Food. Bread, to be specific

Focaccia in this case. Few years back went to an Italian place with some friends and the "Look at the menu and decide what you want" introduction was some fresh focaccia, olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. I've been hooked on it since.

Happily, the bread is easy; lots of recipes out there. I just tried this one a few days ago, and it came out great. Twice.
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella

Directions
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20-40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle, let rise 20-30 minutes. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm

The spices are all optional, use these or something else. And instead of Parmesan or mozzarella I tried grating some Asiago over the second batch. Goood stuff, Maynard. I didn't go by time on the rising, first time waited till it doubled, second till it looked about right. And it does only take 15 minutes to bake.

The oil is my own mix. Few years back tried some 'dipping oil' in a Williams-Sonoma store and it was good; then I looked at the price: Yeek! For about a cup-cup and a quarter of olive oil and some spices, in a fancy bottle, fifteen bucks. So I chopped up some garlic and toasted it under the broiler, same for some parmesan, then drop them in a bottle. Add in some rosemary, thyme and a little pepper, then fill with oil, shake it up and let it sit a few days. I use the stuff for cooking as well.

I should note that a friend gave me two bottles of hard cider a friend brewed. I just finished one of them; I'ave had to re-type a number of words. But it does seem blogging while somewhat inebriated has its good points...

I just found a button daughter gave me years ago

Do I or do I not know how to raise kids?

This is the 'official' celebration night for St. Paddy's Day,

and I've stayed as far away from bars as possible; even when younger I didn't care much for being packed into a crowd of people either drunk or working hard at it.

Yes, the above places make it somewhat easy to get laid; even back when a dumb teenager, the idea of getting a girl drunk to make her say 'yes' didn't strike me as real attractive. Even less so now.

A gadget that might come in handy

Was reminded of this today when I realized A: I didn't have one and B: I needed one. This thingis for the occasions when you have to shorten a small screw that's already short, or just so small- like the 4-40 in the picture below- that it's hard to hold onto

It's just two pieces of thin, springy steel clamped together at one end- pop-rivet in this case- so it stays together, but not so tight that you can't pivot it open. Drill a hole or two, several if you need for different sizes. You open it up, put the screw in a hole so the head will be between the pieces when they're closed
with the shaft sticking out. Now you can grind or file or whatever without the language practice required when a dinky little screw jumps out of your fingers or pliers. Or burns you when it gets hot.

That steel strap they use to hold bundles of brick & such together works well. You can make the holes just big enough for the shaft to slip in, or in the deluxe version drill undersize and then run a tap in so you can actually screw the screw in for a tighter grip.

So, not only is Sean Penn a friggin' moron who idolizes tyrants,

he surrounds himself with like-minded asshats.
Jordan ended the interview, and publicly scolded the reporter outside of the media room. Jordan told the reporter that to keep her job, she needed to write a letter of apology to the Haitian ambassador. The publicity coordinator then threatened to have the reporter escorted out of the building by the police.

"You desecrated this sacred place," Jordan said.

The congregation's Rabbi Bruce Lustig attempted to take the reporter's recording device and delete the material. The reporter was approached by police and threatened to be escorted out, even though she responded calmly and exited quickly.

Ah, spring: the smell of real fascism in the air and celebutards and their buttmonkeys abusing people. No wonder Penn idolizes the bastard Chavez: he wants to be a commie tyrant too.

So now I find out that Tom Hanks is another leftist idiot

who really doesn't think much of this country, or the troops who serve.

Uh, Hanks, have you considered- aw, fuckit, never mind. Screw you Hanks, and the poxed donkey you rode in on.

Not only is New York full of nanny-state control-freak politicians,

they're too stupid- or uncaring- to actually find out what the hell they're talking about before they decide to push a law:
Ortiz admits that prior to introducing the bill he did not research salt’s role in food chemistry, its effect on flavor or his bill’s ramifications for the restaurant industry. He tells me he was prompted to introduce the bill because his father used salt excessively for many years, developed high blood pressure and had a heart attack.

“I think salt should be banned in restaurants. I ask if a dish has salt in it, and if I does, I get something else that doesn’t have salt,” Ortiz tells me, before going on to say that he has eaten, and expects he will continue to eat, among other things, ham, cheese and bread in restaurants, all of which contain salt.

...Regardless of the intent, and accepting its sponsor’s claim that it is part of his campaign to improve the public’s health, the bill exhibits profound ignorance not only of matters of taste — literally — but also of the chemistry of cooking.
Know what? Screw the chemistry of cooking: Assemblyman Ortiz, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY LIFE AND MY FOOD, YOU LITTLE FASCIST WANNABE.
The bill doesn’t address significant matters, such as: Would salt be banned in processed foods or cured meats? Could a restaurant chef get around the ban on using added salt in a soup by, say, throwing in a sodium-laden ham hock? Ortiz didn’t have an answer for those question, saying repeatedly, “This all needs to be debated.”
The only thing that needs debate, you little bastard, is how far out of town you should be run on that rail. And how much tar & feathers to apply first.

No wonder Nanny Bloomberg want to be mayor of NYEffin' City forever: seems like up there he's surrounded by other control freaks like himself.

Let's start with AG Holder managing to forget a very interesting thing:

The Justice Department has admitted that Eric Holder failed to tell Congress during his confirmation process that he had contributed to a legal brief which argued that the President lacks authority to hold Jose Padilla, a U.S citizen declared an "enemy combatant," indefinitely without charge. The Justice Department has also acknowledged what is obvious -- that "the brief should have been disclosed as part of the confirmation process."
Damn, you think MAYBE?!? He also have any tax problems he forgot to mention, by any chance?


So the ATF agent in charge of seizing toy guns and lying about them has a somewhat checkered past; anybody surprised?


Speaking of Holder & ACORN and tampering with investigations...


I knew this was coming sooner or later: Gerstein posts a televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.

Hell with it, I'm going out for those machine screws.

Insty points to an article about some fedearal employees not paying taxes

Not just Obama bigshots but general employees. Which reminded me, second wife worked for a large federal agency in the area(don't know if she still does) and about a month or so after she started told me with amazement that they'd actually posted signs around the offices reminding people that 'Just because you work for the Federal Government doesn't mean you can skip filing taxes'. Apparently enough of a problem in a bunch of agencies that an effort was being made to clean it up.

Said one of the older guys she worked with laughed at it; he hadn't filed in three years. I'd wondered if they'd managed to clean this up; seems not.

The joys of spring: the birds are chirping,

the grass and weeds are growing, and the bike battery crapped out.

Actually, the battery's not a formal sign, it just seemed to fall into line this time. I'd had a problem last week while out and thought I had some bad gas, then it would just crank over enough to start. Time.

As to the grass, few days ago found a grass catcher that'd fit my mower, and hit the spots that needed it in the back yard; it works, and I decided I needed a bigger compost heap; amazing how much stuff raking wasn't getting. Looking around the other day found some 'hardware cloth' made of heavy plastic, different widths and hole sizes; got a 48"x25' roll for nine bucks. Cut a suitable length, wove a piece of steel rod through the overlapped ends to lock it closed and three more at other points to hold it open & upright: new heap. Two, actually, one replacing the old chicken-wire one and a new. I think this stuff'll work out pretty well.

This region is now at that 'iffy' stage of starting the garden: seeds, ok; stuff that sticks up, only if you'll have a way to cover it. There's always a last freeze end of March-first half of April, so have to be able to put a tarp over the stuff above ground till that window passes.
...
The driveway is now cleared, the bike reassembled, and other things to do.

Oh, bleep! And why HAVEN'T we heard about this guy?

The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local nuclear power plants.

Sharif Mobley, 26, is being held in a jail in Yemen after he allegedly killed a police guard and seriously injured another during a shootout at a hospital on Monday.

The Buena, N.J. native has also been accused of taking part in several acts of terrorism, Yemini officials say. He also purportedly has ties to the same branch of al-Qaeda who are suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner on its way to Detroit on Christmas.
Damn. Maybe this has something to do with it:
So today we discover a a former New Jersey resident turned al Qaeda operative in Yemen named Sharif Mobley is responsible for murdering a hospital security guard in Yemen and just so happened to once act as a campaign operative for Jon Corzine and what is the reaction of those so quick to point fingers after the Stack and Bedell incidents?

Silence.
Gee, I wonder why?

Back to starting things off with the latest Climaquiddick news

Like the fact that those 'other climate datasets' Jones said were independent and could be used to rebuild the data he destroyed, well, aren't.
Email messages obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that the climate dataset of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) was considered — by the top climate scientists within NASA itself — to be inferior to the data maintained by the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU).

The NASA scientists also felt that NASA GISS data was inferior to the National Climate Data Center Global Historical Climate Network (NCDC GHCN) database.

These emails, obtained by Christopher Horner, also show that the NASA GISS dataset was not independent of CRU data.
...
But the emails reveal that at least three of the four datasets were not independent, that NASA GISS was not considered to be accurate, and that these quality issues were known to both top climate scientists and to the mainstream press.

In a response to reporter Doyle Rice of USA Today, Dr. Reto Ruedy — a senior scientist at NASA — recommended the following:

Continue using NCDC’s data for the U.S. means and Phil Jones’ [HADCRU3] data for the global means. …

We are basically a modeling group and were forced into rudimentary analysis of global observed data in the 70s and early 80s. …

Now we happily combine NCDC’s and Hadley Center data to … evaluate our model results.

This response was extended later the same day by Dr. James Hansen — the head of NASA GISS:
Now here's a very important thing:

[For] example, we extrapolate station measurements as much as 1200 km. This allows us to include results for the full Arctic. In 2005 this turned out to be important, as the Arctic had a large positive temperature anomaly. We thus found 2005 to be the warmest year in the record, while the British did not and initially NOAA also did not. …

It should be noted that the different groups have cooperated in a very friendly way to try to understand different conclusions when they arise.

Extrapolate as much as 1200 km. Almost 750 miles. That's friggin' amazing, isn't it? No wonder it turns out these records are crap, especially as we've learned just how A: where some stations were set up and B: they reduced the number of stations, especially reducing those away from cities and heat island effects.

And so far as trusting our major media to give us the facts,
Further, all of this information regarding the accuracy and independence of NASA GISS data was directly communicated to a reporter from USA Today in August 2007.

The reporter never published it.

And over at Watts Up, some more on the Medieval Warm Period, and how/when the IPCC started playing with that record.


And the Evil Party holds true: got a dirtbag politician you want to protect, accuse anyone against him of being a racist. Yeah, that's a winner. You see, guys, there's this here innernet thingy, and it lets people spread word far and wide without your ass-kissing media or yourselves being able to stop it...


And one of the only saving graces of a bunch of the crooked bastards in the House & Senate is this:

The Senate language would prohibit illegal immigrants’ buying healthcare coverage from the proposed health exchanges. The House-passed bill isn’t as restrictive, but it does — like the Senate bill — bar illegal immigrants from receiving federal subsidies to buy health insurance.

Hispanic Democrats say they haven’t moved from their stance that they will not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

"You have to give my illegal alien brothers and sisters free health care! Or we won't vote for your bill!" Wonderful, isn't it?


My first thought would be "Reagan's laughing his ass off", but for things like this he's probably right: he's chuckling. And possibly thinking "Joe, you're such an asshole."

Dammit, I need to clean this place. Again. More later, assuming I don't disappear.

Read about this idiot idea out of Detroit the other day

but just got around to posting on it. Short version: "We've effed up this city so bad, we ought to just turn a lot of it back into farmland."
"Things that were unthinkable are now becoming thinkable," said James W. Hughes, dean of the School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, who is among the urban experts watching the experiment with interest. "There is now a realization that past glories are never going to be recaptured. Some people probably don't accept that, but that is the reality."

Well, y'know, if you cleaned out the corrupt politicians, fired all the incompetent teachers and actually tried to, you could probably rebuild the city; but that would require actually doing something yourselves AND paying for it yourselves; much easier to beg the feds to rob other people to pay for this idiot idea.

Two things: first, from this guy,
My question is where are they going to put all the bricks, or the concrete from foundations and sidewalks? I've buried a lot of no longer used farm buildings and it's not an easy effort and that was way before today's environmental rules that won't allow you to just dig a hole, push the stuff in and then cover it up with a bulldozer, willy-nilly. Then once they get this junk cleared, what is going to be the remaining soil's organic matter content, or its profile? Will it even support a vegetable garden, let alone a field of something?
Second, the soil doesn't really matter: these clowns could, to borrow a saying, screw up a wet dream; even if the soil was good for growing they'd muck it up. And use that as an excuse to beg for more of other peoples' money to fix things. Again.

Part II of "ATF Seizes Toys;

Won't Say Real Reason Why" is up.

Well, hell, since I'm in a bad mood I might as well cover both items

Item the First: I had one of the early model CRKT M16 knives. 'Had' being the operative word, and it seems to have disappeared, and it's one of the best pocketknives I've had. So I've been digging around and it seems that, while they have a whole range of M16 models now, there's a problem:
mine had a 'Lawks' mechanism; when you opened it, the liner lock locked, but if you wanted to be super-certain it was locked you could rock a lever on the back of the grip forward, which locked the lock. Well, now all the damn things seem to have an 'Auto-Lawks', which goes on when you open the knife. So now, if you want to be able to close it one-handed- that and one-handed opening being very handy things- you have to pull the Auto back and hold it(spring loaded) while then pushing the liner lock off AND then close the blade. And I really don't like that kind of juggling.


Item the Second: is on the Continuing Saga of the 15-22. As in it's back at the factory. Because, after posting on it being back from the THIRD trip, I looked it all over, put one of their empty-chamber indicators in place, dropped the bolt and CLICK-click-click. "What the f-?" F- being that the extractor had extracted itself from the bolt. Again.

Phone call was made, which began with "I need a return ticket, and I want to speak with a supervisor." You can be proud of me: I didn't lapse into profanity or excessive verbiage either one, while still getting the point across that a bleeping .22 rifle should not require FOUR TRIPS BACK TO THE FACTORY.

Ahem. I do believe they got the proper idea that I am a Dissatisfied Customer Who Is Tired Of This. This time the shipping label arrived by e-mail within an hour or so of ending the call. They're replacing the rifle with a new one. Which I am going to shoot the crap out of and see if this one will actually continue to work the way they're supposed to.

Dammit.

Ok, so why IS the Department of Education buying shotguns?

Combat shotguns?
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14" - PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT - XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID - 14" LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.
The required date of delivery is March 22, 2010.

Interesting. Also the 'existing inventory, etc.'

If they actually try this, hell with tar & feathers:

we go straight to ropes.
House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.

Slaughter is weighing preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill passed once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes to the Senate version.

Slaughter has not taken the plan to Speaker Pelosi as Democrats await CBOscores on the corrections bill. "Once the CBO gives us the score we'll spring right on it," she said.
So the miserable little cowards not only don't want us to actually see everything in this abortion of a law, they don't want to have to actually put their name up as voting for it.

No, HELL no. You bastards have to actually put your name to a vote yes or no; this crap will not be allowed. Period.

I started to ask if anyone has a concession on good hemp rope, but in the interests of cost control- and the amount we may need- I'll settle for nylon or other synthetic. As long as it's strong enough.

It can never be pointed out enough: Sen. Schumer

(Camera-Chasing Socialist-NY) really is a socialist slimeball:
Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.
"Because we need a better way to keep track of you peasants far more than we want to actually do anything about illegal aliens."

Once in place, watch for this national ID to regulate access to financial services, housing, medical care and prescriptions—and, of course, serve as an internal passport.
Because it's really about control. Control of YOU, and everything you own, say and do.

So being 'proactive' means "Let's arrest him even though

he hasn't done anything."
Negotiators and a SWAT team from Medford police safely took a man — whose name wasn't released — into protective custody Monday morning in the 500 block of Effie Street, Medford police said in a news release.

He was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation.
So somebody apparently said "I don't trust him" and the police decided to put that messy Constitution and stuff out of the way and arrest him. And steal his property. And force him into a 'mental-health evaluation."

These people should have those badges taken away from them. Forever.

Looks like another nice day out there,

so I'll get the nasties out of the way:
So the Obama Administration and the animal rights weenies want to stop fishing. Pretty much ALL fishing, including you casting a line with the kids or grandkids or scout troop or whatever.
“Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.


Yeah, they REALLY believe Afghanistan needs to be won, don't they? Actually, for them, just another chance to make us lose, and another chance to stab the troops in the back.


Ok, which is it: Milwaukee PD just didn't care about vote fraud, or the fix was in?
Milwaukee police officers sat on their hands for months last year instead of investigating possible voter fraud cases from the 2008 general election.

It’s an incredible claim, but it’s coming from a credible source:

Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf, the Milwaukee County prosecutor responsible for overseeing campaign and election issues.

“Honestly, the Milwaukee Police Department largely ignored your double voter (and other) referrals received in January 2009 for the first six months of 2009,” Landgraf wrote in an e-mail to a city elections official on Jan. 26.

Speaking with unguarded candor, the veteran prosecutor said in his note that MPD’s tardy response had a major impact. The cases involve voters who may have cast more than one ballot, felons who may have voted illegally and other cases of possible election fraud.


So Obama lied about keeping lobbyists out? Really.
Why aren't you surprised?


Hell with it. I want to get outside for a while; the sludge from Sodom on the Potomac can wait a while.