I happened upon this report on the very day my driver (an avid hunter) and I were discussing the very species in question.
H/T OP
Dennis York mocks candidate John Lehman for vowing to go after "corporate tax dodgers." The real question, however, is how corporations can dodge taxes when it isn't the corporations which pay taxes.
A commenter to Dean's Saturday open thread suggests
Gentlemen – I highly recommend it. Tuck away $75-$100 per month to take your lady out – once per month minimum, even if you have to suck it up somewhere else.We would be hard-pressed to spend that much on a dinner, even if we went to La Casa de la Maison House. For one thing we aren't wine drinkers, I won't pay triple to be served a bottle of beer, and if we order mixed drinks it will be no more than one Manhatten for me and two Shirley Temples for her. More importantly, for that kind of money we can go to the Sunday buffet at Scheherazade, a couple of weekday lunch buffets at Thai Lotus, and bring home barbecue from the Speed Queen. I don't believe we'd enjoy one upmarket dinner more than all that.
Update:
Just to clarify things for my out-of-town readers, the restaurants are all little locally owned places here in Milwaukee. The middle-eastern restaurant is not far from the University of Milwaukee, but seems to draw more of an ethnic clientele rather than students. The Thai restaurant is on a business strip in a residential neighborhood not far from Miller Park. The barbecue place is deeper into the 'hood than where we live; that's where you find Southern barbecue in northern cities.
Jeff has decided that as a single guy he needs to learn how to cook for himself, and has spun off a blog where he can ask his readers for recipes and advice. One of the topics he raised recently was meatloaf. My comment was descriptive of a meatloaf specific to my wee wifey's preference, but I was reminded of one which was a hit with the younger crowd.
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb bulk italian sausage
1 cup oatmeal
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, beaten
1 cup commercial spaghetti sauce
8 oz grated cheese
Combine all ingredients, beef thru egg, and 1/2 cup of the sauce. Form into a loaf and set in a 9x13 paking pan. Bake at 375F for one hour and remove from oven. Drain off whatever grease you can. Spread the remaining sauce on top, and cover with the grated cheese, which can be straight mozzerella, or a pizza or Italian multicheese blend. Return to oven for 10 more minutes to melt the cheese.
It should be noted that this little crowd has long worried about European imperialism. Back in the '70s they were calling for a War On Drugs based on the premise that the English monarchy was promoting marijuana for the purpose of subverting the United States.
Hat tip to one of them Tims.
Ron Coleman has a new post at Dean's entitled "Let the triangulation begin". Very timely. If certain triangulation had begun on schedule, I would not have had to travel so far as to need to stay overnight only to get a message that my call could not be completed as dialed.
That is to say, something which you need to read, an extensive essay on the meaning of rights.
Altho he still takes an interest in Milwaukee issues, expat Brian J. is native enough to St. Louis to set new arrivals straight.
I've been posting green tomato recipes lately, but there are other overlooked vegetables in season right now. There is probably no food crop produced in the United States which is used less efficiently than the big orange squash.
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp grated ginger root
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2/3 cup water
1 pound pumpkin, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 potato, chopped
1 green banana, sliced
1 whole Scotch Bonnet (or Habenero) pepper
Start by preparing the various vegetables. The pumpkin should be a small "pie" one rather than a porch monster, and the pepper should be left whole.
Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onions for a couple minutes, add the garlic, and fry for another minute. Add the seasonings and stir till they are activated. Add the tomatoes and stir till a thick sauce is formed.
Add the water, and stir to the bottom of the pan so all the sauce blends with it. Add the vegetables, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Remove the pepper before serving; it will have done its job.
It's the classic English assignment from third grade. Use the word in a sentence:
The mixing bowl my wee wifey was looking for whazzup stairs because Mr. Chin made oatmeal cookies.
Milwaukeeans have never been noted for precipitous haste in undertaking costly civic improvementsFound in Beertown Blazes 'A Century Of Milwaukee Firefighting' by R. L. Nailen and James Haight, which I found on the display table at the Central library. The book gives more of a feel of how the city grew than anything else I've read, and describes such horrifying disasters as the grain elevator fire which produced 6000 bushels of popped corn.
I'm actually pleased by the city's lack of precipitous haste with regard to the recent so-called civic improvement that was to be an inflexible light rail system, but the wording struck me as perfect.
The Wisconsin Democrats are now suggesting that the strategy documents which Owen has been reporting about were stolen from a State Representative's briefcase. This gets them off the hook on the charge of using the taxpayer-funded copier, but at the expense of verifying the authenticity of the alleged playbook. What they should have done is allege that the whole document was a Rovian forgery, since upstanding civic groups like FAIR Wisconsin and the public employees union would never agree to indulge in partisan politics.
Ehtheism: n; The theology promulgated at those churches where showing up is sufficient, including those megachurches my wee wifey identifies as "seeker friendly".
I read an interview in which the M&Ms thing was justified as a test. "If we can't trust you to pick out the brown ones, how can we trust you to tell us the stage will support our equipment?" There is, however, no justification for this sort of behavior.
Milwaukee suffers from a tendency of motorists to park their vehicles less than fifteen feet from the crosswalk, an action sufficiently harmful to public wellbeing as to warrant a $30.00 fine. Altho the city is diligent about identifying those who have committed this offence, not enough is being done to prevent it. The proper approach would be signs on every block reading "No Parking Here To Corner" but given that this would be unsightly marking the portion of the curb which should not be parked along with orange paint, as is done in some other cities, would be a step in the right direction. Please contact your alderpeople and bring this matter to their attention.
Never let the law get out of your hands.From the comments to this post, at an education blog, about fighting back against school shooters.
We went to Lena's Market, further into the 'hood, to take advantage of their cheap cuts of meat, and a special on jars of hot Southern chow-chow relish caught my eye. I almost bought one, till I looked at the label and noted that the prime ingredient was green tomatoes. I'm more accustomed to Iowa chow-chow, made with corn. The recent frost had just brought in the green tomato harvest - my friends who grow them to harvest after they degrade to red give me whatever is left on the vine.
Quantities are based on what I had on hand. I used three red onions and three yellow ones, for a touch of color, but in any case you want to use sharp ones rather than sweet. The cabbage was a white one. We've been adding two tablespoons of sriracha to almost every recipe lately. It adds warmth and interest that proportionately smaller amounts of ordinary hot sauce doesn't. If the goal was a hot relish I would have added a few chopped hot peppers to the veggie mix, and mixed real well to avoid heat concentration.
6 medium onions - chopped
1 medium head cabbage -chopped
14 green tomatoes - chopped
4 green bell peppers - seeded, deveined and chopped
2 red bell peppers - seeded, deveined and chopped
1/2 cup salt
1 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp sriracha sauce
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup water
4 cups sugar
Combine the chopped vegetables in a large non-reactive pot, and let sit overnight. Drain off all the resultant brine. This makes the relish much crisper.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a second large non-reactive pot, and simmer until the sugar is fully dissolved. Stir in the chopped vegetables, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for another ten minutes. Pour into warm, sterilized canning jars and can per your best practice. One of the chow-chow recipes I found while working this up suggested just turning the jars over so the contents heat the lids. I suppose that may be genuine and old-time, but I would always advise at least a boiling water bath if not a pressure canner.
I've made it clear on occasion, while commenting on economic issues, that I have not studied the dismal science, but base my opinions on my observations while participating in the economy. I am therefore flattered to learn that Russell Roberts, PhD, Professor of Economics Communication at George Mason University, considers me to be a Real Economist.
I believe, based upon my real-world observations that:
1. Demand slopes downward--people do less of something when it gets more expensive
2. Prices respond to market forces
3. Motives and intentions do not matter. Results and actions do.
Now they need to come out with an interchangeable standard trigger and safety assembly.
My son is fascinated by competitive advantage. He likes to tell the story heard while hanging out in North Carolina about the NASCAR crew chief who had his entire team spend the off season working out at the gym. The following year all the teams were doing it.
Here's a report of a competitive advantage which somehow remained overlooked for decades, even tho it was evident in the most analyzed body of statistics in the United States.
Nick brought to my attention an experiment which Scott has proposed in response to recent discussion of the role of armed citizens in public safety. The experiment has been going on for some time. Cities with the harshest victim disarmament laws tend to have the most generous governnment handouts. They tend to have high crime rates, and altho often do quite well on established business are not the places where new wealth is being created.
We who seek legal recognition of our right to bear arms understand that doing so only addresses the symptom. We would do so to make ourselves and our loved ones safer, and if the rest of society benefits, that would be nice. We even understand that concealed carry will not reduce the total number of crimes committed. After all, it takes several shopliftings to pay as much as one armed robbery.
Scott believes it is possible to reduce crime by doing what he calls investing in education and economic development. He doesn't propose to invest his own money; he wants to take money from other people to do this. There is no evidence that giving money to a school bureaucracy unconstrained by competition does anything to improve outcome. As for taxing for econonomic development, that is generally equivalent to fucking for chastity.
There are things government is a suitable means of accomplishing which do further economic development. Much movement of raw materials and finished product is done by truck. Manufacturing firms prefer to locate where roads enable this to be done efficiently. Scott is on record as opposing this form of government investment in economic development. It is easier to do business in a crime-free environment, which is one reason jobs are relatively scarce in the inner city. Maybe Scott will campaign for the strong and effective candidates for sheriff and attorney general. A third way government can further economic development is regulatory agencies more concerned with positive results than power tripping. Maybe Scott will write a post decrying the DNR's actions in driving 600 Menards jobs out of Wisconsin.
In Milwaukee, the city Scott and I care most about, there are jobs which already are going unfilled without any new "investment" in economic development. There is a constant requirement for 300 new Certified Nursing Assistants. MATC already offers the training course, ans some employers will also provide. There is also a need for over the road truck drivers, a job which pays the household median income with one year's experience. Employers again will provide training. The only requirements are a clean background and driving record, things which are not the government's job to provide.
Update:
I just happened upon an example, admittedly extreme, of the sort of thing Scott seems to think higher taxes will do more to prevent tha an armed citizenry would.
My wee wifey, who was herself raised as a lapsed Catholic, mentioned to me yesterday that Vatican theologians are exploring the possibility of dropping the doctrine of Limbo. If they dumped Tinikling at the same time, we could get rid of the bamboo poles.
Various assorted bloggers have seen fit to respond to the foofaraw resulting from the unautherized surveillance of Mark Foley's private electronic communications by identifying themselves as being gay. I won't do that, because of the loaded meaning the word has acquired in recent years. I do however hereby acknowledge myself to be happy, carefree and lighthearted.
Two of the values of the Crock-Pot, or any of the slow cookers from rival manufacturers, are that they operate unattended and tenderize tough cuts of meat. Assemble a few cheap ingredients before you go to bed, toss them in and turn it on before you go to work, and come home to dinner. Here's an old standby which is a prime example.
1 pkt spaghetti sauce seasoning
1 can cola (can be generic but don't use diet)
1 roast (e.g. a 3 to 5 pound chunk of beef marketted for roasting)
potatoes, onions, carrots to taste
Trim obvious fat off the roast. Scrub carrots and potatoes (but do not peel), discard the ends of the carrots, and cut into chunks. The little red potatoes which are ideal for this don't have eyes you need to worry about. Cut the onions into quarters and discard the tough outer skin. Place roast beef and vegetables in crockpot. Pour spaghetti sauce and cola over all. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Serve with sauce, piled on a plate. The leftovers can be sliced up for sandwidges.
If you want to get fancy you can substitute
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons hot sauce
or other seasonings to taste for the commercial spaghetti sauce packet. Some recipes also call for browning the roast in oil before putting in the crockpot, but sealing in the juices isn't exactly relevant. The cola provides not only flavoring, but also a tenderizing effect greater than you would get from water. There are similar recipes using beer; the major change is subtler seasoning such as bay leaf or whiskey.
I found this while at YouTube verifying the answer to what Dad29 needed to know. I'm sure it must have been deliberately posed, but there is something creepy about it, in a cool science fiction way.
Those whose purposes are served by evidence that the United States society is racist like to point to the disproportionate presence of young black men in prison as evidence that the criminal justice system is biased. Those who speak for the undocumented are missing the opportunity to make a similar point. The fact that illegal immigrants are in Federal prison at six and one half times the rate of ordinary Americans must be clear proof of prejudice.
We have just learned that my wee wifey has a disability. I hope that it is a rare one, but I believe that it entitles her to "reasonable accomidation" under the Americans With Disabilities Act. She has a speech impediment. It does not effect the ability of other people to understand her; in fact I never noticed it. It only shows up when she attempts to use a voice activated menu at one of those so-called "customer service" telephone numbers.
We are no closer now than we were when the notion was first promulgated to the development of the paperless office. I can, however, attest to the emergence of the paperclipless office.
A commenter to this post about the defense of Malta in 1565 recommended the book "The Great Siege" by Ernle Bradford. Altho the book is long out of print, I had no trouble obtaining a copy, thanks to the depth of the collection at the Milwaukee Public Library. Written by a military man who sailed the area around Malta, the book is a thrilling retelling of a desperate battle against overwhelming odds which, along with the battle at the gates of Vienna, marked, at least until recently, the end of Islamic efforts to conquor Europe. Between the non-stop action, the dashing characters, and the special effects needed to depict the use of black powder explosives and incindiary weapons, the book could be made into a smash hit movie. The only catch is that they would have to revise it to make the enemies Neo-Nazis or something.
When making up signs to advertise your rummage sale (or yard, tag or garage sale as applies in your local dialect) do not bother describing it as "huge". This word has been used too many times to mean "a couple of tables with some stuff on them". Similarly, be more specific than "multi-family" or I will take it to mean "a couple of things are being sold on behalf of my sister-in-law".