Sojka's Call

SojkasCall Best Stuff of 2017 This is the 2017 roundup of best in entertainment, food, travel and whatever I did this year.  this is probably best consumed when stoned or in a weird mood.  If you just watched Jeopardy or the nightly news, then it will not make sense.  So, if you find yourself saying WTF, just tilt your head 5 degrees to the right and it will all make sense.  I promise! I might throw in a worst of this or that somewhere too - some people like that as well and I certainly have a cynical side that should be kept in check.   Let's start with music videos.  Personally, I found this one of the most disappointing years for music vids in recent memory.  The predominance of interactive make-your-own was not my thing.  I like to be entertained with ideas, music, and visuals that are on the edge and not seen before.  So, the list below was put together after much curation and thought and watching lots of stupid ones. ...

In honor of my father, Louis Sojka, who passed away 12/18/2017 I decided to cook one of his favorite Polish comfort foods, stuffed cabbages, which he called golumpki.  His pronunciation was to pronounce the "L" as a "Y".  Phonetically it came out goy-ump'-kee or go-ump'-kee. His version used Campbells tomato soup.  That did not sit right with me because of the high sodium and processing so over the years I have modified his original recipe a little using higher quality ingredients.  Also, when cooking, you can simmer on the stove, cook in the oven or use an Instantpot. Did you know this is a favorite dish at Christmas-time for Polish?  I didn't either until yesterday when looking for Instantpot cooking times and saw that historical side-note. A Croatian friend gave me a cookbook that lists the Croat version as Sarma. Sarma is very similar except they pickle the cabbage head (like a mild sauerkraut) before using. Recipe: 1. One cabbage head with t...

Good article on Brin's blog about Dominionism.  Why should you care?  The “American ISIS is called “Dominionism” – an offshoot of fundamentalist Christianity that proclaims its desire for a coming apocalypse, as foretold in the gruesomely sadistic and opposite-to-Jesus-in-all-ways Book of Revelation. Moreover, while they strive to topple our civilization, they also fervently declare that: * The United States once was, and should again be, a doctrinal Christian nation, denying the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity. • Dominionists endorse theocratic visions. The U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles. • Dominionists hold that wealthy people are superior to the rest of humanity and that government should be captured by them to serve only them. There is also an article about Dominionism over at The Atlantic. Check it out here >>>> Click!  Not a happy subject but a good reaso...

In the last comment on the first part of Why Trump is President, Keith posited..........   Regarding societal evolution.  I guess I am not too sure I understand the concept as well as you do.  Evolving to what?  What are the characteristics that differ or can be compared to human evolution which is improvement in adaptation environmentally exhibited by higher intellectual capacity.  is it the ability to maximize our intellectual capacity in ways that benefit mankind's survival as a whole?  Which brings us to the Reds vs the Greens.  Why does it seem that the greens have progressed towards maximizing their intellectual capacity more than Reds -Oranges?  Or is that just a contextural elitist bias.   We are all born with this intellectual capacity that makes us superior to the animal kingdom intellectually.  So why do some people become greener than others?  Is it an organic brain formation, environment ? ...

This post and the extensive comments are a transcription of an email exchange I had with a friend.  Other readers should feel free to jump in as they feel inclined. If you feel like diving into some deep-think analysis where this guy (Ken Wilber) uses lots of big words check this out.  First I will give you an excerpt that will either capture your attention so you will be willing to invest the few hours it takes to digest this overly-complicated way of viewing the current social issues in the US and world or you will say Nah, I would rather do my other things.  Important - when Wilber says "Green" substitute "progressive politically correct"   and when he says "amber" think alt-right nationalistic and fundamentalist.    Here we go.......... Here’s just one example of this slowly but widely growing realization of green’s complicity in the election of an amber ethnocentric Trump—and an indication that the self-correcting drive of evolution is ...

Screw facts. News that is contrary to what I know is fake.  Thinking is a waste of time when there are pundits to explain it all. Feeling indignant is so righteous. My emotions are more valid than anything. Writing and talking about politics is a waste of time because 90% of people only look for confirmation about what they already know. A very concise list of current falsities believed by 45 - 50% of the US populace. They will attack this with all their might. Obama was weak with Russia.  Yet, Ukraine became part of Europe in 2014.   "Ukraine was a reliable Russian satrapy or obedient client state until 2014, when popular uprisings and then free elections ousted Moscow's puppet, Yanukovich, in the worst disaster to Russian hegemonism since the fall of the Berlin Wall. "   You need more proof? " Moreover, whom did Vladimir Putin and the Russian press openly blame for this calamity, bringing Europe within a few hundred kilometers of Moscow? Why, those machiavell...