inverted the truth by falsely claiming a public majority opposes reforms. Then there's the Miami Herald predicting an end to freedom of expression if changes pass and the Washington Post commenting on how high oil prices let Chavez buy influence.
The Post then ran an inflamatory November 15 editorial headlined "Mr. Chavez's Coup" if which it lied by saying November 7 student protesters "were fired on by gunmen (whom) university officials later 'identified'....as members of government-sponsored 'paramilitary groups' when, in fact, there are no such groups. The editorial went on to say Chavez wants to "complete his transformation into an autocrat (to be able to) seize property....dispose of Venezuela's foreign exchange reserves....impose central government rule on local jurisdictions and declare indefinite states of emergency" as well as suspend due process and freedom of information. Again, misinformation, deliberate distortion and outright lies from a leading quasi-official US house organ.
Rupert Murdock's Wall Street Journal weighed in as well with its lead anti-Chavez attack dog and all-round character assassin extraordinaire, Mary Anastasia O'Grady. This writer has tangled with her several times before and earlier commented how one day she'll have a serious back problem because of her rigid position of genuflection to the most extreme hard-right elements she supports. Her latest November 12 column was vintage O'Grady and headlined "More Trouble for Chavez (as) Students and former allies unite against his latest power grab."
Like most of her others, this one drips with vitriol and outrageous distortions like calling Chavez a "dictator" when, in fact, he's a model democrat, but that's the problem for writers like O'Grady. Absent the facts, they use agitprop instead. O'Grady writes: "Mr. Chavez has been working to remove any counterbalances to his power for almost nine years (and) has met strong resistance from property owners, businesses, labor leaders, the Catholic Church and the media." Now add opposition well-off students. Omitted is that the opposition is a minority, it represents elitist interests, and Chavez has overwhelming public support for his social democracy and proposed reform changes including from most students O'Grady calls "pro-Chavez goons."
Once again, she's on a rampage, but that's her job. She claims the absurd and people believe her - like saying the media will be censored, civil liberties can be suspended, and government will be empowered to seize private property. He's a "demagogue," says O'Grady, waging "class warfare," but opposition to reform "has led to increased speculation (his) days are numbered." Wishing won't make it so, and O'Grady uses that line all the time.
The New York Times is also on the attack in its latest anti-Chavez crusade. It's been a leading Chavez critic for years, and Simon Romero is its man in Caracas. On November 3, he reported "Lawmakers in Venezuela Approve Expanded Power for Chavez (in a) constitutional overhaul (to) enhance (Chavez's) authority, (allow) him to be reelected indefinitely, and (give) him the power to handpick rulers, to be called vice-presidents, (and) for various new regions to be created in the country....The new amendments would facilitate expropriations of private property (and allow state) security forces to round up citizens (stripped of their) legal protections" if Chavez declares a state of emergency - to make him look like Pakistan's Musharraf when he's mirror opposite.
Romero also quoted Jose Manuel Gonzales, president of Venezuela's Fedecamaras (chamber of commerce), saying "Venezuelan democracy was buried today" and anti-Chavez Roman Catholic church leaders (always allied with elitists) calling the changes "morally unacceptable." Then on November 8, Romero followed with an article titled "Gunmen Attack Opponents of Chavez's Bid to Extend Power" and implied they were pro-Chavez supporters. Again false. Still more came on November 10 headlined "Students Emerge as a Leading Force Against Chavez" in an effort to imply most students oppose him when, in fact, these elements are a minority.
His latest so far is on November 17 titled "Chavez's Vision Shares Wealth and Centers Power" that in fairness shows the President addressing a huge crowd of supporters in Maturin on November 16. But Romero spoiled it by calling his vision "centralized, oil-fueled socialism (with) Chavez (having) significantly enhanced powers." Then he quotes Chavez biographer Alberto Barrera Tyszka who embarrassed himself and Romero saying the President is seizing and redirecting "power through legitimate means (and this) is not a dictatorship but something more complex," the 'tyranny' of popularity." In other words, he's saying democracy is "tyranny." The rest of the article is just as bad with alternating subtle and hammer blow attacks against a popular President's aim to deepen his socially democratic agenda and help his people.
Romero's measured tone outclasses O'Grady's crudeness that's pretty standard fare on the Journal's notorious opinion page. He's much more dangerous, however, with a byline in the influential "newspaper of record" because of the important audience it commands.
One other notable anti-Chavez piece is in the November 26 issue of the magazine calling itself "the capitalist tool" - Forbes. It shows in its one-sided commentary and intolerance of opposing views. The article in question, headlined "Latin Sinkholes," is by right wing economist and long-time flack for empire, Steve Hanke. In it, he aims right at Chavez with outrageous comments like calling him a "negative reformer (who) turned back the clock (and) hails Cuba, the largest open-air prison in the Americas, as his model. His revolution's enemy is the marketplace." He then cites a World Bank report saying "Venezuela is tied with Zimbabwe as this year's champion in smothering economic freedom," and compounds that lie with another whopper.
Point of fact - Venezuela and Argentina have the highest growth rates in the region and are near the top of world rankings in recent years. Following the devastating oil management 2002-03 lockout, Venezuela's economy took off and grew at double digit rates in 2004, 05 and 06 and will grow a likely 8% this year. Hanke, however, says "Venezuela's economic performance under Chavez has been anemic (growing) at an average rate of only 2% per year. In the same article, he aims in similar fashion at Ecuador's Raphael Correa calling him "ruthlessly efficient (for wanting to) pull off a Bolivarian Revolution in Ecuador." Hanke and most others in the dominant media are of one mind and never let facts contradict their opinions. Outliers won't be tolerated even when it's proved their way works best.
There's lots more criticism like this throughout the dominant media along with commentators calling Chavez "a dictator, another Hitler (and) a threat to democracy." Ignoring the rules of imperial management has a price. This type media assault is part of it as a prelude for what often follows - attempted regime change.
Further Venezuela Information Office (VIO) Clarification of Facts on the Ground
On November 15, VIO issued an alert update to dispel media inaccuracies "about Venezuela's constitutional reforms and the student protests" accompanying them. They're listed below:
-- Caracas has a student population of around 200,000; at most 10,000 participated in the largest protest to date, and VIO estimates it was 6000;
-- the major media ignore how the government cooperates with students and made various accommodations to them to be fair to the opposition;
-- Venezuelan police have protected student protesters, and article 68 of the Constitution requires they do it; it affirms the right of all Venezuelans to assemble peacefully;
-- in addition, student protest leaders linked to opposition parties were granted high-level meetings with government officials to present their concerns;
-- on November 1, their student representatives met with directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and presented a petition to delay the referendum;
-- on November 7, they again met with National Tribunal of Justice officials and presented the same petition;
-- on November 12, Minister of Interior and Justice Minister, Pedro Carreno, met 20 university presidents to assure them the government respects university autonomy and their students' right to assemble peacefully;
-- VIO reported what really happened at another November 1 protest after students met with CNE officials; some of them then tried to chain themselves to the building while others charged through police lines and injured six officers; in addition, one student had 20 liters of gasoline but never got to use it criminally; after the incident, the CNE president, Tibisay Lucena, issued a public statement expressing his disappointment about this kind of response to the government's good faith efforts; and
-- VIO said students and university presidents from across the nation filed a document with the Supreme Court on November 14 supporting constitutional reform. Chief justice Luisa Estela Morales praised their coming and said the court's doors are open to anyone wanting to give an opinion. The dominant media reported nothing on this. It also ignored the government's 9000 public events throughout the country in past weeks to explain and discuss proposed reforms and that a hotline was installed for comments on them, pro or con.
-- finally, when protests of any kind happen in the US, police usually attack them with tear gas, beatings and mass arrests to crush their democratic spirit and prevent it from being expressed as our Constitution's First and most important amendment guarantees. In Venezuela, the spirit of democracy lives. It never existed in the US, and we want to export our way to everyone and by force if necessary.
Here's a November 15 breaking news example of our way in action. At 8:00AM, 12 FBI and Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar Company's office in Evansville, IN and for the next six hours removed two tons of legal Ron Paul Dollars along with all the gold, silver and platinum at the location. They also took all location files and computers and froze Liberty Dollar's bank accounts in an outrageous police state action against a legitimate business. This move also seems intended to impugn the integrity of a presidential candidate gaining popularity because he defies the bellicose mainstream and wants more people empowerment.
Chavez champions another way and answered his critics at a November 14 Miraflores Presidential Palace press conference where he denounced them for lying about his reform package. He explained his aim is to strengthen Venezuela's independence and transfer power to the people, not increase his own. "For many years in Venezuela," he said, "they weakened the powers of the state as part of the neoliberal imperial plan....to weaken the economies of countries to insure domination. While we remained weak, imperialism was strengthened," and he elaborated.
He then continued to stress his most important reform "is the transfer of power to the people" through an explosion of grassroots communal, worker, student and campesino councils, formations of them into regional and national federations, and the formation of "communes (to) constitute the basic nucleus of the socialist state." Earlier Chavez stated that democratizing the economy "is the only way to defeat poverty, to defeat misery and achieve the largest sum of happiness for the people." He's not just saying this. He believes and acts on it, and that's why elitists target him for removal even though he wants equity for everyone, even his critics, and business continues to thrive under his government. But not like in the "good old" days when it was all one-way.
Venezuelan Business is Booming - So Why Complain?
Business in Venezuela is indeed booming, and in 2006 the Financial Times said bankers were "having a party" it was so good. So what's the problem? It's not good enough for corporate interests wanting it all for themselves and nothing for the people the way it used to be pre-Chavez. Unfair? Sure, but in a corporate-dominated world, that's how it is and no outliers are tolerated. Thus Hugo Chavez's dilemma.
Last June, Business Week (BW) magazine captured the mood in an article called "A Love-Hate Relationship with Chavez - Companies are chafing under the fiery socialist. But in some respects, business has never been better." Writer Geri Smith asked: "Just how hard is it to do business in Venezuela" and then exaggerated by saying "hardly a day passes without another change in the rules restricting companies." Hardly so, but what is true is new rules require a more equitable relationship between government and business. They provide more benefits to the people and greater attention to small Venezuelan business and other commercial undertakings like an explosion of cooperatives (100,000 or more) that under neoliberal rules have no chance against the giants.
Nonetheless, the economy under Chavez is booming, and business loves it even while it complains. It's because oil revenues are high, Chavez spends heavily on social benefits, and the poor have seen their incomes more than double since 2004 when all their benefits are included. The result, as BW explains: "Sales of everything from basics" to luxury items "have taken off....and local and foreign companies alike are raking in more money than ever in Venezuela." In addition, bilateral trade has never been higher, but American business complains it's caught in the middle of a Washington - Caracas political struggle.
The article continues to show how all kinds of foreign business is benefitting from cola to cars to computer chips. Yet, it restates the dilemma saying "As Chavez continues his socialist crusade, there are signs of rising discontent," and it's showing up now on the country's streets with the latest confrontation still to be resolved, one way or another.
Events Are Ugly and Coming to A Head
Through the dominant media, Washington and Venezuelan anti-Chavez elements are using constitutional reform as a pretext for what they may have in mind - "to arouse the military to intervene" and oust Chavez, as Petras notes in his article titled "Venezuela: Between Ballots and Bullets." He explains the opposition "rich and privileged (coalition) fear constitutional reforms because they will have to grant a greater share of their (considerable) profits to the working class, lose their monopoly over market transactions to publicly owned firms, and see political power evolve toward local community councils and the executive branch."
Petras is worried and says "class polarization....has reached its most extreme expression" as December 2 approaches: "the remains of the multi-class coalition embracing a minority of the middle class and the great majority of (workers) is disintegrating (and) political defections have increased (including 14) deputies in the National Assembly." Add to them former Chavez Defense Minister, Raul Baduel, who Petras believes may be "an aspirant to head up a US-backed right-wing seizure of power."
The situation is ugly and dangerous, and lots of US money and influence fuels it. Petras puts it this way: "Venezuelan democracy, the Presidency of Hugo Chavez and the great majority of the popular classes face a mortal threat." An alliance between Washington, local oligarchs and elitist supporters of the "right" are committed to ousting Chavez and may feel now is their best chance. Venezuela's social democracy is on the line in the crucial December 2 vote, and the entire region depends on it solidifying and surviving.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Also visit his blog site at
and listen to The Steve Lendman News and Information Hour on TheMicroEffect.com Mondays at noon US Central time.
This article comes from Rastafari Speaks
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An interview with BURNING MAN star, Matthew Goode
Sometimes, when there are somewhere around 300 films screening at a film festival, it can be easy for one of them to get lost in the crowd. At the 2011 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, I had the pleasure of seeing an Australian film called BURNING MAN, and the even more distinct pleasure of interviewing its star, Matthew Goode. The film was well received at TIFF but it never found its way to a prominent theatrical release. Now that it is available to rent or own though, you all have no excuses not to see it.
BURNING MAN gave Goode, a character actor best known for his work in Woody Allen's MATCH POINT and Tom Ford's A SINGLE MAN, his first chance to take on a major leading role. As promising as that sounds, he was not sold on the character at first. "You always want to have some sense of likability to your character or you want to get them from page one. I was 40 pages in and thinking I really hate this guy."
This guy is Tom, a talented chef in a high class restaurant who is going through a difficult time in his life. To tell you why would ruin the film though so I will refrain from doing that. Writer/Director, Jonathan Teplitzky, who based the film on his own personal history, chose to introduce Tom to his audience at his angriest before telling the audience why he is angry. The result is a challenging interaction between audience and character that hinges entirely on Goode's performance.
"It's not laugh out loud," quips Goode. "I was aghast of this character at times."
It wasn't always a laughing matter though. Goode had to go to some very dark places to play Tom, including a few disturbing breakdowns, but he did have strong material to make it easier on him. "It's hard to do if the script is not particularly good. You don't want to go there with a bad script," Goode explains. Hard or not, Goode still needed a place to get away from it all. "I find using music is very helpful for me. Often times you're on a set and it can be quite loud, there's a lot of stuff going on, that's the nature of getting a shot ready. I find it very good to just go and get my headphones on in a quiet place."
His music of choice on this particular film, Mumford & Sons. His track of choice, the amazing "After the Storm", an apt choice considering how many storms Tom has to weather.
Goode's profile will be upped next spring when the highly anticipated STOKER, co-starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Chan-Wook Park (OLDBOY), a film he describes as a "phenomenal cast and phenomenal script", hits theatres. And his approach to working with directors should ensure he keeps on getting more notice for some time to come.
"That's how I like to work. I do whatever I can to help make the director's vision come true. It's not like I go AWOL and do whatever I like. Sometimes I want to, but no."
I would watch either way.
One Comment
After reading this great movie review I will be keeping my eyes open for this one.

subset: commoncrawl


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I was delighted to take part in the University of Southampton's 2nd digital literacies conference (#sotonmooc) event yesterday. I gave a presentation on my experiences of being a student on MOOCs. However, what really made the day for me was hearing from some "real" students about the range work they have been involved in as part of the University's DigiChampions project. The project has been incredibly successful in getting students involved in the concept of digital literacy and getting them to provide support to their peers in a whole range of ways as this video rather neatly explains.
The development of digital literacies is increasingly been recognised as vital for the success of our student population both whilst they are studying and also when they move into the workplace.
"By digital literacy we mean those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society. " (JISC)
It was fantastic to hear students share so eloquently their understanding of the importance of being able to use social networks effectively – not only for studying but also to improve their chances of getting a job. As we watched student created videos and a range of other presentations, it was clear just how much the students appreciated the innovative approaches of modules such as "living and working on the web". Having time to develop skills and networks as part and parcel of undergraduate activities has certainly seemed to pay pretty significant dividends in terms of students developing contacts with potential employers and in several cases in terms of them securing a full time job. Watch the video to see for yourself.
But what about the Rhino I hear you ask? Well another one of the student driven projects is Erica the Rhino. Erica is a cyber rhino, who is being developed in a truly interdisciplinary way.
I thought this was just a fantastic project. I'm now following Erica on twitter and looking forward to hearing updates from when she is released into the wilds of Southampton. We need more projects like this.
Many thanks to Fiona Harvey and Hugh Davies (and everyone at Southampton involved in organising and running the event) for inviting me. It really was inspiring to hear from the students.
More information about the day is available from the event website. It will be being updated with presentations (and I think recordings) over the next few days. You can also catch up on the tweets and pictures from the event here.


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Original Topping Tin
- Delivered in 1-4 business days
- In stock
- Well packaged for a long fresh guarantee
Choose your toppings:
6 freshly baked stroopwafels with topping in our original packaging.
We ship all our products on the same day if they are ordered before 1 PM on business days. Usually, they are delivered within 1-2 business days in Europe and the UK, and within 4 business days worldwide.
Wheat flour (gluten), sugar syrup 39% (glucose, fructose), margarine (vegetable oils (palm, rapeseed, coconut oil), water, salt, emulsifiers: sunflower lecithin, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, food acid: citric acid, natural aroma, coloring agent: carotene), sugar (sucrose, invert syrup), water, butter (milk), free-range eggs (egg), soy flour (soy), salt, melado, cinnamon, raising agent: sodium bicarbonate.
Please note; cross-contamination can not be prevented as all of our products are being prepared in the same kitchen.
What our fans say
Absolutely LOVED it
Definitely touristy but a must do. Depending on time of day the line is either wrapped around the corner or there's no line at all! I had never tried a stroopwaffel before and expected it to be over the top sweet. I was pleasantly surprised and absolutely LOVED it!
Paiten Melanson
Taste is extraordinary
Wow! The best stroopwafels I've tasted, and beautifully decorated in a nice packaging making it the perfect gift. 10/10!
Mary U.
In love with vanwonderen!!!
OMG! I'm addicted!!! No but for real, since our visit to Amsterdam we're in love with stroopwafels so we decided to order some for at home. They came in a stylish package and they taste delicious!
Karin J.
The best quality stroopwafels
Our stroopwafels are not only tasty, but also traditionally prepared with the best ingredients. We strive to make the best stroopwafels and to share the feeling of happiness and satisfaction that our founders felt with our customers.
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Place your order today and we will ensure that your products are delivered to you as soon as possible.
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Whether you are looking for a special stroopwafel or the delicious original, you will find it all at Van Wonderen.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Our stroopwafels are prepared according to a traditional Dutch recipe and made by hand, without artificial additives.
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Our stroopwafels have a shelf life of 1 month after receipt and must be stored in a cool, dry place.
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Yes, as soon as your order has been shipped, you will receive a track & trace code with which you can track the status of your order.
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Ensuite Double Room in Stratford, Flint Close, E15
About The Room
A fully furnished En-suite double bedroom for couples within a six-bedroom flat, with private bathroom and access to garden. Perfectly located in zone 2 with easy transport links to central London. Stratford and Maryland tube & Rail stations are very close by.
- Shared Accommodation
- Complimentary WiFi
- Complimentary Monthly Cleaning (Communal spaces)
- Council tax and Water included
- Dedicated Property Manager
- Sorry, but no children and no Pets
Room Features
About The Property
£270 pw Tenancy Info
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Descriptions of the property are subjective and are used in good faith as an opinion and NOT as a statement of fact. Please make further specific enquires to ensure that our descriptions are likely to match any expectations you may have of the property. We have not tested any services, systems or appliances at this property. We strongly recommend that all the information we provide be verified by you on inspection, and by your Surveyor and Conveyancer.


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Hey y'all! It's Michelle Hudgeons from Smitten With First!
Incase you're anything like me and you're checking off last minute "to-dos" off your list, I have a cheap and cute teacher gift FREEBIE for you! This weekend while I was at Hobby Lobby, they had all their metal decor half off! Mmmhmmm, that's exactly what I said!!! I came across these small metal letters that happened to be $5.00 on sale! I couldn't pass them up. I grabbed letters for each of my daughter's teachers, my teammates, and our office staff! I may or may not have bought them out!
(Hobby Lobby has both large and small tin letters. I believe the large are around $20 on sale.)
Next, I grabbed a few Scholastic books I had left over from previous book orders, some burlap twine, and these tags for a quick, cheap, simple and cute teacher gift.
Another idea: Buy a book from Half Price Books along with a gift card and attach it to the tin letter!
You can find the tags here for FREE! **The download includes both large and small tags depending on if you purchase the large or small tin letters from Hobby Lobby**


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Reshet Bet ("Network B") is one of the Kol Yisrael channels, an Israeli radio service operating as a division of Israel Broadcasting Authority. Kol Yisrael is an international radio service broadcasting in 14 languages, including English, Russian and Arabic.
Reshet Bet was launched in 60s' as an affiliate to Reshet Alef, first Kol Yisrael channel broadcasting in Hebrew.
Reshet Bet is a well-known radio station with news broadcasts, hot topic programs and sport reports. There are news updates on the hour in Hebrew. Reshet Bet leads in ratings in the morning and the afternoon hours.
Frequencies and areas:
100.5 FM – North and upper Galelee
92.0 FM – Tsfat area
89.5 FM – Haifa area
103.7 FM – Haifa area
102.0 FM – Bet-Shean area
95.0 FM – Jerusalem and surroundings, Greater Tel-Aviv, Negev and Northern Negev
95.5 FM – Haifa area, Jerusalem and surroundings, Greater Tel-Aviv
103.3 FM – Beer-Sheva area
104.1 FM – Negev and Northern Negev
95.6 FM – ha-Arava
90.7 FM – Eilat
1206 kHz AM – Galelee
657 kHz AM – Central area
Contact Reshet Bet
1-599-509-510 |
firstname.lastname@example.com |


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Je Design Seat Leon 1 P FR
After JE DESIGN, a well-known SEAT customising specialist, tuned the new Leon two months prior to its market launch, the same tuning specialist from Leingarten, Germany, has now turned its attention to the "FR" version.
The core of the modifications is the power boost to the 2.0 TDI engine. Instead of 125 kW (170 bhp), it now generates a solid 142 kW (193 bhp) with a torque increase from 85 to 410 Nm. The modifications to the engine management system permit better driving performance: A top speed of 224 km/h (series: 218 km/h) and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds (series: 8.2) send out a clear message! The power boost comes with a TÜV parts certificate. Needless to say, the TDI still complies with the EI regulations. An electronic power boost for the new 2.0 TFSI with 147 KW / 200 bhp leads to a terrific 180 kW (244 bhp) with a torque boost up to 355 Nm at 1,850 rpm. Here, too, the modifications to the engine management system permit enhanced driving performance: A top speed of 235 km/h (series: 229 km/h) and acceleration from 0 to 100 in 6.5 seconds (series: 7.3)! This power boost also comes with a TÜV parts certificate. In each case, the price includes a 1-year guarantee on the engine, drive train and gearbox. Upon request and subject to an extra charge, this can be extended by a further 12 months. A power boost for the new Leon CUPRA 2.0 TFSI with 176 KW / 240 bhp is in the pipeline.
JE DESIGN starts on a sporty note at the front by fitting a new front grille without a brand logo that features a grille insert. Headlight eyebrows lend this Spaniard a more aggressive look.
A sporty front spoiler featuring an additional air vent in the corners make the Seat Leon look even classier when overtaking. JE DESIGN enhances the side view by fitting a set of side sills. The tuning specialist completes the rear view of this Spaniard by fitting a rear apron. Last but not least, a rear spoiler goes to create greater downforce on the rear axle, particularly at high speeds. These aerodynamic body-styling components are also available as a complete kit. In addition, it is also possible to order the self-adhesive JE-DESIGN roof fin "Shark attack" in a matt black finish.
Upon request, it is also possible to order a 4-pipe stainless steel rear silencer with chrome-plated tailpipes. This not only promises to generate an awesome sound, but also optimises the engine performance by reducing the back pressure.
The growing desire for chrome also leaves its mark on the Leon range from JE DESIGN. Besides a four-piece set of door handle surrounds, the price also includes the B-post trim "3 D Chrome" with a chrome inlay and a rear door surround in addition to the trim panel for the lower section of the boot lid.
Customers can choose from five sets of wheels. The climax of the offering in 17, 18 and 19 inch versions is the "Multispoke" complete set of wheels in chrome look in the dimension 8.0 x 19 ET 45 with size 225/35 R 19 Y tyres.
JE DESIGN also ensures that the Seat Leon remains sure-footed despite its extra power. The suspension range comprises a set of sports suspension struts, which brings the Leon FR around 30mm closer to the ground, and which noticeably improves the handling and ride comfort due to the lower centre of gravity.
Alternatively, the tuning specialist offers sportier handling in the form of a coil-over suspension kit, which changes the road clearance of this fiery Spaniard in the range from 35 to 65 mm. Upon request, constantly-acting deceleration from high speeds is guaranteed by a 4-piston sports braking system (330 x 28 mm) on the front axle.


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septembre 4, 2018
Every company needs to ensure that its machines and systems are being well utilized and have high run-times. After all, idle and downtime periods in machines and plants don't contribute towards economic success. Consequently, production schedulers endeavor to keep downtime to a minimum. In order to intervene as quickly as necessary, it's important to signal process statuses clearly.
This is true of routine processes as well as unscheduled or even unforeseen events, including dangerous situations. These signals must be so clear that they can be detected easily, even in situations where employees may be under pressure or even stressed. It is state-of-the-art to use signal towers. That's why it is important to use colors that people already associate with certain kinds of situations. A simple example is at pedestrian cross walks: green for walk and red for don't walk. Every machine operator can recognize that machines with green signal status are running normally while red indicates a potentially hazardous situation.
Under some circumstances, it is not sufficient to use only visual signals to inform the machine operators of the status and therefore to take the first step towards reducing the length of a downtime period. For example, the environment within the building or the lighting situation may make it difficult to discern things visually. In such cases, audible signaling is essential because it makes the recipient aware via another sense.
The Murrelektronik signal towers in the Modlight Pro series, with diameters of 50 or 70 millimeters, can be used to put together up to five color elements in an individual configuration. In addition to red and green, they are also available in yellow, blue and white. They can be used for the signaling of process statuses, for example in accordance with the specifications of machinery standard IEC 60204-1.
These color elements can be clicked together without tools easily and quickly. The elements have practical connection terminals are color coded and represent the color of the light. This helps reduce the risk of assembly errors. There are also preassembled Modlight Pro signal towers in the most commonly used color combinations.
Bulb replacement is a thing of the past thanks to the use of innovative and energy-saving LED technology. LEDs have a very long service life and can usually shine for at least 40,000 hours at full illumination. Even after that, lighting intensity is only slightly reduced, which is scarcely perceptible to the human eye. This means that these towers remain maintenance-free over the entire service life of a machine. This saves time and money! Compared to the previous models, the optimum arrangement of the signaling system ensures that process statuses can also be identified across long distances.
A buzzer module can be incorporated for audible signaling purposes. It is fitted to the Modlight Pro as a terminal component, thus replacing the cover of the basic element. The buzzer unit is designed to be clearly audible in all directions. With a dip switch, one of four tones can be selected for each signal tower. This means that a clear distinction can be made whenever there are several machines in the same building. The volume level can also be adjusted. A maximum volume level of 90 dB ensures that these acoustic signals can still be heard clearly, even in a loud environment.
Thanks to their housing, Modlight Pro signal towers fulfill the IP65 protection class. Comprehensive approvals and resistance to vibration enable these units to be used all around the world, opening up versatile options for use in the industrial sector. For example, signal towers can also be used for building automation. These signal towers are available with a plug-in M12 connector. A special feature is the magnetic base which enables each tower to be mounted quickly, and also removed temporarily for transportation. These towers are very easy to clean because the surface is smooth and rounded.
Did you already know? Our Easy-Import-Export Function allows you to use our Online Shop ever more efficiently. Use Copy & Paste to copy and paste item lists directly from your ERP…
The Vario-X Controller from Murrelektronik is a robust and reliable industrial PC for challenging production and manufacturing applications.
The Modlight60 Pro RGB IO-Link signal tower from Murrelektronik is a versatile, adaptable and cost-efficient solution for applications that call for clear, reliable signaling.


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There are millions of registered motor vehicles in the United States, and many of them are used for business in some way. If you have employees who use personal vehicles for business use, you could be exposing your business to a significant liability risk.
Even if your employees have Personal Auto Policies (PAPs) for their personal vehicles, in the event of a serious accident that occurs during business use, your business could be sued to collect additional damages.
What is "Business Use"?
Activities that constitute general business use include visiting customers, picking up supplies, attending conferences, and commuting to and from work. For activities like this, the general business use of a personal vehicle is usually covered by a PAP. This is because a policy purchased for a specific vehicle is considered the primary insurance, which covers damages before any other policy takes effect.
An exception to general business use is livery or carrying goods or people for a fee. Livery includes the delivery of items such as food, flowers, or wholesale or retail items to customers, as well as chauffeur services. Carpooling or ridesharing is not considered livery and is covered under a PAP.
Employees that work from home can still pose a risk if they use personal vehicles for business use. It may be more difficult to ascertain the driving habits of employees that work from home or the operational status of their vehicles. Communicate regularly with these employees concerning your company's policy for the use of personal vehicles.
Employee PAP Coverage
For employees using their personal vehicles, the primary insurance on the vehicles will likely be their PAPs. You should know how your employees are covered for the business use of their vehicles. Encourage your employees to speak with their PAP carriers to be sure of their coverage and to make it clear to the insurance agents what business activities the vehicles may be used for.
Some PAPs appear to exclude coverage for business use, but they may include broad exceptions for a private passenger automobile, or pickup trucks and vans. However, some policies may be stricter depending on the circumstances. Clarification may prevent complications if a claim must be filed.
Four Ways to Reduce Risk
Though employees' use of personal automobiles may pose a risk to your business, there are steps you can take to help protect both your employees and your business from liability.
Review driving records and create an approved-driver list: All employees that use a vehicle for business use should be cleared to drive by a manager. This process should include reviewing motor vehicle records and PAP coverages regularly and maintaining records to help reduce risk exposure.
Establish standards for personal vehicles: Even employees without any incidents on their motor vehicle records can be a risk to your business if they are driving personal vehicles that are not properly maintained. Establish company guidelines for maintaining personal vehicles. If employees are compensated for time spent driving or if they routinely use their personal vehicles for business, consider regularly collecting maintenance reports to gauge the reliability of personal vehicles.
Make the company policy clear: After you create guidelines for the use of personal vehicles at your business, be sure to communicate them to your employees in a clear and timely manner. Although it is common to have policies against the use of intoxicating substances or mobile devices while driving, reminding employees of all of your company policies is an effective way to mitigate risk.
Establish rental vehicle policies: The use of rental vehicles for business also presents exposure to risk. It may be beneficial to establish a relationship with a particular rental vehicle agency to determine which vehicles best suit the needs of your business and employees while traveling. You should also give your employees guidelines on which rental vehicle insurance coverages to accept during the rental process.
Obtaining Appropriate Liability Insurance
Additional coverage may be needed if any potential risks from personal auto use threaten your business. A standard Business Auto Policy (BAP) will protect your business from any additional liability after an employee's PAP has paid for damages related to personal auto use.
Although employees who have personal vehicles should be required to have PAPs, obtaining liability insurance should be a priority to protect your business. In the event of a serious accident, your employees' PAP coverage may not be adequate to pay for all the damages. Be sure to prepare a list of vehicles that may be used by employees and the type of business they may be used for, and contact The DeHayes Group in order to discuss your coverage options.
Read Original Post
by Tatom Odonnell on The DeHayes Group
Photo by Zach Vessels on Unsplash


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Edward Thomas, 1878–1917
Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved; Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof. Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest, Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I. All of the night was quite barred out except An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry Shaken out long and clear upon the hill, No merry note, nor cause of merriment, But one telling me plain what I escaped And others could not, that night, as in I went. And salted was my food, and my repose, Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice Speaking for all who lay under the stars, Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.


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Viresolve® Pro Shield H removes protein aggregates and impurities that foul virus filters in high pH and high conductivity monoclonal antibody (mAb) feed streams. Combined with Viresolve® Pro Device parvovirus retentive filters, the Viresolve® Pro Shield H significantly increases processing capacity, while preserving high virus removal and high flux.
The Viresolve® Pro Solution is comprised of a Viresolve® Pro Device (parvovirus retentive filter) in conjunction with the Viresolve® Pro Shield or Viresolve® Pro Shield H prefilter to remove fouling species such as protein aggregates, providing high parvovirus LRV, capacity and flux.
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Our descent into the Age of Depression seems unstoppable. Three decades ago, the average age for the first onset of depression was 30. Today it is 14. Researchers such as Stephen Izard at Duke University point out that the rate of depression in Western industrialized societies is doubling with each successive generational cohort. At this pace, over 50 per cent of our younger generation, aged 18-29, will succumb to it by middle age. Extrapolating one generation further, we arrive at the dire conclusion that virtually everyone will fall prey to depression.
By contrast to many traditional cultures that lack depression entirely, or even a word for it, Western consumer culture is certainly depression-prone. But depression is so much a part of our vocabulary that the word itself has come to describe mental states that should be understood differently. In fact, when people with a diagnosis of depression are examined more closely, the majority do not actually fit that diagnosis. In the largest study of its kind, Ramin Mojtabai of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sampled over 5,600 cases and found that only 38 per cent of them met the criteria for depression.
Contributing to the confusion is the equally insidious epidemic of demoralization that also afflicts modern culture. Since it shares some symptoms with depression, demoralization tends to be mislabelled and treated as if it were depression. A major reason for the poor 28-per-cent success rate of anti-depressant drugs is that a high percentage of 'depression' cases are actually demoralization, a condition unresponsive to drugs.
In the past, our understanding of demoralization was limited to specific extreme situations, such as debilitating physical injury, terminal illness, prisoner-of-war camps, or anti-morale military tactics. But there is also a cultural variety that can express itself more subtly and develop behind the scenes of normal everyday life under pathological cultural conditions such as we have today. This culturally generated demoralization is nearly impossible to avoid for the modern 'consumer'.
Rather than a depressive disorder, demoralization is a type of existential disorder associated with the breakdown of a person's 'cognitive map'. It is an overarching psycho-spiritual crisis in which victims feel generally disoriented and unable to locate meaning, purpose or sources of need fulfilment. The world loses its credibility, and former beliefs and convictions dissolve into doubt, uncertainty and loss of direction. Frustration, anger and bitterness are usual accompaniments, as well as an underlying sense of being part of a lost cause or losing battle. The label 'existential depression' is not appropriate since, unlike most forms of depression, demoralization is a realistic response to the circumstances impinging on the person's life.
As it is absorbed, consumer culture imposes numerous influences that weaken personality structures, undermine coping and lay the groundwork for eventual demoralization. Its driving features – individualism, materialism, hyper-competition, greed, over-complication, overwork, hurriedness and debt – all correlate negatively with psychological health and/or social wellbeing. The level of intimacy, trust and true friendship in people's lives has plummeted. Sources of wisdom, social and community support, spiritual comfort, intellectual growth and life education have dried up. Passivity and choice have displaced creativity and mastery. Resilience traits such as patience, restraint and fortitude have given way to short attention spans, over-indulgence and a masturbatory approach to life.
Research shows that, in contrast to earlier times, most people today are unable to identify any sort of philosophy of life or set of guiding principles. Without an existential compass, the commercialized mind gravitates toward a 'philosophy of futility', as Noam Chomsky calls it, in which people feel naked of power and significance beyond their conditioned role as pliant consumers. Lacking substance and depth, and adrift from others and themselves, the thin and fragile consumer self is easily fragmented and dispirited.
By their design, the central organizing principles and practices of consumer culture perpetuate an 'existential vacuum' that is a precursor to demoralization. This inner void is often experienced as chronic and inescapable boredom, which is not surprising. Despite surface appearances to the contrary, the consumer age is deathly boring. Boredom is caused, not because an activity is inherently boring, but because it is not meaningful to the person. Since the life of the consumer revolves around the overkill of meaningless manufactured low-level material desires, it is quickly engulfed by boredom, as well as jadedness, ennui and discontent. This steadily graduates to 'existential boredom' wherein the person finds all of life uninteresting and unrewarding.
Consumption itself is a flawed motivational platform for a society. Repeated consummation of desire, without moderating constraints, only serves to habituate people and diminish the future satisfaction potential of what is consumed. This develops gradually into 'consumer anhedonia', wherein consumption loses reward capacity and offers no more than distraction and ritualistic value. Consumerism and psychic deadness are inexorable bedfellows.
Individualistic models of mind have stymied our understanding of many disorders that are primarily of cultural origin. But recent years have seen a growing interest in the topic of cultural health and ill-health as they impact upon general wellbeing. At the same time, we are moving away from naïve behavioural models and returning to the obvious fact that the human being has a fundamental nature, as well as a distinct set of human needs, that must be addressed by a cultural blueprint.
In his groundbreaking book The Moral Order, anthropologist Raoul Naroll used the term 'moral net' to indicate the cultural infrastructure that is required for the mental wellbeing of its members. He used numerous examples to show that entire societies can become predisposed to an array of mental ills if their 'moral net' deteriorates beyond a certain point. To avoid this, a society's moral net must be able to meet the key psycho-social-spiritual needs of its members, including a sense of identity and belonging, co-operative activities that weave people into a community, and shared rituals and beliefs that offer a convincing existential orientation.
Similarly, in The Sane Society, Erich Fromm cited 'frame of orientation' as one of our vital 'existential needs', but pointed out that today's 'marketing characters' are shackled by a cultural programme that actively blocks fulfilment of this and other needs, including the needs for belonging, rootedness, identity, transcendence and intellectual stimulation. We are living under conditions of 'cultural insanity', a term referring to a pathological mismatch between the inculturation strategies of a culture and the intrapsychic needs of its followers. Being normal is no longer a healthy ambition.
Human culture has mutated into a sociopathic marketing machine dominated by economic priorities and psychological manipulation. Never before has a cultural system inculcated its followers to suppress so much of their humanity. Leading this hostile takeover of the collective psyche are increasingly sophisticated propaganda and misinformation industries that traffic the illusion of consumer happiness by wildly amplifying our expectations of the material world. Today's consumers are by far the most propagandized people in history. The relentless and repetitive effect is highly hypnotic, diminishing critical faculties, reducing one's sense of self, and transforming commercial unreality into a surrogate for meaning and purpose.
The more lost, disoriented and spiritually defeated people become, the more susceptible they become to persuasion, and the more they end up buying into the oversold expectations of consumption. But in unreality culture, hyper-inflated expectations continually collide with the reality of experience. Since nothing lives up to the hype, the world of the consumer is actually an ongoing exercise in disappointment. While most disappointments are minor and easy to dissociate, they accumulate into an emotional background of frustration as deeper human needs get neglected. Continued starvation of these needs fuels disillusion about one's whole approach to life. Over time, people's core assumptions can become unstable.
At its heart, demoralization is a generalized loss of credibility in the assumptions that ground our existence and guide our actions. The assumptions underpinning our allegiance to consumerism are especially vulnerable since they are fundamentally dehumanizing. As they unravel, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify with the values, goals and aspirations that were once part of our consumer reality. The consequent feeling of being forsaken and on the wrong life track is easily mistaken for depression, or even unhappiness, but in fact it is the type of demoralization that most consumer beings will experience to some degree.
For the younger generation, the course of boredom, disappointment, disillusion and demoralization is almost inevitable. As the products of invisible parents, commercialized education, cradle-to-grave marketing and a profoundly boring and insane cultural programme, they must also assimilate into consumer culture while knowing from the outset that its workings are destroying the planet and jeopardizing their future. Understandably, they have become the trance generation, with an insatiable appetite for any technology that can downsize awareness and blunt the emotions. With society in existential crisis, and emotional life on a steep downward trajectory, trance is today's fastest-growing consumer market.
Once our collapsed assumptions give way to demoralization, the problem becomes how to rebuild the unconscious foundations of our lives. In their present forms, the psychology and psychiatry professions are of little use in treating disorders that are rooted in culture and normality. While individual therapy will not begin to heal a demoralized society, to be effective such approaches must be insight-oriented and focused on the cultural sources of the person's assumptions, identity, values and centres of meaning. Cultural deprogramming is essential, along with 'culture proofing', disobedience training and character development strategies, all aimed at constructing a worldview that better connects the person to self, others and the natural world.
The real task is somehow to treat a sick culture rather than its sick individuals. Erich Fromm sums up this challenge: 'We can't make people sane by making them adjust to this society. We need a society that is adjusted to the needs of people.' Fromm's solution included a Supreme Cultural Council that would serve as a cultural overseer and advise governments on corrective and preventive action. But that sort of solution is still a long way off, as is a science of culture change. Democracy in its present guise is a guardian of cultural insanity.
We are long overdue a cultural revolution that would force a radical revamp of the political process, economics, work, family and environmental policy. It is true that a society of demoralized people is unlikely to revolt even though it sits on a massive powder keg of pent-up frustration. But credibility counteracts demoralization, and this frustration can be released with immense energy when a credible cause, or credible leadership, is added to the equation.
It might seem that credibility, meaning and purposeful action would derive from the multiple threats to our safety and survival posed by the fatal mismatch between consumer culture and the needs of the planet. The fact that it has not highlights the degree of demoralization that infects the consumer age. With its infrastructure firmly entrenched, and minimal signs of collective resistance, all signs suggest that our obsolete system – what some call 'disaster capitalism' – will prevail until global catastrophe dictates for us new cultural directions.
John F Schumaker is a retired psychology academic living in Christchurch, New Zealand/Aotearoa.
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Note that some links will break as pages are moved, websites are abandoned, etc.
If this happens, please try searching for the page in the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org.
NOTE: The UK regulatory body, the General Chiropractic Council, claims that it is 'protecting patients' and 'setting standards'. However, the legislative framework for the practice of chiropractic in the UK does not specify the style or the scope of practice. This allows UK chiropractors to recommend and administer a number of treatments which are not supported by reliable scientific research (e.g. vitalistic subluxation-based care, craniosacral therapy, applied kinesiology and regular wellness/corrective/preventive maintenance care, etc.).
Related links
"Chiropractic theory and practice are not based on the body of knowledge related to health, disease, and health care that has been widely accepted by the scientific community...2. Many chiropractors promise too much...3. Our education is vastly inferior to that of medical doctors...4. Our legitimate scope is actually very narrow...5. Very little of what chiropractors do has been studied....6. Unless your diagnosis is obvious, it's best to be diagnosed elsewhere... 7. We offer lots of unnecessary services...8. "Cracking" of the spine doesn't mean much...9. If the first few visits don't help you, more treatment probably won't help...10. We take too many x-rays...11. Research on spinal manipulation does not reflect what takes place in most chiropractic offices...12. Neck manipulation is potentially dangerous...13. Most chiropractors don't know much about nutrition...14. Chiropractors who sell vitamins charge much more than it costs them...15. Chiropractors have no business treating young children...16. The fact that patients swear by us does not mean we are actually helping them...17. Insurance companies don't want to pay for chiropractic care...18. Lots of chiropractors do really strange things...19. Don't expect our licensing boards [regulators] to protect you...20. The media rarely look at what we do wrong." Preston H. Long DC (18th October 2013)
"U.S. chiropractors have the highest student loan default rates of any healthcare profession. Protect yourself and your family from getting saddled with chiropractic student loans. Five years after graduation, only half of chiropractic college graduates will still be practicing. Meanwhile, chiropractors must pay back student loan debt that is as high as a medical or law school education. And everyone knows that you CANNOT file for bankruptcy on student loans."
A comprehensive look at chiropractic. Includes criticism of unscientific chiropractic methods such as Applied Kinesiology, hair analysis to assess nutritional status, activator methods, the Meric System, electrodermal testing, and inappropriate prescribing; a look at the dangers of chiropractic including delay of effective medical treatment, excessive radiation, opposition to vaccination, artery dissection and stroke, and ethics violations; and concerns about chiropractic policy including insurance coverage, chiropractic education, and the lack of public awareness about these concerns. By Jann J. Bellamy JD, The Institute for Science in Medicine (August 2012) [pdf]
"It will not be enough for chiropractors and chiropractic colleges to substitute such words and phrases as 'joint dysfunction', 'vertebral subluxation complex', and 'subluxation/neuro-biomechanical dysfunction' for the word 'subluxation' if they continue to imply that such disturbances can affect the nervous system to cause illness. A chiropractic subluxation by any other name is still a chiropractic subluxation...Few consumers are aware of the great diversity in chiropractic, and few know what questions to ask when looking for a science-based chiropractor. Until all chiropractic colleges uniformly renounce the vertebral subluxation theory and are upgraded to training musculoskeletal specialists, treatment methods will vary from one chiropractor to another, incompatible with exchange in mainstream health care...The only thing unique about chiropractic is its basic definition as a method of adjusting vertebral subluxations to restore and maintain health. Any other physical treatment method, including generic spinal manipulation, is physical medicine...Many chiropractors feel that if the chiropractic profession discards the subluxation theory and specializes in the care of back pain and related musculoskeletal problems, it will not be able to compete with physical therapists and other musculoskeletal practitioners who use manual therapy."
Samuel Homola, DC, Science Based Medicine, (30th December 2011)
"The dilemma with chiropractic is that the entire profession is based on false beliefs about health with liberal amounts of excuses to explain inconsistencies…When the thing you purport to treat doesn't exist then your role in the healthcare system becomes futile and frustrating. Chiropractic institutions are well aware of the threat and utilize classic cult techniques of thought stopping, large group awareness training (assembly chanting, motivational exercises), limitations of matter excuses, loaded language (false biomechanical and ethical terms), threats and extensive propaganda to insulate practitioners from realizing inconsistency. The most powerful catalyst for change is failure, whether monetary or in clinical outcomes. There is nothing like the experience of injuring a patient using a favourite technique, failing to diagnose an underlying complaint, or inducing a stroke to give a chiropractor a good scare and break through the programming. Progress comes in stages." Chirotalk (the skeptical chiropractic discussion forum)
"There is no good-quality research to suggest spinal manipulation is of benefit in animals. Significant differences in the anatomy of the spine make it questionable whether veterinary patients would experience the same causes of lower back pain as humans or that manipulative therapy would provide the same benefits…No reliable research evidence exists regarding the safety of chiropractic treatment in animals." SkeptVet website
Video segment (9.58 mins)
Chiropractic Stroke Awareness Organization is a non-profit organization with a mission to raise awareness on the risk of stroke from upper cervical manipulations and, most importantly, to provide a supportive community for stroke victims and their family members.
VOCA is working in conjunction with other organizations to reform the chiropractic industry and to enforce patients' rights. VOCA has succeeded in sponsoring two pieces of legislation that have become law in the state of Connecticut - mandatory reporting of malpractice claims to the state's Insurance Commissioner, as well as the expansion of the state's online 'Physician Profile' to include chiropractors
Issued by the National Council Against Health Fraud.
Science Based Healthcare
"I fear that chiropractors' views on their very own treatment might not be entirely free of conflicts of interest." Article by Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCPEd, Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies [FACT]
The entire chiropractic chapter from 'Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial' by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst is available to read online via this link.
A skeptical chiropractic website that invites you to tell your story about the chiropractic profession. Having concluded that chiropractic is not portrayed accurately by colleges, the site is looking to index people's experiences in the profession with the goal of helping to fix the problem. If you are considering chiropractic as a career, the information on this site should help to increase your awareness.
Article by Harriet Hall MD, Science Based Medicine (2008)
Irish television programme which contains a 22-minute segment (commencing after 12 minutes) about the dangers of chiropractic neck manipulation. The rebuttals made by Hagan McQuaid, former International Vice-President of the Chiropractic Association of Ireland, are wholly unconvincing. The programme concludes by questioning the effectiveness of statutory regulation:
"In countries where such a system exists it is inevitably used to imply state approval for therapies which may have little or no scientific evidence to support them and may be dangerous. Perhaps what the public really needs are laws that dramatically curtail the claims that any therapist can make and treatments they are permitted to offer."
Prime Time, RTE (5th May 2005)
10 pages of case reports of adverse events, including stroke and death, associated with neck manipulation. (Neck911USA.com)
A website set up by a lawyer which links to scientific evidence.
An extensive range of skeptical chiropractic articles at Quackfiles Blogspot.
A website which aims to provide information about the scientific and evidence base for chiropractic, enabling informed decisions to be made about whether chiropractic is right for you.


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Bolsonaro to send 44,000 soldiers to help fight fires across Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO — Leaders of the Group of Seven nations said Sunday they are preparing to help Brazil battle fires burning across the Amazon region and repair the damage even as tens of thousands of soldiers got ready to join the fight against blazes that have caused global alarm.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the summit leaders were nearing an agreement on how to support Brazil and said the agreement would involve both technical and financial mechanisms "so that we can help them in the most effective way possible."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country and others will talk with Brazil about reforestation in the Amazon once fires there have been extinguished.
"Of course (this is) Brazilian territory, but we have a question here of the rainforests that is really a global question," she said. "The lung of our whole Earth is affected, and so we must find common solutions."
Pope Francis also added his voice to the chorus of concern over the fires in Brazil, which borders his homeland of Argentina, and urged people to pray so that "they are controlled as quickly as possible." He told a crowd in St. Peter's Square that "we're all worried" about the Amazon fires. He warned that that green "lung of forest is vital for our planet."
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted that he had talked by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel would send a specialized plane to help in the firefighting operation.
Bolsonaro announced Friday that his government would send 44,000 soldiers to help battle the fires that are scattered across his nation's share of the vast Amazon, an overall region 10 times the size of Texas that is seen as a global bulwark against climate change. Only a few hundred troops had been sent so far.
The country's satellite monitoring agency has recorded more than 41,000 fires in the Amazon region so far this year — with more than half of those coming this month alone. Experts say most of the fires are set by farmers or ranchers clearing existing farmland. But the same monitoring agency has reported a sharp increase in deforestation this year as well.
Brazil's federal police agency announced Sunday it would investigate reports that farmers in the state of Para, one of those most affected by the blazes, had called for "a day of fire" to ignite fires Aug. 10.
Local news media said the group organized over WhatsApp to show support for Bolsonaro's efforts to loosen environmental regulations.
Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who oversees the police, said on Twitter that Bolsonaro "asked for a rigorous investigation" and said "the criminal fires will be severely punished."
Critics have accused Bolsonaro's pro-development policies of encouraging farmers and ranchers to increase efforts to strip away the forest, though the president has issued repeated pledges recently to protect the area, and backed that up by sending in soldiers and other federal forces.
Merkel noted that Bolsonaro is putting "significant forces" into the effort to save the rainforest.
But Bolsonaro has had a tense relationship with foreign governments — including Germany's — and non-governmental groups that he accuses of meddling in his country's management of the Amazon. He last week floated the idea, without evidence, that non-governmental groups were setting fires to embarrass him.
Macron's office on Friday complained that the Brazilian leader "had lied to him" about environmental commitments.
Asked if he would speak with Macron, Bolsonaro said Saturday, "If he calls me, I will answer. I am being extremely well-mannered with him even though he called me 'a liar.'"
Meanwhile, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Sunday he would welcome aid in fighting his own country's wildfires, which have scorched about 3,475 square miles. Most of the damage has been in the forests of the Chiquitanía region over the past two weeks, but fires also have burned in Bolivia's Amazon region. Morales said at a news conference that he had accepted offers of assistance from the leaders of Spain, Chile and Paraguay.


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In an interview with Algerian El Khabar newspaper in Arabic, George Galloway, the Respect MP, says the Mohammad caricatures are worse than the murder of innocent civilians on 11 September in New York and July 7 in London!
Silly me; I always thought slaughtering civilians was somehow worse than offending them…
I guess it takes an Islamist to think like one.
Anyway, here is the quote as translated by the BBC Monitoring Service in case you think I make this stuff up:
'…frankly what happened is an insult to Islam and Muslims. Personally, I condemn these barbaric and evil acts. Today, the objective of the Western states is to control the oil of the Muslims whatever the price. In fact, the cartoons published in Denmark did not surprise me because the Western states have been waging fierce attacks against Islam for years. These began by humiliation, insults and then occupation. Today they reached the point of ridiculing the prophet. This incident is worse than the 11 September attacks in the US and the 7/7 incidents in London. Therefore, today it is the right of Muslims to express their anger and to defend their right and faith…'
For more gems from Galloway – and trust me there are a lot more in this one interview – go to http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net. BTW, thanks to Rumy H for bringing this to my attention.


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This is a simple widget to display your Flickr latest photostream in widget area using Pretty Photo to open gallery images.
You can get your Flickr ID at http://idgettr.com/.
With its very beautiful widget interface, tabbed system, and powered by jQuery makes this plugin easier to customize.
Just put your Flickr ID and your widget will be ready to lunch.
Features & Options
- Beautiful widget interface
- The type of images from user id.
- Get the latest image.
- Put your number images you want to display.
- Optional image sizes.
- PrettyPhoto for image thumb.
- Free supports.
Arbitrary section
Note: If you don't know your ID of Flickr you can go to http://idgettr.com/ get your ID.
- Go to the menu ‹Plugins› -> ‹Install› and search for ‹TZ Flickr Widget›
- Click ‹install›
- How to use Pretty Photo to view gallery?
You go to TZ Flickr Widget Dashboard and checked in ‹Use Pretty Photo›
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
"TZ Flickr Widget" is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
ContributorsTranslate "TZ Flickr Widget" into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
- Fixed: Notice: The called constructor method for WP_Widget is deprecated since version 4.3.0!
- Fixed limit photos when add multiple Flickr widget per page.
- prettyPhoto updated to 3.1.6 – latest stable and secure version
- Start Version


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PITTSBURGH -- Cam Newton plans to have a very different view the next time he sees the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Carolina Panthers star, however, is OK if it ends with the same result he watched Thursday.
Fozzy Whittaker ran for a 2-yard touchdown, Graham Gano added a short field goal and the Panthers beat the listless Steelers 10-0 in the preseason finale.
The teams meet again in Charlotte on Sept. 24. By then, Newton's dinged-up ribs should be fine. Newton insists he'll be ready by the season opener in 10 days against Tampa Bay and could start throwing again this weekend.
"I feel pretty good now, and we have more than a week now until the opener," Newton said. "So, we'll see what happens as we get more into the week."
Whittaker finished with 91 yards rushing for Carolina (2-2) and the defense did the rest as Carolina held the Steelers (1-3) to 185 total yards.
"He is showing toughness," coach Ron Rivera said of Whittaker. "He got bumped a little bit, but he stuck it out."
Carolina backup quarterback Derek Anderson -- just hours removed from the birth of his first child with wife Mallory -- led a 14-play, 62-yard drive to open the game. The methodical march included a fourth-and-1 conversion in Pittsburgh territory, perhaps early proof Rivera plans to keep the swashbuckling approach that helped turn the Panthers around in 2013 and earned him NFL Coach of the Year honors.
Anderson had some help in the only consequential drive by either side with players who will see regular playing time when the games start to count. Carolina rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin hauled in a 19-yard pass to get the Panthers going. Benjamin finished with four catches for 56 yards and had little trouble getting open against Pittsburgh's aggressive secondary.
"We are confident with (Benjamin) and we know he needs to learn and grow, it's all part of the game," Rivera said. "I guess it's a little risky, but he has to learn. If he doesn't learn now, he's going to have to learn while we are running and we don't want that."
The drive was the highlight of Anderson's night, at least on the field. He arrived in Pittsburgh overnight after his wife gave birth to their daughter Amelia. He completed 8 of 14 passes for 98 yards and left late in the second quarter when he injured his right hand trying to corral a snap that sailed over his head.
Pittsburgh linebacker Jarvis Jones recovered, one of the few highlights for the Steelers on a night that did little to provide the momentum boost head coach Mike Tomlin was looking for heading into the season.
"We're very much still a team in development, like all teams are," Tomlin said. "I think you're kidding yourself if you think you're a finished product this time of year."
Steelers third-string quarterback Landry Jones started, but did little to assure himself of a roster spot when the rosters are trimmed to 53 players. Jones completed 14 of 18 passes for just 97 yards and failed to lead the Steelers into scoring range while Roethlisberger watched from the sideline with a towel around his shoulders.
Pittsburgh's first-string defense ended up working more than usual. Tomlin sent all the healthy names atop the depth chart onto the field to start the game, including defensive end Brett Keisel, who re-signed with Pittsburgh last week. Tomlin wanted to see if Keisel could "swim in the deep end of the pool."
While Keisel looked spry for a player who turns 36 in a few weeks, the first unit allowed points for the fourth consecutive week.
Steelers running backs Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount -- a week removed from being cited on marijuana possession -- started the game on the bench but played sparingly in the first half. The team plans to discipline both players, but Tomlin stressed he would not reveal the punishment.
Either way, Bell and Blount will be heavily involved this fall. The circumstances required for Landry Jones to see playing time the rest of 2014 are probably too farfetched to even ponder, but the former Oklahoma star didn't exactly produce a compelling argument for the Steelers to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster behind Roethlisberger and backup Bruce Gradkowski.
Jones declined to speculate on whether he'll still have a job next week.
"I have no idea," he said. "This business, being cut, staying here, that's so far out of my control I don't even like thinking about it."


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Soup is the ultimate comfort food. But people in-the-know are also aware that it can be just as comforting to prepare them. Because they take a while to simmer and fill your house with amazing smells, they're perfect for slowing down and cooking mindfully. These four recipes are very different from one another, but they're all equally at home in a soulful kitchen.
Rice noodle soup with green asparagus & egg
This soup is an ideal first course and makes an excellent addition to your dinner. Besides being seasonal and delicious, asparagus is also packed with antioxidants and loaded with nutrients. Accompany your soup with some vegetarian steamed dumplings.
Recipe for 4 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
- 1.5 L vegetable bouillon made with 3 cubes
- 200 g (dry) rice noodles
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 8 spring onions cut into thin rings
- 2 cloves of garlic in wafer-thin pieces
- 4 tbs olive oil, divided
- 6 tbs soy sauce
- 500 g asparagus
- 8 radishes, halved
- 150 g frozen peas
- large handful of coriander for garnish
- small red peppers cut into thin rings
1. Make the bouillon and boil the rice noodles as instructed on the package. Boil the eggs for 8 to 10 minutes until hard.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan and stir in the ginger, spring onion and garlic and cook on a low to medium fire until they become glassy, about five minutes. Add it to the bouillon and then add 6 tbs of soy sauce. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer on a low heat while you prepare the rest.
3. Cut the hard ends off of the asparagus and slice the rest into pieces of about 4 cm. Stir the asparagus together with the halved radishes on high heat in 2 tbs of olive oil until they being to colour. Add them to the bouillon, bring it to a boil again and cook it through for another minute.
4. Divide the noodles into 4 bowls and pour the soup with vegetables over them. Place half of an egg in each bowl and garnish with coriander and red pepper to taste.
Japanese soba noodle soup with shiitake mushrooms
Little gem is a lesser-known type of lettuce that most resembles romaine. It is sweet and compact and adds extra texture to this Japanese-inspired soup. Shiitake mushrooms have a meatier texture than most mushrooms, making them more filling.
Recipe for 2 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
- 100 g soba noodles
- 700 ml water
- 1 cube vegetable bouillon
- 1 heaping tsp grated ginger
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
- 100 g shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbs olive oil
- pepper and salt
- two small handfuls of bean sprouts
- 1 to 2 heads of little gem lettuce in thin slices, cut lengthwise
- a small handful of fresh coriander, just the leaves
1. Prepare the soba noodles as instructed on the package. Rinse them thoroughly with cold water and let them rest a while.
2. Heat the water, add the bouillon, grated ginger, the soy sauce and the Chinese 5 spice and bring it to a gentle boil.
3. Meanwhile, slice the shiitake mushrooms into slices and cook them in the olive oil until they start to colour nicely. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Arrange the noodles, shiitake mushrooms, the little gem lettuce and the bean sprouts into a nest in the dish and pour the boiling bouillon over it. Garnish with the coriander and serve immediately.
Thai Green Snow Pea Soup
When you're craving Thai flavours, there's nothing more satisfying than a bowl of green snow pea soup. Delicious, healthy and surprisingly easy to make.
Recipe for 4 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
- 400 g snow peas, cleaned
- 2 tbs mild olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, cut in thin slices
- 2 tbs fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 600 ml vegetable bouillon made with 3 bouillon cubes
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 4 lemon leaves
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of ½ lime
- 1 large handful of coriander to garnish
- 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat up the oil and fry the onion for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger and garlic. Stir this for a few minutes.
2. Add coconut milk, lemon leaves, lime zest, vegetable bouillon and the snow peas. Let this simmer in a covered pan for 10 minutes.
3. Remove lemon leaves and puree the soup. Strain it through a coarse strainer to remove the last strings from the snow peas.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with the lime juice. Garnish with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and finely sliced coriander to taste.