Tuesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Tuesday, August 8, 2023
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72 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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It is 5:55 am. The heat index is currently 94°F.
@Kurtz: Where are you?
@MarkedMan:
Southwest Florida
@Kurtz: I shouldn’t complain then. Just got finished walking the dogs here in San Antonio. It is 78 degrees, 92% humidity, and I’m dripping wet. Blech.
In Birmingham in England it’s currently 15C (= 59 F) and drizzling.
Last month was among the wettest July weather on record in the UK (5th IIRC) and the coldest in a decade.
And August is not looking much different so far.
OTOH, I’ll take that over the horrid heat there’s been in the Med and the US.
Just hope we get some dry sun before harvest, or food prices will be up again.
It’s 70 F with rain and fog here in northeastern Mass. Flood watch.
A thread:
https://nitter.net/AWeissmann_/status/1688888746039562240
snip
@Kurtz:
SW Florida…like Germany in the 30’s, but humid.
@charontwo:
Judge Cannon seems to be intent on getting herself kicked off this trial.
Central Illinois, low 60s, sunny and dry. As the climate changes, we’re gunning to be the new San Diego!
@Daryl:
Judge Cannon is bucking for a SCOTUS nomination
Currently mid 60s and foggy, predicted high of 82. Tomorrow the monsoons return. These past few weeks I could swear I am now living in a rain forest. We’ve lost power so often in the past 2 weeks, I don’t dare put the generator away.
@Daryl:
Seriously, I wonder if you are right. She stays on the case and continues to behave this way and her career is ruined and she becomes a classroom lesson of how not to behave. She recuses herself or starts behaving appropriately and the MAGAs wreck her life and any political ambitions she has are over. Getting kicked off may be her safest bet.
Raining hard, and 70 degrees here. This summer has been very wet–while I am happy to have something to replenish the aquifers after several bad drought years, I’m beginning to wonder if an ark might be needed.
I got glared at the other night when I pointed out that at least it’s rain–if this continues after temps drop in the fall, the snow will be EPIC.
Large brawl in Alabama as people defend Black riverboat worker against white assailants
57 and partly cloudy here. Most of the people doing early dog walks are wearing jackets.
Anxiously awaiting Ohio special election results today to see if democracy of the people is still alive.
@Joe: The existing San Diego has been in the low 80s and humid for the past few weeks.
That said, it has been great for the plants in the yard!
Not that anyone asked, here’s how I make goulash.
Brief note: I won’t go into cuts of beef. These vary a lot, and in any case I’ve no idea what it is I’m getting. I will note I use slim, rectangular pieces, as opposed to cubes.
1-1.2 kg beef
Flour
1 large onion, sliced.
1 tomato, core, seeded, and chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
Pepper to taste
1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cup of beef broth (or chicken broth or stock)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
2 Tbsp. tomato puree or sauce
3 Tbsp. paprika
Cooking oil as needed
First dredge the beef in the flour, then brown the beef with some oil in the pot you’ll place inside the oven. I use a cast iron pot. The browning will be done in batches, setting aside as each piece gets done. Next add more oil if needed, and saute the onion slices and chopped tomato. I didn’t time how long, but about until the begin to soften. I also add pepper while they saute. Then add the garlic and saute for another minute.
Next add the broth, Worcestershire, tomato puree, and paprika. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden paddle or spoon (or a very stiff silicon spatula), to loosen any bits that may be stuck there. Mix well. When it begins to boil, remove from the heat, add the beef, stir again, cover the pot, and place it in the oven at about 150 C (abt 300 F) for 2-2.5 hours. Halfway through you’ll want to five the whole thing a stir.
When the time’s up, I like to turn off the oven and leave the pot, covered, inside for a while. I take it out once the whole thing cools down a bit.
I then take the pieces of beef out with tongs (the pot is still hot enough to give you second degree burns; always use oven mitts when cooking in cast iron), onto a serving dish, and cut it into cubes. By now the beef is so tender it may fall apart. What it’s all done, I ladle the sauce and now semi-solid onion and tomato on top of the beef. The sauce should be thick but fluid.
This was my third attempt, and I’m satisfied with the results. It’s very much like the goulash we had at home when I was growing up (though that got made in a pressure cooker for some reason).
Next I’ll attempt some variations. I’d be willing to add potatoes, for instance. I think the dish overall would benefit from more onions, not cooked with the beef and sauce. Maybe added near the end of the time in the oven, maybe sauteed onions done separately and added on top the completed dish.
Cloudy and 74 here in Memphis. We are in hills north of I-40, away from most asphalt, so it’s usually a bit cooler up here. We’ve had several severe thunderstorms with high winds that caused power outages. One storm did a real number, breaking trees in half or toppling them down on homes and cars. Streets blocked, utility lines ripped off poles, large limbs and debris everywhere…a real mess. Even now, a couple of weeks later, limbs are still coming down that were broken in that storm. Widow-makers hanging on trees all around us, just waiting for a decent breeze to free them. Sadie and I miss walking in the woods as much, but it’s just too dangerous right now.
We just had a dedicated outlet put in for our generator. It was such a hassle running the extensions. Now we just plug it in and start it up.
@Kathy: Sounds good. A couple of possible variations:
1. Use a vegetable juice cocktail (e.g. V-8) in place of the broth/tomato sauce mix. Reduce salt accordingly.
2. Cook the paprika in the oil with the onions as you sauté them, to wake up its flavor a bit before you add the liquids.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yup, try that in a small town.
Since we’re playing “how’s the how’s the weather”* today, the high will be 80 on the outer rim of Portland (OR) metro today, but it’s 63 at 8am. It’s been hazy for several days but doesn’t seem to be wildfire smoke and clears later in the day. And this is down from the mid to high 90s earlier in past few weeks. Pretty temperate, all things considered.
*a children’s song sung at toddler English classes in Korea.
@Daryl:
Might be a wise career move. Hard to say.
DeSantis replaces campaign manager. In Uthmeier. Out Peck.
The Hill
The Southside is beautiful. 78 and sunny with just a pleasant touch of humidity. I went “running” for the first time in years. 30 minutes. I want to die.
@Mister Bluster:
Spoiler alert; It’s not the manager, it’s the candidate.
@DrDaveT:
I’ve used citrus and carrot juice in other recipes, mostly vegetable based. For the goulash, I think it would lack the umaminess of the broth or stock. Not to mention V8 for some reason uses added sugars.
I have thought about sprinkling paprika on the onions. Part of the problem is my strategic paprika reserve is running perilously low at the moment.
@Daryl:…It’s not the manager, it’s the candidate.
So threatening to “slit throats” of your political enemies doesn’t appeal to all the voters?
It’s likely too late for Genghis Ron to figure this out.
@Daryl:
In her official portrait she has the same religious look and crazy eyes as Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman. But maybe she’s not as dumb as she looks. Her career depends on the Federalist Society and the Wing Nut Welfare system. That support would end if she’s the judge who presides over Trump’s conviction. It would make sense for her to try to get removed from the case as early as possible and for seeming to support Trump.
ETA: I see Marked Man and cracker beat me to this insightful comment.
@Mister Bluster: The new campaign manager is his long time chief of staff. No experience running a campaign but very loyal, the only criterion that matters.
“Link”
https://nitter.net/AWeissmann_/status/1688958873342816270
66 and continuing to be unseasonably cool in the East Bay. We’ve had a few short heat waves, but for the most part, the weather has been almost coastal in the mornings and evenings. I’m not complaining. A lot of wind, which is bizarre for mid-summer.
@Kathy:
These are worth a look:
https://oaktownspiceshop.com/collections/best-sellers/products/paprika-spanish-smoked
https://oaktownspiceshop.com/products/hungarian-sweet-paprika?
Goulash sounds good. What do you serve it with? Wife and I are locked in mortal combat over this. She is very much a noodle person. I think it’s better with mashed potatoes.
Steve
@gVOR10:
Oh, FFS, are you kidding me? Yep, that’s where you want a starter campaign manager, when you’re (checks notes) RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
Prepare for a bunch of internal mess-ups. I’ve seen campaign managers become successful COS, but for whatever reason, the reverse always seems to crash and burn.
Well, that and the ability to tell the boss all the pretty lies s/he* wants to hear.
* because I have a feeling Casey is the real boss.
@steve:
I like to mix in some cooked grain with sauce heavy dishes. Usually rice. This time I tried kasha. They both absorb some of the sauce and mix well with bites of beef. This is a habit I acquired in my early teens, when we had Chinese quite often.
To the side this time I made thick potato slices. First sliced and parboiled, then I brushed them with oil and put them in the oven next to the goulash, but for a shorter time.
I don’t recall what I made for a side the other times.
@Kurtz: Also SWFL. Same as it’s been for over a month. But at least it cools a bit overnight and now it rains occasionally. Very pleasant dinner last night watching the sunset from a restaurant on Manasota Key.
Florida is canceling…Shakespeare?!?
https://www.salon.com/2023/08/08/theres-some-raunchiness-florida-crackdown-on-books-comes-for-shakespeare/
@Daryl: Isn’t Shakespeare a perennial though? I remember something called “Bowdlerizing” somewhere in my past.
@Daryl:
And have been for quite some time.
@just nutha: I suspect the original Bowdler editions of Shakespeare are available somewhere. Why rebuild the same mousetrap.
@just nutha: @Joe:
I’m pretty certain the Shakespeare editions we read in high school were slightly expurgated, such as the line about smelling of horse piss from The Tempest, or “Pistol’s cock is up” from Henry IV, Part 11.
WaPo has an article about people opposing a wind farm off the coast of New Jersey
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/08/offshore-wind-energy-east-coast/
We really need to just tax the fuck out of coasts where wind farms are practical. Offer a tax break if the residents approve wind farms. Give them an option, but put a very heavy finger on the scale.
I’ve had a similar thought with regards to single family zoning in Seattle — if the “character” of your wealthy neighborhood of craftsman houses is so important to you, it clearly has value that should be taxed.
This ties into James Joyner’s recent post about the folks looking at rural poverty as more than just poverty but also the disadvantages there. We need to look at how to spread the easily movable disadvantages around.
I’m thinking a point system, and every property in the US assigned a score based on proximity to various unsightly or unpleasant facilities, with property taxes being calculated to take that score into account.
It would be gamed, of course, but if the Hamptons end up with 93 state run assisted living facilities for adults with severe autism in an effort to block affordable housing and/or lower their taxes, I think I’m ok with that.
@CSK:
I thought Shakespeare jumped the shark in part 7 where Henry IV was revealed to have octopus DNA that gave him the ability to camouflage and slip between tiny cracks.
Still, not as ridiculous as the The Fast and the Furious franchise.
@OzarkHillbilly: at least we bring joy to the world. Making people laugh is a wonderful thing.
@CSK:
There is a lot of rather bawdy, to put it mildly, bits in Shakespeare.
If you get what he’s saying some bits of A Midummer’s Night’s Dream are utterly filthy double-entendres.
The English sense of humour hasn’t changed that much, LOL.
Trump spoke at the Windham High School in New Hampshire this afternoon. Not a peep about it on any of the local ABC, NBC, or CBS affiliates,
Trump said that if a gag order is imposed on him, he’ll happily violate it.
@CSK: I never paid enough attention to notice and had no comparison sources. I would not know.
ETA: Then again, I only remember reading R&J, Julius Caesar, and Merchant, so I’m pretty limited.
@CSK:
A while back I said I wanted to hear nothing about El cheeto unless it was an indictment.
This stands, but now I also want to hear nothing else about him unless it’s a conviction
@just nutha:
Were you an English major?
@Kathy:
It appears he’s taunting Judge Chutkan. Maybe he’ll get his capacious ass tossed into the slammer. I’m sure you’d enjoy reading/hearing about that.
@Gustopher:
Perhaps I’m weird, but I think windmills are cool.
I ride by them all the time and and am never taken back by their presence.
And they aren’t like offshore oil platforms that are spilling oil, even in small amounts, all the time.
And I promise you, the same people fighting these, are also complaining about the heat waves and other climate change induced weather.
I do think if she gives him a gag order he will challenge it. Then what happens? He isnt going to say ” the judge lives at 101 Main st so go kill her”. We are going to get something just a bit over the line like “I wish someone would rid me of this awful judge”. If he gets sent to jail it rips up his base and increase voter turnout and donations. His cult members claim he just meant he wanted the proper court entity to replace her. If he gets jailed it gets quickly appealed to SCOTUS. What does the current SCOTUS do? Is it believable they do anything other than support him? They have been paid all of the bribe money, errr I mean friendship money, but friends do nice things for their friends.
Steve
Now VFX workers are voting to unionize.
So, when studios decide they can have AI write scripts to be played by AI actors and embellished by AI VFX, will they also develop an AI audience that will pay to watch the product?
@Gustopher: True enough, but I’m not sure it makes up for all the times Florida has made people cry.
@CSK:
Only if there are pictures.
I feel cheated we’ve had no perp walk yet.
@steve:
I’d be very surprised if the feds haven’t offered Benito a deal that lets him off the hook, in exchange for disappearing into quiet exile somewhere after pleading no contest. Maybe getting the NY and Fulton DAs on board as well, or promising not to attempt any kind of extradition.
For a republic with one of the oldest modern democracies, there is an excessive deference to the chief executive, bordering on that shown to divine right monarchs. Come, the guy is just a temp employee who faces a grueling do-or-die job evaluation in four years.
@CSK: Only for my MA, where I mostly took linguistics and writing pedagogy courses. I suspect that over 3 programs, I probably took less than a dozen lit courses total.
ETA: And only one of those: Amer. Lit I, was a survey course. I did not study to become your typical “language arts” teacher.
@Kathy: No, they’ll offer it on commercial-free streams at $10 more per month.
@JohnSF:
“What, with my tongue in your tail?”
— The Taming of the Shrew, Act II, scene i, line 217
“If love be rough with you, be rough with love; prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.”
— Romeo and Juliet, Act I, scene iv, line 27
@steve:
Spätzle! https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-to-make-spatzle-aka-spaetzle-little.html?m=1
Also, my favorite Hungarian goulash recipe: https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2013/01/beef-goulash-thick-hungarian-soup-thin.html?m=1
@Gustopher: “Ocean Wind 1 is an offshore wind farm located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey.”
https://oceanwindone.com/about-the-project
15 miles offshore, probably barely visible to the assholes, excuse me, the opponents.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:..I did not study to become your typical “language arts” teacher.
50+ years ago one of my college roommates was working on his MS in English. We ragged on him all the time. “What are you going to do with a Masters Degree in English?”
I recently found out that he had just retired from NASA.
@Gustopher:
Nah, I don’t think it jumped the shark till Part 13.
@JohnSF: @DrDaveT:
“There’s a fair thought to lie between a maid’s legs.” — Hamlet
Various news sites are reporting Issue 1 failed in Ohio.
It seems the margin is so big, it’s been called with about 50% of the vote in.
Ohio voters reject Issue 1. No change in 50%+1 method to amend Ohio Constitution. This appears to be a loss for Republicans.
ETA Politico is reporting 57.2% Keep Current Law with 61% of vote in.
@CSK and JohnSF and DrDaveT:
All of your swift references remind me of the (apocryphal) tale of Ben Webster’s(?) [the] first English language dictionary: a few ladies approach him and say, Mr. Webster we are gratified that you have had the good judgment to leave a few words out of your dictionary, to which he replied, so you’ve looked.
All eyes on Ohio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCS-g3HwXdc
@Mister Bluster: Those were the days all right. By the time I was in grad school 20 years later (1985-ish), all the NASA jobs had been taken. ☹️