Facing Foreclosure? Breed Fish!

Or bread them...?

Hat tip to Mitchell for this find...

There's mucho dinero to be made in this mortgage meltdown situation, but instead of jumping in your time machine, traveling back to last summer and shorting subprime, why not get creative about it? According to the Journal, anyone interested in getting rich should dive into the fish fucking business, stat. Michael Corkery reports that the Gambusia affinis, i.e. the "mosquito fish," is making a name for itself in California, Arizona, Florida and anywhere else you might find a ton of foreclosed homes con swimming pools. Apparently the abandoned estate's water-based recreational facilities are becoming infested by mosquitoes, and causing worry about the spread of diseases like West Nile. Instead of using humans to spray pesticides, the fish are increasingly being deployed to the areas of concern, where they eat up to 500 larvae a day. "They are the real heroes," said Josefa Cabadad, a technician with the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District. "I've never seen a mosquito in a pool with mosquito fish." Start breeding.

Your Big Money Idea Of The Day

WSJ...
The problem: swimming pools of abandoned homes have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.
Related video: Foreclosed? Go Fish!

Then spoke the thunder
DA
Datta: what have we given?
My friend, blood shaking my heart
The awful daring of a moment's surrender
Which an age of prudence can never retract
By this, and this only, we have existed
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
In our empty rooms
DA
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
DA
Damyata: The boat responded
Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar
The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands

Fishnet Friday Jejachitso

If you’re seeking a low carbon feel-good meal this weekend Wagga has the recipe for you: Jejachitso

Cooling my heels by ~DeadThings

The Jejachitso Recipe.

Back before Windows 95 attempted to destroy the world, my business partner introduced me to the
fundamental "noodle soup" concept. Not to be confused with the packaged noodle soups that Casey Serin
refuses to eat. After several years of development, Jejachitso was introduced to a pack of hungry
backpackers on an outing to Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands of Southern California. Several
super-sized saucepans were sucked up in seconds. Acclaim followed on successive backpack trips - but don't forget
that that the experimental subjects had a gruelling dozen or two miles under the boots before dinner!.
Jejachitso also gained an inexplicable following as "Fried Lettuce Soup".

Like Cioppino, Jejachitso is a "bring what you got" dish, so do feel free to experiment.

Ingredients:

Broth, Protein, Leafy Vegetables, Garlic, Green Onions, Special Oils, Pasta.

The Base:

Homemade or canned chicken broth, "Minors" or "Better Than Bouillon" base, or "Marmite" (for a more
beefish (but vegetarian) feel). That's the Jewish part. Use at least 1 teaspoon per pint. (Except for Marmite).

The Protein:

Dice up some "Very Firm", "Ultra Firm" or "Construction Grade" Tofu. Sautee to golden plus in a big
cast-iron skillet with a neutral (Canola/Corn) oil. Alternatively, or, in addition, there is shrimp or Ahi
tuna (browned quickly) or calamari or abalone or scallops (as yet untried). Or Kobe beef.
If you haven't guessed, that's the Japanese part.

The Leafy Veggies:

Bok Choi, Pak Choi, NAPA cabbage or even real spinach, but certainly not iceberg lettuce. Cut off the
crunchy parts & sautee in sesame oil. To thicken, construct a roux with several tablespoons of flour,
quenching with a white wine or shitty Chinese beer. Reduce. Toss the sauteed parts & the reserved
green bits into the pot several minutes before serving. Without a doubt, the Chinese part.

The Other Ethnic Bit:

The Italian Job is accomplished by sauteeing at least a handful of garlic cloves in olive oil to golden
perfection. Then sautee (In olive oil) the crunchy parts of the green onions in olive oil. Add the green
parts several minutes before serving. Drained al dente spaghetti or other pasta is optionally added in the
last few seconds. A small amount of brown sugar & white pepper is good.
You could add salt, bay leaves or Italian Seasoning, but that would fuck it up.
So now you know where the "It" part comes from.

The "So" part:

Is it "Soup" - is it nuts - or is it Soy Sauce? GOK

Very sad and frustrating

Milatry junta: “Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information teams from foreign countries at the moment,” the statement, from the Foreign Ministry, said.

An aid worker in Burma, Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, warned of an epidemic of "apocalyptic proportions" if aid did not get through.

More disturbing images at Golden Colour Revolution.

Given the nature of the Burmese government, I think AVAAZ.org's plan to route funds via the monks may be the most effective and expedient. As they state "other forms of aid could be delayed, diverted or manipulated by the Burmese government--but the monks are the most trusted and reliable institution in the country. "

Arthur the Octopus

"They always want me to say who is the best writer in America today, and I can't think of any name but Al Capp... One of the symptoms or diagnostics of literature should be that it is read, that it amuses, moves, instructs, changes and criticizes people. And who in the world does that more than Capp? I think Capp may very possibly be the best writer in the world today."
-John Steinbeck, 1953
Biography: Al Capp 2- A CAPPital Offense

Rather than drive today, walk...

Hat tip to Wagga for this find!

Sweet Boob Pudding

Japan is another story, however, and these sweet breast puddings come from the land where anything goes. The packaging is both complex and creative, requiring lots of unfolding and opening - I'm somewhat surprised buttons or clasps aren't involved. But I digress... the point being that someone put a lot of thought into the entire wacky concept. Thanks to RUKZ.com for these images, by the way!

Discover more Bizarre Breast Puddings From Japan

Breeding Bubbles

It’s the economy, stupid.
In the first few hours after Eight Belles’s breakdown in the Derby, just as in the first few hours after Barbaro’s collapse two years ago in the Preakness, we’ve seen dozens of explanations, from the well- and not-so-well-informed. The track was too hard. The horses had been raced too much too young. Fillies shouldn’t be running against the boys. It’s the drugs. Oh, we’re breeding unsound horses.
Yes, it’s probably all of those. But especially the last. There’s no question that racehorses today are less sound, more prone to injury, than those of the 1950s and ’60s, or even of a decade or two ago. Horses today race only half as many times as they did 30 years ago. And the reason is the market. Like other unregulated markets — remember the mortgage-securities collapse, anyone? — the thoroughbred breeding market is subject to that old economics chestnut, Gresham’s Law. Bad money (or in this case, bad breeding) drives out good.
Although thoroughbreds have always been bought and sold, the real explosion in the auction market, and the bubble(s) in prices, date from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fueled by money from Europe and the Middle East, auction prices for the best Kentucky-bred yearlings rose faster in the early ’80s even than U.S. home prices did earlier in this decade. The frenzy reached its first peak with the 1985 purchase of Seattle Dancer for $13.1 million. Seattle Dancer ran five times, winning twice, and earning $150,000, and then failed as a stallion.
Excesses like these led to a market collapse in the late 1980s, but the whole cycle started up again the next decade, and continues today. The Green Monkey is, so far, the top of this price bubble, fetching $16 million at the 2006 2-year-old sale, then running three times without a win before being retired.
What made the market develop as it did was the influx of new money. That money came both from those who wanted to win races — the Maktoum family of Dubai being the prime example — and, more importantly, from those who were looking to make a profit not from racing, but from breeding and selling.
* continued at Breakdowns and Dollars

In other greed-fueled news, check out where your oil dollars are going (via Wagga)...