Maybe they just got the date wrong.

Two very interesting news items that I recently saw and heard pretty much sum up the state of the current presidency.

The first item is that the administration is digging up dirt on a prospective opponent. Irrespective of the the fact that the alleged opponent has stated many times he is not running, this does not prevent the Chicago street thug political tactics from surfacing once again.

The second item was an interview I heard on the radio, in which the foreign affairs expert ( worked for Kissinger and Nixon) stated that the front runner of the elections in Egypt was the Muslim brotherhood, since they were the only political party able to form under Mubarak. And one of their first orders of business will be to renege on the peace treaty with Israel. Gee, you think? Something I said would happen right after the uprising.

This, of course, does not even factor in the First Jackwagon's idiotic stance on Israel, which of course, he backtracked on the next day.

So basically it shows that we have a president who has no idea what the heck he is doing, but he sure knows how to fight dirty to keep his job.

I don't think the country can survive four more years of this.

Wanna Bet?

I am going to take a definitive stand here . (Like I usually don't??...)

I am unequivocally stiting that the world will not come to an end this Weekend. I am even willing to bet with any of the doomsday believers that this is the case. The way I see it, it is a win-win situation.

In the event that I am correct, and these people who believe that all is lost this weekend are wrong, then they should pay off on the bet. The only problem will be that they have already spent all their money anticipation that they wouldn't need it past Sunday, and they have probably quit their jobs, so they will have no income coming in, and who in their right minds would hire such nut jobs going forward? But al least I would be right.

And if they are correct, Who will be around to tell me I was wrong and collect on the bet?

OF BULLIES AND COWARDS

We have become a nation of cowards led by a man of the same bent.

Assuring the muslim world that we have no fight with Islam, begs the question. We obviously have serious differences with Islam in whose name most of the terrorist acts of the past 20 years have been perpetrated. But we also know that if we tell the truth we will be threatened and attacked by its violent believers. We have to lie to keep ourselves safe.

It's painful to stand by and wait while the White House debates how to prove the death of Bin Ladin without offending muslim "sensibilities." I suggest we declare all out war and let them be insulted. If we are to remain a great nation and if the world is to remain relatively safe, we can no longer kowtow to the "arab street" or the bombastic threats of their bullies.

Affirmative Action or Racism?

I can't seem to get away from the politics, but that is all you hear about on the radio, and I need to write something that willl get the commenters busy ( other than waffles).

First, the wedding. yes it takes the horros of teh weather off the front pages, but is it really so terrible to lead with a feel good story once in a while? i think not.

Now on to the latest Trump issue. He is now being called a racist for questioning whether our leader had the grades to get in to Harvard on his own. Huge outcry (from the left, of course, nicely cloaked in the suposed respectability of "mainstream media"), much hand wringing.

Let me ask you something, what the heck did these people THINK would happen when the people who were the beneficiaries of affirmative aaction eventually suceeded? The program championed by the left to help "the little people"? OF COURSE everyone who might have, or did benefit would be suspect, taht is the whole nature of the program. lets push less qualified people in, and once in, see if they can live up the the expectations. There is nothing wrong with that, but the question still remains, did they deserve the push based onthe criteria set up by those institutions.

I remember seeing an article about a doctor who was featured as the success story of the affirmative action programs who had opened clinics in depressed areas. A few years later he had his license revoked for unbeleivable incompetence.

My own case in point was in law school.

I had a minority friend who definitely did not have the grades or the LSAT scores to meet the criteria of my law school. They took him in. He was a phenomenal writer, and my partner for a moot court competition. He was so good that he wrote on to the Law Review, which is no easy feat. I guess he did okay is school ( i didn't discuss grades with him). However, I lost track of him after the bar exam. Never saw his name on the passed rolls, never found him as an attorney, and have no idea what happened to him.

So if he couldn't pass the bar, what was the point of taking the slot away from someone more deserving with the grades and scores who never got the opportunity to become a lawyer? And had he suceeded, would people not have wondered how he got to where he was? And would that human tendency to wonder be wrong? The only thing wrong is that those minority students who DID have the grades and scored would be tainted with the same brush of doubt, wrongfully so.

The problem is not Trump questioning, the problem is that there is such a mechanism in place that allows him to.

The Birther Movement is Dead

Now that Donald Trump has forced the president to finally realease documents he should have a long time ago if he were even remotely serious about not prolonging the issue, I am left with one thought...

He is a home grown product. How sad.

Family is Everywhere

The previous post was to calm down the family members sending me nasty messages that I haven't posted anything in quite some time. I also question the current (lack of ) American foreign policy, but enough of that.

I met Soupeater in a store on Sunday. He informed me that I was the third branch of a family that he had met that day in three different stores, having run into a brother in law (of mine) in one store and a sister (again, of mine) in another store. Although the odds of this happening are not minimal, it is not so outrageous, as we all live in the same town and basically frequent the same establishments.

As I was driving to work on Monday on the Palisades, and thinking how I could get the preceding thought into a blog, the car behind me gave one quick flash. I moved over. The car did not pass me, which I thought odd (but prudent, as I was at the max, and any faster is a risk of a ticket). As I approached the slow moving cars in the right lane, I got back in front of the car. I then moved over again, and this time, the car did as well. This was quite odd. Until a hand started waving at me as that car exited on the right. I looked over.


It was a another sister. (of mine, not Soupeaters)

Small, but lovely, world to live in.

question for the CIC

No attacks on America, no threat of an attack on America, No unprovoked ethnic cleansing, no threatening of surrounding countries, no additional instability threatening a region, just a country dealing with its citizens who a protesting and rebelling with weapons. Why are we in Libya?

LOOK OUT !

Ace is on the loose.

Ace just got her license. The examiner was ( as per Ace ) beyond obnoxious, and had the audacity to tell her (gasp!) that she really isn't a good driver. ( I could have told her that). Nevertheless, after telling her she wasn't any good, and has trouble following directions (I could have told her that as well) the examiner decided to pass her. I think just so he doesn't have to suffer through another road test with her.

However, now starts the business of actually making sure we are comfortable enough with the way Ace drives to actually trust her with a car on her own.

It could be a while.

7,000. Wow

Actually, the WOW factor doesn't really fir, but since that is how we mark the milestones here at the good Doctor, I am keeping it for now. However, as the numbers are mixed, I might drop it. Or add a frowny face. Here is how the numbers stack up.

We hit 5,000 around July 1, and 6,000 around November 1. Now we are mid March and a few away from 7,000 hits. This is a 4/12 month difference, as opposed to a five month gap last time. That is good.

However, we are now approximately 3,480 hits behind the other blog that I like to trend against to see how I am doing, so in 4.5 months, we lost 100 hits on them. I know that in the past all index numbers were down, but lately they had been coming up, so I would expect a jump in our numbers as well.

So thank you all for reading and checking, and we will try to get to 8,000 quicker, which would probably happen if I actually wrote something more than just once in a while.

And as stated in the past, we need more comments to keep things lively.

VINDICATION!

So its all over the the news today, Mayor Moron has the WORST approval rating of his (seems like) 27 year tenure abusing us. 51% of New Yorkers disapprove of the job being done. This probably includes people from Manhattan as well. I guess people who can no longer drive, park eat what they want or smoke anywhere in the city have finally had enough of the ham handed tactics that he employs to force his agenda on all of us. I would assume if you took out the Manhattanites, his rating would be more like 70% unfavorable. And if you included all the people who work in the city but commute in, it would be more like 90%. Which proves what I said a while ago...

The only person who likes him is himself.

Don't Give

I am not in the habit of contributing to public radio - much as I like their programming - because I don't want my money used to encourage the internal and external enemies of the United States.

Likewise, it irks me that fund drive rhetoric demonizes and characterizes all commercial (those that will create profit for someone) ads as bad. Especially since they are vastly more informative than the ads usually carried by public radio stations that serve very little useful purpose but appeal to the left wing public radio management because they are not tainted by filthy lucre. The droning, formulaic, audio equivalent of the financial industry's "tombstone ads" are the most annoying aspect of public radio. Almost any other ads would be preferable.

The bottom line on all this is that the public stations are indulging in the worst kind of elitism, pushing their central agenda that elitist, culturally oriented ads are more acceptable than ads for drugs, computers, shoes or replacement windows. In my opinion, anything is better than a full week of repeating the station's phone number 120 times an hour interspersed with fervent begging.

The redeeming nugget of interest in the WQXR's recent fund raising drive, and the reason for this post, was a most original and innovative ad for public radio fund raising. Alec Baldwin (the actor not the rebel) encourages you in a deadpan voice to not give... and at the end of his really entertaining monologue says 'and here is the number NOT to call..."
Listen to it Here (Click on "Don't give" audio)

I liked it so much, I am considering sending them a small token donation.

Other Matters

I have been called to task by one of my "lurkers", ( a term I have been branded on facebook, since I read but usually do not comment) that there are too many blogs about waffles. However, I have found that my other posts get even less of a response than the waffle ones do, even if the comments are from family members with no patience.

I have tried different topics, politics, the idiotic mayor of New York, driving and court stories, to name a few, but the beauty of the waffle quest is that it is a theme that has constant updates. I mean, how many ways can you say the president is an incompetent fool and the mayor a self important moron???

Be that as it may, if I actually received responses to the posts, I might be inclined to talk about other topics. I mean, its not like there aren't other blogs that DO talk about all kinds of different random topics, usually headed with one work, and consisting of one to three paragraphs.

So comment away, dear readers, and I will continue to post on all and sundry topics.

And waffles.

The Possble End of the Perfect Waffle Quest II

So since my commenters have the patience of mayflies on line at the DMV, I shall continue the saga here.

After obtaining the recipe for the Rimon Belgian Waffle it was time to come home and pull out the ace card, basically, a recipe from the SIL of Dipsy, a frequent and ardent reader of this site. After hearing accolades from all those who ate this delectable delight, it was time to try it. Although it is not even slightly fat free ( 1/4 cup oil, 4 eggs) it didn't have 27 pounds of butter, so I decided to give it a chance.

DISCLAIMER AND POSSIBLE PART III, I have never actually completely made any of the recipes that DID call for butter, so I can't say the quest is done, you lucky readers! This hobby (obsession?) could go on for MONTHS or YEARS!....

Back to the waffles at hand. So I made the recipe, nice, really thick batter, and I put it in the machine. It smelled lovely. When it came out, it wasn't the usual soggy mess, it seems to have a real crispiness and weight to it. I bit in. So did the tasters.

It was OK.

Unfortunately, it didn't have the WOW factor that we were looking for, it certainly had the best texture of any we had made, and there was more taste than the usual ones ( except for, surprisingly, the fat free one with apple sauce and apple juice, which still had the most flavor, albeit apples).

So we tried to doll it up with a bit of honey ( a Rimon ingredient) some Splenda and cinnamon. Still OK. However, then I decided, since the batter was so thick, to put chocolate bits INTO the batter.

EUREKA!!! WOW!!!!

THAT truly hit the spot, the chocolaty goodness inside the crispiness of the waffle, with the inherent sweetness of the bits made the eating experience phenomenal.

So for now, without the butter waffles, or having tried to re-create the Rimon experience, we are sticking with the Batter from Far Rockaway with chocolate chips as the leader of the quest.

the Possble End of the Perfect Waffle Quest I

I know it may seem odd to number a post from the outset, but I know this is going to be a two parter. I was in Israel as many of you know. In the past, there had been much talk about the famous Rimon Belgian Waffle, so as part of the quest for the perfect waffle, I needed to go and taste this supposedly wonderful waffle. The added reason was that in each taste test, anyone who had actually had the Rimon waffle would constantly compare my offerings to this outstanding gastronomical achievement.

So I went there one evening, suitably hungry so I could achieve the full of effect of wonderfulness. I ordered the waffle with great anticipation ( and of course, a speech for the poor waitress as to WHY I was compelled to order it as a main dish, and not a dessert). The waffle arrived, and here is a picture.

Each square is filled with either a white or regular chocolate sauce, there are the two scoops of Ice cream, and the stuff on the plate is extra sauce, shaved chocolate, and confectioners sugar. Bug claims that they changed the presentation a bit, in the past it was one long waffle, with a checkerboard of sauces, but I would assume the taste would be the same. After admiring it for a bit, I took a bite.

WOW.

It really was quite good, and the first waffle I had tasted that actually had both texture AND taste. Suffice it to say it didn't last long on the plate.

I had decided previously to try to get the recipe. When I initially ordered it, (after the speech) I asked the waitress if I could get the recipe, but she didn't think so. After she brought it, she said that I might be able to get it, as the manager had said it was OK, but the chef that makes the batter was no longer there ( it was 9 at night). So I should try back in the morning, when he would be there.

I went back at 8:30 the next morning, but hew was not in yet, they told me to try back in a few hours. I finally got there at 2, and although the place was hopping busy, the manager on duty went in to the kitchen and actually got me the recipe. However, there were no amounts given, so I won't share the recipe here.

However, I will keep you all posted as I experiment with the ingredients to see if I can re-create the taste. Stay tuned.....

Political Tidbits

Before I get started on my trip. ( which was wonderful, thanks for wondering to yourself) I have to address two things. ( one might show up somewhere else as well..) Today there was a motorcycle and three bus accident in the Lincoln Tunnel. Two hour delay. You might think that in anticipation of the insane traffic that will follow closing one of the tubes, there will be alternative traffic elsewhere. So lay off the morning construction on the main arteries, right? Well folks, this in New York, Home to the richest short dictator. West Side Highway, the alternative route into the city when the tunnel is really backed up, had then setting up one late closure.

At least none of the workers just hanging around weren't smoking, which segues into the next thought, preceded by a joke,

In Egypt, they claim to have less freedom than here, but there they can actually smoke in public.

Which leads to the middle east, and this first jackwagons middle east policy, or complete lack thereof. He doesn't seem to have the slightest clue how to deviate from the Jimmy Carter handbook, which worked out soooo we for us the last time around. He works hard to bring down our allies, and uses kid gloves with our enemies that are already trying to uproot Israel. Does this seem to make any sense to anyone not a liberal? Please explain.

More on the beautiful country of Israel next.

Impressions while on a trip

Did you ever notice that announcements made on a plane by a male member of the cabin crew are usually delivered in a prissy, effeminate style? Then did you also notice, the resonant, deep throated, altogether all-american male voice and diction which comes through the loudspeaker as the captain get on the horn?

The dissimilarity is almost intentionally a parody, emphasizing the virility of the plane's pilot. You feel safe, confident, sure that someone (Snoopy's World War I ace) is in control, while your personal needs are attended to by the more wifely types which push the carts up and down the aisles.

There are distinctions among the male cabin attendants as well. There is the bully, hectoring you to "TURN OFF THAT SWITCH - OFF - OH EFF EFF." There is the mincer, (difficult to describe in words) "Would you like something to drink?" while bending his pinky and pursing his lips. There is the comedian, his unintelligible words spilling out in a cacophony of deep southern sounds with "Please use caution when opening the overhead bins because you know, shift happens." (At least that was funny.) Give me the pilot any day.

Alabama was cold, below freezing at night. Not exactly unusual but they've had a lot of it this year and that is unusual. I got out just ahead of a major snowstorm which is unusual even for February.

Things must be pretty bad in Florida. One sees people standing on street corners holding signs suspended from their necks, advertising, "We Buy Gold, Highest Prices Paid," or "CARWASH! $6.95." It occurred to me that they have to stand outdoors for hours carrying these large signs which can't be too light, in rain, extreme heat, wind, all to earn, what? $5.00 an hour? $7.00? How inhumane. Like being in the stocks or the pillory, except even worse, they want passersby to notice them. It's a rough way to make a living.

South Florida was great, real convertible weather. Too bad I couldn't stay.

After You, Sir.

I see that no one saw fit to comment on the last post. Although I should take that as a sign that no one wants to read my political rants here, I shall choose to interpret it that you all agree with me.

With that in mind, coupled with the fact that I am getting hoarse screaming at my radio whenever the Egyptian "crisis" is mentioned. I must post again on the issue, since lots seems to have happened recently.

Aside from the press making mountains out of this issue, it appears that the US is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, or should I specify that the great student of history, our current leader, is doomed, in his arrogance at thinking he knows everything better, to repeat the mistakes of the president he so closely resembles ( in politics at least) Jimmy Carter.

I heard a clip today of the late great president, Ronald Reagan, saying how he felt the US made a tremendous blunder in not supporting the Shah, and look what followed. This is of course a similar situation. The first Jackwagon has already thrown one of our allies under the bus, ( along with most everyone he has ever been affiliated with, but that is another, much older post) and the news is that we are in talks with Egyptian leaders to work on the succession of Mubarak, who, in the eyes of the State Department, has already resigned, since we asked him to so nicely.

The only things Mubarak has done to us is been a staunch ally to the US, and not hammered Israel more that is necessary to save face among the Arabs. This, of course, ( being an ally to the USA while G.W. Bush was president) is the ultimate crime in the eyes of our idiotic leader. Therefore, he must go, and another country must be destabilized, so that the vacuum can be filled by Islamic radicals.

Can we not see where this is going? Haven't we been down this road before? Or is it the master plan of the current American regime?

I am herewith formally requesting that the President of the United States resign. Based on the way they operate, he should willingly leave, since I asked so nicely.

Lets Rouse some Rabble

Now that my thoughts are focused on the middle east, I just want to comment a little on what is going on over there.

I cannot believe that the left wing liberal press is really so incredibly stupid to believe that all the rabble rousing going on in Egypt ( and for that matter, Lebanon and Tunisia) is for people that are DESPERATE for democracy.

From this vantage point, the only thing that currently fills a power vacuum in that part of the world are extremists. Oh sure, sometimes they couch it initially as democracy, but you can be sure that if there are open elections, and these extremists get into power, it won't be a democracy for long, or it might be a democracy, but not for women.

I think they are brilliant, these fundamentalists. Not 0nly do they have the people believe that they need change ( and see how well THAT worked out for us here), but they thumb their noses at the US, by saying it is all for democracy, when it is clear to me that they are just causing unrest so that they can take over one of the few stable countries in the region.

I hope I am completely wrong about this. I worry that I am not.

Jerusalem is Calling

I met one of my avid followers, who accosted me and DEMANDED that I post something. She was somewhat mollified by the previous post, and it is good to see Soupeater back in the writing saddle, but gave me a hard time for the previous title just popping up every time she checked the site "Sad Music, Sad Music, enough already!"

So now I have written this and satisfied my obligation to her. However, I think I should perhaps add something of substance as well.

The good Doctor is going on the road! This is big news, as I really don't get out much. I am heading for the holy land for a quick spiritual recharge. The funny thing is I didn't realize how much i needed to go until Friday afternoon.

There is a song by journeys about Jerusalem that always choked me up when I heard it. It reminded me of my time there, and how I wished to go back. Eventually, i did make it back, and try to go every few years now. I haven't heard the song in a while, but Ace said they were using it in her concert.

Even so, as of a few weeks ago, when she told me, I had no real reaction to the song. However, on Friday we were singing a few bars, and as I now have the date set for my trip, I felt myself getting quite emotional at my return to the holy city.

I can't wait to go.

Choose Life!

which do you prefer?