Future of Books

After a brief discussion with John this AM regarding Kindle/Amazon/Apple, and the future of the ebooks, etc, ran across this timely analysis of all these subjects here.  This business is changing big time.

Understanding Obamaism

From the Powerline blog comes three useful articles, here,here, and here, that help put Obama and his philosophy of governing in some perspective.  They also help explain his intransigence in the face of the rejection of his programs and plans by the events in NJ, Virginia, and dramatically in Massachussetts.

Tea Party Anyone?

Here is an extremely interesting article in, of all places, The New Yorker Magazine, home of all the readers and writers taking a break from the liberal orthodoxy of the NYT.  Seems like the Tea Party movement and tea partiers themselves are a bit more complicated than Nan Pelosi, BO and others on the run would have us believe. 

Affirmative Action President

Here is a link to an opinion piece by James Lewis that touches the third rail of American politics and life: affirmative action.  Mr. Lewis tells it as he sees it and as many conservatives see it as well.  To many of us the election of BO was inconceivable considering his invisible resume: no executive experience, no record of legislative achievement, shaky associations with radicals, America-haters, and Chicago political thugs, and even his "weird" past.  Those who voted for Obama, and well over 50 million did, did so according to Lewis largely because of the color of his skin and the fact that voting for a black man for president would once and for all expiate all the past sins of slavery and repression of the race for all those years.  In other words his election was the apotheosis of Affirmative Action and now America can move forward with a clean racial slate.  That's fine, says Lewis, except would you select a brain surgeon because he or she was black?  This may be a hard pill for many to swallow, but I for one believe Lewis has it right.  Obama has proven in one year to be an inept, incompetent leader, way in over his head.  His lack of experience is manifest over and over and in just about every way imaginable.  There had to be an X factor in the election of this particular man and it is clear to many of us that it was race.  How we survive the next three years of this incompetent manager of our affairs is an open question.  We have survived incompetent leaders in the past, all white, I might mention, thus I suppose we will survive this Affirmative Action choice somehow.

Recipe extraordinairo

Here is an extraordinary recipe prepared by an authentic Italian maestra-cook (and friend). It is called: 


Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes.

The basic ingredients:

3/4 drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 tablespoons of oil reserved

1 pound Italian hot sausages, casing removed

2 (8-ounce)packages frozen artichoke hearts

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

16 ounces fusilli pasta

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, plus addtl for garnish

1/2 cup fresh, chopped basil leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

8 ozs water-packed fresh mozzarella, drained and cubed, optional

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instrucciones:

Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-sized pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes.  Transfer the sausage to a bowl.  Add the artichokes and garlic to the same skillet, and saute over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes.  Boil over medium-high heat until the sause reduces slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the fusilli in boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes.  Drain the pasta (do not rinse).  Add the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, and parsley to the artichoke mixture.  Toss until the sause is almost absorbed by the pasta.  Stir in the mozzarella.  Season to taste, with salt and pepper.  Serve, passing the additional Parmesan cheese alongside.

Here are a few pics of the process:

 This is what the garlic and artichokes look like after browning over a medium heat for two minutes.

And this is what it looks like after adding broth, wine and sun-dried tomatoes.  Boil all this for approximately 8 minutes until mixture is slightly reduced.

We've reached the point here where we've added the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, basil, and parsley to the artichoke mix.

And now, the piece d'resistance, the mix served over a bed of fusilli pasta.  Perfecto, maginifico.

Finally, the orchestrator of this magnificent repast, and the wife of a lucky man, and a friend of lucky guests.  Wow, what a meal!!!

Dan Henninger and Roger Kimball on the role of government

Dan Henninger is a thoughtful columnist at the WSJ.  Today he identified here the root cause of much of our difficulty governing ourselves - the marriage of the public service unions and  the Democrat Party which dates from the signing of an Executive Order by JFK in 1962.  This Executive Order 10988 allowed the public service employees to unionize for the first time.  In some cases the new union members could not strike (recall the FAA controllers who were fired by Ronald Reagan for leaving their posts, or going on strike illegally) but only a few.  The idea that government workers could ban together and threaten to shut down the government changed the political scene by allowing the party of unions, the Democrat Party, to take up their cause and begin the tax and spend spiral that has led us to the bankruptcy of California and for that matter the rest of the blue states.  I remember vividly a conversation I had with a lawyer friend in 1973, after our family moved to California, that no good would come of the fact that California had passed a state law based upon the JFK EO.  New York had just begun it's rapt decline under Mayor John Lindsay who caved over and over to the now powerful unions in New York City.  The country is broke now and the primary cause is the alliance of these pubic service unions and the Democrat Party.  Scott Brown's election was an acknowledgement of the failure of this alliance.  It remains to be seen if the Republican Party can forge an anti-union alliance and stop the tax and spend strategy of the dems and public service unions.

On the same theme of controlling the government size and influence in our lives, Roger Kimball  here weighs in on Obama's philosophy of governance and why the struggle between those who want a bigger role for government and those who want a minimalist role is now out in the open and better defined as a result of the Scott Brown victory.

In defense of business

Anyone who has been active in business, or still is active, is amazed at the vitriol spent by many liberals demeaning companies' greed, etc.  here is an article that effectively debunks all that negativism and makes a few points that should be brought to the attention of all business naysayers.