Monday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Monday, February 22, 2021
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86 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Profiles in courage:
http://www.thebulwark.com/the-gops-cowardice-means-they-will-live-in-fear-forever/
I know George R.R. Martin had this in mind when he conceived the Dothraki.
These stories have been bubbling up for years but far right political correctness has suppressed them. We’ll see if these have staying power.
Extremism in the ranks is a ‘threat,’ but the Pentagon’s not sure how to address it
Why it’s so difficult for the military to weed out extremists
@sam:
The music for the 1953 musical Kismet (which in turn was based on a 1911 play) was taken from Borodin.
Right. Stranger in Paradise, in particular.
Right. Stranger in Paradise, in particular.
I should start taking bets.
When Trump dies, will his “supporters” hold a vigil for at least three days to see him rise from the grave?
@sam:
The version in the musical was a duet with Doretta Morrow and Richard Kiley. Morrow and Alfred Drake, the star, probably had the best voices on Broadway in their time.
@Kathy: I’ve been foreseeing that there will be Sunni/Shia splits, with different groups claiming a more direct line to the Prophet.
@Kylopod:
Absolutely. I foresee three groups:
Those who follow Ivanka, as the heir to the idiot’s politics.
Junior would be heir to the idiot’s business.
Giuliani will be the heir to the idiot’s idiocy. He may win based on that.
On other things, I made chilaquiles with only bell pepper and onion, no meat of any kind. Instead I made a few turkey milanesas on the side. Let me tell you one thing: turkey breast tastes better grilled on a pan with a little oil, than roasted in the oven.
I’m thinking I should get several kilos of these next week, if they’re still available, and freeze them for latter use.
@Kathy:
I think the turkey breast stays juicier with a quick pan grilling.
Per CNN, the Supreme Court has ruled, without comment or dissent, that NY prosecutors may have access to Trump’s tax returns. Bad news for Donny.
The public release of the returns will be restricted. I wonder if they’ll be leaked, though I hope not if it would prejudice the case against Trump.
Lemme see:
That sounds about right.
Updated, nine most terrifying words in English language
@Kathy: Giuliani is the short term bet on that. He’s almost 80 and so will be a short timer. My long term is that Junior has both the idiocy and the ruthlessness, compared to Eric–who has only the idiocy, to come out on top. Ivanka will have missed her opportunity if she doesn’t take down “Little Marco,” but she may be the only electable one other than Lara–the Trump by marriage only, so ineligible for the top position.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Ivanka seems disinclined to take on Rubio. I wonder if she’s gambling that if she lies low in Florida for a few years, she and Jared will be able to resume their hard-won and extremely precarious foothold on the lowest echelon of Manhattan cafe society.
@Kathy: Not content with just being seen as Trump’s lackey, Giuliani has decided to go full “gross old man.” He’s currently under fire for making some very inappropriate comments about pro golfer Michelle Wie West. BARF.
I don’t think he’ll be able to win anything. What a gross guy.
@Kathy: @CSK: The very best turkey I ever roasted used a method I found in an outdated copy of The Joy of Cooking which called for the turkey to be roasted at 275 degrees (135 celsius, gas mark one). It stayed moist and the meat literally fell off the bones. Sadly because of factory farming, about 65% of all commercially bred turkeys are born infected with salmonella–unless that number has gone up since I worked in a restaurant in the early 90s–and both the USDA and the DoH assert that you cannot be sure of killing the bacteria that causes the poisoning at that temperature no matter how long you cook the bird.
Fortunately, my bird was one of the >35%. Scoooooooore!
(By the way, our restaurant got points off for cooling a turkey on the counter on the day of a health inspection. The owner got mad because “what’s the big deal? Only 65% of turkeys have salmonella, and it doesn’t always make people sick.” 🙁 )
@CSK: Do Ivanka’s gaudy costume trinkets and Manolo knockoff strappy sandals sell for enough for them to move back to Manhattan? I ask because Jared’s investments aren’t going to foot the bill.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I think the issue in that situation is people who stuff the bird and roast it at that low of a temperature. Because the lower temp would take far longer to reach an “all kill” temp in the center of the stuffing, it’s not recommended to use a low & slow cook method. However, I believe that it should still work on a smaller turkey that isn’t stuffed.
The all-kill temp for Salmonella is ~170*F, and 155*F for ecoli. So as long as you’re cooking the bird and hitting the temperatures for all-kill, that method should still be okay.
The problem with saying “it’s okay as long as you do x, y, and z” is that people stop reading after the “it’s okay.”
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
You could always try a bleach and ultraviolet light seasoning.
Dan Froomkin
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@Jen:
Rudy probably deeply resents the fact that Michelle Wie West is taller than he is.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Well, the two of them raked in $640 million between 2017-2021, and Jared paid almost no federal income tax for those years, so with a few small economies they ought to be able to manage nicely.
NASA released video of the Mars rover skycrane maneuver. Fine viewing:
https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1363929492138254340
@Just nutha ignint cracker: As someone posted above, it’s all about making sure the meat gets to the correct temperature. The temperature listed is for instantaneous kill, but we sous vide’rs know that if you can get a meat to a certain temperature for long enough, you get total FDA approval at much lower temperatures. This is from Cooks Illustrated:
Now I can’t imagine eating bloody rare chicken but there are rumors of sous vide’rs who do it.
Public Health just called, and I am all scheduled for the Moderna shot tomorrow! Wheeee!!!! Our county is blazing through their lists, 1,700 of 6,000 county residents have had one shot, and another 400 or so have had both. Only 2 new cases last week.
I’m feeling……hopeful!
@CSK and sam:
In the early ’70s, my parents prompted-by a constant TV ad, bought an 8-track (yes, that 8-track) of popular songs based on classical pieces. The ad featured Stranger in Paradise, which is why I know who Borodin is and always have. That 8-track was basically my on-ramp to classical music.
Later in life, I learned that winding piano melody of Groovy Kind of Love is also build on a classical piece that I once knew and have since lost. Reward for anyone who recalls the underlying piece.
@Joe:
Clementi, Sonata No. 5, Rondo.
@Jax:
I just got mine on Fri along with most of the family – a real surprise since I was expecting to be sometime in April due to my age but apparently I qualify due to underlying conditions (endo issues) and family living situation (lots of elderly and essential medical workers in house). Some advice? Get it in your off arm and make *sure* they pinch up the skin. When they say “arm soreness” they mean “can barely lift your arm above your head for like 2 days”. Worth it, though!
Kaiser tells me that I am 21,170th in their statewide virtual line for Colorado. I’ll give them another call in a couple of days to see how fast the line might be moving. Colorado was supposed to receive — but hasn’t due to the weather snafus in so many places — 133,000 doses this week.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I routinely cook sous vide, and if the meat stays 135° F for, say, an hour, it should be pretty close to pasteurized.
@KM: I will keep that in mind, thanks!
@Kathy:
@CSK:
We do a whole turkey several times a year. Turkey breast and chicken breast more often. My personal preference is to brine the bird and/or parts in an apple cider/salt brine, and then cook to 160 F internal temp. Very moist bird, very tasty. I don’t keep the carcass to make soup afterwards, because for some reason, I don’t care for any version of turkey soup. H/T to Alton Brown for the brining hint many moons ago.
@Jax: Just got a shot scheduled for Friday at Ravens Stadium (which is probably the only way to get me in there…). I am also feeling hopeful, although more so when my wife and kids can get it. I’m an essential worker because of what my company does and so am ahead of them. Makes me uncomfortable to be honest, although there’s a fair chance that at least I’ll be eliminated as a potential vector…
@Teve:
Sounds like we should start a discussion sub-group inside the Open Forum, dedicated to sous vide. We clearly have a critical mass to work with.
My latest discovery: the inedible hunk of lean muscle known as “eye of round” can be turned into delicious, tender, medium-rare roast beef for sandwiches (or midwestern Italian Beef) by cooking it sous vide at 135° F for 18 hours. My source warns that 133° is the minimum to prevent bad anaerobic stuff when you are cooking something for that long, and cooking that long is required to tenderize that cut.
Jennifer ‘pro-reality’ Rubin
@Teve: Have you ever come up with a way to do a whole Turkey sous vide?
@flat earth luddite:
I’ve never cooked a turkey. I cook for myself, and there’s no way I’ll ever eat a whole turkey. But I may try a turkey breast one of these days. I’ve roasted chicken pieces before (never a whole chicken).
Getting my 2nd round Moderna this Friday. Prepared for a weekend of not much.
@MarkedMan: you would need a much bigger rig than the 12-qt Cambro I use 😀
I live alone so I’ve never actually bought a turkey, but if I did what I would probably do is thaw it in the refrigerator for a few days then portion it out into Ziploc bags.
@Teve: but instead of going to all that hassle I would probably just buy a package of chicken thighs.
This is funny. CPAC tweeted this
And approximately the first thousand replies are “you are going to have to be more specific”.
Geoff Bennett
@GeoffRBenn
Congresswoman Debra Anne Haaland is one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress.
——
Sensing a theme
@Kathy:
I live alone, so I’m only cooking for me, but I’ll roast a whole chicken. I get 2-3 “chicken & X” meals out of it. Then I pull the big pieces of meat off, dice it up and make chicken salad (for sandwiches)–or enchiladas. That’s another 5-6 meals. Finally, I make soup out of the remainder (usually chicken veg w/ rice). I’ll get 10-12 pints of soup. After having a couple bowls, I can the rest in pint jars.
1 chicken gives me up to 20 meals.
@Loviatar:
In another era, he’d have been a Republican rather than a crypto-Republican.
BTW, I’m reflexively dismissing news that begin with “The president,” or “The White House,” and I have to remind myself there’s a real president now, and the White House has been trump-free since January 20th, so such news might be worth reading.
@Kathy:
What about Eric? Oh wait, nevermind.
@CSK: Thanks. I will make a note of this.
@CSK: Thanks. I will make a note of this. I didn’t doubt for a second I would get an answer here.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
@Mu Yixiao:
The last time, I did two whole breasts, two legs with thighs, with some potatoes and turkey cocktail wieners, and that lasted me the whole week, plus I used the leftovers for chilaquiles. So I’m good.
@MarkedMan: I’m kinda uncomfortable with it until my kids are vaccinated, too….the teenager and I both have asthma, so I can get it, but she can’t unless it’s the Pfizer, and they just don’t have the freezer storage here for that one.
I was pretty pleased with how easy it is to sign up, though. Simple Google Survey, tell them which group you’re in that qualifies you, name, birthdate, email and phone number, submit, and they called me today. Sounds like they’re scheduling every 10 minutes, at our local fairgrounds, don’t get out of the car.
Now if I could just get my parents to take it……
@Jen: I have only read the USDAs recommendations on the issue and as I recall, it holds that turkeys simply should not be roasted at a temperature below 325 F (I think). Probably for the reasons you mention. In my turkey’s case, it was about a 15 pounder, stuffed, and I chose the roasting method because we were expecting guests flying in from out of state. I had planned on an 8 or 9 hour cooking time which due to a flight delay turned into 13. It was moist and delicious and the stuffing was steaming hot, but cooled quickly.
@Kathy: I find that makes the meat too salty. I have fluid retention problems for which my doctor hints that a lower sodium diet would help. But it might be a good suggestion for people who can carry it through.
@flat earth luddite: I’ve never had the temperament necessary to actually check the internal temperature of the meats that I cook and never got accustomed to the price of the thermometer for which the gauge lives outside the oven. Fortunately, I don’t know enough people anywhere to invite people over for turkey or prime rib anymore, nor do I have a dining room in which to serve them. Another bullet dodged. I am, however, always glad to accept an invitation to come to eat without having to cook at your abode and thank you for it. 😀
@Teve:
The canceled speaker was the musician Young Pharaoh, who claims that Judaism is a lie, and that pedophilia on the Internet is controlled by Israeli Jews.
Pharaoh is screaming censorship.
@Joe:
Any time.
@Mu Yixiao: I never get 10 or 12 pints of soup out of a chicken. Then again, I’m only boiling the stripped carcass. I hardly ever get any more than a quart or quart and a half of stock, though. Any more makes the broth too thin tasting. I’m not as fond of breast as other people, so I usually reserve it to go back into the soup. [exploding head emoji goes here] I also don’t use a thermometer, so a roast chicken is usually over cooked, which doesn’t trouble the dark meat at all.
@Joe: And a much better answer than I would have given (BA, Music Theory and Literature, 1975). I was unfamiliar with the Clementi, but would have noted that more than a few exercises from Hanon’s Virtuoso Piano use that sort of a pattern.-
@Teve: A friend just posted that, noting that this year’s theme is “America Uncanceled.” 😀
@Jax: Go F*ck yourself. 😉
@KM: F*ck all y’all. 😉
@CSK:
In response to this news, half of conservatives will be crying “cancel culture,” the other half will be calling Young Pharaoh a leftist.
@DrDaveT: Low and slow.
@CSK: Anti-Semitism is never too far below the conservative surface.
Eyes boggle. Wow I use two all the time. My Lavatools Javelin for liquids and an IR gun for surfaces. That’s how I know my soup tonight came out of the microwave at 179°. But I ❤️ tools.
@Teve:
Pharaoh is a proponent of QAnon, Pizzagate, and Frazzledrip. He, a self-described philosopher and scholar, also encourages people to subscribe to atenuniversity.com in order to become geniuses.
One of the many things you can learn at Aten University is “sacred geometry.”
@CSK:
All that constitutes abuse of Ancient Egyptian culture.
@Kathy:
I know. The curriculum is…unusual.
Aten University appears to have no faculty but for Pharaoh himself. I assume he’s the sole dispenser of knowledge there.
@CSK: That’s fantastic. 😛
@CSK: there’s a creationist who goes around the Internet promoting the place he works, the Blyth Institute. A tiny bit of digging years sgo showed that the “Blyth Institute” had one employee. Guess who?
@Teve:
He’s CEO of the Aten Nation, Inc.
@Teve:
Gee, that’s a tough one.
@CSK:
It’s click-bait, really.
@Kathy:
Well…yes.
@OzarkHillbilly:
In my experience, eye of round doesn’t have enough marbling (or even connective tissue) to stay edibly tender after being cooked low and slow. Or even in chili. Your mileage may vary.
@Teve: Ah! I see the difference already. I almost never heat soup in a microwave (unless it was specifically packaged for heating in the microwave, in which case the package instructions are accurate enough). I know that the soup is ready to eat when the stock is boiling at a decent clip. The same way the chef at the shikdang in Korea knows. Stir it for about 5 or 6 minutes after serving and it’s cool enough so that your mouth doesn’t get burned.
Most of the time, anyway. 😉
@Just nutha ignint cracker: And you’ve never lived until you’ve had kim chee jjiggae with a raw egg broken into it just before they bring it to you. Mmmmm.
George Clooney is producing a documentary about the abuse scandal at Ohio State. I hope it ends Jim Jordan’s career.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I’m a geek, i like data
@Teve: This, x 10. Also, GYM Jordan. There’s a reason he decided not to run for Senate. I’d like to think he’ll never get elected again, but….Trump called Qanon’s and Gym Jordan sycophants to sack the Capitol of the Untied States of America, soooo….
I left it Untied for a reason. 😐
Ted thinks Republican voters are complete morons.
@Teve: For many years I received emails encouraging me to sign up for “Obamacare,” as well as emails encouraging me to sign up for “Trumpcare.” Of course the very names are a giveaway (while “Obamacare” refers to something that exists, it has never called itself “Obamacare”). In the past couple of months, I’ve started getting emails for “Bidencare.”
@Kylopod: I’m missing the point.