Woot, Christy & lemonade!

Quick, somebody please teach me how to do a screen-grab!

Imagine how hot it is in lebanon right now with all of their power plants and fuel supplies being blown the shit up

in Windows, the ‘Print Screen’ button does a copy of your screen. You can then paste this copy into a graphics program or into a wordprocessor…

Very nice post. I save the refreshing drinks photos – right click and save to any file. I also like inspiring people to care for each other.

Please sign the petition to save the lives of Lebanese civilians. Thanks.

The second I would recommend, with a caveat that it is hard to see without sobbing:

http://fromisraeltolebanon.info/

This shows the real face, or rather the consequences of, real evil. And yes, Israel’s 23 years of genocidal attacks against Lebanon are unmitigatedly evil. As is the United States’ 15 year long genocidal war against the Iraqi peoples. That’s just a very small part of what’s going on today, of course. We’ve covered a lot of history in these pages before.

And here’s one more, about what some noble Hasidic Rabbis are doing, and have been doing for years. Their organization is called Neturei Karta and their website is:

http://www.nkusa.org

God bless them.
======

==Please go to http://julywar.epetition.net and sign the Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition and forward this invitation to your friends.

Lebanese civilians have been under the constant attack of the state of Israel for several days. The State of Israel, in disregard to international law and the Geneva Convention, is launching a maritime and air siege targeting the entire population of the country. Innocent civilians are being collectively punished in Lebanon by the state of Israel in deliberate acts of terrorism as described in Article 33 of the Geneva Convention.

Does anyone know if the Jim Webb v. George Allen debate today will be broadcast? I don’t see it on c-span’s web site, but I have a hard time deciphering c-span’s web site.

And isn’t it a shame that our president has done essentially the same thing in Iraq, and left us with no moral ground to stand on.

it’s only 77ºF in Beirut but 107ºF at 5pm in Baghdad — 79ºF in Tel Aviv.

Some wag said that Iraq is nothing like Vietnam — it’s dry heat in the desert!

I wish eveyone who comments on your blog could be as thoughtful as you.

Good Morning FDL, and if you’re in NH I’ve got seriously iced coffee in the fridge.

For a quick tip to cool down, spritz a handtowel with a bit of water, if you have lime oil (or scented oil of your choice) add a little to the spritzer. Then store the handtowel in the freezer. When you think that just five more minutes of the heat will cause your brain to melt out your ears, take the towel out and just put it on your head, wipe your face, wrap your neck with it, it’ll cool you right off.

For seriously hot (internal thermostat goes wonky, happens a lot over here) those lovely freezer gel packs apply to back of neck and head, there’s a batch of blood vessels there, and you can cool off right quick.

I’ll be back in a moment with the best gazpacho recipe for hot weather.

Good morning – I so rarely get here early in this wonderful thread.

Keeping cool in the desert (I live south of Tucson) is not a joke. Our temperatures haven’t been unusual this past week, though, just the normal 105-110. We use evaporative cooling as much as possible, and keep the air conditioning in reserve for days and nights when the humidity goes up in preparation for our monsoon thunderstorms.

Keeping cool means moving a little more slowly, drinking a lot more water, and working or playing outdoors in the early mornings or evenings. The afternoons are for siesta in the heat of the day, or more usually working indoors.

We’re working here in AZ-8 to elect a Democrat to Jim Kolbe’s seat, which is very possible, and to unseat Jon Kyl — a harder task. But Jim Pederson is getting closer in the polls, and we’ve got a long time to go. A victory there would be sweet.

and lest we forget : in the Gaza Strip it’s 86ºF ! Too bad the Israelis bombed out the central power plant so airconditioning is kinda rare today … luckily, the U.S. Government provided the insurance for the facility so us American taxpayers will pay for the rebuilding !

Praying for rain here. Otherwise another 95 plus party with an index around 110.

Oh…in case you haven’t yet…

Billmon

“…and let’s talk about the things you’ve been doing to keep cool.”

Christy – this picture in one of John Casper’s comments posted yesterday seems appropriate: http://www.rasiel.com/lutefisk/1024/Tetons.jpg

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-198967

Christy, if laughter will cool you, wander back here.

In an English tearoom during a heatwave, as my friend and I sat jonesin’ for a/c and some ice in our tea, an elderly couple, red-faced and miserable in their tweeds, took the table next to us.

“DO have coffee instead of tea,” Mrs. counseled Mr. “It will cool you better.”

God bless ‘em.

*ilson at 3 — THANK YOU again, good man. Um . . . where do I find that “Print Screen” button?

the ‘Print Screen’ button is just to the right of the F12 button on the top row

when you’re about to boil over here’s a very simple thing to try: run cold water on the insides of your wrists… over the pulse point. it really works.

This recipe is from “Bakery Lane soup bowl” by Marce Mitchell and Joan Sedgwick. Probably the best cookbook investment I made when I graduated from college. I’ve made every recipe, and there isn’t a bad one in the lot. The chocolate cheesecake recipe alone, is worth getting this cookbook for.

(Quick story, summer after graduating, worked at school bookstore, we ordered a Psychology textbook, nasty , huge, ugly, unpleasant to read book. Publisher goofed up and sent us these instead. Manager was going to send them back, until, when she went to box them up, found they’d all been purchased by the staff.)

On to the recipe.

Gazpacho!
1/4 pound, day old french bread, cubed (I like sourdough too for this)
water
1/2 cup olive oil (get the extra-virgin, as dark green as you can find)
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1&1/2 cup peeled and diced cucumbers
1 green pepper seeded and diced
1 to 2 cloves garlic (up to 4, more than that is overkill)
2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, seeded and cubed (canned works fine)
pepper to taste (or mint, depends on your taste buds)
soak bread in cold water, squeeze out excess,
combine everything in a food processor or blender, blend like mad, serve cold.

I like to garnish this with fresh fried (in olive oil) croutons, made from the same bread used in the recipe. Also, I tried it once with a good pumpernickel, it looked odd, but was very tasty.

Good Morning Firedogs,

an inspiring post Christy. Our Central Texas town is experiencing explosive exurban growth – think our local Firefighters/Paramedics would be able to identify those in the older part of town with no A/C who could use some extra help –

Tip #1 – always make double whatever I’m concocting and pour half in to ice trays to use as cubes

Tip #2 – visit local thrift stores to buy Donvier type ice cream makers ($3-$5) to make our own slushy Margaritas or Amaretto Sours

Good morning gang — it’s muggy and humid here this morning, but it’s now looking like rain. Let’s all hope so, we could use it, and we could use some lower temperatures.

beard5 at 19 — that looks fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing the gazpacho recipe…that definitely looks like a keeper. :)

You’re welcome Christy, it’s all part of my plan for making the world a better place, one stomach at a time.

Steve at 9 — Have I missed something since being at my mom’s the last coupla days?

I used to go to a Lebanese restaurant when I lived in Eugene, Oregon, and they had a delightful cold drink that went like this:
Start with a mild lemonade and add pomagranit juice and rosewater, then add sugar to taste. Serve with crushed ice and top with mint leaves.

*ilson 16

Ah, well, I’ve got one of ‘em new-fangle ergonomic keyboards that doesn’t have F# buttons either … but you DID prompt me to gander around at it more closely, and now I spy a big gray button with “PrtScn” above “SysRq” on the top and “Insert” on the front side. So that’s SOME progress.

‘Twould be good for your rest had I been grrrl enough to make through the user’s manual back when, but the dang thang so confounded me that . . .

Well, the rest of that story ain’t pretty enough to bring to this party. Nor will I pester you further, good *ilson, since screen-grabbing ain’t essential to my enjoyment of FDL.

Thank you again.

Holy gazpacho.

With the US rushing shipments of bunker buster bombs to Israel, any fig leaf of US neutrality is surely all busted to hell.

Hey Deadeye and The Decider, thanks for getting Hezbollah to turn their sights on us you war jackals.

Also, does anyone ever have the sneaking suspicion that the US is bombing Lebanon precisely because it was trending democratic and was becoming the cultural and financial hub of the Middle East?

-GSD

Yes, a couple folks here thought I was a troll and were a little abusive. I made a comment about verifing the vote count and told everyone to wake-up (in upper case). I recieved a big smack-down, but I’ll get over it.

Thanks Christy,

I like your “kick off your shoes” attitude.
You made the Boston Globule via Reuters Re:
your Bush back rubbing quote. It was on page D-1, should be on A-1…
The Prez is such an embarassment…
Need a Fitz hit…
My co-author, Marshall Cook send me this t-shirt
“Everyone is born right handed. Only the gifted overcome it.”
Hope you are a lefty….

Bay State Libs

How to keep cool:

Be awakened by thunderstorms.

Go to work on a Saturday, endure incredibly-over-air-conditioned office space while setting up computer hardware for a training class.

Hey, I didn’t say it would work for *everyone*…[/Eli]

GSD – Take a look at Glenn G’s latest on the neocons.

In short: Neocons still run the show and won’t be happy until the ME is glowing.

Ooo, beard5 — ditto Christy!

CHS, IIRC, Steve wanted more posts about Lebanon and he used capital letters to get his point across. A few of us responded in a variety of ways. I don’t think Steve quite understood how his comments appeared to some of us. I thought a lot of FDL’ers came to Steve’s defense although IIRC, no one was agreeing with him that there were not sufficient posts about Lebanon.

democracy and prosperity in Lebanon is merely ‘collateral damage’ to the Israelis and associates — kinda like babies and ambulances …

Ooops sorry, yes it was about Diebold, not Lebanon, sorry Steve.

Morning FDLers.

Done reading the online papers and my fave blogs this AM. Atrios links a beautiful video done by Sarah McLachlan. It’ll pick up your spirits and make you think how good some of us have it.

4hrs of cedar hedge trimming to do here in warm but cloudy Gatineau, Canada. Lotsa lemonade (with mint leaves) to be quaffed.

Peace.

I’ve never seen Canada and warm in the same sentence.

Canada is getting kinda warm about the way its citizens in Lebanon are being killed …

Has anyone read Glenn Greenwald’s piece on the neocons desire for annihilation of the “enemy’?
He says that they want to do this massive campaign without thinking through the consequences to the end and what all that annihilation will in fact accomplish.
What is the ultimate outcome that the neocons want with all of this war? Do they want to just kill everyone there? Is that the only way they see to get rid of the “enemy”? This is seriously scary stuff.

To line @ 6

The Webb/Allen debate will not be on television. Rumor has it that the Webb blog is going to try to broadcast it shortly after it takes place. I’ve been told to watch for it shortly after 10:00 AM EST (a few minutes from now).

I just wish more people would get “warm” about anyone being killed over there.

…and we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. Things are going to get VERY bloody for everyone. No one over here has any idea.

don’t want to turn on the stove/oven ? no bbq or grill ? Crockpots Are Your Friend

noticed Christy posted a Crockpot Recipe in one of these threads – the link below has plenty of really simple recipes – they’re not just for soups and stews – we’ve made everything from meatloaf to cakes in ours

another thrift store find, easy to use, and you can use less expensive cuts that will turn out more tender in the pot, you can throw some ingredients in before leaving for work and not have to worry about coming home and having to cook – plus your home smells like Grandma’s all day

Quickie Tacos -

throw in some frozen chicken breasts, a can of enchilada sauce, some diced chiles (also available in cans), your preferred spices – and 6-8 hours later, voila – tender and spicy taco meat as good as your fave taqueria

http://www.anniesrecipes.com/Kitchen/crockpot.htm

I think they just want to raise the price of oil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_…..205658.stm

Minister condemns Israeli action

Foreign Office minister Kim Howells has criticised Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, while on a visit to Beirut.

He said Israel had not carried out “surgical strikes” and attacking the Lebanese nation was not the answer.

cathy…to answer your question…

Yes.

They want complete domination over everyone. The ME to them is the way to do it. Lots of oil, brown people, and easy targets. A neocons wet dream.

Good morning fellow HotDogs. It was a record breaking 104 degrees yesterday in PDX and 75degrees this morning at 6am. I had an early morning chuckle when I came across “Non Sequitur” in the comics and thought of our TRex and had to share it.
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/nonsequitur
Off soon to the farmer’s market-it’s been a while since I’ve gone so I’m not sure if the cherries are about done, no problem though, I’ll just load up on blueberries, raspberries, marionberries and loganberries, peaches, nectarines….

Sorry for the double off the wall.

jj

God bless your gentle heart, Christy.

“He says that they want to do this massive campaign without thinking through the consequences to the end“

our problems in a Wingnut shell

Oil price increases are a nice perk, but domination is the ultimate goal. PNAC spells it out. They want America to dominate. In totality.

How little people understand sometimes. The only way to combat hatred and war is with Compassionate Love. You read the headlines and think the world is going to hell in hatbox. Good news for the most part doesn’t get ink. It never did.

But the individual caring that goes unseen in the press has, through the millenia, been gently and silently multiplied and stored in the Universal Heart. And a mighty treasure it is folks, regardless of attempets of some to squander it, regardless of those who say no such treasure exists.

So when the headlines blare with evil tidings, remember that we are at the dawn of a great Awakening, where the imagined veil between Humanity and its Eternal Nature will gently evaporate. Each act of Compassionate Love brings the moment of our impending evolution ever closer.

I guess if this came from a celebrity, the media would have taken it seriously when it was written. But as it turns out it was penned by a street musician.

But none the less, The Gift IS a true story.

Its been too hot lately so today feels warm in comparison.

~~~

I’ve sent this link (WARning, REALITY BASED IMAGES!) to the PMO;

http://fromisraeltolebanon.info/

I’m pretty sure its not the kind of photos PM harper likes to see but we know by now that he supports the idea that Lebanese civilians aren’t worth as much (unless he’s having his picture taken with them).

Christy,
You and FDL got a mention on CNN’s website today!

Many writers saw a sexist aspect to Bush’s back rub. “This isn’t a Sigma Chi kegger, it’s the G-8 Summit,” wrote blogger Christy Hardin Smith on Firedoglake.com.

cnn story

The news is too much to handle lately, so I’m sticking to the pull up a chair thread for my mental health. It is cool and overcast here on the coast of northern California, but hot as hell inland.

The truck gardens inland, however, are cranking out beautiful vegetables, and a guy who has such a garden gave us a big bag of lemon cucumbers yesterday.

So I made some “summer pickles.”

2 or 3 lemon cuckes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick (the ones I have are about the size of baseballs. You can peel the cucumbers if you want, but I don’t.

Several slices of red onions.
Equal parts of water and red wine vinegar (or seasoned rice vinegar)
1 TBS sugar (or to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 cup olive oil.
Throw all the stuff in a container large enough to fit the ingredients, stir, and chill overnight.

cbl at 6:59, thanks for the crockpot link, that looks good.

Neocons: They wish to inflict the harm on the world that was once inflicted on them. I’d be willing to bet most of these people were beaten, or otherwise abused as children. It’s hard to imagine this kind of bloodthirst occuring naturally.

Oh yeah, and I thought democracies don’t go to war with other democracies?

It’s the Vinny Barbarino foreign policy. What? Who? Where?

-GSD

Zergle-
The world will pay for their abusive upbringing.

[My dear food-editor pal volunteered another killer recipe this week, and wouldn’t you know, it’s just the thing to go with lemonade (well, for those of you with kitchen staff — as for me, think I’ll just enjoy it incorporeally). Anyhow, here’s what she wrote.]

can’t remember if I sent this to you, but:

i should just smear the dough on my behind or thighs to speed things up.

Chocolate Espresso Chew
By Leigh Lambert|
(c) 2006, The Washington Post

This recipe will yield about 2 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies, but you can make this simple cookie any size you want. Store in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. For long-term freezing, wrap the cookies individually in aluminum foil and place in resealable plastic food storage bags.

1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Jansen uses Ghirardelli)
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely ground dark-roast coffee beans
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, toasted,* then coarsely chopped

*To toast the nuts, spread them on a baking sheet and bake in a 325-degree oven for about 6 minutes. Watch carefully because nuts will burn quickly.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Melt 2 cups of the chocolate chips, the unsweetened chocolate and butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer on high speed, beat the eggs, sugar, ground coffee and vanilla extract until thick ribbons form and the mixture has doubled in volume. By hand, stir in the melted chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined, then add the dry ingredients, chopped walnuts and the remaining chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready some large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Make golf ball-size scoops of dough, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake, in batches, 10 to 12 minutes; the tops will crack, but the cookies should be gooey inside. Cool on the baking sheets at least 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Per cookie: 190 calories, 3 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat, 36 mg cholesterol, 6 g saturated fat, 62 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber. Recipe tested by Leigh Lambert.

[Todja it was killer.]

Thanks Ellie O’C, CNN picked up the story from the WSJ yesterday. It’s a poor attempt to bodyslam Christy, based on the mistaken belief that frat boys only drink with their own. It shows you the length they had to go try to find something negative to write about her.
I see it as another sign that Jane and Christy, along with other liberal blogs, are having a very significant impact on the TM.

I saw a great photo yesterday Mpls Star Trib (AP photo?). A cat in NY that steals the neighbors gardening gloves & brings them home as gifts instead of mice.
Boundary Waters Canoe Area fires have consumed 45 acres. Heavy smoke smell yesterday & we live an hour away. Area residents told they will be living with smoke until the fall weather changes. A harrowing story of 3 campers escaping from fire jumping islands through thick smoke & falling embers. It’s extremely dry, last rain was 7/1 which didn’t amount to a hill of beans. We’ve been very short on rain since spring..when you walk in the woods everything crunches underfoot.
Praying that chances of storms (w/ rain, not lightning) this evening are accurate.

This is a family favorite for parties and cookouts and picnics — because it doesn’t contain anything that spoils quickly, it’s perfect for tailgating once football season gets going as well.

ANTIPASTO DIP
Makes 5 cups.

1 (14-oz.) can artichoke hearts in water, drained
2 (7-oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained and chopped (optional, I don’t like shrooms, and this tastes just fine without them.)
1 (7-oz.) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 c. pimento-stuffed green olives, drained and chopped
1/2 c. green pepper, chopped
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. good quality extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 c. white vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp. Italian herb seasoning
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. sugar (or 1 packet Splenda)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Set aside. Saute onion and garlic in hot oil in saucepan over medium heat for 3 minutes or until onion is tender (do not burn garlic — I saute onion first for a while and then add garlic near the end). Add vinegar and remaining 4 ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and pout over vegetables; cover and chill 8 hours. Transfer to a serving dish, using a slotted spoon to remove some of the excess dressing. Serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices.

(NOTE: I like to add in a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) to the original ingredients. And sometimes I’ll chop some fresh tomato and/or cucumber and add it to the salad right before serving. Makes great bruschetta topping.)

(This is from an older edition of The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, btw, with some modifications by me in the notes.)

There is only one story about Christy’s crack : it’s from the Associated Press . That syndicated AP story has been used on many media …

My bad, thanks for the correction *ilson.

cbl at 42 — crockpots are also your friend if you blog all day and have a small child. *g* Here’s another great website for recipes. I’ve got some good cookbooks for them, too — my favorite is by a woman named Mabel Hoffman. HTH!

The night before gardening, I freeze my gel-pack bra. Keeps me cool all day!

Not

Just a quick reminder, folks.

While you’re relaxing on this beautiful weekend, you’ll find some really nice music at my link. I’ve performed this stuff in the NYC Subway and there’s some really good street music here. Even a bunch of nostalgic tunes from the Howard Dean campaign if you wanna get hoaky.

Come on over and enjoy…

ccmask at 66 — now THAT is a great tip. If I only had a gel-pack bra… *g*

Bush’s African-American enabler, Condi Rice says a cease fire would be a “false promise”.

So, I guess if she were invloved in an abusive relationship she would allow her husband to continue the beatings until the marriage counseling kicked-in.

Do these war mongering fools really believe what they say and do they expect others to believe them?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..us_mideast

-GSD

cc, where does one find gel-pack bras? Quick, darlin’!

Christy- I swear I did know a girl who did it. She sold hot dogs on the road. Honestly. While waiting for my lunch, I commented on the heat and that is the story she gave.

Make sure your pets are cool too. Spritzing them down with water and having a bowl of same out in the shade is a good idea. Particularly for older pets, this is killer weather. I know from sad experience, recently.

The Religion of Danae Non Sequitur cartoons are some of my favorites.
I was stunned to see the Hardball segment online of Matthews & Pat Buchanan hammering the warmongering neocons’ credibility (now there’s an oxymoron) & questioning if the adm is still listening to them. Hopefully we will see more of this in our always a day late & dollar short msm.

Feel like a new bride! Silicone bra:

http://www.americanbridal.com/siliconebra.html

Oh well, a gel-pack bra might get to where you’re going a minute or two before you do . . .

OfT fwiw“prostratedragon says:
July 22nd, 2006 at 4:40 am
“That BuzzflashFalls Church article nails it.”
Boo-yah.
Juan Cole points to an action site on behalf of a new Kucinich resolution for immediate cease-fire, multi-party negotiations, and a peacekeeping force. Not that I expect anything whatsoever in the way of a response from our alleged government, but I find that I am beginning to feel complicit. I do not like it.”

I used the site and it appears to work well, used my zipcode to send emails to my two nearest Congressional reps.

Cooler. Ice. Watermelon. Repeat as neccesary.
Oh, and lots of iced tea. If you’re using tea bags, use about 4 bags per quart of water, put it in some sort of vessel, and stick it in the fridge. You don’t need any of that boiling water or stick-it-in-the-sun nonsense. Works with loose tea, too.

thanks for the crockpot link Christy !

gotta go – so good t/b back here w/ y’all

stay cool everyone

Time to do the yard–L8tr!

Good morning all. This is a fabulous and refreshing drink my Dad and Mom made in the summertime as we grew up.

Ice cold buttermilk
Finely chopped cucumber
Fresh mint
Ice
salt and pepper (to taste)

moe99 at 72

Awfully sorry to hear that.

Here is a nice summer dish:

Salmon or albacore lettuce rolls
Use either canned salmon or albacore (canned in water)

Start with some big inner leaves of romaine lettuce. You want them to be flexible, and not crisp enough to break.
Put the salmon or albacore flakes on top of the leaves, sprinkle with feta cheese, drizzle with olive oil, a small amount of soy sauce, and just a sprinkle of seseme oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Roll the romaine leaves up just the way you would with a tortilla to make a burrito. Stick with a toothpick to hold each roll together.

Serve with fresh french or italian bread (perhaps with a good dipping oil alongside) and chilled white wine of your choice.

Moerman #52

I’m not sure it should have been a measured response, If you kidnap 2 of my people and tell me you want me to do something to get them back I will do everything in my power to make sure you don’t ever want to make that mistake again.

This could have ended 12 hours after it began by putting the 2 soldiers or their bodies in a Jeep and driving them to the border as Hezzbolah hasn’t done this and the Lebonese having seen fit to make them do it. Then they have brought this down on the Lebonese people. Most targets have been Military or Infrastruceure based, some civilians have died but I still don’t see why you or anyone would thing that a measured response would be approiate, The key thing to remember is Isarel said there would be an Imediate Cease Fire if there people were returned.

Re Canada:
The people and most of the press are outraged not only by the killing of civilians, but by the lack of a response from our neocon government. Aargh!

We are also outraged by the Katrina like response of the government to evacuating the 50,000(!) Canadians in Lebanon, 30,000 of whom want to get out. 11 days into hell, we have gotten

Since I teased everyone with the lemonade picture, thought I’d better share my favorite recipe for lemonade.

FRESH HOMEMADE LEMONADE
Makes 8 cups.

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. boiling water
1 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice (6 to 8 large lemons)
5 c. cold water
Garnishes: Lemon slices and/or fresh mint sprigs

Combine sugar and boiling water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water; stir well. Cover and chill. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon slices and/or mint sprigs, if desired.

Cooling off: swimsuit, garden hose.

With kids add: slip N slide. Your grass will recover.

Your grass will recover.

Excellent point, egregious. After all, what are folks trying to raise, anyhow — kids or grass?

For sleep disturbed by “power surges”, I recommend the Chillow. It’s flat, rectangular w/inner foam approx 13×19…just put in water, insert in your pillow or use separate. I haven’t used mine for months so went to feel it & it’s still cool to the touch.

beard5 – I know what I’m having for dinner tonight – gazpacho! Thanks a million

lotus @59, I think I’ll take your friend’s advice and just smear the batter directly on my body. 190 cal per cookie! Those look double-delicious, though, I’ll try them when it’s not so hot. Wish one could bake in a microwave.

Christy, Steve Clark is a little sensative, isn’t he? I didn’t think we were abusive.

Scott-
Why were the soldiers kidnapped?

Scott,

The Israelis should simply execute Lebanese orphans until Hezbollah complies.

Or maybe the US should threaten Lebanon with nuclear annihilation if the government doesn’t just saunter over and tell Hezbollah to “knock the shit off”.

We should use such tactics in the US. Take a hostage, we’ll level your hometown. Keep it up and the whole state will be blown up.

Measure schmeasure.

-GSD

A sensative musician might be a good thing.

Scott at 7:30, I left a response for you on the prior thread.

Christy;

Your comments are terrific! Yes, a lookin to see if everything’s OK for certain folks could be crucial. Thanks for the thought and suggestion.
—–
News wrt my missive LTE re: Arlen’s expostfacto blessing of NSA domestic spying and the local Op/ED supporting Arlen’s propoesd ‘compomise/soluition’ submitted to the local rag via Toobz Monday last about 3:45pm.

Do ya want the good news, or the bad news first?
OK, the bad news is that it hasn’t run (thru today.) And doesn’t seem likely to ever.
—
OTOH (akd ‘the good news’)…I suspect Gonzo’s revelations about the Prez calling off the OPR dogs personally thwarting any real investigation into legal ethics in Gonzo’s dept., etc. mighta stirred them to run a very similarly themed letter today. A quick scan indicates this writer had both strength and less length as a basis for choosing that one over my humble pleadings.

Fair enough. The best message made it into the marketplace of ideas. (One caveat occurs to me, however. Is it true that the worst day of the week in terms of circulation is Sat.?)

Anyway, the anti-Arlen appeasement made it into print. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time. Work harder AND smarter.
—–
Just to keep folks updated. A couple folks here who advised in details/suggestions in the creation process asked to be kept informed.

Angie at 79: That buttermilk recipe sounds really good. Variations I like are to mix the buttermilk with tomato juice, or one-third each buttermilk, tomato juice and beer. Spice it up with some hot sauce.

A sensative musician might be a good thing.

Might indeed, Steve. But a self-sensitive-only one . . . not so much.

Oops. Half my comment disappeared at 84.

Fewer that 3000 Canucks have been evacuated due to the power of neocon in competence and denial.

There are demonstrations today in Toronto and Montreal.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com…..l/Ontario/

Finally, Jane Jacobs’ last book told of the heat wave in Chicago a few years ago when dozens of elderly people died. The incidence of death was lower in neighbourhods where there were outdoor cafes. It seems that in these neighbourhoods, people had met their neighbours and knew to look out for them in the heat.

Saving the world, one lemonade at a time.

Then I’m thinkin’… A few capital letters and all hell breaks loose, who’s being sensative there ?

Steve Clark @92 – *g*

But being a sensative drummer must be painful sometimes, non?

Thanks for the update, Kludge. Got a linky to what they printed?

Here’s another little salad that will cool nicely.

Fresh tomatoes chopped
Cucumber, seeded and chopped
Onion, chopped (as much or as little as you like and I like a mild Vidalia for this)
Lots of chopped cilantro (or you can substitute dill or parsley)
salt and pepper
good olive oil and a bit of vinegar

Oh, and for moments when the heat is about to overcome me, I jump into a cold shower and then only dry off a little bit. The residual droplets continue to cool. Sorta like an adult sprinkler…

yum, sofistic!

I too love Redd’s weekend thredds.

For serious cool, I jump in a 5-min. cool shower. I like the towel-in-the-freezer idea. Also water on the wrists.

Oh, and God? Please stop these neocons. Where the hell are You and why don’t You listen to me? A handful of clowns and a retarded psycho chimp are destroying everything good in the world! Please get back to me!

Is there a linky for attack-on-Christy thing? Haven’t been around much last couple days.

Mommybrain,I suppose it’s a little unusual.

Operation Liberate Baghdad Again.

Abizaid to send more US troops into Baghdad to stem ethnic conflict.

Reports that the US brass are longing for the “good old Zarqawi days”.

http://www.dallasnews.com/shar…..9fa49.html

-GSD

John Casper #93

I’ll go look

Enough about me, lest I plug an up-coming gig.

I’m keeping cool on Monday by avoiding the Palace theatre and all the hot air genererated by Clinton.

Has anybody heard of any bloggers getting tickets to the event?

We aren’t air conditioned yet in our drafty, leaky old house. Talking to my mother-in-law, she said when she was a kid in Chicago they would hang wet sheets from a line on the ceiling, in front of a fan. Has anyone tried this? Also I wonder if sitting a large block of ice in a pan in front of a fan would work for short range cooling. Anyone?

When my dad had an ulcer, he used to drink his scotch in buttermilk. These buttermilk drink recipes sound a little more healthy. He also ate weird things like peanutbutter mayo and banana sandwiches. Must have been his midwestern upbringing.

Mommybrain at 89 and Steve at 92 and everyone else — since I wasn’t here when the incident happened, it’s tough to say, and I just don’t have time this morning (between catching up on e-mail and working on a new post and all, along with getting a snack together for the peanut) to go back through all the comments and find it. But, since we are all human, and everyone can make a mistake of small or less-than-small proportions AND since generally, I have found at least, that when Mr. ReddHedd and I have a misunderstanding, it is generally about something that was truly not all that important, but the longer we argue it seems more and more and more important…well, what we generally do is call a bygones and move on from there.

And because wallowing in a peevish grudge really taints the comments for everyone else who wasn’t involved, I’d really appreciate it if everyone could just say, “You know, you hurt my feelings with ____, but I’m a big enough person to let this go for the sake of the whole blog. And I’m sorry if I ticked you off as well.” Or something like that. Because, ultimately, being pissed at each other gets us to run around in circles, but channeling that energy toward changing something that is a big problem (like global warming, or poverty, or political corruption or…well, you get the picture) is a much better use of all out time.

And, fwiw, I am sorry if someone’s feelings got hurt or if things got overheated while I was out of town. And I sure hope that we can all let this go with a bygones, and we’ll just try to do better in the future. Just my two cents… (And now, back to work on the next post.)

Jack Walsh

Are you the same guy who did the Kerry pickets a while back?

Steve Clark, I was just gonna say, talk to me about something besides yourself :)

Go ahead and talk about Diebold, btw! Many of us here are concerned as hell, and commenters like me to me are constantly on it. Don’t bitch about fdl, be fdl!

Well Christy, it’s not hot here at 7,000 feet. We sleep under a down comforter 12 months of the year. And humidity is usually under 20 percent. Sometimes well under. In the winter it gets very cold but the sun shines, and you can take 20 degrees in your shirt-sleeves.

The weather was one of the main reasons I left the East after 25 years. I simply could not stand the humidity. No one should have to suffer like that. I haven’t been stinky-sweaty for seven years. And I’m NEVER going back. For decades I used all the tricks listed in the comments above. Never, never, never again. Not ever. Not once. Not even for a visit. Living here makes it easy to give up TV. I just sit outside and watch the sky. And I’m not worried telling people about this because they won’t move here: no jobs, no infrastructure, no malls, no four-lanes, no laws hardly. The high desert will lift you up and smash you down. Can’t bring your old life with you, no way.

On the Eastern Shore of Maryland during this time of year, my life essentially came to a halt until late September. I went to NYC once in August (?) and wondered why Manhattan wasn’t a federal disaster area. After a bus ride back from MacWorld, I could almost literally pour water (sweat) from my shoes. Bah!

Killer humidity or no, I have to spend the day frantically trying to get the house minimally presentable for Ms. Redshift’s birthday party. So have fun, firepups, and I’ll see you tomorrow (or possibly Late Night.)

Just testing to see if this is snagged for moderation too. Hath something offended thee? :-)

[Moderator: not really sure what about your comment triggered the filter, but it’s been set free!]

We have a patch of galloping mint in our garden. I finally looked up how to do this and tried it last summer:

Mint Julep

for a cool summer afternoon

Julep Juice:

boil equal parts water and sugar
(I use water and Splenda, trying to keep girlish figure, alas to no avail)

When boiled and dissolved, turn off heat, cut up a handful of mint leaves/ stalks, whatever, with a scissors and add it to the pot. Put the lid on it and let it steep until it cools down completely.

Strain the contents into a bottle or jar.

This can be used either in a tall glass with ice and soda water as a refreshing mint drink

OR

fill a glass with crushed ice. Pour in the Bourbon up to about 1 1/2 inches from the top and fill the rest with the Julep Juice.

Either will do the trick for a cool down. The latter also adds a high degree of “mellow.”

John in Taos, refresh and check again.

Here’s some cool news to make you feel more comfortable from a diarist at Kos (just up). The diarist subscribes to a polling service and they have new info on the Lamont-Lieberman race. The results have not been publicly announced yet, but the diarist said they were as follows: in the primary, Lamont is up 10%; in the general a dead heat. Enjoy.

Somewhat OT. I would like to see a “pull up a chair” segment sometime about people’s hobbies. I have a feeling that , since there are so many interesting people here, there are many interesting hobbies as well.

Hippo Birdy to Mrs. Redshift!

Oh, is Ms. Redshift’s birthday actually today?

Cause last nite we found out the Eureka Springs, Ar and Dru both share a birthday today!

Happy birthday to her and have fun!

How’s the FDL traffic today? I saw the thing in our paper last night, thought for a moment they would skip the Stigmata Ki bit, but no.

Anyway, I guess we can expect some road rage on our “tubes” today. No doubt the Nabobs of Nuttering will be after it trying to keep chill in the road jam. Even with Christy trying to make nice here. With the lemonade and all.

I think I will take some new swamp cooler pads over to an elderly lady I met a couple of weeks ago on the campaign trail. Seems like her children haven’t done that for too long, and I thought then it would be a kindness. So here’s to you Christy, and thanks to everyone for pitchering in!

Oh, and re keeping cool: AVOID alkyhol! It enervates and dehydrates as bad as any desert. (Plus enough of it and you turn into George Bush – aaagh!) The best, purest, WATER we can find is our most delicious and life-giving friend. Mint juleps on the porch is a nice old image, but totally backassward & wrongheaded. Typical South :)

[ducking] I kid, I kid because I love

It was hotter than Hell in Denver this week — but Karl Rove was here on Monday, and Bush on Friday; that might explain it.

It’s nice today, though –

-ck- is the stench gone yet?

sofistic,

Hobbies? who has time for hobbies? I spend way too much time here. All of my previous hobbies have been left in the dust. Maybe if we can get this country back, I can gleefully return to them, but until then . . . .

Sofistic, I second that request. That would be a very cool thread. I’m thinking of taking up birding and I know several firedogs have somethiing to say about that activity.

the neocons desire for annihilation of the ‘enemy’

I’d like to volunteer the war-promoting neocons for desk duty in Iraq and Lebanon. Frees up some Guard and Reserve folks to come home for a while, and puts the neocons where they might actually do some good.

Hot in L.A. this morning – you know it’s bad when 80 starts feeling like *cool* weather. One of my co-workers thinks we’ve broken the planet, and it won’t get better for a long time.

My favorite crockpot cookbook is Crock-It by Barbara Murray. (The only version I’ve seen in stores is the one called ‘large print’.) It’s cooking for real people. ‘Pumpkin Job’ is tasty, and sometime I’ll make ‘Triple Chocolate Mess’.

Lemonade from an old ‘Good Housekeeping Cook Book’ – like Cristie’s, it has sugar syrup, but you cook the lemon peel in the syrup for a few minutes after you juice them. It has a fairly astonishing lemon flavor; you won’t want the store-bought kind after trying it.

angie –

pretty much, except for something in my kitchen — I’m afraid to find out what that’s from.

Agreed !! I love you all ( some more than others ) I said I’d get over it and I will. I would much rather discuss the voting machines than myself, but both are OT right now.

Ooo, RevDeb, do I envy you with the galloping mint! Tried many a time to grow just a pot of it here, but my whole lot is shade. I usually get along with dried.

Here’s a salad passed along by a friend who’s lived in the Middle East a good bit. Talk about yum!

Syrian Salad
for 4

In order, add to salad bowl:

Salt (kosher or sea salt, if you’ve got it) to cover bottom of bowl
Dried mint (shot-glass 3/4 full, crushed)
Garlic (5-6 cloves, minced then mashed into the salt to form a paste)
Olive oil (2-3 tablespoons)
Lemon juice (1 1/2 lemons)
Tomatoes (as many as you want, quartered then marinated in refrigerated bowl for at least an hour)
Iceberg lettuce (torn into bitesize pieces and added just before serving)

RevDeb 114 – then again, oh fuck it, sounds good :)

Still, for necessary mood elevation, I’d prefer a spot of giggle-weed – too bad I’m not in Vancouver.

lotus:

Their site isn’t even on par w/Salem MA or New Bedford papers (both much smaller markets). I almost never access it in any circumstances. I’m not even sure they do that at all (oline LTE of printed ed.) But I had entertained the idea of finding it (online) myself, so, since you asked….

I’ll give it a quick go. (But the site is SO kludgey, I may give up fast.) No guarrantee.

OT, but David Crosby is being interviewed on KCUV right now — streaming audio for those who want to listen . . .

http://www.kcuvradio.com/

You know first The idiot said he wanted the shit to stop, but he had something to do at home. Then the BF idiot said something (we don’t know what) to Omert. He said back off.

Later on they have decided they are OK with what is whet is going on over there.

It is disgusting that they will never pay a price for this.

RevDeb: I fully understand, but I have found myself drifting back to my hobbies of gardening, musical instrument making, playing music and building electronic gizmos in a kind of self-defensive mental health maintenance mode.

Favorite recipe for unbearable heat:

Call-in sick.
Go to the movies.
Great ACs in movie theaters.
Bring a sweater.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, the DINO leadership is getting hot under the collar because of us: Centrist Democrats Ponder How To Counter Netroots.
http://rawstory.com/showarticl…..p?id=36497

Money quote is on Lieberman:

“Bruce Reed (president of the DNC) said Mr. Lieberman’s primary fight should not be seen as a referendum on the DLC, in part because “diehards” are more likely to turn out for a mid-summer election. “He’s a great Democrat and a good friend, and we think he’ll win,” Mr. Reed said.”
Sure he will. Why the excuse then?

Damn, I guess it’s just too hot for dems to vote in Connecticut!? Unless they are diehards? Bruce, wouldn’t you want the diehards on your side? Maybe Bruce should join the Democratic party.

Sharkbabe

the non-alchy version is always a good one if you don’t want a buzz or are in dehydration territory. The mint “juice” can be good for lots of things but cutting it with club soda is a winner.

Just a little note about the Diebold thing…

Brad DeLong tirelessly covers election issues like this pretty much non-stop over at the bradblog. So a lot of us here read it over there, and comment over there, and just link to something if it is particularly noteworthy.

This blog not talking about it doesn’t mean it’s not important, or that we don’t care…it’s just that with another blog already covering it in such depth, doesn’t seem so urgent for this one to cover it nonstop too.

My 2 stips of gold-pressed latinum :)

Just a drive-by this morning – off to get highlights and a hair cut.

Air here – 25 miles north of Baltimore – is what I like to call “dog breath.” Those of you with dogs know what I’m talking about. Hoping the sun stays in today – if it makes an appearance, it’s the tropics.

Thought you all might want to know that our favorite Joe Lieberman defender – Barbara Boxer – is leading the charge in the Senate against a bill that would criminalize the transport of minors across state lines for abortion without parental consent. Am anxious to see where Mr. Cab-Ride comes down on this one, and it sure would make a good question to ask Ms. Boxer on Monday – and a good question for Cab-Ride.

Hope to check back in later – in the meantime, hope everyone stays cool!

The humidity is so much worse than the heat. My tricks for keeping cool are drinking lots of water and when it gets boring adding a splash of lemon juice. I spritz my face and other exposed skin with a spray bottle filled with water. A cool shower once or twice a day, or trip to the local pool, is good too.

Mornin’ all. The humidity here (Maine) is awful, but the temp is pretty cool…75. The key here is to stay still. But if I try to garden, I’ll end up soaking wet.

I’ve been itching to send an apology note to Angela Merkel because I found Bush’s “massage” so offensive. Then this am I read that she’s against stem cell research too, and I figured she can deal with it all herself!

Ahhhm, Lemonade. Greatest drink ever. I have a long story about driving from Minnesota to Texas in the summer in a small Ford Escort (without air conditioning). Temperatures were around 102 as we hit Iowa. I was NOT feeling well — redheads like me (now grey) don’t take to heat very well and I usually get quite sick.

I was drinking water constantly – did not help. Somewhere in Missouri we thought we were going to have to stop at a hospital I was so sick and stopped at a Stuckeys to get info. They had fresh lemonade. I drank one large glass — umm feel a bit better. Drnk a second large glass, even better. And after 4, count them 4 very large glasses of lemonade, I was cured and we had lemonade in our hands from then on til Texas.

Last weekend it was 100 in MN and my granddaughter was in a horse show. I drink lemonade constantly and ate fresh fruit out of a cooler and never got sick. Lemonade rules.

Damn, I guess it’s just too hot for dems to vote in Connecticut!? Unless they are diehards? Bruce, wouldn’t you want the diehards on your side? Maybe Bruce should join the Democratic party.

That reminds me of the thousand and one reasons why a racehorse lost — it was too hot; it was too cold; the track was too wet; the track was too dry; the horse trained too much; the horse didn’t train enough . . .

For all of the excuses under the sun, the thousand and first never gets mentioned — it got beaten by a better horse.

Ned Lamont is a better man, and will be a better Senator.

RevD 136 – yeah club soda, really really cold, the best. Also cleans your counters well. San Pellegrino good non-alky comfort bubbly drink too.

Kurt 137 – yep well put

Blank- is the letter to the editor to the Waterbury Republican? They take a while to post if so. I seem to remember you were from CT and had mentioned the paper.

bruce’s sezchuan bittergourd champur

this is a spicy version a traditional okinawan summer dish; bittergourd is said to keep the appetite up — and thus energy levels up — during the hot and sultry subtropical summer…if you can get bittergourds at your local asian grocer, well, do it! they look like fabulous big dark VERY pimply and warty cucumbers, a bit thinner, but with ends that are much more tapered….

——————————–
bittergourd champur — sezchuan style

serves 4-5 as a side dish; 2-3 as a main dish on rice

1 large bittergourd (the smaller pimples, the better!)
1 med red onion (white is ok too)
2-4 big garlic cloves
half a pkg of tofu (cotton/harder is best)
2-3 eggs
2-3 tblsp red sezchuan chili-soy paste (”to-ban-jan” in japanese)
salt
roasted sesame oil
freshly dry roasted sesame seeds
oil for scrambling and sauteeing

– cut the bittergourd lengthwise and scoop out the seeds from each half with a spoon; slice into 1/4 inch half-circles; put in a bowl with a few big pinches of salt and knead gently; leave for 15-20 minutes: THIS IS WHAT LEACHES OUT THE BITTER FACTOR…

– drain the tofu

– heat some oil in a small frypan, beat and scramble the eggs; put the scrambled eggs aside to add the champur later

– after about 20 minutes, rinse the bittergourd serveral times in cold water, squeezing gently to remove as much salt as possible

– cut the onion in thick (1/4 inch) slices, and then quarters; chop or mince the garlic

– heat some oil in a large frypan or wok; add the garlic and onions

– when the onions start to become translucent, add the tofu by crumbling/squeezing it into the pan through your fingers, so that it’s about the consistency of soft scrambled egg

– add the chili-soy paste and mix in thoroughly

– add the bitter gourd to the frypan and stir-fry for three – four minutes

– when the bittergourd softens a bit, add the scrambled eggs

– add a few drops of fragrant roasted sesame oil

– everything is finished when the bittergourd is tender, but still has some crunch

– serve on rice, top with fresh dry-roasted and ground sesame seeds

** ==> the chili paste is salty itself, so be sure not to use to much salt when leaching the bittergourd

** ==> increase tofu to mellow out the flavor

** ==> you can throw in a handful or two of just any raw vegetable along with the bittergourd: red or yellow bell peppers are nice; so is spinach, okra, chopped kale, etc, etc….

bitter, hot and salty! woo- hoo!

GrandmaJ 141 – great story & testimony – though I kept waiting for Stuckey’s Pecan Log to save the day – oh well guess not

good one, Sharkbabe!

Morning, all. Of course, it’s getting not-so-morning in places other than the west coast. It was 97 in Seattle yesterday, which is rather unheard of. O.K., maybe every once in a while, but not too often.

My plan for keeping cool is to go mow the yard now, rather early in the morning, which is in dire need, now before it gets too hot. That’s sort of negative logic, but somehow it seems to make a bit of sense….

lotus (et al)

Ha! ‘Twasn’t as hard as I thought.
“Who could have imagined?” ;->

http://www.masslive.com/letter…..amp;coll=1
(may need to answer a couple zipcode/etc questions for access, but not full reg.)

Here’s what ran today:
“Saturday, July 22, 2006

Citizens shouldn’t tolerate president who’s above law

What can Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., be thinking? His bill, fondly known as the Cheney-Specter bill (and perhaps there is more truth here than we know), is not the acceptable compromise that he would have us believe it to be.

In real life, this bill puts any president of the United States above the law. Should this bill pass, all presidents will, in times of war, be permitted to wiretap and to search our homes or businesses without a court warrant.

What next? Perhaps you trust the current president. Will you trust the next one? What do you think about the one who will be in office when your grandchildren come of age? And what do you suppose the next step might be in the process of excusing this and future presidents from following the law as it stands?

Since 9/11, America has taken steps toward change that before 9/11 we would not have conceived or considered. It is time to consider what the consequences of these changes might or will be, and to make our voices heard.”
—-
writer (female, fwiw) is from Palmer, MA – on the outer edges of circulation area. 1/2 b/t Spfld/Worc.
—–
Will have a transcribed ‘Smoothie’ recipe if I can get it typed before EPU strikes…

I started reading this blog last year to gain knowledge from a prosecuters perspective about the Plame outing. I found it to be something more. We all had hopes that Fitz would nail Rove, well so far ( and I’m still keeping my fingers crossed ) it hasn’t happened. I’m really worried about the November elections, so much so that I am considering leaving the country if we don’t get one house back. But, it’s not about me, it’s about all of us.

ok off to clean house with intermittent catching up on book I’m reading (Dylan interviews) and Donita thread yesterday

I am so sickened at the war pigs – they barely even try to bother with justifying their bullshit anymore – they must be stopped by all decent people

I once had the treat of a roundtrip busride between Istanbul and Izmir (modern Turkish for the original Greek Smyrna — of special interest to this resident of the New Smyrna Beach settled by Sir Andrew Turnbull’s 18th-century Minorcan and Greek “workers,” AKA “slaves”).

Anyhow, this was a deluxe bus service, and even though it was air-conditioned, the steward was welcome indeed when he came around to spritz each passenger’s wrists and face with 4711 cologne.

A treat within a treat, that.

lina at 6

I just logged on.

If you’re still there, & if no one else has helped you on your debate-search.

http://www.c-span.org/

Then look near upper right corner and click on,
TV Schedules, printed in a little black box.

That should get you right where you want to go.
Also, you’ll be able to check the schedules for CSpan, CSpan 2, and – 3, move fwd or backward in the schedules, etc. from there.

I tried, but couldn’t find the Webb v Allen debate scheduled for this weekend. Maybe they will show a tape next week(?)

I agree, their page organization is somehow daunting. But once you get the hang of it, it’s not quite so annoying.

4711 cologne reminds me of my grandmother, lotus. I still use in the summertime or when I get to missing her like crazy.

Frozen Brussels sprouts in a plastic bag! When it’s too hot to sleep, put them under your neck. They retain cold so much better than peas, and are much more comfortable than cauliflower. And you can refreeze and reuse them, although I wouldn’t recommend eating them at this point in the process.

Nice catch Anne at 8:12.

Steve C – lots of us wound up here for the high quality Plame/Fitz – and it turns out to be an amazing ever growing bunch of very intelligent interesting but most importantly pissed off people – it is about all of us, but also about you, and me – a movement, baby!

MLinNH — Glory be, finally an application of Brussels sprouts that I can enjoy — woohoo!

Many of us came for Plame

Hung around on the outside looking in

And then got ROOTED.

Kludge at 150 — Thanks. Good letter fer sher.

Many of us came for Plame

Hung around on the outside looking in

And then got ROOTED.

Boy, did we.

A short list of Lebanese “terrorist” targets bombed by Israel:

Beirut International Airport, bridges, highways, eletrical and water systems, a dam, gas stations, schools, hospitals and medical clinics, the Red Cross, a Greek Orthodox church full of refugees, residential apartment blocks, entire villages, Lebanon’s largest dairy farm, a paper mill, a packaging firm, three plastics factories, a pharmaceutical plant, a medical supply company…the list goes on.

In addition to using phosphorous bombs the Israelis have littered the countryside with cluster bombs which will kill and maim the civilians who return to harvest their crops. Civilians are warned to leave villages and then the trucks that are carrying them are bombed -nice.

Thankfully the Bush administration is rushing a fresh supply of smart bombs so that the Israelis won’t run out and accidentally hit civilian targets.

By the way, there is no mutual defense treaty between Israel and the US. We are under no treaty obligation to defend them. All there is is a memorandum of understanding signed by Reagan that we would supply them with all military hardware they want. They are under a legal obligation not to use such hardware to deliberately inflict civilian casualties. Ha Ha.

Oh and anybody wants a cooling laff – the Rude Pundit’s “Ten Ways You’d Act If You Were the Republican-Led Congress”

http://tinyurl.com/jaese

Adie:

Thanks for the rosetta stone to the c-span site. I found an AP story that said the Allen-Webb debate would not have a live broadcast.

They’re debating at the Va. Bar Association meeting at The Homestead.

lotus

Just got here, and only up to #70 in comments.

WHAT are you UP to, honey???!

1st, it’s “Quick! Need Screen-Print!”

Later, it’s “Quick! Need gel bras!”

Oh my! Go buy one a those kiddy pools & just sit in it with a good book & some a that scrumptious-looking lemonade!

p.s., do I dare read further?

MLinNH @ 156: I know what you mean, but I found your line “are much more comfortable than cauliflower” pretty hysterical, when taken out of context.

It’s like the Groucho line: “Just remember, art is art, but on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west, and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.”

Sorry, I was just having a Groucho moment this morning. I’ll go mow the yard now.

Awright, Adie triggers my first 707 of the day.

Proceed at your own risk, Adie, thass all I can tellya.

I love the Rude Pundit, but I had to learn to not be eating anything when I start reading his blog. Some of his references are not good for digestion.

Greg 161 – it’s like Hunter Thompson said – “we are the nazis in this thing” – I truly don’t know what to do with my outrage and soul-sickenedness – it consumes me – what are humans to do

Well I suppose that those women who can’t locate gel bras can always use a regular, oversize bra and fill it with frozen brozen brussels sprouts :)

And zeppo gets the second.

Where are those throe-pillows that Doc punaise prescribed for me last night?!

Greg–Perhaps Olmert can join Bushco at the Hague.

That dang Raygun.

wrt LTE above; it strikes me that the original Op/Ed piece was couched as a backhanded swipe at ‘the Left”. They wrote it (anyone who has read it would concur; anybody here read it? Last Sunday Springfied Republican)
more or less debunking claims from the ‘fringe/moonbats’ that the Constitution itself is at risk, and slyly insinuating that such comments are ’shrill.’

The piece I submitted was more fact based than this one, and certainly less strident, though I wholeheatedly concur with it.

Any chance they ran that to ‘prove’ the ‘Left’ is ’shrill’ (Palmer tends to be more ‘redstate’ than your avg MA community. Even though this comment comes from that very red heart.) Or am I using too much Reynolds this AM?
—
Back to smoothie recipe. I’ll type it up even w/EPU lurking. Never let it be said Kludge can’t cook!

And here’s Kurt “rounding” for third . . .

Well, for the weather report here in Sacramento, it’s going to be around 108-110 today and tomorrow, with some residual humidity from the monsoons that have been passing through So.Cal. Lots of fun.

lina – for His Rudeness, that was refreshingly mild & mostly lol to me – esp. “if your three children were unconscious in a burning car, you would play tetris on your cell phone…”

for when you are seriously too hot – run the faucet in the tub (not the shower) full on cold and dunk your head and neck until the water no longer gives you the shivers…. it can keep a case of heat stroke at bay…

or, at the end of a hot steamy day, fill the ice chest with favorite beer and plenty of ice to the top (let chill for at least 2 hours) and find a really nice tree to sit under… ah! heaven!

New thread gang, for those looking for one…

Sharkie, just love it whenever somebody reminds me to visit the Rude One.

dangit, can’t get outta here, you knuckleheads and your shit are too addictive – ok really outta here

Another trick I learned was to keep the shades down all the time when it’s hot. Keeps the sunlight from heating up the room. You can air out the room when it’s night and cooler: but during the day, keep the shades down and shutters closed. I used plastic garbage bags to keep the light out, but dark curtains worked for my sister.

Too bad we aren’t like the Spanish or other warm weather cultures, and have a siesta. The siesta keeps you from moving around a lot during the hot part of the day, and therefore conserves everything from fluids to energy. Not to mention lessing the chance for sunstroke. But we took after the Puritans, who would have though such a practice an unholy indulgence, so we work during the worst parts of a hot day-even if we can barely move or concentrate due to the heat.

Jello, Jello, Jello, when it’s hot. Takes no time at all to fix, and can be filling with the right ingredients.

Before I get to lotus’ next offerings (beyond #70), I thot I’d share my all-time favorite cooler-off-er from years ago.

I spent many long HOT summers, stuck in the garden & kitchen, putting up hundreds of jars of goodies.
No A/C. The heat was wicked-awful.
For you out there who just MUST cook in the hot weather, my secret trick, tried & true.

When the cooking’s finally done, fill however many pans you need with COLD water & slap one of ‘em on every hot burner on the stovetop. If the oven was used, put a nice big stewpot of cold water in there too.

Then – yes, I was serious talkin’ at lotus above, grab a nice trashy novel & go sit in the kiddy-pool, in the shade. -um- page-turning can be a problem w/ wet hands; maybe just prop a set of waterwings under yer head & close yer eyes ;->

Sharkbabe: this one was mild, i agree.

I liked: “. . .you’d hire a fat clown to do pratfalls for all the Korean ladies at the local nail salon. They need a good laugh.”

DARN it, lotus, can’t even scroll back to where I oughtta be without running into you.

WHAT in bluenoses does “triggering a 707″ mean?

Prettyplease?

Here’s the link to the kos diary, leaky with Rasmussen CT poll numbers….

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/22/94755/3899

Oh baby, I luv your frozen brussel sprouts!!!

No, that doesn’t work at all . . .

Adie, you can’t blame ME for 707 — it’s one of punaise’s stylings: LOL upside, for when you fall outta your chair over backwards laughing.

ACK! -ck- just scored my fourth!

Dang, this is starting to hurt.

Well, in light of EPU, this substitution of the cutout from a Newman’s Own Lemonade carton will have to suffice. It’s basically the same, and kid-friendly:

http://pediatrics.about.com/od…..recipe.htm

“What are the three things that many kids don’t get enough of in their diet?

Most parents would answer vegetables, fruit, and calcium (well, at least most Pediatricians would say calcium).

A fruit and yogurt smoothie is a quick, easy and healthy way to get more fruit and calcium into your child’s diet.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 cup of your child’s favorite fruit, such as peaches, bananas, pineapples, strawberries, mangos, etc.
* 3/4 cup of yogurt
* 1 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

PREPARATION:
Peel the fruit, if appropriate, and cut them up into small pieces.

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and puree them together until smooth.

Pour into a chilled glass and serve with a straw.

Keep in mind that you may have to add ice or use frozen fruit if you really want to serve it cold. Also, a banana may be needed to get the smoothie to the right consistency (thick and creamy).
Healthy Smoothie Recipe Ideas
Although a good source of fruit, plus calcium and other vitamins and minerals, the above Smoothie recipe is high in fat and sugar. For a healthy smoothie, you can:

* use nonfat yogurt
* use skim milk
* use an artificial sweetener
* add a supplement, such as Carnation Instant Breakfast Mix, to get more vitamins, minerals and calories into your smoothie
* keep the skin on when using fruits like apples and pears to get extra fiber into your smoothie

Alternative Smoothie Recipe Ideas
If your child doesn’t like this fruit yogurt smoothie recipe, or in order to offer some variety, you might consider:

* using ice cream instead of yogurt, although then you basically have a milk shake and not a smoothie
* making a soy smoothie using soy yogurt and either soy milk (or rice milk) instead of cow’s milk and regular yogurt if your child has a milk allergy
* using 100% fruit juice instead of milk and yogurt. If you use orange juice that is high in calcium, this smoothie becomes a good way for kids with milk allergies to get their calcium.
* using honey instead of sugar
* adding peanut butter to add more protein to your smoothie (goes best with a banana as the other main ingredient)

It can also be fun to let your kids choose their own mix of ingredients, such as orange juice, strawberries and a banana, that go into the smoothie.”
——
I’m gonna try blueberries.

The news so horrific, so grim, I couldn’t even muster a comment to Taylor Marsh’s posts yesterday @ Lebanon and Iraq. And the links that are provided in comments? I’m sliding into a bit despair here.

Heat? Well, it’s not so bad here today. I hate air conditioning, so I could never live in a place that really required it. My technique for dealing with heat and humidity is to 1) make friends with sweat; 2) have a fan or two twirling; 3) put on music from a hot country – Brazil’s Tom Ze, say, or Algeria’s Prince of Rai – Cheb Mami; 4) forego underwear 5) keep the blender plugged in and regularly dump in lots of crushed ice, fruit and lemonade or juice of choice. 5) visualize palm trees.

Besides Christie’s suggestions of checking on neighbors – keep an eye out in parking lots for dogs left in cars. Unbelievable that people still do this. Leave a note on the windshield and wait if you can, to make sure that the owner returns in a reasonable amount of time.

dear dear lotus & all

Well, made it thru comments finally, with retracking to catch up with all the frenzied comments about gel-bras, *blush*

And yes, waded thru a # of mental images at comments about chocolate-y batter slathering.
Presume y’re talkin’ a la Rhoda, lotus. Trust me, no one else was sharing same thot, heh.
Some a the guys might have grabbed for their fans to cool off.

Helps me cool off to watch little Patty Buchanan heat up these days. Talk about pearl-clutching! Poor baby’s in agony. He deserves to sweat a bit, methinks.

In the spirit of Christy’s wonderful post and subsequent comments, the following:

When I feel I’ve been wronged, picked on, verbally abused, whatever, I find it very helpful to apply even just a smidgen of practical application from my training in ethology.
“Redirection”: refers to that [kick-the-dawg or yell at the wife & kids, because you don’t dare yell back at yer nasty boss, clobber the guy who cut you off in traffic, or whatever] – sorta urge.
Very common, especially in today’s world. Road-rage, anyone? Guaranteed to promote overheating, no?!

My antidote: When that happens to me, I squash my inner urge to retaliate inappropriately, simply by doing something openly nice & friendly for the very next person I meet.
Sounds hokey. So what. It works.
Too bad, for Jr., & for the world, that Bar obviously never learned it, and certainly didn’t teach it to him.

Oh, & I don’t mean you shouldn’t stand up, STRONG[ly], for what you believe in.
And sometimes a pinch of *snark* provides utterly delightful enhancement.

((((peace))))

Really fast easy salad for dinner

You need:

Greens of your choice
tomates, I use grape tomatoes
Sunflower seeds
Ranch dressing
Precooked (I use perdue done it original)) chicken

Dump it all in a bowl toss, eat. Takes 5 minutes to make. Is cool and refreshing, yet feels like a real meal. Kids and husbands do not complain about eating rabbit food. I probably make this once a week in the summer.

Other summer cooking :

For years before I had central air, I only ckked once a week. On sunday I would hit the farm stands (which on LI also have fresh caught shellfish and sometimes gill fish)

And come home and start cooking

Corn chowder with crabmeat, both kinds of clam chowder, tomato sauce with seefood in it, white clam sauce, ratatuoi (sp?)

Then it went into ziplock bags and platic freezer containers and we defrosted and nuked all week. the only time Would turn on the stove during the week was to boil pasta. Some times not even that, because we tend to use spagetti squash in stead of pasta when it is in season, and i nuke my spagetti squash. kitchen stay cool. dinner ready in 10-15 minutes. Plenty of time for last minute swim at diner time.

Of course that was back in the days when I actually made it home by dinnertime. Not like these days

I’m way late to the party, but here’s my remedy for heat:
Put a bottle of favorite cologne (like Jean Nate’ Splash) in the fridge. Use it when you feel hot on neck, temples, wrists.
Ahhhh…;-)

I know this is late, but often people come to this thread late, or come back.

We don’t often think about our letter carriers and how they have to deal with the heat in a real way. Often on the really hot days I have met him at the door and offered him a cold drink. Once in a while he takes me up on it. He told me that in all the years of delivering the mail, only about 10 of the people on his route have ever done this.

Not only people . . .

For you fellow birders, and other wildlife enthusiasts.

War is indeed #&**

http://www.birderblog.com/post.php?id=1358

and links from there …

It pains me to realize that when the smoke clears in the Middle East, we will have to deal with the reality that WE did this. WE as in US, America. It’s easy to blame Bush and Cheney and Rove for the all the atrocities, but the bottom line is that we have a democracy, and we failed to employ the democratic mechanisms that would have elected better leaders. The rest of the world is not going to confine their anger to only Bush, Cheney, and Rove; they are going to blame America, and we will deserve it.

islander at 198 — I don’t know about you, but I’ve been working my ass off for the last few YEARS to combat the Bush idiocy. And the rest of the world understands that we are not all Bush supporters. Don’t join the right-wing mindset that we are all tainted, because it is simply not true. And every step that we all take to combat their idiocy — no matter how big or small — is a step in the right direction. Channel that disgust and anger and despair into something proactive. Volunteer for a campaign, help take back the House or the Senate. Work for a local charity. Anything — but don’t just sit home and beat yourself up. That’s what Rove wants — let’s all channel our energy toward kicking his plan of Republican domination right into the dustbin where it belongs.

alison@84 – yeah, this could be harper’s ‘katrina’ moment and hopefully, the end of any majority stronghold the pc party thought they may have had their grubby little paws on…the mainstream press has been all over this and it hasn’t been pretty…people are angry at harper’s one-sided support of Israel, while an entire country, it’s civilians and infastructure are destroyed…re: jane jacobs, she’s amazing, i’ve read a lot of her work…sad to see her go, although what an amazing life!

Thanks, TeddySanFran. I didn’t link the diary because I didn’t know if it would stay up, but it is still there.

Momma Earth delivered the best kind of Birthday gift this July 22nd. Last evening the temp dropped about 35 degrees and the high today must be 80. Looks like we may have a reprieve for a few days. During this last Al Gore heat wave the trout stream was a must for a hot afternoon swim. This would keep the body temp down for several hours. Bought a couple of hammocks in Maruaja, Mexico (where black sea turtles hatch in January and face the Pacific head on, smaller than a sand dollar) a couple of years ago and they are permanent fixtures on the back porch for any warm day. I Have a wonderful apple cake recipe and will post it on a different type of baking thread.) Sophistic posted a gazpacho recipe a few weeks back and it is a good one. Beards recipe with fresh tomatoes will of course be tasty. Question? Do experienced gazpacho makers remove seeds from cucumbers or not?

Double posted that and Christy removes cuc seeds.

WE WANT APPLE CAKE, birthday boy!

NA-OOOWWWWWWWWWWW

lotus at 204 — I have a quickie apple cake recipe that is yummy, from Rachel Ray:

Rachel Ray’s Easy Apple Cake (with Ice Cream)

1 box yellow cake mix for a single layer cake, (recommended: Jiffy brand) prepared to package directions
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 McIntosh apple, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 pint butter pecan or rum raisin ice cream

Preheat oven to directions on box. Mix cake mix to directions on box, using 1/2 cup water and 1 egg. Grease a 9 by 9-inch square cake pan or disposable cake pan with butter. Pour in cake batter. Toss apples with cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of cake batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm cake squares with small scoops of butter pecan or rum raisin ice cream.

Found it here and we love it. (Haven’t had it since we started the diet, but it sure is yummy, quick and easy when you have surprise company…)

Mmmm, I can smell that baking now, Christy . . . thankee.

lotus — forgot to add that I like to chop some pecans and add them with the apples, sugar and cinnamon. And I serve with the butter pecan ice cream. SO yummy. (And your company will never know how easy it was. *g*)

Living in the Bay Area, I do not have A/C. So for the seriously hot days, I use this method to keep cool:

1. Remove tee-shirt
2. Run cool water in bathroom sink
3. Dunk top half of tee-shirt in water
4. Wring out shirt
5. Put shirt back on
6. Sit in front of fan while reading FDL

Sorry I’m missed the fun on this today, was traveling back to NJ from CT, where I meet some really fine folks Thursday night.

I stopped off at some friend on the way home and shared some of the great “The Kiss” buttons with them.

I find the best way to keep cool is water, whether I swim, drink, body surf or shower, water is always the best for me.

And the best lemonade I ever had was in Seattle, at this charming restaurant called Marcos. They used ginger in the simple syrup they made, and added some fresh lemons to it. A delightful combination. It went so well with the fried sage leaves, and 4 cheese ravioli.

Just another reason to reason to love Seattle.

If you can do it, please go to the Red Cross and give blood.

1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543)

http://www.redcross.org

Thanks.

The Filibuster, I’ll do all I can to help where it’s needed, but I’m from Missouri, and what the Red Cross has shown me — well —

NO.

sorry I’m late too ….

I have to admit, I’ve been staying low these days. It’s all just too painful. But thank you Christy for these Saturday posts.

The heat .. had a tornado here in Maine this week, precipitated by massive thunder storms. It’s been tropical, hot & humid all day, then severe thunderstorms in the afternoons. At 430 in the afternoon on Wed. it was as black as night, my kids were freaking out. I remember having the same reaction when I was little. In Ireland, they’ve had record heat and the old folks in my mum’s nursing home are dropping like flies. Poor dears.

*IT* all feels apocryphal to me.

For keeping the heat at bay, we’ve been dipping into one of the many spring fed lakes on this dear little island. It’s helped to keep my body cool and my soul calm(er).

A tall glass of iced tea with lots of lemon helps too. And of course plain old iced H2O. Nothin’ better.

One of my favorite summer salads is this:

Wash, trim (leave a bit of a stem on), and roast a couple a bunches of beets, after cooling, peel and cut into 1/2 in.cubes
Big old bowl o’ baby spinach
2 hanfuls or more of raw walnuts
a lb or so of goats cheese, 1/2 tsps dolloped into spinach
1/4 lb or so of prosciuto in thin strips ripped up and tossed in
a simple balsamic vinaigrette

Toss it all and serve with crunchy bread. It would be yummy with beard5’s gazpacho.

RevDeb, we had an enormous gone wild patch of mint at our old house. Whenever we mowed the lawn our house would be filled with the delicious fresh scent of mint. I made lots of tabouli then. Now that’s a nice refreshing meal too.

Take care everyone and thanks.

Peace ?

My front (west facing) door is hot to touch on the inside, where it’s 90 degrees. Don’t want to turn on the air, ’cause it eats electricity.

Bean salad…. everything comes in cans or jars, no cooking required.
1 can green beans
1 can wax (yellow) beans
1 can red kidney beans, well rinsed
vinaigrette (balsamic/Italian preferred)

optional ingredients (small cans)
chickpeas/garbanzos
corn
bamboo shoots
sliced water chestnuts
mushroom slices or pieces
olive slices or pieces

Mix and let stand in fridge for several hours before serving.

I know I’m EPU’d but I was away since early morning, and I’m commenting anyway. I think the people who comment on Saturday’s pull up a chair are the nicest people on the blogs. You lift my spirits when I really really need it. And a bonus — I got a recipe for Mint Julep today. Not being a southern girl, I’ve never had such a thing, but I’m going to give it a try!

This cake is Fabulous

Fresh Apple Cake

This recipe ran in the Arkansas Times, originally gleaned from a 93 year old woman in Memphis.
For apples try Golden Delicious or a blend of apples. It’s best to use sweet or slightly tart apples that have a soft texture when baked. But whatever you do, use corn oil. Previous incarnations using canola or other vegetable oils were disastrous. Consider yourself warned….

1 Cup Corn Oil
2 Cups Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
5 Cups Chopped fresh Apples ( 4-5 medium)
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 Cup Pecan halves to sprinkle on top

Peel, core and chop apples. Set them aside. Beat the eggs, sugar and oil-make sure you use corn oil. Sift together the other dry ingredients and stir them into the egg, oil and sugar mixture. the batter will be fairly stiff and will turn a light brown or off white color. Fold in the apples and chopped pecans and spoon the batter into a well-greased bundt or angel food pan. If nuts always seem to sink to the bottom of your cakes and breads, warm the pecans for a few minutes in the oven before adding them to the batter.
Bake the cake at 350 for 1 hour and let it cool in the pan. To remove it from the pan, put a plate on top of the bundt or angel food pan and turn. gently lift the pan off-you may need to use a slight shimmying motion-and the cake will remain on the plate, ready for icing. The caramel icing below is easy to make and a perfect compliment to the cake, adding a hint of county-fair caramel apple flavor and just the right amount of sweetness without being overwhelming.

Easy Caramel Icing

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Stick (1/4 Cup) butter or Margarine
1/4 Cup Evaporated milk
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Yeehaw!

Dashed out tw’ (desperately needed & very welcome) gentle rain showers today & found my pepper plants, removed them from their strangling mass of weeds, and planted a 2nd crop of lettuce & mesclun.

DANG that felt good(!), as did getting rid of the awful heat which I’m afraid we sent on east last night. Sorry guys.

Thanks Christy! Your “Pull Up A Chair” & other nicely timed steam-venting opportunities are welcome and downright therapeutic.

Take care, dear lady ;->