Bits & Pieces (Lulu’s Birthday Edition)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Michigoose

Today is our very own lms’s birthday!

Today is also Agnetha Fältskog’s [Anna Ulvaeus] birthday from the group ABBA, so with that in mind. . .

ABBA’s Benny and Bjorn sing Happy Birthday

hoppy birdies, lms!

Mark adds the recipe for traditional Italian Jewish Passover Seder soup, which is somewhat different than northern European Jewish Matzoh ball soup:

Minestra di riso per pesach from Edda Servi

As Edda Servi Machlin notes, though the Ashkenazim consider rice chametz, Italkim do not; this is thus the Italian equivalent of matza ball soup and is served at the Seder. It includes meatballs made from chicken breast and immature chicken eggs, which she suggests be substituted with hard-boiled eggs as they are hard to find. To serve 8:
Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

A whole chicken breast, boned
An egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup matza meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
A pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon
2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 cup (100 g) uncooked rice
8 small hard-boiled eggs
Preparation:

Grind the chicken breast. Lightly beat the egg and combine it with the matza meal and 2 tablespoons of the chicken broth. Combine the ground chicken breast and the matza mixture, salt, and spice, and mix thoroughly. Chill the mixture for 15 minutes; in the meantime peel the eggs, discarding the whites, and bring your soup stock to a boil.

Make meatballs no larger than the yolks. Add them and the rice to the soup, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Place a yolk in each of the soup bowls, ladle the soup over it, and serve.

Happy Penguin Birthday!

 

Filed under: 2012, Birthdays, Bits and Pieces | 10 Comments »

Republican War on Women (RWoW)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by markinaustin

This deserves a thread of its own.

Google the phrase.

  1. Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP’s War on Women

    pol.moveon.org/waronwomen/

    Stop the Republican War on Women. Redefining rape. Attacking the right to choose. Belitting victims of violence. The Republicans are on a rampage attacking …

This is quite clearly a freighted political catchphrase, intended so by sources like MoveOn and HuffPo.  Like the “War on Drugs” and the “War on Terror” it is intended to limit discussion of issues based on impugning motives.  Scott has been trying to make that point.

If we could define the Republican War on Women as the sum of these actions:

a failed conservative move to cut off U.S. government aid to Planned Parenthood + the Komen decision, since reversed + the attempted but failed roll back of contraception under employer health plans + the all male panel called to testify + the G’town student who was called a “slut” by Limbaugh + Santorum’s money guy’s “aspirin between the knees” comment + the vaginal insert sonogram, since abandoned in VA + the R opposition to extending the funding under the Violence against Women Act + personhood laws (thanks, Ashot), we could probably still talk about the cumulation without calling it war.

We could see it as R strategy to appeal to a fundamentalist base, that has become a bolder strategy as more and more of the active voting base of Rs claim fundamentalist religious principles, which often go far beyond the antipathy to abortion that many non-fundamentalists share.  We could see that fundamentalist faith actually does put women in a secondary role – this is true in all the Abrahamic religions.

We could see that some of the individual issues that have been tarred as part of the RWoW don’t derive their impetus from pandering to fundamentalist religion.  For example, some may derive from the desire to cut the budget.

We would not be surprised that moderate women would have no sympathy for any of the items I listed, and would be moving away from the Rs, unless some other set of issues took priority for them.

IMHO,  resisting the shorthand RWoW is worthwhile just in order to keep the issue conversation alive.  I think the same is true of other uses of the word “war” in a catchphrase intended to inflame emotions – like the WoD and the WoT.  It also cheapens the meaning of the word, fwiw.

Filed under: 2012, Planned Parenthood, Republican primary | Tagged: | 193 Comments »

Mourning Report

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Brent Nyitray

RIP Jim (Guv’nor) Marshall – the man who made heavy guitar sound so awesome

Vital Statistics:

Last Change Percent
S&P Futures 1388.0 -5.2 -0.37%
Eurostoxx Index 2373.3 -25.1 -1.05%
Oil (WTI) 101.66 0.2 0.19%
LIBOR 0.4692 0.000 0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY) 80.046 0.268 0.34%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield 2.16% -0.06%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index 170.92 0.3

Markets are continuing the sell-off that began when the Fed hinted that QEIII isn’t going to happen. Bonds are up over a point and MBS are up half a point. Euro sovereign yields are wider again, and you are starting to see   bids in bank credit default swaps, particularly in some of the traditional European ne’er do wells – Dexia and Intesa SanPaolo. Spain is the new one to watch.

Today is the first Thursday of the month, which means retailers are reporting same store sales for March. Generally, they appear to be strong, particularly in department stores and Men’s / Women’s apparel. Discounters and Teen Apparel were weaker with some exceptions (Zumiez and Target).  Overall, the numbers look good and a few took up Q1 earnings estimates. The “yes. but…” is that March had some unseasonably warm weather, and that undoubtedly helped get people out of the house and into the stores.

Initial Jobless Claims came in at 357k.  Continuing Claims were 3,338k.

REO asset managers may want to watch this developing situation – allegations of discrimination regarding the maintenance and upkeep of homes in minority neighborhoods. The National Fair Housing Alliance put out a report alleging that REO properties in predominantly minority neighborhoods lack “for sale” signs, have boarded-up windows, and trash, as opposed to REO in white neighborhoods. This study was put out with a grant from HUD and will undoubtedly be fodder for a lawsuit.

The US is far behind on reforming the country’s housing finance system, Geithner said at a speech at the Chicago Economic Club. The reality is that our current housing finance system is more or less nationalized and we are far from being in the position to have private capital carry the load.

The Census Bureau released a study discussing the changes in growth patterns since 2010.  Interestingly, of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas over the last decade, only 24 were still in the top fifty since the 2010 census. Unsurprisingly, the areas most affected by the real estate boom fell out (Las Vegas, Palm Coast FL) fell out of the top 50 and it appears some of the energy-centric areas (TX, ND) are entering.

Filed under: Morning Report, music | 9 Comments »