Nonsense of the moment

It's a pretty slow news day today unless you're interested in a lot of nonsense.

Do I care that O.J. is involved in some weird situation that apparently had something or other to do with his memorabilia? No.

Do I care that there are some people who are trying to suggest that Condi may be a lesbian? No.

Do I care that quarters bounce off her butt? No, but it is mildly amusing.

Do I care that Britney is going to apologize for her lack of talent and says she just wants to be a mom? No.

Does it bother me that Bush lies about the situation in Iraq? Not really, he's never told the truth since taking office. I'm used to it. I no longer pay much attention to what he says.

Does it bother me that Cheney surfaces once in a while and tells outrageous lies? No, it only bothers me that he exists at all.

Bush did say one thing that caught my attention, if, that is, I heard it correctly. He said Iraq was our "ally," and that we would stay there with them for a long time (forever?). This is a country that we illegally invaded and have totally ruined. Iraqi insurgents have been fighting against us all this time and a majority of Iraqis want us to leave. Bush sees them as an ally? This is understandable I think if you understand that Bush/Cheney's intention all along has been to maintain a presence in Iraq to shepherd our "interests." Our interests have to do with oil. They foresee a military presence in Iraq like our military presence in South Korea. Under this plan Iraq cannot refuse to be an ally because they aren't going to have any other option. I think it is unlikely that the Iraqis are going to go for this, which means they will be killing our occupying troops from now until doomsday (which may not be too far off). The permanent bases and 600 billion dollar "embassy" we have built were presumably not constructed just to turn them over to Iraqi boy scouts or the Olympics. Do you think Bush has consulted the Iraqis about this astonishing claim (other than, perhaps, some of the puppets he has installed there pretending to be the government)? I don't think the Iraqis are going to want to be our ally while we slowly drain away their resources. But what do I know? Nothing.

Another interesting development is the agreement between Hunt Oil of Texas and the Kurds to develop the latter's oil. From the Iraqi point of view this is illegal as the Kurds should be obliged to share the oil with the rest of the country. So, at the very moment we pretend to be insisting that all elements of the country come together under a single unity government an American company is undermining that very possibility. Would you think that Mr. Hunt's personal relationship with Bush, and the fact that he has donated millions to help establish Bush as President, might have anything to do with this? Hunt serves on some high level committees that are privy to many Administration secrets. Does he know that Iraq is never going to have a unity government? Could this be in any way related to Bush's insistence that we are going to have to maintain a presence there for eternity (or perhaps until the oil is exhausted)? After all, if the Iraqis fail to come together they will need our presence to help maintain order and etc. Could this all be part of the same master plan that was cooked up secretly between Cheney and the Oil Company's? I am such a conspiracy nut.

But enough of paranoia and suspicion. Let me report on my culinary skills. On the rare occasions when my wife is not present I take the opportunity to cook for myself (I cannot claim the expertise and talent of my wife but I am not terrible as a cook). Usually I cook something I like that I know my wife would not eat under any circumstances, like pickled pigs feet, liver and onions, eisbein (pig knuckles), and stuff like that. Today I decided to cook Frogs legs Provencal. I had only eaten frogs legs twice in my life before and I didn't like them very well. I thought perhaps if I cooked them myself I would like them better (I have tried this with eggplant but it didn't work at all). Where did I find frogs legs in North Idaho? I didn't. You would never find frogs legs in North Idaho in a million years (only [horrors] the French would eat anything that disgusting). I happened upon them (frozen) in Creston, B.C. where we sometimes shop and where they have many things you would never find in Bonners Ferry (veal, octopus, squid, arctic char, pigs knuckles and etc.). I followed a recipe from Craig Clairbourn that was remarkably simple. I can report that I thought the frogs legs were quite tasty, much like chicken. Of course cooking them Provencal meant they also tasted much like tomato and garlic. But they were fine. The problem with frogs legs, I learned, is that they are about half meat and half bone. Although they were tasty I concluded they really weren't worth the effort, what with all the small bones and the snide remarks I had to endure from some friends. These particular frogs legs were imported from Vietnam. They were small. Maybe if I had bigger ones from home? Naw, I think I'm through with frogs legs

LKBIQ:
"To admit authorities, however heavily furred and gowned, into our libraries and let them tell us how to read, what to read, what value to place upon what we read, is to destroy the spirit of freedom which is the breath of those sanctuaries. Everywhere else we may be bound by laws and conventions--there we have none."
Virginai Woolf