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Wednesday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 07:38:32 PM EST
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At the request of the Obama Administration, the 9th Circuit has reinstated DADT discharges for now.

There's a new catfight between Gloria Allred and Meg Whitman.

Al Gore is urging Californians to vote no on the climate initiative.

What's on TV tonight: Survivor, America's Next Top Model and The Defenders. Now, if I only knew what's for dinner....

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Wednesday Night Open Thread | 56 comments (56 topical)

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    Pentagon needs time to change (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 07:52:55 PM EST
    the culture to allow gays AP

    It comes down to changing the culture, and top brass say they need more time. The military has been long resistant and, at times, hostile to gays, and it draws much of its 2.4 million members from socially conservative parts of the country.
    ...
    Allowing the courts to steer the lifting of the ban leaves military leaders feeling rushed and misled. Top military officials thought they had bought time to prepare the uniformed forces, spouses, families and veterans for openly gay service.

    Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the administration's path is still uncertain said the administration has never fully acknowledged that while a majority of Americans may want the ban lifted, a majority of the uniformed military might not.
    ...
    Military officials say privately that the service chiefs worry most about a cultural backlash and displays of intolerance that would make the military look as if it had lost control of its troops.

    If the military lifts the ban suddenly, would there be attacks on gays? Would religious parents, coaches and teachers who oppose gay rights persuade young recruits not to enlist? If a platoon member says he is gay, would his comrades still support him, or would there be infighting?

    How many more years do they need?

    BTW allowing gays to serve in the military was a non-event in Britain, Canada and Israel. Britain implemented the policy in a month.

    Well, back in my day in the Navy, when I received (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by rhbrandon on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 06:07:19 AM EST
    a direct order, I didn't need "more time" to obey it.

    And any service member who assaults - or worse - a fellow service member over sexual orientation can find themselves in a military prison for a few years.

    That, and recruiters can start targeting the able, not just the available.

    Parent

    As for dinner, (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:02:22 PM EST
    I had a craving for challah french toast, which was satisfied. . .

    I do have a collateral question, though (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:15:11 PM EST
    how much syrup are people consuming that they're willing to buy fake ("pancake") syrup instead of real maple syrup?

    There's really no substitute for the real thing when it comes to maple syrup. Aside from the odd flavor, the most offensive thing about the fake stuff is that it's too thick (probably to improve shelf life--the real thing needs to be put in the fridge after you break the seal).

    Parent

    After looking at a recipe for (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:32:19 PM EST
    challah french toast, I doubt anyone eating it is focused on a low fat or low calorie diet. Might as well go for it and do real syrup as well.

    Parent
    Best french toast you'll ever eat (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:36:13 PM EST
    By comparison, most any other bread tastes like you used bread flavored foam.

    Parent
    Orange french toast (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by waldenpond on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:50:08 PM EST
    My favorite is orange.... fresh orange juice, grated peel, vanilla and cinnamon.  I serve it with butter and homemade blackberry jam.

    Parent
    that sure sounds better (none / 0) (#31)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:39:10 PM EST
    than what I ended up having for dinner....a tuna sandwich.

    Parent
    There's a place for those too! (none / 0) (#32)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:45:40 PM EST
    My mom's is the best, of course ;-)

    Parent
    Ha!... (none / 0) (#44)
    by kdog on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:01:42 AM EST
    Thats what I had last night...had to run out for celery cuz it just ain't nearly as tasty without the chopped celery and onions.  Delicous.

    Did you hear about the guy suing Bumblebee because the genius was eating 10 cans a week and (shocker!) got mercury poisoning?  Also suing Stop & Shop for running sales on Bumblebee in an evil plot to poison him.

    I will defend access to the courts till my dying breath but pikers like this sure don't make it easy.

    Parent

    Sounds wonderful.... (none / 0) (#49)
    by vml68 on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:52:11 AM EST
    will have to try it for breakfast this weekend.

    Parent
    Can't remember when I last ate (none / 0) (#10)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:46:02 PM EST
    french toast. If I ever lose the extra weight I gained in the last couple of years, I might give it a try as an award. One recipe suggested having it drizzled in honey. That sounds good to me.

    Parent
    You know, I actually don't like honey (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:50:07 PM EST
    I think it tends to have an odd aftertaste.

    Maple syrup for me!

    Parent

    I like the taste of honey (none / 0) (#14)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:08:17 PM EST
    Also, local honey is said to be good as an immune booster for allergies and asthma. Our local honey (MO Honey) is from my city so you can't get much more local than that.

    Cold weather meal: Homemade stew with biscuits and honey. Also, not good when aiming for a low fat and low calorie diet but one I like.

    Parent

    Well, finally someone (none / 0) (#46)
    by brodie on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:20:24 AM EST
    gets around to the notion that eating should be about more than just satisfying the taste buds.  Nutritional and health-boosting effects also need to factor into the diet.

    Yep, from what I've read, honey -- raw only -- has its immune-boosting benefits.  Also a good natural source of various vitamins and minerals and enzymes, with a little protein thrown in.  

    And raw honey has a good amount of glucose which is broken down easily and that cells need for energy.  Iow, a good brain food.

    Also raw honey is an excellent survival food what with all its nutritional values and body fuel properties and water content.  Living in earthquake country, I have my share of honey stockpiled in the cupboard.  And by this time next year, I'll be putting more in reserve as we all nervously await the end of the Mayan Calendar.

    Parent

    Next time you're home visiting in Philly (none / 0) (#26)
    by Peter G on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:16:08 PM EST
    ... give us a call, and come on over for home-made, buttermilk waffles (with half a cup of leftover rice mixed into the batter for extra crispiness) -- always served with real maple syrup.

    Parent
    Mmm (none / 0) (#27)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:19:01 PM EST
    That's very generous Peter, thank you.

    I haven't been home since the summer.

    Parent

    I have been told (none / 0) (#36)
    by MKS on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 11:53:45 PM EST
    by East Coasters that I look and act like I come from South Philly--whatever the h*ll that means.....

    I've never been there....  

    Parent

    If I asked really, really nicely (none / 0) (#51)
    by vml68 on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 10:17:48 AM EST
    would you be willing to share the recipe... :-)

    Parent
    I'll try to get back to you with that (none / 0) (#56)
    by Peter G on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 08:27:55 PM EST
    later.  Busy with the Phillies and Giants now.

    Parent
    This is why I subscribe to the (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by Anne on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:42:05 PM EST
    Julia Child philosophy: life's too short not to use real butter...

    I think it applies to all kinds of things - like real maple syrup.

    I don't know why people buy frosting in a can when it's really so easy to make the real thing.

    Or brownies...why use that boxed stuff when the real thing is just as easy to make.  I have a recipe that is so easy I could make a batch in the morning when one kid or the other said, "oh, by the way, Mom, I'm supposed to bring brownies to school today..."

    I come from a long line of people who cook using real ingredients, and while I have, from time to time, bought "convenience" foods, I still think the real thing tastes better, I know exactly what's in it - which means no chemicals and preservatives - and I find it soothing to create food - it relaxes me.

    Parent

    I'm all for better living through chemistry (none / 0) (#13)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:50:55 PM EST
    The problem is that fake syrup has but one real advantage: price. Almost everything else about it is inferior.

    Parent
    Live by Monsanto, (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by brodie on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:27:37 AM EST
    die by Monsanto.  And I sense there's probably a lot more of the latter happening than the former.

    Call me a dangerous nutritional nutjob purist, but what I put into my body needs to be as close to how Mother Nature made it as possible.  No faux foods for this liberal.  A few nickles more to eat better and take in food the body is built to assimilate, I'm fine with that.

    Parent

    My ex sister-in-law was not a (none / 0) (#50)
    by vml68 on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 10:12:44 AM EST
    big fan of cooking, as a result my young nieces have rarely eaten anything that has not come already prepared out of a box or can.

    Their standard breakfast was either frozen mini pancakes or french toast sticks out of a box. Now that my brother is divorced and has custody of the girls, my parents and I have been helping take care of the girls. We have been trying to get them to eat freshly prepared food without much success.
    So we were really excited when my older niece asked for "real" pancakes for breakfast one morning, only to find out that her idea of "real" pancakes are the kind you make out of the box mix... :-(!

    Parent

    Amen to that! (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 08:40:50 AM EST
    But I suspect it's the same reason that whole generations in this country now think peaches are supposed to be crisp and crunchy.  It's all they've ever had and they think that's the way it's supposed to be.

    Parent
    i buy the fake sugar free (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:25:44 PM EST
    kind -- too many calories and carbs in the real thing. I don't think I've tasted real syrup in decades, so I don't think I know what I'm missing.

    Parent
    Sugar free is one thing (none / 0) (#6)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 08:32:19 PM EST
    I absolutely get the calorie thing. What I don't get is the fake full sugar version.

    I eat pancakes or french toast maybe once every 3-6 months, so if I'm going to splurge, I'm going to have real maple syrup.

    If I had to guess, I'd say that the fake stuff made with corn syrup sells well because some people use gallons of the stuff, and it's a little bit cheaper than the real thing. So that clearly explains restaurants. But in my limited experience, fake isn't that much less expensive than real, so for the supermarket shopper, I'd have to guess that some people prefer the taste of the fake stuff.

    Yuck.

    Parent

    It's definitely cost (5.00 / 1) (#45)
    by sj on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:18:38 AM EST
    I come from a large family and never tasted real maple syrup until I moved out and was on my own.  One bottle of maple syrup would have maybe lasted thru two breakfasts.  Pancake syrup not only went further but it came in larger sizes.

    Parent
    Diabetes (none / 0) (#34)
    by Amiss on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 11:25:22 PM EST
    keeps me from all that good stuff :(

    Parent
    California election (5.00 / 0) (#17)
    by s5 on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:27:07 PM EST
    This is a good election year in California. Yes on marijuana (19), No on climate pollution (23), and welcome back, Governor Brown.

    Did you see the new ad for (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:52:25 PM EST
    Governor Brown with Whitman parroting Schwarzenegger? link

    Looks like a winner to me.

    Parent

    Saw that last night -- a lot of airplay (none / 0) (#22)
    by Cream City on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:59:08 PM EST
    and deservedly.  I suspect that sort of parroting is common with these candidates around the country, and that ad ought to be replicated race by race.

    Parent
    lol!~ (none / 0) (#23)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:01:48 PM EST
    good one. haven't seen it air yet, but i'm liking the one airing now about her lil' problem with the truth . . .

    Parent
    As Calitics notes: (none / 0) (#24)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:10:51 PM EST
    The ad aired in the Bay Area during the Giants-Phillies playoff game this afternoon, so that's a significant - and not cheap - buy for this ad. link



    Parent
    have the game on (none / 0) (#29)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:33:56 PM EST
    but have been playing work catch up and not watching the commercials. all other family members will prob catch it though  ;)

    brown spent basically nothing so far, so the expensive ad buys don't surprise me at this point.

    5-5 bottom of the 9th 1 out 1 on 1st . . .   :)

    Parent

    update :) (none / 0) (#30)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:34:31 PM EST
    1 out men on first and third!

    Parent
    just ran during Criminal Minds. (none / 0) (#35)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 11:33:08 PM EST


    Parent
    Bob Guccione (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:54:48 PM EST
    is dead.

    I guess he'll never outdo Caligula. . .

    Cat Food Commission Conrad (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by MO Blue on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:35:52 AM EST
    The U.S. government must shrink if it wants to return to a fiscally sustainable course, said Sen. Kent Conrad.

    Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a member of President Obama's fiscal commission, said that there was no other choice but to cut spending in order to balance the budget.

    "This government is going to have to be smaller," Conrad said on MSNBC. "There is no option."

    Conrad said that "everything does have to be on the table," in terms of options available to the fiscal commission, but that the bulk of cuts would have to be targeted at military and entitlement spending. link

    My recommendation to make the government smaller is to eliminate the Senate. Worthless entity with corporate tools like Conrad getting paid too much for p!ss poor work.

    Looks like the Log Cabin Rs (none / 0) (#2)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 07:55:37 PM EST
    pulled a RRD panel. Uh oh.

    Anyone know these judges better?

    O'SCANNLAIN, TROTT and W. FLETCHER (none / 0) (#18)
    by Peter G on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:41:59 PM EST
    William Fletcher, a former prof at Boalt Hall (Cal Berkeley) law school, is one of the smartest and most liberal judges on the Ninth Circuit.  Senior Judge Stephen Trott is a former Reagan Admin criminal justice official (Ass't Atty Gen, iirc), also very smart (and a former member of the '60s folksinging group The Highwaymen, who had a #1 hit in 1961 with "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore").  Trott has shown an independent streak on the bench, sometimes holding prosecutors' feet to the fire in unexpected ways.  Diarmuid O'Scanlainn, also senior and a Reagan appointee, was a founder of Young Americans for Freedom (conservative campus group) and an oil company lawyer before getting involved in Oregon Republic politics.  

    Parent
    So we start out down 1--at least (none / 0) (#20)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:52:37 PM EST
    I don't like the way the votes count on this panel.

    Parent
    to be clear and careful (none / 0) (#25)
    by Peter G on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:13:00 PM EST
    This is a temporary ruling, for only a week or so, as it states, in response to an "emergency" motion. I'm not a technical expert on internal Ninth Circuit workings, but I imagine this three-judge panel will keep the case through the ultimate stay ruling, soon after 10/25.  Not at all sure, however, that the same panel would get the case on the merits, following the full briefing.  Probably not.

    Parent
    Great point (none / 0) (#28)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:20:12 PM EST
    I assumed without checking that the merits panel would be the same.

    Parent
    U.S. can't have single payer or (none / 0) (#15)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:19:24 PM EST
    a public option because it would reduce the amount hospitals can earn and thereby, limit how much they donate to political campaigns.

    ...American Hospital Association PAC is now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to help elect Republicans this November. FDL


    BTW (none / 0) (#16)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:21:18 PM EST
    You're doing a hecka of job Dems.

    Parent
    Juan Williams fired at NPR (none / 0) (#33)
    by rhbrandon on Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 11:02:36 PM EST
    For being a racist bigot on the O'Reilly Factor.

    At least he can start living the lie at Fox News.  I'm sure he'll become twins with Bernie Goldberg now.

    Y'know, a smarter guy (5.00 / 2) (#38)
    by Cream City on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 12:22:53 AM EST
    might have seen the writing on the NPR wall a year ago, when it requested that Fox Nooz stop identifying Juano as an NPR staffer, too.  

    Of course, that means that NPR ought to have had the cred to have dumped him then -- or, of course, years ago.  Beyond journalistic credibility, there was the question of whether he had anything to say.

    So why did the dupe rise to such heights, and then get to stay there?  Hmmm, there's a question. . . .

    Parent

    A infotainment need for (none / 0) (#39)
    by MO Blue on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 12:48:26 AM EST
    a token liberal voice to ineffectively counter conservative talking points while looking and sounding as stupid as possible.

    Parent
    Fox News needs their "Brand Xs" to (5.00 / 0) (#41)
    by rhbrandon on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 06:11:03 AM EST
    compare their merchandise to. Liasson and Williams make for useful idiots to Ailes' bunch.

    Parent
    The Defenders with Jim Belushi (none / 0) (#37)
    by MKS on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 12:14:55 AM EST
    is on tonight.

    Great fun....Las Vegas over the top lawyers....

    There is also the Jimmy Smits show.  So, criminal defense lawyers are getting some good t.v. shows....Instead of all the sops to prosecutors such as Law and Order.

    Back to the Perry Mason precedent.

    Outlaw (none / 0) (#42)
    by jbindc on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 08:16:31 AM EST
    Pulled after remaining episodes air.  The Defenders not doing well against Law & Order Los Angeles.  Word is it will be moved to compete against one of the CSI's (good luck with that)

    Parent
    Too bad, you prosecutors get (none / 0) (#52)
    by MKS on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 02:19:09 PM EST
    all the breaks.....

    Parent
    Jimmy Smits' Cane was cancelled too (none / 0) (#53)
    by MKS on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 02:21:47 PM EST
    That was a good show....

    I am surprised his appeal has become "narrow."

    Parent

    Jimmy Smits (none / 0) (#54)
    by sj on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 04:05:08 PM EST
    Has plenty of appeal.  Outlaw?  Not so much.

    Parent
    Cane was better (none / 0) (#55)
    by MKS on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 07:45:53 PM EST


    Parent
    Wednesday Night Open Thread | 56 comments (56 topical)

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