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Op-Ed from the Guardian – not mincing words

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After a Brussels press conference punctuated with knowing sighs, in which he again made clear the withdrawal agreement was not up for renegotiation but that – as a gesture of goodwill – he was willing to entertain sensible alternative suggestions from the UK government, the EU council’s president concluded with a simple thought. “I’ve been wondering,” he mused, “what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.

This was Donald Tusk unplugged. A politician tired of diplomacy that kept going nowhere – ‘What bit of backstop doesn’t the UK get?’ – and happy for once to speak his mind. “They’ll give you a terrible time in the British press for that,” whispered a delighted Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach. Tusk merely smiled. “Yes, I know. Hahaha.” He no longer cared that much what anyone thought. He had tried to be nice to the Brits but all you got in return was news bulletins with Theresa May in a Spitfire and people comparing the EU’s aims with Hitler.

In any case, his question had been largely rhetorical. That special place in hell was only too familiar; it looks pretty much like where we are now. It wasn’t one reserved only for an incompetent and negligent elite of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage, Theresa May and the rest. Whatever hell they had in mind, they were taking the rest of us with them. Hell wasn’t other people, it was the whole lot of us.

A UK where everything was steadily getting a little worse by the day. One where the only hope left was that things might not get quite as bad as everyone feared. A reality show for self-harmers and the terminally depressed, hosted by Jacob Rees-Mogg. A land of unmanaged decline. The direction of travel was clear. All that remained unanswered was in which circle of hell we were located.

Original link here

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[recipe] Thai green curry

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For the Green Curry Paste

1 stalk lemongrass (thinly sliced, or 3 tablespoons frozen prepared lemongrass)
1/4 can coconut milk
1 to 3 Thai green chilies (or jalapeño)
1 cup fresh coriander (packed, leaves & stems)
1 shallot (chopped)
1 to 2 inch piece galangal (or ginger, sliced)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of one lime (fresh)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Remainder of the Dish

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken breasts, sliced thinly
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable stock
2 to 3 kaffir lime leaves
3/4 can coconut milk
1 red bell pepper (chopped into bite-size pieces)
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 head of broccoli, prepared into florets

Place all green curry paste ingredients in a food processor or blender and blitz to create a fragrant green curry paste (you may need to add more coconut milk if using a blender). To make the sauce by hand: Mince and stir all sauce ingredients together in a bowl, or use a pestle and mortar to mash dry ingredients followed by liquid ingredients. Set aside.

Place a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil and swirl around, then add all the green curry paste you just made. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance.

Add the chicken. Stir-fry until well saturated with sauce. Add vegetables and stir-fry.

Add the stock plus lime leaves (if using). Stir and reduce heat to medium-low. Gently simmer 5 minutes.

Add the coconut milk and continue simmering 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened.

Remove curry from heat and taste test for salt and spice. If not salty enough, add a sprinkle more salt. If too salty for your taste, add another squeeze of lime juice. If too spicy, add more coconut milk. If you’d like it sweeter, add a little more sugar.

Serve directly out of the wok, or transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle over fresh Thai basil (slice larger leaves into shreds). Sliced red chili can also be used as a topping, or to add more spice.

Serve with plenty of plain rice.

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[recipe] Pineapple habanero salsa

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150g Pineapple, drained and sliced
1-2 Habanero Chiles minced
1/3 Red Onion, diced
1/3 Red Bell Pepper, diced fine dice
Handful Coriander, chopped
1 Lime, juiced
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add your pineapple. You want to caramelize the natural sugar in the pineapple but not burn it. Just pay a little attention here. After 3-4 minutes when you have a nice golden color flip and repeat with the other side. In the mean time go ahead and prep your other ingredients.

Once the pineapple has caramelized remove from heat, let cool & dice.

Place all ingredients in a bowl, squeeze your lime juice, add a pinch of salt and pepper, give a gentle mix so all is incorporated evenly.

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Well color me impressed 

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The camera on my phone broke. The autofocus wouldn’t engage – it’s a known issue. I bought a repair kit from AliExpress for 15chf. The phone is out of warranty, so I figured I could take a punt at self-repair and if all else failed, I’d buy a new phone. Otherwise, I could do a factory reset, ship the phone to the UK, pay parts and labour, and wait for god knows how long before I’d get it back.

There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube that make the process look oh-so-simple. They lie. It took 25 minutes just to remove the two €¥©§#¡!!? torx screws that close the case. From there it didn’t get better. Cracking the case open went OK until I forgot to take the SIM card holder out and bent it. Then trying to get the motherboard off was a right mess. Bits actually went sproing! and I bent the motherboard when I didn’t remove a screw not mentioned in the video. I bent the motherboard. At this point, I figured my phone was well and truly borked but I reassembled it (and straightened it) as best I could. I didn’t expect it to boot. It did. WiFi, antenna, BT, all work (so far). Camera works. I… am kinda in shock actually. I just keep thinking the thing’ll HCF at some point, but for now, kudos to Oneplus.

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The UK is in a world of shit

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So. Plan A for brexit got shot down in flames. Plan B needs to be proposed by next Monday. Except no one knows what really happens if it doesn’t happen. There is currently no possibility of a workable plan B. The government needs to pull a miracle out of its ass (instead of the usual shit), but EU27 have said that they’re not going to reopen negotiations. I just spent 10 minutes listening to a senior Tory minister deftly avoiding answering very direct questions on “what could you possibly get as a concession from Europe that could negate the biggest parliamentary defeat in recorded history” and “you’ve been ‘listening’ to the MPs for over two years now, why do you think things will change now”.

There’s a motion of no confidence on the table. It’s not guaranteed to pass. If it doesn’t pass, we’re still in the same shit as we are now. If it does pass, the clock is still ticking while madness ensues for a general election.

Labour could win a general election by promising a 2nd referendum. Except that Corbyn doesn’t want to do that. He thinks that he can negotiate a better deal with EU27. Except I’m pretty certain that he can’t, and then we’re back to square -1.

In other words, everything is fine.

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21 years ago, on this day, I was probably not sober

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As the ice storm hit, I was still working at the lab. The sidewalks were so covered in ice, I fell on my back and slid pretty much the whole length of Drummond, ending up in the middle of Dr Penfield drive (with oncoming traffic goodness). When the lights went off a couple of days later, downtown was a mess. Sheet ice was sliding off buildings and crashing down on the sidewalks. I remember how quiet is was, apart from the random shots of cracking ice. That, and the army trucks coming in.

A bunch of us… I forget exactly who now… ended up at Khaled and Paul’s apartment – they still had electricity because of their proximity to Ste Justine hospital. I remember we were 9 people in a 4 bedroom flat. I ended up sharing a sofa bed with Joanne, the new tenant who was moving in on that day, but had no furniture. It was surreal. God bless her, she completely took it on her stride. It turned into a continuous party. I didn’t sober up for a week. People would wake you up for a wake-and-bake. When the power came back on, we stayed there for another couple of days, for the fun of it. When I went back home, the worst thing was cleaning out my fridge, where everything had defrosted and spoiled. The smell… The horror… The horror.

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