Chance is trying to learn to cook and reports it is a struggle. He has mastered one recipe and thinks it's because it's something he really loves (roasted chicken). He notes that he loves salsa verde and wonders if there's a recipe I'd recommend for that? Yes, this one from Simply Recipes:
Ingredients
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1 1/2 pounds tomatillos (about 12 medium)
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1/2 cup chopped white onion
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2 cloves (or more) garlic, optional
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1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems
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1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
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2 jalapeño or serrano peppers , stemmed, seeded and chopped (you can use whole for more heat if you want)
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Salt to taste
Method
Oven Roasting Method
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Preheat the broiler:
Set the rack about 6 inches from the heating element.
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Prep the tomatillos:
Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse well. Cut the tomatillos in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Add a few garlic cloves in their skin (if using). Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skins of the tomatillos.
- Combine the cooked tomatillos and seasonings, then pulse in a blender:
Place the cooked tomatillos, lime juice, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro, chili peppers in a blender or food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
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Season and serve:
Season with salt to taste.
Cool, then refrigerate. Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
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Blister the tomatillos:
Coat the bottom of a skillet with a little vegetable oil. Heat on high heat. Place the tomatillos in the pan and sear on one side, then flip over and brown on the other side. Remove from heat.
- Combine the cooked tomatillos and seasonings, then pulse in a blender:
Place the cooked tomatillos, lime juice, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro, chili peppers in a blender or food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
Season with salt to taste.
Cool, then refrigerate. Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
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Simmer the tomatillos in a pan:
Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
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Combine the cooked tomatillos and seasonings, then pulse in a blender:
Place the cooked tomatillos, lime juice, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro, chili peppers in a blender or food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
Season with salt to taste.
Cool, then refrigerate. Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
Pan Roasting Method
Boiling Method
So you have three ways to make it. Because it's summer and the house is already hot enough, I would avoid the oven and use the boil method, however, if you're already using the oven for roasted chicken, it might not bother you as much as it does me. Also note that you do not just need to try to use it on chips or on Mexican dishes. Salsa verde is a very good dip for vegetables such as celery, carrot chips, radishes, you name it.
Let's turn to the news. COVID has not gone away. Evan Blake (WSWS) reports:
Hospitalizations from COVID-19, a lagging indicator, have also risen nationwide for two weeks straight. According to official figures from the CDC, 8,035 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infections for the week ending July 22, a 12.1 percent increase from the prior week and 24.6 percent higher than two weeks prior.
The ongoing wave appears to be driven largely by the Omicron EG.5 subvariant, a descendant of the XBB variants. Coinciding with the latest surge, over the past six weeks EG.5 has risen from 0.4 percent of sequenced cases to 17.3 percent, which is now the highest percentage of all variants in the US. Other Omicron subvariants contributing to the wave are XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3, which combine to account for 26.8 percent of all sequenced cases.
While official COVID-19 death figures are presently low, these data have been distorted over the past two years and are not reliable. Excess deaths above the pre-pandemic baseline remain elevated throughout the world, with the cumulative total now standing at 24.5 million, according to The Economist. The majority of these deaths are directly due to COVID-19, either in the acute phase of the infection or the result of heart attacks, strokes and other causes of death associated with the aftereffects of COVID-19 infection.
The ongoing wave of the pandemic in the US began in the immediate aftermath of the Biden administration and the World Health Organization (WHO) ending their COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declarations. These unscientific decisions prompted the corporate media to completely stop covering the pandemic, playing a critical role in what is effectively a government-media conspiracy against the population.
And Samir e-mailed a copy of Ali Olimi's article for Religious Dispatches, this is the opening:
In recent weeks, school boards across the country have become sites of conflict as organized anti-trans and anti-gay protests allied with calls for book bans to target actual and perceived LGBTQ+ content in education. They’ve been joined, in some cases, by conservative immigrant and religious communities. Some Muslims in Dearborn, Maryland and elsewhere have declared the existence of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum a violation of their religious freedoms (though how exactly this represents a threat to religious freedom is left unanswered).
Vocal religious leaders may portray their personal beliefs as they wish, but they’re far from representative of the complexities of Islamic history or nuances of Muslim thought.
There’s a long history of gender nonconformity, queer love, and diverse gender expression in the Islamic world. In fact, for much of Islamic history, there was a great deal of tolerance for diverse expressions of gender and homoeroticism.
While Islamic law widely rebuked adopting the mannerisms of another sex in an affected manner—that is for mockery or imitation—it made space and accommodation for those whose mannerisms were khilqi, or innate. The 13th century scholar of jurisprudence, al-Nawawi writes:
“The scholars said effeminate men are two types. First, one who was created that way and he is not responsible for his behavior resembling women, their appearance, their speech, and their movements. Rather, Allah created upon him his disposition, so this is not blameworthy for him, nor a fault, nor a sin, nor is he punished.”
The nuance between affected and natural expression of gender reflects the historical reality: gender non-conforming people have been part of Islamic history from the very beginning.
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani records the lives of a number of individuals including one named Tuways who lived during the last years of Muhammad and the reigns of the early Muslim dynasties. Tuways was mukhannathun: those who were born as men, but who presented as female. They are described by al-Isfahani as wearing bangles, decorating their hands with henna, and wearing feminine clothing. One mukhannathun, Hit, was even in the household of the Prophet Muhammad.
Tuways earned a reputation as a musician, performing for clients and even for Muslim rulers. When Yahya ibn al-Hakam was appointed as governor, Tuways joined in the celebration wearing ostentatious garb and cosmetics. When asked by the governor if he were Muslim Tuways affirmed his belief, proclaiming the declaration of faith and saying that he observes the fast of Ramadan and the five daily prayers. In other words, al-Isfahani, who recorded the life of a number of mukhannathun like Tuways, saw no contradiction between his gender expression and his Muslimness. From al-Isfahani we read of al-Dalal, ibn Surayj, and al-Gharid—all mukhannathun—who lived rich lives in early Muslim societies. Notably absent from al-Isfahani’s records is any state-sanctioned persecution. Instead, the mukhannathun are an accepted part of society.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Friday:
It would have been asking the impossible for Lindsey Keene's kids to wait stoically for her to walk into an airport terminal after a year in Iraq. And they didn't.
Oblivious to the hundreds of other people who were at Evansville Regional Airport Thursday to greet returning members of the Indiana Army National Guard, Lindsey and David Keene's three children tapped anxiously on their welcome home signs. Their faces lit up when they thought the 163rd Field Artillery's nearly 100 returnees were about to walk in — and sagged when bemused passengers of an American Airlines flight from Charlotte appeared instead.
Then it happened. Sgt. Lindsey Keene, a combat medic finishing her second deployment, swept in with other soldiers. Son Gerald Oshsner, 11, clapped his hands to his ears and cried out: "Mom!" In an instant the boy and sisters Marley Ochsner, 12 and Kiera Keene, 9, swarmed Keene, pressing their heads into her chest in an embrace charged with a year's worth of longing.
MaCabe Brown has a photo essay for the paper of the return. Adam Knight (WEVV) notes, "Approximately 300 soldiers with the 163rd Field Artillery Regiment were welcomed home from their deployment on Thursday." 14 NEWS has a video report here.
Again, all should be home. At some point we also need to be asking why the National Guard is being sent overseas -- to Iraq, to Kosovo, everywhere. We need to ask when the Guard is allowed to return to their role?
Questions? Let's grab a few from the e-mails.
A woman wearing blackface went on anti-LGBTQ and pro-Trump rants at a Target store and Starbucks in Colorado.
In one video posted on social media, the woman in blackface, identified as Ersilia Campbell, approached employees at a Target in Aurora, Colorado, demanding they direct her to the Pride section of the store, per TMZ.
Florida is one of the top states with the most new leprosy cases in the country, according to a new research letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There definitely is leprosy in the United States,” said Dr. Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist and an infectious disease physician at the University of Florida.
For many, leprosy may seem like a problem from biblical times. But Iovine said the disease is very much still around. In fact, the CDC letter said leprosy could now be endemic in Central Florida.
“Endemic means something that is circulating and is present at all times. And it can be at a low level,” said Iovine.
Although many news outlets have stated that the CDC is warning people regarding travel to Southeastern US states, the public health agency released a statement on August 2 saying it had “not issued a travel advisory for Florida, or any other state, due to Hansen’s disease.”
In an email, the CDC wrote, “[We] do not believe there is a great concern to the American public,” noting that the number of cases remain very small.
However, the endemic nature of a disease that usually affects “persons who had immigrated from leprosy-endemic areas” raises significant concerns about the general state of public health in the United States, and the outright dismissal on the part of the CDC is extremely problematic. Moreover, the concerns about leprosy come on the heels of recent reports by the CDC of endemic malaria in Florida and Texas.
[. . .]
Specifically, leprosy cases in Florida account for 20 percent of all national cases, and 81 percent of these have been reported in central Florida. One-third of new cases between 2015 and 2020 were acquired locally. The report notes: “Several cases in central Florida demonstrate no clear evidence of zoonotic exposure or traditionally known risk factors.”
In its report, the CDC highlights the case of a 54-year-old man, landscaper by trade, who sought medical attention at a dermatology clinic with a complaint of a painful and progressive red rash involving his hands, trunk and face.
The patient reported no significant travel history, having resided in Florida his whole life. He was eventually diagnosed with leprosy, though he reported no contact with immigrants from endemic regions nor anyone with leprosy. He had never had exposure to armadillos, which are known as zoonotic sources.
He was referred to an infectious disease clinic, where he began prolonged therapy with a triple regimen of dapsone, rifampin and clofazimine, which has been the mainstay of treatment for more than four decades.
The authors of the article observed: “Our case adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that central Florida represents an endemic location for leprosy... travel to this area, even in the absence of other risk factors, should prompt consideration of leprosy in the appropriate clinical context.”
Tacky Onassis and her husband wanted to lead Florida. So get your ass back to the state and do so. And it shows real gall on Ronald's part that he criticizes Vice President Kamala Harris for visiting Florida when he can't seem to find his own way back to the state he's supposed to be governing.
On the topic of crazy grudge f**king hate, their offspring Marjorie Taylor Green just gets more and more demented. Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
Drawing many conspiracy theories and rightwing myths together into a grand, unified rant, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that Donald Trump’s third criminal indictment for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election is something that “they” are using to distract the American people from how kids are being brainwashed into being transgender.
Trump was indicted on four counts related to an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 elections and install himself as president for another term. His actions culminated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection, where five people died as a result of a mob of Trump supporters breaking into the Capitol and trying to kill Mike Pence for presiding over the Senate as it ceremonially accepted each state’s electoral votes.
Greene, a loyal Trump Republican, couldn’t handle her golden calf being held accountable for his alleged actions, and she blamed, well, everyone and everything. She ranted on Twitter about a variety of topics that she suspected “they” – used in the way conspiracy theorists use that word – are trying to distract the American people from, claiming that there are “record numbers” of homeless people now (homelessness is down since the mid-2000s, according to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report), that 63 million abortions occur in the U.S. (an outlandish rightwing myth), that the U.S. is “number one for child pornography and sex trafficking,” and several other topics.
“They tell women abortion is healthcare & birth control – killing over 63 million, that men can get pregnant, they brainwash children they can change their gender and amputate their growing body parts,” she said. It’s not clear who “they” is in this context and most transgender people’s experience is the opposite – they had to either hide their trans identity from intolerant adults as children or they came out and had to fight for even basic recognition as their gender. No one is brainwashing kids into being transgender and no one can be brainwashed into changing their gender identity. Moreover, trans men can get pregnant.
This week, REBEL HQ noted some of Marjorie's many incoherent ravings.
Let's note Paul Rudnick.
+ There’s some comfort in seeing how badly DeSantis is getting crushed by Trump (54% to 17%). But it’s pretty cold: “Mr. Trump still received 22% among voters who believe he has committed serious federal crimes — a greater share than the 17% that Mr. DeSantis earned from the entire G.O.P. electorate.”
+ In Iowa, a 15-year-old interested in military service told DeSantis, “I can’t vote, but I struggle with major depressive disorder.” DeSantis interrupted the teenager with a bizarre joke: “It’s never stopped the other party from not letting you vote.”
+ Some New Hampshire residents were stunned to hear DeSantis vow “we are going to start slitting throats [of federal bureaucrats] on Day One.” Throat-slitting seems to be a favorite metaphor (assuming it is a metaphor) for the man who as a JAG at Gitmo mocked detainees as they were being tortured. The Florida governor also claimed that he wanted a Defense Secretary with “a sharp blade” and a “killer instinct” who would have to be willing to “slit some throats.” DeSantis also said that under his administration the Mexican drug cartels would be “shot stone cold dead.”
+ DeSantis reminds me of Phil Gramm, the TX politician who amassed millions from banks and oil companies and seemed to be the prohibitive favorite in ’96 GOP primaries, but was soon exposed as just a mean SOB with no real political skills at all other than shaking down corps for PAC $$$.
+ When DeSantis’ campaign ran low on money and he began firing staffers, he hired them to fill government-funded positions in Florida instead.
+ More than half ($5 million, in fact) of the funds in RFK, Jr’s SuperPAC came from Timothy Mellon, scion of the Mellon banking fortune, who has denounced social spending as “slavery redux,” donated $53 million to state of Texas border wall construction fund, and gifted $1.5 million toward the legal defense of Arizona’s vicious anti-immigration law.
[. . .]
+ DeSantis claims the new history standards for Florida schools, the one’s that proclaim the benefits of slavery, were needed to prevent the indoctrination of school kids. Yet, some of the materials which will now be inflicted on Florida students are produced by Prager U., whose founder, Dennis Prager, openly brags about indoctrinating children:
+ Florida has now effectively banned AP psychology in the state. A lot of students hoping they’ll ban Trigonometry next!
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