She learnt to drive in 1945 when she joined the army
Even the Guardian is noting Queen Elizabeth’s 80th birthday.
The Guardian on strikes against Iran
From the Guardian’s take on the New Yorker report that US plans strike to topple Iran regime:
In Britain, Jack Straw told the BBC that the idea of a US nuclear strike against Iran was “completely nuts”.
Indeed. But nuts or not, I believe the Bush Administration is likely to consider it.
Bloggers give thumbs down
There’s a report on the critique of mainstream media’s coverage of Iraq over at Global Voices Online
The conclusion of the panelists seemed to be that the media isn’t presenting a full picture of what’s happening in Iraq, but there were no concrete ideas as to what can or should be done about this problem. Problems with the coverage include: It’s too politically polarized. There isn’t enough background and context due to space and time limitations in news outlets. News organizations are businesses and must tailor their reports to the interests and sensibilities of their audiences (which explains why non-Iraqi victims get more play than Iraqi victims in the Western media). There are physical limitations on what Western, other Middle Eastern, and Iraqi journalists can physically report on because the situation is so physically dangerous. Etc.
No big surprises in the post, but I am alarmed by the comments suggesting that editors are not journalists.
Asking the Blogosphere: Is the media telling the real story on Iraq?
Great project underway at Global Voices Online:
In your country, how does the media’s Iraq coverage rate? Fair and balanced? Biased? Which way? How about bloggers’ reporting and discussion of the issue? Have blogs helped clarify things or added to the confusion? We want to bring the opinions of the world’s bloggers on this issue directly into the debate.
Sweet potato pancakes
Adapted from the basic pancake recipe in The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, page 32.
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups flour (I used 1c unbleached white, 1c whole wheat)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch ancho chile powder
- cinnamon
- allspice
Wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 eggs
A little melted butter in the cast-iron skillet for the first batch, and that’s about it.
Dawn French interview
If you can wade through the absolute twaddle inside the interviewer’s mind, Dawn French has some interesting things to say in this Guardian Observer interview
‘You mustn’t lie to yourself or have any shame about anything to do with your body. I really don’t know why I don’t. I have attributed it in the past to my dad, because of his cherishing of me. I might have done that because he died quite early, because I hero-worshipped him a bit. Possibly there’s that, but also I always moved away from people who made me feel bad and slightly swum towards people who are unafraid of it, who want me to be who I feel happy to be.’
Tzimmes with sweet potato, carrot, and beet
Today’s version for the contra dance potluck:
- 2 sweet potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 beet, cut into chunks
- large handful dried apricots
- small handful dried nectarines
- juice of 3 oranges
- large dollop of honey
- cinnamon, cayenne, minced ginger, salt
put in buttered casserole dish, cover, and bake at 350
States I’ve slept in
All the other Quaker bloggers are doing it, so here goes with the states I’ve slept in (rather than just visited or passed through).
create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks.
Lil and Dottie
A very cleverly written article in Bookforum about Dorothy Parker’s bequest to the NAACP and her friendship with Lillian Hellman (via A&L Daily). It includes a fair sampling of Parker’s wit:
One of her neighbors, the writer Peter Feibleman, overheard her exchange words with another neighbor, a silly woman who began gushing over Campbell’s death and asking what she could get for her. “Get me a new husband,” Parker croaked. That was a “disgusting remark,” the woman replied. “Sorry,” said Dottie. “Then run down to the corner and get me a ham and cheese on rye and tell them to hold the mayo.”
Spleen! Oh goody.
Go read Annie Proulx’s Blood on the red carpet:
Roughly 6,000 film industry voters, most in the Los Angeles area, many living cloistered lives behind wrought-iron gates or in deluxe rest-homes, out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment that is America these days, but also out of touch with their own segregated city, decide which films are good.