Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year friends and readers


Have a happy & safe NYE everyone.  If you need to, get a cab, Uber, Lyft, or flop on your host's couch.


Monday, December 29, 2014

Cooking with Jack: Fried Rice

By Jack Brummet



Fried Rice

4 tbs peanut or other oil (Note: I think Canola has a nasty taste)
6 Chinese sausages, sliced about 1/4" thick (or 1/2 lb. ham, or Chinese BBQ pork)
1 white onion diced (yellow onion is OK)
Salt and pepper
3 or fat cloves garlic, finely minced
3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
5 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias, white and green separated
1 cup fresh (in the summer) or frozen peas
Half cup finely diced carrots
2 or 4 celery sliced thin
A cup or cup and a half of peeled shrimp (raw, or use peeled tiny fresh cooked Oregon shrimp).
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 cups cold cooked long-grain rice (cooled overnight and grains separated by hand or with a utensil).
sesame oil to taste (2-3 teaspoons)
soy (tamari for GF) sauce - to taste, around 4 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons of Mirin (optional but good)

Once you make it you'll have a sense of how to make it your own.

Heat a large heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet or wok to low heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the beaten eggs.  You want to cook it too much, just firm enough to lift it out of the wok to cool.  You can do them like a pancake or scrambled eggs with large curds,  Put it on a cutting board and chop it into small pieces while your waiting for the heat to rise in the wok.

Crank up the flame.  Add a teaspoon or two of oil and stir fry the sausage for a couple of minutes on high heat.   Put in a bowl on the counter.

Crank the heat up all the way and work fast now.  Add the onions and celery to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes until onion is just sweated, stirring all the time.  Add the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and stir 30 seconds. Add the peas and carrots . Cook until just defrosted (if frozen) but  leave them crisp.  Empty the contents to the bowl of sausage.

Return the pan to the heat and add 3 tablespoons of oil. Get the wok smoking.  Add the rice to the pan and use the wooden spoon to break up any clumps (you should have moistly done this earlier by hand). Season with pepper and stir-fry the rice to coat evenly with oil. Stop stirring, and let the wok go for 30 second increments between tossing and stirring.  Add the mirin if using. Stir the rice again, breaking up any new clumps. Add the sesame oil to taste (at least two teaspoons-1 Tbs. I like a little more).

Add the shrimp if using.  Stir for a minute.  Add soy sauce--about 4 TBS but taste it after 2, you may like it just like that).  Add in the chopped up eggs and contents of the bowl with sausage, herbs, vegies).  Stir and toss.  Add the scallion greens.  Add salt and pepper if it needs a touch more (salt should be good).  Eat with some other stuff.
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Saturday, December 27, 2014

President's Nixon's Enemies List

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.


President Nixon's enemies list was part of a bizarre plan known as the “Political Enemies Project.” The list became public knowledge when John Dean mentioned it during his testimony before the the Senate Watergate Committee.  Journalist Daniel Schorr, who was on the list, managed to obtain copies of it later that day.

The White House Counsel's Office (John Dean), said the list was kept was to use tax audits from the Internal Revenue Service, and by manipulating "grant availability, federal contracts, litigation, prosecution, etc."  In a memorandum from John Dean to Lawrence Higby (August 16, 1971), Dean explained the purpose of the list:
“This memorandum addresses the matter of how we can maximize the fact of our incumbency in dealing with persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration; stated a bit more bluntly—how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."
IRS commissioner Donald C. Alexander refused to launch audits of the people on the list. In fact, John Dean later said that no real action was ever taken against any of the "enemies."
Senators
  • Birch Bayh
  • J. W. Fulbright
  • Fred R. Harris
  • Harold Hughes 
  • Edward M. Kennedy
  • George McGovern
  • Walter Mondale 
  • Edmund Muskie
  • Gaylord Nelson
  • William Proxmire
Members of the House of Representatives
  • Bella Abzug
  • William R. Anderson 
  • John Brademas
  • Father Robert Drinan 
  • Robert Kastenmeier
  • Wright Patman
Black Congressmen and Congresswomen
  • Shirley Chisholm
  • William Clay
  • George Collins
  • John Conyers 
  • Ronald Dellums
  • Charles Diggs
  • Augustus Hawkins
  • Ralph Metcalfe 
  • Robert N.C. Nix
  • Parren Mitchell
  • Charles Rangel
  • Louis Stokes
Other politicians
  • John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City 
  • Eugene McCarthy, former U.S senator 
  • George Wallace, Governor of Alabama
  • Sargent Shriver, former director of the Peace Corps and 1972 Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate
Organizations
  • Black Panthers, Hughie Newton [sic]
  • Brookings Institution, Lesley Gelb [sic] and others
  • Business Executives Move for VN Peace. Henry Niles, national chairman, Vincent McGee. executive director
  • Committee for an Effective Congress. Russell Hemenway
  • Common Cause, John Gardner, Morton Halperin,Charles Goodell, Walter Hickel
  • Congressional Black Caucus 
  • COPE, Alexander E Barkan
  • Council for a Livable World, Bernard T. Feld, pr idem: professor of physics. MIT
  • Farmers Union, NFO
  • Institute of Policy study Richard Barnet, Marcus Raskin
  • National Economic Council, Inc.
  • National Education Association, Sam M. Lambertpresident 
  • National Student Association, Charles Palmer[disambiguation needed] president
  • National Welfare Rights Organization, George Wiley
  • Potomac Associates, William Watts
  • SANE, Sanford Gottlieb
  • Southern Christian Leadership, Ralph Abernathy;
  • Third National Convocation on the Challenge of Building Peace, Robert V Roosa, chairman
  • Businessmen's Educational Fund.
Labor
  • Karl Feller president, International Union United Brewery. Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers, Cincinnati
  • Harold J. Gibbons, international vice president,Teamsters
  • A F Grospiron, president, Oil, Chemical Atomic Workers International Union, Denver
  • Matthew Guinan, president, Transport Work. Union of America, New York City 
  • Paul Jennings, president, International Union Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers, Washington D.C.
  • Herman D. Kenin, vice president, AFL-CIO. D
  • Lane Kirkland, secretary-treasurer. AFL-CIO (we must deal with him)
  • Frederick O'Neal. president. Actors and Artists America, New York City
  • William Pollock, president, Textile Workers Union of America, New York City 
  • Jacob Potofsky general president, Amalgam. Clothing Workers of America, New York City
  • Leonard Woodcock, president, United Auto Workers,Detroit
  • Jerry Wurf, international president, American Federal, State, County and Municipal Employ Washington D.C.
  • Nathaniel Goldfinger, AFL-CIO
  • I. W. Abel, Steelworkers
Media
  • Jack Anderson, columnist, "Washington Merry-Go-Round"
  • Jim Bishop, author, columnist, King Features Syndicate
  • Thomas Braden, columnist, Los Angeles Times Syndicate
  • D. J. R. Bruckner, Los Angeles Times Syndicate
  • Marquis Childs, chief Washington correspondent, St. Louis Post Dispatch
  • James Deakin, White House correspondent, St. Louis Post Dispatch
  • James Doyle, Washington Star
  • Richard Dudman, St. Louis Post Dispatch
  • Jules Duscha [sic], Washingtonian
  • William Eaton, Chicago Daily News
  • Rowland Evans Jr., syndicated columnist, Publishers Hall
  • Saul Friedmann, Knight Newspapers, syndicated columnist
  • Clayton Fritchey, syndicated columnist Washington correspondent. Harpers
  • George Frazier, Boston Globe
  • Lou Gordon, The Detroit News columnist and television talk show host
  • Katharine Graham, editor, The Washington Post
  • Pete Hamill, New York Post
  • Michael Harrington, author and journal member, executive committee Socialist party
  • Sydney J. Harris, columnist, drama critic and writer of 'Strictly Personal,' syndicated Publishers Hall 
  • Robert Healy, Boston Globe
  • William Hines, Jr., journalist. science education,Chicago Sun Times
  • Stanley Karnow, foreign correspondent, Washington Post
  • Ted Knap, syndicated columnist, New York Daily News
  • Erwin Knoll, Progressive
  • Morton Kondracke, Chicago Sun Times
  • Joseph Kraft, syndicated columnist, Publishers Hall
  • James Laird, Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Max Lerner, syndicated columnist, New York Post: author, lecturer, professor (Brandeis University)
  • Stanley Levey, Scripps Howard
  • Flora Lewis syndicated columnist on economics
  • Stuart Loory, Los Angeles Times
  • Mary McGrory, syndicated columnist on New Left
  • Frank Mankiewicz, syndicated columnist Los Angeles Times
  • James Millstone, St. Louis Post Dispatch
  • Martin Nolan, Boston Globe
  • Ed Guthman, Los Angeles Times
  • Thomas O'Neill, Baltimore Sun
  • John Pierson, Wall Street Journal
  • William Prochnau, Seattle Times 
  • James Reston, New York Times
  • Carl Rowan, syndicated columnist, Publishers Hall
  • Warren Unna, Washington Post, NET
  • Harriet Van Horne, columnist, New York Post
  • Milton Viorst, reporter, author, writer
  • James Wechsler, New York Post
  • Tom Wicker, New York Times
  • Garry Wills, syndicated columnist, author of Nixon Agonistes
  • New York Times
  • Washington Post
  • St Louis Post Dispatch
  • Robert Manning, editor, Atlantic
  • John Osborne, New Republic
  • Richard Rovere, New Yorker
  • Robert Sherrill, Nation
  • Paul Samuelson, Newsweek
  • Julian Goodman, chief executive officer, NBC
  • John Macy, Jr, president, Public Broadcasting Corp, former Civil Service Commission
  • Marvin Kalb, CBS
  • Daniel Schorr, CBS
  • Lem Tucker, NBC
  • Sander Vanocur, NBC
Celebrities
  • Carol Channing, actress
  • Bill Cosby, comedian
  • Jane Fonda, actress and political activist 
  • Dick Gregory, comedian and civil rights and peace activist.
  • Steve McQueen, actor
  • Joe Namath, former New York Jets Quarterback
  • Paul Newman, actor 
  • Gregory Peck, actor
  • Tony Randall, actor
  • Barbra Streisand, actress and singer
Business people
  • Charles B. Beneson, president, Beneson Realty Co.
  • Nelson Bengston, president, Bengston & Co.
  • Holmes Brown, vice president, public relations,Continental Can Co.
  • Benjamin Buttenweiser, limited partner, Kuhn, Loeb & Co.
  • Lawrence G. Chait, chairman Lawrence G. Chait & Co., Inc.
  • Ernest R. Chanes, president, Consolidated Water Conditioning Co.
  • Maxwell Dane, chairman, executive committee, Doyle, Dane & Bernbach, Inc.
  • Charles H. Dyson, chairman, the Dyson-Kissner Corp.
  • Norman Eisner, president, Lincoln Graphic Arts. 
  • Charles B. Finch, vice president, Alleghany Power System, Inc.
  • Katharine Graham, editor and publisher, The Washington Post
  • Frank Heineman, president, Men's Wear International.
  • George Hillman, president, Ellery Products Manufacturing Co.
  • Bertram Lichtenstein, president, Delton Ltd.
  • William Manealoff, president, Concord Steel Corp.
  • Gerald McKee, president, McKee, Berger, Mansueto. 
  • Paul Milstein, president, Circle Industries Corp.
  • Stewart R. Mott, Stewart R. Mott, Associates.
  • Lawrence S. Phillips, president, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp.
  • David Rose chairman, Rose Associates.
  • Julian Roth senior partner, Emery Roth & Sons.
  • William Ruder, president, Ruder & Finn, Inc.
  • Si Scharer, president, Scharer Associates, Inc.
  • Alfred P. Slaner, president, Kayser-Roth Corp.
  • Roger Sonnabend, chairman, Sonesta International Hotels.
Business additions
  • Business Executives Move for Vietnam Peace and New National Priorities
  • Morton Sweig, president. National Cleaning Contractors 
  • Alan V. Tishman, executive vice president, Tishman Realty & Construction Co., Inc.
  • Ira D. Wallach, president, Gottesman & Co., Inc. 
  • George Weissman,, president, Philip Morris Corp.
  • Ralph Weller, president, Otis Elevator Company
Business
  • Clifford Alexander, Jr., member, Equal Opportunity Commission; LBJ's special assistant
  • Hugh Calkins, Cleveland lawyer, member, Harvard Corp
  • Ramsey Clark, partner, Weiss, Goldberg, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; former attorney general
  • Lloyd Cutler, lawyer, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C.
  • Henry L. Kimelman, chief fund raiser for McGovern. president, Overview Group
  • Raymond Lapin, former president, FNMA; corporation executive
  • Hans F. Loeser, chairman, Boston Lawyers' Vietnam Committee
  • Robert McNamara, president, World Bank; former Secretary of Defense 
  • Hans Morgenthau, a pioneer in the field of international relations theory.
  • Victor Palmieri, lawyer, business consultant, real estate executive, Los Angeles.
  • Arnold Picker, Muskie's chief fund raiser; chairman executive committee, United Artists
  • Robert S. Pirie, Harold Hughes' chief fund raiser: Boston lawyer.
  • Joseph Rosenfield, Harold Hughes' money man; retired Des Moines lawyer.
  • Henry Rowen, president, Rand Corp., former assistant director of budget (LBJ)
  • R Sargent Shriver, Jr., former US. ambassador to France; lawyer, Strasser, Spiefelberg, Fried, Frank & Kempelman, Washington, D.C. [1972 Democratic vice presidential candidate] 
  • Theodore Sorensen, lawyer, Weiss, Goldberg, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York.
  • Ray Stark, Broadway producer.
  • Howard Stein, president and director, Dreyfus Corporation.
  • Milton Semer, chairman, Muskie Election Committee; lawyer, Semer and Jacobsen
  • George H. Talbot, president, Charlotte Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. ; headed anti-Vietnam ad
  • Arthur Taylor, vice president, International Paper Company [presently CBS president]
  • Jack Valenti, president, Motion Picture Association.
  • Paul Warnke, Muskie financial supporter, former assistant secretary of defense
  • Thomas J. Watson, Jr., Muskie financial supporter; chairman, IBM
Academics
  • Michael Ellis DeBakey, chairman, department of surgery, Baylor College of Medicine; surgeon-in-chief,Ben Taub General Hospital. Texas
  • Derek Curtis Bok, dean, Harvard Law School
  • Kingman Brewster, Jr., president, Yale University.
  • McGeorge Bundy, president, Ford Foundation.
  • Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics, MIT
  • Carl Djerassi, professor of chemistry, and co-inventor of the first oral contraceptive pill Stanford University
  • Daniel Ellsberg, professor, MIT.
  • George Drennen Fischer, member, executive committee. National Education Association 
  • J. Kenneth Galbraith, professor of economics, Harvard
  • Patricia Harris, educator, lawyer, former US. ambassador; chairman welfare committee Urban League
  • Walter Heller, regents professor of economics,University of Minnesota
  • Edwin Land, inventor of instant photography.
  • Herbert Ley, Jr., former FDA commissioner; professor of epidemiology, Harvard.
  • Matthew Stanley Meselson, professor of biology,Harvard
  • Lloyd N. Morrisett, professor and associate director, education program, University of California 
  • Joseph Rhodes, Jr., fellow, Harvard; member,Scranton commission on Campus Unrest
  • Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist; director, A. Philip Randolph Institute, New York.
  • David Selden, president, American Federation of Teachers.
  • Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., professor of humanities, City University of New York
  • Jeremy Stone, director, Federation of American Scientists
  • Jerome Wiesner, president, MIT.
  • Samuel M. Lambert, president, National Education Association
---o0o---

A strange poem on a failed painting

By Jack Brummet



I found this old painting I did (maybe 20 years ago). It was stashed away somewhere at my in-laws mansion, and surfaced as people were cleaning it out.  The painting was failed, clearly.  It had scratch outs and cancellation marks all over the canvas.  But I'd also tried to write a poem on a patch of red paint.
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Jack Brummet in The Rumble

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