With the current economic crisis, bankers and mainly subprime lenders have been painted as evil, greedy monsters, but that is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. According to the CDFI Coalition, there are over 1000 CDFIs around the USA providing financial services to economically distressed communities. These subprime good guys give loans to poor people, strengthen communities, don’t throw poeple out of their homes, and still manage to make money! From small CDFIs (like Clearinghouse CDFI in California) to larger community-development banks (like Chicago’s ShoreBank), these institutions are maintaining very low delinquency rates, in stark comparison to larger (or more commercial) banks which are throwing people out of their homes at a higher rate. I feel it is important that there institutions get as much notice as possible because they, in many ways, are the antidote to the problems that have happened on Wall Street and in the big financial institutions.

Based on the old-fashioned 2D side-scrolling video game, Super Obama World is a load of fun!  I would recommend that all Democrats give it a try …

The first level of Alaska has a Bridge to Nowhere.  You are attacked by pigs with lipstick, and if that is not enough, you are also attacked by women pushing racks of clothes worth 150000 points when you jump on top of them!

Spend some of the time that you used to spend following Election Coverage on this game … you will not be disappointed!

The Royal Society has made its its digital archive accessible free of charge until 1 February 2009. The archive, which contains the Royal Society’s publications since the foundation of Philosophical Transactions in 1665, is an amazing resource for historians of science and technology. The archive is normally only available to subscribers as part of one of the Royal Society’s ‘packages’ of journals. Not only does it include a great variety of current science and technology, but it also includes papers from great scientists, such as Humphry Davy and William Herschel.

Enjoy this resource while they are free!

The second whisky tasting of Michaelmas 2008 is a Winter Warmer Whiskies Tasting on 5 Dec at 8p.

This tasting is for those who are looking for that special Christmas dram! The tasting will focus on special, limited-edition, or unique bottlings of whisky from around the world. In past premium tastings, whiskies such as the Balvenie 14 year Rum Wood Single Malt and Compass Box Orangerie Whisky. The menu for this tasting has yet to be created but will definitely contain something for every whisky drinker (and something that every whisky drinker has never seen)! Read the rest of this entry »

The first whisky tasting of Michaelmas 2008 is an Introductory Whisky Tasting on 20 November at 9p (after Hall).

The Introductory Tasting is a guided tasting through the world of whisky. It will give you an overview of the tastes and styles of whisky available from around the world (and available from the Whisky Cabinet at the Bar). This is the tasting to attend if you are interested in whisky but are unsure about which whiskies you enjoy. Also, during the course of the tasting, we will cover the basics about distilling and aging and try to answer any questions you may have about whisky. Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Times reported this last week on the financial difficulties that higher education institutions are experiencing and today I went to a mentee workshop for the Oxford Career Center’s “Career Accelerator” program. What do these two things have in common? Well, with universities as diverse as Arizona State and Brown cutting jobs, it is important that I have every advantage possible to get a job in this slightly tougher atmosphere. Read the rest of this entry »

This last Saturday we went shopping … but not just any old shopping, we went to an outlet mall! Before last Christmas, when the girl’s at Mango wanted to go shopping, they thought about going to Bicester Village, but decided against it. So, we finally made it out to Bicester and Bicester Village (which are not the same thing, as Jill first thought).

Bicester Village is an upscale outlet shopping experience, nothing like the American outlet mall or ‘mega-mall’ (like Concord Mills near Charlotte, NC). Instead, it is full of high-end retailers and boutiques (see floor plan) … Read the rest of this entry »

The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) includes over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present (2003/4 session), with supplementary material back to 1688. The HCPP delivers page images, searchable full text, and downloadable PDFs for each paper.

The British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service is a slightly smaller archive but has a much-better developed system of indexing, which makes it easier to use. Unfortunately, it does not cover all papers, like the HCPP does, instead it covers the important papers from sources other than just Parliament.

Anybody doing political, social, or economic history will find these two sites a wonderful resource and a true treasury trove of information!

It is almost the end of British Sausage Week (it ends tomorrow, 9 Nov) and if you have not had a chance to celebrate real british sausages, then go out and it now!

We had some great sausages from our wonderful local farm, Foxbury, last night. They bred and raise a whole selection of livestock, including some wonderful pork, which they turn into amazing sausages - I would recommend that you try the Old Spot Sausages. If you are in Oxford and cannot get them from Foxbury (they do free home delivery on Thursday), then you can always get quality sausages from David John in the Covered Market or from the Big Bang, the 3rd best place to eat in Britian under £50 (actually most of the dishes are well under £20).

Also, for those who may be slightly cash-strapped, the Big Bang is currently doing a “Credit Crunch Lunch” of sausage & mash for £4.50! If you stop by the Big Bang, make sure and support our local breweries by buying a pint of Hook Norton or Cotswold Lager!

Originally posted 2005-09-10 22:59:51

Okay, today I have been experimenting in the kitchen … in Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for More Food is a recipe for Whole Wheat Beer Bread. But, I did not have whole wheat flour or bread flour (and was too lazy to go buy some). So, I searched online till I found a beer bread recipe that I liked … and that I could combine with Alton’s recipe.

Then, the experimenting started … (Note: this is a great way to relieve stress and procrastinate) Read the rest of this entry »