to post your favorite recipes along with your news bits!

on the stupidity of his Iraq plan: Think Progress

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a prominent conservative member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said today on MSNBC that Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) plan to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq is "not realistic."

"The time for more troops is past," he said. "We don't want to put more troops in now. Even if we had them, that's the wrong approach."...

from the transcript:

"Andrea, it is not realistic. General Abizaid noted that when he was here last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee. We don't have the troops. That's number one.

Number two, even if we did, it's the wrong approach. The time for more troops is past.

We've been in Iraq now almost four years. We went in completely undermanned, under-managed. We didn't understand what we were getting into. We didn't have the plans. We should have gone in with three times the troops that we had.

Those days are over. We're not going to recapture that and go back and unwind those bad decisions.

We don't want to put more troops in now. Even if we had them, that's the wrong approach.

There's not going to be a military resolution that decides the outcome of Iraq. It will be a political solution. It will include the Iraqi people, countries like Iran, Syria, Jordan and other countries around it."

Any guesses as to when the "news" media are going to report that the Republicans are in disarray over this?  My guess is never.

I'm also wondering if we're going to hear anyone joining Hagel's call for reality-based decision-making in Iraq.

For the soup:

2 1/2 cups chopped red onion
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and halved, seeds and strngs discarded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
a 1 pound sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
7 to 8 cups chicken broth

For the matzoh balls:

a 1 pound sweet potato
1 large egg, beaten slightly
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
1/2 to 3/4 cup matzoh meal

Minced onion or pomegranate seeds for garnish

To make soup:

In soup pot, cook chopped onion in oil over medium heat, stirring until it's pale golden; transfer 2 tbsp of it to small bowl for later use in matzoh balls.  To the remaining onion, add squash and sweet potato and cook (while stirring) for 5 minutes.  Add 7 cups of broth and simmer (partially covered) for 30 minutes or until vegetables are very tender.  Puree the soup in batches in a food processor or blender, eventually returning the pureed soup to the pot and seasoning with salt and pepper.  You can thin the soup with the remaining cup of broth if desired.

To make matzoh balls:

Preheat the oven to 375.  Pick the sweet potato with a fork and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until tender.  Let the sweet potato cool, peel it, and force it and the reserved cooked onion through a ricer or food mill.  Stir in the egg, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste, and 1/2 cup of matzoh meal (or enough to make a soft dough) and chill the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.  

Form the dough into 16 balls, and put on waxed paper.  Drop the balls, one at a time, into a pot of salted rapidly boiling water, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

While the matzoh balls are cooking, heat the soup until it is hot.  Transfer the matzoh balls to bowls, ladle soup over them, and garnish with onion or pomegranate seed.

Serves 8.

Can't afford one?  Well, you won't be able to go to Canada or Mexico and come home afterward if you don't: AP/Yahoo

The Homeland Security Department will require virtually all air travelers entering the United States after Jan. 23 to show passports -- even U.S. citizens.

Until now, U.S. citizens, travelers from Canada and Bermuda, and some travelers from Mexico who have special border-crossing cards for frequent visitors were allowed to show other proofs of identification, such as drivers' licenses or birth certificates.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff disclosed the effective date of the initiative in an interview with The Associated Press. The Homeland Security Department was planning to announce the change on Wednesday.

Chertoff said the change was a crucial next step to helping ensure the nation's security.

A crucial next step?  What about all those ports we leave unguarded?  Wouldn't that make more sense than persecuting US citizens?

Taken from an article titled:
Private banks do things differently for the super-rich

Last year, 7.2 million households in the world had more than $1 million in assets, up 0.9 percent from 2004, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group, published in September. These households owned 28.6 percent of global wealth, or $25.3 trillion, up 1.5 percent in dollar terms from 2004.

So few people own so much... And they are getting richer. Meanwhile the rest of us get screwed with stagnating wages, losses in benefits. Even here in the USA we are losing high-paying jobs only to have them be replaced by "junk-jobs" from fast-food joints and big-box retailers.

Any Free trade agreement without strong labour agreements are the equivelant of sanctioning sweatshop products at the cost of our own jobs.

Labour around the world is losing ground to the rich. There are very few countries where labour still holds the kind of leverage that can help to change this pattern. With the way the GOP has purposely undermined unions in the USA, soon we won't be one of them.

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Bush Family Mishaps continuing:

Bush's daughter robbed in Argentina while secret service agents stood guard and,
In a speech to a very hostile audience in Abu Dhabi, Poppy Bush said he's still very proud of son W.

Parting shot:  "Kofi Annan, U.S. is trapped in Iraq" `can't stay and can't leave'

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor May be at Mission's End
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has likely finished its operating career. The spacecraft has served the longest and been the most productive of any mission ever sent to the red planet.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity did not detect any signal from Mars Global Surveyor on Tuesday during an attempt to get the orbiter to transmit to the rover. The commands will be repeated Wednesday.

Alternate site:
Hope fades for missing Mars Global Surveyor craft

Meanwhile:
Mars Exploration Rover Mission
Both rovers, Spirit and Opportunity have survived over 1,000 Martian days (or "sols") and continuing to explore the martian surface.

And:

Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter
The Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter is just getting cranked up good.

For Mars fans here's Nasa's MarsOWeb Site, a good one-stop for all things Mars.

Hens with bigger 'hairdos' get more sex
Hens with bigger fleshy crests on their heads get more sex and larger quantities of sperm from dominant male roosters, according to a new study.

Mineral Rights Definition Dispute
The definition of "mineral rights" might go to court in Tennessee. There, mineral rights owners have been denied access to one of their properties because the target of their intended mining is a sandstone. The surface rights owners claim that sandstone is not a "mineral" and they seem prepared to defend that position in court.

Eastern Screech-Owl Otus asio is e-nature's bird of the day today.
These common owls are fearless in defense of their nests and will often strike unsuspecting humans on the head as they pass nearby at night. When discovered during the day, they often freeze in an upright position, depending on their cryptic coloration to escape detection. The two color phases, which vary in their relative numbers according to geography, are not based on age, sex, or season.

Icelandic Volcano Caused Historic Famine In Egypt, Study Shows
An environmental drama played out on the world stage in the late 18th century when a volcano killed 9,000 Icelanders and brought a famine to Egypt that reduced the population of the Nile valley by a sixth.

Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle: For Some People, Intimacy Is Toxic
It is practically an article of faith among psychotherapists that an intimate human relationship is good for you. None other than Freud himself once famously said that health requires success in work and in love.... It seems that for some people, love and intimacy might not just be undesirable but downright toxic.

Current Space Weather Conditions look good.

Institute of Holistic Computer Wellness annonunces new Web Disentanglement Device.
The theory of quantum computing is one of the most recent branches of computer science, based on the most advanced physical theory. Scientists working in this field have proved that virtually every interaction between physical systems leaves a subtle trace of correlation called entanglement. Thus computers, which have been connected to the internet for a long time become increasingly entangled with computers the world over. This ultimately leads to an increased rate of bits lost in transmission. We have developed a search engine, which can trace such entanglements with a given computer by sending out carefully constructed queries to the net. The entanglements are then treated, and normally reduced by more than 67 dB, by running a special purpose decoherence program.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

Reno Joins Criticism of Anti-Terror Strategy

Former Prosecutors Urge Court to Act Against Indefinite Detention of Suspects

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 22, 2006; A06

Former attorney general Janet Reno has taken the unusual step of openly criticizing the Bush administration's anti-terrorism strategy -- joining seven other former Justice Department officials in warning that the indefinite detention of U.S. terrorism suspects could become commonplace unless the courts intervene.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the case of alleged enemy combatant Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, the former prosecutors assert that criminal courts are well equipped to prosecute terrorism suspects while guaranteeing the constitutional rights of defendants arrested on U.S. soil.

Reno, reached at her Florida home yesterday, said she would let the brief "speak for itself. I've been following this, and it reflects my concerns about the detention and treatment of people who have been determined to be enemy combatants in a manner that is not clear how it is being done."

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It's Thanksgiving but the Election Watch is still on.

More about Katherine Harris seat - FL 13th Congressionla District, as the GOP are certified the winner by a scant 369 votes, lawsuits are filed.  

Now, a TPM item cites The Orlando Sentinel's analysis that reveals there's strong evidence those 18,000 under votes favored Dems.

Really?

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

Sign Barbara Boxer's Petition for Redeployment of Troops, here.

PETITION FOR REDEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS FROM IRAQ

Dear Mr. President:

I agree with Senator Barbara Boxer that we should begin to redeploy our troops from Iraq now to allow Iraqis to begin to take charge of their own country and to remove our brave troops from the chaotic and dangerous situation there.

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Here are some Cajun recipes I posted in a different thread:

Pecan Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream

Stewed (Smothered) Okra

Maque Choux

Learn more about Bobby Jindal.