'Tis Autumn, and it's chilly and damp here in Pennsylvania--good soup weather. I am making matzo ball* soup. To paraphrase Marilyn Monroe, the balls really are the best part of the matzo. I like to start with the leftovers of a roasted chicken for any chicken soup, but today I just had a pack of chicken drumsticks (on sale!) I roasted them, and am making soup stock from the bones while the matzo ball mix chills in the fridge.
So, here's the question: what's your favorite soup? (Besides Autumnal Metaphor Soup, that is.)
For non-vegetarian options, I'd go with chicken soup in all its forms--from Thai-style with coconut milk and lemongrass, to my usual simmered roast chicken soup with leek and potato. Mushroom soup is a close second. For vegan options, mushroom works very well, as does butternut squash soup made with apple cider, a bit of curry power and cinnamon, and coconut milk instead of cream. In season, fresh tomato with basil can't be bested. Yum!
If you don't like soup, feel free to tell us why.
_________
*Matzo ball recipes vary greatly of course. I use chicken fat plus a dash of canola oil, and no seltzer or plain water (just 2-3 tablespoons of the soup stock). I then poach the balls at a bare simmer in the soup stock itself. Not everyone approves of this last practice, as it clouds the broth. The chicken fat has some herb flavor left over from roasting, and I add a little minced cooked onion. Now you know. More from Epicurious here.
Question of the Day
Film Corner!
I honestly do not even know how to begin to do a transcript of this video that would do it any kind of justice, as it's cut more to highlight the inimitable and extraordinary visual direction of Julie Taymor. Broadly, it is a trailer for Taymor's upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, featuring a series of quickly edited images from the film, steeped in the rich saturation of color that's a hallmark of Taymor's style. In the trailer, we see that Helen Mirren has been cast as Prospera, Djimon Hounsou as Caliban, Russell Brand and Alfred Molina as Trinculo and Stephano, Chris Cooper and Alan Cumming as Antonio and Sebastian, and Felicity Jones and Reeve Carney as Miranda and Ferdinand.
I imagine that a lot of people are going to have the same reaction as Gabe (who gets the hat tip), which is "Shakespeare + Russell Brand = WHOOOOOOOOOOOOPS." LOL. And I can't say I blame him/them, because, hello, Shakespeare + Russell Brand really seems to = WHOOPS. But to brashly mix a math metaphor with a grammar metaphor, what (I hope) we have here is an I before E except after C situation, where C=Julie Taymor. (What?) What I'm saying is that she's a rule-changing variable. A wild card, if you will (for those of you who were waiting for one last metaphor so you could make a lovely autumnal metaphor soup).
What I'm saying is that Julie Taymor is kind of a genius, and I really loved Titus, and I think The Tempest could be, like, brilliant.
And I can't wait to see it.
Daily Dose o' Cute
Video Description: Iain and Dudz play tag at the dog park. With special guest star Deeky! Set to The Rentals' "Please Let That Be You."
Still pix of the behbehs below the fold...
Matilda.
Olivia.
Sophie (with BFF Kenny Blogginz).
Dudley.
The Overton Window: Chapter Thirteen
I've talked a fair amount of shit about previous chapters. They were awful; I don't think I was being unfair. The writing really is terrible. The plot nonsensical. The characters flat, inconsistent. The book is, quite simply, garbage.
And as much as I've complained about those early chapters, this one is, inarguably, the worst. Because as ridiculous as everything has been up this point, chapter thirteen is even stupider. In fact, it is so poorly constructed that it's insulting.
Here's what happens: Noah wakes up in Molly's arms, in the back of a police van. The patriots are perp walked past the liberal media. Noah's fancypants lawyers gets the charges against him dropped. But before Noah can leave, he sees all the most radical patrons from the bar standing around the police station having a laugh. Because they were all undercover cops!
Really.
This is, literally, the most ridiculous and unbelievable thing that could have happened. I dare you to come up with something stupider. Can't be done. No Twinkies for you!
He opened his eyes, and found her looking down at him.
It was the wide variety of aches and pains that told him for certain she wasn't a figment of his imagination. His head was resting in her lap, and Molly held him steady as the crowded police van bumped and jostled along the patchy downtown streets.
Noah looked up at her again. "What happened—"
She hushed him with a fingertip to his lips, and he saw that her wrists were bound with nylon ties.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Are you gagging? Because I'm gagging. What tripe.
So, yeah, Noah is dragged from the van past "local and network correspondents" and detained with a couple hundred teabaggers, drunks, and male prostitutes. Oh, the humanity!
After a time he saw something that he couldn't begin to understand; he must have been mistaken. The man from the back of the tavern, the one with the gun, was being escorted from an adjacent cell. He wasn't in handcuffs or restraints of any kind. He was just walking along with the officers toward the exit.
What?!? No! Not the gunman! He's just walking out of jail! How could this be? Oh, yeah, he was clearly an agent provocateur! Duh! (And jebus, I need to lay off the exclamation points for a while.)
Eyeing Noah's "gold class ring from Riverdale Country School," the cops pull him from the cell and take him to be interrogated. The interviewing officer even gets a short speech. Yay for speeches!
He tells Noah he is "going to get on a big bus with some armed guards and take a ride to central booking at the Manhattan Detention Complex—most people call it the Tombs. Over there they'll get your mug shots, your DNA and your fingerprints, and then you'll be formally charged and arraigned in the criminal court and bound over for trial." Blah blah blah. It's painfully boring.
The officer tries to play Good Cop/Bad Cop all by himself, hoping to get Noah to squeal. Not that Noah has a chance. The family lawyer arrives before Noah can open his mouth.
Charlie Nelan was one of those old-school, silver-haired überprofessionals who swore by the power of image. No matter where you happened to see him, he always looked as though he'd just stepped out of the "Awesome Lawyers" issue of Gentlemen's Quarterly. Fortunately, he was every bit as sharp as he looked.
Slick Charlie tells the cop "I want my client released, and his charges dropped, and I want that arrest report in the shredder." And to further his point, the officer's captain calls at this very moment. The cop takes the call and Nelan drags Noah down the hall. It's there that Noah sees something unbelievable. Well, honestly, it's not believable, if you understand the distinction.
Out in a common area, a dozen or so men were gathered together having coffee and a collegial chat with some uniformed police. He stood and stepped closer to the glass, trying hard to believe his eyes.
In this surreal gathering was every heckler, every troublemaker who had made himself apparent during the speeches at the bar. Every one of them was dressed similarly, the differences being confined to the inflammatory slogans on their clothing and their selection of cracker-chic accessories. When scattered among a larger group they'd been harder to spot as co-conspirators, but all together like this, with their guard down, their costumes were obvious and their mannerisms out of character. It looked like the after-party of a Larry the Cable Guy stunt-double audition at Central Casting.
One of them matched a picture in Noah's memory to the very last detail. He was sure this time: the man was wearing a loud flannel shirt, a hunter's vest, a do-rag torn from the corner of a Confederate battle flag, and a shoulder holster.
So, yeah, the agitators? All undercover agents. They were at the rally to stir up shit, to cause a riot, to bring down the average in Noah's outstanding record of success with the ladies. Noah is freaked out by this revelation.
Which is odd, don't you think? All of it is. Again, going back to Noah's' earlier professed ability to spot an infiltrator, he missed all of the undercover cops. And he just spent the afternoon in a meeting about implementing the New World Order, and he's stunned to see it taking place. Noah's fancypants prep-school education obviously didn't buy him any critical thinking skills.
Nelan tells Noah he's pulled all the strings he can, and if he "so much as jaywalks" there is nothing he'll be able to do. Noah doesn't care.
"Those guys, right out there"—Noah pointed through the glass, and Charlie looked briefly in that direction—"they were at this meeting tonight, where all this happened, and they were there specifically to start something. When they got tired of waiting for the people to get violent they did it themselves."
"Let me see if I understand you. You're saying that you think an undercover New York City police officer discharged his weapon in a crowded bar to incite this whole incident?"
Nelan says it doesn't matter if he did. Noah disagrees. Because he's becoming a Better Man. "That guy right there, the one with the visitor's badge and the holster under his vest, that's the guy who fired the shots that started all this!" Oh, the humanity!
Noah refuses to leave. "Not without everybody else who was brought in with me." (To hell with the drunks and rent boys!) Nelan complains about opening "this can of worms again" (huh?) and says he won't be able to do anything without Darthur's say-so.
That wasn't welcome news, but Noah took a deep breath and nodded his permission.
Oh dear. Daddy issues. Very thrilling. Less thrilling: Everything else.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
[Background.]
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Why Does Joe The Plumber Hate Puppies?
Joe The Plumber, the Tea Party, and the Alliance For Truth have taken on the most evil of evil organizations. (No, not NAMBLA.) I'm talking about The Humane Society. Yes, the evil, despicable, free-market-hating Humane Society.
Proposition B or the "Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act" ... aims to help eliminate the "3000 puppy mills" in Missouri that constitute "30% of all puppy mills in the U.S.," according to Michael Markarian, the Chief Operating Officer of the HSUS.The Alliance For Truth (HA!) will have none of that and are fighting back against this "radical agenda." Or, as spokesdouche Joe The Plumber says, the propsed bill is "taking our constitutional rights away."
Oh, okay.
Good to know Joe The Plumber and the Tea Party are moving forward on their pro-puppy kicking platform. Nice.
Et Tu, Rendell?
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is the latest prominent Democrat to tell progressives to suck it up and vote blue:
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says discouraged liberals need to "get over it" and support the Democratic Party, before they regret it.1. The Democratic Party ain't exactly the Democratic Party of old, either. In many ways, that's a good thing, because the party has progressed with the country on many social issues, even when it still lags behind public opinion. But in other ways, it's lamentable: The Democratic Party of the New Deal has been replaced by the Democratic Party of the Bipartisan Deal.
"This isn't about President [Barack] Obama," Rendell said on MSNBC's "Last Word" Monday night. "It's about whether the Democratic Party, not perfect, but certainly bent on trying to preserve theories in government and progressive practices, is going to be in charge of the Congress or the Republican Party. And it's not the Republican Party of old. This is a scary Republican Party."
Of conflicts the left has had with Obama, Rendell said, "We ought to get over it."
"If we've got some issues with President Obama, save them for another day," he said.
2. Saving one's grievances "for another day" in the age of corporate personhood and unlimited political contributions is increasingly futile, as Election Day is the only day that the average person's voice still has even a remote chance of carrying over the din of lobbyists shuttling between elected officials and their corporate masters.
3. It isn't just the president with whose governance many progressives have issues; the Congressional Dems aren't exactly covering themselves in glory lately, either.
4. Hey, Rendell, maybe instead of yelling at us, you should yell at the dipshits in your state who are trying to exploit the abortion exception in the health care bill, which was proposed, championed, and ultimately supported by the Democrats you're admonishing us to vote for, without a trace of irony that THIS IS THE KIND OF SHIT that's alienating progressives from your retrofuck party who's actually moving BACKWARDS on women's autonomy.
Harrumph.
Predatory D.A., Part III
(Trigger Warning for attempts to coerce sex from a position of authority, and prosecutorial misconduct toward a victim of domestic violence)
Wisconsin's Calumet County D. A. Ken Kratz, whose attempts to coerce women who came to him for professional help (including a victim of domestic violence whose assailant he was prosecuting) into sexual relationships were detailed here and here, has resigned, faced with a hearing on removing him from office which was called by the governor after receiving formal complaints about Kratz from citizens.
In a statement, Kratz said that he had lost the confidence of those he represented
primarily due to personal issues which have now affected my professional career.No.
Following the announcement of the hearing, Kratz was said to be receiving "inpatient therapy". Unfortunately, this therapy seems to have been unsuccessful in pulling Kratz' head out of his ass. These were not "personal issues"; they were explicitly professional issues in which Kratz attempted to use his powerful position to re-victimize a woman who was dependent on him to prosecute the man who tried to kill her, and in which he attempted to use that same professional position to gain sexual advantage from several other women.
For Kratz, though, the central tragedy here is still that his "professional career" has been adversely affected. The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation, before Kratz's behavior became a public scandal, had told the woman whose ex-boyfriend Kratz was charged with prosecuting that the series of 30 text messages he had sent her after meeting with her about the case, in which he repeatedly suggested she become sexually involved with him, leading her to fear that if she did not give him what he wanted he might drop the prosecution of her attacker, "did not appear to involve possible professional misconduct".
Following publication of the story, however, both the governor and state representative Terese Berceau questioned that judgment. We can only hope that Kratz's resignation does not end the consideration of his abuse of his position.
H/T Liss
Quote of the Day
[TW for discussion of suicide.]
"Learning about the suicide deaths of Tyler Clementi, Seth Walsh, Asher Brown, Billy Lucas and Justin Aaberg has been heartbreaking for me. These young people were bullied and tormented by people that should have been their friends. We have a responsibility to be better to each other, and accept each others' differences regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ability, or religion and stand up for someone when they're bullied." — Daniel Radcliffe, discussing the Trevor Project with MTV.com.
On the Dutch Elections, Part Three
by Shaker Glauke
[Part One can be read here; Part Two can be read here.]
The New Dutch Government: the News Is Not Good
It looks as if, after the general elections in June yielded a very unclear result, and after two failed attempts at building a coalition, the Dutch will finally have a government before the end of the month.
There is no clear consensus among the electorate about either the problems or the solutions. The last two months the CDA and VVD (see footnote) have held negotiations with Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (FP). The basic idea: CDA and VVD would form the coalition government, and their policy agreements would be supported by FP, though FP is not part of government. This means that Wilders has free reign, and is not being made responsible for governing. He gets influence on policy without having to take actual responsibility.
Last week, the concept-agreement was published. There are some Christian Democrats in parliament who objected to working with FP, but it seems that it will come to pass. With a majority of 1 vote (76 out of 150 seats) in Parliament, they will start implementing their plans. I have been reading them over the weekend, and here is a selection of my likes and dislikes in the proposals.
The Likes
In Dutch we have the saying that even a non-working clock indicates the correct time twice a day. When you say a lot of words, you're liable to right about something.
The new coalition will develop concrete policy for the emancipation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Hate crimes will be penalised more severely. The Veteran's Law that's being devised in parliament will be introduced. (The Vet Law that the ministry of Defence had drafted wasn't as good for our veterans as the proposal from parliament. I don't know why that is either.) There is a paragraph on animal welfare, including the intention to promote alternatives to animal testing, and more effective strategies to combat illegal trade in exotic species and animal abuse. Part of that will come of 500 new specialised animal cops. A dedicated telephone number will be introduced where animal abuse can be reported. The availability of GPs will be improved. The quality of surface water will be improved, particularly in urban areas. This is an important statement, because in our current implementation of the European Framework Directive on Water Quality, very little attention is paid to this. Criminal law for adolescents will be introduced. I'm tentatively labeling it good news, because I hope it means a focus on socialisation and treatment of the various psychological problems that underlie much of the criminality, but I'm not yet sure that's the case, though. Minimum age for being a sex worker is moved up to 21. Human trafficking will be investigated more, and prosecuted more heavily. The statute of limitations on violent crime and sexual abuse will be increased.
The Dislikes
Among the dislikes, these are the ones that really rattled my nerves. This is however, a selection.
Government will consider new mission requests from NATO (read: for a mission in Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan). However, these missions are likely to be mixed military-civilian, which is bad at least for the civilians. Adding insult to injury, these missions will increasingly be funded from development aid funds—funds that are already being slashed. The army will also become a full partner in the struggle (AD: note they're not using the word war here!) against drugs, terrorism, illegal immigration and piracy.
There is no ambition on safeguarding our national landscapes. There will be no saving natural habitats beyond what is completely mandatory under EU law. Construction in the Green Heart will be allowed, sacrificing an important piece of cultural historical landscape.
Animal welfare is mentioned, though it's made clear that it will only be pursued in European context. National legislation will not be made.
Diseases with a "low burden" will no longer be covered in the basic health care package. The number of IVF treatments covered in the basic health care package will be reduced to one. I mention this one because my SO has psoriasis, or more accurately arthritis psiariatica. His current (expensive) medication allows him to function normally, but it bars us from conceiving naturally. IVF was our back up plan. I'm a little afraid what this will mean for us. But then, I have a tendency to be afraid.
Which brings us to:
Psychological problems are treated in two 'lines' of care, first line for not-so-heavy problems, the second line for heavier problems that require more and more specialised care. The premium for first line care will be upped, and premiums will be introduced for second line care. The number of visits covered will be decreased to five. If a patient doesn't show up for hir appointment, zhie will have to pay for it personally.
The central goal of the new immigration policy will be a decrease of the number of immigrants, unless of course they are 'knowledge workers'. Illegal residence will be made a criminal offence. The eviction of undocumented aliens is supposed to take place more often (side note: because I worked for the organisation responsible for such evictions as a temp I know what a hairy, difficult process it is, and how unlikely to succeed). A naturalised citizen is required to (attempt to) relinquish hir other nationality. If zhie commits a grave crime, zhie shall lose hir Dutch citizenship. I assume this means rendering hir stateless.
The options for preventive searching will be widened. There will be more camera surveillance. The intake of TBS will be decreased. TBS used to a point of pride for me: when a person cannot be held responsible for hir crimes because zhie was suffering from a mental illness, zhie could receive treatment as part of the 'punishment'. Government will prepare a privatisation of the prison system.
The Quiet
There are many things CDA, VVD, and FP discussed. But there are a couple of things they are eerily quiet about. Climate change stands out. FP is (of course, of course) in the denier-camp. VVD has been moving in that direction, too. CDA, I'm not sure where they stand. With the agro-industrial complex, I guess. Which is why the European fishery policy is mentioned, but overfishing isn't.
Finally, the hypotheekrenteaftrek, which translates loosely into mortgage interest return. When you take a mortgage to buy a house, you get the interest back from the government. This outragous scheme benefits people with large houses more than it does low-income people, and costs the government approximately 9 billion a year. Yet this arrangement is left intact. Oh, and although animal welfare is mentioned, CAFOs are not. Really odd, that.
---------------------------
CDA: Christian-Democrats, centre right, mostly Christian, some Muslim members.
VVD: economically liberal, socially conservative-leaning.
Freedom Party: one member, Geert Wilders, formerly VVD. Profoundly anti-Muslim, tough on immigration and crime, but soft on issues like elderly care.
Sex in the US
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's Comment is free America about the newly released results of Indiana University's National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior:
"The surprise we found in this survey is the variability and diversity of the way people conduct their sex lives," says [Logan Levkoff, a New York University sexologist].Read the whole thing here.
Frankly, I'm more surprised by the surprise with which the findings – that teens are sexually responsible, sex lives are varied, and people view themselves on a sliding scale of sexuality – are being met. The shock that Americans are not puritans is not only outdated – surely, we've all known Americans aren't doing it missionary-style through hole-punched fuck sheets ever since Dr. Kinsey got a boner staring at gall wasps – but, ironically, seems indicative of the false puritanism that guides much of the US's public discourse about sex and sexuality.
We insistently believe ourselves to be puritans despite all evidence to the contrary, an intractable myth periodically punctuated by the findings of some sex researcher or another, who reveals to us the true nature of our naughtiness – and, oh, how we love to gasp at our scandalously sexy sexbusiness!
But even the actual Puritans weren't puritans. (This lady knows what I'm talking about.) And despite the collective apoplexy about the appearance of a boob at a football game or a naked butt in primetime, what happens behind closed doors has never had any relationship to the public sanctimony about sex and sexuality peddled by pecksniffs who parade a contrived virtue to bored busybodies.
The profound disconnect between who we are and who we regard ourselves to be would be amusing if it weren't so dangerous.
"I Did an Evening of Vegetables Off-Broadway!"
(About the title: check out this clip from Tootsie and the partial transcript below the fold for context.)
We seem to have a carrot theme today. I'm inspired to do my part.
My younger sister's birthday rolled around again last month, and I knew she wanted a carrot cake. She requested a straightforward carrot cake with walnuts but no pineapple or coconut. A carrot cake with classic cream cheese frosting, but not too much. And absolutely no bakery-style piped icing carrots on top.
Turns out, it's pretty hard to find a satisfactory straightforward carrot cake recipe. I tinkered around with a mixture of Alton Brown's recipe and the one for carrot cake cupcakes from Thomas Keller's ad hoc at home. The final recipe is significantly different from either source. To cut down on the amount of frosting, I made up a tangy carrot and apricot jam to go between the cake layers. The recipes are below the fold. I baked the layers separately in case the experimental recipe was a disaster, so I have not tried doubling it.
TheLadyEve had vehemently denounced "those piped carrots" on bakery carrot cakes, so my big sister and I decided there should definitely be some kind of carrot on top of the cake for that all-important smartass factor. It was Labor Day weekend, and we gave TheLadyEve ocean-related gifts for her soap-making--sea salt, sea mud, ground seaweed. So we chose a beach theme:
A chocolate plastic carrot relaxes on a ground-walnut beach beside a cream cheese frosting sea.
The final touch: a paper umbrella in the carrot's drink. Meta!
From Tootsie. This excerpt begins around 2:40 in the linked clip:
GEORGE: You got one of the worst reputations in this town, Michael: nobody will hire you.
MICHAEL: Are you saying that nobody in New York will work with me?
GEORGE: Oh, no--that's too limited. Nobody in Hollywood wants to work with you either. I can't even send you up for a commercial--you play the tomato for thirty seconds, they went a half a day over-schedule 'cause you wouldn't sit down!
MICHAEL: Yes. It wasn't logical.
GEORGE: You were a tomato! A tomato doesn't have logic! A tomato can't move!
MICHAEL: That's what I said! So if he can't move, how's he gonna sit down, George? I was a stand-up tomato, a juicy, sexy, Beefsteak tomato! Nobody does vegetables like me--I did an evening of vegetables off-Broadway. I did the best tomato, the best cucumber--I did an endive salad that knocked the critics on their ass!
GEORGE: Michael, I--I'm trying to stay calm here. You, uh, are a wonderful actor--
MICHAEL: Thank you.
GEORGE: But you're Too. Much. Trouble--get some therapy.
MICHAEL: OK thanks--I'm going to raise eight thousand dollars and I'm gonna do Jeff's play.
GEORGE: Michael? You're not going to raise twenty-five cents: no-one will hire you.
MICHAEL: Oh yeah?
[Cut to first scene of Michael Dorsey dressed as Dorothy Michaels, on a crowded New York street]
Finally, the cake recipe. I frosted it with Alton Brown's basic cream cheese frosting.
Straight-Up Carrot Cake with Walnuts
For one 10 x 2-inch layer (have not yet tried doubling):
2.5 cups sifted cake four (scant)
3 cups carrots, medium-grate (5 large peeled and trimmed carrots)
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons spice mix (see below)
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon white sugar
½ cup gently-packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
5 ounces plain yogurt
7 ounces canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup chopped toasted walnuts
Spice mix (about enough for two cake layers. I include the brands I used; substitute as necessary):
1 Tablespoon King Arthur Vietnamese cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Penzey’s Baking Spice
2 teaspoons Penzey’s french four spice
1 teaspoon added ginger (there is some in the four-spice)
1 teaspoon added cardamom (there’s a bit in the Baking Spice)
½ teaspoon fresh-ground grains of paradise
1 small pinch of saffron, powdered as finely as possible
2 pinches finely powdered Hu Kwa tea (smoky black tea), stem bits removed (about one-eighth teaspoon).
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Butter and flour a 10-inch round and 2-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
Set aside grated carrots and walnuts in separate containers.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl and set aside.
Put yogurt, sugars, eggs and extract into mixer with paddle attachment. Mix until sugar is dissolved. With mixer running, drizzle in oil and beat until thoroughly mixed. Mix in dry ingredients, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in carrots and walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 and bake 15 minutes longer, until skewer stuck in the center comes out clean and cake has pulled away from sides of pan. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes; de-pan and cool completely.
Carrot Jam Filling, if doing two layers:
¾ bag of baby carrots
10 dried apricot halves
¼ cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
Heat and cover; allow to steam until the carrots are very tender (20 minutes)
Add the following:
Half a jar of apricot preserves
The rind of one lime and the juice of 2 (one lemon would work instead)
A few grinds grains of paradise
A small pinch of saffron, powdered
2 tablespoons of cognac
2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons of cold butter
Puree with a blender or food processor and chill.
I Just Don't Even Have Words
[Trigger warning for contempt for women's bodily autonomy and hostility to survivors of sexual assault.]
Proposed state legislation in Pennsylvania, introduced by a Republican dude named Don White, who is at very low risk for sexual assault and will never need an abortion, would "prohibit private health insurance plans sold in Pennsylvania's state 'exchange'—created under the new federal health care law—from offering abortions and require rape victims to report the crime within 72 hours in order to receive an abortion."
The insurance exchanges, which don't go into effect until 2014, will serve those who do not have access to employer-based health plans, including the unemployed and small business employees.So basically what we have here is the intersection of exceptioneering and craven Democratic capitulation, and exactly what wasn't supposed to happen when feminists/womanists asserted that women had been sold out for insurance reform is now happening. With an added twist of hostility toward rape survivors.
Under the law, any health insurance plan that contracts with the exchange must create a system to ensure no federal funds are used for abortion coverage -- including the collection of two separate payments from the beneficiary, one for abortion coverage and one for all other health care coverage.
The proposed bill would deny insurance plans participating in the exchange from covering abortions except in cases where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or where the life of the woman is in danger.
I just don't even have words. This shit had better fail.
Calling All Eccentric Billionaires
Nate Silver on the odds of a third-party presidential bid in 2012.
This is a real thing in the world.
Transcript:
Voiceover: "Brought to you by a bunch of carrot farmers." Shot of man in shopping cart equipped with jet engine, racing down hill. Scary cookie monster voiceover shouts: "Baby carrots! Yeah! Baby carrots! Woah! Baby carrots!" Man in shopping cart screams "Baby carrots!" Woman at bottom of hill yells enthusiastically. Shopping cart jumps off edge of cliff as man screams. Woman screams and opens fire with what appears to be an anti-aircraft gun shooting baby carrots at man in cart. Monstery voiceover "Baby! Carrots! Extreme! Impossible! Stunts!" Man catches baby carrot in his teeth. Monstery voiceover "Baby! Carrots!" Shopping cart jet explodes. Man stands, holds baby carrot over his head in victory. He screams "Baby carrots!" A pterodactyl swoops down and steals the carrot from the man's hand. Monstery voiceover "Extreme pterodactyl!" Graphic appears reading "Eat 'em like junk food." Monstery voiceover "Baby! Carrots! Now in extreme junk food packaging!"
Well, Everything's Our Fault, So I Guess It Makes Sense
USA Today—Elections are likely to trim number of women in Congress:
The prospects for female congressional candidates have been hurt by a combination of a tough political landscape for Democrats — women in Congress are disproportionately Democratic— and the nation's economic troubles. Hard times historically have made voters more risk-averse and less willing to consider voting for female candidates.That's depressing. Even more depressing is that the article contains this line: "Beyond bragging rights, does having women in Congress make a difference?"
Bottom line: Independent analysts predict that the number of women in Congress — currently 56 Democrats and 17 Republicans in the House, and 13 Democrats and four Republicans in the Senate — will decline for the first time in three decades.
At least the article allows the answer yes. But that the question even frames a basic equality as "bragging rights" is absurd. This is meant to be a representative democracy. Fair representation should be a given, and its achievement regarded as the long overdue rectification of a shameful injustice, not the equivalent of a beer pong win for the ladies.
Question of the Day
What's your favorite season?
Mine is autumn. Of course, if you ask me in the spring on a particularly beautiful day, I might give you a different answer.
Quote of the Day
"We will not restore this nation with public policy alone. It will require public virtue and that emanates from the traditional institutions of family and religion. ... To those who say that marriage doesn't matter, I say: You would not be able to print enough money in 1,000 years to pay for the government you would need if the traditional family continues to collapse."—Republican Congressional Representative from Indiana and Professional Embarrassment to Progressive Hoosiers Mike Pence, on why preventing marriage equality is as important (more important?) than fixing the economy.
I live in Indiana, in the shadow of a decimated steel industry where the most popular occupation of my friends' fathers growing up was "laid off" and where you're greeted at the local unemployment office by a man who tells you if you're not a nurse or truck driver, you're probably going to have a hard time finding work.
The only people who give a fuck about preventing legal same-sex marriage around here are straight bigots so rich they've got nothing else to worry about or so poor they've got nothing of which to be proud in our fucked-up consumerist culture besides their unearned and undeserved hetero privilege.
Everyone else is talking about the crumbling goddamn roads.
