Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
It’s been like this for several days. Grass is still green, leaves are just starting to turn a little bit, sky was blue, there was a nice breeze and no humidity, all the windows are open, and I am still harvesting tomatoes and basil.
This is when everyone of you taunts the only cracker worth a damn in that penis shaped shithole that is Florida with your weather forecast and how you spent the day outside enjoying yourself.
It’s STILL raining. My chickens are getting webbed feet.
Today I had an eye exam, and I went to a different place that did a ridiculously thorough job, or else they were using old-school methods. The technician tried to do that thing where they blow puffs of air into your eyeball from an instrument that is terrifyingly close, and I could not NOT blink, no matter how hard I tried, so they had to do the pressure check in a different way, which also involved a thing coming frighteningly close to my eyeballs, but at least there were no air puffs.
I must have an overdeveloped sense of ocular preservation. I wouldn’t dream of attempting to wear contacts. I can’t even do mascara.
The optometrist also dilated my pupils, and for hours everything looked like how Frodo sees things when he wears The Ring of Power, minus the Nazgûls and Ringwraiths. But there were Orc-like folks about.
I’m just about back to normal now, and good thing too because there are some worthwhile ball games on. The Hawgs vs Texas A&M is awfully interesting.
What are you up to this evening?
Reducing poverty is hard and nobody knows quite how to do it, they say, ht @interfluidity pic.twitter.com/WzvMOKWF8g
— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) September 27, 2014
‘Tis a mystery!
What’s on the agenda for the day?
In plain language, what Apple decided to do was to encrypt data on the iPhone in a way that can’t be decrypted by anyone who doesn’t know the passphrase. Now let’s dig into the story a bit:
The new security in iOS 8 protects information stored on the device itself, but not data stored on iCloud, Apple’s cloud service. So Apple will still be able to obtain some customer information stored on iCloud in response to government requests.
Google has also started giving its users more control over their privacy. Phones using Google’s Android operating system have had encryption for three years. It is not the default setting, however, so to encrypt their phones, users have to go into their settings, turn it on, and wait an hour or more for the data to be scrambled.
That is set to change with the next version of Android, set for release in October. It will have encryption as the default, “so you won’t even have to think about turning it on,” Google said in a statement. [Emphasis mine]
Google must have used a crystal ball when it decided to add the same feature that Apple added to Android phones a year and a half before anyone had heard of Edward Snowden. And since Jennifer Lawrence has taught us that it’s pretty damn hard to keep your data out of iCloud, and other news coverage has shown that cellular carriers collect a massive amount of data about your locations, calls and texts, encrypting your mobile device is really the sleeves of a vest when it comes to privacy and the NSA. What Snowden’s leaks showed was that the NSA was gathering data from cloud services, not from some exploit targeted at individual devices. So, if Apple’s decision to encrypt the iPhone is a response to any branch of government, it’s local law enforcement, who are used to downloading the entire contents of a suspect’s phone at will. Never mind all that, though, because anything that ever happens related to data security in the last year or so is due to Snowden.
Similarly, since the narrative is that the Clintons hate the media, every time a reporter doesn’t have the access they want to the Clintons, it’s due Hillary and Bill’s irrational hatred of the press.
What’s up today? I just got back from running the dogs, who collapsed in panting heaps as soon as we came back through the door.
There are some interesting college football match ups today, including Georgia vs Tennessee (Go Dawgs!) and South Florida vs Wisconsin (Go Bulls! — but the Badgers will likely win). My own Florida Gators simply cannot lose today (because they aren’t playing).
I’m hoping NC State pantses the ‘Noles. Will Stanford or Washington prevail in the PAC 12? I have no idea, but if I were a betting woman, I’d lay a few quid on Washington with the points. Mizzou and South Carolina should be a huge game this evening. I’m rooting for the ‘Cocks.
Open thread!
This season’s cheesy kegger Halloween costume: Jasmine Tridevil.
Because Tha Kids are not old, or geeky, enough to remember Eccentrica Gallumbits.
From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
The day got away from me and I almost forgot to put this together. So it’s kind of quick and to the point. For the dog lovers, Bixby’s latest diary is here.
Okay, enough of the chit-chat, bring on the recipes.
How about Fish Tacos? Recipe and full menu here.
Kid-friendly Tortilla Pizzas, recipe here.
JefferyW makes all the good stuff you see pictured above here.
And this week’s Dinner Menu – Carne en su Jugo – recipes and shopping list are here.
Now, what’s on your menu for the weekend? Cookin’ something good, share your recipes in the comments.
It’s hot as the blazes here and expected to stay that way through the weekend, so soups are on hold and salads have moved to the front of the boards. Tonight’s featured recipe is a nice fresh Tortilla bowl that you can really fill with whatever makes you happy.
One of my favorite things to do is have salad in tortilla shell salad bowls. I have 4 heat-resistant (Pyrex) bowls – 1.5 to 2.5 qt bowls work best – that I use to make my tortilla bowls. I lightly oil tortillas, place one in each bowl, so it takes on a bowl shape. I bake them at 425° until bowls are toasted golden, 7 to 12 minutes.
