August 2015 archive

As timely as ever.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

August 23 is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 130 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepare food by advocating the use of standardized measurements in recipes, opens Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery in Boston. In addition to teaching women about cooking, Farmer later educated medical professionals about the importance of proper nutrition for the sick.

Farmer was born March 23, 1857, and raised near Boston, Massachusetts. Her family believed in education for women and Farmer attended Medford High School; however, as a teenager she suffered a paralytic stroke that turned her into a homebound invalid for a period of years. As a result, she was unable to complete high school or attend college and her illness left her with a permanent limp. When she was in her early 30s, Farmer attended the Boston Cooking School. Founded in 1879, the school promoted a scientific approach to food preparation and trained women to become cooking teachers at a time when their employment opportunities were limited. Farmer graduated from the program in 1889 and in 1891 became the school’s principal. In 1896, she published her first cookbook, The Boston Cooking School Cookbook, which included a wide range of straightforward recipes along with information on cooking and sanitation techniques, household management and nutrition. Farmer’s book became a bestseller and revolutionized American cooking through its use of precise measurements, a novel culinary concept at the time.

Cookbook fame

Fannie published her most well-known work, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, in 1896. Her cookbook introduced the concept of using standardized measuring spoons and cups, as well as level measurement. A follow-up to an earlier version called Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book, published by Mary J. Lincoln in 1884, the book under Farmer’s direction eventually contained 1,849 recipes, from milk toast to Zigaras à la Russe. Farmer also included essays on housekeeping, cleaning, canning and drying fruits and vegetables, and nutritional information.

The book’s publisher (Little, Brown & Company) did not predict good sales and limited the first edition to 3,000 copies, published at the author’s expense. The book was so popular in America, so thorough, and so comprehensive that cooks would refer to later editions simply as the “Fannie Farmer cookbook”, and it is still available in print over 100 years later.

Farmer provided scientific explanations of the chemical processes that occur in food during cooking, and also helped to standardize the system of measurements used in cooking in the USA. Before the Cookbook’s publication, other American recipes frequently called for amounts such as “a piece of butter the size of an egg” or “a teacup of milk.” Farmer’s systematic discussion of measurement – “A cupful is measured level … A tablespoonful is measured level. A teaspoonful is measured level.” – led to her being named “the mother of level measurements.”

I still have my copy.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with George Stephanopolis: The guests o Sunday’s “This Week” are: GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley.

The roundtable guests are: TIME editor Nancy Gibbs; National Review editor Rich Lowry; Yahoo News national political columnist Matt Bai; Republican strategist Ana Navarro; and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Face the Nation: Host John Dickerson’s guests are: GOP presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ).

His panel guests are: TIME‘s Michael Scherer; Politico‘s Manu Raju; Ruth Marcus and Anne Gearan, both of the Washington Post.

Meet the Press with Chuck Todd: The guests on this Sunday’s “MTP” are: Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina; and California Gov. Jerry Brown (D).

The political panel guests are: Alfonso Aguilar, Executive Director, American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership; Susan Page, USA TODAY; Jon Ralston, Reno-Gazette Journal; and Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report.

State of the Union with Jake Tapper: Mr. Tapper will have an exclusive interview with GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson and Democratic presidential candidate former Sen. Jim Webb (VA).

His panel guests are: Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress; Kevin Madden; former Rep. Bakari Sellers (D-SC); and S.E. Cupp, CNN contributor.

ell, we’re back racing again. Here’s a piece at The Guardian evaluating the season so far by team from Mercedes to Manor.

Has Success Spoiled Formula One?

By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times

AUG. 21, 2015

“The words that I would use to describe it is that it is too perfect,” said Gil de Ferran, who worked at the Honda team a decade ago and who won the Indianapolis 500 as a driver. “People got too good at it. They are very, very good. So you don’t see anymore the imperfections, the human factor as clearly. The cars don’t break down, they don’t blow up. Nothing happens.”

…

Mercedes had only been guilty of achieving what every team and driver had always aimed to do.

“As a driver, think about this for a second, what is the perfect race?” de Ferran asked. “The perfect race is when I put the car on the pole, and I get the perfect start and each lap I pull away by a few tenths. Which is also possibly the most boring race you could think of.”

In a totally wrongheaded move Formula one is moving to further communications restrictions.  There is a new start rule that restricts communications between the car and pit about clutch settings.  Mark Webber for one worries this could lead to a rash of stalls and subsequent collisions.

Lotus in financial trouble.  Charles Pic is suing over their commitment to him as a driver (for which he paid, mind you) and he’s secured a court order impounding the cars after the race.  Gosjean qualified 4th but was dropped 5 grids for a gearbox replacement.  Alsonso and Button on the other hand will have to start from the back due to changes in their Honda power plant.

Renault evaluating F1 commitment.  Because of the poor performance of its engine and the dissatisfaction of Red Bull, their primary team, they are deciding whether to quit all together or buy a team.

The Guardian has a financial state of play article about the acquisition of Formula One by the Quatari Sovereign Wealth Fund and RSE Investments (owners of the Miami Dolphins).  The Russian GP could become a night race.

Driver gossip- Raikkonen has a new contract with Ferrari.  Jenson Button’s house was broken in to, and there is some speculation he and his wife may have been gassed.  Hamilton was caught playing with fully automatic weapons (perfectly legal if the people you’re renting time from have the right paperwork and you can afford it).  Kvyat was fined for not paying attention and unsafe release from pit lane.

There were several shaky incidents in practice.  There were 4 penalties in Qualifying penalties, all due to engine woes.  Grosjean got 5 Grids for his gearbox (as previously mentioned ); Alonso, Button, and Verstappen got 30, 25, and 18 Grids for exceding Engine Allowance.  Grosjean will start 9th, Verstappen 18th, and Button and Alonso will start 19th and 20th.

On offer are Mediums and Softs.  Rosberg had a huge blowout in Practice.  Rain is expected, but it always is at Spa.

• Spa
• Also Spa

Mid-Season standings below (pretty tables).

Migrants crisis: More than 2,000 people rescued near Libya coast

 



More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have been rescued from boats off the coast of Libya in one of the biggest single-day operations mounted, Italy’s coastguards have said.

Distress calls came from more than 20 vessels, AFP reported.

More than 2,000 people have died this year in attempts to reach Europe in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats.

The route from Libya to Italy is one of the busiest for those trying to enter Europe.

Of the 264,500 migrants the United Nations says have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, close to 104,000 have landed in Italy. Another 160,000 arrived in Greece.

Two Italian navy ships were involved in Saturday’s rescue effort. Responding to two wooden boats in danger of sinking, the Cigala Fulgosi picked up 507 people and the Vega 432, the navy said.

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover  we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

Breakfast Tune: Folk Alley Sessions: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn – “Little Birdie”

Folk Alley Sessions: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn perform “Little Birdie” from their album “Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn”.

Recorded at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, October, 2014

Today in History

Published on Aug 22, 2011 Nazis and Soviets sign a non-aggression pact on eve of World War II; Sacco and Vanzetti executed; Defrocked priest John Geoghan killed; Movie star Rudolph Valentino and Broadway’s Oscar Hammerstein die. (Aug. 23)

Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

Losing high school baseball team’s manners continue to impress, this time at a hotel

Krista Rogers

We’ve seen impeccable displays of manners from Japanese high school baseball teams on many occasions before, from the respectful bowing of Yamagata Chuo High School to the classy stadium-cleaning deed of Kyukoku just the other day. It seems like the annual Koshien high school baseball tournament in Hyogo Prefecture really does bring out the best in the promising young players, as another team from Akita Prefecture has proven after being eliminated from this year’s tournament with their grand display of thanks in a regional hotel.

Akita Shogyo Koko (or ‘Akisho’ for short) ultimately lost 3-6 to Sendai Ikuei High School during the quarterfinals of this year’s Koshien tournament. However, they have a lot to be proud of, especially considering that this was the first time in 80 years that they were able to advance into the final eight of the competition.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Paul Krugman:

Rand Paul said something funny the other day. No, really – although of course it wasn’t intentional. On his Twitter account he decried the irresponsibility of American fiscal policy, declaring, “The last time the United States was debt free was 1835.”

Wags quickly noted that the U.S. economy has, on the whole, done pretty well these past 180 years, suggesting that having the government owe the private sector money might not be all that bad a thing. The British government, by the way, has been in debt for more than three centuries, an era spanning the Industrial Revolution, victory over Napoleon, and more.

But is the point simply that public debt isn’t as bad as legend has it? Or can government debt actually be a good thing?

Believe it or not, many economists argue that the economy needs a sufficient amount of public debt out there to function well. And how much is sufficient? Maybe more than we currently have. That is, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that part of what ails the world economy right now is that governments aren’t deep enough in debt.

Robert Reich: Corporate Welfare in California

Corporate welfare is often camouflaged in taxes that seem neutral on their face but give windfalls to big entrenched corporations at the expense of average people and small businesses.

Take a look at commercial property taxes in California, for example.

In 1978 California voters passed Proposition 13 – which began to assess property for tax purposes at its price when it was bought, rather than its current market price.

This has protected homeowners and renters. But it’s also given a quiet windfall to entrenched corporate owners of commercial property.

Corporations don’t need this protection. They’re in the real economy. They’re supposed to compete on a level playing field with new companies whose property taxes are based on current market prices.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

August 22 is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 131 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1950, Althea Gibson became the first African American on the US Tennis Tour.

On this day in 1950, officials of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) accept Althea Gibson into their annual championship at Forest Hills, New York, making her the first African-American player to compete in a U.S. national tennis competition.

Growing up in Harlem, the young Gibson was a natural athlete. She started playing tennis at the age of 14 and the very next year won her first tournament, the New York State girls’ championship, sponsored by the American Tennis Association (ATA), which was organized in 1916 by black players as an alternative to the exclusively white USLTA. After prominent doctors and tennis enthusiasts Hubert Eaton and R. Walter Johnson took Gibson under their wing, she won her first of what would be 10 straight ATA championships in 1947.

In 1949, Gibson attempted to gain entry into the USLTA’s National Grass Court Championships at Forest Hills, the precursor of the U.S. Open. When the USLTA failed to invite her to any qualifying tournaments, Alice Marble–a four-time winner at Forest Hills–wrote a letter on Gibson’s behalf to the editor of American Lawn Tennis magazine. Marble criticized the “bigotry” of her fellow USLTA members, suggesting that if Gibson posed a challenge to current tour players, “it’s only fair that they meet this challenge on the courts.” Gibson was subsequently invited to participate in a New Jersey qualifying event, where she earned a berth at Forest Hills.

snip

Though she once brushed off comparisons to Jackie Robinson, the trailblazing black baseball player, Gibson has been credited with paving the way for African-American tennis champions such as Arthur Ashe and, more recently, Venus and Serena Williams. After a long illness, she died in 2003 at the age of 76.

Ms. Gibson became the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association  tour, in 1963, retiring in 1978.

I’ve spent a lot of time on the road this summer which has been good from the standpoint of refining my ability to get portable with all my equipment which right now consists of my laptop (not exactly a speed demon, but 16Gb RAM and a terabyte or so of space), my cell phone (Moto E with 32Gb flash and 2 Borg sets), and my Nikon Coolpix 9700 (many batteries and flash cards and a so-so tripod).

Plus toys like my drive ripper, usb hubs, wireless mouse and silicon keyboard.

This is a bigger pack than previously because I’ll be staying longer, up to a month- certainly more than 2 weeks, so there’s all kinds of other comforts like my good monitor, speakers, and cables that have to go.

I have a lot of work to do today.  Hopefully after I unpack I’ll be able to resume my normal level of obnoxiousness.

TMC will be traveling also, so if the sites are a little more relaxed than is customary at various points, it’s because both of us are busy with other things.  We’ll try to keep up.

Obligatories, News and Blogs below.