TOUGH ENOUGH? Jonathan Gewirtz writes: “Tom Smith is cautiously optimistic about the possibility of Hillary Clinton as president. I am not so optimistic. . . . Leaders and voters in democratic countries are sometimes tempted to put unscrupulous people into positions of authority, under the belief that such people will not hesitate to do what has to be done in tough situations. But unscrupulous people, by definition, have their own agendas, and it is a delusion to believe that they will provide some kind of short cut around the hard work, hard choices and pain of winning a war.”
Archive for 2007
October 7, 2007
TAPPING IN TO ONLINE RICHES! Who knew that it was so easy?
POOR PORKINS: X-Wing disintegrates, crashes. Video at the link.
PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: So much for open government. “Things get heated as Sharyl Attkisson tracks down Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, to question her about a $2 million earmark benefiting paint company Sherwin Williams.” Ouch. How dare you question our political masters about their jobs!
Video at the link.
And don’t miss this earlier PorkBusters post, with advice for the Department of Justice.
A READER QUESTION ON KITCHEN MIXERS earlier today generated a flood of email — more than on anything else today, quite possibly more than on everything else today. I should give up war and politics and just blog on cars, cookware, and cameras . . .
Well, maybe not, but there seems to be a lot of reader interest. Some replies follow.
Many sent variations on this email from Robin Burk: “It’s likely that Mr. Lamontagne is not using his KitchenAid mixer correctly when making bread dough. I’ve used one for mixtures like bread dough, including heavy multigrain recipes, without problems for many years.” Others saw it differently, saying that Kitchenaid’s quality isn’t what it used to be. That would explain all the emails I got like Burk’s. Reader Karl Bock writes:
It really comes down to this: They don’t build ’em like they used to. The weakness in recent model Kitchen Aids is in the gearbox, which for some ungodly reason, is now made with a plastic casing. They warp, crack and break, bringing everything to a grinding halt.
The irony is, that Kitchen Aid makes the best stand mixer ever. Your reader just needs to find an old one. Look on eBay for a 20 plus year old mixer; preferably older. Don’t worry so much about condition and looks. You just want the basic system in hand. Chances are, that’s all you’ll need; it’ll probably work just fine. However, if you want it to REALLY hum, send it off to these folks: http://atomic-era-machine.com/
For around $60.00 they’ll completely refurbish the head unit on an old KA/Hobart.
On alternatives, some recommended the professional Hobart N50, but you’ll pay a lot for that. Others liked the Electrolux Mixer Magic.
Others say go with Cuisinart for more power: “My wife bakes about six loaves of whole wheat bread per week. She has “used up” three Kitchen Aid mixers in the last five years. She bought a Cuisinart 1000 watt mixer about three months ago and so far it seems to do well without a whole lot of stress and strain on the motor or the gear train. ” More power is always better, right?
Meanwhile, reader Andrea Martin writes: “I researched mixers this summer. Bread makers love the Bosch Universal. There are many bread forums & web sites where this machine is praised. A Google search will easily find the discussions.”
Quite a few people swore by the Viking stand mixer, with reader David Bower writing, “My wife does quite a bit of baking and is very pleased with her Viking Professional Mixer. We have had the Viking for four years now and it has held up much better than the Kitchen Aid models, two of which died under the strain.”
Others wonder why he needs a mixer at all. Reader Dick Thompson writes: “I was wondering about Mr Lamontagne. If he only makes 1+ loaves of bread a week, why is he using a mixer in the first place. By the time you get it out, set up, get the mixer going, then clean it all up, you could have the bread half way through its rising cycles.” Likewise, reader Laura Blanchard writes, “For your poster’s frequency of bread making, the appropriate technology is a big bowl, a wooden spoon, and his two hands.” Yeah, that’s how the Insta-Daughter does it. But then what gadgets are there to talk about?
And, of course, if you’re not interested in bread, you can always get obsessive about pizza dough.
VARIOUS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARGUING ABOUT WHETHER DAILYKOS’S TRAFFIC IS EXAGGERATED, but there’s no arguing about InstaPundit readers’ lead over the Kossacks in the One Billion Bulb competition:
The Kossacks are Number Two, but they’re not trying harder. I guess Insta-Readers just care about the environment more. . . .
UPDATE: Yes, fluorescent-bulb environmental trash-talk is geeky. We’ve already been over that. And it hasn’t stopped me.
BLACK SITE DETENTIONS AND VIOLATIONS OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION.
NARRATIVE OVER FACTS: Journalists explain why good news from Iraq shouldn’t be reported. Jeez.
UPDATE: Reader Dick Thompson emails:
What bothers me about both Robin Wright and Barbara Starr is that once they have made these totally illogical statements, they do not see that they are illogical and try to clean up the mess or at least come up with better reasons. Why they still have jobs after f*cking up that badly is beyond me. That is even worse than the idiocy that Mike Wallace and Peter Jennings came up with on Fred Friendly’s show.
It really makes me wonder what is being taught in J-school these days. I occasionally take a look at the Romenesko website at the Poynter School of Journalism just to see what they are doing there. I notice they are pushing a big course on journalistic ethics. It might be interesting to see just what they consider journalistic ethics and what they are teaching. I would hope they have gone beyond Mike Wallace’s statement at least. I really don’t see how these war reporters can write what they write and then expect that the soldiers and Marines will save them if they get into trouble and guard them while they are wandering around. Do they not connect what they write with what they see around them?
I don’t think so. Luckily, the soldiers and Marines understand the concept of duty.
Others are still stuck in those Freudian-Orwellian nightmare issues.
IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR THE POLITICALLY DISAFFECTED:
The people who came to the United States to bomb the World Trade Center were wrong. . . . How dare you suggest that we in the freest nation on Earth live in tyranny. How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes.
I say to you, all of you, . . . there is nothing patriotic about hating your country, or pretending that you can love your country but despise your government. There is nothing heroic about turning your back on America, or ignoring your own responsibilities.
Read the whole, er, thing.
THE CONTINUED EROSION OF FREE SPEECH: “Pay attention bloggers because more of this crap is coming your way.”
MORE FACT-CHECKING that the “news media” can’t be bothered to do. As long as the narrative is right . . . .
Question: If business owners with half-million-dollar-plus homes and kids in expensive private schools now count as “working families,” does this mean they’ll get tax cuts?
UPDATE: Don Surber: “The Frosts found an ‘affordable’ business building and an ‘affordable’ 3,000-square foot house and an ‘affordable’ private school. Why couldn’t these yuppies afford to cover their own damned kids?”
CONNECTING IKE, RUSSELL CROWE, AND PETER PACE: Impressive.
MORE EVIDENCE OF OUR BURGEONING THEOCRACY, I GUESS: “First of all I pray for President Bush all the time, and I pray especially hard that he would sign the children’s health bill because it’s so important for America’s children.”
UPDATE: Plus this: There is “nothing that can stop us because that’s God’s intention.”
THE MORE THE E.U. CHANGES, THE MORE IT STAYS THE SAME: So writes Michael van der Galiën, as efforts to force a re-vote on the rejected European Constitution heat up.
ORIN KERR CORRECTS A CLUELESS FRANK RICH. (Via Ann Althouse, who has further thoughts, and corrections: “Did Rich even read the book?” Why bother, when he already knew what he was supposed to write about it?)
IT’S AS IF WE’RE AT WAR WITH MURDEROUS RELIGIOUS LOONIES OR SOMETHING: Child Stars of The Kite Runner Under Threat.
Comparative Justice: you really can’t compare the two cases. But.
Woman fined $222,000 for file sharing.
School Bus driver fined $482 for drinking on the job.
One offends a powerful interest group. The other just puts kids at risk.
MARK STEYN: “Look, I like a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, and I’m entirely prepared to consider the possibility that Di got whacked. But not because she was dating a Muslim. On hearing the news that the Princess’s new beau was a Mohammedan, the British establishment would have been more likely to pop the champagne than order up a hit team.”
THE PHILOSOPHER and the fool.
A READER QUESTION FROM GERALD LAMONTAGNE:
Morning Mr. Reynolds-
I’ve decided that you need another post about kitchen gadgets!!! Alright, that’s probably the wrong way to go about this. Mainly, I’m wondering if you had any recommendations for alternatives to the Kitchenaid Pro 600 Mixer.
We’ve got the Pro 600 6-qt model- well, we had a 6-qt model… actually our 2nd 6-qt model just died this week, for different reasons than when the 1st model we had died. Kitchenaid was good enough to replace the original model we had, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to replace this model as well. But at this point I’m wondering about a different manufacturer altogether. The main drag on it is that I make bread- probably 1+ loaf a week. At this point I’m thinking that the machine just isn’t up to that kind of abuse on a regular basis. Of course, it’s possible that no home-kitchen mixer model is up to that kind of use (abuse?).
I’ve had bread machines in the past, but I’m not interested in that path because I prefer the versatility of the Kitchenaid style mixer(s). I know about the Viking but I’ve read reviews stating similar problems. If you know of any good alternatives I’d much appreciate any suggestions.
Not really, myself — I don’t do a lot of baking (the Insta-Daughter bakes bread sometimes, but not a whole lot) and for what mixing I do I just use a Kitchenaid hand mixer (I think it’s this model, but I’m downstairs, it’s upstairs, and I’m too lazy to go check the model). So, any Insta-Reader advice? It seems to me that Gerald shouldn’t be having so many problems — I thought the big Kitchenaid mixers were supposed to be pretty rugged. Looking at the customer reviews, most people seem very happy, though there’s one complaint about breakage.
Anyway, any advice from readers? I got nothing.
“SUPREMACY:” SO I GUESS ALL THAT TALK ABOUT EQUALITY was just a sham.
IN TODAY’S PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, I’ve got a review of Larry Sabato’s new book, A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country.
October 6, 2007
CONCERNS ABOUT STABILITY: Jules Crittenden writes: “I think action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran’s terrorist training camps, and the infrastructure that supports Iranian terrorism would go a long way toward creating stability in the Middle East.”