2014 archive
“Shocked! Shocked! 0
Chauncey Devega takes on the Torture Report and puts its findings* in historical perspective. His post is a difficult read–difficult because it challenges white America’s view of its own history and faith in its own moral purity (often referred to as “American Exceptionalism”), but please do read it.
__________________
*You cannot call them “revelations.” Anyone who pays attention knew what was coming.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite at home.
Deputies responded and found 41-year-old Tracie Shiflet dead in a duplex home at about 6:30 a.m.
Deputies said the victim’s longterm boyfriend, 33-year-old Edison Garcia-Muniz, was at Shiflet’s house, and they were handling his gun when it went off.
According to the story, he didn’t know the gun was loaded.
They never think to check, do they?
Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole 0
This is a good dish for the holidays. It’s simple and easy and it can be prepared ahead of time and baked when the big dinner arrives.
Ingredients:
- 1 head cauliflower
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or more
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tbs “Red Gold” paprika sauce (available from Otto’s European Deli, where a real live person answers the telphone when you call) or to taste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
For the white sauce:
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbs. butter
- 1 cup flour
Procedure:
-
1. Wash cauliflower, then core it and remove outer leaves.
-
2. Steam cauliflower until tender (approx. 10 mins.); allow to cool.
-
3. Lightly oil 9″ x 6″ (or equivalent) casserole dish.
-
4. Break cauliflower into florets and place in dish (This is much easier to do after steaming than before)
-
5. Pour sauce (see below) over cauliflower; stir gently to promote coverage.
-
6. Sprinkle remaining cheese and bread crumbs on top.
-
7. Bake approximately 30 mins. at 350 degrees F.
Sauce (this starts with a basic white sauce and then gets interesting–if you can make a white sauce, you can reach the Acme of cooking: be popular; fool your friends):
-
1. Melt butter in sauce pan, add flour, and saute until flower just starts to brown.
-
2. Meanwhile bring milk to boil in second sauce pan. Just when the milk starts to boil (it will start to rise up like a volcano erupting), pour milk all at once into flour mixture, stirring rapidly with a whisk. (This is the tricky part: if you pour the milk before it reaches full boil, the sauce will not thicken; too late, and you have to clean the stove.)
-
3. Stir rapidly until mixture thickens all at once.
-
4. Add 1/2 cup cheese and other seasonings; stir gently until blended.
Serves six.
The Torture Report 0
Don’t forget that the reason the CIA and its dupes, symps, and fellow travelers did not want the report released had nothing to do with “national security” and everything to do with covering its own sorry ass.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Back under 300k.
(snip)
The four-week average of jobless claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, was little changed at 299,250 after 299,000 the week before.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits jumped by 142,000 to 2.51 million in the week ended Nov. 29, the highest since mid-August.
“The Protocol” 0
Eric Frazier, writing at the Charlotte News and Observer, explains:
Don’t get out of the car unless told to. Keep your hands on the steering wheel. Don’t take them off until the officer asks to see your driver’s license and registration. When the request comes, repeat it so the officer knows that you understand.
(Snip some details–follow the link for them.)
This is good protocol for anyone to follow. But I know that, as an African-American man who weighs just over 200 pounds, it’s doubly important for me.
Read the rest, in which he explains how recent events convinced him that he had to have “the talk” about “the protocol” with his daughter, the talk that Not Black or Brown parents don’t need to have.
Getting the Wind Up 0
Wind power is safe. Full stop.
Enough Already 0
In the Charlie Brown comic in today’s local rag, Snoopy is trying to get into the Winter Olympics in Grenoble. They took place in 1968.
Please make it stop.
Classical Scholar 0
Ted Cruz quotes Cicero and misses the point.
Driving Is Still Driving 0
Heh.
Larksville police say the man told an officer he was using the golf cart to navigate the borough’s streets Monday night because he had been drinking and needed a way to get to a bar.
Sounds as if he had already been to enough bars.
When You Unleash Sadism, Sadists Will Sade 0
I haven’t read the Torture Report and don’t intend to. Legitimate news sources are telling me it’s about what I expected: vileness wrapped in evil wrapped in sadism served with a side of self-righteousness, the reign of President George the Worst in microcosm.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite to yourself.
The investigation determined Hanson’s injury was caused by a self-inflicted, accidental discharge of a firearm.
What Is a Fascist? 1
Via C&L.
