Not I of course, I don't have fun in the snow, oh no.

Back to Scotland tomorrow night. Since the private jet's being serviced it will have to be Ryanair instead...

...groan...

...we were two kilograms over on the way here and got hit with £12.00 per kilo. It's about to go up again to £15.00...

...dunno whether to laugh or cry....

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

Watching Madagascar (cartoon) on TV.

keep to the Fen Causeway

When her family started busting out racist stuff about Obama I excused myself to wrap presents and have a cry.  Things improved after my step-dad got home from church.  The whole thing was really strange, because my brother-in-law is Muslim, from Pakistan, and I'm sure they'd never have made a racist Muslim joke in front of him.  But since there were no black people in the room I guess they thought it was ok or something.  

Brother-in-law's first Christmas, btw.  He seemed to like it.

Christmas morning was champagne brunch at my aunt's.  Huge Sicilian family and all the extended family and friends of the family.  I've never counted, but they say about 70 people show up each year.  They make eggs to order, and have Italian sausage, ham, biscuits and gravy, potatoes, and dozens of baked goods.  Plus an endless supply of champagne of course.  And trifle.  Yack!

Christmas dinner with my immediate family (roughly 18 people with all the step-kids) at my sister's, where we opened presents.  
Menu:
Christmas Caipiranhas - Excellent!!
Chile-Roasted Almonds - Eh.
Piquillo Pepper Cheese Crostini - De-lish.
Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Salad - Lovely.
Standing Rib Roast, Spinach-Porcini Stuffing, Irish Whisky Gravy, & Horseradish Cream - Perhaps the best thing I have ever eaten.  No point in continuing to live, really.
Potato-Mushroom Gratin with Truffles - Unless this was the best thing I've ever eaten.  Can't decide.
Cheddar & Chive Yorkshire Puddings - Good.
Sherry Vinegar- & Molasses-Glazed Carrots - Fine.
Broccolini  with Pecan Brown Butter - Yummy!
Chocolate-Coffee Gingerbread with Hazelnut Poached Pears - She left out that fact that the cake was in the shape of a cathedral.  Amazingly amazing.

And my brother is studying to be a sommolier, so all kinds of mad and fabulous pairings were going on.

And my 4 nieces are feral.  In an adorable way.

Today I think we are going into the city (St. Louis) to see some exhibit at the art museum (Pollock, de Kooning) and go to this movie theater where you sit on a couch and drink cocktails while you watch your movie (Frost-Nixon).  Then tonight, my cousin has rented the upstairs of a martini bar and invited everyone she knows, inlcuding all of our high school graduating class (we were in the same class) for a party. Gah!  

I hear there is an ice-storm in Chi-town.  

Hope you all had a nice holiday.

I'm going to go die now.  :)

Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

A group of seven men is working as home-based caregivers with the Siyakhanyisa HIV/AIDS support group in Qumbu, 60 kilometres outside of Mthatha, to make a positive contribution to the welfare of their community. Initially ridiculed for doing work traditionally reserved for women, they have quickly become role models and earned respect for their courage to do things differently and take responsibility for the goings-on in their villages.

The men decided to get actively involved in helping others after they learnt about gender stereotypes, understandings of manhood and fatherhood during workshops run by NGO Sonke Gender Justice earlier this year. They now care for people living with HIV, bathe the bedridden, counsel, educate about HIV prevention and transmission, facilitate access to anti-retroviral treatment, refer patients to social services and assist sick persons in writing their will. ...

Over time, those who used to ridicule him have taken note of the positive impact of his work and started to show him respect. "People's attitudes are changing. I get recognition from the school principal, the chief of my area and many men and women in my community," said Qathula. "Being able to help people makes me proud and that's what keeps me going."

On the forefront of the urban farming movement in Detroit is the Garden Resource Program Collaborative, which is an umbrella organization for the Greening of Detroit, Capuchin Soup Kitchen Earthworks Urban Farm (www.cskdetroit.org), Michigan State University and the Detroit Agriculture Network (www.detroitagriculture.org). Coming on board is Southfield-based Urban Farming, which has a partnership with Wayne County to farm 20 of the county's foreclosed properties.

Ashley Atkinson, director of urban agriculture and product development for the Greening of Detroit, estimated that 27 percent of the city is vacant land. The collaborative, which has been keeping detailed records for five years, includes 320 family and 170 community gardens for a total of 80 acres. "We have a high return rate, meaning people who get into farming here stay around," she said.

The collaborative, formed in 2003, grows 41 different fruits and vegetables, and has extended its season into the fall so there are multiple harvests. The yield, which last year totaled 120 tons, is sold at farmers' markets and to restaurants and food banks, but the majority ends up on family tables, she said. Many of the volunteers live near the farms they work on.

"We have the first opportunity for our city to be food-sufficient. We're getting there, and it's exciting to be part of that. The rest of the country is coming awake to the fact that food of the future needs to be local and grown in urban areas, where most of the people are," Atkinson said.

In November 2007, the Wayne County treasurer's office entered into an agreement with Urban Farming to use 20 tax-foreclosed vacant properties to grow produce that would be free to neighborhood residents and local food banks. The gardens were planted in May.

DSNI's eminent domain proposal targeted the center of the Dudley neighborhood--a 64-acre triangular section with 30 acres of vacant land, nicknamed the "Bermuda Triangle." About half of this land was city-owned, but scattered throughout were 181 private vacant lots, many held by tax-delinquent absentee owners. Acquiring private lots one by one would have been a complex and piecemeal ordeal. Eminent domain gave DSNI the chance to pursue a coherent plan for the area that would meet community needs.

Dudley's approach turned the long-abused power of eminent domain into a tool for development without displacement. Eminent domain applied only to vacant land: No one lost their home or business in the process. DSNI worked with residents who owned vacant land in the Triangle and wanted to develop their lots as homes or gardens, for example.

And the strategy placed control over vacant Triangle land in the hands of a community land trust, Dudley Neighbors, Inc., to institutionalize resident control over the land and its development, and ensure that housing created is not only affordable to the first buyers but future homeowners.

How It Works
In a community land trust, families purchase homes but a nonprofit organization owns the land. This approach "protects affordability in perpetuity," says May Louie, DSNI director of capacity building.

In the Dudley Neighbors land trust, homebuyers receive a 99-year renewable and inheritable lease for use of the land. They agree that all future sales will be made to a low- or moderate-income buyer and follow a resale formula at a price that allows them to recoup the cost of home improvements and benefit from modest price appreciation.

Community Land Trusts and Housing | City-CLT Partnership | June 2008

Community land trusts allow residents to purchase homes but not the land the housing sits on, which has the effect of reducing the price. Buyers agree to restrictions on resale. Historically most CLTs have been non-profit entities that have made long-term leasing arrangements without government assistance, but increasingly cities and counties have actively guided and sponsored their development. There are approximately 220 CLTs nationwide today; more information on CLTs is in this Lincoln Institute survey.

"Community land trusts are attractive for those promoting homeownership for lower-income families, and they are an efficient use of public funds for affordable housing," said Roz Greenstein, senior fellow and chair of the Department of Economic and Community Development at the Lincoln Institute. "The control on resale means that affordability lasts for generations, after a single initial investment. And administrative responsibilities lie with the CLT, not the city, to be stewards of this housing."

"A National Study of Community Land Trusts," 2007 (pdf)
Not quite 'unitising' | CTL Network | Resources

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

I caught Santa on my rooftop
And I still know how to shoot
We'll partake
Of Reindeer Steak
And a whole sled-load of loot

you are the media you consume.