…and it's not often I agree with MSNBC's framing…

Regarding Trump:

"This is the political equivalent of lighting a house on fire, calling 911 and then expecting a medal."

It's not often I agree with Politico…

"By directly and coolly engaging a debate with his most fevered critics, Obama offered the most unmistakable validation ever to the idea that we are living in an era of public life with no referee—and no common understandings between fair and unfair, between relevant and trivial, or even between facts and fantasy."

The Long Form

If you are one of the people who were charged up by the issue, even if your argument was "he should just release it and get it over with", then you are the problem.

Corporate welfare is safe and secure

This has been all over the place recently, but it's a worthwhile read.

Irrational Exuberance and Going Galt

Here's a thorough summary (yes, I know, but bear with me,) of the impact Ayn Rand has had on today's society: From the Awl. (I won't excerpt it, as it's a good read.)

Here's a review of the upcoming part one of Atlas Shrugged, obviously written by a fanboy.

Here's my summary, thoroughly stolen from the web:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

I say, Go Galt. You are largely responsible for where we are today. We don't need or want you.

"Computer Expert"

I normally don't post about issues which are sufficiently covered elsewhere, but this needs to be spread, because I haven't heard about it in the traditional media:

In 2006, Nickolaus, who was elected Waukesha County clerk in 2002, was criticized for posting election returns that temporarily skewed results of a Republican primary for the 97th Assembly District. At the time, Nickolaus told reporters some returns from the city of Waukesha were entered in the wrong column.

And last summer, the Waukesha County Board ordered an internal audit of her office, citing concerns Nickolaus was secretive and refusing to cooperate with the county's technical staff in a security review of the computerized election system.

And this tidbit about an entirely different scandal:

A few high-level staffers were charged or fined in the scandal. Nickolaus, a computer expert who handled lists of registered voters and other tasks, was among at least 18 Republican and Democratic staffers who avoided prosecution in exchange for testifying before a secret John Doe hearing in Dane County Circuit Court.

Having worked at Microsoft and several other tech companies, I can say that no "expert" would use an Access database on a desktop computer for a mission-critical task.

This isn't about (just) Planned Parenthood

…though that's how the traditional media frames the budget/shutdown debate. (NPR correctly referred to the rider's provisions as "blocking women's health services", though.)

It's about a ridiculously tiny amount of the budget going to Women's Health Care Centers (not just Planned Parenthood.) It's not about abortion, because that's already federally banned from using any government money. Regardless, PP spends 97% of its money on all things not related to abortion; things like cancer screenings and contraception and education (which the federal government does not provide.) These things prevent illness, death, and countless abortions.

So apparently, PP and all the other Women's Health Care Services are the targets of Republicans (particularly the Tea Party hardliners) because they prevent illness, death, and unnecessary abortions.

The more radical left is referring to it as the Republicans' "War on Women". It's becoming harder and harder to dismiss that as hyperbole.

Must watch more Minchin

Mackinac Center admits its FOIA request was simple harassment

Recently, the Mackinac Center in Michigan put in several FOIA requests against several state university professors who had written op-eds and personal blog posts that they didn't agree with. The requests were virtually unprecedented and included any information using state equipment mentioning "Maddow". The Center has not responded to any requests for clarification, until now.

And they pretty much admit that it's just an excuse to harass the people with whom they disagree:

The unfolding of the Wisconsin turmoil and the pitched debate over the Michigan legislation provided us an opportunity to chase an old story with a FOIA.

I miss Bill Moyers

How do Republicans apologize?

Like this:

RPDC Apologizes To Judge Sumi

The Republican Party of Dane County sent out a press release on March 29th criticizing Judge Maryann Sumi for holding up the publication of Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining reform bill. Upon further reflection we’d like to apologize for not understanding her point of view.

Sure, Governor Walker’s bill is unquestionably constitutional, increases worker’s rights and helps local government balance budgets without having to fire public workers. The Wisconsin state legislature consulted with their non-partisan parliamentarian to make sure that the passage of the bill followed the rules of the Senate and Assembly. But this isn’t about the law, is it?

The Republican Party of Dane County recognizes that Judge Sumi is a leftist living in Dane County. Her friends are leftists living in Dane County. Her son is a left wing activist in Dane County. She goes to cocktail parties held by leftists in Dane County. She shops at organic gourmet food shops run by leftists living in Dane County. If she were to enforce the law of Wisconsin and do what was in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin, she’d be exiled from her lifestyle. She’d lose her friends!

The leadership of the Republican Party of Dane County have all made the choice to stand against the Dane County elite. We accept that Left feels righteous vandalizing our homes and keying our cars. It's only fair. We disagree based upon logic and principle. That is intolerable! We prioritize the Constitution and the well being of the people of Wisconsin over foie gras at cocktail parties. That’s the choice we made. We respect Judge Sumi’s decision to live her life with the rich diversity that liberals cherish.

Golden Corral

Our pleasant niche of the seafoody-snobbish has been inundated by a flood of commercials for Golden Corral, which markets itself as the cheapest seafood chain around. It even felt the need to produce a making-of ad-let of its lame ad:



There are certain items, in this life, you don't want to opt for the cheapest solution. Seafood is one of them.

How those tax cuts have worked for the past 10, 20 years

That is, tax cuts for the wealthiest sliver of us. Oh, and corporations.

…After the nation recovered from the 1990-91 recession, 43 states made sizable tax cuts from 1994 to 2001 as the economy surged. Twenty-eight states, in fact, reduced their unemployment insurance payroll taxes after 1995.

But states that cut taxes the most ended up with the largest budget shortfalls and higher job losses when the economy slowed again in 2001, according to research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/28/111161/states-broke-maybe-they-cut-taxes.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1I33Ei9VW

Your government at work

Today's House Appropriations bill vote will slash tsunami warning systems in the U.S.

Via Slog

I am perfectly happy being agnostic; people like this simply add evidence. I mean, seriously? You're joyful that Japan was destroyed, and attribute it to your prayers to "wake up" atheists?

UPDATE: I should really listen to the voices in my head saying it's a troll…

Prescient—Reality imitates art

I'm late on this, but with all of the vilification of teachers and union workers recently, I pondered on this story. The Fox reporter (while off-camera) claims the protesters hit him, called him names, etc. (Again, none of it caught on their camera.) But another camera shows the assault (a tap on the shoulder):


Which reminded me of this brilliant and prescient bit:

Bullies

Sure, it's an outlier, but it is far too common for Christians:

More of your liberal media pushing the protests right here

Here are some of the "above the fold" pages for the traditional media. We have 100,000-person rallies right here in the US, with dozens of other rallies in support in other cities. Ohio is also ramping up. The rallies have been going on for 14 days in Madison. They have already ceded all—ALL—financial concessions, which the Governor rejects. He just wants to take their collective bargaining rights (but only from the unions that opposed him; the unions that support him are exempt.)

Big news, right?

Here's today's snaps of the major traditional media frontpages (kudos to CNN and ABC for having stories buried in there, but you'll have to squint to pick them out):

Unlike the US, Canada bans lying on its airwaves/cable

Which is why there's no FOX News Canada.

Your liberal, union-supporting traditional media at work

Your liberal media is working furiously to cover the Wisconsin protests (note the Police have commended the protesters on their peacefulness). So, the coverage of this big, American, working class story? Nothing above the fold. Charlie Sheen's more of a pressing issue for Americans, apparently.

CNN:

MSNBC:

Coverage: Charlie Sheen, Angry Birds, Protests in Libya/Middle East, Oscars, and a blasphemous portrait of Jesus.

Non-coverage: Anything relating to the Wisconsin protests, which are happening right here, right now, (with many rallies across the country,) and directly impact working Americans.

That's your liberal media for you.

We need Mr. Rogers

Essential tools

Recently, Mark at bOINGbOING had a series of posts on his essential Mac applications. Inspired by this, I'm compiling my list of tools I use daily. Some are the same ones Mark listed, and not all are applications per se (some are add-ons, etc.) But I use them all regularly and would install them immediately if I had to reformat without a backup.

Super Duper (Mac, $27.95, free trial)
Once this is configured, you never need to worry about it. In combination with Time Machine (which comes with OSX), this is a hearty, well-done disc image backup application. Just get an external drive (I use a Firewire WD drive,) and you've got a bootable, full-backup ready to go.

Firefox (Mac, Windows, *nix, free)
Every OS comes with a serviceable web browser. I prefer to use Firefox instead. The huge array of useful add-ons and plug-ins have made it a must-have. Add-ons I use include ForecastFox (displays N-day forecast and radar in the status bar,) QTL (translates other languages to English or whatever you prefer,) XMarks (synchronizes bookmarks across multiple computers,) GreaseMonkey (runs little scripts for you,) Firebug (web development tool,) AdBlock Pro (blocks ads on web pages,) and many more. Firefox is a bit of a memory hog, but the pros outweigh the cons.

Dropbox (Mac, Windows, *nix, smartphones, free or premium) and Evernote (Mac, Windows, *nix, smartphones, free or premium)
I group these together because they do similar things, but are different enough that I depend on both. Each takes advantage of "cloud" computing. Dropbox allows you to drop a file into a folder on your computer, and have it almost instantly available to all computers and smartphones in your group, regardless of platform. Have a document you want to share with others? Put it in the /dropbox/public folder, and it'll give you an http:// address which you can send to anyone. Evernote is similar; it allows you to organize notes, web sites, pictures, etc. and have them almost instantly synced to your other computers. I use it for shopping lists (type them up on my desktop, then pull out my Blackberry at the store,) meeting notes, etc. It even has a feature which allows you to take a photo of a whiteboard with your smartphone, and when you get back to your desk, it's right there—already translated into searchable text!

Synergy (Mac, Windows, *nix, free)
I have a desktop Mac, a MacBook Pro, a Windows 7 HTPC, and a Ubuntu Linux machine. It's a hassle to have separate mouses and keyboards for each, especially when they're all nearby (well, okay the Linux box is upstairs.) This free, open source software lets you use one computer and its keyboard/mouse to navigate any of your other machines. Example: I have my desktop machine with its nice wireless mouse and full keyboard; next to it I have my laptop. Using Synergy, if I slide my mouse to the left of the screen, the cursor suddenly appears and is controllable on my laptop's screen. The keyboard is fully functional as well. This works flawlessly across platforms as well. This utility also supports clipboards across multiple machines and OSes.  So, yes, copy that picture or text on your Windows PC, move your mouse onto your Mac, and paste away. (Mac users: Synergy KM puts the functionality easily into the System Preferences, making it much easier to use.)

ClipMenu (Mac, free)
When I first used a computer with copy-and-paste capabilities back in the 80s, my first complaint was that I couldn't copy non-contiguous bits and pieces. ClipMenu (Mac only; I'm sure there's something similar for other platforms) lets you save as many bits and pieces as you want. For this post, I have the URL, logo and random bits of text from the site all in my ClipMenu, and I just paste as needed. From their site:

Clipboard History

ClipMenu can manage clipboard history. You can record 8 clipboard types, from plain text to image.
To paste a recorded item, you just pop up menu by invoking the shortcut key, and select a menu item from the menu.

Snippet

You can also register texts you frequently use, like e-mail addresses, user IDs and so on, as snippets. You can paste these snippets from the menu, too.

 Tweetdeck (Mac, Windows, *nix, some smartphones, free)
Tweedeck's name is a little misleading; it's not just a Twitter feed reader. For me, I have my Twitter feed down one column, Facebook in another, LinkedIn in a third, and Trending Topics in the last column. This puts all of my social media in one glance-able window. I hate having to have separate applications open for each. Too bad they don't make a Blackberry version, though iPad and some other versions are coming.

Baldfaced

Regarding the turmoil in Wisconsin: Please tell me what I'm missing:

• The new Tea Party-backed Governor had a surplus budget when he was inaugurated.
• The Governor spent that surplus on tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy.
• The Governor declared a short-term fiscal crisis, and insisted that unions (except the ones that supported him) give up their money and the right to collective bargaining.
• After protests, the unions impacted by this agree to the financial paybacks.
• The Governor rejects this unless the long-term collective bargaining rights are eliminated, effectively closing the unions.

What am I missing here? What other conclusion can one come to other than the Tea Party Governor wants to eliminate the unions that did not support him?

The impacted unions have given in on everything the Governor is insisting on except collective bargaining. The elimination of collective bargaining will not do anything to help the "short term financial crisis", which is the justification the Governor is using.  It's clear that the Governor simply wants to eliminate the unions which did not support him in the election.

I have various feelings about unions and the goodness or badness therein. However, this cannot be interpreted as anything but denying hard-won rights to the lower and middle class.

Time lapse

I need to try this:

Sub Zero - winter night timelapse from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Real-time Middle East map with Tweets

Pretty interesting. You don't need a Twitter account to view.

Net Neutrality

Network

From the "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore" files:



I dare you to watch the whole thing.

What Beck and the myriad "populist"/tea party bloviators who quote the above Beale line from the movie Network miss is:

The movie was a satire.

Egypt: Next 24 hours

The protesters are planning a very large demonstration of some sort tomorrow (Tuesday.)

Today, the 'government' (as it is) successfully shut down every non-military/non-financial internet provider. They've also been kicking out/detaining/confiscating journalists and their equipment.

I really hope that doesn't mean that the 'government' is planning something very bad between now and tomorrow. But I can't help thinking it.

UPDATE: Here's Google not being evil: They set up a voicemail-to-Twitter service for Egyptians to Tweet even without internet access.

60 Minutes—Wow.

What the hell is this WikiLeaks piece about?

Steve Crofft is accusing a new media guy of doing the same thing that 60 Minutes built its reputation on in the old media. And 60 Minutes has been going steadily downhill for a long, long time.

How hypocritical.

Free, Open Source Software works for me.

That is all.

Blogger (free) + Open Office (Open source) + Textwrangler (Open source) = I can do something with this for free.

Experiment in Recipes

Hrm, let's see if this works.

---

Overview

No-Knead

Baguette-Poolish

Quick Sourdough French

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Sheet 1: No-Knead

Recipes—Breads										Chefs-Resources.com
Recipe:	No-Knead Bread
Yield:	1 Loaf					Date:	November-06
	Portion Size:				Chef:	Jim Lahey, ATK
Scale:
AMT	UNIT	INGREDIENTS		PROCEDURES
3	Cups	Bread flour
0.25	TS	Instant yeast
1.25	TS	Salt
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

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Sheet 2: Baguette-Poolish

Recipes—Breads
Recipe:	Baguette (Poolish Technique)
Yield:	3-4 Loaves					Date:
	Portion Size:				Chef:
Scale:
AMT	UNIT	INGREDIENTS		PROCEDURES
1.5	Cups	Bread flour		Poolish
1.5	Cups	Water
0.75	TS	Bread machine Yeast
2.5	Cups	Bread flour		Dough
0.75	Cups	Water
2	TS	Bread machine Yeast
2	TS	Salt
1. In a large bowl combine Poolish ingredients and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough: Combine water and yeast, and add to Poolish.
3. Add the flour/salt combo in four batches. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Now wash up the bowl.
5. Knead for five minutes.
6. Now oil the mixing bowl lightly (too much oil will make the crust soft) and put the dough into it. Cover with cling film. Set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes and leave the dough to develop and rise. This part is called the 'long knead' in french (sorry, can't remember the original french expression). After 30 minutes, you should lift the dough out of the bowl, stretch it out, and put it back in (in a heap). REPEAT two more times (total of three long kneads.)
7. Divide the dough into four portions, and shape roughly into sausage shapes. Dust all over with a little flour, and cover them with an oiled piece of cling film. Leave to re-rise for 30 minutes
8.Roll, stretch and flatten each potion into a long rectangle, fold lengthwise. Repeat the rolling and folding.
9. Set 0ven to 450º. Roll and stretch each loaf into a long, thin baguette. Place them on a greased baking tray.
10. After 30 minutes, the loaves should be noticably fatter. Boil a kettle, and put an inch or so of boiling water in the bottom of a deep roasting tin. Put it in the oven on the bottom shelf, or directly on the oven floor (be careful with that!). Shut the over door.
11. Spray the baguettes with water until they are really wet, and slash them three times diagonally. Put them in the oven on the top shelf. Spray again after five more minutes, and again after five more minutes. Remove water tin.
12. Check for done-ness after 20 minutes. Once done, cool on a rack.

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Sheet 3: Quick Sourdough French

Recipes—Breads										Chefs-Resources.com
Recipe:	Quick Sourdough French Bread
Yield:	2 Loaves					Date:
	Portion Size:				Chef:
Scale:
AMT	UNIT	INGREDIENTS		PROCEDURES
2	Cup	White flour		STARTER
2	Cup	Warm Water (85º to 90º F)
		Dry culture from “starter package”			I use 1 TS bread machine yeast.
2	Cup	Starter Sourdough (see above)		BREAD BATTER
1	Pkg	Dry Yeast
1	Cup	Warm Water (85º to 90º F)
3	TS	Sugar
1	TS	Salt
5 to 6	Cup	White flour
				NOTE: This is great if you're into creating and
				maintaining your own starter/sponge for sourdough.
				I personally usually go with the quicker, easier
				“poolish” or “biga” starters.
				Also, I think the addition of sugar is frowned upon…
				Finally, there doesn't seem to be much “quick” about this.
STARTER:
Combine ingredients in a warm bowl. Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon until smooth. (Traditionally, always go only clockwise or only counterclockwise.)
Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place (80º F) for 36 to 48 hours. (I think this could be done in 18 hours or so, since the rise will start to collapse eventually.) Consistency should be bubbly and pancake-batter-like. Store in refrigerator.
Remove starter/sponge from the refrigerator and allow to reach room temperature.
Measure out 1.5 cups of the starter into a warm 2 QT bowl. Return remaining starter to the refrigerator.
Add 1.5 cups of flour and approximately 1 cup of warm (85º F) water and mix well. Should be consistency of light pancake batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let proof for 8 to 12 hours.
After proofing, measure out the amount called for in the recipe and return the remaining batter to the starter; stir and refrigerate.
BREAD BATTER:
Prepare the starter per the instructions above; After 12 hours (5th step above), mix the sugar, salt and about 5 cups of flour in a separate bowl.
Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of warm water.
Add sourdough batter and yeast and mix well
Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes. Turn out onto a floured board and knead, adding up to another cup of flour so it doesn't cling to the surface. Knead until smooth and elastic.
Put dough into an oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (1.5 hours) (I start the oven at this point at 350º + F).
Turn onto a floured board and divide into two pieces, and knead each piece slightly. Shape into loaves. Place on oiled pan (I use parchment). Cover and allow to rise.
Brush tops with water (I use a mister), and bake at 350º F for 40 minutes, brushing tops again during baking.