The Maltese Bacon

The Future of American Eating? Cool...

"As a culture, we need to be more curious about where our food comes from. We need to buy from farmers who are trying to do things the right way. We need to think before we eat.

If we do, we'll find that our cuisine and eating habits will more closely resemble those of the nineteenth century than the late twentieth. Hunting will be less about the buck points and more about the meat. Nose-to-tail eating will make a comeback--not because of fashion or Fergus Henderson (whom I love), but because of scarcity and price. And small-scale farming--little vegetable gardens in the backyards of homes in cities, suburbs, and the countryside alike--will become not just economically sensible but cool. Hell, maybe foraging for mushrooms and wild fruits will become a seminormal skill again.

At the table, this means our plates will be heavier on grains and greens, and meat will shift from the center of the dish to a supporting role--the role it's played throughout history in most of the world's cuisines." - David Chang

Hat Tip: Yogeeta

I'm the Same Guy

Steve Benen has a list of McCain's position reversals. He hasn't updated in awhile but the list has McCain reversing, backtracking and in some cases denying existence of reversal on 76 different issues. Some of my faves from the list:

4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.

5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.

7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it. Now, he’s for it again.

11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.

16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.

27. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.

30. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.

32. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

33. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.

34. And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and soon after, McCain reversed back.

35. In the Senate, McCain opposed a variety of measures on equal pay for women, and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision. In July, however, McCain said, “I’m committed to making sure that there’s equal pay for equal work. That … is my record and you can count on it.”

40. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.

42. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.

57. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any (judicial) nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.

59. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

62. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.

70. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks. (Editor's Note: Falwell's was blaming specific Americans for 9/11. His exact quote was "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'")

71. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

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Zagat Guide to the Debate

 George Packer summarizes the VP debate as a Zagat entry in the New Yorker:

The “surprisingly wonky” Palin “exceeded expectations,” though she “relied heavily on talking points” and “repeatedly failed to answer questions.” Viewers found her “feisty,” “cloying,” “bemused,” and “manic.” She was faulted for her “aversion to verbs,” but her black jacket and skirt won “ecstatic style kudos.” The “mistake-prone” Biden, faced with a “tricky balancing act,” “exceeded expectations.” He sounded “authoritative,” “fluid,” and “surprisingly poignant on his son,” though one viewer faulted him for talking about “Joe Biden” and another complained about his “blinding teeth.” Moderator Ifill was criticized for “letting the rules run the debate” and “never following up” when one candidate “stuck her tongue out” at a question. This “much-anticipated” debate, though it “made Palin less of an issue in the campaign” and might “stop the Republican bleeding,” was “not a game-changer,” which means the “hockey mom from Wasilla” “didn’t do what McCain needed.” Reactions showed that “the voters aren’t stupid,” “folksiness and fear aren’t enough,” and “this year is different.” 

I See a T-Shirt Coming

via Machine Text (Thanks Alex! I love it.)

Free Sarah Palin

Update: I think a wise commenter named Dusty on Ezra Klein's blog has the right take on Palin's quarantine:

Sarah Palin's not being shielded from the press because she's a woman. She's being shielded from the press because she's ignorant and unqualified and the McCain campaign knows it, as evidenced by the fact that the narrative they've attempted to create for her is riddled with demonstrable falsehoods. An equally unready man who somehow made it on to the ticket would be shielded from scrutiny as well. This is just not about sexism and it doesn't help the cause to hurl charges like this around. By pretending the campaign is chauvinistically turning "smart," "tough" Sarah Palin into a weak little female who needs to be protected from the big bad press corps, self-proclaimed feminist Brown is reinforcing the notion that Palin is a credible choice for vice president and that the McCain campaign is overreacting to the peril attached to an unfiltered Sarah Palin. From what we've seen, they're not overreacting; she's not credible and the best they can hope for is to fool as many people as possible by keeping as tight a leash on her as possible for as long as possible.

Let's Look at the Bacon: Obama on Taxes

I know this has been widely reported but not everyone is a news reader.There is a scary amount of false e-mails that are going around regarding Obama's tax policies. Quoting no source, they have been taken as truths even though they are lies, sent by the friendly people who support McCain. The multi-pronged attacks include McCain's camp repeatedly releasing TV ads that lie about Obama's tax plan.

This is one example of the e-mails which falsely claims that Obama would double your taxes and has been disproved by factcheck.org. It has probably reached millions of people and scared the beejezus out of a fair number of them. Obama is a tad smarter than that. He is not going to raise taxes in the near term on the middle class during a recession. Unless your household earns more than $603,402 your taxes will not increase from this year's taxes under Obama. The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute has this to say:

Obama would give larger tax cuts to low- and moderate-income households and pay some of the cost by raising taxes on high-income taxpayers. In contrast, McCain would cut taxes across the board and give the biggest cuts to the highest-income households.

The Washington Post has a breakdown of what your taxes would look like under Obama or McCain (click on image) :

 

Digesting Day 2 of the RNC

I will not be writing about the naan I made above. It was good. But it set the fire alarm off in the oven, while a 2 week old was trying to sleep, so I had to make it on the stove. And I had two elves helping me so I can't say it's the most breezy thing to do just to have fresh bread on the table. Would recommend making naan for a Sunday, but not a weeknight.  Here is a recipe (the egg can be omitted easily). I am experimenting with weeknight wheat flour though, so will be talking about that soon. In the meantime, here are my notes from watching the Republican National Convention on TV last night.

1. George H. Walker Bush and Barbara are taking their seats. They are shaking hands with the other white, geriatrics in the house. The crowd is seriously sleepy. Barbara somehow still looks commanding.

2. Okay, I already said it, but the crowd is doggedly homogenous. I know there are some ethnics in St. Paul, based on all the restaurants Dara Moscovitz Grumdahl reviews. Couldn't they have imported some prisoners from Gitmo to play extras? Or pay the elderly Chinese people who take the bus to Atlantic City casinos to get free food and $20 with an offer of some Midwest lo mein and a free Obama Bin Biden t-shirt ? Oh, wait I see an African American guy in the crowd now, wearing a giant cowboy hat.

3.Okay, the pageantry of the DNC was over-the-top but this looks so very sad in comparison. Give me some Hollywood liberal entertainment people! A lot of the signs are homemade and limp. The DNC had their signs synchronized like, well, like the Chinese Olympics. Definitely inspired by the Beijing crowd and their plastic wands waving to a 4/4 beat.

 
4. Laura is wearing a classy red silk suit with a nice lip color. Is that Thai silk? Her skin is gorgeous. She is now listing her dear husband's accomplishments, one of which is helping the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The crowd is clapping nervously, wondering how many federal dollars were spent on that, on non-Americans no less. WHAT. Oh no she di'nt. She just capped off that off by saying: "You might call that change you can really believe in." This is too much. She just said that thanks to George 50,000,000 Iraqis and Afghanis are now FREE and Americans are safe. The Iraqis and Afghanis should send W. a thank you e-card. Brilliant. Proof she is a Stepford Wife. I don't care if she sneaks cigarettes and reads books and has a complicated past. STEPFORD WIFE. Calls one of Georgie's frat brothers to look after him at the White House when she is away. Okay, maybe her loyalty is a little endearing.

5. She is praising the war hero Mccain and wait, wait....the strong executive Sarah Palin. That was awkward propaganda. Ad men and women all over the world are reeling. Now, she is praising the other Stepford Wife Cindy McCain, whose similar glassy eyes are much more robot-like. As the camera pans to Cindy, we see George H.W. checking out his shoe. And we see a well placed brown woman standing behind Cindy.

6.  George W. is now on a giant jumbotron TV, smirking over his duties to man Hurricane Gustav. That's right. Crack your little jokes. "(McCain's) not afraid to tell you when he disagrees. Believe me, I know!" Cue the laugh track. He referred to everyone that is not whooping it up for his candidate as the "ANGRY LEFT." Thanks for the shout out, baby. There was no 8 years. No mountains of deeply dark evidence. Just the mindless, dull march of the angry left zombies. uughhh. whooo. chomp chomp. "McCain Palin!" W. said it, it must be true. No backing out now...

7. My roommate wants to watch 90210. Way less trashy.

Breaking News: No recipe for beef noodle soup today but an entreaty to vote for Obama tomorrow

I know you came here to read about Chinese food or chorizo. I'm sorry. However, if for some reason you will be voting tomorrow in the presidential primary and you are on the fence between Clinton and Obama please take a moment to read these links by people more politically eloquent than I.

My friend has written a great and thorough piece on Obama. Read it here. (http://www.whyimvotingforobama.com)

And feel free to use that article to forward to friends.

Also, read this Hendrik Hertzberg article.

...

I am standing in Webster Hall, watching The Jesus and Mary chain. My thoughts drift...Between my beef-heavy childhood and my pork-heavier adulthood, I did have a healthy phase. It must have been junior year when I embarked on my fat-free diet - endless rice cakes and turkey cold cut sandwiches with no mayo. My friends and I would sometimes drive to Jamba Juice for lunch in my 87' Camry. Yes, I was just your average body-conscious American girl. During this time, I also taught Teen Aerobics at the local YMCA. Every Wednesday at 4:30pm, I would lead all 3 students in a vigorous cardiovascular program. My friend Aarthi's mom, Mrs. Misro, was my most loyal student. She would come dressed in heather grey leggings and a pale pink T-shirt that fit tightly around her hips. Her long hair would be tied back in a pony tail. At school, she would send me messages through Aarthi, "Tell Mee-tchel, I love her. I miss her." That's something, considering I made her do aerobics every week to Depeche Mode and The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On":

As soon as I get my head around you (Okay ladies, to the right side! Arm circles! Clap!)
I come around catching sparks off you (And to the left! Clap!)
I get an electric shock from you (Come on now!)
This secondhand living just won't do (And to the left!)
And the way I feel tonight (Uh-huh!)
I could die and I wouldn't mind (Keep it up!)
And there's something going on inside (to the center for the chorus!)
Makes you wanna feel (Arms out below!)
Makes you wanna try (And to the side)
Makes you wanna blow the stars from the sky (And up above!)
And I can't stand up (and down below again!)
I can't cool down (woohoo!)
I can't get my head off the ground (And up!)
As soon as I get my head around you (Now jog to the right again!)

Rinse. repeat. That's how bitter Scottish rock/pop was interpreted in the early 90s California zeitgeist. Follow with a dry turkey sandwich.

Forget food

If you are every feeling crummy, or corrupt, or fat or skinny or like your feet hurt, go see THE ARCADE FIRE.They will make your forget everything. You will dance like a careless baby bunny in a field of soft grass.