Episode 43: The End Is Near

Going, going...
In all the excitement and furious back-and-forth of the election campaign, we should take time to savor the day-to-day erosion of the relevance of the viciously wrong-headed pipsqueak who has dragged our country to the edge of the abyss.
Soon he will be gone.
Now what we must do is ensure that conservative control of the White House will end in eleven months.
By now you know my choice for the person to do that. But please send money to Obama or Clinton. Volunteer for either if you have the time and energy. Talk to your friends. We must begin reformation. It will take years to remove the stain of this vile administration and its enablers.
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"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
- Blaise Pascal (17th Century)

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Six-Word Biographies
Have you caught this fleeting little mini-fad? It's said to be based upon a boozy question posed to Ernest Hemingway in a bar. Could he compress his life's story in only six words?

He could: "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."

A magazine solicitation for additional minimalist bios drew these, among many:

"Shook family tree. Nuts fell out."
"Not quite what I was planning."
"Had my cake and ate it."
"No man. I prefer dogs anyway."
"I need sex. I hate men."
"Fifty years. No evidence God exists."

And my favorite:

"I shaved my legs for this?

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There's Something Around The Ayes
So long, maverick. We used to think you made some sense, for a Republican. Remember back when McCain correctly disparaged the Confederate flag as a "symbol of racism and slavery" and condemned Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance"? Behold the front-runner backpedaling from those truths and accepting the endorsements of Jerry and Pat.
McCain wasn't against the obscene Iraq war, but he didn't like the way it was conducted. Now he's a cheerleader for "The Surge" on the grounds that daily death tolls have tailed off to a mere 40 or 60 or 120.
McCain's idea of health care isn't expanding it to the 50 million who haven't any. He figures he'll just cut costs for those who can afford it.
He has stated that his notion of an ideal Supreme Court justice is Antonin Scalia.
McCain was against making the Bush tax breaks permanent. Now he isn't. Presumably he has fallen in with the near-childlike conservative conviction that if you don't tax wealthy people and the corporations which make them richer, freshets of money will dribble through their fingers and down into the pockets of lower economic classes.
Yet tax cuts lower revenues and increase federal deficits. Republican denial of that indisputable fact is laughable. Social Security and Medicare - and wars - must be funded. By taxes. It would help if we didn't launch unnecessary wars to drain our treasury. But as we slide inexorably into the second Dubya recession, to allow hedge fund managers and CEOs to swallow up tens of millions of dollars in unjustified compensation is nothing less than evil.
Politics require compromise. It would be admirable if McCain didn't feel it required abject pandering.

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Stop Picking At It
Italian men have a habit of grabbing their crotches and giving whatever resides there a little heft when any number of events take place in their presence - when a funeral procession passes, when a shapely woman walks by, when he receives a challenge to his masculinity.
But now, Italy's highest court has decreed that men can't do that in public anymore. No more adjusting the jewels where any but his nearest and dearest can see.
Aren't you pleased to have Geezer to alert you to these cosmic shifts in social policy?

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Ic Pilavi
Rice Pilaf with Currants and Pine Nuts

Pilafs , based primarily on rice but also on other grains, are common side dishes in the Turkish repertoire. They're tasty and easy to prepare. This recipe is adapted from
The Sultan's Kitchen by Ozcan Ozan. Serves 4.

One-quarter cup dried black currants
Cooking spray
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
One-third cup pine nuts
1 medium yellow onion, diced
One-and-a-half cups white rice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Two-and-a-half cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
One-quarter cup fresh dill, chopped

Soak the currants for 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a pot or saucepan large enough to contain all the ingredients, coat the bottom and sides with cooking spray and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Heat over medium heat and cook the pine nuts and onion, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Before the pine nuts start to blacken, add the rice, currants, cinnamon, and optional sugar. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Immediately lower the heat, cover the pot or pan and cook at a low simmer for 15-17 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the parsley and dill. Let stand for a few minutes, then serve.

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