Donkeyshott & Xuitlacoche

1. Soak four layers of Victoria sponge with sherry. 2. Bind the discs of sponge together using clotted cream and lemon curd. 3. Mix some Elderflower cordial into whipped Jersey cream. 5. Layer the whipped cream mixture on top of the cake. 6. Arrange the raspberries and blueberries into a Union Jack on the cream. 7. Decorate with sparklers and ribbons. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/02/ask_allegra_tarts_and_open_pie.html

It is apt that the most glorious moment of Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón's life was when a gun on a French ship blew his leg off. Well done that ship! He was an old fashioned, white, middle class Mexican, who openly despised Indians and seduced the maids. Not a nice boy. He was clever and half educated. He was a bully! He was born in Xalapa, which is a pretty town. Though Xalapa doesn't boast about him much. He started out as as a shopkeeper in Vera Cruz and then became Captain Arredondo, the Indian killer's cadet, which was a Bad move. And bad move followed bad move. He stole money to gamble, womanised. In the early years, he follwed Arredondo about hunting down Mexican fighters for Independence and killing the so called Chichimecas and then, when the Spanish were already on the run, really, he chose to fight for the Mexican "Emperor" Iturbide, who made him a general. By way of thanks, Antonio helped overthrow Iturbide. The...

 109 million dollar investment in solar power near the King Abdullah City  for Atomic and Renewable Energy King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy The state is the only really effective power in the war against climate change and it needs to force businesses to come along with it Phil Hall February 1, 2008 8:00 AM It was Kurt Vonnegut, who admired the American volunteer firefighters very much, who said that the noblest war of all was the war against combustion. And don't his words ring true? Preventing global warming and reducing CO2 emissions is indeed the grandest and most noble war of the 21st century. But has society lost the habit of engaging in grand "good" wars ? Set aside, for the moment, the corporate driven wars like the recent Iraq oil war. In the 1930s and 40s, our governments organised the all-out fight against fascism and millions laid down their lives willingly to defeat the Nazis. The state is the only entity with the democrat...

Tony Hall 1936 – 2008 Tony Hall, beloved husband of Eve Hall, died peacefully at home on 30th January 2008 three months after his wife, Eve Hall. Loved and mourned by his sons Phil, Andy and Chris, his grandchildren Natalie, Lucy, John, Myles, Betty, Carmen, Jess, Alice, Eve and Bobby, and his daughters-in-law Tere, Kate and Anne. He will also be deeply missed by all his family and friends. This loss has devastated us all. But we are all determined to celebrate his wonderful life, just as we did our mother's. The funeral will be on 7th of February. Dad's ashes will be mixed with mom's

There has long been a strand of thought on the left that the worse the crisis (of capitalism) gets, the better for the revolutionary cause. This is the anti-reformist, romantic tradition of radical politics. Naomi Klein's views on disaster capitalism , which does indeed benefit from crisis, are illuminating - partly because her analysis turns that argument on its head and demonstrates how capitalism turns even spasm into a business opportunity. Certainly, US companies that deal in construction, security and oil are reaping their profits from upheaval in Iraq as hugely and surely as if they planned the invasion themselves.But Naomi Klein's recent article on Mexico disturbs me - certainly in the headline, which claims that "war is again on Mexico's horizon", but also in the observations within about rising tension in Chiapas and the fear of possible future atrocities committed by thuggish "paramilitaries". Klein also quotes the Zapatista leader, Subcomand...

Capitalism doesn't like disruptive technologies. Look at the foul combustion engine. We still use the combustion engine because it suits the profits of car manufacturers and oil producers. You can't conflate innovation with the development of new technologies, capitalism is no the source of innovation. It is not true that companies have come up with most of the major new technologies. Reach out to the innovation nearest to hand; the Internet - the World Wide Web and what you have is an "innovation" funded by DARPA, a branch of the US state. This innovation was developed by university campuses over the length and breadth of the United States, not by companies. And then, for the birth of the WWW you have a researcher funded by the European Union CERN facility. Tim Berners Lee. The Jet, the computer, radar, genetics, nuclear power, you name it. These are all the products of STATE FUNDING. They are not the "innovations" of capitalism. Counter examples? The cornf...