DER SPIEGEL interview with Ai Weiwei

Wonder what life under surveillance is really like?  Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist whom the Chinese government has not allowed to travel away from China for about the past three years, tells us:  "My virtual life has become my real life."  The whole interview can be read online:  http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,943719,00.html

He speaks on education--

Let's talk about humanity, individualism, imagination and creativity -- those are the values a society is built on. What education are we getting, what dreams do we dream? I deal with students every day -- from China, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And I've noticed that the Chinese students are the least trained in having a sense of aesthetics. They lack any ability to sense what is beautiful or what is proper. They can be learned and skillful, but they lack the ability to make their own free judgment. It is really sad to see young adults of 20, 25 years who were never taught to make their own decisions. People who can't do that don't get a sense of responsibility. And if you lack a sense of responsibility, you push the blame onto the system.

 and on human rights, too--

Ai: When he visited China, I said: President Obama, please do not come if you are not going to talk about human rights. We don't ask for mercy -- if you do business with our government, then you also have a responsibility to talk about human rights. The truth is that his government talks much less about human rights than it could, although I'd like to exclude Obama's former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who always spoke very clearly in favor of human rights and Internet freedom.

SPIEGEL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to visit Beijing again this year. How do you view her engagement for human rights in China?

Ai: Chancellor Merkel grew up in East Germany; she understands the kind of system we're dealing with. She negotiated about human rights with the last government. That was difficult, but she never gives up. To insist on values is a precondition for every communication that is meant to be meaningful. If you don't do that, the enemy looks down at you. But it's not enough to stress one's values behind closed doors. To negotiate about human rights under the table is insulting to those that it concerns.

SPIEGEL: We thank you for this interview.

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• Part 1: 'My Virtual Life Has Become My Real Life'
• Part 2: 'They Want My Voice To Fall Silent'

Sweet Jebus....

I  G I V E  U P!!  So t'other day, when attempting to clean out my cupboards, I measured the last of a package of plain old white flour, and found it was exactly two cups.  So I'm remembering my mother's biscuits from the cold winter days in Fargo when she would make pheasant-a-la-king and serve it over her fabulous baking powder biscuits.  What a glorious supper!  So it's nowhere near
as cold here as it was there then, but the two cups of flour have been sitting out on my counter in the measuring device, and thoughts of biscuits keep dancing in my head.  So today, I decided to see if there was a recipe for Betty Crocker biscuits online.  Mom always followed Betty Crocker's recipes for baked goods.  (Her pie crust was known far & wide as THE BEST!)  But that's pie.  This is biscuits.  And sure enough, there is a Betty Crocker online source, and it has THE biscuit recipe.  The biscuits even look like Mom's, though she didn't use a biscuit cutter. 

STILL....it doesn't pay to go too far into this because very soon, you will find biscuit-related recipes calling for Bisquick (trademark).  Nah.  Pas de Bisquick!!   I wanna make my own sausage-cheese balls from scratch (NOT....I don't make stuff like this, but it's an example of how Bisquick has infiltrated our casseroles.)

AND GUESS WHAT?  There is now a GLUTEN-FREE Bisquick mix available, although I have not seen it.  What next?

Next you'll be telling me Generous Mills will be offering NON-GMO Cheerios (trademark)!  Yes, indeed.  They are in production.  These miraculous "classic"
Cheerios not only will not have any GMO oats, they also will not have GMO cornstarch or GMO sugar from sugar beets.  Despite General Mills's campaign to tell us that GMO products are harmless, they have decided to make Cheerios for the special whacko GMO-averse niche market, which they believe will embrace non-GMO Cheerios wholeheartedly.  Ah.  Marketing, not common sense.

I asked a friend what she thought about this, since her husband has eaten Cheerios practically every day of his life since his teeth came in.  She said, "Oh, he won't care.  He'll eat anything...the worst junk."

Let us pray....

Who is perfect?....

Here's a wonderful video from Pro Infirmis, a European advocacy group for the disabled.

TGIF...

My granddaughter-in-law Medea and I were talking t'other day about how written matter has changed since the creation of the 6th century stela on display at the National Gallery of Art's Byzantine Art exhibit (last day, March 2, 2014).  The thrifty 6th century lithographer (the root of that word is someone who carves words in stone (an early printing plate?) left no spaces between the words.  itwasallruntogetherlikethis.  My friend Cathy had said "I tell my students that spaces between words were the first attempts at punctuation!!) Anyway, this led thoughts on the wonderful videoclip Medea had sent me of Lennox's dad reading an infant's board book to him and now publishing has been transformed over the centuries, especially the last. 

In case other grandparents out there haven't noticed, the little board books available now for infants now have little gadgets to allow the wee fingers to pick open a window on a page to see a picture of, e.g., a dog.  Lennox, my great-grandson, has one, and they sent me a videoclip of his dad reading it to him.  Where a it says "D O G," a flap or "window" behind it shows a cute little dog.  Lennox's cousin Jack in Scotland prefers to poke at his mother's iPad rather than look at a whole raft of toys under the tree.  Of course, I sent Lennox and Jack each a long, complicated book with splendid illustrations--David MacCauley's Built to Last, but nothing MOVES!  Nothing lights up!  And their parents will fall asleep trying to read it.  Well, later, maybe.  MUCH later.  I know, I know...lighten up.  You think it's been easy to be an editor? 

Oh, well.  My mother had been a school teacher, and she taught me how to read by the time I was 3 years old.  She would prop me up on my elbows on the couch with the book in front of me, and I'd read stories aloud by myself so she could continue her chores.  My youngest brother, Gene, and I started using phonics with my oldest niece Susan, when she came along a few years later.  Susan could read the newspaper by the time she was ready for kindergarten and her mother wanted her to skip kindergarten and start right in first grade.  Susan has worked as a librarian for years, and like me, she adores books and literature. 

Back to the 6th century (and later) and the transformation of written works....I was telling Medea that one of the reasons why I loved studying Medieval Latin was because they no longer omitted spaces between words, but they abbreviated often. If you're writing a whole book like the Bible by hand, you get tired of making every single letter all the time, and you find shortcuts or abbreviations for well-known phrases.  E.G., crucifixes often have a little sign on them that reads "I N R I."  That was a shortcut for "Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum."  That process--not the thought--is a precursor for "TGIF"!  (Probably can't put that on a crucifix!!)  It's the same thing as all the modern acronyms for people who are texting or emailing.  Shortcuts!  WTF???  WTHN??  TTYL!!

Thanks, Little Red Hen!!

If you'd like the whole story on this film, please read today's post on Little Red Hen.  Thanks!!




Happy January 2, 2014!!

The Joy of Aging....

 I've loved getting old.  It's been one of the best times of my life.  I do things I'd never dreamed of doing when I was younger and more compos mentis.  One morning this past week I woke up with a song running through my mind (ears?)...I think they call this an earworm.  Anyway, the song was "Moon River," and I even went as far as finding a youtube performance on my laptop to refresh my "memory."  We never saw the movie with Audrey Hepburn when it had its first run--or ever.  But I love the song, thanks to Andy Williams, who dominates the youtubes for this song, and the video part reminds me of some TV program back in my yout'.

Anyway, I'm on the bus going downtown to the MLK library, and the first part of the ride is uneventful, especially since the kids are not in school, and there were hardly any passengers.  No street people, drunks (who often babble), or loud teens.  So I thought I'd sing "Moon River" softly to myself, and of course, I mangled the lyrics. Had to quit the first verse and segue to the second--"Moon river...winding round the bend...Two drifters...off to see the world...there's such a lot of world to see...."  Anyway, a woman who was sitting in the seat ahead of me, turned around and looked at me.  Then she got up and moved across the aisle.  Tsk! 

Oh, well.  As the drivers say, "It's a public utility, and anyone can ride on it."  Even an old white lady who loves to sing but can't carry a tune in a bucket.  No more concerti on the bus for me.  But it was kinda fun.

Sick of the Republicans' talking points yet?

In this morning's Informed Comment, Juan Cole discusses the NYTimes's article by David Kirkpatrick. 

Benghazi Consular attack was Local, not al-Qaeda: NYT Correspondent Demolishes GOP Talking Points

David D. Kirkpatrick at the New York Times has settled the controversy over events in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, by actually going to Benghazi and digging into the story. Admittedly, it was a somewhat dangerous assignment, but Kirkpatrick risked it.
The take-away of this careful investigation, depending on a range of interviews with Libyans who had been at the scene of the attack on the US consulate in the Libyan port city, is that al-Qaeda had nothing to do with it.

The chief suspect is an eccentric local militia leader, Ahmad Abu Khattala and his Obeida Ibn Al Jarra Brigade, which fought against Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 revolution. Abu Khattala had no gratitude to the Americans who helped his people against the dictator, and is viewed as one bulb short of a chandelier by many of his acquaintances. He, like many Benghazi fundamentalists, had spent years incarcerated by the Gaddafi government in the notorious Abu Salim prison, where in the 1990s Gaddafi dealt with a prison revolt by just having hundreds of inmates mowed down.

Another fundamentalist organization in the city, Ansar al-Sharia, was also involved, though it continues to deny involvement in the consulate attack.

The ginned up Islamophobic attack “film” on the Prophet Muhammad probably produced secretly by the Islamophobic network in the US in hopes of causing trouble abroad for President Obama in an election year did provoke demonstrations at the US consulate, which morphed into the attack on it. In fact, in my darker moments I suspect that some US GOP officials knew about the “film” and the likelihood it would get the Muslims’ goat, and had a narrative ready to go that Barack Obama on the Middle East was another helpless Jimmy Carter. Whatever the origin of their narrative, they clearly weren’t willing to let go of it simply because it flew in the face of the facts as known.

US officials in Benghazi knew that there were dangerous fundamentalist militias in the city. But they had dozens of CIA operatives at a nearby safe house, who they were sure could protect them. And they had allied with the fundamentalists against Gaddafi and so expected if not gratitude at least tolerance for their presence.

The Republican attack propaganda on President Obama and his team maintained that the consulate attack was the work of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s al-Qaeda, that it was preplanned, and that the “Silence of the Muslims” film had nothing to do with it.

The Republican attack propaganda on President Obama and his team maintained that the consulate attack was the work of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s al-Qaeda, that it was preplanned, and that the “Silence of the Muslims” film had nothing to do with it. Sen. Lindsey Graham alleged that “everyone knew” that Benghazi was controlled by al-Qaeda in summer of 2012. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is more of a prevaricator even than most politicians, asserted the same thing.

I was in Benghazi in late May of 2012 for a few days and gave a talk at a community center there. The city most certainly was not in the control of “al-Qaeda.” There were a few fundamentalist militias, but they were not representative of the city, which had municipal elections in late spring.

On the occasion of the appearance of Kirkpatrick’s important reportage, I’ll leave you with my own deconstruction of the false GOP narrative, from last year. I think it is largely vindicated by what Kirkpatrick was able to find out on the ground.

“Top Ten Republican Myths on Benghazi:
1. Republican senators keep saying that it should have been “easy” to find out what happened on September 11, 2012, by simply debriefing US personnel who had been there. John McCain, Ron Johnson and the others who make this charge are the most cynical and manipulative people in the world. The Benghazi US mission was very clearly an operation of the Central Intelligence Agency, and that is the reason that the Obama administration officials have never been able to speak frankly and publicly about it. McCain and the others know this very well, and they know that their public carping cannot be “simply” answered because the answers would endanger sources and methods. The consulate was amazingly well-guarded by some 40 CIA operatives, many of them ex-special forces, in a nearby safe house. These were viewed by consular officials as “the cavalry.” It is still not clear what Ambassador Chris Stevens and the CIA were doing in Benghazi, and unless we know that we can’t know why they were attacked. (They were not overseeing the shipping of weapons to Syria; the Syrian revolutionaries complain bitterly that the US *prevents* them from getting medium and heavy weapons).
2. Republicans keep posturing that their questions about Benghazi are intended to bolster US security. In fact, they are harming it. Republican hearings in the House of Representative have disgracefully revealed the names of Libyans talking to the US consulate, thus endangering their lives and harming US efforts to understand the situation in the country, since who would risk talking to the embassy if they know about Darrell Issa’s big mouth?
3. The GOP figures keep saying that it was obvious that there was no demonstration at the Benghazi consulate against the so-called “film,” the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ that attacked the Prophet Muhammad. But in fact Libyan security officials repeatedly told wire services on September 12 that there was such a demonstration, and that the attack issued from those quarters. An American resident in Benghazi at that time confirms that there were such demonstrations that day. The secular-minded revolutionary militia that guarded the US consulate for the Libyan government kept the demonstrations far enough away from the consulate gates that they would not have shown up in security videos.
4. Benghazi, a city of over a million, is not dominated by “al-Qaeda,” contrary to what Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has repeatedly said or implied. The city had successful municipal elections in May, just before I got there. The number one vote-getter was a woman professor of statistics at the university. While political Islam is a force in Benghazi, only some relatively small groups are militant, and it has to compete with nationalist, tribal and regional ideological currents. In Libya’s parliamentary elections of July, 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood did very poorly and nationalists came to power. Women won 20% of the seats! The elected Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Magarief, called for a secular constitution for Libya and a separation of religion and state.
5. Contrary to repeated assertions that it was obvious that terrorist groups were rampaging around in the city, members of the Benghazi municipal council told then US ambassador Chris Stevens that security in the city was improving in summer, 2012.
In fact, one Senator John McCain said during a visit to Libya last February, ““We are very happy to be back here in Libya and to note the enormous progress and changes made in the past few months… We know that many challenges lie ahead… but we are encouraged by what we have seen.” Doesn’t sound to me like McCain was running around like Chicken Little warning that the sky was about to fall on US diplomats there. Want to know who else came along on that trip? Lindsey Graham, who likewise didn’t issue any dire warnings in its aftermath.
6. Contrary to the “Libya-is-riddled-with-al-Qaeda” meme of the GOP politicians, there is a strong civil society and tribal opposition to fundamentalist militias in Benghazi, of which Amb. Chris Stevens was well aware. Tripoli-based journalist Abd-al-Sattar Hatitah explained in the pages of the pan-Arab London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat [Sept. 30, 2012, trans. USG Open Source Center]:

“It appears that the simple rule Benghazi’s people thought of applying was based on other experiences in which the radical Islamists or militants in general managed to grow, prosper, and expand by seeking protection from the tribes, as happened in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen. But the civil movements which became very active [in Benghazi] after the fall of Al-Qadhafi’s regime were the ones that formed alliances this time with the tribes, the notables, wise men councils, and civil society figures against the militants. This is akin to the “Sahwat” in Iraq. The alliance managed to expel the brigades from the town and encouraged the nascent Libyan authorities to tighten their restrictions on all armed manifestations…
He adds that [a meeting by secular notables with the tribes] was also attended by representatives from the army chiefs-of-staff and the Interior Ministry as well as a number of members from the National Congress (parliament). “All civil society organizations also took part with us. Everybody consented to issuing the statement against the presence of the [fundamentalist] brigades and we distributed 3,000 copies. “

This was around September 3. After the attack on the US consulate, tens of thousands of people in Benghazi demonstrated against the violence and in favor of the US and Stevens. Then they attempted to sweep the fundamentalist militias from the city.
7. Al-Qaeda is not for the most part even a “thing” in Libya. The only formal al-Qaeda affiliate in the region is al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is not a Libyan but an Algerian organization. Just calling all Salafi groups “al-Qaeda” is propaganda. They have to swear fealty to Ayman al-Zawahiri (or in the past, Usama Bin Laden) to be al-Qaeda. The main al-Qaeda connection in Benghazi is to Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed in northern Pakistan by a US drone strike in June. Some of his close relatives in Benghazi may have been angry about this (depending on how well they liked him), but they are not known to form a formal al-Qaeda cell. There are also young men from Dirna in the Benghazi area, some of whom fought against the US in Iraq. Their numbers are not large and, again, they don’t have al-Zawahiri’s phone number on auto-dial. Sen. McCain was a big supporter of the US intervention in Libya and seems to have been all right with Abdul Hakim Belhadj being his ally, even though in the zeroes Belhadj would have been labeled ‘al-Qaeda.’
8. Ansar al-Sharia (Helpers of Islamic Law) is just an informal grouping of a few hundred hard line fundamentalists in Benghazi, and may be a code word to refer to several small organizations. There are no known operational links between Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaeda. It is a local thing in Benghazi.
9. Leaders of Ansar al-Sharia have denied that they directed their organization to attack the US consulate and have condemned the attack.
10. Lindsey Graham and others point to instances of political violence this past summer in Benghazi as obvious harbingers of the September 11 consulate attack. But it was a tiny fringe group, the Omar Abdel Rahman Brigades, that claimed responsibility for setting off a small pipe bomb in front of the gate of the US consulate last June. This is what the US statement said last June:

“There was an attack late last night on the United States office in Benghazi,” a US embassy official said, adding that only the gate was damaged and no one was hurt. The diplomat said a homemade bomb had been used in the attack on the office, set up after the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qadhafi and kept open to support the democratic transition “

You’d have to be a real scaredy cat to pack up and leave because of a thing like that, which is what Sen. Graham keeps saying should have been the response. Likewise the same small cell was responsible for attacks on the office of the Red Cross and on a convoy of the British consulate, which injured a consular employ. Security isn’t all that great in Benghazi, though actually I suspect the criminal murder rate is much lower than in any major American city. I walked around freely in Benghazi in early June, and couldn’t have disguised my being a Westerner if I had wanted to, and nobody looked at me sideways. A pipe bomb and a shooting, neither of them fatal, did not stand out as dire in a city full of armed militias, most of them grateful to the US and Britain for their help in the revolution. You can understand why the Red Cross packed it in after a couple of attacks, but the US government is not the Red Cross.”

Charlie Brown's Christmas Dance

It's Charlie Brown music time!!

Conditioning.....

OK...."Santa Baby"  is a perfect example of  the "conditioning" to which we are subjected, especially as girls, when we grow up.  I'm borrowing from Cheryl Huber's book, How to Get  from Where You are to Where You Want to Be.  I can hear my favorite bloggers going on about what we as women are expecting from life when this song, "Santa Baby" plays.  Maybe not.  They're pretty much used to me by now--to my odd choices of music, and my weird  kind of feminism (if that's what it can be called).  But  I've been reading Cheryl Huber's books  on the metro, and trying to accept the wisdom in them.  

So here's what Huber says about "Conditioning":  

The internal programming by which an individual is turned into a person who will fit into a given culture.  The conditioning process is initiated (usually unconsciously) by a child's primary caregivers, and continued and supported by family members,  institutions, and society at large.

 Well, what that says is that from our earliest days, we are taught how to think about things, especially ourselves, by the people who take care of us from the start.

I've got that.  But where does Eartha Kitt come in?  Ah... 

Santa Baby.....

This song was a big hit on the radio when I was a student at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D.  Do they still have hits on the radio station?  Who sings them?  Lady GaGa? Justin Bieber?  Any adults?

Meanwhile, Back on the Farm.....

Let's keep paying attention to what's going on with Iran and Israel and heed what President Obama is saying.  Juan Cole's Informed Comment again has more info on this than we'll find in the MSM. 

black pepper tofu??

This is a real recipe from Sauveur magazine/website.  I like the idea of it (using lots of coarsely ground black pepper, lots of garlic, shallots, scallions, etc. plus little slices of red chiles and fresh ginger, BUT.....there is a LOT of oil (2 cups for frying the tofu plus 11 tablespoons of butter for frying the shallots, garlic, and ginger) and 2 Tablespoons of sugar--in addition to the sweet soy sauce (Indonesian variety).  Still--no meat!  Well, wish us luck!!

2 cups canola oil
1 ¾ lb. firm tofu, cut into 1″ cubes
½ cup cornstarch
11 tbsp. unsalted butter [one stick plus 3 more tbsp]
3 tbsp. finely chopped ginger
12 small shallots, thinly sliced
12 cloves garlic, crushed
8 red serrano chiles, stemmed and thinly sliced
5 tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
3 tbsp. kecap manis (sweet soy sauce; available at onlinefoodgrocery.com) [also Amazon.com]*
3 tbsp. light soy sauce
4 tsp. dark soy sauce
2 tbsp. sugar
16 small scallions, cut into 1 ¼″ pieces
Cooked white rice, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Toss tofu and cornstarch in a bowl until evenly coated. Fry tofu until browned all over, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside; discard oil, and wipe skillet clean. Return skillet to medium heat with butter. Add ginger, shallots, garlic, and chiles; cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in pepper, soy sauces, and sugar. Return tofu to skillet; cook, stirring, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Stir in scallions; serve over rice.

*or make your own from light soy sauce and 1/4 c + 1/8 c of brown sugar boiled together.  There's all that sugar again.

cooking for self

ok, i know I have been supposed to check out eggplant and its nutritional qualities.  Well after that chicken post, I am ready for eggplant!  it has a lot of fiber!!  yay.  So I got one tonight, sliced it nicely, made a batch of breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese (from the green can, you know....not anything fancy).  dipped the slices in beaten egg, then in the breadcrumb cheese mixture, then FRIED it on both sides.  then stacked it in a baking pan with cheese slices between the eggplants.  and BAKED it.
actually pretty good, though I should have made some tomato sauce, too.  Anyway, it could have used a few capers, too, to liven it up.  I am full to the gills, and will eat the rest tomorrow.  But I feel pretty good about this.  I made something mostly vegetarian (no meat).  And it was cute....not bad-looking.  no chickens or little pigs or anything died for my supper tonight.  yay!  merry christmas to all!!

tonight is the full moon, and I am wishing on a number of stars to win a prize in a lottery.  see see...

big hugs and kisses!! 

Sorry, Fox News's Megyn Kelly.....

Any fool knows Santa is a black cross-dressing comedian!  

from Tyler Perry Studio's "A Madea Christmas"

Can't wait to see it!  Madea makes me laugh, which is more than Santa ever did. 

Have Some More Fried What??

Good old USDA.  Now they're letting chickens from China into the country--whether cooked or uncooked.  Sez the USDA (FSIS), if we say the growing/living conditions for chickens in China are the same as these conditions for them here, what's the problem?  Well, for one thing, the growing/living conditions for chickens HERE, even the USDA approved ones, are nothing to brag about. 

"The USDA seems to have no recognition whatsoever that animals are conscious beings with memories, social lives, experiences and goal-oriented behavior. The agency simply pretends that “all animals are mindless animated matter” and every USDA policy and regulation flows from that delusion." (from Alex Jones' INFOWARS.com/usda-to-allow-u-s-to-be-overrun-with-contaminated-chicken-from-china). 

So....it's come to this.  a big supermarket chain hereabouts offers rotisserie cooked chickens every Friday for the price of 2 for $10.  Ordinarily, a rotisserie-cooked chicken weighs about 4+ lb., and costs about $7.99 each--virtually the same cost as for the same size of chicken uncooked.  So, if you're not paying any more (and often a bit less) to get a chicken that's already cooked (with 3 or 4 different flavorings/spice blends), what's not to like?

Well, I have to ask myself what kind of chickens do the big markets use for these bargain rotisserie birds?  The pristine, well fed and well cared-for chickens?  Or the ones who can barely stagger out of the cage? Or the ones that come from China all loaded with arsenic and lead and other goodies not considered newsworthy by China or  the USDA?  At 2 for $10, that's taking a big chance with your food budget.

Oh, I've done this myself. I love roasted chickens, and there are days when I can't deal with cooking or eating any more farm-raised salmon or tilapia or canned tuna or eggs (thanks again, chickens!). 

Sincere Christmas Greetings!

My niece Mary sent me this photo today. 

Bubbly Perfection Salad and Grasshopper Pie

This salad is what we used to eat at Christmas dinner in our house in Fargo, ND.  It has a smattering of fresh green veggies and little red bits, and because you can set the jello in a wreath-shaped mold, it looks seasonal and festive.  I know for a fact that this is what Santa Claus ate every year at our house.  I don't know why it was called "Perfection" salad.  Maybe because Santa would eat it.  He and many Midwesterners of our acquaintance eschewed fresh green vegetable salads, dismissing them as "grass." 

Here goes:

1 box lime, orange, lemon, or pineapple gelatin (size?  I'd say the 3 ounce.)
1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained (save the juice, see below)
1 carrot, peeled & shredded
1 T minced onion
1/2 cup finely shredded cabbage
1 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup chopped pimiento stuffed olives
1 cup hot pineapple juice (can add hot water to make 1 cup)
1 cup COLD 7Up (or water, if you don't like the idea of soda)

In a big bowl, combine hot juice with gelatin until dissolved.  Cool, then add about 1/2-1 cup COLD 7Up and stir.  Chill until almost set.  Fold in the veggies and pineapple tidbits.  Pour into the mold or a glass bowl and chill until firm.

Grasshopper Pie

                                     

 This is not to be confused with the real grasshopper concoctions available at Jose Andres's fancy Mexican restaurant, Oyamel, here in DC.  This is my Aunt Mary's favorite (my mom's, too) that is
cobbled together with crushed Hydrox cookies and 1/4 cup melted butter (mixed together and packed into a buttered 9" pie tin for the crust), and a filling of 1/4 c. green Creme de Menthe, stirred into 1 pint jar of marshmallow creme (or 23 marshmallows, melted), and 2 cups of whipped heavy cream, folded into the green mixture.  Freeze for several hours or until firm.  Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving.  Aunt Mary did love her Grasshopper pies, and she lived to be 95!! 

Bonne Appetit!, as they say on the Food Network, or bonne chance!  as we say around here.

Bonne Noel!!

Words Or Reality?

Juan Cole addresses the question many Obama supporters struggle with:  Is he serious about dissent???  Or just a good talker who ignores reality??  And what is this "octopus-like secret government that has substituted itself for the elected one"  Or better yet, "Who are they?"

Meanwhile, in this candle-lighting season, here's a quote from Nun other than Sister Karol Jackowski's Book of Spells and Blessings on lighting candles & making wishes:

Lighting a candle and making a wish is a little spell and blessing all by itself.  It's also the perfect way to pray when that's all the time and energy you have.  The power in fire and the power in heartfelt wishes make this simple spell work like magic.  Nature and necessity always make magic whenever we light a candle and make a wish.

So whenever you hear even the faintest call to pray, light a candle and make a wish.  And never light a candle, for whatever purpose, without dedicating it to someone or something.  In a similar manner, never extinguish a candle without confirming your wish with a "Blessed be" or an "Amen."  Keep in mind that every time you light a candle and make a wish you are taking part in a divine activity.  You too are making magic.

Is that woo-woo enough for you??

Winter's War on Pedestrians

Annual Christmas Wreaths on Union Station, Washington DC 2013

Tracy and her rellies on L.I.

Last month, my dear friend Tracy and her spouse, Rabbi Lisa Edwards, from L.A. were visiting D.C.  Shortly after they left, I found a photo of Albert Einstein (AE) taken when he was on Long Island.   I emailed it to Tracy and asked if the other person were one of her relatives.  Not quite.  He was the proprietor of a local store and the grandfather of one of Tracy's cousin Jeff's best friends.   

Apparently Einstein knew a LOT about physics and was an "eager sailor, but not a very good one," and he loved to sail in the bay off the L.I. coast where Tracy's family home sits.  I've heard the AE stories from Tracy and her family--about how "Aunt Connie and Betsey Jenkins helped pull AE's sailboat off the shore after he'd beached it."  Tracy contacted her cousin Jeff about the photo, and he told this wonderful story about AE and his friend's grandfather:

That's David Rothman, who owned Rothman's Variety Store in Southold. 

There's a famous story about Einstein coming in and asking for sundials. 

After some confusion, it turned out he was seeking sandals. Al was an 

eager sailor, though not a good one. You may recall the stories of Aunt Connie 

and Betty J... pulling him off the shore when he ran aground. 

There he would be, contemplating the universe, with his head in a paper bag. 

(In addition to sandals, he lacked a hat, so he would tame his wild locks 

in a paper bag cinched with a rubber band. Imagine finding the smartest human 

on the planet aground with his head in a bag.) 

David Rothman's grandson, Ron, is a buddy of mine and a fellow guitarist. 

He now runs Rothman's, and sells vintage guitars there, as well as sundries. 

I buy guitar strings from him, and recently bought a guitar too. 

I have a few more Einstein stories from my years as the newspaper guy out here, 

but I'll spare you for now.  [the following link will have more information on  

Einstein and his sojourn in L.I.  You can sign up for the newsletter, too.]

http://www.southoldhistoricalsociety.org/Einstein%20%26%20Southold.htm