The Rag Blog

I’m running late, so I’ll post more tonight. Thank you, Charlie.

If you haven’t seen this gem, it is indeed that. Couldn’t resist giving ya’ll a double feature today. Make a huge bowl of popcorn, get together other snacks such as bananas or jalapeño poppers, and a mango smoothie or large glass of cranberry juice to drink. Relax and enjoy, and get ready to laugh a lot, even as you acknowledge that this guy is talking about some incredibly serious shit. R. Jehn

A very big word of warning: this video is 45 minutes in length, and consequently is a huge download (157 mB). For dial-up users, you may wish to forgo watching in this venue.

It’s Monday Movie time, and this is a punchy one. I’d recommend garnishing your popcorn with finely minced garlic (or cheat, if you must, with garlic powder), chipotle powder and very finely grated parmegiano reggiano cheese. Yummmm ….

Here’s what the author of this flick, ‘Steven Stealberg,’ has to say about his effort:

One man’s opinion of America and the Bush regime.

S. Stealberg

And now on with the show, New World Lies.

Ted Turner, appearing before journalists in the New York City Reuters offices a few days ago, advocated men being barred from public office for a hundred years in every part of the world.

“If we had women holding all the public offices, the amount of money on the military would be immediately cut way back and more would be spent on healthcare and education. There wouldn’t be lack of family planning or birth control if the women ran things.”

If you want to read more, click here and here.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
‘Islamic Radicalism … Has Metastasized and Spread’

By MARK MAZZETTI, The New York Times

WASHINGTON (Sept. 24) — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, “Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,” cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official.

More than a dozen United States government officials and outside experts were interviewed for this article, and all spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence document. The officials included employees of several government agencies, and both supporters and critics of the Bush administration. All of those interviewed had either seen the final version of the document or participated in the creation of earlier drafts. These officials discussed some of the document’s general conclusions but not details, which remain highly classified.

To read the full article, click here.

This is some kind of joke, right? rdj

Liz Rivera Goldstein of Port Townsend, Washington, chief organizer of Saturday’s Peace and Justice Festival in Chimacum, is arrested at Naval Magazine Indian Island. (Photo by Jeff Chew/Peninsula Daily News)

Police arrest 35 at Indian Island war protest
2006-09-24 by JEFF CHEW

INDIAN ISLAND — Thirty-five war protesters were arrested Saturday afternoon after 22 Jefferson County deputies greeted them at the gates to Naval Magazine Indian Island.

“I thought it was really lovely,” said Liz Rivera Goldstein.

She and her husband Dan were among those arrested — many of them smiling — and taken away in two Jefferson Transit buses to the Jefferson County jail in Port Hadlock.

All were to be charged with disorderly conduct said Jefferson County Undersheriff Tim Perry.

They were to be cited there, and then released Saturday night, he said.

To read the full article, click here.

It isn’t often that one finds Palestinian hip-hop, so I thought we should have a special treat to celebrate, namely a double post for the day. And these guys are singin’ ’bout stuff we can get behind.

Cool, eh?

These fellas surfaced when I was looking for something else entirely one day. It’s a good thing, too, since I didn’t have anyone lined up for Singin’ on Sunday. I guess I’m going to call this public domain (or at least that’s what I’ll pretend). If they put it up on YouTube, it becomes fair game and free advertising. They’re pretty good, but then they’re from Austin. What do you expect, eh?

Here’s their Web site if you want to learn more about them – Uncle Lucius.

Of course, we know the female of this bunch was smart enough to bail out long ago.

For those interested in having first-hand information about events in Thailand, a new blog was borne overnight to report on the Thai coup. Here it is:

Pecan Pie (28 August 2000)

If you have read the book Sweet Heat, you will understand this peculiar recipe. It is excellent when served with Dreyer’s Hot Chilly Chili or Out of a Flower, Inc.’s Jalapeño Mexican Vanilla Bean ice cream. Have a cool mocha or something similar to accompany it.

I used some ideas from the Joy of Cooking and another local Louisiana cookbook (The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking), but they both used this Karo corn syrup thing which had no appeal to me. So here is what I did:

5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon chile morita powder (or chipotle powder)
A couple of tablespoons bottled water (optional)
1-1/2 cups fresh pecans

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly roast the pecans for 10 to 12 minutes, just until you detect the wonderful aroma. [I also will “blind-bake” (see note * below) the crust if I am using one of my homemade crusts at the same time.]

In the meanwhile, mix the brown sugar, honey, vanilla, molasses, and chile powder together very thoroughly ensuring that the sugar is completely dissolved (if you are using very thick honey, then add water to thin it). Last, add the beaten eggs and thoroughly mix the honey mixture into them, then fold the cooled pecans into the mixture.

For this one, I used a store-bought 9-inch frozen pie crust (I thawed it first), poured the egg / pecan mixture into it, and baked it at 350° F. for 35 to 40 minutes. I tested using a toothpick (it should come out of the filling clean).

Do NOT use “chili powder” from your local grocery – it would contain cumin, oregano, salt, and perhaps other things. You could substitute cayenne chile powder, but perhaps only a 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon as it is spicier than morita. The key difference to understand is that chipotles and moritas are smoked chiles, while cayenne chiles are simply dried then ground to the fine powder that we buy at the store.

* Note: To blind-bake a crust, spread parchment paper into the bottom of the crust in the pie plate, add dried beans evenly into the bottom to weigh it down (bean layer should be 1/2-inch thick), and bake at 400° F. for 8 to 10 minutes.

* Note: FF = Foodie Friday