A Political Glimpse from Ireland

Little Miss Attila sent me to a post by The Anchoress. It has to do with what we keep, and what we give away. The Anchoress relates a couple of stories and uses them to explain why she blogs, even though she’s not making any money:

Our sins are like pebbles thrown into a pond – their effects ripple out, touching others in ways we cannot guess. This is also true when we give ourselves away, for good or for ill.

The two stories relate how a Buddhist and a lapsed Catholic came to discover each other, and to grow stronger in their respective faiths, by living the tenets thereof. It’s worth a slow, thoughtful read.

I’m not so conceited to think my writing might cause someone to rediscover their faith, as hers did. But it might change a mind, here or there, and in my case, I’m (mostly) not tossing it down to the dogs. The visitors here are definitely a worthy audience.

About sixteen hours in, and it’s time to harvest the results. Everything is a nice dark brown, and there’s a nice crust on everything, too (Hah! to those who say you can’t get a nice crust in an electric smoker!).

These are the ribs as they came out of the smoker.

This is the pulled pork, after it’s been pulled. Note to pork pullers: it’s much easier when it’s still warm, and you’re gonna want some gloves to do that, because if the outside is warm, the inside is hot.

Here’s the harvest after the pulled pork is parceled into one-pound portions, and the pork and the ribs have been vacuum sealed for freezing.

And here’s what it looks like ready to serve, along with the salad I mentioned in the first post.

The yield for the pulled pork was 7.5 pounds. The two small roasts I did for a friend had a better yield, but they had already been trimmed of fat and bone, and so lost a lot less weight between purchase and finish. I didn’t weigh the ribs, but they came out fairly well.

I’ve decided that I like Hormel’s and Swift’s ribs better than the ones I get from the wholesale clubs. The saline solution that Hormel and Swift use adds a bit of cost, but it’s the equivalent of brining the ribs first. The moisture and salt make the meat less dense and more able to absorb the flavor of the rub, and the final texture is more pleasant, also. Next time I’ll have to try some of both, and see which works better.

Something else about the wholesale club ribs: they aren’t trimmed like the major brands. There’s a skirt along the top, and also a smaller one on the back, that are usually removed in the St. Louis-style ribs I usually work with. I can trim that off myself, of course; the excess can be put in a string wrap and will come out as pulled pork. This time I left the excess on; it does make for a meatier serving per rib.

I was also experimenting with a different way to apply the rub, and I prefer the way I did it before. These ribs are just a bit too bland. I don’t serve my ribs sauced, although I have some on hand for those who want it. Usually mine are plenty flavorful without the sauce, but this time they lacked the zip. Back to the old way for me.

This weekend I’m going to visit some friends in Wisconsin, and I’m taking the smoker along. We’ll be having some hot-smoked salmon, and probably a brisket as well. I’ll try to remember to bring the camera along for that.

Todd S. Purdum writes in Vanity Fair:

More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin’s extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy”—and thought it fit her perfectly.

Oh yeah, this happens all the time in my life, too. I can’t tell you how many times my friends and I have told reporters about how we constantly consult the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in regards to people we know, and with whom we work. And if it’s not the DSMMD, well, we’re discussing what we read in the International One and Two Family Dwelling Code. I tell you, it’s non-stop reference manuals in these parts.

A better interview with Palin is here.

From President Obama’s 6-28-09 radio address:

Make no mistake: this is a jobs bill. We’re already seeing why this is true in the clean energy investments we’re making through the Recovery Act. In California, 3000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1000 permanent jobs. In Michigan, investment in wind turbines and wind technology is expected to create over 2,600 jobs. In Florida, three new solar projects are expected to employ 1400 people.

Let’s take that first line: “Make no mistake: this is a jobs bill.” Right you are, Mr. President. We know from Spain’s example that between two and three jobs are lost for every “green” job created. And that’s before the economic costs of this travesty are figured in.

Calzada says Spain’s torrential spending — no other nation has so aggressively supported production of electricity from renewable sources — on wind farms and other forms of alternative energy has indeed created jobs. But Calzada’s report concludes that they often are temporary and have received $752,000 to $800,000 each in subsidies — wind industry jobs cost even more, $1.4 million each. And each new job entails the loss of 2.2 other jobs that are either lost or not created in other industries because of the political allocation — sub-optimum in terms of economic efficiency — of capital. (European media regularly report “eco-corruption” leaving a “footprint of sleaze” — gaming the subsidy systems, profiteering from land sales for wind farms, etc.)

Eco-corruption: see Gore Jr, Albert, and Industry, Ethanol.

Let’s jack up energy prices so American industry is even less competitive with China and India. And once our remaining manufacturing jobs are gone, why we’ll still have the green jobs making all this cool equipment, right? Except for one thing: what’s going to stop the green manufacturers from going overseas as well?

Then there’s this: “In California, 3000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1000 permanent jobs.” Three thousand workers to build this thing? It’s either the size of Rhode Island, or each worker is going to work really, really carefully. They’ll have to, to avoid jostling the worker next to them.

And 1,000 workers to operate this beast? A solar plant is supposed to be essentially passive. There are no fuel rods to load, unload and store; security is pretty much unnecessary. Yet this solar plant will need more workers than a typical nuclear plant. As an example, Xcel Energy operates the Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing, MN. This is an 1100 megawatt plant. Employment at the plant is 700 people.

Personally I think the president doesn’t know a kilowatt from a Klingon. His only connection to industry of any form has been paying his utility bills, and we know he’s not paying those anymore. He needs money, and lots of it, to pay for everything else he’s promised, and he’s gonna get it by raising our energy prices to levels that would make an EU bureaucrat blush.

Global warming is just an excuse (even if it were happening, which it clearly isn’t).

Hat tip: Betsy’s Page.

Remember, if you boil ribs, the terrorists win!

Due to some unpleasant circumstances I’ll discuss in another post, the freezer was empty and it was time to crank up the smoker once again. The input this time was 27 pounds of spareribs ($1.68/pound) and 15 pounds of Boston butt (1.28/pound). I also had two smaller pork roasts that a friend asked me to smoke for her; they totaled another four pounds. It wasn’t quite a full load; I could have done two more rib racks, or a brisket. But it’s enough to restock the larder and share some with friends.

Long time readers know I use a Bradley smoker. This is an electric smoker which uses pucks of compressed sawdust to generate the smoke. Everyone who smokes meat has their own favorite type of smoker; but the Bradley is a very good unit for the novice, and it works well for me.

Bradley Electronic 6-rack smoker

Inside you can see the smoke on the walls from previous runs. The smoke generator is the stainless steel arm sticking out from the left wall. On it are the pucks; the rightmost puck sits on the smoker heating element. The main heating element is low on the back wall. A bowl of water sits on the circle in the middle; this helps keep the moisture high in the smoker and also provides a quench for used pucks. The pucks cycle every 20 minutes during the smoking phase.

What rub is best for what meat, and rubbing techniques, are hotly debated among the fans of Mr. Brown. I created my own rub through trial and error, and use it on beef, pork and chicken with good results. Making it myself using a coffee grinder saves a lot of money, too. I learned my rubbing technique from Alex Johns of Antigua; it’s a massage that gets the rub into the fibers of the meat.

The result after trimming and rubbing:
We lost perhaps 2.5 pounds of fat during the trim.

Here’s how it looked as I loaded the smoker:

And here’s how it looked two hours later. Notice I moved everything up one notch; since I was only using five levels instead of six, I moved everything a bit higher, because the Bradley has a hot spot lower down in the back.

Updates will happen as things proceed. This load will get about three hours of smoke, and then will slowly cook at 200 degrees F until morning.

Sure, you’ve probably seen it before, and I’m pretty sure I linked to it some months ago. I don’t care.

HT: Little Miss Attila.

Everyone who reads this blog has no doubt heard about the exchange between Senator Barbara Boxer and Brigadier Michael Walsh, when the following took place:

“You know, do me a favor,” an irritated Boxer said. “Could say ’senator’ instead of ‘ma’am?’”

“Yes, ma’am,” Walsh interjected.

“It’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it, yes, thank you,” she said.

“Yes, senator,” he responded.

For starters, Babs, you didn’t work hard to get the title. You convinced a plurality of California voters to pick you over the other guy. Now Brigadier Walsh, he worked hard to get that title.

And yes, I do know that Boxer is generally considered the dumbest out of the 99 senators. At least since Mark Dayton retired, anyway.

Blue Crab Boulevard quotes Blackfive on the subject of military courtesies:

As a former Army Officer, if one of my soldiers called me “Lieutenant”, instead of “el-tee” or “Sir”, I would know that he found me lacking. Calling me by my job title or rank is only done because it is the lowest requirement of respect.

The. Lowest. Requirement. Of. Respect.

If one of my soldiers called me “Captain”, without using my last name behind it or “Sir”, I would know that he found me substandard.

BG Walsh was showing Barbara Boxer respect by calling her “Ma’am” instead of “Senator.” Believe me, the title “Senator” does not really hold a whole lot of credibility in the US military. It’s a job, and a Corporal leading a team in Baqubah has more honor than most of those holding that title.

This got me thinking about the ways in which enlisted folks could express their discontent with, or lack of respect toward, an officer or NCO. Oh, there are lots of ways, and they’re different in each branch. I remember only addressing one detachment commander as “Major” for the last year or so of my tour in that unit; my dad met the guy and his assessment pretty much matched mine.

It’s also an excuse to embed the best scene that never made the final cut of a movie. If you rent We Were Soldiers, you’ll find it in the deleted scenes section.

Plumley is the first sergeant of Col. Moore’s regiment. Toward the end of the three-day battle, Moore is feeling a bit weary and overwhelmed; he says to Plumley that he’s thinks he’s feeling what Custer felt having led his men into a massacre. Plumley looks at him, in his humorless direct way, and replies, “Custer was a pussy. You ain’t.”

My parent’s marriage was troubled for as long as I can remember. My father worked, my mother kept house and had her hobbies, among them politics. They did work together on politics, but I don’t remember ever looking at it, or their whole relationship, as a partnership.

My first marriage definitely wasn’t a partnership. My second marriage is, although it’s only recently that I began to think of it in that way. I’ve discovered that I like thinking of it as a partnership, and that it is very useful in tuning my behavior.

Andy manages to say it much better than I can:

She’ll bring refills because she has a clock in her that tells her it’s time, but more because she has a heart in her that can’t keep her away. You two didn’t come together because of how similar you are, and you two didn’t stay together because of how similar you hoped to become. You are here because you do the things the other doesn’t, and reward each other for both. This is your grease-stained patch of concrete out here, that’s her candle-scented master bath in there, and this marriage is no place for capitulating gender roles.

I wish I had been as wise when I was younger.

Via neoneocon.

Last week I finally broke down and purchased the paperback edition of Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg. I’ve been wanting to read this since it was first published in hardcover in January 2008, but one thing or another book kept getting in the way. It would have been out in paperback six months ago, but the 2008 elections really boosted sales of the hardcover edition, so the publisher waited until just recently to bring out the paperback version (which will debut at #5 on the NYT bestseller list).

The book is a fairly deep study of fascism and its practitioners, from the Jabcobins of the French revolution, to Woodrow Wilson during World War 1, to Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, and Hitler in Germany. Goldberg lays out the foundations of the modern liberal political movement and shows how it is rooted in fascist philosophy and practice. Along the way, he explains how the term fascism became shorthand for “any policy I don’t like” for both politicians and commentators (Stalin was the first to do this systematically).

He also shows how fascism has always been a socialist movement, and, contrary to what most believe, that it is and always has been a left-wing phenomenon. This is not a superficial tract; Goldberg has done the research to create a deep well-rounded argument that thus far has resisted the criticism he fully expected on its publication. Goldberg has made the rounds of the talk shows and panel discussions, and I’ve yet to see or hear anyone lay a glove on him in terms of disputing his conclusions.

One of the interesting things I’ve noted in the introduction and first chapter is how the term “progressive” was dropped in favor of “liberal” because the former had too many associations with fascism. Then the term “liberal” fell out of favor after the 1980s, and recently “progressive” is now the en vogue term for left-wingers.

The paperback edition has a new afterward that details the changes Barack Obama and his supporters have wrought upon the American left. When Goldberg finished writing the book, BHO was barely known nationally; things have changed. I haven’t read the afterword yet; I’m still in chapter two of this writing.

Another key takeaway: A specific symptom of fascism is that the political movement becomes a religion. This is very different from religions getting into politics, and Goldberg provides ample examples of this.

Goldberg has a blog specifically devoted to the book; it is here.

Blogger Vox Populi is starting a series of quizzes based on the book; they start here.