The forest is our refuge and inspiration – listen to what the trees say to us…
Monthly Archives: May 2021
General Tso’s Tofu
Every Saturday evening, our family sits down together to savor this delicious Asian dish. Even the one meat-eater enjoys the crispy marinated tofu served over fluffy jasmine rice and drizzled with an addictive sesame sauce that there never seems to be enough of.
STEP ONE – Preparations
- Get out a cast iron skillet, a shallow rectangular dish, a large frying pan, and a medium bowl.
- Get out a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid.
- Get out a small bowl and a small saucepan.
- Get out a small pot anda colander.
STEP TWO – Make the Tofu
Ingredients:
1 16-ounce block extra-firm tofu
4 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions:
- Slice the tofu in half horizontally, wrap in paper towels, and place a cast iron skillet on top for 10…
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Bella Ciao
you will bury me over there on the mountain
under the shadow of a wonderful flower
and all the people passing by
will say “what a wonderful flower!”
e seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.
utte le genti che passeranno
mi diranno: «Che bel fior!»
These artistic lines are from a famous Italian song, Bella Ciao. In the song, a courageous man leaves his love of life behind, to fight invasion from the enemy. “Bella Ciao” translates to, “Goodbye, my beautiful.”. We might know this song from the Money Heist show, but the song carries much more emotion and history. As our friends from Europe would say, Bella Ciao is an emotion first, and a song second.
Bella Ciao originated as a folk song during the late 19th century in rural Italy. Workers near the river Po basin used to sing the “Mondine” version of this…
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Choose The Brighter Side – Mariana dynasty
You are not the perfector of persons.
People have their faults, it’s what defines humans.
Choose to see the good in people,
And you will have a better life yourself.
Schumer Readies Plan B to Push Immigration Changes Unilaterally – The New York Times
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, is quietly considering trying to use a fast-track budget maneuver to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants should bipartisan talks on providing a pathway to citizenship fall apart.
Mr. Schumer has privately told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in recent weeks that he is “actively exploring” whether it would be possible to attach a broad revision of immigration laws to President Biden’s infrastructure plan and pass it through a process known as budget reconciliation, according to two people briefed on his comments.
The move would allow the measures to pass the evenly divided Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes, shielding them from a filibuster and the 60-vote threshold for moving past one, which would otherwise require at least 10 Republican votes.
South Carolina Fire Chief Who Made Racist Facebook Post Has Resigned
As awful as Facebook is, it has single-handedly put more racists out of work than any other social media site. Last week, a volunteer fire chief in South Carolina landed in hot water after making a blatantly racist Facebook post that he swore wasn’t racist. Evidently, the backlash was too much as the man has resigned from his position.
According to WFAE, Francis “Butch” Ghent resigned from his role as chief of the McDonald Green Volunteer Fire Department last Friday. He was already suspended on April 22 after posting on Facebook that cops should stop responding to Black neighborhoods as “they will eventually kill each other and the fake news won’t have a story.” Ghent was adamant that the post wasn’t racist as it was intended to target the news media.
Source: South Carolina Fire Chief Who Made Racist Facebook Post Has Resigned
The Week’s Best Cartoons 5/1
For our viewing pleasure this afternoon, our friend TokyoSand has waded through the internet in search of the best, most relevant editorial cartoons from last week. Topics include President Biden’s speech last Wednesday night, Rudy Giuliani’s legal woes, Republican lies, the vaccine, and more. Thank you, TS!
Analysis: Russia′s secret services betray their weakness | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 03.05.2021
Russia’s secret services have shown they are willing and able to operate anywhere in Europe. John Sawers, a former director of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, estimates that only about 10% of covert Russian operations are detected. However, we should not allow ourselves to be blinded by this show of strength because, at the same time, it is also a clear sign of weakness.
This is not only because of the services’ many failures and negligence. The fact that, for example, the same officers are deployed again and again is also evidence that resources are limited. Attempts to gain information about US and NATO plans via third countries, at considerable expense and great risk to personnel, show the same. Moreover, the resulting enormous political loss of prestige and sanctions are hardly a sign of a successful outcome.
Top New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park goes vegan | New York | The Guardian
“We have always operated with sensitivity to the impact we have on our surroundings, but it was becoming ever clearer that the current food system is simply not sustainable, in so many ways … It was clear that after everything we all experienced this past year, we couldn’t open the same restaurant,” Humm said in a statement posted on the eatery’s website.
“We’ve made the decision to serve a plant-based menu in which we do not use any animal products – every dish is made from vegetables, both from the earth and the sea, as well as fruits, legumes, fungi, grains, and so much more,” he added.
Source: Top New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park goes vegan | New York | The Guardian
Polls put German Green party in lead five months before election | Germany | The Guardian

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Green party co-leader and top candidate for the upcoming national election in September. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP
Six out of 10 polls published over the last two weeks instead show an advantage for the Greens, who scraped into sixth place when Germany last went to the polls in 2017. A survey published by pollster Kantar and Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday gave the Greens in a three-point lead, on 27%.
It suggests the ecological party’s candidate, Annalena Baerbock, could even find herself in the comfortable position of being able to pick and choose from a variety of potential coalition partners, with possible power-sharing deals with the CDU, the Social Democratic party (SPD) and the Free Democrats, or the SPD and leftwing Die Linke.
Stefan Merz, the director of pollster Infratest Dimap, said the currently expressed voting intentions would need to remain in place for two to three weeks to prove reliable indicators.
“But after years of very little movement in the hierarchy of Germany’s political parties, there is now a sense that the deck is being reshuffled and we could be on the threshold of a historic moment,” Merz told the Guardian.
Source: Polls put German Green party in lead five months before election | Germany | The Guardian































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