Pot Luck

Three from yesterday (4.00 / 6)

The sun came out once yesterday.

Just once.

Today was dull too, no sun at all.

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by: Eddie C @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 21:14:52 PM CST

"Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism." Hubert H. Humphrey (4.00 / 4)

#1 Whale Worms

Five years after discovering some of the strangest creatures in the world - mouthless worms that live in the bones of dead whales - scientists have taken a peek into their genes. Though not complete, the glimpse shows these creatures to be far more complicated than was known.

#2 How the US Funds The Taliban

In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes. It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. "It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents.

#3 Our Ambassador to Afghanistan expressed doubts about troop increases.

Ahead of today's meeting of Obama's national security team to discuss Afghan war strategy, Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a member of the war council, sent a pair of classified cables to Washington expressing deep reservations about the possibility of sending more U.S. troops to the country, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

#4 This could be an excellent potential pickup opportunity in MO-08. A Warrior on a Mission in Rush Limbaugh's Home District

The southeast corner of Missouri reared Rush, but it may be about to redeem itself. This reddest of districts has a realistic chance of turning blue, and the reason is former Green Beret Tommy Sowers.

Sowers, who recently left active duty in the Army, has a gold-plated pedigree. Major Sowers earned two Bronze Stars in two deployments in Iraq. Mr. Limbaugh, the churlish champion of the chickenhawks, avoided duty in Vietnam because, reportedly, he had a boil on his ass. Some boil. Some ass.

#5 Republicans are concerned about Alan Grayson and are frantic to field a challenger. Casual Wednesday rightfully calls this a carnival.

Armando Gutierrez has made a name for himself as a 28-year-old with a supremely ambitious campaign that features an aggressive endorsement-seeking effort...

But GOP operatives in Washington and the district say he is running a destructive primary campaign, and national and local leaders are doing just about anything they can to avoid having him as their nominee.

"He's offending a lot of people," said attorney Will McBride, who opted out of the race last week. "He's rubbing people the wrong way. He needs to be a little more professional in his approach to reaching out to local leaders in our party."

Numerous others confirmed the widespread bristling at Gutierrez's early maneuvers.

"He's pissing people off a lot," said a leading local GOP operative. "He's very pushy and is an unknown commodity, and people are jealously guarding their prerogatives."

crossposted from the Progressive Electorate

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 21:41:56 PM CST

Taliban funding (4.00 / 4)

If that story is true, and if that's the only way we can think of to operate there, we need to leave Afghanistan by approximately last week.

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by: count @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 21:59:49 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'm up for that even if the story isn't true (4.00 / 3)

I just talked to my friend about his experience for the first time since he's been back from his 1st tour in Iraq. I'd much prefer he not have to go through that again. He's thinking about going back for a second tour, but I'd rather he didn't have to. There's just no good reason to stay.  

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 22:07:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Lots more of this!! (4.00 / 2)

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 23:02:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Eikenberry (4.00 / 3)

WaPo link:

U.S. envoy resists increase in troops
CONCERNS VOICED ABOUT KARZAI

By Greg Jaffe, Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009

The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise, senior U.S. officials said.

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by: count @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 22:04:49 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Bill O'Reilly is such a pig (4.00 / 2)

O'Reilly asks anti-choice activist if she "believes that Planned Parenthood is an abortion mill"

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 22:09:16 PM CST

Oh, what a night... :) (4.00 / 4)

So, I did "my thing" earlier, (which I mentioned while talking to count here yesterday), and hit a fancy joint on Hawthorne during Happy Hour, for a cheap beer and a cheap food special.  Otherwise, just meant to browse their "regular menu" for ideas as to things to make at home, heh...

Anyways.

Surprise tonight, was also meeting there the coolest girl I've met in years, and then spending the rest of the night (well, at least until just before the buses stopped, heh...) just walking and talking, hanging out.

Good times.

:)

And hopefully, more good times to come...

"The greenest building is the one already built" - Carl Elefante

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by: JayinPortland @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 04:54:38 AM CST

Price of eggs (4.00 / 2)

Joanne Rigutto's new customers sometimes ask why her eggs are "so expensive" at $3/doz, compared to the store brand at the supermarket. At a chain store in my neighborhood, the house brand is $2.19. House brand "all natural" is $2.79.

This is also true, however - I was just at that store, and copied down some prices. All these prices are for grade A large, per dozen, unless otherwise noted. "All natural" seems to mean no antibiotics or hormones in this case.

Eggland           $3.39
Eggland cage free  3.99
Eggland organic    5.19
Eggland Disney     4.69/18
ISE local grade AA 1.49/6
Land o'Lakes all natural    $3.19

Turns out, $3/doz really isn't "so expensive."

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by: count @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 10:59:17 AM CST

Egg Innovations (4.00 / 1)

I was right - Egg Innovations disappeared, replaced by Eggland Disney.

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by: count @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 11:24:20 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Disney??!!?? (4.00 / 2)

Are they Daisy Duck eggs?  

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 14:13:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Disney-Branded eggs... (4.00 / 1)

Seriously, they're out there.  Typical conventional eggs, just packaged colorfully and stamped (yes, stamped) with Disney characters on the shells.

No word yet on whether the rumored new Disney character, Battery Cage Betty, will be doing a tie-in movie promotion...

I think Jill wrote something on it here earlier this year, too.

Tried not to gag when I saw them in my sister's fridge last month when I was back there for a visit.

"The greenest building is the one already built" - Carl Elefante

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by: JayinPortland @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 16:41:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Egg shell stamping has been around quite a while. (4.00 / 2)

Egglands Best stamps their EB on shells and the EU was talking about every commercial egg producer having to stamp their facility number or producer number on all egg sold commercially. I'm assuming that people selling direct to the consumer wouldn't. I don't know what ever happened to that. I know a lot of egg farms weren't happy about it.

The stamping is done with food grade ink/dye.

I'd heard that Disney was about to release those eggs. It's a hell of a marketing idea. Kind of chincy though...

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:28:21 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yeah. (4.00 / 1)

But not with cartoon characters...

"The greenest building is the one already built" - Carl Elefante

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by: JayinPortland @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:35:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Well, that's marketing for you (4.00 / 2)

hook the kids, and you've got the parents. Harold has one customer who liked to buy the pullet eggs we had for a while when the new hens started laying. Her kids liked the eggs because they were small (pullet eggs are around 1/2-3/4 the size of the mature hens' eggs), they were just starting to learn to cook and the little eggs were 'kid sized'. Little eggs for little cooks.

At least companies like Disney haven't caught on to that one yet.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 20:02:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Tracking numbers (4.00 / 1)

The SuperFresh (A&P) website indicates that each egg they sell will have laser-etched tracking codes. I haven't seen this yet, but perhaps it already is in other stores. I don't know if this applies just to the house brand or to all brands.

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by: count @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:29:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yah, (4.00 / 3)

the people who complain about how expensive our eggs are, generally try to compare the price of our eggs to those of the cheap eggs at the store, instead of comparing the price of our eggs to those of comperable type. That's why I use the ground beef to NY steak rebuttal. "Do you expect to pay ground beef prices for NY steak?".

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 12:28:28 PM CST

[ Parent ]

There is one difference between our eggs and the store bought ones (4.00 / 3)

other than the fact that customers get a mix of white, brown and green/blue eggs. Our eggs aren't graded. We can sell ungraded eggs because they are from our own hens, and we don't have to be licensed. If I wanted to sell graded eggs, I'd have to get an egg handler's licinse ($100), go thorugh inspections, probably have to candle the eggs, etc.  

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 12:31:39 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I finally got all of my garlic planted yesterday... (4.00 / 3)

well I thought I had untill I found some locally grown organic Georgia Fire garlic down at the produce stand. So I bought 7 heads of it to plant in the next few days. I have room for one more row of garlic. I figure I have between 1,100 and 1,200 cloves planted, 3 types. All hopefully hardneck.

Then it'll be on to planting Fava beans!

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 12:41:21 PM CST

I still need to plant my garlic (4.00 / 2)

Actually I still need to get some to plant and clear out a bin or two. I also need to find something to mulch them with as I suppose leaving them open to the air is a bad idea. Maybe I can use some of the leaves off of the Asian pear tree in the back yard . . .  

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 14:15:54 PM CST

[ Parent ]

GM Maize (4.00 / 2)

The Mexican government this month granted its first 22 permits to agribusinesses Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer to carry out tests on GM maize on farms in north and west Mexico.

"If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove" Cheyenne

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by: Maracatu @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 16:26:33 PM CST