So many things

There are so many things I could blog on. Gonzalez resigning. Rustam Basayev getting killed. (this is a GOOD thing for those who wonder) Michael Vick and Dog Fighting with all of it's supposed racial issues.(BULLSHIT)

But I'll talk a bit about food and mistakes today. Last Friday I believe it was I was helping cook dinner. The plan was to take some boneless pork chops, sear them in a pan with oil, then remove them from said pan and sautée some peppers, tomatoes, garlic and similar things in the oil then turn the heat down to simmer, drop the pork chops on top of the veggy mess, cover and let simmer for about 25 minutes which would cook the chops through while infusing them with the flavors of the vegetables. While they were simmering I dropped some brown rice into the rice cooker and when all was done, put half a cup of rice on the plate, scoop the tomatoes/peppers/garlic stuff onto the rice and serve with the pork chop. It was very good.

Now, the mistake made. When putting oil into a pan and heating it to seat the pork chop one should remember to A: Not put too much oil in and B: Don't heat it too haot. If you make these two mistakes when you put the pork chop into the oil it splashes and pops all over the place. Or more specifically, on your arm which is out over the pan, having just placed the pork chop in the oil. this results in hopping around the kitchen making hostile sounds. And it leaves marks like this on ones arm (taken 4 days later)



Be careful with hot oil my friends.

Found in the yard (Arachniphobes beware)

Garden spiders. I have two of them. One on the screen door of my back porch and the other on the hydrangea bush in the front yard.
These would be enough to send certain friends of mine screaming for the hills. Personally, I think they are cool.

Back door spider:




Hydrangea Spider:

Decsions decsions....

I really need to decide if I am going to keep doing this or give it up. This once every week or two really isn't doing much for me or for anyone else.

It is nice to see that some of the Democratic candidates for President are finally admitting that they can't pull the troops out of Iraq in a day. This drumbeat of drivel about "Get us out now!" that I keep hearing is so logistically, strategically, and tactically stupid that it nearly makes me foam at the mouth. Last week on NPR I heard Joe Biden say that it would take over a year to pull out the main combat forces and even then there would be a military presence in Iraq for several years. I must say that is a view I can respect. Of course he being somewhat rational on the topic is so far back in the polls as to seem irrelevant. He did point out that in that last election at this time everyone was saying that Dean had it locked up and we all know how that turned out.
The Republicans are just as bad. Each candidate is busily kowtowing to the Religious right and the "Conservative Base". Mitt Romeny's "One strike and They're Ours" proposal is a classic example of sound bite policy. "Look! Look! I'm SERIOUS about Internet predators!" Yawn. I would be a lot more impressed if he were serious about cutting back the size of the government and killing all of these "We have to trade some Freedoms for Security" suggestions that are being made out there.

On a different topic it has become very clear to me that the anti war left really doesn't care what General Petraeus says in his September report. they will seize on anything remotely negative and ignore anything positive and continue to scream for withdrawal. A few months ago I had been getting fairly pessimistic about he situation over there but it is clear that a lot of progress has been made on the military side of the issue. Politically there is still chaos but frankly, until there is some form of real security no political progress can be made. So I am feeling better about things. Or I would be if I wasn't pretty sure that the American people with all the attention span of a sound bite weren't more interested in American Idol, Lindsey Lohan, and following whatever the cool hipsters were saying. And since most of the cool hipsters are using their huge foundation in military science and history to speak out against the war, the sheep are following.

BBC on John McCain

There is a fantastic article on McCain that the BBC did. I think they are right, McCain is doomed because he won't compromise on what he thinks needs to be done either in Iraq or on the borders of the US. America doesn't want a man (or person) who actually sticks to principles. They want someone who will tell them what they want to hear and make the lie seem palatable.

Washington diary: McCain's tragedy