Saturday and I'm noting this at the start, C.I.'s "AP count says 2600 American troops have died in Iraq since the (illegal) war began." I think everyone needs to be aware of that.
The bodies pile up and, after awhile, it's not even noted. Iraq hasn't been seriously covered the last few weeks. That's corporate and non-corporate media. What we've gotten was bits and pieces (corporate) and silence (non-corporate). I was talking on the phone with my uncle earlier and he floored me when he cited The Common Ills. I have no idea how old he is. I know he's retired. But he's one of those people who doesn't want a "fuss" on his birthdays. He retired some time ago. But we were talking about Labor Day and he's the only relative I have that doesn't live close by. My husband's relatives are scattered around the country but my family's largely all stayed within 60 miles of one another. So I had phoned him up to plant a bug in his ear about Labor Day and how one of the kids could pick him up and take him home if he wanted. He's going to think about it and then the topic changed to other topics when he asked me if I was going to note the 2600? I said I'd planned to but I'd make it my first sentence for him. I hadn't seen any TV coverage of it so I asked where he saw it?
That's when he floored me by saying The Common Ills. I didn't know he had a computer (my cousin, his daughter, gave him one in June). He says he's "online" and "all hooked up" (which probably means my cousin's son tutored him). My cousin had told him about my site and Mike's so he's been visiting the different community sites.
He said he's never seen a war (Iraq) so quickly discarded and forgotten. And wanted me to tell everyone, "keep giving them hell" [media] for dropping the war.
The Iraq war has been dropped or crowded out -- but it hasn't stopped.
Beth passed on that yellow squash is the only thing her garden's produced this summer. (That's Beth who's the ombudsperson for The Common Ills.) She said the tomatoes died early, the beans "popped out of the ground with promise they never again had," and the bell peppers have been so-so. Yellow squash always does well for her but this year it's done "frighteningly well."
She said she'd be interested in the stew recipe but would really like a soup recipe because she prefers soup. "Being unable to shove the squash off on anyone, I'll take anything but an easy soup recipe would be great."
I think this recipe is easy. It's for squash soup. If you don't have a blender, we'll go over other options.
You need:
1/2 cup of yogurt
4 medium yellow squash sliced
4 medium onions sliced
3 cans of broth
Pepper
In a pan, pour in the broth (chicken or vegetable) and heat over medium heat on the stove. Add the squash and onions and cook for approximately 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the yogurt and stir, season to taste with pepper.
Ideally, you should now transfer the contents into a blender and use the puree setting. (I use six quick bursts.) If you don't have a blender you've got a chunky soup. You can use a potato masher on it and stir repeatedly to give it a smoother texture. You can also chop the ingredients into tiny pieces before cooking them.
Whether you use a blender or not, the final step is deciding whether you want to eat it hot or cold. If hot, you can eat immediately. If you'd prefer it cold, you can chill it in the fridge.
Whether I eat it or hot or cold, I like to chop up two green onions and sprinkle that on top of each serving. My oldest daughter prefers to sprinkle dried chives on top.
Here are some recommended items I thought were important this week:
"NYT: Continuing render Abeer Qasim Hamza invisible"
"NYT: It takes a paper of Hazels to clean up the crimes against Abeer"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts The 'Strategy'"
"raped and murdered, 14 year old abeer can't defend herself, who's going to step up to the plate?"
"Death and destruction continues in Iraq even if silly fools don't cover it"
"Iraq"
"Nobody pushes Thomas Friedman around!"
"Cindy Sheehan and Camp Casey"
"In the wall to wall coverage of Israel, Iraq falls off the map again"
"Like Breslin said, "In Case We All Forgot, Americans Are Still Dying In Iraq"
""I love KPFA but I can't take any more of this "THE ONLY STORY IS ISRAEL!""
"abeer's story was the story of the illegal occupation""Iraq & Ehren Watada"
"amy goodman and democracy now forget that a war rages in iraq"
"Is NYT's Paul von Zielbauer's a pervert?"
"THIS JUST IN! IT'S STILL ALL ABOUT JOE!"
"JOE LIEBERMAN SUDDENLY CARES ABOUT THE DISENFRANCHISED!"
"KPFA leaves me numb"
"Be a pest"
"Editorial: Don't let Lynne Stewart be isolated"
"TV: Grey Enemy"
"Thoughts on liberalism and realism"
