Climate Justice Feast: Ethiopian Stew

If you’re like me and came of cognitive age in the 70s and 80s than the term “Ethiopian Stew” probably sounds like the punchline to a sick joke, as all through that era those poor people suffered through famine after famine (somehow these things actually occurred before George Bush became President; hard to believe, isn’t it?) while their nice socialist leaders imported loads of scotch to celebrate their glorious revolution. So imagine my surprise when I was aimlessly watching some tv while at the gym the other day and they announced that the next guest was going to be Marcus Samuelsson, chef and co-owner of Aquavit in NYC. Now, I have a special place in my heart for this place, as it’s where my bride and I got engaged many moons ago, so I was excited to see what would be cooked. So out walks your typical Swedish chef…

Hello. My name is not Sven.

He has a very…interesting background, but suffice it to say he’s Ethiopian by birth and he proceeded to make what he called a traditional Ethiopian stew. It looked very tasty and featured a spice I’d never heard of: Berbere

So of course I went to my buds at MySpiceSage.com and ordered me some

What a neat spice; a lot of full-flavored warmth but not too much heat. Makes me thirsty…

I picked this up at the Whole Foods for $5. Not a bad wine; nice slightly smokey fruit.

Anyhow, after googling around a bit I came up with Samuelsson’s recipe and with a few modifications (I ixnayed the jalapenos and substituted some kick-ass cinnamon for the cardamom) I decided to give it a try aided by my march of the McCormick Soldiers

mix together:
1 1/2 tbl berbere
1/2 tbl cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp black pepper

here’s the cinnamon I was talking about

it has a very warm aromatic flavor that completely blows away the usual tired-out cinnamon you’re used to (I believe it is in fact a different specie of tree)

That glass on the end is getting rather low…better open something else

Another sub-$10 wine (I think this was $8). Works for me.

So, first thing we need is cow

I cubed up about half of this baby (call it 2 1/2 to 3 lbs or so) and set it aside for a minute

and vac-sealed and froze the rest for later. I took a medium sized yellow onion and chopped it up fairly well in the food processor (as Daughter is developing some what of an aversion to large onion chunks, which are the best my poor chopping skills can manage, I have belatedly discovered the joys of the food processor for mincing up the tasty bits into minuscule sizes that she can’t see; my Bride of course has been using this machine for 20 years. I am slow to catch on) and sauteed away in 4 tbl or so of butter

until turning clear; standard onion stuff. Now add the cow!

cook over medium/high heat and let that oniony buttery joy permeate the bovinosphere

now add the spices and 3 or 4 (hell, 5) cloves of garlic that have been manfully chopped

and say 1/2 cup of red wine (which gives you an excuse, Dear Reader, to open another bottle) and a can of diced tomatoes

and let all that fragranty goodness flagrantly simmer for 15 minutes or so to enthickafy slightly then serve over your starch of choice

I thought I’d be all ethnic and trendy and culturally aware and sensitive-like and serve it over couscous. Big mistake. The couscous sucksucked. It tasted like recycled cardboard. The stew itself was fantastic, so next time it’s going over plain old rice.

(note: this was dinner in early October; it takes me a while to get these posts up)

Who Needs Hacked CRU Emails

…when you’ve got the “Danish Text”

The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN’s role in all future climate change negotiations.

Leaked documents? I blame the Russkies!

The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.

Separate but unequal! I can emit certain greenhouse gasses with the best of ’em.

The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as “the circle of commitment” – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.

Secret? By a shadowy “circle of commitment”? Now it sounds like Presbyterians…

The agreement, leaked to the Guardian, is a departure from the Kyoto protocol’s principle that rich nations, which have emitted the bulk of the CO2, should take on firm and binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, while poorer nations were not compelled to act. The draft hands effective control of climate change finance to the World Bank; would abandon the Kyoto protocol – the only legally binding treaty that the world has on emissions reductions; and would make any money to help poor countries adapt to climate change dependent on them taking a range of actions.

The bastards are going to make other countries abide by rules too?

I blame the Protocols of the Elders of Gravlox…

Cancer Humor…

CNN-style

The former “Today” show host explained to viewers that he has told few people about the surgery in which part of his lung was removed.

“They opened up my chest; they took a malignant tumor, part of my lung and some other goodies,” he said. “The pathology on most of the stuff came back benign but enough aggressive cells had escaped the tumor that it warranted some treatment.”

Gumbel kept the treatment close to the vest. “We had told a few people. We told my family, obviously,” Gumbel said. “I even kept it from my staff at ‘Real Sports.’ “

Good for him; I hope he makes a full recovery.

Stanley Fish Reviews Sarah Palin…

…fairly.

And is promptly rabidly attacked in the comments for his unforgivable sin.

A fun read!

Friends, We Too Have A Cause

Tim Blair boldly and courageously issues a Call To Dinner

For the entire duration of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, I am joining fellow activists in a radical protest for climate justice. We pledge to eat even more than usual, every single day, until our demands are met. People, we are the face – and especially the mouth – of change. We are Climate Justice Feast!

I humbly pledge to devote all of my energy to this noble endeavor.

I do it for the children.

Amazing How You Can Be a Genius One Minute

…but a “senile old man” the next, depending, of course, on your viewpoint. This is a great story (and a prescient one ~ check the article date) about following the bouncing big bucks sign.

The key players are now all in place in Washington and in state governments across America to officially label carbon dioxide as a pollutant and enact laws that tax us citizens for our carbon footprints. Only two details stand in the way: the faltering economic times and a dramatic turn toward a colder climate. The last two bitter winters have led to a rise in public awareness that there is no runaway global warming. A majority of American citizens are now becoming skeptical of the claim that our carbon footprints, resulting from our use of fossil fuels, are going to lead to climatic calamities. But governments are not yet listening to the citizens.

How did we ever get to this point where bad science is driving big government to punish the citizens for living the good life that fossil fuels provide for us?

The story begins with an Oceanographer named Roger Revelle.

Fahrvergnugenhagen

It’s mind-boggling that this circus to save Gaia requires 1200 limos.

On a normal day, Majken Friss Jorgensen, managing director of Copenhagen’s biggest limousine company, says her firm has twelve vehicles on the road. During the “summit to save the world”, which opens here tomorrow, she will have 200.

“We thought they were not going to have many cars, due to it being a climate convention,” she says. “But it seems that somebody last week looked at the weather report.”

Ms Jorgensen reckons that between her and her rivals the total number of limos in Copenhagen next week has already broken the 1,200 barrier. The French alone rang up on Thursday and ordered another 42. “We haven’t got enough limos in the country to fulfil the demand,” she says. “We’re having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden.”

Please note there are no hybrids

“We don’t have any hybrids in Denmark, unfortunately, due to the extreme taxes on those cars. It makes no sense at all, but it’s very Danish.”

It’s delicious, really. The hypocrisy is breathtaking…and completely predictable.

And frightening.

But I need a laugh today so I thought I’d resurrect this old thread from Tim’s old home where we re-wrote some Springsteen lyrics…

Old Bruce “I’m On Fire”

New Green Bruce:

Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
Will you please put down that damn cell phone
ooh-ooh
And pull back that curtain
ooh-ooh-ooh
Damn Halliburton

Tell me now baby, don’t you think it’s alarmin’
How celebrities contribute to Global Warmin’
ooh-ooh
With our greenhouse gasses
ooh-ooh-ooh
Pompous asses

Sometimes it’s like someone took their Hummer, its engine throaty with brawn,
And spent an hour doing donuts in the middle of my lawn

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
Pursued in my dreams by a Swift Boat Vet
ooh-ooh
And when we tour he won’t come see us
ooh-ooh-ooh
Can’t get laid in a Prius…

MSNBC Is Reporting A Woman Taken To Hospital From Tiger’s House

Man, have the wheels come off that cart.

Update: Geesh, now they are saying “Female adult removed by firefighters ‘on advanced life support’”

Update the Second: I find this whole situation very sad, and frankly shocking. I’ve been a big Tiger fan-boy from the get-go, because he seemed to me to be one of the very few professional athletes of this modern era who actually lived up to his hype. How often has someone come along who was touted as the greatest this or that and then turned into a huge fizzle? And then Tiger appears and not only lives up to it all but exceeds it. Look at his record; it is simply unmatched. The guy wins basically one out of every three tournaments he enters. And always with the cool demeanor and never the barest faintest whiff of a scandal.

Until now.

The man whose image was all about control and cool dispassionate annihilation of his opponents turns out to be permanently stuck on “randy frat boy”. His facade of class and dignity covers up a preference for doinking waitresses where ever he can find them, from trendy NY clubs to Perkins Pancake House. There’s no internal control, no limits, no one in his huge retinue that says “you know, Tiger, I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

The hubris to think that he could get away with this behavior amazes, really; although I guess that’s what makes it hubris, isn’t it? One would think that a smart guy like Tiger, a guy who texts and twitters, would at some point realize that leaving electronic droppings scattered across the web would invariably lead back to him as surely as breadcrumbs bring the pigeons to your bench. It’s just amazingly stupid and sad. Especially in this modern era of ours of the “Reality Show” mania, where people do all sorts of outlandish behavior to get on TV for five minutes, where people shamelessly expose the most private of details about their lives and those about them, gleefully and exuberantly demeaning any and all in the process, in the trample to have the spotlight shone on ME!…you would think, you would hope that this would lead to some discretion, some semblance of self-restraint on people’s part, even though that is the very thing that our society seems to most abhor these days, isn’t it? Especially for a guy whose major sponsor’s slogan is “Just Do It.”

I hope and pray that Tiger and his wife come through this physically unharmed. And I really hope and pray that he finds the strong moral compass that he so desperately needs; it’s all around him on Tour.

There’s a higher power than his website or corporate sponsors that he needs to confess his transgressions to.

Updated The Third: Thanks to a pointer from JeffS in the comments I see they’ve identified the woman as Elin’s mother. I can only imagine the “stomach pains” she’s having now…

Grossly Inappropriate Exaggeration of the Day

Monday, December 7, marks the opening of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. At that meeting, the leaders of the world will gather to negotiate an agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The new agreement will be the world’s road map for dealing with climate change, and the stakes are huge.

It is fitting that the conference begins on the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, for the Copenhagen conference is sure to be an epic political battle.

Indeed, the battle has already been underway for several weeks, with most of the action centering on a PR assault launched by the anti-CO2 regulation forces that sensationalized the contents of the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia.

Yowsahs there, Dr. Jeff Hyperbole. Despicable.

That is wrong on so many levels I can’t even begin to count. I will allow though, the only way I see it being marginally comparable to the intent of this hallowed day?

It wasn’t a “battle”, it was a SNEAK attack.

That fits the East Anglia manipulations/Global Warming narrative perfectly.

Gird Your Loins

Shamelessly stolen from Jack over at Ace’s.

Dear Mayor Michael “The Nanny” Bloomberg: You Da MAN!!

I am SO with you on your crusade against the nefarious, ee-ville fast/unhealthy food lobby. You see, I bin a victim my own self.

“Sister?!?!?! Not you, too!?!?!”

Sad, but true. And why? Because of the sneaky BAStards at French’s. Sitting on a six foot shelving unit in the commissary yesterday ~ every shelf filled to the bursting ~ were bags and bags of those frickin’ indescribably delicious, sinfully tempting, NO HUMAN BEING CAN RESIST THEM…French Fried Onions. And, no. I didn’t mistype “bag” instead of “can”. No, they were bags, alright. TWO and a HALF POUND bags of those damn onions. Schweet Mary, mother of God, what’s a mortal to do? I made it past all the cakes and ice cream only to be confronted at the checkout (!) line by the fried devil incarnate…supersized.

major dad put it in the cart. (Of course, the first stage is denial.)

TWO and a HALF POUNDS of greasy goodness is going to equate/morph to roughly TWENTY pounds on my ASS, thank you very much. And at the rate the TWO and a HALF POUNDS of fried felicity contained in that zip-lock bag is disappearing ~ my slick fingertips have slipped off the keyboard thrice, already ~ I’ll venture to say those twenty pounds will hit FRIDAY.

BASTARDS.

Where do I sign up, Mayor B. Somebody has to protect me.

And the children.

The UN “Climate Change” Meeting Starts This Very Morning

…and the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is?

Nimrod

\NIM-rahd\

noun

Coincidence?

I think not.

Poor Mrs. Paco!

It seems her Doctors have already decided to hold themselves to Obamacare-level standards of competency. Way to be ahead of the curve, guys!

Via our Secret Correspondent I’ve managed to obtain an EXCLUSIVE image of Paco himself caring for his beloved…

Free The Medieval Warm Period!

Marc Sheppard at The American Thinker has an excellent analysis up on the Climate Fraud and why they need to Hide The Decline.

Scientists are not unfeeling Spock-like creatures: they are lying scheming little bastards just like you and me.

Never forget that.

Update: Here’s another interesting bit of information. I wonder if I can get this tree as my Christmas tree this year? Yew think?

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

May we always be worthy of their sacrifice.

Roll Tide!!

::deep breath::

Geaux Saints!!

What a year.

Break Up The BCS!

It’s a damn shame that Texas pulled it out last night; oh, I don’t doubt the accuracy of the official’s ruling but I would have liked Nebraska to have knocked them off. No, here’s the real crock of dung in this college football mess: Alabama, Texas, and Cincinnati, schools from the “traditional” conferences whose bosses run college football like their own personal cash-cow, have all finished the season with perfect 13-0 records…as have TCU and Boise State, schools from newer and smaller, less-traditional conferences. Five undefeated schools, yet we are supposed to accept that a committee whose power is vested in the larger schools will decide that Alabama and Texas are the only ones worthy of being crowned champion. Cincinnati’s left outside looking in, and to add further insult to injury, and to protect their precious “Big Conference” schools from getting upset, it now looks like the fix is in to have TCU play Boise in a bowl game, a game no one wants to see. I want TCU/Alabama and Boise/Texas, dammit. But goodness me, we can’t allow the possibility that one of our precious SEC or Big-12 teams gets knocked off by a dinky mid-major, now can we?

Enough with this Bowl crap.

You want to keep these silly bowls? Fine. Seed the top 8 teams amongst your precious traditional big four bowls, with the winners meeting the week after in two games to decide who will face-off in the true National Championship the week after that.

End of story, a real champion.

NJ Is In The Very Best Of Hands

Wile E Coyote is firmly ensconced in Trenton

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — New Jersey taxpayers are being saddled with a bill of about $657,000 a month from Bank of Montreal for an interest-rate swap approved by state officials and linked to bonds that were never sold.

The 11th-largest U.S. state by population, which is cutting expenses to close a $1 billion budget deficit, will pay Canada’s oldest lender $23.5 million. The sum, about the same as the salaries for 113 teachers over three years, will allow it to avoid a $50 million penalty for canceling the contract, which was tied to planned sales of school-construction bonds.

The interest rate swap, an agreement between borrowers to exchange fixed and variable-rate payments on a set amount of debt, was arranged in 2004 to protect taxpayers against rising borrowing costs. The strategy backfired after officials decided against issuing the securities.

…The payments, which work out to $21,892 a day for three years, show how elected and appointed officials failed taxpayers by agreeing to financial strategies they didn’t fully understand. New Jersey spent $21.3 million in 2008 to exit three contracts signed when James Florio and James McGreevey were governors. The state’s transportation trust fund is giving almost $1 million a month to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partnership in an agreement linked to bonds that were redeemed.

Great; we’re paying a pension to Goldman…

Well Dam

Richard Todd, RIP

Richard Todd, best known for his role in classic war film The Dam Busters, has died at the age of 90, after a battle with cancer.

Todd, a war hero in his own right, was also known for playing dashing heroes like Robin Hood and Rob Roy.

Born in Dublin in 1919, Todd was one of the first British soldiers to parachute into France on D-Day.

Speaking of Bingley’s “Menu Police”…

Thanks to Gorezilla’s minions, sweet lil’ Lamb Chop needs to say her prayers.

GIVE up lamb roasts and save the planet. Government advisers are developing menus to combat climate change by cutting out “high carbon” food such as meat from sheep,

whose burping poses a serious threat to the environment.

(This should be especially egregious news to certain lamb lovers…)

The next sentence is practically a declaration of war!

…Out will go kebabs, greenhouse tomatoes and alcohol.

You have made me very…

…ANGRY.

NJ Legislature Focuses Like A Laser Baby

Wait, I guess “laser baby” is probably something banned by the Geneva Convention. Anyhow, those Super Duper folks we have representing us down in Trenton really are focused in on The Big Mondo Important Issue facing New Jersey right now, yessirree indeedy.

So whilst Corzine and his Bestest Buds have got New Jersey’s budget exploding faster than a jihadi’s waistline our Leading Lights in the State Senate know that the most important issue of the day is our waistline

New Jersey’s most popular fast-food chains would have to print new menus disclosing the calorie count for all of their edible items under a bill opposed by restaurants owners but approved by a Senate committee today.

Following the lead of New York City, Philadelphia and four other states, New Jersey would require restaurants with 20 or more locations to include calorie counts for all food and beverages on printed menus, menu boards and drive-through window signs, according to the bill. A registered dietitian would have to attest that the calorie counts are accurate.

Here is government ‘job creation’ in it’s true glory: they create a new bureaucracy of Menu Police, all state employees naturally, while creating additional costs for private business owners who then will have to either raise prices to the consumer or fire people.

We need to clean house at all levels of government, folks.

NASA…

…stands for Numbers Are Statistical Aberrations

Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said NASA has refused for two years to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act that would show how the agency has shaped its climate data and would explain why the agency has repeatedly had to correct its data going as far back as the 1930s.

“I assume that what is there is highly damaging,” Mr. Horner said. “These guys are quite clearly bound and determined not to reveal their internal discussions about this.”

The numbers matter. Under pressure in 2007, NASA recalculated its data and found that 1934, not 1998, was the hottest year in its records for the contiguous 48 states. NASA later changed that data again, and now 1998 and 2006 are tied for first, with 1934 slightly cooler; next week the numbers will be revised to show January 2009 as the month when temperatures began to fall and the oceans began to recede.

They’re the professionals; trust them. They are completely untempted by the billions of dollars of funding.

Hide the decline, baby!

“Got a Big Hunger?”

“Cut a big slice.”

The “Big A** Hot Dog”. For reals.

Fill In the Blank Pop Quiz

A work published in 1896 has some pretty contemporary sentiments even today. Ending with the following paragraph…

“I have heard from half a dozen head-masters of schools that they find the art of ___-________ is so distasteful to their scholars, and so much above their intellect, and so fatiguing an exercise to the youthful mind, that they feel obliged to abandon the study of it and replace it once more by those easier and pleasanter subjects, Latin and Greek”.

…WHAT does “Studies in the Art of ___-________” pertain to?

(No trickstering, either!)

Bleh

It’s raining, the wind is messing up what little hair I have left…I’m so tired