My Life on this planet.

A few months ago, I published a recipient for a rice dish with as main ingredients asparagus and oyster mushrooms . It was very nice but a little dry and thus now I publish another rice dish, this time for people who prefer vegetables in a sauce . Let's start ... Ingredients I used. The majority of the ingredients are dried black eye beans and lentils (in my case Eston lentils), I think about 100 grams of each although I didn't weighted them. The other ingredients are rice , cheese , cornflour , water , olive oil , 1/2 red pepper , 1/2 courgette (small), two potatoes , 2 onions , 1/2 tomato , peanuts and almond , 1/2 vegetarian bouillon cube , one large garlic clove , a little ginger, herbs (such as Italian mix, chili, curry, nutmeg and red pepper powders and basil) and a little salt and pepper . Let's start preparing the vegetables Beans and lentils need cooking for quite some time before they become soft, therefore I started with them. I did them together in a...

PM Margaret Thatcher, still known in large parts of the world and still dividing people. I think those who opposed her should not celebrate her death with parties because it will convince more people she was right and they are mad, although it demonstrates the anger of those people. However, people should also not become hypocrites and praise her simply because she is dead, but they should argue why they think criticism is acceptable. So, for me, what is her legacy? Divisions , although her supporters claim she saved the country. One of the first things she did when she became Minister of Education was to remove free milk from the school dinners, although the story may be more nuanced. Still, she gave an example of how she would be ones in the highest office. And probably many men felt for her decisiveness. This is how she felt a woman in a top position should be: the woman should be hard and should not demand that men become more gentle - no, a woman should become as a man: hard ...

In west Poland, a three-year old girl went missing while temperatures were below zero degree Celsius. The next day she was found alive a few kilometres from her home. One would not expect such a little girl survives a night in a field in freezing temperatures, but she survived because her pet dog found her and kept her warm as he snuggled up to her overnight. Afterwards, she was sent to hospital where she was treated for frostbites. Romulus and Remus, story of two brothers Nice doggy. After reading the above story, I wondered whether maybe the story about the origin of Rome may be true as the story describes Romulus and Remus , twins who were suckled by a she-wolf around 771 BC . Generations earlier their family came from Troy after prince Aeneas fled the sacking of the city by the Greek and arrived in Italy (it seems another of his descendants was Brutus who called an island after himself and ruled as king of Britain) . The twin's grandfather king Numitor was dethron...

On 15/03/2013, the London Mayor Boris Johnson defended on a French radio station the City bankers’ bonuses, claiming Europe’s attack on bankers was a distraction from the real problem (i.e. loss of confidence in the euro), claiming the cap on bonuses would “pick on London” and could inflame British feelings against the EU. I do not agree and claim the opposite as I will argue below, although for a short time he may be right. London, my beloved one London, what do I love you, with your mix of people : black, white, Asian, gay, straight, asexuals, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists and whatever other believes. People can go out all over the city having fun every hour of the day and night and whatever fun they like while nuisances are quite limited as it is well organised where and when things can happen (e.g. closing hour in areas where people live, and people accept them). Londoners can go shopping day and night. The mix of people is amazing and people can wear whatever the...

Kim Jong-un's government warned it can no longer guarantee the safety of embassy staff in the event of a war. Governments all over the world call for calmed and decided not to leave. Of course, fleeing is no option because then the North Korea's government is free to do whatever they like. But a leader who gives such a warning should never be trusted. Indeed, one can only conclude the leader may not be very well in his head. The USA understands this and already stopped a scheduled military exercise with South Korea to prevent tensions will further increase. This is a good step although one has to be careful that North Korea will not interpret it as a sign of weakness. Maybe governments should speak more directly with the North Koreans leaders as they don't want to be ignored but be taken seriously. Maybe senior diplomats, send by President Obama, the Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian President Putin and the South Korean President Park Geun-hye (all major playe...

Two days ago the moon was stunning: completely round and very bright. But then as we can expect from a cloudless night, that night, close to the end of March, would be very cold although this year many nights of March were very cold even when the sky was cloudy and snowy. I decided to take some pictures, and I got some nice results (I think). Indeed, as I took the pictures through double glass, whenever the exposure was longer and thus the moon brighter, one or even two other moons could be seen on the pictures because of the reflection in the window. All pictures: ISO 200 and 200mm lens . Long exposure of 1/20 sec and f/8.0 resulted in three moons. I find this fascinating and the reflections allow me to discover the higher hills and deeper valleys as the smaller ones disappear. Shorter exposure of 1/30 sec and f/10. As a result of both changes compared with the previous photo, much less light reached the camera and thus the real moon is no longer totally over-exposed while...

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid decided there will be no vote on a plan to ban assault weapons , and thus in effect he probably kills off a key part of a gun control campaign prompted by the school massacre in Newton in December. He explains he took the decision after being told by analysts there wouldn't be a majority for the plan as 60 votes out of the 100-members Senate were needed to succeed. However, the plan passed, although only narrowly, a Senate panel last week, and thus there was hope. Therefore, I think his explanation is rubbish. Indeed, one has to talk in order to reach a consensus, but in the end Members of Parliament have to take their responsibility and vote but they can only do this when there is a vote. Only during a vote can it be sure how many and who support or oppose the ban while during debates leading to the vote one can understand why some members oppose the ban and thus some changes can be made so a majority can be reached. Only then the electorate w...