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Feb 03 2011

DocuDharma Digest

Regular Features-

Featured Essays for February 3, 2011-

DocuDharma

Feb 03 2011

Prime Time

Almost solid premiers, though the only notable one is NBC’s Community (yes, I DM, thank you for asking).

And as if to prove all I have said, here is one of the first to go! A lad who sat before me on these very benches, who gave up all to serve in the first year of the war. One of the iron youth who have made Germany invincible in the field! Look at him. Sturdy and bronze and clear-eyed! The kind of soldier every one of you should envy! Paul, lad, you must speak to them. You must tell them what it means to serve your fatherland.

We used to think you knew. The first bombardment taught us better. It’s dirty and painful to die for your country. When it comes to dying for your country it’s better not to die at all! There are millions out there dying for their countries, and what good is it?

Later-

We’ve no use talking like this. You won’t know what I mean. Only, it’s been a long while since we enlisted out of this classroom. So long, I thought maybe the whole world had learned by this time. Only now they’re sending babies, and they won’t last a week! I shouldn’t have come on leave. Up at the front you’re alive or you’re dead and that’s all. You can’t fool anybody about that very long. And up there we know we’re lost and done for whether we’re dead or alive. Three years we’ve had of it, four years! And every day a year, and every night a century! And our bodies are earth, and our thoughts are clay, and we sleep and eat with death! And we’re done for because you *can’t* live that way and keep anything inside you! I shouldn’t have come on leave. I’ll go back tomorrow. I’ve got four days more, but I can’t stand it here! I’ll go back tomorrow! I’m sorry.

Dave hosts Howard Stern and Naughty by Nature.  Jon has Michael Mullen (more Michaels), Stephen Jane McGonigal.  Conan hosts Lisa Kudrow, Mike O’Malley, and Interpol.

I’ll tell you how it should all be done. Whenever there’s a big war comin’ on, you should rope off a big field and on the big day, you should take all the kings and their cabinets and their generals, put ’em in the center dressed in their underpants, and let ’em fight it out with clubs. The best country wins.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Feb 02 2011

Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Bloody clashes rock Cairo as regime stands firm

by Samer al-Atrush, AFP

29 mins ago

CAIRO (AFP) – Partisans of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stormed the Cairo stronghold of anti-regime protesters on Wednesday, sparking bloody clashes in which the government said three people were killed.

Washington, which has called for restraint since demonstrations broke out nine days ago, deplored the violence against “peaceful protesters” while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the attacks on demonstrators were “unacceptable.”

The European Union added its voice to calls from US President Barack Obama for the transition from Mubarak’s three-decade-long rule to begin immediately after the veteran president announced late on Tuesday that he would not seek re-election in September.

Feb 02 2011

DocuDharma Digest

Regular Features-

Featured Essays for February 2, 2011-

DocuDharma

Feb 02 2011

What’s In Taco Bell Beef?

Nothing unusual about Taco Bell’s meat, experts say

Ingredients what you’d expect from fast-food restaurants; no advertising rules broken

By Gregory Karp and Ellen Gabler, Tribune reporters

February 2, 2011

Soy lecithin (is) a byproduct of soy bean processing that is used as an emulsifier. That means it helps blend and bind substances that would otherwise separate like oil and water.

…

(A)utolyzed yeast extract. Made by breaking down yeast cells with salt, it’s a flavor-enhancing additive similar to monosodium glutamate (MSG), without the known side effects of MSG some people experience. It gives foods a full, savory, beeflike taste, Brewer said.

Maltodextrin is derived from starches, usually corn in the United States. It can be used as a sweetener and a thickener.

Isolated oat product is a binder, kind of like how an egg is used in homemade hamburgers or meatballs so they don’t fall apart in the pan. And soybean oil is used as a so-called anti-dusting agent, meaning it prevents finely ground, powdery ingredients from literally billowing into the air, as would happen if you clapped flour-coated hands.

Caramel color is caramelized sugar used to give the mixture a consistent brown appearance, Brewer said. Heating some of the ingredients, such as cocoa powder and chili pepper, causes them to change colors and potentially combine to turn the mixture a hue the customer wouldn’t like, she said. It doubles as a flavor component. Flavor experts identify caramel as a component flavor of beef that can be lost in processing, said Betsy Booren, director of scientific affairs for the American Meat Institute.

“Natural smoke flavor” can be added by burning wood chips, capturing the smoke and piping it into the oven where meat is cooking, similar to how you burn wood chips to give smoky flavor to meats on a backyard grill, Booren said. The same aroma can also be captured in a viscous liquid that can later be sprayed onto meat to give it a smoky flavor, the method probably used for ground beef, she said.

Feb 02 2011

Prime Time

Not even worth remarking on.

I don’t know if you’d be particularly interested in hearing anything about me. My life, I mean… Most of it doesn’t add up to much that I could relate as a way of life that you’d approve of… I’d like to be able to tell you why, but I don’t really… I mean, I move around a lot because things tend to get bad when I stay. And I’m looking… for auspicious beginnings, I guess… I’m trying to, you know, imagine your half of this conversation… My feeling is, that if you could talk, we probably wouldn’t be talking. That’s pretty much how it got to be before… I left… Are you all right? I don’t know what to say… Tita suggested that we try to… I don’t know. I think that she… seems to feel we’ve got… some understanding to reach… She totally denies the fact that we were never that comfortable with each other to begin with… The best that I can do, is apologize. We both know that I was never really that good at it, anyway…

I’m sorry it didn’t work out.

I know you like me. I know it. For the last year or two, you’ve been pretending like you hate me. I love you very much. I love you as much as I love anybody, as much as I love myself. And in a few years when I haven’t been around to be on your tail about something or irritating you, you could… remember that time that I bought you the baseball glove when you thought we were too broke. You know? Or when I read you those stories? Or when I let you goof off instead of mowing the lawn? Lots of things like that. And you’re gonna realize that you love me. And maybe you’re gonna feel badly, because you never told me. But don’t – I know that you love me. So don’t ever do that to yourself, all right?

Later-

The governor of Louisiana gave me this. Madame Tinkertoy’s House of Blue Lights, corner of Bourbon and Toulouse, New Orleans, Louisiana. Now, this is supposed to be the finest whorehouse in the south. These ain’t no pork chops! These are U.S. PRIME!

Dave hosts Kate Walsh, Jim Gaffigan, and Boxer Rebellion.  Jon has Matthew Perry, Stephen Sean Kelly.  Conan hosts Kobe Bryant (sexual predator) and Jamie Kilstein.

What the hell is wrong with freedom? That’s what it’s all about.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. That’s what’s it’s all about, all right. But talkin’ about it and bein’ it, that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ’em.

Feb 02 2011

Prime Time

New V!  Other premiers.

I spent my whole life not knowing what I want out of it, just chasing my tail. Now for the first time I know exactly what I want and who… that’s the damnable misery of it.

Later-

Dave hosts Matthew Perry, Chris Elliott, Mitt Romney (ugh), The National.  Jon has Michael Steele, Stephen Michael Lewis (dueling Michaels).  Conan hosts Jennifer Aniston, Nick Offerman, and Peter Bjorn & John.

There’s no normal life, Wyatt, it’s just life. Get on with it.

Don’t know how.

Sure you do. Say goodbye to me. Go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that beauty from it, don’t look back. Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live Wyatt. Live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever my friend – if ya ever had even the slightest of feelin’ for me, leave now. Leave now… Please.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Feb 02 2011

Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Egypt’s Mubarak agrees to step down — but not yet

by Jailan Zayan, AFP

9 mins ago

CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election in September but rejected demands that brought a million people on to the streets around the country that he quit immediately.

The veteran president’s announcement in a televised address drew angry jeers from demonstrators who again defied a curfew to spend the night in the capital Cairo’s Tahrir Square — epicentre of eight straight days of protests.

His insistence that he would remain at the helm to oversee the transition also fell far short of the demands of opposition groups that have set him a Friday deadline to quit to allow a clear break with his 30-year rule.

Feb 01 2011

DocuDharma Digest

Regular Features-

Featured Essays for February 1, 2011-

DocuDharma

Feb 01 2011

Welcome to the Port Writers Alliance

I’m pleased to announce today the formation of the Port Writers Alliance.  This is a collective effort of Antemedius, DocuDharma, Firefly Dreaming, Ignoring Asia, The Dream Antilles, The Stars Hollow Gazette, Wild Wild Left, and writing in the rAw.

About The Name

A little to the left of starboard if you get the drift.  A harbor or anchorage.

About The Concept

There’s a lot of news and commentary that could be receiving more attention.

Rather than crosspost on a single central site what we’d like to encourage is crossreading and commenting.

We’ll be using two mechanisms to accomplish this-

  • Firedog Lake style links to affiliated sites across the banner (props).  I’ve always admired the way Jane and her crew have been able to maximize excitement and can only hope to emulate it.
  • Regular cross promotional digests of associated sites’ content.

How Does This Work?

Each site will decide for itself the content they want to feature and how often.  They’ll produce a digest and publish it on the affiliated sites.  It will be promoted by the host or not whenever, depending on the desires of the host site.

Authors must choose for themselves if they want to crosspost, though they should expect requests to do so.

The point is to increase visibility and impact.

Independence

Each site has it’s own vibe.  Formula One and Le Tour and if you ever think I’m talking about Politics you are sadly mistaken.

Content that is acceptable in some places is not in others and it is up to the host to decide.  All you free speech advocates can find a place to express yourselves I’m sure.  Port Writers Alliance sites enforce their own polices which are not uniform.

Success

The objective is that we’ll drive some traffic and raise some awareness.  I like to keep expectations realistic.

What you will see as a reader

Below each site’s Banner you’ll see some buttons that take you to the Front Page of each site.  Fairly frequently you’ll see a digest post from the individual sites that provide links to content they wish to highlight.  Sometimes it will have been crossposted but often not, so the pieces may be of special interest to you and you’ll want to click through and read them.  Even for crossposted pieces the reactions will be different.

If you wish to comment or contribute you’ll have to register independently at that site.  We just don’t have the technology Jane does at Firedog Lake.

If you are used to the pace of Daily Kos (and I don’t link just because I’m not sure about stability with the advent of dK 4.0) what you will find is that our blogs run quite a bit slower.  You can’t expect instant reactions or high volume responses.

On the other hand we’re attempting with this project to expose you to a wide range of diverse content so that there is plenty for you to read and explore.

I’m interested in your reactions to this initiative.  Please let me know below.

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