Look, this metaphor may be new to my writing but I’ve shared it in real life for years (mostly to uncomprehending stares, you creep me out folks, at least pretend to understand and humor me that way, I got it first time).
Roy Moore is a sexual predator posing as a Christian. He’s no different from a Priest Pedophile. He’s a Republican racist of the worst sort and Trump is absolutely correct that he’d be a reliable vote.
Were I in Alabama (and trust me on this one, I’d rather gnaw off my right arm than get stuck in Alabama) I’d have no trouble at all deciding whom to hate.
I hate Democratic hypocrites too, so it’s not like I’m a reflexive tribalist. Moore is a shameless villain that deserves to be isolated for the protection of society. Literally any random citizen chosen by lot (hey, Athens did it that way for a long time) would be better.
Well, maybe. This is Alabama we’re talking about.
Now the truth is what this election will show is if negative campaigning and identity politics is ever enough. It’s hard to think of a candidate more reprehensible than Roy Moore except Zombie Hitler. I’m afraid that Democrats, if Doug Jones wins, will learn all the wrong lessons about Third Way New Democrat Neo Liberalism. It didn’t stop Trump.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
San Francisco Mayor shot to death; Gerald Ford named as Richard Nixon’s Vice President; Doctors perform world’s first partial face transplant; Playwright Eugene O’Neill dies.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
I have hope in people, in individuals. Because you don’t know what’s going to rise from the ruins.
I talked this morning about sports and while I find them intermittently amusing they are mostly convenient excuses to nap and non-threatening topics of conversation (“How ’bout them Mets?”).
The fact is that sports as mass touchstones of common culture are in an inevitable and irreversible state of decline, one has only to look at the misfortunes of Disney’s worst performing unit, ESPN, to see that the vast money spigot of eyeballs which fuels our modern gladiatorial contests and Hippodrome races (which were wildly more popular back in the day though not much less bloody).
In the death throes of late Neo Liberal Capitalism we are running out of shelf space.
What do I mean? Well I’m old enough to remember that one of the primary talking points supposedly proving a “Free” Market was superior to a State Directed Economy was the variety of consumer choice. Imagine going into a grocery and finding a single brand of tomato sauce (perhaps imaginatively named “Tomato Sauce”). Quelle horreur! Even if was the best sauce in the world and amazingly cheap.
In today’s late Neo Liberal Monopoly Capitalist society most consumer goods are actually a single brand of “Tomato Sauce” engineered by collusion and distinguished only by colorful packaging. All meaningful competition is mere courtship display and corporate behavior territorial sexuality.
It is in that context that you should examine the ratings retreat of sports. There are only 24 hours in a day and if I spend all of them watching TV (which I do) should I spend 3 of them watching the Giants suck (which they do) or 5 of them in anticipation of the next pile of twisted chunks of flaming metal during Turn Left Bumper Cars (it never disappoints).
Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last year, you’ve probably heard that our nation is currently undergoing a monumental crisis. No, not the White House one — I’m talking about the fact that after years of being a seemingly invincible ratings juggernaut, NFL ratings are on the decline. I know, I know, it’s hard to process, but it’s true.
While people can cherry-pick ratings from certain games to prove whatever point they want to prove, overall, it’s likely that the NFL will finish this year with fewer viewers than it had last year. Last year, NFL viewership was down from the previous year. It’s an undeniable trend.
Now, you could say that the NFL’s ratings decline merely mirrors a decline in viewership across television audiences at-large. However, that’s not the narrative-of-choice. Many have blamed the NFL’s “liberal politics” — in other words, their refusal to completely ban all players from taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice — as the reason for the ratings decline.
But that reason doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, especially when compared with the fortunes of other sports — namely, the most culturally conservative sport, NASCAR.
Heading into its 2017 championship race at Homestead this weekend, NASCAR is amidst an alarming ratings decline years in the making. Fox Sports airs the first half of the NASCAR season, and this year, their ratings were down 17 percent from last year. Last week, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas was the lowest rated and least-watched in the 12-year history of the race, according to Jayski.com.
Comparatively, Through Week 7 of this season, NFL ratings were down an average of five percent.
NASCAR’s decline — which extends to its attendance numbers — is happening despite the fact that NASCAR CEO Brian France and other drivers formally endorsed Donald Trump for President during the Republican primary in 2016, and despite the fact that no NASCAR driver or crew member has taken a knee during the national anthem — in fact, earlier this year, NASCAR legend and team owner Richard Petty threatened to fire anyone who protests during the national anthem.
Trump, who has praised NASCAR for the fact that its drivers stand during the anthem, has tweeted incessantly about the NFL’s rating decline. He has, however, offered no explanation for the downward trend of NASCAR’s viewership.
Never mind that the NFL’s ratings problems run deeper than players kneeling during the anthem, which barely eats more than a minute of a broadcast that lasts at minimum three hours. In some ways the league set itself up for failure by committing so completely over the past decade to the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, the latter of whom retired two seasons ago after helping the Denver Broncos to victory in Super Bowl 50. Two star QBs who could step into that breach, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Houston’s Deshaun Watson, are out with season-ending injuries. Thursday Night Football has proven to be a disastrous experiment, one that produces far more player injuries than actual entertainment. Meanwhile stories continue to emerge about the adverse effects football has on players’ long-term health. All of it makes the NFL that much more difficult to sit with.
Still, things could be worse for the NFL. It could be Nascar. A decade ago the sport emerged as an unlikely challenger to pro football’s small-screen primacy, attracting nearly 20 million viewers to the 2006 Daytona 500. But Nascar has lost more than 45% of its audience since then, according to Nielsen. What’s more, equally dismal live spectator figures have compelled some tracks to remove seats from their grandstands. Denny Hamlin, a star Nascar driver, has made his peace with this. “People with smartphones, they’re rewatching races in the back of their car going up the highway,” he said back in April. “You don’t have to attend these races anymore. You get such a good experience through your cellphone, so the way we measure attendance and we measure TV ratings and all that’s always skewed because we live in a different world now.”
…
In the main Nascar patrons skew older and lean conservative. They’re not unlike their NFL counterparts in that way. Really, both fanbases seem to be after the same spectacle, something that pays heed to the Good Lord Above while a bunch of overgrown boys in costume run around narrowly cheating death. They’re waiting for the pileup.
…
(T)hey could simply accept that traditional television has been in decline for a decade and adjust accordingly, by leaving its audiences wanting more instead of overwhelming their base urges. For the NFL that means ending the Thursday football experiment and making the RedZone Channel, its best and most youth-friendly delivery mechanism, more widely accessible. For Nascar that means cutting tens of hours of race broadcasts down to the best three hours. It means starving people, and then feed them. It means throw the fat online, and see how much they’ll pay for it.
So back to shelf space. I’ve watched every episode of The Gilmore Girls (except the new ones, which I am saving for a rainy day) at least 3 times and my favorites more than that. I have The Curse of Oak Island and Gold Rush (new episodes!) and Star vs. The Forces of Evil (actually a very adult cartoon about relationships- yes, I am a Marco guy just like I am a Luke guy) and a season’s worth of Wynnona Earp (why can’t she and John Henry just get along, does she really have a thing for Dolls?) and soon enough The Librarians (Ezekiel is more heroic than you think).
My point is not that you should like what I like or watch what I watch, it’s that I have my own “Tomato Sauce” and the competition for my eyeballs is real.
Now most commentators are dismayed and appalled that “We are losing our commonality and ability to communicate”. They advocate “compromise” and “pragmatism”. What they mean is “We’re losing our phony baloney jobs as Gatekeepers”. If my aspiration was to be universally loved and popular, I would be. It seems a shallow and narcissistic kind of goal.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
The White House is pressing to declassify intelligence allegedly linking Iran to short-range ballistic missile attacks by Yemeni insurgents against Saudi Arabia, part of a public relations blitz aimed at persuading America’s U.N. counterparts that Tehran is helping to fuel the country’s conflict.
The effort to cast blame on Iran comes at a time when the U.S.-backed Saudi military coalition in Yemen is facing mounting international condemnation for enforcing a blockade on vital ports that threatens to plunge the country into a massive famine.
The declassification push is part of a broader U.S. bid to isolate Tehran in the U.N. Security Council, and potentially to provide a justification for enforcing sanctions or imposing new penalties against Tehran. It marks a surprising recognition by President Donald Trump — who dismissed the United Nations as a feckless talk shop during his presidential campaign — that the world body is critical for rallying international support. …
THE HONDURAN MINISTER of security, who was intimately involved in solidifying the 2009 coup, is tied up in drug trafficking, according to testimony from a Mexican drug-trafficker-turned-Drug-Enforcement-Agency-informant in U.S. court.
In November 2016, as the world’s attention was fixated on the surprise election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, two nephews of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro were found guilty on drug trafficking charges. The conviction was another feather in the cap of U.S. prosecutors who have been targeting the Venezuelan government with corruption and drug trafficking investigations.
But in the South Florida courtroom, the testimony of José Santos Peña also implicated Julián Pacheco Tinoco, a former Honduran military official with long ties to the U.S. security apparatus. …
SIGNALING AN EPIC fight over control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency on Friday named Leandra English as Deputy Director. English had been serving as Richard Cordray’s chief of staff.
Hours later, Cordray officially resigned. Under the statutory line of succession spelled out in the law that created the agency, the deputy director automatically replaces him, with full powers of the office, until the Senate formally confirms a new director selected by the president.
President Trump had planned to name Mick Mulvaney, current director of the Office of Management and Budget, as interim director, wresting immediate control of CFPB without having to go through Congress. The administration would have relied on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which allows the president to make appointments to federal agencies in certain cases. But as The Intercept reported earlier this week, there was a hitch in that plan: The temporary pick is not legally Trump’s to make. (See the update below: Trump made the pick regardless late on Friday evening.) …
On November 3, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber, ”[T]here is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in connection with the armed conflict in Afghanistan.”
In what Amnesty International’s Solomon Sacco called a “seminal moment for the ICC,” Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court for authorization to commence an investigation that would focus on US military and CIA leaders, as well as Taliban and Afghan officials.
Bensouda wrote in a November 14, 2016, report that her preliminary examination revealed “a reasonable basis to believe” the “war crimes of torture and ill-treatment” had been committed “by US military forces deployed to Afghanistan and in secret detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, principally in the 2003-2004 period, although allegedly continuing in some cases until 2014.”
The chief prosecutor noted the alleged crimes by the CIA and US armed forces “were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals,” but rather were “part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract ‘actionable intelligence’ from detainees.” She added there was “reason to believe” that crimes were “committed in the furtherance of a policy or policies … which would support US objectives in the conflict of Afghanistan.” …
MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) — Turkeys are traditional for Thanksgiving. But some folks in the San Francisco Bay Area are praying the wild ones will go away.
Introduced into the state for hunting decades ago, wild turkeys are thriving and have invaded urban areas, perhaps seeking food, water and safety from predators over five years of drought.
“The neighborhood embraces them,” Darlene Devon Andrade of Concord shared on the Facebook page of the San Francisco Chronicle. “We are all very careful when driving and let them roam freely in our streets and yards so they can eat and be happy!”
On the other hand, the birds poop everywhere, tear up landscaping, gouge screen doors, knock off roof tiles and can get ornery if they perceive a rival.
“These turkeys weigh like 20 pounds, and they know how to defend themselves,” said Dan Gluesenkamp, executive director of the California Native Plant Society. “There are tons of stories (about) people’s brand new Mercedes getting torn up by 20-pound Toms who are looking at their reflections.”
About 20 of the big birds swing by the home of Anthony and Holly Blackburn daily in the town of Martinez.
“My wife gets irritated because she cleans up after them,” Anthony Blackburn told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I like watching them on the hill across the street, scratching and pecking, and even occasionally napping. The males will occasionally fan their tails to impress the females.”
California doesn’t regularly track the wild turkey population, although a survey made more than a decade ago put the statewide population at about a quarter-million, the Chronicle reported.
Homeowners can try to dissuade the birds form entering their yards with stop-motion sprinklers or loud noises. If that fails, they can get permits to kill nuisance birds.
Contra Costa County issues about 60 permits a year, said Greg Martinelli, a program manager with the Bay-Delta Fish and Wildlife office overseeing an area that extends between Santa Cruz and Sonoma County.
Preservationists worry about the effect of a wild turkey explosion on native plants and animals.
“They move across the landscape, 20 or 30 of them, elbow to elbow, scratching every inch of the land,” Gluesenkamp said. “They eat every creepy crawlie, every salamander, every lizard, every snake, every nut, every acorn, every wild flower seed, every quail egg.”
“Turkeys are really cool,” he said. “They’re incredible birds. And we love seeing turkeys. But there are just too many.”
His still-evolving role in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to President Trump, even as he enjoys the special status of being married to the boss’s daughter, Ivanka, and serving as one of the president’s senior confidants. Kushner’s family faces additional pressures over a troubled New York skyscraper at 666 Fifth Ave., which he purchased in his role as head of his family’s real estate business but from which he has divested since entering the administration.
In a rare interview in his West Wing office earlier this month — a silver bowl of Halloween candy still on the table — Kushner offered his own version of the fable of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one important thing.
“During the campaign, I was more like a fox than a hedgehog. I was more of a generalist having to learn about and master a lot of skills quickly,” he said. “When I got to D.C., I came with an understanding that the problems here are so complex — and if they were easy problems, they would have been fixed before — and so I became more like the hedgehog, where it was more taking issues you care deeply about, going deep and devoting the time, energy and resources to trying to drive change.”
…
Following recent reports, which the White House denied, that the president privately blames Kushner for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s widening probe, Breitbart, the conservative website, snarkily dubbed him “Mr. Perfect.” The nickname originated from promotional material Kushner’s own family used, when trying to lure Chinese investors to their New Jersey real estate projects.
Some aides scoff at the notion that Kushner isn’t still whispering to the president about official business. But one of Kelly’s conditions for taking the job was that everyone, including Kushner and his wife, had to go through him to reach the president, and Kelly has made clear that Kushner reports to him, aides said.
The new hierarchy is part of Kelly’s effort to sideline Kushner, said one Republican in frequent contact with the White House. Others say the order Kelly imposed has simply liberated Kushner to focus on his own portfolio — and eased some of the animosity his colleagues felt toward him.
Kushner said he welcomes the change. “The order allows this place to function,” Kushner said. “My number one priority is a high-functioning White House because I believe in the president’s agenda, and I think it should get executed.”
…
The Mueller probe, meanwhile, is entering a new phase, with the special counsel announcing three indictments at the end of last month — including for Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort — while investigators begin to interview people close to the president’s inner circle. Kushner has turned over documents to the House and Senate committees investigating possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign, although in a letter, the Senate Judiciary Committee recently complained that Kushner had not been fully forthcoming — a charge his lawyer denies.
So far, Mueller has filed no court documents to suggest Kushner is in legal jeopardy, but people close to the case say investigators have been looking at his meetings with Russians before and after the election, as well as his role in discussions that led to the firing of FBI director James B. Comey.
…
Kushner’s detractors point to his role in the Russia probe as another sign of his poor political skills and continued risk to the president. A Republican close to the White House said Kushner “has no judgment — never has and never will.”
But in some ways, Kushner appears more protected from the daily sniping that plagued the early months of Trump’s presidency. Over the summer, a trio of advisers who were rivals to Kushner were pushed out of the West Wing: Stephen K. Bannon, then the president’s chief strategist, who now runs Breitbart; Reince Priebus, the chief of staff; and Sean Spicer, the press secretary.
“He no longer is in an environment where he has an actual predator,” said one White House official, likening Kushner to Bannon’s regular prey. “That has probably helped his working environment some.”
Kushner, with his whispery voice, has also proved one of the few people adept at absorbing Trump’s anger. He can speak to Trump in a shared language of transaction from their days in the New York real estate world.
“I don’t try to manage him,” Kushner said. “I try to give him my honest feedback. If he asks my advice on something, sometimes I’ll give it, sometimes I’ll say, ‘Let me go call a few people,’ and then I’ll give it.”
McMaster said Kushner sometimes acts as a translator between the president and his senior advisers. “He helped a lot of us learn faster what’s important to the president,” McMaster said. “His relationship with the president makes Jared valuable as an adviser to the president, and also as an adviser to the president’s advisers.”
When Kushner’s family first arrived in Washington, they agreed they would assess after six months whether they intended to stay. Trump himself has mused privately about the hit his daughter and son-in-law’s reputation is taking because of their White House roles and about what a great and easy life they had back in New York. Others have questioned why someone like Kushner would put himself in Mueller’s crosshairs by remaining in government.
But when the couple reassessed in July, they reached a decision. “We’re here to stay,” Kushner said. “At the current moment, we’re charging forward.”
He added, “My wife asked me the other day if we should be looking at new houses, so that’s a good sign.”
One of the problems with being me is I often make cultural references that nobody else gets, though because I’m such a charming fellow overall they wisely nod their heads and proclaim my genius, at least to my face, because I’ve stumped them. The Emperor must be clothed after all.
Among my favorite citations is the semi-obscure Jame Retief written by Keith Laumer which, like much science fiction of the period, was virulently misogynist, racist, Randian crap. It wasn’t the worst example I read, that would be the Gor or Horseclans novels and in my defense I read a lot of Lefty science fiction too because I read a lot of science fiction, literally libraries worth. Laumer was mainstream by comparison though he wasn’t the writer Poul Anderson was and Retief could easily be mistaken for a pale imitation of Dominic Flandry.
In the universe of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne the two main antagonists were #1, the bureaucracy, and in a distant second place the Groaci (meant to represent the Soviets). Make no mistake, it was a dismal place (though told with humor). Along with the ritual grimacing (24-w) was the fact that even the Concordiat (the United States analog Retief supposedly served) had stark inequality and rapacious capitalism run rampant with recycled (but fully functional) Tanks Continental Siege Units used as strip mining machines.
For ordinary people there was Bread Substitute and Icky Wax.
You see, they couldn’t afford real Bread, only Bread Substitute. Butter was an unimaginable luxury, even Margarine (useful only for certain very specific baking applications and you really ought to consider Lard instead) beyond aspiration.
And in this cut throat world of nature red in tooth and claw (Tennyson, not Hobbes) you have to know which side of the Bread Substitute your Icky Wax is on and not just because that’s the one ending up on the floor.
It has become my go to short hand for pragmatic lesser-evilism.
In this light I urge you to consider the following “good” news.
Yes, it’s true that the Nebraska Public Service Commission voted Monday to approve the long-gestating Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline. But don’t score it as a win for TransCanada—or as a “boost for Trump“—just yet.
That’s because the commission approved the “mainline alternative route,” and that’s not the route that the pipeline operator wants.
It could take years before the project finally gets off the ground (if it ever does), as the alternative route includes 63 miles of new pipeline not yet approved by the federal government and plenty of landowners could stand in the way.
…
Even TransCanada seemed lukewarm about the commission’s decision.
“As a result of today’s decision, we will conduct a careful review of the Public Service Commission’s ruling while assessing how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.
Even though President Trump has issued a presidential permit for the KXL, it was based on an environmental analysis assuming that the pipeline would follow the route TransCanada preferred, The Hill reported.
A State Department spokesperson told The Hill that the agency “heard about a possible modified route, and we are in the process of gaining more precise information in order to determine if there will be any permitting impacts as a result of those changes.”
… Mother Jones pointed out that TransCanada’s biggest challenge might come down to economics.
…
As (350.org co-founder Jamie) Henn noted: “Every bit of uncertainty and every day of delay makes Keystone XL less likely. The economics are already stacked against this project and it’s just a matter of time before the last few backers pull out leaving TransCanada all alone.”
An oldie but a goodie reposted from November 25, 2010 – TMC
I know by tonight you will be sick if looking at the remnants of dinner, especially that turkey carcass because you aren’t done with it yet. I’m going to walk you through making turkey stock.
First you will need a big pot, I mean big like the one you use to cook spaghetti big, at least big enough to hold the turkey carcass and cover it wiht water. Mmmm, say about 8 quarts big. I know you have one somewhere.
Next your going to peel an onion, slicing off the top but leaving the stem part intact. Cut it in half through the stem. Gather some whole carrots and a few celery stalks (don’t cut off the leaves that’s where the most flavor is). Peel some garlic, as much as you’d like (we like a lot) but at least two cloves, leaving it whole. Take some of the herbs that you used to season the turkey with and three or four bay leaves and set it aside in a bowl for a minute.
Now, put the turkey in the empty pot to make sure it fits. If it doesn’t you have a couple of choices the easiest of which is to cut the carcass into sections so it fits into the pot you have. Now that it fits, put it on the stove and fill it with cold water using a pitcher (this gets heavy that’s why you’re dong it this way), covering the turkey . Add all the veggies, cover and bring to a full boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 3 or 4 hours, stirring occasionally and scraping the loose meat off the bones.
With most of the meat off the bones, remove the bones with a large slotted spoon or scoop and discard the bones. If it ‘s cold enough out side where you are, put the pot outside to cool. If it’s cold enough the fat which will float to the top will solidify and can be easily removed with a spatula.
Now strain the stock through a sieve or cheese cloth. Discard all those vegetables, the flavor is now all in the stock. Add new vegetables; chopped carrots, cubed potatoes, thinly sliced celery, soup greens such as kale, collards, chopped savoy cabbage or escarole, sliced onions, fresh herbs, and last but not least, pasta.
If you have a lot of stock, it can be frozen. I save the pint and quart plastic containers from the Chinese take out. They are also useful to put chicken and meat bones so my talented cats can’t get into them. Bones are not good for kitties.
The stock is also great for making Risotto with Wild Mushrooms. You’ll need
* about 8 cups of stock. If you don’t have enough turkey from your stock, College Inn makes a very good Turkey broth but it won’t be as good as yours.
* 2 cups of Risotto or Arborio Rice
* about 3 tbsp of Olive Oil
* 3 tablespoons of butter, unsalted
* 1 pound of fresh wild mushrooms such as portobella, crimini (baby portabella) or shiitake. I like shiitake best but usually use half and half. The mushrooms should be cleaned with a soft paper towel or soft brush. I have a soft brush just for mushrooms. I also hae a truffle slicer. 😉
* 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley, the other parsley, curly, is very rarely used in cooking. Its mostly a garnish.
* 2 large shallots chopped or a small onion
* 2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
* 1/2 cup dry white wine, something you would drink with the risotto.
* 2 tablespoons of fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the broth in a sauce pan and keep it warm over low heat.
Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic. Fry until it just begins to color, then add the mushrooms and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons butter in a separate skillet. Soften the shallots in the butter. Add the rice and saute for a couple of minutes, stirring, so the rice becomes coated with the butter. Add the wine and bring to a boil. When it has evaporated, add one-half cup of the hot chicken stock.
Keep adding the hot broth, one-half cup at a time, to the rice. Continue until the rice has absorbed nearly all the liquid. The rice is done when it is creamy, but al dente.
Stir in the remaining butter, the mushrooms and the Parmigiano Reggiano. Mix gently, garnish with a few leaves of tarragon and serve.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
President John F. Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington; New details emerge about Iran-Contra affair; British forces leave New York; Elian Gonzalez rescued off Florida coast; Baseball’s Joe DiMaggio born.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Cooking and eating are among the most important ways we weave days into lives.
As most of you know, there are no ads on Docudharma and The Stars Hollow Gazette. The are several reasons for that but the prime reason is that I hate ads. Today I’ve been running later than usual because this morning I was busy helping my family deliver the leftovers from yesterday feast to the local shelter run by a very lovely lady and her troop of volunteers. But back to my point.
I pay for subscriptions to several on line news papers. I expect to be able to read those publications without advertisements that take up half the page or block the view of an article I’m trying to read. I especially hate the ones that you can’t make go away.
When I got back from my errands, I sat down prepared to catch up on events and write. Just about every site, whether or not I have a subscription or AdBlock Plus, had ads at top, bottom and sides, taking up half the page and, in the case of one, not only blocking most of the script but some of the links to their own articles. How damned dumb is that? Don’t their owners on-line editors look at those sites? Apparently not.
My other problem with those ads is that many of them are offensive and some are quite graphic going beyond the point of not just bad taste to lewd. And then there are the right wing ads on left wing sites. I know that many of these sites hand their sites over to companies that place the ads without the editors’ ability too reject them. Some of them are really stupid and point out the ignorance of some of these extreme right wingers. A fine example of that is the ad asking if Hillary Clinton should be impeached. Even more stunning, the majority was all for it. Yo, bright lights, she ain’t the president. It really makes one worry about education in this country.
Even worse are the sites that have videos that automatically start and often slow down loading that you can’t turn off. The biggest offenders here are the news sites.
That said, those are the reasons I hate ads. I promise that our sites will remain ad free so long as I own them.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a good day if you’re shopping. Don’t get me started on Black Friday and retail.
Thanks for the ear and thank you very much for reading.
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungoverwe’ve been bailed outwe’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
Jack Ruby fatally shoots Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas; Charles Darwin publishes theory of evolution; Hijacker known as D.B. Cooper parachutes out of plane with ransom money; Queen’s Freddie Mercury dies
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.
There’s no denying I like flesh, mostly of the processed and cured kind which contains all those nitrates, salt, and fats that make it very, very bad for your health. Also I neither care or think much about those animals who sacrifice their lives to feed me. It’s a moral failing, I know.
On the other hand I’m not exactly tied into meat and potatoes as a meal. I’m perfectly content with a pile of Brassicaceae, or some roots and tubers, or even wilted leaves, not to mention fruits, berries, and nuts.
If left to my own devices I favor fish varied with some pork. I don’t much care for beef or chicken except certain parts prepared in specific ways (I’ll not snoot a good steak and I’m a sucker for hot and spicy thigh chunks over rice).
So I’m no vegetarian though animals aren’t what I consider my primary diet.
And I don’t feel bad about it. I once met a Turkey farmer and I couldn’t help but ask him if it was true that he had to bring his birds into the barn when it rained because they were so dumb that otherwise they would stare open mouthed at the sky and drown. He said-
I know by tonight you will be sick if looking at the remnants of dinner, especially that turkey carcass because you aren’t done with it yet. I’m going to walk you through making turkey stock.