Found a container of dolmades in the freezer yesterday morning. Defrosted, warmed up and all gone already. What a treat to eat those in the middle of winter season with no grape leaves. Trimmed the grape vine today also - so this spring will be another round of making them.
Why do we tax the labour of workers? We work to live, to survive. We don’t get to subtract our life expenses from our income and declare zero profit and thus avoid taxes like corporations can.
Income of workers is the easiest to tax and the corporations are happy to oblige.
I remember when Steve Jobs, the iCEO, famously took a $1 annual salary. “Wow!” many people said, “he is really committed to bringing Apple back.” Sure it is a gamble taking everything in equity, but when you do hit the jackpot, no denying hard work and luck are in play, then the taxes should be significant. These people and their companies benefit from the society, laws and infrastructure in the countries/markets they operate and they should pay for that benefit. Which means also paying taxes in the local countries where the respective revenue is generated.
The claim that heavy taxation would stifle investment and risk taking is complete and utter BS, and we have all been fooled by this brainwashing. Entrepreneurs indeed do it for money, but they also do it because it is their character, their passion, their driving force in life. I say this as someone who always gravitates to early stage startups and takes the chances that go with it - and then pay high taxes on my shares with no regrets (but not happily). Gain on RSUs in NZ are taxed as normal income and with dual taxation with the US I cannot play the long term capital gains game - and I generally prefer my tax $ go to NZ than the US.
I’m so tired of “we must cut services for those lazy people who take advantage of us hard working people” (when in NZ it is largely lazy landlords who hold the wealth and get the benefits).
/soapbox
Isn’t this just straight up embezzlement?
And we have pastrami!
Finally watching Il Mare.
On my list for a long time.
No interest in watching the white people version. Just like Shall We Dance where the Japanese version was so much fun. And The Ring.
Watch the original
Damn that’s good.
Not sure if it is because of this self foaming thing or because it is actually brewed in Japan instead of Australia, Italy, Vietnam, etc.
#JukeboxFridayNight
#MusicMusiciansAndMashups
Blind Boys of Alabama
Amazing Grace (to the tune of House of the Rising Sun)
https://youtu.be/0SmthYxI5aA
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”
https://syndekit.substack.com/p/the-butlerian-jihad-has-begun
I officially have a chili high. The endorphins are pumping and I can’t stop eating this. Hurts so good.
Went out to the garden to plant broadbeans.
Picked some chilis since several are still happily hanging on. Picked about 20 Aji Charapita as part of that, then came in to make a salsa with them. This is kicking my butt but it tastes sooooo good.
And brisket is one of the cheapest cuts at $19.99/kg. Also why I was using it for smash burgers.
Cheaper than mince and better quality as I asked the butcher to grind the specific cuts I chose. None of this is going to mince though. Might have one chunk just as boiled corned beef - haven’t decided yet.
Time to brine the brisket to start the process that ends with Reuben sandwiches.
6.875kg of brisket
14.4L water
748g kosher salt
42.55g Prague Powder #1 (I don’t like botulism)
5 days of curing
1 day of desalination
1-2 days basking in the rub
1 most of the day smoking
Many days of happy eating
Never have I screamed aloud YES YES and pumped my fist in agreement more at something @siracusa has written than this https://hypercritical.co/2026/05/29/ev-stupidity-checklist
Meowie Antoinette
Been fighting a cold for the last 48 hours. Runny nose, lots of sneezing, just a bit of a cough. Did my best in the garden today and now taking sauna.
Sauna is the cure for mostly everything. I feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. What else could I ask for?
and I know I will sleep really well tonight. Sauna nights are always the best sleep.
Planted around 100 cloves of garlic and 100 daffodil and iris bulbs today. A little behind schedule but work has been insane the last few weeks.
Today I learned there is such a thing as a leaf tailed gecko. Mad camouflage
I am not going to participate in this week #FridayNightJukebox #JukeboxFridayNight #AllThatJazz because I would be up all night.
Happy Birthday, Miles Davis (26th May) and RIP Sonny Rollins
And go listen to some Nina Simone. There is always an appropriate Nina Simone song.
Love you all
RE: https://mastodon.social/@thejapantimes/116656334787867094
What evil person is training these mosquitoes?
The next Bond villain
“If you tighten the string too much, it will snap. If you give it too much slack, it won’t play.”