Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Tuesday, November 14. 2017

Tuesday morning links


Nachos are not Mexican 


I happen to find them disgusting 


 Student government votes for installation of $20k set of ‘napping stations’


It's nursery school! 


Academic bloat update 


 'Transracial' man born white feels like he is Filipino


And I feel like a ham sandwich on rye with swiss and mustard 


More on the toxic masculinity of gay men 


 Two Young Black Men Elected To Public Office In Connecticut – As Republicans 


 The Great Progressive Tax Escape - IRS data show an accelerating flight from high-tax states.


 New Report Highlights Terror Links of Students for Justice in Palestine


 Bernie Sanders suggests the U.S. should emulate Canada’s free healthcare. No we shouldn’t, and it isn’t free




Chantrill:  



I was talking to a young skull full of mush last week, opining on how I felt we were in a time of confusion. Then he uttered the word “Change.”


That’s when I made my mistake...


Althouse:



(Anita) Hill was believed by the people who wanted to keep Clarence Thomas off the Supreme Court and not by those who wanted him on. Paula Jones was disbelieved by those who wanted to keep Bill Clinton in the White House, but believed by those who wanted him out.



Remembering Bill Clinton's sexual assaults 

Sessions directs prosecutors to ´evaluate certain issues´ involving Uranium One and Clinton, leaves door open on special counsel


Did the Cooked-Up Steele Dossier Trigger the Entire Russia Probe?


 Seven bombings in twelve days in Sweden, what is happening? 

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:00 | Comments (43) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Why do you find nachos disgusting? It's just a busted-up taco. It's sloppy and messy but that pic sure makes me hungry. Except for that cilantro - I'm one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soapy dish-water.
#1 Jerryskids on 2017-11-14 08:01 (Reply)
I'm with you on the cilantro. Not only is the taste terrible, it upsets my stomach like you wouldn't believe. I wish restaurants would get over the stuff. They ruin EVERYTHING with it. I've had it in guacamole (not necessary!), in sauces, mixed into burritos (didn't ask for it!), etc.

If you are a restaurant and must have cilantro in your dish, make it removable for someone who asks. 10% of the population (or so I've read) HATES it.
#1.1 MissT on 2017-11-14 11:23 (Reply)
To each their own. I find cilantro makes a good flavor meld with hot peppers. Also good with hot peppers: garlic, peanut butter, corn.
#1.2 Gringo on 2017-11-14 12:15 (Reply)
The problem is it is not 'to each his own' when you are trying to order in a restaurant. Especially any new aged 'Mexican' place that has cilantro in everything - the guacamole, the salsa, mixed into sauces, hidden under tortillas, etc.

There are some chains I won't even go into b/c they put cilantro in, on and around every single dish. No options without. NONE.
#1.2.1 MissT on 2017-11-14 14:16 (Reply)
Trying to avoid cilantro in a Mexican restaurant is like trying to avoid ginger or soy sauce in a Chinese restaurant. Rather difficult.

In any event, I don't patronize Mexican restaurants very much. I don't like the thin, tasteless corn tortillas compared to the thicker, tastier tortillas I knew from friends in Guatemala. I use plenty of dried or fresh hot peppers- rather Mexican there - in my cooking, which I prefer to what most Mexican or better said Tex Mex restaurants provide. Tex-Mex influenced dishes some friends make are also superior to restaurant food- BTW they don't add cilantro to everything.

When I am back in New England visiting my sister, she has learned to not suggest a Mexican (TexMex) restaurant. There may be some decent Mexican restaurants in New England, but I haven't found any so far.

But breakfast tacos- love them.
#1.2.1.1 Gringo on 2017-11-14 14:54 (Reply)
Nearly every Texan knows that nachos aren't Mexican food, they're a crazy Tex-Mex concoction. Arrelano gets it right in his fascinating history when he writes "The best nacho is the one at the bottom so soggy with cheese, beans, sour cream and grease that it has reverted back to its original masa form."

I had the same flash of nachismo when I came up with my recipe for Nacho Cheese Soup. Totally nouveau Tex-Mex*, and totally tasty (and low-carb, to boot).

*right down to the "inauthentic" cheddar cheese, so despised by the Rick Baylesses of state-subsidized culinary infomercials
#2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2017-11-14 08:37 (Reply)
Instead of waiting to get to the bottom for your soggy chip, make them all good. eg Make mexican themed lasagna AKA Chilaquiles. Layer a meat sauce (chile to some) flavored of course with Cumin and Oregano over corn tortillas. Top with a good mexican cheese, and bake until slightly brown.

It reheats well in portion sizes in a toaster oven. I think I'll finish off my last batch tonight...
#2.1 Dorf on 2017-11-14 09:07 (Reply)
Amen to the chilaquiles. A change is as good as a rest. But I do like me some cheesy soup, and a few chips go good with it.
#2.1.1 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2017-11-14 10:48 (Reply)
Thank goodness my wife is Italian. I've been spared both real and fake Mexican food for 62 years.
#2.2 BillH on 2017-11-14 10:31 (Reply)
Some people like nachos, some don't. I love them as long as they don't have that synthetic "Cheeze" stuff on them. Cheddar is my minimum requirement, though I like to put Swiss cheese on mine sometimes. I can do without the meat and sour cream on mine.

I am not all surprised that they aren't Mexican. That doesn't change how I feel about them.
#2.3 Dangerous Dean on 2017-11-14 13:39 (Reply)
Maybe this will change your feelings about nachos.
#2.3.1 drowningpuppies on 2017-11-14 19:08 (Reply)
Napping Stations for retail clothing stores. For the spouse waiting for the clothes horse to make up their mind!
#3 Jerry on 2017-11-14 08:59 (Reply)
Why in the world would any man accompany a woman to a store?
#3.1 Bird Dog on 2017-11-14 09:03 (Reply)
Well, It doesn't happen much anymore! (Thanks to internet shopping.)
#3.1.1 Jerry on 2017-11-14 09:19 (Reply)
Two reasons:

(1) To prevent my wife from buying something unbecoming or impractical--that ends up never being worn, and

(2) To prevent salesgirls from trying to hard-sell the latest fashion. One nice thing about Tex-Mex culture is that when The Man says "No," in store, the discussion is over.

My wife seldom buys any clothes without dragging me along. And usually treats me to lunch afterwards. So what's not to like?
#3.1.2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2017-11-14 10:54 (Reply)
Back in the day at a fancy women's Western store in Bozeman MT. While you waited for your wife they had oldstyle leather chairs, the Wall Street Journal, and a glass of irish wiskey or scotch--your choice. The only thing missing was a cigar.
#3.1.3 rocdoctom on 2017-11-14 13:40 (Reply)
When I was in Kindergarten, all we got was a flat rug on the floor.
#3.2 Sam L. on 2017-11-14 12:39 (Reply)
Still got a copy of mine! Dad worked for a full-service meat packer, and scored me a cured calfskin rug. I slept like a baby on that thing.
#3.2.1 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2017-11-14 13:21 (Reply)
RE Sweden bombs:

I did a quick review of the MSM's handling this. Mostly just ignored it, of course. But I did read a short "what you need to know" piece in Time, and it's shocking how bad it is. In almost every sentence this piece contains a logical fallacy, a deceptive misuse of statistics, or an assertion not supported by evidence. The HL is begging the question right off the hop. It's pure propaganda, and very crappy propaganda at that. Sad!
http://time.com/4990765/sweden-bombs/
#4 forest on 2017-11-14 09:42 (Reply)
forest: I did a quick review of the MSM's handling this. Mostly just ignored it, of course.

Presumably, you mean the U.S. press. Sweden is a foreign country. Only one person was injured in the attacks in Sweden, none killed. If the trend continues, it may reach notice in the U.S., but is hardly of major concern for most of the world outside Sweden, which has a murder rate a quarter of that in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.S. press has been rather busy reporting on over 500 casualties (59 killed) in a mass shooting in Las Vegas Nevada, and nearly 50 casualties (26 killed) in a mass shooting in Sutherland Texas, and 4 casualties (3 killed) in a mass shooting in Thornton Colorado, just since October.
#4.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 10:16 (Reply)
Sweden is not part of the USA and 7 bombs is no biggie. Thanks for those insights.
#4.1.1 forest on 2017-11-14 10:51 (Reply)
forest: Sweden is not part of the USA and 7 bombs is no biggie.

It's not notable in the context of the U.S., which has seen several mass casualty attacks within its own borders since October.
#4.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 11:02 (Reply)
Murder rate and mass killings should be separate topics, as the latter is a small, unrepresentative sample of the former.

Some of us are interested in political crimes in the west and find them significant, particularly in places like Malmo. FYI, it's not just crazy alt-right Americans who are noticing. Norwegians are very concerned what Sweden is doing and the possible effect on them, but it doesn't make it into the media there very much. Not allowed.
#4.1.1.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-11-14 12:08 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: Murder rate and mass killings should be separate topics, as the latter is a small, unrepresentative sample of the former.

Which we discussed. The question forest raised is whether the U.S. media is paying proper attention to bombings in Sweden. We explained why bombings in Sweden that resulted in no deaths and only one injury would be far down the concerns of most Americans. Just now ...

5 dead at multiple shooting locations in N. California county, including a school; gunman is killed
#4.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 15:26 (Reply)
QUOTE:
Did the Cooked-Up Steele Dossier Trigger the Entire Russia Probe?

No, because Russia was found to have criminally hacked the DNC, then released the emails in order to interfere in the U.S. election. There was going to be an investigation no matter what.

QUOTE:
Mr. Page was at most a minor figure in the campaign and has testified under oath that he never met the two men in question or had such a conversation.

Carter Page was a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. He informed several campaign officials about his upcoming trip to Russia, including Sessions, Hicks, Gordon, Lewandowski, and Clovis, then emailed campaign officials about a private conversation he had with Arkady Dvorkovich, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, who he says expressed strong support for Trump.

Keep in mind that the Trump Administration had repeatedly denied contacts with the Russians during the campaign, but that everyone from Kushner to Page have had such contacts.
#5 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 09:56 (Reply)
QUOTE:
No, because Russia was found to have criminally hacked the DNC, then released the emails in order to interfere in the U.S. election.

Except that's an unverified claim.
There is more evidence that the so-called "hack" was an insider leak from someone at the DNC.
#5.1 drowningpuppies on 2017-11-14 10:23 (Reply)
All the actual evidence points to Seth Rich as the source of the "hacking," and Assange as much as said he was the source. Of course it is possible he could have been a Russian agent, but it is just as likely he was a whistleblower as to what was actually going on with the DNC and Hillary campaign. Unfortunately, he was murdered before he could go public or be questioned.
#5.2 Jim on 2017-11-14 13:11 (Reply)
Jim: All the actual evidence points to Seth Rich as the source of the "hacking,"

No. The evidence from DNC server logs show that the hack was by Russian agents. Keep in mind that cyber-warfare is the modus operandi of Russia against other countries, particularly attempts to undermine new democratic societies in eastern Europe. This is what they do.

Jim: Unfortunately, he was murdered before he could go public or be questioned.

Rich's family would very much like for you to quit with the conspiracy theories concerning his death.
#5.2.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 15:34 (Reply)
QUOTE:
The evidence from DNC server logs show that the hack was by Russian agents.

As stated before, this so-called "evidence" cannot be verified or substantiated. To this day even the FBI hasn't been allowed access to the DNC servers.
The only publicly available evidence points to an insider leak.
But y'all already knew that.
#5.2.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2017-11-14 16:32 (Reply)
QUOTE:
Chantrill: People believe in Change because their irrational brain wiring wants to believe in Change. That is why everyone was all excited when President Obama became the First Black President. African Americans, in particular, thought they had gone to heaven. Only they hadn’t.

Obama's election was a milestone of change with regards to race. Explain it to Washington or Jefferson, and see whether they consider it change or not.

QUOTE:
Chantrill: There was civil rights. Fifty years ago it was going to end race discrimination.

Black and white thinking, arguing that because racial discrimination still exists, that no progress has been made. Similarly with most of the other examples he provided.

Change is not only possible, but inevitable. However, change is by the three step; two steps forward, one step back.
#6 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 10:04 (Reply)
Even admitting arguendo that historicity is governed by dialecticism, what is the antithesis to white supremacy? My understanding of the '60s was that the antithesis was given to be a post-racial society, where would not be remembered. Now we have seemed to reach a synthesis that racial, and every other conceivable identification cannot be forgotten, but must be consciously considered in every type of social interaction.

I ask then, in what way is this obsession with identity and intersectionalism a step towards a post-racial society?
#6.1 another guy named Dan on 2017-11-14 11:52 (Reply)
another guy named Dan: My understanding of the '60s was that the antithesis was given to be a post-racial society

That was the goal, and while the U.S. has made great strides, that goal is still unachieved.

another guy named Dan: Now we have seemed to reach a synthesis that racial, and every other conceivable identification cannot be forgotten, but must be consciously considered in every type of social interaction.

If you mean you should probably refrain from using the n-word, sure. Otherwise, most people simply go about their lives.
#6.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 15:41 (Reply)
The U.S. has many "no-go" zones. Most have cropped up since the civil rights era and legislation has improved race relations. All of them are minority "no-go" zones where no women or white person dare go especially after dark. = CHANGE!
#6.2 OneGuy on 2017-11-14 12:05 (Reply)
One change we have now is colleges are offering classes in the problem of "whiteness", the NYT publishes a column written by a black man who wonders if his kids can be friends with white kids. We have people who yell, "Black lives matter!" but shout down those who would add that "All lives matter!"

There are influential black people who say things about whites that if the races were reversed and said by whites about blacks would characterized as racist.

Yeah, there's been change!
#6.3 mudbug on 2017-11-14 14:11 (Reply)
mudbug: We have people who yell, "Black lives matter!" but shout down those who would add that "All lives matter!"

Why white people need to stop saying #AllLivesMatter
#6.3.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 15:47 (Reply)
Black lives matter (too) because All lives matter!
#6.3.1.1 mudbug on 2017-11-14 16:44 (Reply)
mudbug: Black lives matter (too) because All lives matter!

All houses matter.
#6.3.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-11-14 17:01 (Reply)
Not really
#6.3.1.1.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2017-11-14 18:22 (Reply)
"Seven bombings in twelve days in Sweden, what is happening?"

Critical refugee mass has been achieved.

They tickled the Dragon's Tail, didn't insist on assimilation, and are now reaping the benefits.

Here's hoping the culture survives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
#7 JLawson on 2017-11-14 11:23 (Reply)
Re: Bill's assaults.

To my dismay, that article didn't mention the jaunts on the "Lolita Express".
#8 oolioo (Link) on 2017-11-14 11:43 (Reply)
The Progressive Tax Escape: They'll move, and then want/insist on changes that increase taxes. I've read there used to be a bumper sticker, "Don't Californicate Oregon". They did, though.
#9 Sam L. on 2017-11-14 12:57 (Reply)
Book recommendation. Depriving Terrorists of Their Oxygen: A Review of “Harpoon”
QUOTE:
After the killing of Dr. Fathi Shiqaqi, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Malta, widely attributed to the Mossad, Israel’s external security service, Israeli intelligence learned that PIJ operatives were not getting paid, neither were families of terrorists who had been killed or jailed.

Shiqaqi, apparently, had been the only one who knew how to access the terror group’s funds. His death virtually brought most of PIJ’s operations to a halt.

Meir Dagan, then the deputy head of the Prime Minister’s Counterterrorism Bureau, according to Harpoon, by Nitsana Darshan Leitner and Samuel Katz, “understood that regardless of intentions, cash was vital for continuing terror attacks.” In Dagan’s thinking, “if Israel focused on the money that fueled organizations that dispatched the suicide bombers, it could achieve long-term tactical and strategic results.”

Faced with widespread resistance towards his insight, it took a number of years until Dagan was able to implement his vision in full. But in 2001, following the failure of the Camp David talks, the beginning of the second intifada and the election of Dagan’s friend Ariel Sharon as prime minister, Dagan was finally in position to pursue his goal of fighting terror by taking the terrorists’ money.

With Sharon’s blessing, Dagan established a task force to target the finances of terror groups. He was very pleased that the computer-generated name for the task force was Harpoon.
More at the link.

Harpoon: Inside the Covert War Against Terrorism's Money Masters
QUOTE:
A revelatory account of the cloak-and-dagger Israeli campaign to target the finances fueling terror organizations–an effort that became the blueprint for U.S. efforts to combat threats like ISIS and drug cartels.

ISIS boasted $2.4 billion of revenue in 2015, yet for too long the global war on terror overlooked financial warfare as an offensive strategy. “Harpoon,” the creation of Mossad legend Meir Dagan, directed spies, soldiers, and attorneys to disrupt and destroy money pipelines and financial institutions that paid for the bloodshed perpetrated by Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups. Written by an attorney who worked with Harpoon and a bestselling journalist, Harpoon offers a gripping story of the Israeli-led effort, now joined by the Americans, to choke off the terrorists’ oxygen supply, money, via unconventional warfare.
#10 Gringo on 2017-11-14 15:08 (Reply)
The best nachos in the world may be had at the Millennium (now The Lakefront) in Anchorage, AK. They're a meal in themselves.
#11 snopercod on 2017-11-14 19:29 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.