Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Let’s finish the job.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

We still have time to mess this up!

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Night Open Thread

Friday Night Open Thread

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I’ve had a whole chicken (cut in half and rubbed down with dry rub) roasting in the convection oven for half the afternoon, cleaned and cooked some beans down with some seasoning and the butt end of a bacon slab with some honey and brown sugar, made some homemade coleslaw, and am waiting for the Ills to come over so we can have dinner and drinks. BTW, for the new folks, the Ills are my friends Bill and Jill.

I wish I had picked up a box of cornbread mix. Oh, well. And some greens.

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  1. 1.

    Stefan

    Jesus, Cole. Isn’t it enough to live your decadent lifestyle without rubbing our noses in it? You just live purely for pleasure, don’t you?

  4. 4.

    poicephalus

    I made beans last Sunday and slurped ’em all week.
    I second the cornbread and greens.
    I grew up on mustard greens and all I have eaten lately
    are collard.

    C

  5. 5.

    wobblybits

    If you have flour, cornmeal, eggs, milk and oil, you can make your own….if no go, have them pick up a box on their way to your place. Greens without cornbread? what do you use to soak up the pot liquor?

  6. 6.

    cathyx

    Why do you need an afternoon to cook a chicken? An hour tops should do. You’re going to have jerky for dinner, I think.

  7. 7.

    MsSkwEsq

    That sounds yummy. Greens cooked with the pork would be good too. Did you get a new range? If so, a pix would be nice. Pics of the pups/ Tunch would be nice. Also a photo array of the yard/ fence building/ garden please!

  10. 10.

    erlking

    Damn, Cole. I just had spaghetti and meatballs–girls sleepover, my house is awash in 3-7 year olds–now I’m hungry again.

    Bastard.

  11. 11.

    jl

    I’ll be over asap with the greatest greens you ever had, and some cornbread.

    Just need a little help with airfare is all.

    OK, now for some open threadedness.

    Was McKinsey consulting nailed for putting out a crooked report to damage health care reform?

    IMHO looks like it, which would be bad since McKinsey has done some very good and useful research on health care economics. If this is a cooked report, the only bright side is that their health care analysis division did not commit the deed, some unnamed ‘consultants’ who apparently have no expertise in health care whipped it up.

    Controversial McKinsey Health Care Study Creates Major Dissent At Firm
    Brian Beutler
    TPMDC
    June 10, 2011

    ” The consulting firm McKinsey & Company was thrust into the political spotlight Tuesday after it published a study — at odds with the expert consensus — finding that, once fully implemented, the health care reform law will drive huge numbers of employers to drop or dramatically restructure their companies’ health care benefits.”

    Now read the methodology, which perks my interest.

    ‘ “Our survey shows significantly more interest in alternatives to ESI [employer sponsored insurance] than other sources do, for several reasons,” the report says. “Interest in these alternatives rises with increasing awareness of reform, and our survey educated respondents about its implications for their companies and employers before they were asked about post-2014 strategies. ‘

    Emphasis added. None of the sources were able to provide TPM a copy of the proprietary survey material

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/multiple-sources-throw-controversial-mckinsey-health-care-study-under-the-bus.php?ref=fpa

    Note: I kept the emphasis in the TPM story.

    So, as I read it, these McKinsey consultants briefed the survey subjects on good ways to game health care reform, and then surveyed them on their plans.

    The TPM story says all the survey material is ‘proprietary’.

    GOP flacks and hacks are already waving these results around for the teevvee talking heads.

  12. 12.

    Josie

    You don’t need mix to make cornbread. Stir up:
    1 1/2 cups corn meal
    1/2 flour
    1 T baking powder
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt

    Mix in:
    1/4 cup oil
    1 egg
    1 cup sour milk or yogurt or buttermilk

    Pour into 8″ round or square pan.
    Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes

    Easy peasy

    Edit: You can throw in a couple tablespoons of sugar if you absolutely must.

  13. 13.

    Sko Hayes

    If you’ve actually had a chicken in the convection oven for half the afternoon, you might want to have a back up plan for the meat portion of your dinner.
    But the beans and coleslaw are fine for me, I’ll be right over…

  14. 14.

    Crashman

    Spent a half-day afternoon reading on the porch and drinking a beer. Wish there was some more light!

    Next: Bruins!

  15. 15.

    RossInDetroit

    That sounds like a great meal. And I’m a vegetarian. Simple food prepared with care beats attempting something fancy that’s beyond your skills every time.
    If John’s entertaining guests he must be feeling better. That’s good news.

    Despite my emphatic walkout yesterday I may still be employed. We’re down to negotiating terms. There’s something to be said for being stubborn and also valuable to your employer.

    I’m tempted to stay up late tonight and inspect the nuggets of Palin emails that will come sluicing down the intertubes.
    Maybe make some popcorn…

  16. 16.

    Violet

    Have been eating vegetables from my garden for days. I think I’m in the mood for something more decadent tonight. Might go have Mexican food.

  17. 17.

    cat48

    Obama hired a new political director, the first Latina ever to hold that position in a presidential campaign. From the Daily Grito:

    It looks like Katherine Archuleta, a top Hispanic operative from Colorado, will be running the political operation for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
    She’s got the cred to deal with a job that involves, in turns, herding, nurturing and prodding political leaders from around the country, to get them working for the campaign– or at least not hurting it. Archuleta worked for two Denver mayors, led the city’s bid to get the DNC convention in 2008 and is now chief of staff to Secretary Hilda Solis in the Department of Labor.
    The press will focus on the fact that she is from Colorado, a perennial battleground, and that she is Latina, a demographic the Obama campaign desperately needs to turn out in 2012. The Department of Labor, under her watch, has been the most Latino-friendly agency in the federal government, blitzing Spanish-language press, getting Solis on the road to Hispanic-heavy locales and appointing a number of Latinos. And Archuleta comes from an old-school, mostly US-born Hispanic community in Colorado that’s probably best epitomized by former employer Federico Peña, a Cabinet Secretary under Clinton and co-chair of Obama’s 20008 campaign, and Ken Salazar, Secretary of Interior. It’s no coincidence that Salazar was dispatched to the Denver Post to give a validating quote about her hire. When it comes to wrangling Latino elites, the campaign just got itself a master wrangler.
    But it’d be a mistake to peg her, as we often do when we see a Hispanic surname, as only a token. She’s a legit operative and a strong political player who is going to have the unenviable task of re-activating all manner of elected official, community leader, union head and other honchos, regardless of ethnicity. Expect to see her often on a cable network near you.

  18. 18.

    Tom

    Police visited home of 17-year old girl in Delaware that direct messaged with Weiner for about 30 minutes. Guys, the evidence is not good. By the way, 2 FOX reporters were at the home of the girl BEFORE the police arrived, and the girl and her mom left with the police for further questioning, it seems.

    Patterico has been the main blog along with breitbart trying to expose this issue for a long while now.

    http://patterico.com/2011/06/09/evidence-that-weiner-was-talking-dirty-to-underage-girls-part-3/

    It was reported on FOX News, Shep Smith, TMZ. Now Weiner’s spokeswoman says “according to Congressman Weiner” he did not have any indecent or explicit conversations with the minor.

    Is it just me? Or does it seem like his own staff is losing trust in him? It’s a really bad sign when your spox has to say “according to Congressman Weiner…”. Also, several facts from the Weiner press conference were immediately proven to be untrue.

    1. That Weiner never coached anyone
    2. That none of them were minors to his knowledge (remind you of “can’t say with certitude”?)

    Is it possible that Weiner is lying again?

  19. 19.

    Stillwater

    @Crashman: Spent a half-day afternoon reading on the porch and drinking a beer.

    A beer. That’s a waste of an afternoon, in my book. Tell me it was a growler. Or at least a gutbucket.

    A 40?

  20. 20.

    OzoneR

    This is worth reading

    Of course voters want to think that their leaders have all the control. And studies show that voters tend to favor incumbent presidents when the economy is doing well. But the idea that the president controls the short-term dial on the unemployment rate, or economic growth for that matter, is entirely off. A study by former Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer and David Romer, for instance, finds that changes in tax rates (a central theme in the jobs debate) account for less than one-tenth of the variation in GDP growth. Even monetary policy, considered a speedy lever for altering interest rates, isn’t a quick fix for jobs. A recent report by the St. Louis Fed finds that, even though monetary policy may affect interest rates short-term, it’s not clear that those translate into higher growth or employment rates in the short term.
    And yet, in response to the clamor for immediate action, the Obama administration is rolling out plans for jobs training programs that promise to put people back to work. But even here, studies show that the benefits of these types of programs—in terms of boosting jobs and wages—are often short-lived. They die once the funding wears off.
    The sad truth is that high unemployment will be sticking around, for long after 2012. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that getting employment back to its pre-recession peak could take five years. And if you take the long view on U.S. joblessness, that isn’t Obama’s fault. Jobs recoveries have increasingly lagged economic recoveries in every recession since 1991, according to analysis of Fed data by economist Raghuram Rajan. That’s led to a rise in chronic unemployment levels over the years, which are even harder to fix.
    That makes Obama’s jobs problem more political than economic, because policies that lead to sustainable employment in the long-run—better education, regulation, social insurance—take more than one term to pull off. In that sense, judging Obama for the economic message he uses to stay in office is fair game. But blaming him for the country’s joblessness is not.

    Read more: http://curiouscapitalist.blogs…..z1OvAouvKH

    I think what will be wise is pushing Democrats in Congress into a message of “give us back our majority and we’ll do what we did in 2009-2010, only we’ll do it better”

    The only problem I see is we still have the “deficits are causing high unemployment” meme stuck in people’s brains.

  21. 21.

    Cat Lady

    The Stanley Cup is right in front of the Bruins to get. RIGHT THERE TO GET. Please FSM, we’ve been good boys and girls, let them get another step closer to getting it tonight. Amen.

  22. 22.

    Crashman

    @Stillwater: You caught me. I didn’t want to seem like a lush. It was multiple beers; 16 oz tall boys if that makes a difference.

  23. 23.

    JGabriel

    John Cole:

    I wish I had picked up … some greens.

    It’s West By God Virginia, isn’t it? Can’t you go outside and pick some dandelions and ramps?

    .

  24. 24.

    Gravenstone

    Got the invite to my 30 year HS reunion. *sigh* Knew it was coming up, but didn’t need to see the senior trip pic they enclosed with the letter. Although, seeing the various girls from my class in their bikinis, not such a bad memory. My ugly mug, middle row back, I could have done without.

    Watching the Cubs lose (they pulled one out last night against the Phillies bullpen, tonight they get Doc, with Lee and Oswalt in the wings for the weekend). The two game winning streak was nice, while it lasted. Wonder what the lineup will look like, post trade deadline?

  25. 25.

    Stillwater

    @Crashman: All the difference in the world, brother! Especially since I’ve been breaking down a twelve pack of Fat Tire while working on my boat this fine day. Getting ready for high-water rafting in the mountains this weekend.

    + 4+

    And go Bruins!

  26. 26.

    cat48

    @OzoneR:

    Actually, it’s a perfect way to attack the GOP House, who controls all expenditures, especially if the next report is worse.

    “It’s obvious the GOP policies of cuts & taxbreaks have Failed! The economy is getting worse not better…….No jobs bill & it’s been six mos. since they were elected”

    Of course, it could also be dangerous b/c “low information” voters may not know that the economy is worse.

  27. 27.

    Suffern ACE

    @jl: Well, when McKinsey is hired to management consult, who do you expect them to bring? Their healthcare economics group who probably provide forecasting, or their group of cost cutters with MBAs and six months of experience who will recommend alternatives to ESI if they exist? So if there are alternatives, someone would bring them to market as ideas soon enough anyway. That’s what management consultants do. If managers haven’t thought about the implications of ACA, they will soon hear all their options.

    Your health insurance is expensive. I thought we went over this a few summers ago. People who have insurance (who tend to be voters) like their employers to pay for it, even though in the end, those costs are what’s driving entry level white collar jobs for their children to India. ACA or no ACA, you would most likely be losing that plan in the next decade anyway, even if you liked the idea of your current health plan as it is. OMG – I’m gonna lose my plan or pay more for it? Welcome to real life. The dishonest part of the republican flacks is continuing to drum up belief that this lovely system we have won’t have to change if a person is are the false assumption that it’s working swell for him or her now and will continue on favorably no matter how much it costs to go to the doctor.

  28. 28.

    jl

    @OzoneR:

    Your link does not work. I would be curious to read it.

    I do not find what I see in the excerpt convincing.

    Change the tax rates? That is one of the least effective tools for short run stimulus.

    Monetary policy now? We are in a liquidity trap or a near liquidity trap.

    Five years is a long time? If recent trends keep up, we should wish it would take only five years.

    It is true that a stimulus program that is not tailored to the causes of the recession will be short lived, precisely because the stimulus was not designed to address them.

    But I’d like to read the whole thing to see if they have some good analysis in there. I don’t see it in the excerpt.

  29. 29.

    Crashman

    @Stillwater:

    Getting ready for high-water rafting in the mountains this weekend.

    I am so jealous. My folks are coming up to visit us, and while I love them, your weekend sounds a bit more exciting. Enjoy it!

  30. 30.

    Fred

    Speaking of roasted chicken. Why no breathless sky is falling post regarding the Bloomberg story that most economists agree that some short term indicators do not change their opinion that the economy is still on track for significant expansion in the second half.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-10/growth-rebound-for-u-s-seen-in-second-half-of-2011-in-economists-survey.html

    I would think you would be all over this since you seem so concerned about the economy? But is that concern only limited to times when you can speak apocalyptic about it? Not interested in optimistic forecasts?

  31. 31.

    JPL

    @Gravenstone: High School reunions are so much fun..at twenty years you notice guys with thinning hair but at thirty years all that hair is back. How did that happen?

  32. 32.

    jl

    Note to Cole: what is the hold up? I said I could be there asap with the greatest greens ever and some cornbread.

    I just checked. I can hop a first class flight (first class, since my great greens require the most careful and delicate handling) right away for just a little under two grand.

    I’ll pick up the cab fare to the airport.

    Note: the selfless dedication of BJ commenters is awesome isn’t it?

    PS to Cole, as long as I am in the neighborhood, could a fella chip in for a side trip to NY? I can go coach if people finish the greens off.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Tom:

    It’s highly possible that Weiner THOUGHT he was sending tweets to a 18 or above year old, and was told “sure, I’m 18” or fill in your fully legally adult age here, but, in fact, the young woman lied.

    He could have been talking to a dog, or an FBI agent, too. Weiner being a serious dumbass, didn’t take that into account.

    So, Weiner might have THOUGHT he was doing nothing illegal, when in fact he was, because the person on the other end was underage.

    The bottom line is, unless you’ve got some means to verify the age of the party at the other end, don’t start sending Penthouse Letter fodder to them. Just don’t. Don’t, don’t don’t.

    You’d think someone who is seemingly intelligent like Weiner would know that, but no…

  34. 34.

    RossInDetroit

    @JPL:

    High School reunions are so much fun

    At my 30th the tallest guy in our class ‘streaked’ the room at a slow walk on a bet. If I’d have known I’d have matched the price to have him keep his pants on. Past a certain age, clothes do make the man.

  35. 35.

    Stefan

    @John Cole:

    Which is a holy day for some of us.

    Well, enjoy your menage a trois or whatever you people call it….

    I, on the other hand, after just having had a run along the waterfront am now off to the local Greek community’s annual summer festival for an evening of sitting outside and consuming various grilled and baked delicacies.

  36. 36.

    Suffern ACE

    @Villago Delenda Est: Or he didn’t bother to check. Whatever. How is it that my life is so boring that I can have all these “friends” on facebook who I don’t know from my days of playing Zynga games and I haven’t received any offers for sexy chat. I must be doing it wrong.

  37. 37.

    honus

    Just happened to tune into “The Best Man” with Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson. Just like when I didn’t realize “Bob Roberts” was a documentary, “The Best man” perfectly predicts today’s politics. It’s on TCM right now.

  38. 38.

    4jkb4ia

    I broke the dishwasher. At least my husband swears that the pump has to be broken. No comment.

    (The dinner sounds wonderful)

  39. 39.

    eastriver

    Here’s the chicken I just made. Damn tasty. And easy as hell:

    Oven to 350 degrees.

    Spread cut up chicken pieces on a bake sheet. in a saucepan melt a stick of butter, add half cup honey, quarter cup grainy Dijon mustard, teaspoon curry powder, salt to taste. Stir well. Brush chicken. Bake hour to hour fifteen, depending on size of chicken. Baste with sauce every 10 to 15 minutes.

    DAMN GOOD CHICKEN.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Suffern ACE:

    Yes, that’s certainly possible. Given Weiner’s pretty well established recklessness in online communications, not a distant possibility, either.

    I’ve been approached in all sorts of strange ways in online games, based on the gender of the avatar. Female avatars get comeons all the time, which is why sometimes women deliberately pick male avatars to avoid that sort of thing. Having said that, I once had someone playing a female avatar practically throw “herself” at my male avatar. What gender this person owns IRL I had no idea.

    Then I’ve had guys playing female avatars warn me in advance that they were, in fact, male, so don’t make any assumptions.

  41. 41.

    BO_Bill

    All is relatively peaceful at my McDonalds. There is a fat Latino with a shirt reading ‘feck you you fecking fecker’ with his hat on backwards who I am keeping an eye on, but otherwise there is pretty much harmony. The food was good, although the lady was slow with the hot fudge Sunday, yielding cold fudge and melted ice cream.

    Not so lucky in San Jose.

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    We made the mistake of going into town despite it being Friday night and peak tourist season. Looked at all the lines and picked a seafood restaurant with the shortest one. Ordered fried flounder sandwiches, which arrived complete with skin and bones intact. Served on a Wonder Bread hamburger roll, also, too. The fries were cold and the horrible coleslaw came out of a plastic bucket. Yuck. Ready for some Alka Seltzer and/or vodka and tonic.

  43. 43.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Just think, John, someday you’ll be introducing the Uckheads to the newbies.

  44. 44.

    Suffern ACE

    @Villago Delenda Est: Quit adding to the depression. My avatar is a picture of me. 3,000 “friends” and not one of them finds me alluring? It’s like high school all over again. :-)

  45. 45.

    Comrade Mary

    @eastriver: That does sound amazing.

    I have a Paleolithic chicken in my freezer that I have to make palatable some time in the next few months. Technically, it’s a stewing hen, but the other one I bought at the same time was a beast that was almost impossible to joint, and it made the least impressive curry I have ever produced.

    So I think my options are:

    1) Get the beast jointed by a pro butcher with a proper saw and all for a few bucks, then slooooow braising it with mustard, honey, spices and some wine

    OR

    2) You guys tell me! How can I slow braise or stew a whole titanium stewing hen — that I cannot cut up — in a way that produces a very tasty and not-too-chewy result? Low and slow, I know, but I need details!

  46. 46.

    gypsy howell

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    You could be a dog on the internet. Or a 16-year old. Or a 13-year old with her dad looking over her shoulder.

    Which is why Weiner is an asshole of the highest order for thinking that he could get away with behavior like this. What the hell is the matter with him? That said, I hope he doesn’t resign over this. (If he’s going to resign, let it be over the fact that he seems to put Israel’s priorities over our own at times.)

  48. 48.

    JPL

    ???My son loves unpasteurized milk after spending time in Europe. He now is buying his milk from a local dairy farm that bottles its’ milk for pet consumption only because of laws. It’s $7.00 a gallon but he swears by it. I picked up his order last week and bought some cheese which is absolutely awesome but I am still concerned about his drinking unpasteurized milk… Any comments?

  50. 50.

    Comrade Mary

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Seriously? I have a rotisserie attachment for my backyard grill, but I thought that method was only suited for relatively young and tender chickens. This girl is almost as old as me.

    By the way, here’s the secret recipe for Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken:

    1) Put some salt inside it
    2) Coat the outside with a generous layer of schmaltz
    3) Stick it on the spit and baste often with more schmaltz

  51. 51.

    eastriver

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Yeah, Fucknoggin is right. Rotisserie would make it tasty.

    Big and frozen is tough.

    You could also go with your braising idea. Do a sort of Moq au vin. Little smokey bacon, pearl onions, wine. Nummers.

  52. 52.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Comrade Mary: Put it on the grill with the rotisserie stabbed through it, cook it about 8 hours at, I dunno, 250 degrees or so.

    Lemme know when yer eatin it and I may be able to make it over. Then we can get drunk and watch dirty movies afterwards.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gravenstone #24:

    I had my 50th last year. Just got the memory book a few days ago. It is astonishing the way my classmates have aged in the last half century.

  54. 54.

    sukabi

    Don’t need a mix for cornbread John:

    1 cup cornmeal
    1 cup flour
    1/4 cup sugar
    1/2 tsp salt
    3 tsp baking powder
    1 egg
    1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
    1 cup milk

    heat oven to 375. Grease 8×8 pan or other pan of your choice. Mix dry ingredients. Lightly beat egg. Pour egg, milk & oil into dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Pour into pan. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    @Comrade Mary: Don’t listen to him. I looked for my cookbook and the ex must have taken it. You have to braise it for hours. Look on google under french cooking and you can certainly find something that is interesting.

  57. 57.

    Suffern ACE

    @JPL: I wouldn’t serve it to kids, but then I drank a lot of it as a kid. I miss it from time to time. Also skimming the cream off the top and putting a little of that in cereal or coffee. Oh boy!

    I’d buy it from smaller farms for various reasons. I tried to get some the other year but I didn’t have a cooler in the car and my partner was having none of it.

    I wouldn’t worry too much.

  58. 58.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Suffern ACE:

    Ace, one time in Star Wars: Galaxies I wandered into one of the cantinas and two Twi’lek females were putting on as wild a show as you could get in that game, complete with emotes.

    MMOs let you get down to bikini undies, most of the time, and some players take advantage of it. Princess Leia’s metal bikini from Ep VI was in the game, and a friend of mine used it as part of the sales pitch for selling mount pets.

    She sold a lot more of them than my male toon did…

  59. 59.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @JPL:

    Any comments?

    It’s not good for adults to drink a lot of milk and seven dollars a gallon is fucking insane. You failed as a parent.

  61. 61.

    Comrade Mary

    @JPL: Thanks, hon. I’ll try Googling something Frenchie.

    Fuckhead, I’ll let you know if I stab and burn the beast over low flame. Not sure what kind of pr0n I have on hand, though …

  64. 64.

    JPL

    @Suffern ACE: His partner is none to thrilled. He shows her research and she shows him research. I do have a friend though who grew up on a dairy farm and they drank the unpasteurized and sold the rest to a processor. Early on she knew that cows that were sick could have their milk sold to the processors. No one in her family suffered from allergies or asthma or other related illnesses.
    $7.00 a gallon though is high…

  66. 66.

    ABL

    i just bought a crapload of cornbread (from whole foods because i’m too lazy to make any).

    anyway, i’ll email you some.

    i’m heading to my friend’s house to test wedding wine and eat ribs. it bears mentioning that the cook (my friend T) is vietnamese-am and his fried chicken is better than mine.

    not that i think about it or anything.

  67. 67.

    ABL

    i’m currently drinking mississippi mud black and tan. it comes in a quart-sized jug with a twist top.

    ::dies::

  69. 69.

    Suffern ACE

    @JPL: The farmer knows he’s selling contraband. “For Pets Only, and Oh I also have Unpasturized Cheese for Pets Too!” $7 is about right. But does that mean he’ll be drinking too much milk (since he has to finish a full gallon in a week) or less milk than he’d normally drink?

  70. 70.

    cbear

    @Comrade Mary: @<a

    Not sure what kind of pr0n I have on hand, though …

    href=”#comment-2626635″>Just Some Fuckhead:

    Don’t worry, we can always make some more.

    Um, forgive me for interrupting, but it sounds like you two may have inadvertently stumbled onto a novel disposition of that “Paleolithic” chicken.

    Pls don’t forget to agree on a “safe” word.

  71. 71.

    RossInDetroit

    @JPL:

    concerned about his drinking unpasteurized milk

    I would be. Germs. Pasteur was on to something and there are reasons for the health laws. I’ve had unpasteurized milk and it’s different but not enough to risk the gastric consequences. FWIW I worked in a seafood restaurant for a decade so I’m paranoid about microorganisms.

  72. 72.

    JPL

    @Suffern ACE: He loves milk. As a kid he was allergic to it and I think he’s making up time. As he said milk was never suppose to last a month.
    When he was 7 years old when I took him off milk, I found him at 2 in the morning chugging from a bottle of milk. That’s actually a classic symptom of allergic responses but now he thinks it wasn’t the allergy but all the pasteurization.
    The cheese is really good though.

  73. 73.

    jl

    @OzoneR:

    this link works.

    Is Rising Unemployment Obama’s Fault?
    Curious Capitalist
    Posted by Roya Wolverson Thursday, June 9, 2011

    http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2011/06/09/is-rising-unemployment-obamas-fault/#more-14902

    Looks like you excerpted the whole last part of the column.
    Provides some semi relevant statistics with no economic reasoning to say that no, nothing can be done, and that we have to hope voters don’t blame Obama.

    Well, I don’t agree, but don’t have time to say why.

    I have a sinking feeling that the topic will come up again (and again, and again) before the election, so I can throw in my two cents later.

  74. 74.

    JPL

    @Suffern ACE: You actually made a point that I could approach him with and that is the amount of milk that he’s drinking. Thanks.

    edit..I think he is blaming his allergies on the pasteurization of products which may or may not be true but he is carrying it to extremes,

  75. 75.

    eastriver

    @JPL:

    Soooooooo good.

    Pardon my slipping in a little (Congressman) Weiner, but you’ll be sucking every bone clean.

    ::sanitizing keyboard::

  76. 76.

    Suffern ACE

    @JPL: Yeah. I’m not a doctor. Just a kid from Dairy Farm Land. But sometimes allergies do go away. I would be more worried that he’s wandering into unscientific land where next he’ll be talking about autism and vaccines. He’d know if he was still allergic by now since he’s drinking a lot of milk. i had to stop drinking so much when some kind lady noted that the “reason” my ankles clicked and popped when I walked in my mid-twenties was that I was still drinking a gallon and a half of milk a week. I cut way back and the annoying issue went away.

    I will reject your son’s unsupported anecdotal science and substitute old wives tales of my own.

  77. 77.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    cornbread mix

    Should be illegal. It’s unnecessary and horrifying. Cornbread is easy. Hope you’re having a swell night with the Ills.

  78. 78.

    Svensker

    @JPL:

    Some people think that it’s not the pasteurization that’s the problem, but the homogenization.

    I understand your concern, but natural fresh unhom unpast milk is delish. There was a woman who sold natural cream in Seattle, from Jersey cows. The cream was so thick that you didn’t have to whip it to make it dollop. Good, it was good.

  81. 81.

    BruceJ

    A box of mix?/ for reals?? Ah man, making it from scratch is only marginally more difficult and tastes much better:

    Philipsburg manor is a working 18th century grist mill in Sleepy Hollow New York, near where I used to live. (yes, from the Washington irving story, whose own house Sunnyside is right up the road)

    Bob’s Red Mill stone ground is a perfectly acceptible substitute.

    Corn Bread (from Phillipsburg Manor Cornmeal bag)

    1 C flour
    1/2 t salt
    4 t baking powder
    1 C unsifted yellow cornmeal
    1/4 C sugar
    2 eggs, beaten
    1 C milk (or half milk, half buttermilk)
    1 T vegetable oil plus some to grease pan (shortning works better on the pan)

    Mix dry ingredients very well. Add milk, eggs and oil. Beat well. Pour into 8” by 8” greased pan.
    Bake 25 minutes at 375° or until done. Bread is done if center springs back when touched lightly with finger.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Re cornbread: anyone who lives within a 150-200 mile radius of South Pittsburg, TN is missing a bet if you’ve never been to the annual Cornbread Festival. It is wonderful. You wouldn’t believe the things you can do with cornbread.

    (No, not that. Grow up.)

  86. 86.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    @JPL:

    the weird part is that colin dunlap, and another writer for the pittsburgh post-gazette recently quit(ahem who quits a paying gig in this media environment, in this market), the other one,dejan kovacevic is well thought of, even with the toughest gig in the business, pirates beat writer.

    then dunlap goes on his occasional radio gig and blows the top off the then rumor that stewart was looking for or spreading dirt…

    it is truly a strange story.

  88. 88.

    Suffern ACE

    @JPL: @Svensker: Yeah. Hopefully the place her son goes to sells butter for pets and cream for pets. Not to overdo the dairy, but every once in awhile I really miss that cream…

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    @SiubhanDuinne: Is that near Pickwick? I don’t remember a cornbread festivle when I was a kid and everybody;s dad had a speed or bass boat over there. Of course my grandma didn’t need anybody else to tell her how to make cornbread.

    When I lived in the south I could buy decent ready made mix. Now in yankeeland I have to make it from scratch. I’m pretty happy with the tradeoff.

  90. 90.

    OzoneR

    @jl:

    Change the tax rates? That is one of the least effective tools for short run stimulus.
    Monetary policy now? We are in a liquidity trap or a near liquidity trap.
    Five years is a long time? If recent trends keep up, we should wish it would take only five years.

    I think the article says almost this exact same thing.

  91. 91.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @BruceJ: I don’t use the sugar and bake it in a 8″ cast iron skillet which has been pre-heated in the oven and then wiped with a paper towel coated with crisco before adding the batter. My mom, in the days when cholesterol was not an issue, used bacon grease. Le sigh. Also a great recipe for turkey stuffing.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @eastriver: I’m generally a pretty decent cook, but I suck at making chicken that isn’t tough. Your recipe sounds yummy. i will try it this week, with high hopes!

  93. 93.

    MikeJ

    @Cheryl from Maryland: You only use sugar if you’re making muffins. Corn bread doesn’t have it.

    And yes, the appropriate way to make stuffing/dressing is with cornbread. Anything else is just wrong.

  94. 94.

    jurassicpork

    For some of you tuning in late, the Mrs. and I really have our backs against the wall. Details are here but the abstracts are that last Monday the MA DOR took our rent money right out of the bank and had levyed my checking account so until it goes to arbitration and if we get our money back, we’ll have absolutely no chance of paying our rent for June. We’re wild-eyed with panic right now.

  96. 96.

    dww44

    @Josie: Thanks for the recipe for John. I was going to weigh in and advise to avoid all those “mix” things, if for no other reason they are full of salt. None of us need all that salt.

  97. 97.

    pjcamp

    Jesus Fing Christ! Cornbread MIX? Are you serious? Let me learn you how to make cornbread.

    Put a cast iron skillet with about a quarter inch of oil in it in the oven and preheat to 450.

    Meanwhile, mic 2 cups yellow corn meal, 2 teaspoons salt and 2 teaspoons baking powder (skip if meal is self rising).

    Whisk an egg in a measuring cup and add about a cup and a half of milk. Mix this into the corn meal. Add additional milk until the business looks like quicksand.

    Retrieve your skillet and pour the mix in. The bottom side will fry. This is what we call “the good part.” Pop it back in the oven and start checking at about 15 minutes. You want to see it dry in the middle and pulling away from the sides of the skillet.

    Invert on a plate, cut into wedges and slather on the butter.

    How hard is that?

    You need mix?

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    @RossInDetroit:

    Just catching up with the recent threads, and I went back and read the one from last night. I’m thinking good thoughts for you.

    (And I got the Firesign Theatre reference.)

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @JPL:

    When I lived in Atlanta I used to get raw (unpasteurized) milk from Mathis Dairy. It was really good. With modern refrigeration and production technology, I don’t think unpasteurized milk is bad. But the source has to be above reproach.

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