June 30, 2004
Iraq and al Qaeda
Right Thinking Girl, a blog that I had never heard of until tonight through lgf, has done what I was hoping to do: gather a list of links with information about the connections between Saddam and al Qaeda.
She also links to a post at Right Wing News on the same topic.
Posted by Carla at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Poached egg over asparagus salad
Tonight's dinner:
Spending time in France taught me that eggs and salad are really, really good together: omelets or scrambled, fillings or none (naturel), next to a good side salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette--mm mm good. Even better, though, is the poached egg over salad, an arrangement that allows the soft yolk to run down over the salad ingredients for a delicious taste sensation. I just bought asparagus yesterday, and I wanted to use this summer delight as well, so I decided to put the two together in a salad.
I was trying to come up with a suitable dressing when I thought about a sauce often used to dress asparagus alone or poached eggs in the popular brunch dish Eggs Benedict: Hollandaise. A good hollandaise is the kind of thing chefs learn in culinary school, not a simple trick that can be tossed off by mere mortals. I made one once before, and it was good, but it was enough work to convince me not to do it again except for a very special occasion. But, I decided to look it up on my favorite foodie website, Epicurious to see if I could incorporate any of the ingredients into a vinaigrette...when I found this mock hollandaise. I made it, altering the proportions a bit to make it lighter (more lemon juice, less mayo, and lemon zest because I didn't have oranges). It turned out a lot runnier and sharper than a normal hollandaise, but still reminiscent of the flavor.
I also made a very simple lemon-garlic dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, pressed garlic, and pepper) so that I wouldn't have to dress the entire salad with the the heavy sauce. I tossed the greens with a light coating of the vinaigrette, composed the rest of the ingredients on top, and drizzled the hollandaise over --and that's what you see above!
Click below for more photos of the process.
Here are the two dressings. The flecks in the hollandaise (lower left) are from the slightly chunky lemon zest, and a touch of cayenne powder (traditional) to give the sauce a little color and add another layer of flavor.
Here's the salad, after the drizzle of sauce.
Posted by Carla at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
War with Iran?
Under Construction
Posted by Carla at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)
They beat me to it
CNN (and other news outlets) are reporting that the Pentagon is activating up to 5,600 rarely-used reservists from the Individual Ready Reserves. The DoD's official website provides this definition of the IRR:
Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), a manpower pool in the Ready Reserve, primarily consists of: Individuals who have had training, have served previously in the Active component or the Selected Reserve, and have some period of a military obligation remaining. IRR members are in an active status, but do not perform regularly scheduled training.
Sgt. Stryker clears up some myths and Blackfive blasts the media for reporting military matters, such as this one, inaccurately.
Finally, Cox and Forkum, my favorite editorial cartoonists, have a sweet and funny cartoon on the subject.
Posted by Carla at 11:20 AM | Comments (1)
June 29, 2004
From the horse's mouth
Omar at Iraq the Model has posted some first-hand Iraqi accounts of the sovereignty handover.
Ali's account includes a photograph of his celebrations with friends, and a very touching description of some reactions to Bremer's speech:
I was deeply moved by this great man’s words but I couldn’t prevent myself from watching the effect of his words on my friends who some of them were anti-Americans and some were skeptic, although some of them have always shared my optimism. I found that they were touched even more deeply than I was. I turned to one friend who was a committed She’at and who distrusted America all the way. He looked as if he was bewitched, and I asked him, "So, what do you think of this man? Do you still consider him an invader?" My friend smiled, still touched and said, "Absolutely not! He brought tears to my eyes. God bless him."Another friend approached me. This one was not religious but he was one of the conspiracy theory believers. He put his hands on my shoulders and said smiling, "I must admit that I’m beginning to believe in what you’ve been telling us for months and I’m beginning to have faith in America. I never thought that they will hand us sovereignty in time. These people have shown that they keep their promises."
Also see Alaa at The Mesopotamian.
Posted by Carla at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
Semper Fi
Alex is ok, thank goodness.
From Afghanistan: Sgt. Hook on When the Brave Go Home.
Update 6/30/4:23 PM
Alex called quickly today to say he really is all right. I already knew that thanks to those great Key Volunteers I talked about, but it was comforting nonetheless.
Posted by Carla at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
Dear Terrorists...Love, a United States Marine
Oliver North is sitting in for Sean Hannity on Hannity and Colmes tonight, and he just read an excerpt from the letter to Iraqi terrorists from a Marine that's been floating around the internet.
If the Marines were allowed to have their way, I think there would be no more kidnappings.
Posted by Carla at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2004
All nerdy colleges are nerdy in the same way
There's much to blog, but since I now know that there are some Swatties reading, I wanted to rush this post to the presses.
One of the books I'm currently reading is Margaret Atwood's newest, Oryx and Crake. It takes place sometime in the future, and describes where one of the main characters (a genius) goes to college:
"Watson-Crick was known to the students there as Asperger's U. because of the high percentage of brilliant weirdos that strolled and hopped and lurched through its corridors. Demi-autistic, genetically speaking; single-track tunnel-vision minds, a market degree of social ineptitude--these were not your sharp dressers--and luckily for everyone there, a high tolerance for mildly deviant public behaviour." (p. 194)
Though graduating has greatly softened my feeling toward it, this passage still reminds me of my alma mater.
Posted by Carla at 03:16 PM | Comments (1)
"The Iraqi people have their country back"
It happened this morning, two days ahead of schedule: The United States handed over sovereignty to the interim government. Here are the stories from some of the major news outlets:
New York Times: 'There Is No Way to Turn Back,' New Iraqi President Declares
Fox News: Bush: 'A Great Day of Hope for Iraqis'
CNN: Iraq handover of sovereignty completed
Apparently, the new Prime Minister of Iraq asked for the handover to happen a few days early in order to thwart the expected attacks on the original date of June 30th. It's certainly a good way to laugh in the terrorists' face: "You see? You tried to disrupt things, and you tried to scare us, but we're one step ahead of you."
Despite that, I said a while ago that I didn't believe Iraq would be ready for sovereignty by June 30th, and I'm still pretty pessimistic. I'm worried. There are a lot of things that could go wrong now.
Anyway, I have to think about this, I'll have more to say soon.
Posted by Carla at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
Today's Supreme Court decisions
The Supreme Court handed down two decisions today, one of which regards the case of the enemy combatant status of Yaser Esam Hamdi. The point I wanted to make, though, is not about the actual decision, but about how it's being reported. I'm watching Fox News Channel right now, and they're reporting this decision as a loss for the Bush Administration. But, the front page of the New York Times titles the (Associated Press) story, "Supreme Court Partially Sides With Bush on American Detainee Case".
I haven't read the cases (or even much about them) yet, but I wanted to point out the discrepancy. I have two friends who have just embarked on journalism careers, and they're good and honest. But, girls: I hope you take note of how two different outlets can title the same story so differently.
Posted by Carla at 10:28 AM | Comments (4)
Oh, please, no--
Iraqi Militants Threaten to Kill Captured U.S. Marine.
I don't know this Marine myself, but I know that all Marines see each other as brothers. Fish must be flipping out. Be safe, devil dog.
Update 6/28
This article says that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun's family confirmed that he is the hostage in the video. The situation is a little fishy to me; the Marine Corps is saying that he has been UA since June 20th, when he didn't report for duty. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said, "Based on his personal situation, there was reason to suspect that he was heading over to Lebanon" (because he is Lebanese). I'll be watching the story.
Update 6/29/9:43 PM
The military has changed Hassoun's status from "missing" to "captured."
Posted by Carla at 12:03 AM | Comments (1)
June 27, 2004
Food blogging!
So, this blog is turning out to be a mish-mash of basically anything I like, which is ok with me for now. Maybe some day I'll fine-tune the theme a little, but for now I just want to try everything.
That being said, here's what I had for lunch today: White bean and red onion salad with lemon-dijon vinaigrette.
Ta-da! And it was yummy, too.
There's not much of a recipe for this one, but in case you were wondering...
For one (entree-sized) serving:
1/3 can white cannellini beans
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
About 7 leaves organic red-leaf lettuce
2 organic tomatoes (these were funny small tomatoes, larger than cherry tomatoes, but smaller than regular ones--use 1/2 to 1 medium-sized tomato, or several grape tomatoes, or...etc.), diced or sliced.
Lemon-dijon vinaigrette: I have gotten used to just throwing dressing ingredients together in amounts that look (and taste) right to me, so these are approximations--adjust to taste.
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Freshly ground salt and pepper
Mix beans and onion together in small bowl, lettuce in large (serving) bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients; pour half over bean-onion mixture, half over lettuce, and toss to combine. Arrange beans and onions on top of lettuce, and scatter tomatoes over all. Finish off with another grind of pepper.
This salad would also be good with baby spinach in addition to or instead of the lettuce; a bit of garlic in the dressing to give it extra bite; or tuna mixed in with the beans to make it extra protein-alicious.
Posted by Carla at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
Marines are hot
Yes, my Marine--whom I've decided to call Fish*--is the hottest of them all, but Marines as a breed are a damn sexy lot. In honor of them, here are a couple of related links:
Not only is this Marine clearly hot, what he and his peers are doing is incredible: 7-day mini-bootcamps to train soldiers for the new Iraqi army--and the Marines have all learned to do the training in Arabic. And these are enlisted men, mind you, not officers with degrees in the language.
A Marine's Journal at the WSJ's Opinion Journal.
Marines at work, what could be sexier?
*I'm calling him Fish because he loves them--he has two fish tanks. Well, I should say "we," since they're my responsibility while he's gone. But it's also short and easy to type, so there you go.
Update:
I spoke to the Marine formerly known as Fish, and he gave me permission to refer to him by his first name, Alex. Thanks, love.
Posted by Carla at 02:38 PM | Comments (0)
"It's not a question of how long I live, but it's a question of how well I live"
This is a post I've been cogitating on for a while.
Ray Charles was a singer I grew up with. I can't remember a time when I wasn't familiar with his music--he was one of those artists my brother, sister, and I referred to by first name only. His versions of "Hit the Road, Jack" and "You Are My Sunshine" were two particular favorites of my childhood; later, it was "Georgia" and "Unchain My Heart"; in college, "Am I Blue" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." Now, as I'm writing this, "Old Man River" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" seem particularly poignant.
His vocal stylings and ground-breaking arrangements of classic songs alone made him someone to be remembered--forever, hopefully. But his outward appearance added to his art; his full enjoyment of life was expressed in particular in his brilliant smile. CMT has been showing repeats of a Crossroads with Ray Charles and Travis Tritt. At on point, Charles is so delighted that Tritt wants to do a particular song that he rears back on his bench at the keyboard, feet off the ground, head back, huge grin on his face, clapping his hands with joy. At 72 years old, he still experienced--and showed--the pure rapture of a three year-old.
I spent a semester in Paris in the fall of 2002--there were posters up everywhere advertising Charles's impending concert there. I wanted to go, but it didn't work out. Add one to my list of concerts I wish I could have seen.
Posted by Carla at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2004
Those left behind
Sarah on what it's like to be in the rear.
Luckily, the Marine Corps has a terrific "Key Volunteer" network that particularly springs into action when a unit is deployed. For example, last week there was an incident at the base where my guy's* unit is stationed. Before I had any inkling that something had happened, I had a phone call from the Key Volunteer (who is contacted directly by unit leadership) saying that our guys were all ok, though there might be some stuff on the news. Well, it took me two days to find the story on the internet, and of course I already knew that he and the others were ok.
Supposedly, the Marine Corps has the best network of this kind out of all the branches--I'm not sure what the others have, but I know that the Key Volunteers are good.
*I have yet to come up with a clever pseudonym.
Posted by Carla at 10:53 AM | Comments (2)
June 25, 2004
No Moore campaign finance reform
In 'Farenheit 9/11' ban?, Alexander Bolton reports that the FEC may require Michael Moore to stop advertising for his film after July 30. This falls under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, which prevents political documentary films referring to federal candidates from advertising within 30 days of a federal primary election--and the Republican presidential convention begins August 30, with President Bush as the candidate.
I must admit that I am slightly tickled by the thought of a measure so vociferously supported by leftists might come back to bite one of their figureheads in the rear.
But, though it pains me to say it, I hope he's not banned from advertising. I am strongly opposed to campaign finance reform; see these three articles from Capitalism Magazine for arguments against such reform much better than what I could muster right now:
Dissecting the Principles Underlying Campaign Finance Reform
Campaign Finance Limits Violate Free Speech
The Facts vs. "Campaign Finance Reform" Fictions
Posted by Carla at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Scorching
Fox News Channel just had one of their periodic segments with Geraldo Rivera in Iraq. At the end of the story, he commented to the anchor that the heat there was scorching--why, then, wear a black t-shirt, Geraldo?
But more than that, what concerns me is that for every segment I've seen so far, Geraldo is shown with a group of Marines and soldiers--about eight or ten--standing firm and still behind him. Why are they there? Only once or twice have I seen him actually talk to one of them. Rather, they seem to be the backdrop for Geraldo's "heroic" and "popular" reporting. Wouldn't it make more sense for Geraldo's shoots to take place in front of lots of American activity, or in front of the typical sandy vista?
And for Geraldo to talk about how hot it is--when he is wearing a cotton t-shirt, and they're wearing BDUs, flak vests, covers, and holding rifles and other weapons--is indicative of another reason they shouldn't just be standing there: It's hot, and they should be conserving their energy for more important tasks than just providing scenery for Geraldo.
Update:
Bunker's son played a tree in the théâtre de Geraldo. Bunker says military folks only "tolerate" Geraldo in the hope that their families will get a chance to see them on TV. Somehow, I'm not surprised.
(via Sarah in the comments)
Posted by Carla at 10:41 AM | Comments (1)
June 23, 2004
Stunning
Cox and Forkum have done it again with Unlearned Lessons. It's the cover of The Intellectual Activist's May 2004 issue, and is a beautiful depiction of the modern soldier, restrained from full action.
Go take a look, it's a great drawing.
Posted by Carla at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2004
Russia gave the U.S. information about Saddam's plans to attack American interests
This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian intelligence had given the United States information that Saddam was planning attacks against U.S. interests at home and abroad. Yet, he said, "Despite that information about terrorist attacks being prepared by Saddam's regime, Russia's position [of opposition] on Iraq remains unchanged."
I can only wonder what is going on here. Why would Russia make the tip-off public, if they wanted to maintain their firm opposition to the war? It seems it would only strengthen the American case against Saddam that other nations' intelligence agencies found threats credible enough to be passed on to Americans.
Posted by Carla at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
"I was there"
Just one last post, before I head off to bed...
Charles at little green footballs has published a great piece by a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves, about his time in Iraq and what bearing his experience should have on political decisions. Go read it, it's good.
Marines rock my world.
Posted by Carla at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
Repository
So far, I don't have much to say about this situation, but I want to use this entry as a kind of repository for all the links and tidbits I find about the connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, a connection that the media is currently reporting doesn't exist. I'll start with just two for now (it's late!) but I'll continue to add to the list as I find credible sources.
Let the linking begin.
Yahoo News: 9/11 Report Shows Links Between Al Qaeda, Hussein Regime
National Review Online: Andrew McCarthy on Iraq & al Qaeda
If you've got a link I don't have, leave it in the comments. Thanks.
CNN.com: Blair: Al Qaeda worked in Iraq
Here, CNN says,
"Bush [...] said there was no evidence Saddam's government was linked to the September 11 attacks.
"Just this week Bush and Cheney have made comments alleging ties between al Qaeda and Iraq."
These sentences are adjacent in the story--perhaps an attempt to make President Bush seem confused, misinformed, or deceptive. But in this story, the situation becomes a little clearer:
Bush insists Iraq, al Qaeda had 'relationship'
Here, "Bush, in a brief appearance before reporters, was asked why the administration insists that Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda had a relationship 'when even you have denied any connection between Saddam and September 11, and now the September 11 commission says that there was no collaborative relationship at all?'"
If this was really the phrasing of the question, it's pretty clear who is intending to deceive. It's perfectly easy to see the logic here: Hussein and al Qaeda could have not cooperated on the September 11 attacks, but still could have had a relationship in other respects. If, as they should, the reporter had really wished to clear up the situation, s/he should have asked, "You and the September 11 commission have alleged that Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda did not collaborate in the plans for the 9/11 attacks, yet you maintain that they did have a relationship. Do you mean that they cooperated in other respects? Can you tell us about the nature of the relationship?" etc.
I'm no reporter, but that's how I would have done it.
Posted by Carla at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2004
Are you chicken? Me and the U.S. Supreme Court
Back in middle school, I was on the "executive board" of the student senate three years in a row. One of the responsibilities of the board (one representative from each grade, fifth through eighth) was delivering the morning announcements over the loudspeaker. Each week we rotated segments, one of which was leading the school in the Pledge of Allegiance. Though we had all been reciting the pledge’s familiar cadence since kindergarten, it was not entirely unusual for someone especially tired or distracted to inadvertently skip a phrase, saying, for example, "…and to the republic, one nation…" Firm in my atheist beliefs even at that time, I schemed sometime in the seventh grade to "accidentally" omit the phrase "under God" when my turn came around, wishing just once to declare my patriotism without the religious aspect, which had no meaning for me.
I was also a goody-goody in middle school (OK, and in elementary school, and in high school), so I never did it. I always recited the pledge flawlessly when my turn came around, silently cursing my propensity for being a chicken.
Even at the age of 12, it was clear to me that including the reference to a higher power whose name could not be agreed on by most citizens—much less its state of existence—removed the universality of the pledge, and violated one of the most important tenets on which this country was founded.
I was hoping for a good fight in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (scroll down for a .pdf of the case). In 2000, the Supreme Court decided Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe in Doe’s favor. Justice Stevens’s decision said, "the specific purpose of the policy [of electing students to speak at the public high school’s football games] was to preserve a popular ‘state-sponsored religious practices’ [that] invites and encourages religious messages." Since such speeches would be in public, at school-endorsed functions, any religious messages could be taken as having the "school’s seal of approval"; in other words, violating the separation of church and state.
In this case, the Court clearly researched the motives of the school’s policy and read a great deal into it—rightly, I think. This, and their decisions on school prayer in the past, made me somewhat hopeful for a grand showstopper of a decision regarding the pledge’s inclusion of the phrase "under God."
I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. The Rehnquist court has not proven to be consistently principled, instead espousing a philosophy that is more "go with the flow" than anything else. And in this case, instead of facing up to the decision—even if it meant coming to the wrong conclusion—they punted.
Posted by Carla at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Jobs' salary is $1
Way back in April, Capitalism Magazine had two great articles for those of us not particularly well-versed in economics. I held on to the links, and decided they were important enough to post even two months later. Informative, clear, and well-written, these are must reads:
Why Are CEOs Paid So Much?
The Future of Work
Posted by Carla at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2004
Tinkering
I have no idea how to use Movable Type, so I'm going to be tinkering with the system for a few days before I go in for a full-blown blog debut (much anticipated, I'm sure, by the approximately two people who would have any interest in reading my blog). But, to test things out, I'm publishing this entry right...now.
UPDATE:
I'm about ready to go public. If you or any of your friends have any webdesign experience, please let me know. I'd like to jazz the place up a bit, make it a little less generic. Thanks.
Posted by Carla at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)