The Boston Globe is reporting that Trump is enraged at Barr for not supporting his claims of election fraud and for not probing the FBI investigation into the 2016 campaign, and may fire him.
And Princess Ivanka has been deposed by lawyers alleging that the 2017 inauguration committee misused donor funds.
In my 40 years in DoD, I’ve known and worked for many generals. Some are good, even great and there are some I wouldn’t hesitate to leave on the side of the road.
In general, it is best not to idolize any of them.
The idea that the U.S. military would oversee a new nationwide presidential election — ordered under martial law by President Donald Trump — is “insane in a year that we didn’t think could get anymore insane,” a defense official tells Military Times.
Yet retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn promoted that exact idea Tuesday evening when he tweeted a press release from an Ohio-based conservative political organization.
It is a scenario that makes the antics of animated spy Archer seem plausible by comparison, spun by the former assistant vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.
In his unfounded version of events, U.S. special operations forces died in an attack on a CIA computer facility in Germany that was hiding information about a massive, covert effort to flip votes from President Donald Trump to his opponent, Joe Biden.
But even though big Army and U.S. Army Special Operations Command have told Military Times that there was no such attack, or loss of life, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney is sticking by his claims. They became so widely distributed on social media that numerous accounts on Twitter falsely claimed that five soldiers killed in a Sinai helicopter crash were really killed in the firefight with the CIA.
It’s part of a whole series of “How to cook the perfect…” where Felicity Cloake reviews competing recipes for key dishes, using tasting panels, and gives her recommendations.
I’ve used the series quite a bit, and it’s always been worth a look, and quite often seems spot on.
Check it out.
McInerney sat on the board of a company I used to work for. I had the opportunity to sit in on a board meeting with him. I recall asking myself: “How in the world did this guy make flag rank? He’s kind of an idiot.”
@Scott:
I read about this the other day. McInerney sounds like a loon. But I seem to recall that Flynn once had a very good reputation, say ten years ago. Apparently he’s now a QAnon devotee as well. What happened?
@CSK: I think he may be like a lot of people in that falls in the category of being competent in a specific, narrow field but that’s it. We like to believe that talented people are good at most things when they are really only talented at one thing.
I guess the Republicans in Michigan held some kind of election fraud hearing where they invited Trumper’s from the general public to speak? My brother sent a few clips. Here’s one that I would be sure was just someone doing a bit except I’ve met Trumpers that sound just like this. This explains the reference to the SNL character.
He also sent one where an East Asian woman complained about not requiring photo ID’s because she thinks all Chinese people look alike.
@CSK:
I recall reading somewhere that he was reckoned a good but impulsive tactical intelligence specialist.
Also a self publicist to a degree that got him noticed, but annoyed a lot of other officers who felt he was making his name by using others work and claiming credit, and disparaging others.
At any rate, the noise got him noticed favourably by influential people in Washington, and to be appointed head of DNI in 2012.
Apparently he was not up to the job, increasingly erratic, and prone to making life hell for subordinates.
Gave a lot of people he had previously offended chance to get their “told you so” in, Obama and Hagel got fed up, Flynn got the boot.
If you’ve been wondering where the hell is Mike Pence, this piece offers some answers.
TL;DR: the first rat off the sinking ship.
“It is an open secret [in Trumpworld] that Vice President Pence absolutely does not feel the same way about the legal effort as President Trump does,” said a senior administration official. “The vice president doesn’t want to go down with this ship…and believes much of the legal work has been unhelpful.”
Today on CNN’s morning show, Alisyn Camerota mentioned how people attending Trump rallies signed releases where they took responsibility if they contracted COVID. She then suggested people engaging in high-risk activities like church services, indoor dining, bars, etc. should sign similar papers, in which they promise not to use up medical services if they contract COVID, as they did so through their own carelessness and/or choice of activities.
@JohnSF:
I used to have this fantasy of retirement. I would buy a food truck, park it in New York near HarperCollins or Macmillan, and serve nothing but boeuf bourguignon, fresh baguette and creme caramel. Publishing people would walk by and say, ‘See that food truck guy? He used to be a NYT bestselling author. But now, his boeuf bourguignon is amazing.’
Then I moved to LA after being away most of my life and, well, it’s December 3, the sun is shining and it’s going to top out at 69 degrees. So, new fantasy: become a cranky, overly-tanned alter kocker with very definite opinions on the appropriate amount of fat in pastrami.
@CSK: Of course, but the amount of work involved in getting these things to their locations and installed means they would have to be really really dedicated copycats.
I once thought of pulling a prank in Bourbon MO where they have 3 water towers. I was wanting to make a couple banners and climb up and hang them on 2 of the tanks. One was going to say “SCOTCH” and the other was going to say “BEER”. But it would have been a fair amount of work and I would have needed a couple co conspirators to pull it off.
@Scott: I worked with 2 people that worked for Flynn when he was a Colonel and when was the 3-star at DIA. They both said he was a flaming asshole and they aren’t surprised at anything he’s been involved in since he retired. He’s paranoid by nature and badgered his briefers and subordinates because he thought they were trying to screw his career.
I’ve some shredded beef samples, pre-cooked, so I thought I’d make a stew by sauteing some mushrooms, then adding tomato paste, beef broth, potatoes and other veggies, lentils (or beans), 1/4 cup milk with a 2 tbsp of cottage cheese liquefied in a blender, and then the beef.
@Mikey: He was the sharpest pencil in the pack of fighter pilot gods the dominate the Air Force. Not much has changed–but I will say the Generals that flew F-15/F-22 air frames are often better strategic thinkers and planners than F-16 Generals. F-15/F-22 is a very small community however so they don’t have near as many Generals as the F-16 community does.
At any rate, I looked at McIrney’s bio and he retired as the ASSISTANT to the Vice Chief of Staff and didn’t have any prestigious commands. Had he not been a fighter pilot–he probably wouldn’t have made it past Colonel. He was the beneficiary of what we on the support side used to call Fighter Pilot Welfare.
Unfortunately the Services haven’t figured out that just because you can perform a very tactical mission like flying a plane or commanding a Company—doesn’t mean you can play the larger game of Chess that incorporates those tactical capabilities and a host of others. This lets a lot of second-rate talent into the General Officer Corps.
I’d throw in soy sauce and fish sauce and garlic too.
I’ll let that slide. Once.
As for garlic, I use garlic and onions in pretty much all I cook (except deserts). If you don’t see them mentioned, it’s along the lines of not mentioning I’m cooking it in a pot.
Almost all my starches now come from potatoes, where I’m getting big bags and perfecting them baked.
My preferred potato fix these days is to chop them into 3/4″ dice (peeled or unpeeled), parboil, then toss them in olive oil herb mixture and bake at 400 for half an hour or until crusty. You can eat them hot or cold, and the flavor is awesome. My preferred mix is herbes de provence, with maybe a little lemon or orange zest, salt and pepper. Thyme is also nice, though. Diced onion or shallot in the mix is also very nice.
As an alternative starch, I recently discovered parsnips. I’m not a cooked carrot fan, but parsnips are amazing — sweet and tender, nice earthy overtones. Mix some in (parboiled) with the potatoes above, and either eat as chunks or puree the whole thing.
Here’s the WH press secretary defending WH holiday parties during Covid-19:
“If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in a protest, you can also go to a Christmas party,” McEnany responded. “You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas, and you can do it responsibly.”
Well, I’m glad she cleared that up. It is so refreshing when someone answers a question in a calm, logical way, with an especially well-thought argument.
I’m so glad my tax dollars help to pay this person’s salary.
I have been meaning to bring this up ever since the monolith story popped up, if you are a fan of black and white science fiction films you need to watch a movie called The Monolith Monsters from 1957 that was a real pleasant surprise when I first saw the film. It has become a favorite of mine and I recently watched the film again.
@DrDaveT: kenji has a recipe that is yours but with two modifications, he puts a little bit of baking soda in the water when parboiling, and after parboiling he beats them up. All of this makes them even crunchier!
He was the beneficiary of what we on the support side used to call Fighter Pilot Welfare.
We called it the Fighter Pilot Mafia when I was in, pretty much the same idea. Non-rated officers simply couldn’t expect to make it into the lofty spaces occupied by pilots, and even among pilots the guys who flew “heavies” wouldn’t get the most plum appointments. I think the only USAF Chief of Staff in the last 40 years who didn’t come out of fighters was Schwarz, and that was only because his background was 100% special operations (MC planes and MH helicopters).
Not that it mattered much to me as enlisted swine, but as a TACP airman I got to work with a lot of fighter guys and even some of them didn’t think it was right (although they didn’t spend a lot of time working to fix it, either).
@Teve: Thanks for the baking soda tip. I do the “beating up” just by stirring them around in the olive oil mixture, but more crunchy goodness is worth pursuing.
This Tweet. Good god, I can’t even. She’s a Republican, of course.
Lauren Witzke
@LaurenWitzkeDE
Americans built this country, and we don’t need to import a third world slave-class to make it successful.
Adam Serwer had a worthy response:
This is a perfect Trumpist tweet. Unbounded confidence in a false premise, total ignorance of history, white nationalism, unintended self-refutation. The works.
@Michael Reynolds:
Whereas here, solid cloud and steady rain all day, 4° (39F) 99% humidity, dark at 3PM, forecast 2°, sleet and fog tonight.
Much better.
Honest.
🙁
My roasties are pretty good; always parboil, shake em about to fluff, get duck or goose fat hot, drop in tatties to seal (don’t want them too greasy), drop in some rosemary, garlic and sea-salt, roast at gas 7 (425 F to you) about 3/4 hour.
Perfect with roast meat and gravy.
@DrDaveT:
If you’re not a carrot fan you might not go for this, but mashed (not pureed) boiled carrot and parsnip with butter and plenty of black pepper is another excellent side dish for a roast.
@JohnSF:
I always let them dry thoroughly after parboiling, then toss them with some olive oil. I toss them occasionally while they’re roasting. Before serving, you can sprinkle them with parsley and chopped chives. Excellent.
Once, in the dojo, I witnessed the following conversation:
Sensei: In the military, it is common for people to specialize in a weapon, and get really, really familiar with that weapon. Fred, you were in the military, what was your weapon?
Fred: A B-52 with a couple of nukes in the bay.
Sensei: …
Fred was a bomber pilot in the Air Force. Once upon a time.
I have no military experience, and as such I don’t like to throw rocks. And, the idea that someone to whom we give that kind of power and responsibility would get lower priority for flag rank seems faintly ridiculous.
That shows in the statistics. With McCaffrey, the Panthers are averaging 3.6 more points per game, 5.2 more first downs, 82.4 more yards from scrimmage and 0.9 more touchdowns.
Perhaps more importantly, with McCaffrey, the team’s third-down conversion rate is 50%, compared to 37.1% without him. The red zone conversion rate is 80% with him and 51.4% without him.
This is crazy. RBs rarely have this kind of impact now. Even historically, outside of someone like Barry Sanders or Jim Brown, I’m just not sure anyone had this kind of impact on a team’s offense. Perhaps I would add Tomlinson and Faulk.
Rosemary is the #1 ingredient in herbes de provence, so it’s pretty close. I tend to go with shallots over garlic because burnt garlic ruins anything, but we’re a garlic-loving household in general.
I make garlic paste by braising heads of garlic (tops cut off) in chicken stock, basting occasionally, then squeezing the braised bulbs into a food processor with a little olive oil and salt. Keeps in the freezer forever, in the fridge for a couple of weeks, and lets you add arbitrary amounts of deep mild garlic flavor any time you want.
If you’re not a carrot fan you might not go for this, but mashed (not pureed) boiled carrot and parsnip with butter and plenty of black pepper is another excellent side dish for a roast.
My aversion to cooked carrot does not extent to purees, so I would probably take your mash to its logical conclusion. Or even better, turn the puree into a soup. One of my favorite soups is essentially carrot puree, chicken stock, ginger, and orange juice (with a fair helping of orange zest as well). Good hot or cold, or add cream to make a bisque.
@Kurtz: I don’t watch much football these days but I have caught McCaffrey’s act enough to say that he is truly something special.
Faulk’s arrival had a big impact for the Rams. I’m not up to snuff on the stats to say he is in the neighborhood of McCaffrey, just that he was a transformative piece whose mere presence on the field opened up the offense for everybody else as well.
Also, I like to add celery to stews, and to vegetable stir fries. One I like to do is shredded cabbage carrot, jicama, with diced celery, sliced onions, minced garlic, whole soybean sprouts, snow peas (when I can find them), stir fried with sesame oil in a big pot (cabbage won’t fit my wok) with pepper and a little soy sauce.
I don’t do it often, because it’s way to much prep, even with the Presto Salad Shooter to shred things for me (maybe if I could fit a whole head of cabbage in it…).
@Mikey: I’ve done some modernization work with The TACP guys—they are some of the Air Force’s finest–damn shame they aren’t valued more by corporate Air Force but not surprising.
Norty Schwartz was a very good Chief but anathema because he flew an airframe without wings AND came out of Air Force Special Ops–a backwater to corporate Air Force so he wasn’t going to get much of an opportunity to make his imprint.
Most people don’t understand that the Chief is not the Commander of the Air Force. They control the corporate Air Force staff processes and the check book but still have to get buy in from the other 4-star Commanders across the Force. Things operate very much like a committee–its not surprising a committee dominated by a single community doesn’t vote itself less influence. Funny how that works.
Okay, at first I thought it was Pussy Galore and your comment still made me LOL, but Pushy Galore, I love it!
Also, I am a bit tired today that I did not pick up on her last name being a ripe target to chuckle at because yeah…JohnSF is right, it is like a comedy writer created her name. Someone at a pop culture site I frequent with an active politics section said that this is how minions of a lame duck President should be treated….Roger that, and I bet more agencies get bold in kicking out folks who are sent to spy for Trump now that this story has aired.
@Jay L Gischer: During the height of the Cold War it wasn’t that way. The Air Force senior General Officer ranks were dominated by the Bomber Pilot Mafia. As the scenario of strategic bombing of Russia became less and less likely–that Mafia was replaced by the pilots that were carrying the load for the current mission. Fighter Pilots.
But again–flying an airframe and dropping ordinance is a different skill that designing a campaign where the General Officers have to engage in the art of war. What is the political objective being supported by the Military operation? Which targets are most important to the adversaries ability to wage war? What is the proper order and cadence strikes should be executed in to have the most effect?
Now don’t get me wrong–General Officers have senior staffers that are experts in all the factors they have to consider. But they still have to apply the art and use their instincts to tweek or even send the Staff back to drawing board if they feel the Staff made the wrong assumptions or simply are operating off a flawed theory of the case. Flying Jets, Driving Tanks, or leading a Platoon–is a unrelated skill—meanwhile–those logistics, communications, and intelligent types who do have the ability to make this leap and be just as good as your top tier combat operations types will never get the opportunity.
This is widely known within the Services and people just accept it. If you think you might want the best possible chance to be a General Officer—you’d better get in the career fields that your Service chooses the most Generals from. Frankly, being a General is overrated. They are true “Company Men” and have sacrificed their families and individual identities for their career. Thank God for them–you have to have a handful of people in any organization who are ‘all in’ for it to be a 1st class organization. I was ‘mostly in’ and chose to leave some room in my life for my family and personal goals.
@SC_Birdflyte: I would say those are the smartest officers as well! I’ve seen several studies that show life expectancy shrinking after about 26 years in the Military–about the time one could retire a Colonel.
I’ve done some modernization work with The TACP guys—they are some of the Air Force’s finest–damn shame they aren’t valued more by corporate Air Force but not surprising.
Man, today they are light years ahead of when I was in. Like, my recruiter had literally no idea what a TACP was. Now I can tell an Air Force person I was a TACP airman and they go “wow!”
Of course, they still won’t get past the USAF’s institutional distaste for the CAS mission, but still, the average airman or officer knows what TACPs do in a way they didn’t 30 years ago.
Beans. Seriously, I use celery in damn near everything, until I run out. I quite often stew up a ham bone, beans, and onion, a couple bay leaves, maybe a few other things, and that’s it. I try to keep some celery seed around for when I run out of the real thing, but sometimes I have to do with out and just basically make beans.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I make a soup from browned sliced Italian sausage, chicken stock, sliced carrots and celery, diced onion, a can of petite diced tomatoes, and a cup or so of rehydrated cannellini beans. It’s very good.
@CSK: Sounds wonderful (I love Italian sausage, still looking for the perfect recipe to flip my wig). I will make beans with a (pick your bone), beans, onion, salt and a couple bay leaves, and it is just fine to add to most anything for this hillbilly’s palate.
FTR, I do not have a very discerning palate. More along the lines of a Mexican cringe dawg’s.
@Teve: Meh… I use some celery from time to time. Mostly in soup, and I used to eat it raw. My biggest problem is that with only me to eat it, celery comes in sale units too big for a single person. Particularly one who’s not big on braised celery hearts (which don’t have the same qualities eaten raw as the outer stalks do).
Sometimes, I see celery for sale as individual stalks, but mostly those are just the smashed up outer stalks that would otherwise be thrown away as the celery is sleeved for sale. Also, they’re usually about 5 times what is charged for celery. A net disappointment all around.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Bean cuisine: For a change instead of pasta, I sometimes slice up some browned Italian sausage and chop up some mushrooms, green peppers, and onion. I saute the vegetables, then put everything in a pot with a 14.5 oz, can of petite diced tomatoes, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, and cannellinis with a few ounces of red wine. Let that simmer a bit.
Spent the day at one of our small hospitals in a rural area where Trump support is strong. One of my favorite nurses was working today, a guy whom I have known for years. Great guy, awesome nurse. Also a Trump supporter. But we can talk about since he’s rational. Talked about how they are getting overwhelmed by Covid. Now stacking 2 to a one person room. Turning storage areas into pt areas, etc. So I asked him how the community was handling it.
Pretty mixed. He said one store he goes to has a sign that says masks are not allowed. Wearing one must be approved by mgt. Another store has s ing saying masks are not needed. Whenever he enters they tell him it is OK to take his off. They do leave him alone when he leaves it on. He was apologetic for the way people are behaving in that area. He didnt have a family gathering for the holiday, but most of his friends did.
Told ya: Mysterious monolith found in Romania – days after a similar one vanished in Utah
Mystery Obelisk Appears on Pine Mountain
@OzarkHillbilly:
Might these be…copycat monoliths?
Dozens test positive for Covid after swingers convention in New Orleans
Who’da thunk it?
The Boston Globe is reporting that Trump is enraged at Barr for not supporting his claims of election fraud and for not probing the FBI investigation into the 2016 campaign, and may fire him.
And Princess Ivanka has been deposed by lawyers alleging that the 2017 inauguration committee misused donor funds.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m sure they were warned then of what they claim to know just now.
Voter fraud.
In my 40 years in DoD, I’ve known and worked for many generals. Some are good, even great and there are some I wouldn’t hesitate to leave on the side of the road.
In general, it is best not to idolize any of them.
Here are two of them:
Calls for martial law and US military oversight of new presidential election draws criticism
This retired three-star falsely claims US soldiers died attacking a CIA facility in Germany tied to election fraud
@Teve:
Follow on from yesterday’s forum re. recipes; I seriously, seriously recommend a look at How to cook the perfect boeuf bourguignon in The Guardian
It’s part of a whole series of “How to cook the perfect…” where Felicity Cloake reviews competing recipes for key dishes, using tasting panels, and gives her recommendations.
I’ve used the series quite a bit, and it’s always been worth a look, and quite often seems spot on.
Check it out.
@sam: I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
@Scott:
McInerney sat on the board of a company I used to work for. I had the opportunity to sit in on a board meeting with him. I recall asking myself: “How in the world did this guy make flag rank? He’s kind of an idiot.”
I’ve made this point before, but this article makes it better:
http://www.theweek.com/articles/953026/democrats-need-to-stop-being-covid-hypocrites
This will pucker your asshole: Dane Jackson Plunges 134 ft down Salto del Maule in Chile (in a kayak)
Pretty cool 11:08 video, he starts his run at the 4:50 mark.
Pro-Trump legal crusade peppered with bizarre blunders in which the feared Kraken is revealed to be the Fuckupen.
@Scott:
I read about this the other day. McInerney sounds like a loon. But I seem to recall that Flynn once had a very good reputation, say ten years ago. Apparently he’s now a QAnon devotee as well. What happened?
Obama.
@CSK: I think he may be like a lot of people in that falls in the category of being competent in a specific, narrow field but that’s it. We like to believe that talented people are good at most things when they are really only talented at one thing.
I guess the Republicans in Michigan held some kind of election fraud hearing where they invited Trumper’s from the general public to speak? My brother sent a few clips. Here’s one that I would be sure was just someone doing a bit except I’ve met Trumpers that sound just like this. This explains the reference to the SNL character.
He also sent one where an East Asian woman complained about not requiring photo ID’s because she thinks all Chinese people look alike.
@CSK:
I recall reading somewhere that he was reckoned a good but impulsive tactical intelligence specialist.
Also a self publicist to a degree that got him noticed, but annoyed a lot of other officers who felt he was making his name by using others work and claiming credit, and disparaging others.
At any rate, the noise got him noticed favourably by influential people in Washington, and to be appointed head of DNI in 2012.
Apparently he was not up to the job, increasingly erratic, and prone to making life hell for subordinates.
Gave a lot of people he had previously offended chance to get their “told you so” in, Obama and Hagel got fed up, Flynn got the boot.
@Scott: @JohnSF:
Promoted beyond his capabilities.
If you’ve been wondering where the hell is Mike Pence, this piece offers some answers.
TL;DR: the first rat off the sinking ship.
Today in Silver Linings: Tourists flock to Four Seasons Total Landscaping after Giuliani debacle
Selfies abound and company rakes in $1.3m in sales following press conference that become symbol of incompetence
Or maybe that should be golden linings.
@OzarkHillbilly: Cool for them! Now what about the dildo store next door? hahahaha
@OzarkHillbilly:
…and swingers are fond of the days when they only needed to worry about STDs.
@Mikey:
I read that they were selling Giuliani autographed dildos.
a joke, just in case somebody thinks I’m serious.
Today on CNN’s morning show, Alisyn Camerota mentioned how people attending Trump rallies signed releases where they took responsibility if they contracted COVID. She then suggested people engaging in high-risk activities like church services, indoor dining, bars, etc. should sign similar papers, in which they promise not to use up medical services if they contract COVID, as they did so through their own carelessness and/or choice of activities.
Won’t ever happen, but she’s right on the money.
@JohnSF:
I used to have this fantasy of retirement. I would buy a food truck, park it in New York near HarperCollins or Macmillan, and serve nothing but boeuf bourguignon, fresh baguette and creme caramel. Publishing people would walk by and say, ‘See that food truck guy? He used to be a NYT bestselling author. But now, his boeuf bourguignon is amazing.’
Then I moved to LA after being away most of my life and, well, it’s December 3, the sun is shining and it’s going to top out at 69 degrees. So, new fantasy: become a cranky, overly-tanned alter kocker with very definite opinions on the appropriate amount of fat in pastrami.
@CSK: Of course, but the amount of work involved in getting these things to their locations and installed means they would have to be really really dedicated copycats.
I once thought of pulling a prank in Bourbon MO where they have 3 water towers. I was wanting to make a couple banners and climb up and hang them on 2 of the tanks. One was going to say “SCOTCH” and the other was going to say “BEER”. But it would have been a fair amount of work and I would have needed a couple co conspirators to pull it off.
“Nah, let’s go caving.”
@OzarkHillbilly:
I was joking. But however you slice it, it’s a mammoth amount of work to get those things made and installed–especially covertly.
@JohnSF: thanks. I read through half of it and then bookmarked it for later.
@Scott: I worked with 2 people that worked for Flynn when he was a Colonel and when was the 3-star at DIA. They both said he was a flaming asshole and they aren’t surprised at anything he’s been involved in since he retired. He’s paranoid by nature and badgered his briefers and subordinates because he thought they were trying to screw his career.
I’ve some shredded beef samples, pre-cooked, so I thought I’d make a stew by sauteing some mushrooms, then adding tomato paste, beef broth, potatoes and other veggies, lentils (or beans), 1/4 cup milk with a 2 tbsp of cottage cheese liquefied in a blender, and then the beef.
@Kathy: sounds good. I’d throw in soy sauce and fish sauce and garlic too.
@Mikey: He was the sharpest pencil in the pack of fighter pilot gods the dominate the Air Force. Not much has changed–but I will say the Generals that flew F-15/F-22 air frames are often better strategic thinkers and planners than F-16 Generals. F-15/F-22 is a very small community however so they don’t have near as many Generals as the F-16 community does.
At any rate, I looked at McIrney’s bio and he retired as the ASSISTANT to the Vice Chief of Staff and didn’t have any prestigious commands. Had he not been a fighter pilot–he probably wouldn’t have made it past Colonel. He was the beneficiary of what we on the support side used to call Fighter Pilot Welfare.
Unfortunately the Services haven’t figured out that just because you can perform a very tactical mission like flying a plane or commanding a Company—doesn’t mean you can play the larger game of Chess that incorporates those tactical capabilities and a host of others. This lets a lot of second-rate talent into the General Officer Corps.
@Scott: Indeed–and often the greater the proficiency at that one thing–the smaller the flexibility in range to excel at other things. Its a tradeoff.
@Teve:
I’ll let that slide. Once.
As for garlic, I use garlic and onions in pretty much all I cook (except deserts). If you don’t see them mentioned, it’s along the lines of not mentioning I’m cooking it in a pot.
@CSK:
If there’s more than one, isn’t it now a polylith?
For that matter, if it isn’t made of rock can it be a __lith at all?
@Teve:
My preferred potato fix these days is to chop them into 3/4″ dice (peeled or unpeeled), parboil, then toss them in olive oil herb mixture and bake at 400 for half an hour or until crusty. You can eat them hot or cold, and the flavor is awesome. My preferred mix is herbes de provence, with maybe a little lemon or orange zest, salt and pepper. Thyme is also nice, though. Diced onion or shallot in the mix is also very nice.
As an alternative starch, I recently discovered parsnips. I’m not a cooked carrot fan, but parsnips are amazing — sweet and tender, nice earthy overtones. Mix some in (parboiled) with the potatoes above, and either eat as chunks or puree the whole thing.
Here’s the WH press secretary defending WH holiday parties during Covid-19:
“If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in a protest, you can also go to a Christmas party,” McEnany responded. “You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas, and you can do it responsibly.”
Well, I’m glad she cleared that up. It is so refreshing when someone answers a question in a calm, logical way, with an especially well-thought argument.
I’m so glad my tax dollars help to pay this person’s salary.
I have been meaning to bring this up ever since the monolith story popped up, if you are a fan of black and white science fiction films you need to watch a movie called The Monolith Monsters from 1957 that was a real pleasant surprise when I first saw the film. It has become a favorite of mine and I recently watched the film again.
@DrDaveT: kenji has a recipe that is yours but with two modifications, he puts a little bit of baking soda in the water when parboiling, and after parboiling he beats them up. All of this makes them even crunchier!
@Jim Brown 32:
We called it the Fighter Pilot Mafia when I was in, pretty much the same idea. Non-rated officers simply couldn’t expect to make it into the lofty spaces occupied by pilots, and even among pilots the guys who flew “heavies” wouldn’t get the most plum appointments. I think the only USAF Chief of Staff in the last 40 years who didn’t come out of fighters was Schwarz, and that was only because his background was 100% special operations (MC planes and MH helicopters).
Not that it mattered much to me as enlisted swine, but as a TACP airman I got to work with a lot of fighter guys and even some of them didn’t think it was right (although they didn’t spend a lot of time working to fix it, either).
@Teve: Thanks for the baking soda tip. I do the “beating up” just by stirring them around in the olive oil mixture, but more crunchy goodness is worth pursuing.
wow, when Arecibo cracked up, there was a camera watching.
@DrDaveT: yeah the baking soda—just 1/4 tsp—lets the potato cells’ pectin come apart, he says, and the surface ruptures more.
https://youtu.be/argKpeiKFfo
This Tweet. Good god, I can’t even. She’s a Republican, of course.
Adam Serwer had a worthy response:
@Mikey:
Witzke, hmmmm, bet she has ancestors and very likely a grand parent or great grand parent that emigrated from Poland.
Just looked her up, given her age, I bet it is a grandparent who fled Poland after WWII, maybe with a parent in tow.
@DrDaveT:
Rosemary, garlic and salt – just sayin’.
@Michael Reynolds:
Whereas here, solid cloud and steady rain all day, 4° (39F) 99% humidity, dark at 3PM, forecast 2°, sleet and fog tonight.
Much better.
Honest.
🙁
@Teve:
Baking soda, eh? Have to try that.
My roasties are pretty good; always parboil, shake em about to fluff, get duck or goose fat hot, drop in tatties to seal (don’t want them too greasy), drop in some rosemary, garlic and sea-salt, roast at gas 7 (425 F to you) about 3/4 hour.
Perfect with roast meat and gravy.
@DrDaveT:
If you’re not a carrot fan you might not go for this, but mashed (not pureed) boiled carrot and parsnip with butter and plenty of black pepper is another excellent side dish for a roast.
@JohnSF:
I always let them dry thoroughly after parboiling, then toss them with some olive oil. I toss them occasionally while they’re roasting. Before serving, you can sprinkle them with parsley and chopped chives. Excellent.
Once, in the dojo, I witnessed the following conversation:
Sensei: In the military, it is common for people to specialize in a weapon, and get really, really familiar with that weapon. Fred, you were in the military, what was your weapon?
Fred: A B-52 with a couple of nukes in the bay.
Sensei: …
Fred was a bomber pilot in the Air Force. Once upon a time.
I have no military experience, and as such I don’t like to throw rocks. And, the idea that someone to whom we give that kind of power and responsibility would get lower priority for flag rank seems faintly ridiculous.
Who doesn’t love a bit of Wingnut on Wingnut action:
WTH? Breitbart Wages War Against Attorney Lin Wood — Who Is Defending President Trump Against Evil Marxist Horde — Lin Wood Responds
@Jay L Gischer:
There was a time, back in the Cold War, when several USAF Chiefs of Staff in a row came out of strategic bombers. But not recently.
@Scott:
This may not only meet, but exceed, the definition of a clusterfuck.
Via ESPN.
This is crazy. RBs rarely have this kind of impact now. Even historically, outside of someone like Barry Sanders or Jim Brown, I’m just not sure anyone had this kind of impact on a team’s offense. Perhaps I would add Tomlinson and Faulk.
@Joe:
Rosemary is the #1 ingredient in herbes de provence, so it’s pretty close. I tend to go with shallots over garlic because burnt garlic ruins anything, but we’re a garlic-loving household in general.
I make garlic paste by braising heads of garlic (tops cut off) in chicken stock, basting occasionally, then squeezing the braised bulbs into a food processor with a little olive oil and salt. Keeps in the freezer forever, in the fridge for a couple of weeks, and lets you add arbitrary amounts of deep mild garlic flavor any time you want.
@JohnSF:
My aversion to cooked carrot does not extent to purees, so I would probably take your mash to its logical conclusion. Or even better, turn the puree into a soup. One of my favorite soups is essentially carrot puree, chicken stock, ginger, and orange juice (with a fair helping of orange zest as well). Good hot or cold, or add cream to make a bisque.
@Kurtz: I don’t watch much football these days but I have caught McCaffrey’s act enough to say that he is truly something special.
Faulk’s arrival had a big impact for the Rams. I’m not up to snuff on the stats to say he is in the neighborhood of McCaffrey, just that he was a transformative piece whose mere presence on the field opened up the offense for everybody else as well.
@DrDaveT:
One quarter mashed/pureed parsnip
One quarter mashed/pureed celery root
One half mashed potatoes
This is wonderful with roast duck.
@Mikey:
Those were the baddest planes at the time. 😀
why celery is the worst vegetable ever
@Jim Brown 32: There’s a saying in the Air Force that the best officers are Colonels who didn’t make Brigadier General.
@Teve:..celery…
I use celery salt all the time. Baked spuds. Green beans. Beef stew. Soups. Chili. (chili is not soup)
@Teve:
You cannot make a proper ragu Bolognaise without celery.
It’s science.
What is soup without celery? And tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad….
Another of the “best people” bites the dust:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/heidi-stirrup-white-house-liaison-doj-banned
@CSK:
Heidi Stirrup?
Look, 2020 writers, we all know the season’s coming to an end, but come on….
I’m a bit surprised Barr hasn’t been fired.
Also, I like to add celery to stews, and to vegetable stir fries. One I like to do is shredded cabbage carrot, jicama, with diced celery, sliced onions, minced garlic, whole soybean sprouts, snow peas (when I can find them), stir fried with sesame oil in a big pot (cabbage won’t fit my wok) with pepper and a little soy sauce.
I don’t do it often, because it’s way to much prep, even with the Presto Salad Shooter to shred things for me (maybe if I could fit a whole head of cabbage in it…).
@JohnSF:
Yeah, I know. The commenters at TPM are calling her Pushy Galore, Money Rider, and Holly Badhead.
Good.
Maybe it’s a genetic thing like cilantro. For those of us with/without the gene, celery is disgusting.
@Teve:
Lima beans make me gag.
I think that would be a fine title for my memoirs.
@Mikey: I’ve done some modernization work with The TACP guys—they are some of the Air Force’s finest–damn shame they aren’t valued more by corporate Air Force but not surprising.
Norty Schwartz was a very good Chief but anathema because he flew an airframe without wings AND came out of Air Force Special Ops–a backwater to corporate Air Force so he wasn’t going to get much of an opportunity to make his imprint.
Most people don’t understand that the Chief is not the Commander of the Air Force. They control the corporate Air Force staff processes and the check book but still have to get buy in from the other 4-star Commanders across the Force. Things operate very much like a committee–its not surprising a committee dominated by a single community doesn’t vote itself less influence. Funny how that works.
@CSK:
Okay, at first I thought it was Pussy Galore and your comment still made me LOL, but Pushy Galore, I love it!
Also, I am a bit tired today that I did not pick up on her last name being a ripe target to chuckle at because yeah…JohnSF is right, it is like a comedy writer created her name. Someone at a pop culture site I frequent with an active politics section said that this is how minions of a lame duck President should be treated….Roger that, and I bet more agencies get bold in kicking out folks who are sent to spy for Trump now that this story has aired.
@Jay L Gischer: During the height of the Cold War it wasn’t that way. The Air Force senior General Officer ranks were dominated by the Bomber Pilot Mafia. As the scenario of strategic bombing of Russia became less and less likely–that Mafia was replaced by the pilots that were carrying the load for the current mission. Fighter Pilots.
But again–flying an airframe and dropping ordinance is a different skill that designing a campaign where the General Officers have to engage in the art of war. What is the political objective being supported by the Military operation? Which targets are most important to the adversaries ability to wage war? What is the proper order and cadence strikes should be executed in to have the most effect?
Now don’t get me wrong–General Officers have senior staffers that are experts in all the factors they have to consider. But they still have to apply the art and use their instincts to tweek or even send the Staff back to drawing board if they feel the Staff made the wrong assumptions or simply are operating off a flawed theory of the case. Flying Jets, Driving Tanks, or leading a Platoon–is a unrelated skill—meanwhile–those logistics, communications, and intelligent types who do have the ability to make this leap and be just as good as your top tier combat operations types will never get the opportunity.
This is widely known within the Services and people just accept it. If you think you might want the best possible chance to be a General Officer—you’d better get in the career fields that your Service chooses the most Generals from. Frankly, being a General is overrated. They are true “Company Men” and have sacrificed their families and individual identities for their career. Thank God for them–you have to have a handful of people in any organization who are ‘all in’ for it to be a 1st class organization. I was ‘mostly in’ and chose to leave some room in my life for my family and personal goals.
@SC_Birdflyte: I would say those are the smartest officers as well! I’ve seen several studies that show life expectancy shrinking after about 26 years in the Military–about the time one could retire a Colonel.
@Jim Brown 32:
Man, today they are light years ahead of when I was in. Like, my recruiter had literally no idea what a TACP was. Now I can tell an Air Force person I was a TACP airman and they go “wow!”
Of course, they still won’t get past the USAF’s institutional distaste for the CAS mission, but still, the average airman or officer knows what TACPs do in a way they didn’t 30 years ago.
Beans. Seriously, I use celery in damn near everything, until I run out. I quite often stew up a ham bone, beans, and onion, a couple bay leaves, maybe a few other things, and that’s it. I try to keep some celery seed around for when I run out of the real thing, but sometimes I have to do with out and just basically make beans.
I like beans.
@Kathy:
I suspect the conversation ended when Barr told Trump that there was no one who could do more to screw Biden in the next six weeks then Barr could.
Worldometer shows 2875 new deaths in the US yesterday from COVID. Estimated US dead from D Day are 2501.
Test
@gVOR08: @gVOR08: Failed to get EDIT. Who was it said yesterday he does his best proofreading right after hitting POST.
NOW I get edit. The Department of Redundancy Department has corrected the 18:41 comment.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I make a soup from browned sliced Italian sausage, chicken stock, sliced carrots and celery, diced onion, a can of petite diced tomatoes, and a cup or so of rehydrated cannellini beans. It’s very good.
@gVOR08: Every gawd damned one of us. Oh, wait a minute, you meant in a posted comment?
@CSK: Sounds wonderful (I love Italian sausage, still looking for the perfect recipe to flip my wig). I will make beans with a (pick your bone), beans, onion, salt and a couple bay leaves, and it is just fine to add to most anything for this hillbilly’s palate.
FTR, I do not have a very discerning palate. More along the lines of a Mexican cringe dawg’s.
Mike Pompeo has invited 900 people to his Christmas party.
@Teve: Meh… I use some celery from time to time. Mostly in soup, and I used to eat it raw. My biggest problem is that with only me to eat it, celery comes in sale units too big for a single person. Particularly one who’s not big on braised celery hearts (which don’t have the same qualities eaten raw as the outer stalks do).
Sometimes, I see celery for sale as individual stalks, but mostly those are just the smashed up outer stalks that would otherwise be thrown away as the celery is sleeved for sale. Also, they’re usually about 5 times what is charged for celery. A net disappointment all around.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Bean cuisine: For a change instead of pasta, I sometimes slice up some browned Italian sausage and chop up some mushrooms, green peppers, and onion. I saute the vegetables, then put everything in a pot with a 14.5 oz, can of petite diced tomatoes, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, and cannellinis with a few ounces of red wine. Let that simmer a bit.
@Teve:
My invitation must have been lost in the mail. Thank Gawd.
Spent the day at one of our small hospitals in a rural area where Trump support is strong. One of my favorite nurses was working today, a guy whom I have known for years. Great guy, awesome nurse. Also a Trump supporter. But we can talk about since he’s rational. Talked about how they are getting overwhelmed by Covid. Now stacking 2 to a one person room. Turning storage areas into pt areas, etc. So I asked him how the community was handling it.
Pretty mixed. He said one store he goes to has a sign that says masks are not allowed. Wearing one must be approved by mgt. Another store has s ing saying masks are not needed. Whenever he enters they tell him it is OK to take his off. They do leave him alone when he leaves it on. He was apologetic for the way people are behaving in that area. He didnt have a family gathering for the holiday, but most of his friends did.
Steve
So Dan Crenshaw, who sucks, attacked Lin Wood as a Democrat, prompting Michelle Malkin to attack Dan Crenshaw as John McCain in an eyepatch.
Larry stop pointing that gun at my fucking Dad!!!
@gVOR08:
It is a universal law. But you’re welcome.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Wait a minute… The local megamart charges by the pound…you mean I’m NOT supposed to pick the 3 stalks I want? Pfuii!