Opining Online

John Brignell, in March of the zealots, explains why fun has gone out of style. In doing so he also explains a lot of other stuff. Consider yourself warned.

Every age has its dominant caste. This is the age of the zealot. Twenty years ago they were dismissed as cranks and fanatics, but now they are licensed to interfere in the every day lives of ordinary people to an unprecedented degree. When Bernard Levin first identified the new phenomenon of the SIFs (Single Issue Fanatics) many of us thought it was a bit of a joke or at most an annoyance. Now the joke is on us. In that short time they have progressed from being an ignorable nuisance to what is effectively a branch of government. They initiate legislation and prescribe taxation. They form a large and amorphous collection of groups of overlapping membership, united and defined by the objects of their hatred (industry, tobacco, alcohol, adiposity, carbon, meat, salt, chemicals in general, radio waves, field sports etc.) Their success in such a short time has been one of the most remarkable phenomena in the whole of human history.

He may be wrong on his timeline, as I remember hearing as a child, “If it’s fun, you better do it now before it goes out of style.” Back then “style” meant “approved,” but today it’s called “political correctness.” I also remember coming to the conclusion nearly 40 years ago that everything caused cancer.

I’ve been fed up for quite a while, it seems.

The common factors in these campaigns of zealotry are:

• Creation and maintenance of a myth

• Ignoring all evidence countering the myth

• Ad hominem attacks on opponents

• Encouraging authoritarian governments to impose taxes and reduce individual freedom

• Promotion of limits and constraints that are simply invented without reason

• Collusion by the establishment media

• Damage to science and its methods

• Elimination of things that make life bearable

• Making some people very rich whilte impoverishing the lives of almost everyone else

They will not be satified until they have you shivering in a cave, sipping thin gruel.

It’s rare that I come across an essay this long in which I find almost nothing to disagree with.

(via Junkfood Science)

Like many who heard it, I was powerfully impressed by Barack Obama’s speech in Philadelphia this week. But I found the speech unsatisfying, because it all but ignores the issue that is central to racial division in twenty-first-century America: crime and criminal punishment.

 Read this. The whole thing. A discriminatory justice system and the underpunishment of violent crime should be quite easily and relatively cheaply fixed.

Our puppy, Jack, likes mud puddles which means bathing him is a necessity for letting him in the house.

Fortunately, he likes baths too. 

He gets his last rounds of puppy shots two weeks from now, which means we will be able to enroll him in “kindergarten” obedience classes.

I did not hear the speech, but have read the transcript. Twice, so far.

He has salvaged his campaign. He hasn’t yet convinced me to vote for him should he survive Hillary at the convention. He is still far too liberal lefty socialist.

You can watch the speech on his website.

My fear is that this speech is going to do more dividing than uniting. He’s not painted a nice picture of either race and offered no strategy for bringing them closer other than proposing common enemies which, as President, he will do something about:

…we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

In Irish, the day is Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig, according to Wikipedia. No pronunciation guide given. Since today is part of Holy Week, I’m actually 2 days late with this post. For me, that’s like being a week early.

Via Mr. Heh himself, surely we’ve all heard about TSA’s inept inspection of a time-pressed traveler’s MacBook Air. Of course, they were just doing their job.

An obviously unenlightened (as to bureaucratic procedures) commenter suggested TSA could spend time training inspectors on new technology. What a silly suggestion that knowledge leads not only to efficiency, but a better “understanding of what may be out of place.”

Perhaps the reason that this Amazon item is out of stock is that the TSA has bought them all for training purposes?

(for more fun check out the “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed” section and the other Playmobil items.) 

I first met Mary in 1999 on an AOL message board about the Right to Keep and Bear Arms shortly after the Columbine shootings. We never quite agreed; she was for more regulation than I am, though we weren’t that far apart. We emailed and chatted online for years.

Last year, I finally met her in person. We shared a bottle of wine and box of chocolates and laughed most of the night. She talked a lot about her son and daughter, who I know are missing her terribly.

She helped me through some very rough times with my son. She didn’t just commiserate and give me moral support, she came through with concrete ideas and connections that helped put my son back on the right track. I will be forever grateful.

I will miss her insights into human nature and her wonderful sense of humor. She was far too young to die.

If I were a fantastically talented photographer, I’d be posting photos everyday. Usually, I’m disappointed in something about most photos I take – the lighting, the composition, the focus… something.

However, occasionally I find some of my old photos to be more appealing to me now than when I took them. Perhaps since I have forgotten the grand image that was in my mind; one the photo had no chance of living up to, my disappointment is gone.

This is one of them.

You see that button up there? I’m trying Buzzfuze to increase traffic to this blog and to get feedback on my photography. It’s easy to use, just sign up, post, then invite people to rate your work.

There are other services that help drive traffic to blogs, but I like this one because it features photos and music as well as posts. Once I’m established and have a group of regular raters, I might even make some money.

It’s certainly needed, as Jeff Sadow points out.

Imagine if Hillary Clinton could have changed her vote for the Iraq war to ensure that it would happen, then could change her vote to be able to campaign that she voted against it.

It gives a whole new meaning to “I voted for it before I voted against it.”

Requiring complete consistency for politicians (or anyone else) is unreasonable. Anybody should be able to change their mind, but I expect a legislator to have thought about the matter up for vote and to vote honestly as MY representative, not as a representative of their future personal gains, such as re-election. I’d like to think they thought about carefully enough not to change their mind 8 hours (or less) later.

Because it’s Monday. And I’m in Louisiana, though I’m not doing laundry today.

•2 cups dry small red beans
•16+ cups water
•4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled, reserve drippings
•1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning (or too taste)
•2 cloves garlic, minced fine
•1 bay leaf
•3 cups Trinity*
•3 medium carrots, minced
•More water
•2 teaspoons beef base
•2 pounds polish, link, or cajun sausage
•4 cups cooked white rice** (I prefer Jasmine Rice)

“Look & Pick” the beans, removing any trash, rocks, or severely discolored and deformed beans. Rinse beans well, changing water at least 3 times. This step reduces the flatulence-making property of beans. Cover with 8 cups of the water and let them soak overnight in refrigerator. The next day, remove any “floaters” and drain the water off the beans.

In a large heavy pot, cover the beans with 8 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low and simmer beans for at least one hour. In the meantime, sauté the Trinity*, garlic, and carrots in the reserved bacon drippings. Add the crumbled bacon, the Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, then add the entire seasoning mixture to the partially cooked beans.

Bring back to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and simmer for several hours, adding water as necessary. The beans are done when they begin to “pop” or split and are tender all the way through. (For this step, I use a pressure cooker, even though it’s only 300 or so ft. above sea level here. I like for the carrots and trinity to “dissolve” and thicken the soup.)

High altitudes require using a pressure cooker. If you’re at 4000 ft, you can boil beans for a week and they won’t get done.

Check seasoning and adjust to taste, keeping in mind that the rice is somewhat bland. If the bean soup is not as thick as you like, smash some of the beans to a paste for thickening. Do not use a roux to thicken.

Slice and brown sausages, or grill them whole or in serving size pieces. Your taste, your choice. Serve the beans ladled over cooked white rice, the sausage on the side and a wedge of cornbread, all accompanied by some blues, of course.***

*Trinity – equal parts chopped celery, chopped green pepper, chopped onions. I prefer green bell peppers and red onions, and chop the inner tender celery leaves as well as the stalk.

**Rice – Cover 2 cups uncooked white rice with 4 cups water. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and simmer over lowest heat for 20 minutes, then “fluff” with fork. Do not stir rice during cooking or standing time.

Variations:
•Substitute finely chopped pancetta, ham, or sausage for bacon
•Eliminate the bacon, slice & saute the sausage and vegetables, adding all to beans. •Skip the side serving of sausage. For a lower fat version, use less sausage.
•Substitute grilled pork chops or chicken for the side of sausage.
•Use pinto or black beans. You could also use kidney beans, I suppose. I don’t like kidney beans, but if you do… use them.
 
Now for the blues***

Click here to listen to (or download) a sampling of the music of Huddy Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly. Click here to hear more snippets of some of his songs and Woodie Guthrie’s performed by Little Richard, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Sweet Honey in the Rock. That CD — Folkways: A Vision Shared – A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly — is one of my favorites.An updated recipe from the one I originally posted at Pajama Pundits.