Thursday, July 30, 2020

3 recipes in the Kitchen

From the Mayo Clinic, here's a recipe for Black bean and corn relish:


Ingredients
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained (about 2 cups)
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed to room temperature
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 3 cups)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 green, yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons sugar
Juice from 1 lemon

Directions
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Toss gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

You could serve this on top of a tostado, a salad or eat with chips or crackers. It's a diabetic recipes so it's carb smart.

And from Eating Well, here's a recipe for green chile chicken tortilla casserole:


Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound tomatillos, outer husks removed, rinsed
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
½ cup onion, chopped
1 fresh poblano chile pepper, seeded and chopped (see Tip)
¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas, halved
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
1 ¾ cups shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style four cheese blend (7 ounces)
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa (see Tip)
Chopped tomato, chopped onion, sliced fresh jalapeño chile peppers, sliced green onion, and/or snipped fresh cilantro (see Tip) (optional)

Directions
Step 1
Preheat broiler. Lightly coat a 2-quart square baking dish with cooking spray; set aside. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil. Place tomatillos in the baking pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until softened and charred, turning occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
Step 2
In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and poblano chile pepper; cook and stir for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender and onion starts to brown. Step 3 In a blender or food processor combine tomatillos, onion mixture, cilantro, sugar, cumin and salt. Cover and blend or process until smooth, stopping and scraping down sides as necessary.
Step 4
Spread 3/4 cup of the tomatillo mixture in the prepared baking dish. Arrange six of the tortilla halves over the tomatillo mixture, overlapping slightly. Top with 1 cup of the chicken, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and half of the salsa, spreading evenly. Add six more tortilla halves and top with 1 cup chicken, 1/2 cup cheese, and half of the remaining tomatillo mixture, spreading evenly. Add six more tortilla halves, the remaining 1 cup chicken, and the remaining tomatillo mixture. Top with the remaining six tortilla halves and the remaining salsa, spreading to cover completely.
Step 5
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Cover and chill the remaining 3/4 cup cheese until needed.
Step 6
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap. Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil then sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake about 20 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with chopped tomato, chopped onion, sliced jalapeno, sliced green onions, and/or snipped fresh cilantro.

Tips
Tips: Because chile peppers contain volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with them as much as possible. When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber gloves. If your bare hands do touch the peppers, wash your hands and nails well with soap and warm water.
Salsas vary greatly in sodium content. Read nutrition labels and choose the salsa with the lowest amount of sodium.

You could make both dishes for a meal and you could even round it out with stuffed avocados:


Ingredients
¼ cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons pimientos, rinsed and patted dry
1 small clove garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
⅛ teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 ⅔ cups cooked crabmeat, picked over
2 ripe avocados, halved
Lemon wedges for garnish
Directions
Step 1
Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, pimientos, garlic, cayenne and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and mix in crab. Adjust seasoning with cayenne and salt.
Step 2
Divide the crab salad among avocado halves. Serve with lemon wedges.

Moving on to some disturbing news, Niles Niemuth (WSWS) reports:


Shock and anger quickly spread online Tuesday as video posted on social media showed a group of armed men in street clothes snatching a young protester off the street and trundling her into an unmarked van during a peaceful demonstration against police violence in New York City.
While the men refused to identify themselves at the scene of the kidnapping, the New York Police Department (NYPD) later identified them as members of the police force’s plainclothes Warrant Squad.
Outrage over Tuesday’s incident was compounded by its similarity to the snatch and grab detentions carried out in recent weeks by federal paramilitary police in Portland, Oregon. In that city, a tactical wing of Customs and Border Protection known as BORTAC, sent in by President Trump to crack down on protests near the federal courthouse, has been seizing protesters, throwing them into unmarked vans and taking them to secret locations where they are subject to questioning for hours on end. The element of terror and intimidation is enhanced by the fact that the victims do not know who has picked them up or where they are being held. 


So it's not just Portland. Is this the new normal for America? Some would argue it always has been -- especially for activists and dissidents who've long been targeted by various US forces.


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Thursday:


Thursday, July 30, 2020.  The heat explodes in Iraq and more.

Starting the US where a service member has returned from Iraq.





After nearly three days of travel, the final leg for Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Viviana Molina was down a flight of stairs.

Molina, back early from a six-month deployment in Iraq, surprised her husband, Grand Prairie police Officer Edgar Molina, by interrupting him in the lobby of police headquarters as he conducted an interview with the news media.

The Molinas worked together at the Grand Prairie Police Department until nine months ago, when Viviana enlisted with the Air Force.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. servicemen and servicewomen deployed overseas have been delayed in returning home.

“I got lucky and got to come home a week early,” Viviana Molina said.


Turning to Iraq where yesterday saw Baghdad reached its highest temperature in recorded history: 51.7 C (125 F).  Summers in Baghdad are always hot.   AP reporting in 2015:



AP reporting in 2016:




AP reporting in 2017:




AP reporting in 2018.




But despite yearly heatwaves, yesterday managed to break the record for all time hottest day in Baghdad.  


Baghdad had record breaking heat on Tuesday at 51.8C, today 49C is forecast, but for Basra in Iraq 53C is likely today, the all time record in Iraq is 53.8C
5:00 AM · Jul 30, 2020

RT's RUPTLY reported earlier this week on some how Iraqis attempted to stay cool by jumping into the Tigris River.




What most can't do is step inside to cool off.  That's because all these years after the launch of the 2003 US-led invasion, all these years of occupation, all these years of US-installed prime ministers have failed to deliver reliable electricity.  Matilda Coleman (UPNEWSINFO) observes, "With the state electricity grid failing, many households were relying on generators to power fridges, fans or air conditioning units, the machines adding a guttural hum to the city’s already-noisy streets."  THE NATIONAL notes:

Iraqi men cool off under a public shower at a street in central Baghdad, Iraq. EPA

Baghdad experienced its hottest day on record on Wednesday, as protests against a lack of basic services continued.

Power shortages, a common occurrence since 2003, led to the latest street protests as people struggled to keep cool.

Temperatures climbed to 51.7°C on Wednesday, surpassing a record high temperature of 51.2°C in the capital.

The protests began on Sunday night in Baghdad and several southern cities, and turned violent in the capital. On Monday, two men died after being struck directly by tear gas canisters that are typically fired in arcs over protesters and on less powerful trajectories.


And to explain how serious this is, let's include GULF NEWS:

Chronic power outages combined with low oil prices threaten Iraq's political stability, and Opec's second-biggest producer must act fast to boost electricity supply or face a new crisis within the next two months.
That's the conclusion of Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, which advises the world's richest economies on energy policy.
Iraq faces a widening shortfall in electricity, due largely to a lack of investment in ageing power plants and networks, and the plunge in crude prices this year limits what it can spend to upgrade them. Baghdad must slash red tape and prioritize maintenance and spending on power facilities to stave off social and political turmoil, Birol warned.
'If there are not urgent and concrete steps taken for the electricity sector, we may well have major problems in the next two months in terms of electricity supply, he said in an interview. 'It may well lead to unrest within the country.
In a grim sign of what could come, security forces in Baghdad opened fire Sunday on protesters complaining about power cuts. 


Iraq is going through the summer heat (around 50 degrees) and the government decided to cut off the electricity for the people not to protest. Where’s the humanity? Families are suffering and the world is silent. All this in a country rich in oil... F**k the Iraqi government



Heartbreaking story! People in central and south of Iraq sleep inside their car to avoid the scorching heat as the #Iraqi government fails to provide electricity.
2:53 PM · Jul 29, 2020


In the US, is there anything more disgusting than right-wing Senator Tammy Duckworth.  She started her political career pretending to be liberal and knocking the actual leftist out of the Democratic Party primary.  But she lost the general because who the hell wants Tammy?  Rahm and others spent forever grooming her so she could appear 'electable.'  She votes like someone who was groomed and paid for.  She talks like a nutcase. 

Maybe because she is one?

She's spent the last years thinking up nicknames for Donald Trump -- I'm sure the people of Illinois are happy with that hard work -- as opposed to her working to improve their lives.  She's spat on the presidency because she's just trash.

That's all she's ever been and that's all she'll ever be.

Donald Trump did not serve in Vietnam.  Good.  I wish no American had gone to Vietnam.  But because he did not serve in the US military, Macho Manly Tammy has given him all these rude nicknames.  They're beneath her and they're beneath the office of the president.  

It's strange though, isn't it?, how she's trying to become Joe Biden's running mate since Joe also avoided service in Vietnam.  He had, you understand, 'asthma.'  Didn't stop him from playing sports in high school or college.  

Somehow, manly Tammy's not cupping her crotch, spitting on the ground and thinking up nicknames for Joe.

We bring up Freak Duckworth today because she went on ABC and started repeating claims about Russia putting a bounty on US troops in Afghanistan.  Long after the story has been discredited, there's Freak Tammy screeching at the top of her lungs, hiding as always behind her military time, and screaming that others are traitors.  In better days, say the 1950s or 1960s, people would be drumming her out of the Sentate.  Instead, she gets to play Joe McCarthy in drag.

At the start of this month, Joe Lauria (CONSORTIUM NEWS) explained:

The Los Angeles Times reported

Maintaining imperial interests in Afghanistan seems to be one of the main reasons for the so-far uncorroborated, possibly cooked-up “scandal” known now as Bountygate.

Other motives appear to be the same twofer that was at the core of Russiagate: first, unnamed intelligence officials meddling in domestic U.S. politics, this time to undermine Trump’s re-election campaign; and, second, to even further demonize and pressure Russia.

The public has been subjected to daily morsels of supposedly factual stories meant to further deepen the plot. The first item dropped online on June 26 with The New York Times’ initial

It seemed yet another attempt to launder disinformation through big media, giving it more credibility than if it had come directly from the security services. A discerning reader, however, would want more than the word of a bunch of spooks who make a living practicing deception. 

The “evidence” for the story that Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers came from interrogation of Afghan detainees. If the interrogations were “enhanced” the evidence is even more unreliable. 

For the record, Consortium News supports no candidate and has been a strong critic of Trump. But we see intelligence agencies’ insertion into domestic politics to be a greater threat than even eight years of Trump for the precedent it is setting. As spooks like to say, “Administrations come and go. And we’re still here.”


Tammy Duckworth is becoming a public embarrassment.  History will not look kindly on her nor will it approve of the silence of other Democrats in Congress who should have called her out long ago.


The following sites updated:

Posted by at