54-46 was my number

I have come not to bury them but to praise them...

Interesting couple of days. It has been a really good month in the shop and I leave again for San Francisco this week for another show. Wanted to offer a few thoughts.

***

In the spirit of fair play a few commendations are in order.

To George Bush, who said that America was in danger of becoming a nativist country and who seemed to be speaking counter to many in his party. The article here.  He has been an excellent former president, never taken shots at his successor and has been a voice of reason and tolerance lately.

"My point is, we've been through this kind of period of isolationism, protectionism, nativism," he said. "I'm a little concerned that we may be going through the same period. I hope that these "isms" pass," he said, adding that it would allow the U.S. a more orderly look at immigration policy.Bush said growing up in Texas gave him the opportunity to interact with different cultures."We ought to welcome people from different cultures to America," he said.

***

To William Kristol, conservative editor of the Weekly Standard for calling out Glenn Beck for fear mongering.

When Glenn Beck rants about the caliphate taking over the Middle East from Morocco to the Philippines, and lists (invents?) the connections between caliphate-promoters and the American left, he brings to mind no one so much as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. He's marginalizing himself, just as his predecessors did back in the early 1960s.

It is nice to hear from moderate republicans who are willing to brook the zanies and have the intellectual integrity to take a temperate stance in these matters.

***

And across the pond a nasty little skuffle is brewing between the British government, who have had enough of their muslim citizens and guests fomenting terrorist attacks at their doorstop and the typical mamby pamby bleeding heart liberals at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch who never met a terrorist they didn't love. An interesting article here in the DailyMail.

Apparently an Al Qaeda operative named Abid Naseer who came to Britain as a student and was ruled guilty of being complicit in attack planning of a bombing at the Arndale Centre in Manchester, England  and planned subway attacks in New York is fighting extradition to Pakistan on the grounds that he may be tortured.

Last May, a court ruled Al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer and his accomplice Ahmad Faraz Khan could not be deported because it would infringe their human rights.

The pair were planning a 'mass casualty attack', probably against shoppers at the Arndale Centre in Manchester over the Easter holiday last year.

But judges said Naseer, 24, and 26-year-old Faraz Khan - who came to Britain as students - should not be sent back to Pakistan because of the risk they could be tortured.

Critics branded the judgment by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission was 'outrageous' and Home Secretary Theresa May expressed her disappointment.

European judges have turned Britain into a ‘safe haven’ for foreign terrorists, the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws warned yesterday. Lord Carlile said rulings by the European Court of Human Rights had undermined efforts to deport dangerous individuals intent on causing mayhem. The Liberal Democrat peer and QC attacked the court for refusing to allow the risk of harm to British citizens to be weighed in deportation hearings. Instead, only the human rights of the suspected terrorist can be taken into account.

‘The effect [of the court’s rulings] is to make the UK a safe haven for some individuals whose determination is to damage the UK and its citizens – hardly a satisfactory situation save for the purist,’ he said.

Lord Carlile’s comments angered human rights groups. Kate Allen, UK director at Amnesty International said: ‘The global ban on deporting people to countries where they’re at risk of torture exists for a very good reason – to protect us all from the threat of being tortured.’

God save us from these idiots. A bullet would be much cheaper.

***

 Finally a big bronx cheer to the Department of Agriculture for caving to Monsanto and deregulating genetically modified alfalfa (GM) which is resistant to the herbicide Roundup. The Center for Food Safety and other opponents in the scientific community are worried about these strains not being geographically isolated so that they are now free to contaminate all the natural strains. Power of the agribusiness buck trumps common sense once again. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Contamination of organic and traditional crops by recently deregulated, genetically modified alfalfa is inevitable, say experts in the field.

"Some degree of cross-pollination will occur regardless of what mechanism is going to be put in place,"  predicted Jeff Wolt, an agronomist with Iowa State University's Seed Science Center.

Aliens drop in on Jerusalem

I found it on Fox News, it has to be on the level.

Beep Beep

This morning, friend and blast reader Bill LeMasters sent over this great shot of a beautiful roadrunner that hangs out at his place. Nice lizard breakfast.

Opportunity

Temecula Red

People that love wine in my area have long bemoaned the lack of decent reds from the Temecula region. My friend Jeaneane characterizes the taste as dirt flavored. Something peculiar to the terroir. We have tasted exactly one great local red, a Bailey Meritage and it was beaucoup expensive.

One of my clients, Marlene Woodworth from Woodworth Vinyards in De Luz, stopped by yesterday to tell me that her pinot noir just won a blind tasting that got it into the Pinot Noir Shootout in San Francisco. Her microclimate is very cool. She is bringing a bottle over for us to try and we wish her well and hope that she has great success at the competition. Maybe we will one day evolve into a major pinot destination.

Woodworth Vineyards Pinot Noir Among the Best

Category: In the News  |  Permalink

Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TEMECULA, Calif. When you think of wine regions producing great Pinot Noir, the Sonoma coast, Russian River, Santa Barbara and the Willamette Valley come to mind. You now can add the Temecula Valley to that list.

One of the biggest surprises of the 9th annual Pinot Noir Shootout is Woodworth Vineyards, a micro-winery in the De Luz hills west of Temecula that is making a very big name for itself.

Woodworth's 2008 Pinot Noir is among 64 top wines to be featured at the blind tasting portion of the Pinot Noir Summit to be held in San Francisco on Feb. 26. The wines were culled from more than 360 competing wines from the United States, France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Since October, Pinot Noir experts have been evaluating and selecting the best Pinots for the final tasting event at the Summit.

Woodworth is the only winery in the Temecula Valley wine-growing region to produce a still wine from Pinot Noir grapes grown in its own vineyard.

"In general, Southern California is too hot to grow Pinot Noir," said Marlene Woodworth, co-owner. "But we're blessed with a great micro-climate here in De Luz that gives us warm days but very cool nights coupled with coastal fog in the mornings, a good combination for Pinot."

The climatic diversity of the Temecula Valley wine growing region surprised quite a few.

"I was shocked and pleased," said Barbara Drady, Pinot Noir Summit organizer and wine evangelist. "Based on how good the wine is, the appellation is a surprise and I think you'll have some fun converting some Pinot Lovers that don't think it's possible to make a delicious Pinot from Temecula."

Other wineries in the Temecula Valley use grapes from other vineyards to make Pinot and a small number of Pinot grapes go into making a sparkling wine, but Woodworth is the lone winery to control production from the vine to bottle.

Described as the "most romantic of wines," the 2008 Pinot Noir ($33) from Woodworth has notes of bright cherry and little bit of spice followed by a big berry taste accentuated by soft tannins and a lingering finish with smoky hints of tobacco.

The Woodworths purchased 45 acres in De Luz in 2000. Eight acres are planted with grapes, including nearly 3 acres devoted exclusively to Pinot Noir. The Pinot vines were grafted onto Syrah, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon root stock over the last five years. Woodworth Vineyards also produce Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, a white Merlot (Golden Maggie), a blend of Chardonnay and Muscat (Sweet Sophie) and a red blend (Black Dog). You can learn more about Woodworth Vineyards at www.woodworthwine.com.

Congratulations!

My buddy San Mateo Mike, the scourge of the billiard halls from east Palo Alto to San Bruno, sent me a picture of his beautiful new baby girl from Thailand, Harper. Mazel Tov, my friend.

Nina Simone

Taken to the cleaners

Leslie and I just came back from a quick jaunt up to Napa and back with a few friends. It was absolutely gorgeous, about 15 degrees warmer than chilly San Diego, surprisingly. We had a marvelous couple of days, with great traveling companions that we are very comfortable with.

Any long time reader of the Blue Heron Blast would probably surmise that we were hunting good food and wine this week, an elusive quarry and pursuit that motivates much of our time. You would not be wrong.

We left on our northern quest a few minutes after six in the morning, in a rented Navigator. All of our possessions had been distilled into the smallest suitcases imaginable. Which would have been fine if we had not brought so much food for the trip. Bags of baguettes and crackers, cheeses and truffle butter, soppressata and salami from Venissimo, we were loaded for bear. I hate to imagine how much weight I have gained in a mere three days, something probably exacerbated by the prednisone I have been taking lately.

Leslie had brought a nice selection of music along and we segued nicely from Beeethoven to early Rolling Stones. We actually rolled into Napa at about 2:45 in the afternoon. Time passes quicker in a car with good conversation.

We had our reservations for the French Laundry on Wednesday night and discussed our collective desire to arrive there hungry and fairly sober. We stopped at our only winery of the trip, a scoot over to Chandon, Renée having a slight sulfite allergy as I do, and champagne tending not to hurt one too much.

The champagne was alright, nothing extraordinary. The Pinot Noir reserve wasn't bad. We had to pay about $20.00 for the tasting, which tells you how long it has been since I have been to Napa, since I don't recall ever paying for booze before. The server was a bit irritating and over forward and I ensconced myself on a high table far away from him in order to keep everything in the happy zone.

After our tasting we checked into our hotel, the Bardessono, an absolutely fantastic new boutique hotel with every amenity and state of the art furnishings. Totally green, Leed platinum certified. The rooms, which were upgraded for us, had steam rooms, hi- tech whirlpools, outdoor showers, private decks, electric shutters and just could not have been nicer. The foyer was decorated with long trails of tillandsia or air plants. The architecture was a nice cross between bauhaus and zen. The toilets not only talked to you, but they spritzed, shampooed and gave your most private real estate a lovely coiffure.

When we left, the affable General Manager Jim Treadway came out and thanked us. A first class guy and a first class hotel.

We were thinking about the culinary adventure that awaited us the next day and thought that we should eat simple and relaxed the first night. We settled on an old reliable outside of Napa, Bistro Don Giovanni. Situated in a vineyard, always loud, always packed, the last time I was there I had fantastic sand dabs, which were now unfortunately off the menu.

I had one of those ubiquitous walnut, pear, blue cheese salads, which was good but a bit heavy on the dressing. I ordered short rib risotto fritters for the table that were terrific. For my entree I had strongly spiced lamb meatballs that tasted a bit greek or mediterranean. Lots of oregano and bursting with flavor. All of us enjoyed our dinners, which tended to northern italian. A smaller, scaled down menu than I remember, but one that still delivered. R. had a nice short rib on risotto. Leslie had a duck confit salad and a potato, celery root, artichoke soup.

We returned to our hotel and retired for the night. Slept the sleep of the dead, Ren said that she got 7 hours in for the first time in memory. I got up about 6:30 and headed over to Bouchon Bakery for out of this world almond croissants and coffee. Then a trip back to the hotel lobby where I got to indulge in a full reading of the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and San Francisco Chronicle.

We piled into the car for a scenic trip around Rutherford and towards Lake Berryessa and eventually made it to another foodie heaven, Dean and Deluca. We were all so transfixed with the great selection of everything, from wine to exotic salts and condiments. Murderer's row of prosciutto. Spent a small fortune.

Renée's son and his girlfriend drove up and had lunch with us at our hotel. We had the large table in the dining room to ourselves. D. and I had swordfish sandwiches on Brioche. All very tasty fare. After lunch Renée decided to stick around and hang out with her baby Chris and Justine. 

Leslie, R and D and I drove up to Calistoga and received mudbath's at the little Golden Haven Resort. It was our friends' first slide into the molten goo and they loved it. Leslie said that I fell asleep on the table and started snoring as did D. After the mud you shower off and get in the mineral water hot tub. Then you shower again and make sure that you have freed all of your orifices from unwanted sediment. Then you get blanket wrapped in a dark candlelit room with a cool towel on your forehead and proceed to zoom off into space. Great way to banish all the sniggling aches and pains and the stress of real life.

We drove back to Yountville and stopped and walked through the French Laundry gardens, looking at the prospective vegetables that might be gracing our plates later that evening. We finally went back to the hotel and chilled, with a lot of nervous conversation on my part regarding the evening ahead. This was going to be big. 

***

 At approximately 6:10 we started walking towards the French Laundry. The trellis of the old stone building was covered with old vegetation and I noticed immaculately raked side yards. The building was originally built by a Scotsman at the turn of the century and housed a saloon. A law was subsequently passed that you could not serve alcohol within 1000 feet of the house of a veteran and in the twenties it became a french steam laundry. Thomas Keller bought the restaurant in 1994. It was named best restaurant in the world in 2003 and 2004. It has won multitudes of awards, a third Michelin Star and it's chefs have gone on to great things around the country. As you probably know.

We were quickly seated at 6:30 at a good table. One of my fellow diners remarked that it was nice to not be squeezed in to a too small table. Everybody in the restaurant seemed very well dressed, my companions no exception. There were a lot of asian people in the restaurant. An asian gent at the next table tried to take his sport coat off and was quickly and gently remonstrated.

I have somehow misplaced my copy of the menu and will have to recount the meal from memory.  But let me say that it was one of the most incredible eating experiences of my life. Not the best, not the most pleasurable, but definitely the most complex. In fact, I am still processing my adventure, trying to make sense of the whole thing. Because this one had me on the ropes, maybe unmasked as a charlatan and definitely begging for mercy at one point.

Our server/liaison Brian briefed us on the meal and the two nine course menus, one meat oriented and one mainly vegetables with some meat. He asked us about any known food allergies and Leslie and I begged off on the caviar and oyster first course, Sabayon of Pearl Tapioca with Malpeque Oysters and Ossetra, having developed some sort of weird reactions to the mollusks in the last several years. We then ordered, all going left side menu except for Renée who went the vegetable route. D ordered a 2007 Hirsch Pinot Noir, which was delicious and practically the first alcohol of the day.

The menu was a bit florid. I noticed an item on the vegetable side titled Jidori hen egg and couldn't suppress the urge to ask Brian if the Jidori roosters were in the habit of laying eggs as well. My query was met with a cool but professional smile.

Our meal started with gougéres, little puff pastries of gruyere that literally melted in our mouths. I could have powered twenty or thirty of these little guys without a problem. This course gave way to the famous salmon tartare cones that are probably one of the restaurant's signature dishes. The amusebouche of all amusebouches. Absolutely delicious. The comfort food portion of the meal was now officially over and we hadn't even eaten our first true course. 

Leslie and I started with ossetra caviar over some sort of saki infused ice for our substitution. I really liked it, she thought that it was too simple for her taste. The danger you run into when substituting, I suppose.

The next offering was a moulard duck pate de fois gras au torchon on an elaborate base of flavors including pickled asian pear relish, celery, parsnip purée and vanilla scented sauternes reduction. It was very good and very rich and they brought out warm brioche to slather it onto.

It was at this point that I started checking out our fellow diners. At the next table was an elegant silver haired gentleman who I could swear was a famous writer or newsman. The rest of our room was mainly chinese. 

Anyone who has traveled in the last several years can attest that the chinese and russians seem to be the only folks left with any money. We had a foursome of chinese in front of us that were fascinating. Total barbarians. We watched in amazement as the man stabbed the brioche and attempted to put the whole thing in his mouth. He was also sucking his pate off the end of his dinner knife. It was like sharing a meal with Attila the hun or Ghengis Khan. No longer do I want to hear anything about my lack of table manners.

We were then treated to the butter poached lobster on the beet paint with a little potato chip hat like the dancing hippos in Fantasia. Perfect dish. Truly gorgeous artistically on the rich beet purple ground.

The next course was I think the cobia, an atlantic fish, on red pepper paint. R had the bouillabaisse. This was the moment in the meal where things started getting a little bit weird. There were so many disparate food tastes going off that my mouth was exploding like a firecracker, a pattern that continued throughout the rest of the meal. The fish itself was prepared wonderfully, and colorfully I might add, but it ventured into decidedly new turf with all the discordant flavors. Something they were trying to do.

I have had friends run screaming from the French Laundry. I had some say they left hungry, which I just can't believe. I have friends that absolutely love the place. I really don't know where I stand, honestly. This is definitely not comfort food, it is the most challenging fare I have ever eaten. I think that I have only eaten at a similar restaurant one time in my life. The food is so complex, the litmus test and demarcation line so far above "tastes good" that at times I felt like I was in a fifteen round prize fight, doing little rope a dopes in the corner, fighting for air. Sensory bombard the palette, the culinary equivalent of a major acid trip.

Fish gave way to kurobata pork belly, freaking divine, just the right amount of underlying fat. Pork was followed by beef, a succulent and perfectly cooked tenderloin strip and a small square of braised brisket, whose demiglaze was a bit too rich for me but something everybody else loved. Somehow another pinot got ordered, an El Molino of the same vintage.

I frankly don't know what the hell else I ate, since I started fading into the wainscoting. My friends said that I looked real quiet and weird for about three courses. They said that they have never seen me more at a loss for words. I was in lala land. Pretty close to shnockered. The service was a bit slow and I had to stifle a yawn several times as did my dinner mates. The server came by and I think I pleaded for him to make it stop but he kept saying "just one more course" and I acquiesced  and just kept eating so as not to embarrass my wife and sully my family honor.

Little food memories rise out of my altered state and present themselves now on the day after; a baby radish with top leaf that was practically translucent and with no bite, grapefruit seeds in the sorbet exploding in my mouth like a roman candle. It was frankly turning into a bit of an ordeal. Wonderful and terrible at the same time. Because we had been hit with everything short of the kitchen sink. Who in their right mind would have porkbelly, fish, lobster, beef, steak and moulard all in one meal? Not to mention all the bread I had stupidly slammed down, along with the two kinds of butter.  

I am taken by the artistry of Keller's plates and the subtle and sophisticated flavors in his food. But everything is pushed so far. I found myself fantasizing for just one simple course in the middle of this titanic effort. Something that was just well cooked and spoke for itself without reaching for the epicurean apogee. I have noticed some restaurants lately that try to push the food beyond good and make it difficult to eat, not necessarily this one. But I certainly felt challenged. Perhaps my clumsy palette has been affected by too many double cheeseburgers?

I wondered how many of the rich patrons were there for the food and how many who merely wanted to check the French Laundry off their birding list? Our hosts told me about once being seated at 9:30 and not getting out until 1:30 in the morning. I would definitely crack. Don't ever go and get seated after 7, whatever you do.

Back to the feast: I seem to recall a chocolate ganache dessert with a sour cherry that was trickier than it was delicious, then perfect tiny doughnuts, a sorbet and more snappy little chocolates. D had some beautiful pistachio ice affair. Coffee was served to those that requested it. The night was capped with delicious little cups of chocolate fondant, which helped us come back to earth. Shortbread cookies to go. We got a quick tour of the kitchen after the meal. Some very serious cooks. Very impressive, to say the least.

We had equipped ourselves well and survived the expedition. Made Fallbrook proud. I think that there were about twelve courses. I appreciate the invitation and kindness of my hosts. I don't know that I will ever be back. I have planted my flag on this mountain of gourmandise but like Hillary have "been there, done that" and may not need to do it again. Four or five courses would be fine but this gustatory exercise in pure excess sent my nervous system into full tilt. Sproing! The restaurant was everything they said it was and more. Herculean. I just may not have the huevos anymore to tackle such an epic meal.

I wonder about places like the French Laundry. Purportedly Thomas Keller runs a small empire with his various restaurants, Per Se, Ad Hoc, Bouchon, etc. that employs about a thousand people. It must be hard to love what you are doing when you are involved in serving that many plates, employing that many people and have become a culinary institution. Bet he wishes he was slinging hash in an anonymous diner some days.

***

I wish that I could say that we, being overstuffed, fasted on the way home. The reality is that we continued to gorge ourselves silly on a variety of foodstuffs that I am too embarrassed to recount. Ended up at my favorite armenian chicken place, Zankou Chicken in Pasadena for protein, pickled turnips, hummus and garlic paste. Then back to Fallbrook just after dark.

It was an amazing three days. There is more of me standing than there was last week, I estimate about 6 lbs. more. Guiltriddenly hauled my ass into the gym this morning. Many thanks to my friends, wife and fellow diners. A whirlwind but an absolute ton of fun. Quite a trip.

Lesley Duncan - Love Song

Buddha Nature

It was a cold and rainy day yesterday. After brunch Leslie and I decided to drive down to Escondido to see the gigantic Jade Buddha for Universal Peace that arrived this week. It is being exhibited at the California Center for the Arts. This 9' tall buddha weighs four and one half tons and is the largest buddha in the world carved out of gem quality green nephrite. It was consecrated by the Dalai Lama last december.

It was a large and colorful festival, sponsored by the Vietnamese American United Buddhist Congregation. The grounds hosted lots of different statues from the buddhist pantheon. There were many  altars and offerings, from joss sticks to fruit and lots of flowers.

I believe that yesterday was also the anniversary of Tet, the lunar holiday in Vietnam. Lots of stalls sold food and trinkets. Everyone was very happy, friendly and pleasant. I was struck by the seriousness and sincerity of the devotion shown by the faithful.

I met a monk and bought a scroll that he had painted with his beautiful calligraphy, a paean to peace. We talked about the subtle differences between the southeastern asian mahayana and the tibetan version. He seemed very clear and sincere, a typical buddhist.

The Jade Buddha was carved out of a piece of jade purchased in Canada for the purported sum of $1,000,000.00. The carving itself cost over $250,000.00. Over 5 million people have seen the buddha in the last year. There was also a special exhibit of rare antique buddhist artifacts loaned by the king of Thailand in one tent. If you want to see the event, and I recommend it, I believe that the jade buddha will be there for another week.

"If you come here with mindfulness, you will find the relationship with Buddha ... You can see all the lights shining on the Jade Buddha and you can feel relaxed," said Le Tan Huynh, among the team of the organizers that helped bring the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace back for its second visit to Escondido. "It's miraculous; you can't describe it."

Emile Cohl

Justice Department getting pissy about data retention.

"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds." John Perry Barlow

Interesting story on CNET. The government wants records of all of your electronic communications.

Criminal investigations "are being frustrated" because no law currently exists to force Internet Providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, the U.S. Department of Justice told Congress. The department's position on mandatory data retention says Congress should strike a "more appropriate balance" between privacy and police concerns.

"Data retention is fundamental to the department's work in investigating and prosecuting almost every type of crime," said Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal division. "The problem of investigations being stymied by a lack of data retention is growing worse."

My question is why does the government all of a sudden have a right to all of our electronic communication? Could you imagine them passing a law that said that you had to keep every letter you had ever received? Or that the phone company had to keep a tape recording of every phone call? Without warrant or probable cause to snoop. We would be enraged. But somehow, because we have all this fancy new technology, we cede the right to privacy. Please explain. 

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

More news from the front

According to a new study by Penn State political science professors Michael Berkman and Eric Plutzer, High School teachers are failing to teach evolution in the classroom. The study was published in the latest issue of Science. They procured their data from the National Survey of High School Biology Teachers, a representative sample of 926 public high school biology instructors, to reach their conclusions.

Amongst their findings:  "About 13 percent of biology teachers "explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design by spending at least one hour of class time presenting it in a positive light." Creationists do not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution.

About 28 percent consistently implement National Research Council recommendations calling for introduction of evidence that evolution occurred, and craft lesson plans with evolution as a unifying theory.

The rest, about 60 percent, “fail to explain the nature of scientific inquiry, undermine the authority of established experts, and legitimize creationist arguments.”

These teachers, the researchers said, try to avoid controversy by using one of several different strategies that include :

* Teaching evolutionary biology as if it applies only to molecular biology and failing to to explain evidence that one species gives rise to other species.

* Telling students they don't have to "believe" in evolution but they have to know it for tests.

* Telling students to make up their own minds -- even though scientists say that they are as certain of the validity of evolution as they are of other scientific principles taken as fact."

Here is the official position taken by the National Science Teacher's Association regarding the teaching of evolution. Berkman and Plutzer wrote the book Evolution, Creationism and the battle to control America's Classrooms - Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Of course, evolution is already in the news this week, with Republican congressman from Georgia, Jack Kingston announcing that "I believe I came from God, not from a monkey so the answer is no," he said, laughing, when asked if he subscribes to the theory. "I don't believe that a creature crawled out of the sea and became a human being one day."

According to a Gallup poll released last month, 40 percent of Americans believe God is responsible for creating human life in its current form roughly 10,000 years ago. The survey found that 52 percent of Republicans believe in creationism with 34 percent of Democrats and independents maintaining the same view.  According to the poll:

"The significantly higher percentage of Republicans who choose a creationist view of human origins reflects in part the strong relationship between religion and politics in contemporary America. Republicans are significantly more likely to attend church weekly than are others, and, as noted, Americans who attend church weekly are most likely to select the creationist alternative for the origin of humans."

I don't think that I have to provide a lot of analysis regarding these studies. The dumbing down of America is old news, the rejection of science in favor of superstition as old a pursuit as burning witches at the stake. The fossil record, the proven link between hominids with an ancient ancestor Ardi some 4.4 million years ago, perhaps all part of the dark force's great conspiracy to thwart the divine plant for our nascent planet.

It is interesting how creationism, after having been totally refuted by science and reality, quietly morphed into the somewhat more fashionable "intelligent design" movement. Once it was the flat earth, in the center of the hub whose orbits included the sun, planets and angels. Now we try once again to shape our earth and cosmology to conform to our preconceived notions of deity and myth. We are still drawing crude figures on the walls of our caves, trying to make some sense of the great mystery of life and consciousness.

Amy Winehouse - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Satan Is Real - The Louvin Brothers

Charlie Loudermilk, the Charlie of the gospel group the Louvin Brothers, died this week. He left us with this thought provoking ditty.

Fractious friday

I got an earful from Jim today. I have apparently not only alienated the christians and the republicans but a bunch of other potential clients and it is bad for business. I should write more about art and antiques, a point echoed by Millard. He says that some people have told him that they like my wares but hate my blog and politics and that is fine, I guess. Hilbert told me the same thing last month. Of course they don't have to read me, I'm not holding a gun to anybody's head and I have always tried to keep business and writing separate.

I guess I don't care about the business enough. Want to pay my bills and take an occasional vacation. That is it. I guess I just don't care enough about money. I am an opinionated person and I like to shpiel. So be it. Ain't your cup of tea, I apologize - we can keep our conversation confined to brush strokes and chroma. Or the weather.

***

Egypt is in the news big, on the heels of the uprising in Tunisia. Egypt has been ruled by a succession of military men since Nasser. They tend to rule like dictators. Unfortunately they have also been abetted by the United States of America because their rule has been relatively stable. Egypt has been at peace with Israel since the Sinai land trade. They have also acted to quell the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, an outlawed organization.

Unfortunately we live in an imperfect world. Sometimes we have to work with very distasteful people. Things are not always black and white.  If the populist uprising is successful and it could very well be, what will it mean for stability in the region, especially if the islamists assert control, much like Hezbollah has done this month in Lebanon? Another hostile enemy on Israel's southern flank. The iranian backed militia, about to be implicated by international tribunal in the Hariri murder, instead brought down the Lebanese government, only to reappear a week later as the new ruling party. Hezbollah has more weapons than the regular Lebanese Army, thanks to a United Nations who have chosen to quietly allow them to rearm to the teeth, contrary to agreements made after the last war.

Of course, show me a democratically elected government in the arab world, it doesn't exist. And much like in other places closer to home, religious fundamentalists are asserting control throughout the region. Maybe people get the governments they deserve, after all.

***

I was reading my friend Daisy Deadhead's blog and she came up with this tidbit - Michelle Bachmann, that stalwart opponent of government bailouts, has received $251,973.00 in farm subsidies.

***

The House GOP is rewriting the laws on rape in order to cut abortion funding. According to this article in Mother Jones, only forcible rape will now be covered by Medicaid.

"For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to "forcible rape." This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion.

Given that the bill also would forbid the use of tax benefits to pay for abortions, that 13-year-old's parents wouldn't be allowed to use money from a tax-exempt health savings account (HSA) to pay for the procedure. They also wouldn't be able to deduct the cost of the abortion or the cost of any insurance that paid for it as a medical expense. Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes.

As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18."

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Georgia Republican Representative Paul Broun was attacking the President by Tweet during the SOTU, basically calling him a socialist enemy of the Republic. The funny thing about all these southerners talking socialism is that they come from a part of the country that gets far more federal aid than it contributes in tax revenue. California gets somewhere on the order of 77 cents for every dollar it contributes to the federal coffers. These southern states are the biggest suck on the federal tit around. If you crackers want to stop socialism so bad, why not stop taking federal money?

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Rand Paul called for a ban on aid to Israel today. Wonder if this is a payback to Don Black and the folks at the white supremacist and anti-semitic organization Stormfront, big financial backers of Paul?

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We have a big snowy white barn owl building a nest right over our bedroom window. It has been going on for about three days and the noises all night are otherworldly. I am bringing my camera home and hope to snag a few shots soon. Hope she catches a lot of rodents.

Soul Royalty

Library Question?

I love the Fallbrook Library. The architects, planners and builders did a superb job. It is filled with excellent artwork from various members of the local community. I walked in to the now officially open library for the first time the other day and was really impressed with how many people were utilizing the new rooms, books and technology.

One thing did sort of strike me as slightly strange and I wrote one of the chief librarians that I work with the following letter:

Dear     ,

Please let me congratulate you on the wonderful new library facility in Fallbrook. It is truly wonderful and state of the art. I walked in and checked out the officially open library for the first time today and everything seemed really top shelf.


I did have an academic question that I hope that you can help me with. While checking out book titles I noticed that there were two stand alone shelving compartments titled Christian Fiction. I can not say that I have ever seen a separate demarcation for christian fiction in a public library before. I looked around to see if I could find similar shelves for shinto fiction, hindu fiction, zoroastrian fiction, islamic fiction or even atheist fiction and to my surprise the only belief system that rated its own category was the "majority brand."


I wonder what the etymology and thought processes are behind these kind of decisions and if this sort of label is used throughout the county system or is a particular Fallbrook idiosyncrasy? Please rest assured that I am not a rabble rouser, merely an individual with a surfeit of idle time and curiosity.


Sincerely,


Robert Sommers

I never got a response to my letter from the librarian, although I did get a positive letter back from one of the Friends of the Library that seemed to echo my concerns. I wonder why they felt the need to balkanize the fiction section? I can see a separate christian fiction section in a Barnes and Noble, but a public library?

I am all for people reading whatever the hell they want to read. Perhaps I am being overly sensitive and PC. But it strikes me as a bit overbearing and well, un-American to favor one creed in a Public Library and give it it's own exclusive section. Poor Dewey would be turning over in his grave.

News of the weirder

La Jolla realtor Lisa Hench really loves babies. She loves them so much that she ingratiates herself with their parents, then gets the little toddlers to herself where she commences to scratch and gouge the shit out of them until she draws blood. Very bizarre story, she is looking at a minimum of at least one year in the pen.  Lisa liked to hang around the Y and Chuck E. Cheese, looking for fresh meat for her baby scratching jones. On the bright side, top two percent earner for Coldwell Banker. Never complain about your mother again. You could have had worse.

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Castigate me for my patrician eating habits. How about Adele, the girl who likes to eat couch cushion. Where do you take her out for a date? The La-z-boy store?



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Another jesus and mary found on a tortilla.








Unexpected text message kills suicide bomber.

Nuggets

Issa Capades

My congressman, Darrell Issa, is not starting off in his new role as House Oversight Committee Chairmen with a lot of grace. Or comity for that matter. After telling his democratic counterpart, Elijah Cummings that he would be able to make an opening statement yesterday, he pulled the chair out from underneath him and rescinded the offer thirty minutes before the meeting started. He also refused to allow an industry witness from J.P. Morgan to be called before the committee investigating the TARP matter.

Spokesman Kurt Bardella said that Issa killed the idea of opening statements in order to skip the "political speechifying" which ate up time. "If the minority is going to judge the value and success of a hearing based on their political ability to bloviate at the start of it, then so be it. We're of the mindset that Congress should listen more and talk less,"Bardella said.


Cummings, wrote a letter to Issa on Monday in which he said that the majority was withholding documents from Democrats, a charge Issa denies.

It sounds like this a going to be a fractious relationship over the next two years, since the Chairman's staff is accusing the minority member of bloviation, right out of the gate.

Issa of course is a total embarrassment. I have written frequently in the past about his wayward youth, with the car thefts, the gun charges, the old partner getting screwed out of his share in the company. The New Yorker takes up the story this month.

Is it too much to ask that our elected officials act like grown ups, instead of a spoiled child who has to stomp on the rights of the minority because it does not fit his chosen narrative? Of course, with Issa, we have come to expect the worse.