sisu

We are all Cains and Abels now

"Terry Schiavo Dies but Feud Continues," goes the headline. Same old same old.  As the little old lady in "Airplane!" says, "It's a shame you two don't get 'long." Believer or not, it's all in the Holy Bible, from Cain and Abel on down. We are all Cains and Abels now.

Even as the bloggers who've taken sides in the all-too-public private agony of this unhappy extended family continue to post -- some with heart-felt messages of condolence to the suffering parties, others with unseemly "de-linking" orgies -- John Paul's worsening condition takes center stage.

The moving finger writes: and having writ, moves on. The entire episode exposed previously unnoticed faults in the political landscape within both sides of the aisle.  In that sense it revealed we are not just a nation of blue-staters and red-staters.  There are a lot of shades of purple out there among right-to-lifers, right-to-die-ers and everyone in between. Let us take our lead from Terri Schiavo's brother -- live now in a family press conference -- asking for all to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Let us bow our heads in humility at the terrible forces of nature -- and of God for those who believe -- and hold our tongues for at least one news cycle to honor the dead. May she rest in peace.

"We value all input from consumers"

Wanna know how out of it some marketing folks are?  Here's the message we received from Martha A. Larkin, Consumer Relations Department of Just Born, Inc., the folks that make Peeps, after we sent her our brilliant new Peeps breakthrough recipe:

Dear Sissy,

We received your recent e-mail message.

We certainly appreciate that you shared your recipe.  If you like, you can submit your recipe to the Recipe and Craft portion of our website.

We value all input from consumers.  Many enhancements are planned for our website over time, so you may wish to visit us periodically.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

And thank you, Martha, for taking the time to send us an automated response. First of all, how important does it make a customer feel to be told "We certainly appreciate that you shared your recipe"?  And then to be told "We value all input from consumers."

Everybody's special.  Even you, loser.  How pathetic. Remind us never to buy a Peep again.

Honing our debating and intellectual survival skills

"Bradley is wrong to suggest that Democrats mimic Republican methods," writes TigerHawk this morning re the former senator's much-blogged NYT op ed -- blogged here earlier this afternoon:

In order for the Bradley strategy to succeed, Democrats would need to attract many more executives and soldiers into their party elites, and all the lawyers, professors, activists and unionists would have to be willing to follow their orders in the interests of victory. What are the chances that will occur?

No. The Democrats need to find their own way, capitalizing on their own strengths. They need to get control the levers of power in state governments so that they win the close elections (as they did in Washington but did not in Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004). They need to motivate their huge base of students, retired people and teachers to get the word out, door-to-door.

We doubt it. As blogged here a couple of weeks back, we are more inclined to believe that the left has become soft and flabby in their thinking -- in academia and leftist think tanks -- over the last 20, 30 or more years because their fellow travelers in the mainstream media -- supposed to be keeping them honest -- have been giving them a free ride, even as thinkers of the right, not enjoying such reflexive support, have been honing our debating and intellectual survival skills. That leaves the left unprepared and the right battle ready.

What is the point of being a Democrat?

"Is it a mystery that academics tend to vote for the Democratic candidate, despite this lack of coherent ideas?" asks Ann Althouse, commenting on Former Senator Bill Bradley's flawed but interesting analysis in a NYT op ed of what went wrong in the last election and what the Democrats should do about it.  Bradley looks to the Republicans:

When the Goldwater Republicans lost in 1964, they didn't try to become Democrats. They tried to figure out how to make their own ideas more appealing to the voters. As part of this effort, they turned to Lewis Powell, then a corporate lawyer and soon to become a member of the United States Supreme Court. In 1971 he wrote a landmark memo for the United States Chamber of Commerce in which he advocated a sweeping, coordinated and long-term effort to spread conservative ideas on college campuses, in academic journals and in the news media.

In Powell's blueprint, big individual donors and large foundations were the base of a pyramid, funding conservative think tanks that developed ideas at the next level. Then came political strategists to turn the ideas into soundbites and partisan news media to get the word out, with the president at the top of the pyramid. According to Bradley, the Democrats have an inverted pyramid, based upon one charismatic leader able to win the presidency. Without him -- read Bill Clinton in the last two elections -- the pyramid topples.

But as Gerry at Daly Thoughts [via Ann] points out:

If [the Democrats] are really serious, they would examine which came first -- conservative ideas and philosophy, or the "pyramid' structure Bradley describes. Which came first, Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative, or the structure Bradley says was developed after Goldwater’s loss in 1964?

The book came first. The movement did not generate the coherent vision; the coherent vision drove the movement.

Which gets us back to Ann, who says "Perhaps intellectuals are more comfortable with freewheeling, pragmatic politics than the average citizen":

But Bradley is still right: the Democrats should develop a coherent ideology in order to speak persuasively to that average citizen, who longs for ideas that make sense.

We don't know nothin' 'bout "freewheeling, pragmatic politics," but if Democrats don't have a coherent ideology, what is the point of being a Democrat? Or do they, in fact, have an ideology -- the failed nanny-state, socialism-lite agenda that dare not speak its name, the L word?

One more thought.  Bradley's essay doesn't acknowledge the fact of human nature that fat cats oil the machinery on both sides of the aisle. Has he bought the liberal myth that the Democrats are a party of "the people"? The real story behind the "grassroots" finance "reform" movement comes to mind. As we blogged here, citing Ryan H. Sager's exposé, campaign finance reform was "a plot by ideologues to restrict the speech of their fellow citizens while reserving a special free-speech zone for themselves," stealth funded by over $140 million of ultra-liberal foundation money from the likes of the Ford Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Institute. The Democrats have got their pyramid, all right, but it's not so much inverted as perverted.

How a U.N. really works

Reader BJ of Quite Early One Morning alerts us to "How A Dishwasher Really Works" [via fred1st at Fragments From Floyd 9, who claims the same sort of thing goes on at his house, but "if you ever come to dinner, we'll use the new paper plates." Uh, huh.]

"How a Dishwasher Really Works" -- cleaning the dishes via doggie tongue (above) or kittie tongue (blogged here) -- calls to mind "How A U.N. Really Works."  No corruption here.  Clean as a whistle. Have the assistant toss any incriminating evidence into the shredder, and investigator Paul Volcker is forced to admit there's "no evidence" to prove any wrongdoing.  Kofi Annan is deeply saddened.  He had no idea what that rascally boy of his was up to. For all the latest, check out Roger L. Simon -- who has sources -- The Wall Street Journal's Claudia Rosett -- who's been on the case forever -- and our own Tiger Hawk -- who always seems to be ahead of the curve in these matters.

I'm laughin' at clouds so dark up above*

Normal rush-hour conditions prevail under rainy skies at the Hampton Toll Booth heading south this morning.

It was raining cats and dogs on our return trip to Chelsea from Goomp's this morning, but traffic moved right along through the Hampton Toll Booth. Nothing like our post-Christmas Ride from Hell -- three months back -- when a raging snowstorm produced white-out conditions and hour-long delays, not to mention white knuckles on our part (it was all a piece of cake for Tuck, a seasoned Vermont winter driver from his college days at Marlboro).  As we blogged then:

Once at the toll booth, we found the roadway strewn with shattered automobile parts and the nose-smashed remnants of a multi-car pile-up.

What a difference a season makes. Not that rain can't be a huge problem when drivers don't use common sense. We had a near miss during a downpour not too long ago (don't remember exactly when), again on a return trip from Goomp's, when an SUV came up way too fast behind us on a slippery curve coming into Chelsea. Tuck caught him in the rearview mirror and slowed down, pulling off to the side.  The SUV passed us, skidded and went careening into the median barrier, flipping over, landing on its roof and coming to rest only100 feet ahead of us. There was that moment when time stood still and we weren't sure whether we were about to meet our maker.

*"Singin' in the Rain"

Spring training

The batter is up in a rousing game of Catnip Mouseball.

They're no superballs, but Tiny manages to get a lot of action out of Lucie's catnip toys, catching, tossing, batting them around the floor before settling in for a good gnaw:

Following a grand slam, she takes refreshment on the sidelines.

Handy to have the mouseball filled with your favorite recreational drug (Nepeta cataria).

Update: Carnival of the Cats is up at the best-named blog ever was, Music and Cats, where three magnificent felines reign. Not only that, the Professor has given a nod to the ailurosphere.

Eating high on the hog

We let our magnificent Crown Roast rest, loosely covered with foil, for about a half hour while we put the finishing touches on the other dishes for Easter Dinner at Goomp's.

Crown Roast of Pork -- 8 pounds with about 12 ribs -- is easy as pie. Brush with oil and rub with mixture of salt, pepper, sugar, thyme and sage. Mound stuffing (see below) in center, cover rib tips with foil and bake in roasting pan at 450o for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325o and continue roasting till thermometer inserted in center registers 150o, about 1 hour and 50 minutes.  Remove foil and continue cooking till thermometer registers 155o, about 15 minutes. Let roast rest, loosely covered with foil, before cutting between ribs.

Giant faux foil-wrapped chocolate bunny with colored eggs and Peter Rabbit himself graced the Easter table at Goomp's.

Apple and Sausage Stuffing can be made a day ahead and stored in refrigerator. Saute 6 cloves garlic, chopped, and two apples, pared and coarsely chopped, in 1/2 stick butter in a large heavy pan at medium heat. Add three sweet sausages, breaking them up as you cook till sausage is browned.  Add half bag of Seasoned Arnold or Pepperidge Farm stuffing, one can chicken broth and a cup of cider. Cook till well blended, adding more liquid if necessary for a firm but moist stuffing.

Crown Roast with Apple and Sausage Stuffing topped by Perfect Gravy make an elegant setting for the crown jewel, Sweet Potato aux Peeps (see previous post).

A visually rich composition of sweet and savory, smooth and textured brings rave reviews from assembled guests.  "It's the best Easter Dinner I've ever had" claimed Goomp.  Satisfying but not glutting. No post-turkey slump.

Perfect Gravy. A neat trick we learned from epicurious.com.  Pour off all pan juices into a measuring cup and put into freezer for 15 minutes to separate fat (handy when you forget to pack your glass fat separator from home).  Skim off most of fat, and return juices to roasting pan. Add 1 cup cider and 1/2 cup broth, and boil to reduce liquid about 5 minutes.  For thickener, dissolve 4 teaspoons cornstarch in 2 tablespoons bourbon and whisk into the pan mixture.

Cornstarch or flour? Both will float your gravy boat.  But flour makes an opaque, velvety gravy -- perfect for your Thanksgiving turkey and requisite overload of fat-laden side dishes -- while cornstarch yields a transparent, silky gravy that complements the lighter repast that accompanied our Easter pork.

A holiday tradition is hatched

We took traditional pureed baked sweet potatoes*  with minature marshmallows and -- as Emeril would say -- kicked it up a notch! with a circle of Peeps (main ingredient: sugar).

"Which came first, the Peep or the egg?" We found the answer in our experimental Easter Kitchen at Goomp's yesterday.

Ready for the Big Test, Peeps roost at attention.

After baking the puree at 375o for 30 minutes, we added the festive birds and put the casserole back into the oven for 5 more minutes.

In they go, holding their heads high.

Would they hold their shape, or would they dissolve into pools of marshmallow fluff?

First came the Peeps, then the eggs. Under extreme temperature conditions, they puffed up into ovoid versions of themselves.

Well look at that!  The Peeps are still roosting but have lost some of their definition, looking more like eggs than chickens.

Losing some of their puffiness as they cool, the Peeps return to an approximation of their original chickeny selves.

Taking pride of place on the Easter Table, the Peeps win the hearts and minds of all for their sheer cuteness and fortitude under duress.

All eyes are on Sweet Potato aux Peeps, newest star in the Easter table constellation.

Once on the plate and in the mouth, a pleasant surprise.  Still retaining their outside shape, the Peeps are liquid inside, spilling out and blending deliciously with each forkful of sweet potato puree. A holiday tradition is hatched.

*Sweet Potato aux Peeps: Bake 8 sweet potatoes 1 1/2-2 hours at 350o till soft.  Remove flesh and puree in batches in food processor, blend in 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows, and pour into 9" quiche-type casserole dish. Bake 30 minutes at 375o. Arrange peeps around edge and bake 5 more minutes.

Easter egg hunt

Google is politically correct.  How sad. Michelle Malkin reports:

A reader notes that Google usually changes its logo on holidays such as St. Patrick's Day, World Water Day, and so on. So, he asks, "why no logo for Easter?"

'Sounds like the good folks at Google may be in the no-more-Mr-Easter-bunny camp. We're tempted to start searching elsewhere.  How petty, how petulant, how pathetic. Here's how they see themselves, all warm and fuzzy, as described in a Korea Herald article:

With its seemingly magical ability to produce the most relevant search results, Google is already an established destination for the Internet savvy. Recently, [Dennis] Hwang's creative logos have been expressing the playful heart of Google behind the impressive technology.

That's what we had thought, too, till now.  Can Michelle's reader be right? Says multiculturalist Google logo artist Hwang:

Google makes a big effort to recognize holidays that aren't necessarily mainstream.

Yah, and a big effort to avoid recognizing traditional American holidays? We noticed they did have Easter logos in 2000 and 2001. Maybe it's just a reflection of designer Hwang's taste. Or is it a p.c. agenda from the guys upstairs?