I'll Think to Drat

I know, I took a lot of grief recently for admitting to drinking Rum & Cokes and Cuba Libres. So sue me, it's always been one of my favorites. As a kid, I used to add imitation rum flavoring to my cokes. It's a classic.

Recently I tried and discovered I liked the new Coke Blak -- it's not as sweet as regular coke, and I like the subtle coffee flavor to it. And yes, I tried it with rum, finding that dark rum worked the best.

But recently I tried it with another alcohol, and discovered I liked it even better. I've even come up with a name, but I still haven't decided on a garnish:

Black Irish

1 1/2 oz. Irish Whiskey
8 oz. Coke Black
3-5 ice cubes

Place ice in an Old Fashioned glass. Add Irish Whiskey and Coke Black, garnish with _____(?).

Senses Tingling....

Thanks for the Memory to The Maximum Leader at Naked Villainy:

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 100% Hulk 70% Superman 65% The Flash 60% Green Lantern 55% Catwoman 55% Batman 50% Supergirl 50% Robin 40% Iron Man 40% Wonder Woman 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Cool. Spidey's always been my favorite, and I didn't even try to work the quiz.

Musical Geography Question for the Day

If you made a good run, but you ran too slow, where did they overtake you?

Bonus Question:
From where is the sherriff?

Quote of the Day

Well, I once wanted to have bumper stickers made that read "Friends Don't
Let Friends Be Smug Arrogant Assholes Who Take Things So Fucking Seriously They Can't Even Take The Most Lighthearted Jokes Without Calling For A UN Committee To Open An Inquiry Before Writing Angry Letters To The Editors of Metropolitan Newspapers Proclaiming Their Disgust With The State Of Affairs That Actually Allows Human Beings Who Don't Share Their Political Opinions To Continue To Live, Let Alone Vote."

I was told there were issues with size and readability.

- Emily at It Comes In Pints?

Naptime News (aka Mr. MommyBlogging)

Three weeks since the layoff. I am amazed at how badly I missed having the internet, especially since it was not the only form of adult interaction I lost, all in one fell swoop.

The other, of course, was socialization with coworkers. I don't miss dealing with my customers. In fact, I'd say that one of the most noticeable changes from working tech support to being a SAHD has been the increase in the maturity level of my clientelle. And when he DOES lower himself to my previous customers' level, The Lad has an excuse -- he's only 18 months old.

It frightens me to think he's only that old when I observe some of the signs of advanced intelligence he's already displaying, including the occasional use of multi-word phrases (ok, 2 words), including some he put together himself, including "Uh Oh Down" when he fell the other day. TFR and I are in for a busy 18+ years. I'd consider it an argument for letting him be an only child, but if we have another one day, we can always use them to keep each other distracted (with Steel Cage Grudge Matches, if all else fails).

I have been a bit frustrated by my inability to get as much housework done as I had hoped. Certain chores can only be done while he's napping, because they entail going out into the garage (which isn't yet safe for him), or because they're things he interferes with, like folding laundry. I've learned to multi-task and do dishes while feeding him (hey, as long as I'm in the kitchen...), and pucking up is easy with him around -- because he likes to help, and actually does so with a minimum of getting in the way.

He's a water baby, and a true Oregonian. He loves baths -- we can't use the word around him or he demands one, and sometimes just the sight of the tub through an open door will set him off. We got him a kiddie pool, and he loves that, and the other day, when we had a gentle, warm summer rainstorm (as happens here in Oregon), he pitched a fit until I took him out in the yard to be rained on.

Life is starting to develop a rhythm, and I'm starting to get the hang of things, but I'm no Martin Stewart -- yet.

And that's a good thing.

A lesson from Oregano

'Tis a fine line indeed,
'Tween an herb... and a weed.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Well, I'm back. I know I promised I would be yesterday, but UPS was late delivering my DSL modem, and Qwest was late activating the account. But, better late than never.

Cue Theme Music from The Terminator

I'm posting from a public computer to let everyone know that thanks to the generous donation of a computer by Professor Dave (many thanks, David), I should be online from home and blogging on a semi-regular basis by this Thursday, and I have a lot to say....

I'll be back.

Memento Virtus (Remember, Virtue)

The esteemed potentate and royal sovereign of this corner of the Blogisphere, Brian C. Bilderback, is currently unable to post on his blog. Hopefully, that will change within the next two weeks. Until then, the venerable Monarch has duly appointed me as his Chancellor. He has requested that my first official act be to re-post something that I had written for him about two years ago regarding my thoughts on key political virtues of our (or any) democracy. Other than allowing me to post it, Brian is not to be held responsible for the following. Sincerely, Prof. Reed.

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As you called for on your blog several weeks ago, there is a need for “righteousness” in American government. It is, in fact, a virtue toward which individuals and institutions are morally obligated to strive. Despite the claims in recent years by some in the political arena, the pursuit of justice has always been (to varying degrees) a part of the American experiment. This is evident in the three great documents of the American form of government – the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. These documents wit-ness to certain principles, ideals and virtues that, above all others, the state must recognize and strive to secure:
• All citizens will have liberty
• All citizens will have equality
• All citizens will be justly governed – justice

Whereas liberty and equality are oriented toward the individual, justice (as the highest of the three) is always geared toward the common good [*]. Because “good” is a moral term, the common good should be understood as a political science about what is best and right for the whole. This is how and why justice will “run into” or at times “run over” liberty and equality. Of course, the devil is in the details, and our task as citizens of a representative republic is twofold: 1) to seek the proper definition of the common good and then 2) to create an atmosphere in order for people to achieve it. I am, of course, assuming that the common good exists as an objective standard by which our form of government should be measured.
[*] I recognize that these terms are not oriented wholly to the individual. They are corporate terms that possess specific personal and/or individual application.

This naturally leads to a discussion of rights (i.e., natural rights recognized, though not created nor established, by our democracy). Tocqueville wrote that it is by reference to natural rights that “men have always defined the nature of license and tyranny.” No nation can be called great without having respect for natural rights. It seems to me that a persuasive argument could be made maintaining that without this there can be no real civil society at all (unless one considers tyrannical societies to be “civil”).

Even a rudimentary survey of the history of democracy in America will show that liberty and equality have always quarreled with each other. And they will do so in any democracy. This is what Alexander Hamilton and James Madison feared the most when they considered the political future of America. In fact, this is the explanation for John Adams’ agonizing anticipation of the eventual failure of the American experiment, writing (in a private letter after his presidency) that “all democracies eventually self-destruct.”

As Mortimer J. Adler wrote in The Time of Our Lives (1970) the conflict in our society between liberty and equality occurs only when neither is limited by justice. The scope of potential application of this principle is extraordinary – from affirmative action to abortion. Only justice has the natural ability to resolve the inevitable tension and conflict between liberty and equality. Justice must be the controlling principle among these three since it alone has the ability to determine the scope of the other two without sacrificing either. Left unchecked, liberty will run roughshod over equality and vice-versa. Hence, when properly conceived in coordination with the common good and natural rights, justice must be recognized as the ultimate discriminating virtue in government.

Definitions:

Below are some detailed definitions of several key terms I have outlined above.

Natural Rights
There are several ways to define natural rights. I argue that natural rights should be identified by our natural needs. by implication, human beings possess no natural right that does not correspond to a natural need. Justice and natural rights are inherently linked together because our ability to determine right and wrong in both private and social contexts is based on what is really and objectively good.

A just government must recognize and secure the natural rights of men and women in order that they may be able to construct good lives. This is what the Declaration of Independence is speaking of when it mentions our natural right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” No government has the power to grant a good life. The good life entails the meeting of our natural needs through the possession of real goods, and the possession of those goods or wants that we have that do not interfere with our natural needs or those of others.

All of this is possible, of course, because all human beings possess the same essential nature. If this were not so, society would be impossible. This last point has been famously rejected by many political, biological, sociological and, sadly, even religious thinkers of the past century. Thankfully, not all have fallen into this serious philosophical error.

Liberty
To understand liberty properly (which is synonymous with freedom) we need to distinguish between four kinds of liberty. Circumstantial liberty is the ability and right of self-realization. Moral liberty is the freedom to perfect oneself (that is, perfection by means of virtuous character). Natural liberty is the ability and right we possess for self-determination. The final kind, political liberty, can be considered as a type or aspect of circumstantial freedom – that is, a person possesses political liberty or freedom only when they are living in economic, social, and political conditions that foster it. The essence or nature of this type of liberty is evidenced when an individual or society gives consent to be governed and has a voice in that government.

Equality
Like liberty, there are several types of equality. Political equality is based on circumstances, but is entitled to all human beings by virtue of their humanity (i.e., their common human nature). These conditions should be experienced by everyone. Specifically, these political conditions are normally identified by the following terms: status, treatment and opportunity.

The issue of slavery is a good, if not obvious, example to explore these conditions in more detail. In terms of status, slavery is wrong because no person is more or less human than another. From this it follows that every member of society deserves the same general treatment since no one naturally deserves more dignity than anyone else. As for opportunity, every human being naturally deserves the same opportunity afforded to others for the same reason – their shared human nature. If and when these conditions are not distributed equally, it is the duty of a just state to override liberty and do what is necessary to correct the situation (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education). Every person is by nature equal to all other persons and is, therefore, naturally entitled to an equality of political, social and economic conditions. America's greatest President and statesman, the honorable Abraham Lincoln, recognized this as one of the core principles of democracy, even though it was not evident in American society at the time. This is why he called the ideals in the Declaration of Independence as a promise to the future rather than a statement of current fact.

Justice
Aristotle (4th century B.C.) distinguished between two types of justice – universal and particular. Particular justice deals with such things as fairness in exchange, the distribution of goods, and taking corrective steps to ensure equality (like in the example given in the immediately preceding paragraph). It is clear to me that John Rawls, the late Harvard professor, was mistaken when he argued that justice should be limited to the idea of fairness in how we deal with others. When it comes to universal justice Aristotle asked the question, "what is lawful?" By this he meant to ask, what is right and good? This is why justice is recognized as one of the four cardinal virtues (along with courage, temperance and prudence). This idea can be traced back to Plato who had the insight to observe that justice involved virtuous acts toward others. It is universal justice of which we speak when discussing political justice.

Aristotle also recognized that, of all the species of animals that exist on our planet, only humanity is a political animal. When seeking to understand the proper relation of justice to the state we must ask whether the principle of justice is prior to the political state (including its constitution, laws, etc.) or if justice is relative to the political state. If it is relative then we are forced to into two positions. First, we must admit that justice is completely dependent on the power of the state, and second, that justice is the result of the state’s laws rather than the basis for them. This is tantamount to saying that justice is merely political. If we say, however, that justice is antecedent to the political state, then political justice is determined by natural justice. Understood this way, justice is natural and rational rather than conventional or man-made. If it were not, then justice would change with the coming and going of different political regimes. Therefore, because justice is natural it is universally binding on all people in all places and at all times. Any democracy in which the majority rules unchecked is ruling according to power not law (i.e., justice). This is a rule of might, not right; a rule of will, not reason. The American founding fathers made the wise decision not to allow a simple majority to determine most political decisions. This was, of course, based on the assumption that those elected to office would be virtuous enough to make their decisions on moral criteria and not merely political ones.

It was this definition of justice that led Lincoln to conclude that the obligations of a just government were to do for its people what they, individually, cannot do for themselves. The preamble of the U. S. Constitution summarizes these obligations well – “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

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Run Silent, Run Deep

The exit interview is in ten minutes, then I'm gone. Until I can blog again, I want to thank everyone for reading me, and for making me feel like maybe you enjoyed what I had to say.

Shaken, not Stirred

Thanks for the Memory to relatively gentlemanlike Maximum Leader.

You Are 84% Gentleman

No doubt about it, you are a total gentleman. You please the pickiest ladies, and you make everyone in a room feel comfortable.

Are You A Gentleman?

I'm flattered.

Musical Geography Question for the Day

Where is it advertised, a hundred hearty sailors a whalin' for to go?

I Spy With My Little Eye

I've just started reading B.H. Liddell Hart's book A History of the Second World War. I have a lovely used hardback edition given to me by TFR our first Christmas together as a poor married couple. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift, very Gift of the Magi of her. But while I love the way the book looks on my shelf, in these entire 6 1/2 years, I've never bothered to read it, because it's so long, I didn't want to start and not be able to finish. But recently I decided to give it a crack.

So there I was last night, reading through the chapter on the Phoney War (hot bath + glass of port + thick book = Heaven) when I was struck by the following comment by Liddell Hart on page 38 regarding an incident in January of 1940 in which the Germans' original plan for invading France was revealed to the Allies due to the forced landing of a German staff officer's plane in Belgium in a snowstorm:

"But we know that Admiral Canaris, the head of the German Secret Service -- who was later executed -- took many hidden steps to thwart Hitler's aims..."

The reason this caught my eye is that one of the subplots of World War Two that has always fascinated me was the secret war: the resistance movements; The OSI and OSS; The Jedburghs; Berkeley Square; Bletchley Park, Enigma; The Man Who Never Was; etc. I've read several books on it, including the excellent A Man Called Intrepid. But while I'm aware of several cases in which Allied misinformation campaigns (including Operation Fortitude) almost came unraveled, only to be saved by the failure of Canaris' Secret Service to grasp things (as an aside: One amusing story was of a British expat in Spain, who was "spying" for the Germans, selling British secrets to Canaris' spies. Except he HAD no British secrets, he was a con man making stuff up. The Brits recruited him to give the Germans THEIR made up stuff). But while I wondered how Canaris could overlook so many clues so often, I'd never read anywhere before where it was implied he was actively subverting Hitler.

So a question to any readers who are bigger Dubyah Dubyah Too geeks than I: Can anyone recommend any good reading material regarding Canaris' anti-Hitler activities?

Musical Geography Question for the Day

If a headless Norwegian aims a Thompson gun at you and blows you away, where does your body end up?

Blood on the Oregon Trail

Thanks for the Memory to Coalition of the Swilling via It Comes in Pints?

Those two US soldiers have been found murdered. One of them was an Oregonian, and you can hear a final voice mail he left his parents here.

My thoughts and prayers are with their families.

So Much For That Theory

Remember when I mentioned that The Lad had taken his first steps? Someone reassure me I'd catch his second. They were proven wrong yesterday.

I did, however, catch his subsequent steps. And while he's still wobbly, and only takes steps towards a safe prop, he has officially joind the biped crowd.

Chili Con Carnal

I was going to try once again to break out of my recipe blogging slump, and once again I have something to offer that's not quite a recipe, but at least this time it's mine.

This is more like a story -- the story of the journey of a raw, 13 pound piece of meat, to it's final destination in my belly as succulent, tender, barbecued brisket. Mr. Priapus was good enough to track down a recipe for me. Of course, this was only my point of departure. As most of you know, I like to take basic concepts and apply local Oregon flavors and ingredients to them. So what was to be expected?

To try to adapt the marinade recipe to local ingredients, I analyzed what each ingredient in the original brought to the table: Sweetness, acidity, etc. Based on that, I found a set of ingredients from around here which, when combined, provided similar functions but dofferent flavors. Here is what I used:

1/2 medium sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
2 Oregon Myrtlewood leaves
1 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cups red wine
5 crushed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 quarts cranberry juice
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup blackberry syrup
1/4 cup salt
1 6-pack Deschutes Brewery Obsidian Stout

And, of course, the 13-pound brisket. Now, normally, I get a little tired of the Texan obsession with size -- bigger doesn't necessarily mean better (case in point: Rosie O'Donnell and Kate Beckinsale. Compare and contrast, class). But in the case of brisket, they're right. A big, full-sized, untrimmed brisket has two things going for it: Lots of mass, which translates into better heat retention and thus better slow cooking; and lots of fat, which translates into better flavor.

Here's where a bit of old Oregon Trail Pioneer Ingenuity came into play, but unintentionally, and actually worked to my benefit. I didn't have a pot big enough for the brisket and the marinade, so I bought one of those plastic storage containers -- a 3 gallon sucker, like a shoebox on steroids -- and put the brisket in that. The marinade didn't come up over the brisket, so I let it marinate for 8 hours, then turned it over for another 8 on the other side. In the morning, the lid of the container made a perfect place to hold the brisket while I put the dry rub on the fat side, since my cutting board wouldn't... well, cut it.

The dry rub recipe sort of evolves, as I modify the contents of the jar each time IU take some out, but here are the main points:

1 part salt
3 parts sugar
garlic powder
onion powder
mustard powder
ground oregano
hot chili powder
smoked Hungarian paprika
ground sun-dried tomato mix

I used about 1 or 2 cups of this on the fat side of the brisket, then put it in the smoker. I placed a steel pan under it containing 2 cups of the marinade and all the onions and garlic from the marinade, as well as 1 shot each of bourbon, tequila, and Oregon apple brandy. I smoked it for five hours like that, then placed it in the pan with the marinade, liqour, and its own drippings, and smoked it for 3 hours like that, then removed it from the pan and finished with three more hours of smoking on the rack -- a total of 11 hours. While it was smoking, I made a pot of barbecued beans to go with it:

1 lb pinto beans, soaked overnight
6 pieces of bacon, chopped
3 oz piece of brisket fat, found in the package with the brisket and marinated along with it
1/4 cup blackberry syrup
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/2 cup brisket marinade
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Oregon Myrtlewood leaf
1/4 tsp geound oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp hot chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 quart water

In a cast iron Dutch oven, I started cooking the bacon and brisket fat, then as they browned, added the onions and sauteed them with a pinch of the salt. Once they were caramelized, I deglazed with the brisket marinade, then added all the other ingredients. I brought hte entire thing to a boil, and let it boil for 10 minutes. Then I moved it out to the smoker, without a lid, to allow it to simmer for couple of hours exposed to the smoke. Finally, it was returned to the stove and covered with a lid to simmer the rest of the 5 hours I cooked the beans. The came out almost as delicions as the brisket, which was topped with my marionberry barbecue sauce:

1 cup marionberry syrup
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce, no salt added
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 habanero pepper
4 cloves fresh minced garlic
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground rosemary
1 pinch driend mint flakes
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Oregon myrtlewood leaves
1 tsp ground cumin

Combine tomato sauce, syrup, vinegar, habanero, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, simmer 3 hours or until habanero releases desired amount of heat. Remove and discard habanero, remove sauce from heat, and let cool.

All in all, a delicious meal. The next day, I decided I wanted chili. Actually, I had already decided on it, because I had an idea: usuallu good chili requires hours an hours of slow cooking, but since I already had the remainder of 13 pounds of slow cooked meat, why not? SOooooo....

Brisket Chili

1 cup barbecued brisket fat, trimmed from the meat and cubed
2 or 3 pounds (who measures? I just gessed) barbecued brosket meat, trimmed and cubed
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 12 oz bottles of beer (I used 1 24 oz bottle of Siletz Brewery Spruce Ale)
24-30 oz tomato sauce or puree
6-8 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 shot tequila

In a Dutch oven, render the brisket fat over medium high heat, removing pieces once there is 1/4 inch of grease in the pot. Sautee the onions with a pinch of the salt. When they have caramelized, deglaze with 12 ounces of beer, drink the other 12. add brisket meat, tomato sauce, tequila, and all spices. Bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Chili is another issue on which I agree with Texans: NO BEANS! Sadly, for all her positive qualities, TFR doesn't agree. But this time I put my foot down, and the results were delicious. The Lad devoured it like the little carnivore he's becoming. TFR took my compromise suggestion and added some of Saturday's barbecued beans to her chili *shudder*, and I ate mine as God intended. Everybody was happy -- very happy.

BOOM!

Thanks for the Memory to Lurch.

12 KT Meteorite strikes Norway.

Wild stuff

Musical Geography Question for the Day

OK, this one should be pretty easy, so I'm throwing a few monkey wrenches in there: Bob can't answer; Ken has to wait until someone else has a go at it. There are three questions about the same song, and one of them is a trick question.

If it's Monday morning, and you're on a train pulling 15 cars, and it contains 15 restless riders, three conductors, and 25 sacks of mail, then:

1. Who runs this train?
2. From where is it departing?
3. Where is its destination?

Bittersweet Morsels, ParentBlogging Style

I didn't want to blog on this, because the circumstances bum me out, but.... The Lad tookm his first step Sunday night. Just one step, and he hasn't repeated it, but it happened.

And I missed it. By three feet. I was in the kitchen, fixing dinner. TFR told me, and by the time I took the step and a half required to look over the breakfast bar, he was back on his butt. I'm proud but sad that I missed it. Such are the ironies of a parent's love.

Parenthood is full of ironies:

I've said repeatedly that it is both humbling and yet a great source of pride to realize that The Lad is far better looking than I.

A baby is the most effective "Chick Magnet" on the planet. And yet, the one thing most likely to attract a woman is the one thing you normally won't have unless you've already attracted a woman (proof thad God and Darwin are conspiring against us).

I hate that The Lad isn't the cuddly little baby he once was, and that this sweet one-year-old stage will one day end, but I'm excited to see him become him, to get to know the person he is becoming.

Cue "Sunrise, Sunset".