“In 1904, the Government of India began to recognise its responsibilities in the field of agricultural research. There was a large Government owned estate lylng unused in Pusa (Bihar) to which it was proposed to transfer the research station at Pemberandah. It had already become clear that the Indigo Industry could not be saved, and under these circumstances. However, before this scheme could mature it was superceded by a far more grandiose project under the initiative of the Viceroy Lord Curzon, for an All India Agricultural Service with Pusa as its Research Station under the Central Government and an Agricultural Department in each Province, with its research station and college at which district staff was to be trained.” This memory of more than a century ago comes via ‘Hugh Martin Leake: A Historical Memoir’, an article by N C Shah, in the Indian Journal of History of Science (2002).

Even more interesting is the role of A O Hume in the establishment of the agricultural sciences centre that Pusa became. “What did Hume hope to do? He began by stressing how much Indian farmers already knew about their soils and climate, about plowing, about crop requirements, and about weeding. (‘Their wheat-fields would, in this respect,’ he said, ’shame ninety-nine hundredths of those in Europe.’) Still, Hume argued, Indian agriculture had not changed for thousands of years; yields were not two-thirds of what they might be.” This comes from the very absorbing chapter, ‘Agricultural Development in British India’, by Bret Wallach, in ‘Modernisation and the Culture of Development’, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Wallach continues: ” ‘First and foremost unquestionably stands the increased provision of manure … the crying want of Indian agriculture’. That was Hume’s starting point, and he proposed to develop fuelwood plantations “in every village in the drier portions of the country” and thereby provide a substitute heating and cooking fuel so that manure could be returned to the land. Such plantations, he continues, were ‘a thing that is entirely in accord with the traditions of the country–a thing that the people would understand, appreciate, and, with a little judicious pressure, cooperate in’.”

“Second on his list came an attack on rural indebtedness, chiefly by forbidding the use of land as security, a practice the British themselves had introduced. Hume denounced it as another of ‘the cruel blunders into which our narrowminded, though wholly benevolent, desire to reproduce England in India has led us.’ Third, Hume wanted government-run banks, at least until cooperative banks could be established.”

“Beyond these things, he noted, there were ‘innumerable other minor matters’ waiting for the department. They included the provision of seeds, the reclamation of salty soils, and plant breeding, a point on which he was astute enough to warn against selection merely for grain size: it was essential, he understood, to choose varieties suited to local physical and cultural conditions. He finished his list with a call for agricultural machinery, especially wind pumps, which he thought promising in a country where ‘gigantic wind-power (second only to the equally unutilised sun-ray power) is running to waste, utterly uncared for over the whole empire’.”

NEWSLETTER – 4th DECEMBER 09

Thank you all for being a part of this ministry. We thank you for your prayers and support. We have some exciting developments regarding the farming project, but first an issue of prayer:

PASTOR ONESMUS’S WELL-BEING

This past week, Onesmus has not been well, but thank the Lord, he is gradually improving. Early in the week, he was diagnosed with typhoid fever and pneumonia, plus malaria. But our God is bigger than anything the devil would want to bring against us. The doctor has said that Onesmus will recover well once he is able to eat and drink more. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray as he is still in bed and not able to spend much time online.

And please pray for Bashabe as she has had to carry an extra workload this week. As well as that, she had committed this past week to prayer and fasting. We thank God for her faithful prayers and the inspiration her faith is to us. And she is confident that even in this affliction God is working out His purpose. Amen!!!!

THE FARMING PROJECT

Who doesn’t love a cute puppy?! If your having a bad day… step away from the computer… drop the phone.. and enjoy this cute video!

Looking at Leslie Grandma house painting makes me wanted to share mine too. This is a sketch i done on the house which is located at Samarahan district. The area is kind of swampy therefore ideal for coconut and cocoa plantation and this are the type of job my grandma do. It’s a tought job but she was a tough lady and may God bless her soul. Although the house no longer there, swallowed by the jungle and so are the plantation but my child hood memories still quit vivid. I can still imagine myself listening to the wild pigeon singing, stream flowing nearby and the mud skipper happily sun bathing under the coconut bridge and not forgetting the evergreen fauna. Nowadays most houses are built on bricks and machinery take over labourers task, the good old days are gone.

Hope you like the sketch

By:  Fred McCaleb

Sie was born in mid 1850s at the McCollum plantation home where Hubbertsville now is. His mother was a black slave and dad was supposedly my ggg ancester James K McCollum. No proof except color. Sie was light brown and many of his children turned out to be nearly white. He was a young boy that did what James K told after the Civil war ended. James K was heavily in debt after the Civil war and decided that the way to clear it was for him and Sie to burn down the Fayette County AL Court house. They supposedly did but never proven. They were badly into it with the law for their meanness. They supposedly tried to get the truth out of Sie by hanging him with a rope around his neck tied to a limb of a tree. Sie said he felt like he was about ready to meet his master until they finally sympathized with him and let him down. He liked to tell about his hanging spell all the rest of his life. He told many other big tales which I have forgotten. He was finally grown and got married in the 1860s.
Andrew McCaleb a gg grandpa of mine and married to one of James K’s girls gave Sie a sizeable track of land and told Sie never to let sorry whites beat him out of it. Sie never sold or willed the the land to anyone. He has hundreds of heirs and the place can never be sold. The original deed is still in the Fayette County Court house and will eventually belong to Fayette County if not now. Sie showed my dad and I a home-made coffin he had the local blacksmith Bill Ervin to make. He got it from under an old time bed that James K had. He showed my dad and I how he fit in it and said the master was about to call him home. He died about 10 years later and was the first buried in the McCollum Cemetery by a cedar tree. A good many of the white McCollum heirs tried to bargain for the old bed but I never knew if any succeeded. The cedar tree is just a stump now.
Sie told my dad and I that his negro’s (he didn’t call them blacks) were too sorry to bury him. I guess they were nice to him later on. They put him a fancier tomb stone up instead of the original. There are 150 or more graves of his heirs and wives buried there now. I guess that is all they will ever get of the Sie McCollum estate is a six foot hole in the ground for burial. I was told that the largest crowd of blacks and whites ever attended Sie’s funeral at White Chapel Church of Christ. I might have been about to get married in Virginia and Sie was up in 90s age when he died. What a man! When I was about 6 or 7 years old my dad worked with Sie’s son Dave McCollum cutting cross-ties for the railroad. They sold them at Tom Hollingsworth store in Bazemore. I still have the broad axe used to hew out the sides of ties.
My dad never said much about Sie at that time until I was in my teen years and he took me by to see Sie’s coffin. I was interested in his story ever after and picked most of it up from kindred and genealogy. I hate to mention that Sie had trouble with other women during his marriage. One of Jacob Hollingsworth heirs, son of Felix Hollingsworth and Arla Killingsworth , had the trunk of Jacob that had passed through 3 lifetimes. Jacob was justice of the peace. He gave me the paper concerning Sie getting Fereby X Thornton pregnant. Sie gave 50lbs of bacon and 5 bushels of corn to satisfy her wants of feeding her baby. Some of Sie’s land was about ¼ miles north of Skimming Ridge a one teacher school where I went to school the first 3 years of my schooling. Some of the kids walked across Sie’s pasture and had to be careful about his bull getting them.
I don’t know whether Sie or any of his children ever got a little learning or not. Blacks were denied schooling with whites back then. What a shame. There was a McCaleb school house nearby and that may have been a black school. Maybe some of his immediate family learned to read and write. That’s about all most whites could do back then. Some of Sie’s descendants are becoming nurses, big time foot ball players these times and succeeding in many other areas. Two or three of them I found out are working here at Morningside. My McCaleb-Hubbard nurse told me that Sie grew one of the biggest hogs weighing around 1000 lbs. ever grown in Fayette Co. A Montgomery black confirmed it and said Sie’s son Dave grew another about the same size. I met one at the genealogy society meeting in Winfield and gave her the McCollum ancestors on Sie’s dad. She seemed to be a very nice person. I guess they are facing hardships like most all families today. I am sorry I don’t know a whole lot about Sie. I remember him as a great story teller. I thought I would let others know what little I have found out.
Story done by Fred McCaleb 93yrs old or young.

While massacre is an old theme in Irish history, digitisation is, of course, a relatively new one. Both themes have been brought together in The 1641 Depositions Project, an initiative involving scholars from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Cambridge and IBM (LanguageWare). The project is funded by the AHRC, the IRCHSS and the TCD Library. The depositions are witness statements relating to the Irish rebellion of 1641. They detail a range of experiences and alleged crimes such as losses of possessions, murder and massacre. Their contents have generated controversy for centuries.

One of the main points of contention has been the actual numbers of settler Protestants killed by the Catholic rebels, particularly in the province of Ulster. The number of alleged killings reached a peak of 600,000 in a pamphlet written by John Milton in 1649. While this was obviously a gross exaggeration, poetic imagination perhaps, it was loosely based on an allegation contained in one 1641 deposition. The link between the evidence contained in the depositions and Protestant allegations of mass murder by Catholics won for this source a prominence unrivalled by any other relating to the early modern period in Ireland.

In the nineteenth century, the enduring notoriety of the collection, combined with its sheer bulk, ensured that proposals for full publication would come to naught. Moreover, in a week when some policemen came under attack in the border village of Garrison, it is difficult to conclude that violent conflict has been entirely consigned to history in that part of the world. Nonetheless, the general optimism that exists is seen as at last providing an appropriate context for the online publication of the 1641 depositions. The first instalment, 1,559 Ulster depositions, is due in December 2009.

An enticing appetiser for this new resource was provided in October by the proceedings of a conference entitled Plantation and Reaction: the 1641 Rebellion, hosted by Trinity College Dublin. On 23 October, over 300 people attended Professor Aidan Clarke’s keynote address, ‘The 1641 Massacres’, in Dublin Castle, a venue which the rebels of 1641 had hoped to seize on the same date 368 years before. Professor Clarke has been deeply involved in The 1641 Depositions Project and his lecture provided some tantalising indications of the range of worthwhile investigations which should be possible when the digital resource becomes available.

The three conference panels on 24 October, peopled by an impressive selection of renowned historians, were again well-attended. These offered a mix of Irish, European and American perspectives on key issues relating to early modern massacre, plantation, and politics across a wide geographical area. It quickly became clear that the digitisation of the depositions will enable the events which occurred in Ireland in 1641 to be located in a series of broad historical contexts.

As Ireland strives to leave its old sectarian troubles behind it, it seems that what was once an acrimonious Catholic-Protestant debate on 1641, as much concerned with the present as the past, may perhaps undergo further transformation in a series of outward-looking and mutually enriching international comparisons. Should this occur, it will ensure that the digitised testimonies of the distraught survivors of rebellion in Ireland in 1641 will remain relevant to the concerns of historians researching and writing in a globalised world.

Last week, Jean Smith posed some questions about digitisation in her first piece on History Compass Exchanges. To briefly address two of them: The 1641 Depositions Project will, I believe, be open access; and in this instance the online resource may well be an improvement upon the reading room research experience because the original depositions are sometimes rather difficult to read.

Jana Remy also provided some insight into her experience of using Twitter at a conference. At Plantation and Reaction: the 1641 Rebellion, I saw one laptop in the room, which suggests that we’ve got some way to go until the broad-based digital collaborations imagined by Yaniv Fox come into their own. There are, however,  plans to podcast various lectures from the conference.

Surrounded by its 100 acres of gardens, fields, woods and original outbuildings, Sweet Home transports all who visit to Georgia’s Antebellum South, evoking the beauty, grace and charm of the Old South Legend. This National Historic Register 1840 Greek Revival Home is a virtual mid-19th century time capsule, beautifully furnished with period furniture. Sweet Home Plantation is ideally suited for weddings and receptions, private parties, corporate events, barbeques and picnics. The spacious grounds offer the perfect setting for large or intimate events. The elegant home is a wonderful spot for teas, luncheons, cocktail receptions or small seated dinner parties. For more information, visit the Pine Mountain Destination Guide

बात पुरानी है लेकिन सुनाना जरूरी है

मैनहन में वृक्षारोपड़ करते हुए

आपरेशन ग्रीन कार्यक्रम मैनहन

३१ अगस्त,सन २००१, मैनहन (खीरी)

सरकार के एक कार्यक्रम आपरेशन ग्रीन के तहत मैने अपने गांव में तकरीबन १००० वृक्षॊं की रोपाई की, इस कार्यक्रम में उत्तर प्रदेश के वन-निगम के प्रबन्ध-निदेशक श्री आर०पी० सिंह ने अध्यक्षता की उनकी मौजूदगी नें खेरी के वन-विभाग को सक्रिय कर दिया था और सभी आला अफ़सरान मैनहन में पहले से उपस्थित थे, गांव के प्राथमिक विद्यालय में इस विशाल सभा का आयोजन हुआ और मितौली से मैनहन तक स्वागत द्वार बनाये गये, यह सारी व्यवस्था मेरे जिम्मे थी, कार्यक्रम की शुरूवात सरस्वती वंदना से हुई और फ़िर सभी आगुन्तको ने हमारे गांव के लोगों को संबोधित किया, वृक्षारोपण के मह्त्व बताये और वन-विभाग के सभी अधिकारियों व कर्मचारियों ने पौधे रोपे, एक नीम का वृक्ष प्रबन्ध निदेशक ने रोपित किया और उस पेड़ की जगह एक पट्टिका लगवाई गई जिसे मै शहर से बनवाकर ले गया था उस पर महोदय का नाम लिखा हुआ था, स्कूल से पौधारोपड़ की शुरूवात हुई और फ़िर मेरी तमाम जगहों मे पौधे रोपे गये, जिनमें आम, नीम, सेमल आदि थे, सेमल के अधिक वृक्ष मुझे प्रदान किए गये थे चूकिं इनका व्यवसायिक महत्व है सो मैने तमाम वृक्ष वितिरित कर दिए।

मेरे गांव में मेरे द्वारा आयोजित यह प्रथम कार्यक्रम था, शुरूवात में तो लोग कौतूहल पूर्वक मेरी गतिविधि देख रहे थे कि आखिर रोज़-रोज़ वन-विभाग के अफ़सर क्यों आते है क्या तैयारिया हो रही है किन्तु उन्होने कुछ ज्यादा उत्सुकता नही दिखाई किन्तु जब आयोजन की सभी तैयारिया पूर्ण हो गयी तो सभी ने प्रेम से शिरकत की और मुझे उत्साहित भी किया,  ग्रामीणों का सहयोग भी मुझे मिला।  यहां यह बताना जरूरी है कि इस कार्यक्रम के तहत रोपे गये तकरीबन १००० पौधों में से मात्र ४०-५० पौधे ही आज विकसित हो पाये, इसे मै अपनी असफ़लता ही कहूंगा।

हां और वह पट्टिका जो प्रंबध-निदेशक जी के सम्मान में लाई गयी थी, मुझसे कहा गया कि इसे अभी उखाड लो पेड़ जब बड़ा हो जाये तो लगा देना किन्तु कुछ दिन बाद वह पेड़ ही वहा से उखड़ गया जिसे महोदय ने रोपा था तो पट्टिका कहां लगे और पट्टिका आज भी जंग लगी हुई मेरे गांव के घर मेम रखी है उसे जब देखता हूं तो………………

यहां श्रीमती इन्दिरा गांधी की एक बात याद आती है ।

“A nation’s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.”

स्कूल में रोपे गये पौधे सुरक्षा के अभाव में ग्रामीणॊं व उनके मवेशियों द्वारा नष्ट कर दिये गये क्योकि उनकी उचित देखभाल नही हो सकी, जबकि सार्वजनिक स्थल पर लगे इन पौधों की सुरक्षा सबकी जिम्मेवारी थी।

खैर मेरी व्यक्तिगत भूमि पर जो पौधे लगाये गयें खेतों आदि में उन्हे पड़ोसी किसानों ने नीलगाय पर तोहमत लगाकर उखाड दिया गया ताकि पड़ॊसी के खेत में छाया न लगे और फ़सल प्रभावित न हो, लेकिन सेमल के पौधे इतना नही छितरते की वह सूरज की रोशनी को रोक सके। किन्तु मुझे इस बात की खुशी है कि जिन आस-पास के गांव वालों ने इन पेड़ों को मेरे खेतो से उखाड़ कर अपने घर-दुआर में रोपित किया और इनकी देखभाल की और वह पौधे अब वृक्ष में तब्दील हो गये है, यह जानकर प्रसन्नता होती है और मैं अपने आप को कुछ-कुछ सफ़ल पाता हूं। मुझे उनकी यह चोरी बड़ी सुन्दर लगी।

इस बेहतरीन कार्य में मेरा सहयोग देने वालों में मेरे गांव के लोगों में बड़े भाई श्री सुधाकर शुक्ल जी, दाऊ श्री रामावध शुक्ल जी, दाऊश्री परमेश्वरदीन जी, दाऊ श्री(स्व०) बेंचेलाल पाण्डेय जी (पूर्व प्रधान), दाऊ श्री शिवदयाल मिश्र जी, बाबा (स्व०)मुन्ना लाल शुक्ल जी, इसके अलावा मेरे कार्यकर्ता जिन्होने शारीरिक श्रम का योगदान दिया, और मेरे सभी मित्र गण जिनकी भागीदारी महत्वपूर्ण रही। मैनहन के अतिरिक्त तमाम गांवों के लोगो ने जो शिरकत की उनमें चाचा श्री बलबीर सिंह(पूर्व ब्लाक प्रमुख), गुरू जी श्री वी०पी० सिंह जी, कविवर कंटक जी, वनाधिकारी नकवी जी, उदयभान सिंह जी, मित्र श्री अमित श्रीवास्तव जी, अमित गुप्ता जी, विद्यालय के अद्यायपक गण आदि का मै कृतज्ञ हूं।

इस कार्यक्रम का मुझे जो सबसे ज्यादा फ़ायदा मिला वह यह कि सभी आदरणीय ग्रामजनों की उपस्थित और उनकी शक्लॊं का कैमरे में कैद हो जाना, इस आनी-जानी दुनिया में वो चेहरे मेरे पास जीवित रहेंगे उन तस्वीरों के रूप में।

अब मैने वृहद स्तर पर यह कार्य न करके प्रत्येक वर्ष कुछ प्रजातियों का रोपण करता हूं, और उनमें से अधिकतर पौधे लगातार वृद्धि कर रहे है, मेरी पहली पसन्द है बरगद, पीपल, पाकड़, उसके बाद कुछ और………..और यही वृक्ष मेरी मां को भी पसन्द है।

कृष्ण कुमार मिश्र

मैनहन-२६२७२७

भारतवर्ष

303446     การวิเคราะห์การทําไม้ในสวนป่า     Forest Plantation Harvesting Analysis

การรวบรวมข้อมูลที่จํ าเป็นสํ าหรับการทํ าไม้ในสวนป่า การวิเคราะห์สวนป่าเชิงเศรษฐธุรกิจ หลักการการโปรแกรมเชิงเส้น การดํ าเนินงานตามแผนการ การกํ าหนดพื้นที่และเวลาการทํ าไม้การคํ านวณค่าใช้จ่าย การประเมินผลการทํ าไม้ในสวนป่า กรณีศึกษา

(Collection of necessary data for forest plantation harvesting, business economics analysis of forest plantation, Principle’s of Linear Programming, operation of planning, harvesting schedule, cost tracking calculation, evaluation of forest plantation harvesting, case study.)

(303446 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

306221     การปลูกสร้างสวนป่า     Forest Plantation

ประวัติการปลูกสร้างสวนป่า เทคนิคการผลิตกล้าไม้และการจัดการแปลงเพาะการปลูกและบํ ารุงรักษาสวนป่า การประเมินผลงานปลูกสร้างสวนป่า

(History of forest plantation. Seedling production and nursery management. Planting, tending, and evaluation of man-made forests.)

(306221 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

Biodiesel adalah bahan bakar nabati yang terbuat dari minyak nabati, baik minyak baru maupun bekas penggorengan dan melalui proses transesterifikasi, esterifikasi. Biodiesel digunakan sebagai bahan bakar alternatif BBM untuk motor diesel.

Kelebihan biodiesel :
1. Ramah lingkungan, karena menghasilkan emisi yang jauh lebih baik (free sulfur, smoke number rendah) sesuai dengan isu-isu global.
2. Cetane number lebih tinggi (>57) sehingga efisiensi pembakaran lebih baik dibandingkan dengan minyak kasar.
3. Memiliki sifat pelumasan terhadap piston mesin dan dapat terurai (biodegradable)
4. Renewable energy karena terbuat dari bahan alam yang dapat diperbarui
5. Meningkatkan independensi suplai bahan bakar karena dapat diproduksi secara lokal.

Sumber : Hambali,Mujdalipah,Tambunan. Buku teknologi bioenergi.2007.agromedia. Jakarta.

DIMANCHE 22 NOVEMBRE 2009

Les Massottes (Bassenge) – Province de Liège
Plantation d’une haie vive dans une nouvelle réserve naturelle.
À emporter : gants, pique-nique
R.V. à 9:30 parking de l’AD Delhaize de Boirs (Bassenge) (fin vers 16:00)
Contact : Jean-Paul Théatre (04/227.96.66 – jeanpaultronc(at)yahoo.fr) ou Rudi Vanherck (0477/423.789)

http://www.natagora.be/fileadmin/Natagora/presse2009/CP_pdf/091122_CP__Haie_Massottes.pdf

I want to preface this blog hailing Larry David as a genius. I love him. I love him. I love him. I admit I was a bit worried with the plantation genre and the stereotypical ending in Season Six of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, but he managed to dodge that lingering bullet almost effortlessly in Season 7. Vivica A. Fox’s character Loretta Black  and Larry break up in the second episode of the season, “Vehicular Fellatio” and it had nothing to do with race. Larry was planning on dumping her because she got cancer. He is so unsympathetic and sympathetic you just have to love him.

So Larry’s project in Season 7 is winning his wife’s affection by letting her play the role of his actual wife in a “Seinfeld” reunion season. And everyone is on board. We get to see Julia play Elaine, Seinfeld play himself, Larry’s mirror image George Costanza, Jason Alexander ironically as Larry’s complete opposite….and there is….. Michael Richards….. as Kramer. Ehhhhhhhlllllllllllll.

the pink elephant in the room-racist richards

We know he had to be on the show to fulfill the myth of the reunion season, but there is just this bad taste in my mouth when I see him on screen. I’m sure most of you remember his infamous racial fuck-up. It was a fuck-up so bad it wasn’t even excusable. It was the fuck-up heard round the world, Lexington and Concord style.  Here’s a link to his comedy routine.

Okay I just watched it again I am pissed!!!! Arrggggh! When will it stop? Here are just a few unsettling savory bits:

“Fifty years ago we’d have you hanging upside down from a tree!”

“They’re going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger?”

“Throw his ass out! He’s a nigger, He’s a nigger, He’s a nigger!”

oh LAWD

After a while the black man he was talking to called him a cracker, which I discuss in my earlier blog, is embedded with a notion of racial superiority on the part of the white person who is being called said name.

I’m not really sure what pissed Michael Richards off so much. But I am gonna assume it was some loud mouth Negroes, yeah I said it, talking too much during a performance which is why he told them to shut up. And yes, really my brothers and sisters, you know who you are, you need to stop talking through movies, it’s annoying. I wanted to cut a bitch the last time I was in the theater.

But there is no reason to say what Richards said. I mean come on. A good shut the fuck up would have sufficed. He didn’t need to offend everyone in the place. And he forgets, black folk actually paid to see him perform. I mean can you imagine, taking your lovely black boyfriend or girlfriend on a date to a comedy show, and thinking wow, we get to see the guy who played Kramer, I’m so excited, and while you’re sipping on your Long Island Iced Tea you get taken back to 1865 with some white dude talkin bout hanging niggers from trees. NIET KIEL DAWG.

Hence, the icky taste in my mouth. But in the last episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry addresses the issue of harboring a known racist on the show. He does this in three ways.

1. Michael Richards looks like crap compared to everyone else in the show. Even though everyone has aged, they still look the same. Maybe they have led healthy lives, maybe it’s the make-up job, but clearly they skipped over Richards. Additionally, the hair that made Kramer so noticeable is almost all but gone. Larry wants him to look that way. By presenting Richards as visually unattractive, his appearance clearly faltering since his racist comedy routine, Larry is reflecting on the accepted myth that sin is written on the body. (A topic heavily discussed in Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray and The Libertine)

if you hadn't been fucking all those whores, maybe God would have spared you leprosy

2. To reify this idea, Larry also gives Richards a life threatening illness, Groat’s disease(a fictional illness) that may cause his death. He is literally paying for the sins externally and internally that he committed when he pledged his allegiance to supremacy on that unforgettable day.

3. He cleverly has a scene with Leon and Richards, in which Richards has a valid reason to be pissed at Leon (he lied about his identity and duped him into giving $200,000). While he is screaming a crowd of people are watching Richards yell at this black man and we laugh because ironically he an actual reason to be pissed. It is really funny and makes it a bit more acceptable for Richards to be part of this season.

However, I recently read a blog, by the African American Environmentalist Association-Hollywood, and while I agree Larry made a smart move in the “The Table Read”, it really doesn’t redeem or reform Richards as a person. It only redeems Richards within the fictional world of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” that Larry himself has created. And then we have to think, well if Richards’ previous act of racism had to be addressed to us, how will it be addressed to the fictional audience that would be watching the Seinfeld reunion season? And, ignoring the fact that humor on a fictional show doesn’t excuse an act of racism in the real world, we were too busy laughing at the scene to deconstruct what it fails to address. When Richards says “if there were any word i could use to show how angry i am…,” David seems to be juxtaposing valid reasons to be pissed off (leon lying/getting 200g) against using racial slurs without a valid reason. But is there ever a valid reason to use racial slurs? And I say valid reason cuz clearly the heckling at his comedy show did not warrant “nigger,nigger, nigger”, but because Leon lies it might? And are we ignoring the real irony in this scene, that Richards could have “slipped up” again because Leon did what a white man told him, and most likely Leon had to lie because his livelihood (living in Larry’s mansion) depends on it?

Larry also depicts this representation in “The Anonymous Donor,” Season 6, when a dry-cleaner loses his baseball jersey. He then has Leon approach a man wearing the similar jersey(we don’t know if it is Larry’s or not) and from then on the white man Leon has robbed may engage in stereotyping of black men as criminals. But the crazy thing about it is that Leon himself didn’t care about the jersey, he stole the jersey because Larry, the white male, wanted him too. Is Larry making a statement, by having Leon bear the brunt of his iniquities, that blacks are unfairly stereotyped not by their own acts, but the acts that are guided by the white man. Basically, are whites are hating blacks because of whites. I mean that is why Richards gets pissed at Leon, Larry doesn’t take the rap for the incident, at least we don’t get to see it.

If so, whoa Larry, and Bravo, Bravo. I now love your show even more, can we be best friends?

Of course, it is not up to Larry David to rectify Richards fuck-up. He shouldn’t have to alter his whole season cuz Richards can’t keep his mouth shut. I think David makes amends to his avid black fans by at least addressing the issue, and I thank him for it. But Richards has a long way to go. A fictional confrontation on the issue will not redeem his racist soul. And although most black folk are forgiving, sorry Richards, you don’t get my vote.

Thoughts?

P.S.

J.B. Smoove on the scene with Michael Richards:

“I can’t see someone being so upset with it that they’d never want him to be on TV again. You can pass the blame along, or you can accept your responsibility, and he accepted his actions. Sometimes, when you get a girl pregnant, you blame the condom. His condom broke that night.”

… Er… a town near it at least.

The Catfish Plantation, Texas’ very own “haunted” restaurant, or at least the one restaurant that actually uses that as a marketing theme, is serving up a local dose of ghost explo[it]ration in the form of Paranormal Investigative team the Klinge Brothers from the hit Discovery Channel series Ghost Lab.

What does this mean?

There’s no telling what it means actually, I leave it open to interpretation. Personally I don’t get off on shows that makes you think there’s something out there like a bunch of kids who are afraid of the dark walking around with flashlights in the woods. I have only been to one haunted house-turned restaurant in my lifetime and people are still skeptical of its actual haunting, but the corners of my eyes have never deceived me in the way of ghastly ghosts that leave one aghast and gasping. But I just have a blog, no TV show.

Back to the article though…

Seems the dynamic Klinge brothers will be visiting Waxahachie on the 17th of November as well as the 4th of December and according to the Plantation’s very own GM the Brothers will be hitting up the Catfish Plantation one more time on the 11th of December (see comment below for reference), so make sure to save those dates on your calender. You never know what to expect and it never hurts to get in a nice big meal before the crap is potentially scared out of you. Fun stuff!

Mrs. Janet Bryant, a local resident of Plaquemine, has been working at Nottoway Plantation for over a decade. She serves as the face of Nottoway and introduces visitors to the grandeur of plantation life and Southern hospitality. From movie stars seeking refuge from photographers to children visiting the “White Castle” for the first time, Mrs. Janet has heard it all! She has kept a diary of her tour experiences and has shared a few recent ones with us. She will continue to share her stories so that everyone can enjoy the experiences of Nottoway guests.  

Tour: 9 AM group - October 30, 2009

A father and son duo from Luxemburg toured Nottoway last week. It was the first time in many, many years that anyone from the small country of Luxemburg (population 450,000) had been to the property. The father said they had planned to come the year of Katrina; unfortunately, they had to change their plans. They were overwhelmed by the large size and beauty of Nottoway. They were the only guests on the 9 am tour so we were able to spend some extra time with them. They were delightful and were a great inspiration for the start of the day!

 Tour: Destination Management / Albatross Tours – November 10, 2009

A group from Denmark leaving New Orleans on their way back home toured Nottoway yesterday. Hanibel, their tour guide, had no idea we were here because he had never heard of Nottoway; however, with his travel research and extra time he decided to see what we were all about.

 About half of the group spoke English, so I gave information to the guide and he translated for the rest. Danish translation is lengthy, for every one sentence I said, Hanibel said four or five more! The group said he was long-winded in his translations. At one point I even raised my hand to get a word in… everyone thought it was hilarious.

Hanibel is an Egyptologist and for many years took groups to Egypt. Then the Danish printed something in their newspaper the Egyptians took as offensive and forbade all Danish tour guides from going into Egypt. The guide then began to take tourists to the Caribbean. In fact, their group had just completed a Mediterranean cruise.

They were a delightful group. It was a pleasure to be their guide. Another wonderful memory for me, and I hope for them also!

Thanks for listening to my stories! I hope you enjoy and I promise to keep you informed about the special people I meet at Nottoway.

- Janet Bryant

Phone: 954 603 8772.
Please leave a message and you will be contacted ASAP.

A/C not fixed = $20 (diagnosis/service)
If your air conditioning (A/C) is not fixed, the charge $20 to diagnose the problem.

A/C fixed + No parts = $50
(If your A/C is fixed and no parts are needed, the charge is $50 total.You will not pay more than $50 unless parts need to be purchased.)

A/C fixed + Parts = $50 + Cost of parts.
If your A/C is fixed and parts are needed, the charge is $50 + the cost of the parts.

Please note: Freon/refrigerant is a part and is not included in the service fee.

This is not an hourly fee – the labor fee is $50 no matter how long the repair takes. The charge is $20 if the A/C is not fixed.

Please note that the following services are not currently being offered: 1) coil change-outs, 2) compressor change-outs and 3) installations.

Here is a list of cities currently being serviced:

Boca Raton
Coconut Creek
Coral Springs
Deerfield Beach
Fort Lauderdale
Hillsboro Beach
Lauderdale Lakes
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderhill
Lighthouse Point
Margate
North Lauderdale
Oakland Park
Parkland
Pompano Beach
Tamarac
Wilton Manors

South Broward, West Broward and Miami-Dade County are not currently serviced.

Here is a list of some of the units that may be repaired…
- Commercial A/C units
- Residential A/C units
- Split A/C units
- Package A/C units
- Wall A/C units
- Window A/C units

Please note: Personal Checks and Business Checks are not accepted as payment at this time.

If you can’t call, feel free to email your phone number to the email address at the top of this listing and you will be contacted ASAP.

Any and all air conditioners have a possibility of repair.

Here are some (but not all) brands that repairs are possible for..
Goodman, Trane, Carrier, York, Rheem, Ruud, Fujistsu, American Standard, Lennox, Mitsubishi, Bryant, Payne, Duchane, Fedders, Heil, Janitrol, Armstrong, GE, General Electric, Honeywell, Amana, Comfortmaker, Tempstar, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, Guardian, Generac.

License # CAC014666

Rudo y Cursi (2008)
★★★ / ★★★★

“Rudo y Cursi” stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna as brothers who started off as workers in a banana plantation and, with the help of a soccer scout (Guillermo Francella), eventually became Mexico’s soccer stars. One of the things I liked most about this movie was it allowed two very different characters to start off in the same level of happiness (or unhappiness). But when they finally achieved stardom, they were rarely on that same level and that caused tension, resentment, and bitterness which ate them inside out. But what’s even more impressive is that writer and director Carlos Cuarón painted the picture in a light-hearted manner with a real sadness in its core. It was easy for me to buy the fact that Bernal and Luna were very competitive brothers because of their lingering chemistry from “Y tu mamá también.” Although their characters genuinely loved one another, they forget that one time or another because they constantly got caught up in their own problems and inner demons. Such issues were commented on by the narrator who discussed things like the similarities and differences between a mother and a uniform, passion and talent, and the labyrinthine world of fame. The way their luck and fortunes fluctuated from golden fevers to pitiful desperation engaged me throughout. This is far from a typical sports film where a lead character goes through all kinds fo hardship in life and finally gets that big break. It’s really more about the dynamics between brothers who constantly had to build themselves up and could not help but compare themselves to each other in order to determine if they were good enough. (Which kind of works as a cautionary tale.) Carlos Cuarón’s debut film impresses on many levels which, admittedly, could have been a lot stronger if it had a better sense of pacing. I was just glad that it actually had a brain despite the sport.

Ribeyre Ghosts by Jeff Barnes

Ribeyre Ghosts FREE DOWNLOAD <- Click Here

Ribeyre Ghosts by Jeff Barnes

In 1925, the small little town of Griffin, Indiana found itself on the collision path of the world’s worst tornado in history. The Ribeyre gymnasium in nearby New Harmony was called into duty to serve as a makeshift morgue and hospital amidst this tragedy. Now the gymnasium is the crime scene of a strange and unexplained death. The police have no answers and now the influential of the town turn to a small paranormal investigation team for answers. History shows that the once quiet town of New Harmony is being plagued by a ruthless spirit bent on revenge.

This is the first draft of my book and while I am going to have to go through rewrites, I figured it was an opportunity to share with others my love of writing. This book was my first attempt at a novel and it has been a fun and interesting journey. For those of you who are really interested in ghost hunting, this would be both a fun and informational read. In it I share my ideas on ghost hunting while playing my part to spin a horror tale.

So, please take this opportunity to read this book. It is an absolutely free download and my gift to you. While, I know that are errors (grammar, etc), this is your opportunity to get it absolutely free. My next step is to make an audiobook and share it with the world.

Thanks,

Jeff Barnes

Needless to say, with the massive TV coverage of the Freedom Marchers yelling, “Kill the HealthCare Bill,” is destined to find ways to further diminish the slave count on the Obama Plantations.

Is it time to give up? If not now, then when? History teaches us that slavery is not something that is tolerated for extended periods of time. Soon, the word gets out, slaves suddenly find their backbone, and they accept that death is a given – it’s only a matter of when, not if. As one understands, slaves have little to lose.

Meanwhile, it only makes sense to seize their own destinies and risk everything today – instead of continuing in slavery and wasting an entire lifetime. By confronting the Plantation owner, maybe they win. Who is to say? If they win, then life will be wonderful as a free man for many years to come. If they lose, then so what?

Dreams of having a home, family, and wealth soon become a vision in their minds of a lifestyle that is worth taking risks. Once weaned from the Plantation owner’s dope, the slaves begin to find soberness enjoyable and they quickly develop a faith in someone greater than the Plantation owner. That new found faith suddenly develops, matures, and then provides the confidence needed to rebel.

Yes, Mr. Obama, the rebellious people you saw in DC were not anything less than those that have tasted freedom and will not drink your Kool Aid and follow you off the cliff. Get your Pastor to tell you about a man from Galilee that could walk on water and solve every problem imaginable – even the problems you must now face after many very bad decisions. Yep, a man who gave his life so that “all” could have life!

If you’ll take time to learn more about this great man, then you would spend much less time looking in the mirror and working in secret to find ways to add more slaves to your plantations. Instead, you’ll soon understand the principles of personal accountability and knowing that success is in our own hands – not the Congress or any other government agency or office.

Today we planted rubber tree at afdeling vii gunung pamela plantation. Every staff including me of course join to plant the first rubber tree. I am very excited because my name are there, so this is my plant. District manager and manager also join to plant rubber tree. We also invited ustad, stakeholders and orphan child. We pray to Allah, hope that this plant can grow well, healthty, good weather (rain enough). The bud plant must facing north, because we plant between line east-west. The eye of bud plant also must covered by land, so when its grow no more “kaki gajah” we called.

Election returns in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia have consequences - if we have the spine to admit it. Since the metamorphosis of Obama from Black to White, nothing is going well. The news of freedom, hope, and change extolled by the campaigning Black Obama took root on Plantations all across America producing a convincing political victory.

Within Plantations where slaves traditionally accept and support Socialism, surprisingly the Black Obama message of hope and change fell upon fertile soil. On Tuesday,  the White Obama returned to his Plantations for harvest but discovered Socialism and far left radicalism isn’t producing a crop.

On Wednesday, the White Obama would awaken to the reality that perhaps the Black Obama needs to return to the Presidential office and serve out his term. Perhaps now he could apologize for his short-comings and move toward his campaign promises of no lobbyist, transparent government, and a better America for “all”.

After all, as youthful and unexperienced as Mr. Obama is, his Black campaign promises were a universal hit – not his Socialism, tearing down America’s economy, and job losses unprecedented in American history. Mr. Obama, we don’t like what you are doing, so please just STOP! Go back to the Black Obama campaign rhetoric and move this Great Nation forward. Stop apologizing for America and start supporting her greatness.

The teacher’s day was celebrated with quite an enthusiastic mood at MMCT.  Several cultural programs were organized and a plantation in the honour of teachers was organized in MMCT campus and schools of near-by villages. Here is the content of the news that was appeared in the newspapers the next day:

इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेज एम.एम.सी.टी. के विद्यार्थियों ने शिक्षक दिवस पर अनेक सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रमों का आयोजन किया। छात्रों ने शिक्षकों के सम्मान में वृक्षारोपण भी किया। इस अवसर पर मुख्य अतिथि विधानसभा में विपक्ष के नेता श्री रविन्द्र चौबे, सम्माननीय अतिथि विधायक रायपुर उत्तर, श्री कुलदीप जुनेजा, तथा विशेष अतिथि श्रीमती परमिंदर जुनेजा थीं। इस अवसर पर छतीसगढ़ के वरिष्ठतम इंजीनियरिंग शिक्षकों प्रोफ़ेसर एल.आर. अग्रवाल, प्रोफ़ेसर एस.वी. दांडेकर एवँ प्रोफ़ेसर एस.के. तिवारी का शाल, श्रीफ़ल एवँ स्मृति चिह्न से सम्मान श्री रविन्द्र चौबे, श्री कुलदीप जुनेजा एवँ श्रीमती परमिंदर जुनेजा ने किया। तीनों ही प्रोफ़ेसर्स को इंजीनियरिंग शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में 50 से भी ज़्यादा वर्षों का अनुभव है।

श्री रविन्द्र चौबे ने एम.एम.सी.टी. के छात्र-छात्राओं की प्रशंसा करते हुए कहा कि आज के युग में जब शिक्षक-विद्यार्थी के संबंधों में गिरावट आती जा रही है, तब अपने शिक्षकों का सम्मान कर एवँ उनके नाम पर पौधे लगाकर एम.एम.सी.टी की विद्यार्थियों ने एक नयी मिसाल कायम की है। वहाँ उपस्थित छात्रों को कॉलेज यूनिफ़ार्म में देखकर उन्होंने छात्रों में अनुशासन की भी सराहना की। श्री कुलदीप जुनेजा ने कहा कि शिक्षक ही इस देश के भविष्य का निर्माण करते हैं, अतः उनका सम्मान कर हम स्वयं सम्मानित होते हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि इंजीनियरिंग के वरिष्ठ प्रोफ़ेसर्स का सम्मान कर कॉलेज ने सराहनीय कार्य किया है।

इस अवसर पर विद्यार्थियों ने शिक्षकों का तिलक, शॉल एवँ श्रीफ़ल से सम्मान किया। उन्हें एक गुलाब का फ़ूल एवँ उपहार भी दिया। इस कार्यक्रम में प्राची लाल ने शिक्षक दिवस पर डॉ. राधाकृष्णन का जीवन परिचय दिया। दीपक साहू, पांचजन्य पाठक, शेख शिरीन, प्रीति चंद्राकर एवँ प्राची चंद्रा ने गीत प्रस्तुत किया। इसके बाद सभी छात्रों ने अपने शिक्षकों के सम्मान में 250 वृक्ष कॉलेज परिसर में लगाए। कॉलेज की प्राचार्या डॉ. शमिता चक्रवर्ती, एम.एम. फ़ाउंडेशन के उपाध्यक्ष श्री शरद शुक्ला ने भी वृक्षारोपण किया। वृक्षारोपण कार्यक्रम की खासियत यह रही कि कॉलेज के अतिरिक्त आस-पास के ग्राम उमरिया, जरौद, रींवाँ और कुकरा की स्कूलों में भी एम.एम.सी.टी. के विद्यार्थियों ने वहाँ के शिक्षकों के सम्मान में स्कूली बच्चों से वृक्षारोपण करवाया। कार्यक्रम के अंत में सभी शिक्षकों एवँ विद्यार्थियों ने साथ बैठकर स्वल्पाहार किया।

Kids of Tea Village

31 Otober 2009
Boh Tea Plantation Village
Habu, Cameron Highlands
Pahang, Malaysia

Kids playing at tea plantation village near Cameron Highlands, 190km north of Kuala Lumpur, October 31 2009.

Click here for complete photos :  Page 1

Having coffee by the cistern at the rice plantation

After my bout with the stomach bugs, you’d think I’d be a little more careful with what I eat. But, NO, as soon as I had a normal b.m., I decided to try some more local food. These places that Don takes me are really no more than glorified street vendors with a real dining room. It’s scary to see them washing dishes from a bucket of water on the sidewalk.

A few nights ago, we had Padang cuisine at what looked to be a fairly clean restaurant. As soon as you’re seated, they bring out lots and lots of small dishes each with a portion of some exotic food. That night I tried all sorts of things. Remember those eels that live in the rice fields? Well, I ate some of those. They fry them up whole, bones and all, in spicy oil and serve them in a tied bundle. Untie the bundle and pull one out and start crunching away. They’re actually quite tasty. I also tried another specialty called rendang beef. Cooked with spices until they permeate it. The roasting seems to also dry the beef making it tough to separate. It also was very good. Some other things I tried were fish head in yellow curry, cassava tree leaf with green chili sauce, beef tongue satay, beef rinds (like pork rinds), curried chicken and boiled chicken with red chili sauce. Some things I decided to pass on were the beef lung, beef tripe, beef liver, beef brain, etc. They eat just about any part of the cow, but I have to draw the line somewhere. So what happens to those dishes you don’t eat? It goes back to the kitchen and served to the next customers. Sounds far from sanitary, but they’ve been doing it this way for years.

I felt I needed fresh fruit in my diet so I found some great produce at the market. The papayas are huge–a foot long–and very sweet still. Watermelon so red, juicy and sweet like I’ve never tasted before. And a fruit from Bali called a selat–it’s covered with an almost snakeskin-like thin skin that you peel to reveal a garlic-shaped fruit about the size of a plum. It’s crunchy and sweet with the same texture as raw garlic. We also bought a huge bunch of apple-bananas–tiny little two-bite bananas–still on the branch, but these aren’t like the ones I’ve had in Hawaii which have a thicker skin and different texture. These bananas have a yellow meat that is very dense and skin that is very thin. The banana beetles and spiders came at no extra charge. I also tried mangosteen, a small brown fruit the size of a peach. Squeeze the fruit and the thick skin splits open to reveal a cluster of white pulpy seeds, some with hard black centers. The taste is tangy-sweet like a mango and the texture is like nothing I’ve had before. They’re very delicate and just about melt in your mouth–very yummy.

Yesterday, Don and I went back to Punchak and visited a tea plantation. I saw the factory where they dry and package the tea in large bulk bags to send to the end producers. The plantation is fairly high in the hills so it is much cooler yet still humid. We hiked up into the orchards and Katiman explained how the women pick only the new tender leaves that sprout. Harvesting goes on almost daily with the women wearing the traditional reed hat and carrying a wicker basket to hold the tea leaves. They are paid (very little) by the kilo picked.

Kneeling among the tea trees

Many of the tea trees are 20 to 30, some almost 50 years old, yet stand only 2-3 feet high. Every few years the plant stops producing new leaves so they prune them back to just bare branches. It’ll take 4-6 months for the trees to grow out. Looking out on the hillside there are acres and acres of tea trees and occasionally a brown section where the trees have been pruned. Occasionally, the tree will stop producing altogether. They are then uprooted; the tree is flipped upside-down and the roots lacquered for use as a base for artificial trees–pretty clever.

While hiking, Katiman showed us a cinnamon tree. The trunk resembles an alder with a smooth bark. We found some peeling top bark and smelled it. Sure enough, a familiar scent. Even the fallen leaves have the cinnamon smell. I also noticed poinsettias growing in the orchards, except these where nearly 10 feet tall with bright red leaves! Not the kind they sell at Christmas time.

For lunch we stopped at a restaurant near the top of the hill overlooking the tea plantation and ate some more local food–mutton satay, whole fried fish, oxtail soup, cassava leaves and beef intestine. A good meal at a fairly fancy restaurant yet it cost only 109,000 rupiah or about $14 for all three of us. Food is definitely quite a bargain in Indonesia.

Later that day, we hiked from the villa through the rice fields to a waterfall about 3 kilometers away. Along the way, we found some men who were catching small birds in a large fine net in the rice field. They would later take the birds and deep fry them whole and have several of them for a meal. We didn’t make it to the waterfall until dusk so I didn’t get any good pictures of it. We sat at the base of it and watched the bats circle around us catching bugs. When we finally decided to return, the rain started and since I didn’t bring a raincoat, Katiman and I used large banana leaves for an umbrella. I’m sure we were quite the sight walking down the road with a banana leaf on our head. Paved with large stones, the roads are slick and uneven. Combined with walking in Tevas with open toes, it makes for a slow return trip. We got back to the villa by 7:30 p.m., dried off and sat and sipped hot tea on the lanai while watching the geckos feast on the many flying bugs.

All in all, it was a very memorable and enjoyable day. I will be leaving by myself later today to go to Yogyakarta to visit Borobudur, a huge (mountain-sized) ancient Buddhist monument and Prambanan, large Shiva and Brahma temples. Don now has the stomach problems and will hopefully meet me later in Bali. Venturing out on my own will be quite the adventure since my Indonesian is almost nonexistent. It should be fun.