First up, my "Squash and Celery Root Soup in the Kitchen" went up five hours ago. Why? I guess I didn't hit "Publish" last night. Sorry. I got online to look up the measurements on spices for a recipe that we had for dinner tonight and I knew from Wally's mom that Wally, Cedric, Ann, Betty, Isaiah and C.I. were working on a joint post so I went to see if it was up and that's when I saw that I hadn't published yesterday's post. Sorry about that. And let me note the group post that did go up today:
Samantha's got a ton of bell peppers in her garden this year. She found a new bell peppers recipe and e-mailed to share. This is Feasting At Home's Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers:
Ingredients
4 large bell peppers ( red, yellow or orange, or a mix)
1 cup cooked brown rice, (or sub white rice, quinoa, freekeh, farro, or cauliflower rice)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, about 1 cup diced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 pound of ground turkey or choice of protein ( ground plant-based meat, lamb, chicken, beef)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
10 kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered or chopped
1 cup (4 ounces) feta cheese, diced or crumbled
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
1/4 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F
Slice the bell peppers in half from the stem down. Discard seeds and pith.
Sauté the onion in olive oil for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic stirring in cooking for a few more minutes.
Add the ground turkey (or protein of choice), salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5 minutes until turkey is cooked through. Add vinegar, tomato paste and spinach and turn the heat off. Stir until everything is incorporated and spinach wilts.
Mix in cooked rice, olives, tomatoes, feta, parmesan, dill and mint. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Scoop mixture into halved bell pepper shells. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes until hot through. Allow for 10 minutes more baking time if the filling is cold.
Notes
If you prefer a softer well-cooked pepper, set on a tray, cut side up, with a tablespoon of water and bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 5-10 minutes.
Elon Musk is the poster child for that concern.
Wealth is most dangerous when transformed into political power.
One way Musk is transforming his gargantuan wealth into political power is by committing $45m a month to a new super PAC founded and funded in May by other tech oligarchs.
A second way Musk is transforming his wealth into political power is by posting pro-Trump, anti-Kamala Harris messages to his 189 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The reason Musk has 189 million followers is that he owns X. He can adjust its algorithm to give his tweets maximum exposure and effectively buy and capture huge numbers of X users.
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Alan Gratz, author of “Ban This Book,” said in a letter read during the Indian River County school board meeting Monday night and obtained by CNN he was “disappointed” by the book’s removal. The school district’s decision to disregard a local review committee’s earlier recommendation to keep it on library shelves indicates it was “motivated by politics, and not what is best for the students and families,” Gratz also wrote.
In February, the chair of the county Moms for Liberty chapter submitted a challenge of Gratz’s book to the district’s book objection committee, claiming the novel “depicts or describes sexual conduct.” The chapter president, Jennifer Pippin, also told CNN she challenged the book because “basically it’s promoting banned books to children ages 4-12.”
The committee reviewed the book and voted in April to keep it on school library shelves, but the Indian River County school board in May voted 3-2 to remove the book from school libraries, agreeing with Pippin that the book was inappropriate.
Jacqueline Rosario, another school board member, said the decision to remove the book “had nothing to do with politics” but “everything to do with what was appropriate.”
“We have the legal right. Each district school board is responsible for the content of all – not some – all instructional materials and any other material used in a classroom made available in a school or in a classroom library,” she said, citing a Florida statute. “At the end of the day, it is the board’s responsibility that if any of these items are included … it is up to this board to take final action and vote. And we did.”
Hours after Rosario received her education on the bylaws, she was at it again, this time putting on another clown show for her friends in the local chapter of the Moms For Liberty, the uber-conservative group that pretends to advocate nationally for parental rights and endorsed her candidacy in the 2022 election.
Rosario, for no good reason, pelted Moore with a series of questions – about the district’s planned implementation of the new state-approved “African-American history standards,” the Moms’ influence on the curriculum, and banning books that contain critical race theory – that nobody should’ve taken seriously.
There’s little doubt Rosario already knew the answers.
Moore, at best, appeared to tolerate the snarky tone and ridiculous content of her disrespectful barrage. He should’ve walked out.
That shameful scene, though, provided all the evidence needed to prove Rosario isn’t worthy of any leadership role on the board. And we’ve seen such boorish behavior before from her.
Don’t take my word for it.
Mara Schiff, who served on the board for four years before opting to not seek re-election in 2022, stated that she “never” considered voting for Rosario for chair during her term.
In an email sent in response to a request for comment from Vero Beach 32963, Schiff wrote of Rosario: “Her capacity to disrupt board processes, interfere with the work of the superintendent, misunderstand her role as a board member, and presume to act as a de facto legal counsel is a recipe for perpetual board dysfunction.
Jacqueline Rosario, another school board member, said the decision to remove the book “had nothing to do with politics” but “everything to do with what was appropriate.”
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
Israel’s military says it’s begun vaccinating its soldiers against polio after the paralytic virus was found in a number of wastewater samples in Gaza. The World Health Organization warns the risk of further spread remains high while Gaza’s children go unvaccinated during Israel’s assault, which has devastated Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure. Public health officials have called it a major setback for global efforts to eradicate polio.
For more, we’re joined in Be’er Sheva in Israel by Dr. Dorit Nitzan, professor and director of the masters program in emergency medicine-preparedness and response at Ben-Gurion University. She’s also the former regional emergency director for the World Health Organization’s European office. She co-authored a piece by eight Israeli doctors in Haaretz on Sunday headlined “Cease-fire. The Only Way to Prevent a Polio Epidemic Among Gazan and Israeli Babies.”
Thank you so much for being with us, Doctor. If you can start off by explaining what the situation is in Gaza right now and what you’re calling for?
DR. DORIT NITZAN: Thank you very much. And really, thank you for paying attention to this important public health risk and issue.
In Gaza now, we don’t — we are not there, and it’s hard for us to imagine what both babies, newborn babies, their mothers, kids are going through. But what we know is that sewage samples that arrived to Israel, collected in Gaza for analysis, revealed the existence of a vaccine-derived polio there. And this is something that is expected in such conditions.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Doctor, could you talk about what that potentially means, especially given the fact that infected individuals can show no symptoms for weeks?
DR. DORIT NITZAN: Yes. So, right now we don’t know — fortunately, we don’t know of any polio patients in Gaza. But we anticipate that it will come. We know that behind each polio patient, there are about hundred and more people that are not symptomatic, meaning that it takes time for the symptoms to appear. This sewage system is a very good, sensitive marker for that. So, knowing that it is there and it might appear, then the circumstances and the conditions of the healthcare, the health services is so bad that we are really, really worried for these kids.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Dorit Nitzan, the Israeli government has begun a major vaccination campaign for Israeli soldiers. They say there are some vaccines available for Palestinians, but throughout Gaza, hospitals have been destroyed, have been bombed. The healthcare system is in shambles. Talk about why you say that the prescription right now for what’s happening is a ceasefire.
DR. DORIT NITZAN: Yeah, the prescription is ceasefire, vaccines and good public health conditions. This is — you know, it’s a full prescription that comes in. What we know, that for the past 20 years, with Israel’s support, Gaza and the West Bank have succeeded very high rates of vaccinations, including for polio. So, the older kids should be OK. Those who were born just before October 7th and after are at risk. And for that, ceasefire is needed, because we need to get — the humanitarian workers, the health workers, the nurses need to get to each and every baby and each and every adult that has not been vaccinated in the past, and vaccinate them. And that should be done under secure conditions. It cannot be done under war.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And you mentioned other global conflicts that have demonstrated the potential for the spread of polio. Can you talk about some of those conflicts that have occurred?
DR. DORIT NITZAN: Yes. We know that in every country where there is a conflict, there is a risk for outbreaks, including polio, cholera, other foodborne diseases, respiratory diseases, as well as exposure to chemicals and others. But polio is one of them. And we saw it in Ukraine, in Ethiopia and in many other countries, in Syria, etc. We know that the viruses and the bacteria and the toxic materials know no borders, and they actually go across borders, as we saw in Iraq from Syria, etc. Therefore, it’s not only the kids in Gaza. It’s also the Israelis. And it is important to vaccinate the kids as soon as possible, those who are exposed to them, the humanitarian workforce, the health workforce in Gaza and here in Israel.
AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Dr. Nitzan, as you know, your prime minister is in the United States. He’s going to give an address, joint session of the U.S. Congress. And I’m sure you follow the politics here. Now Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Your message to her and to him?
DR. DORIT NITZAN: Yes, my message is to go beyond politics. We do understand that there are deep, deep divides here. The 7th of October was terrible, and I do understand. Right now we do not want to risk the kids on both sides and in every place, in any place. We want to take a break and stop it and make sure that every child has access to the vaccines.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Dorit Nitzan, we want to thank you for being with us, director of the masters program in emergency medicine-preparedness and response at Ben-Gurion University, former regional emergency director for the World Health Organization’s European office. We’ll link to the article you co-wrote with a number of Israeli doctors headlined “Cease-fire. The Only Way to Prevent a Polio Epidemic Among Gazan and Israeli Babies.”
When the airstrike finally came, it did not hit al-Ghefari nor Haji Tower. Instead, it destroyed a third structure: a six-story residential building called Babel that lay directly on the road between the two towers. As Babel collapsed into rubble, at least nine people were killed, including three journalists who had moved into the building’s vicinity to report on Haji Tower from a safe distance.
“The bodies of the journalists flew into the air from the intensity of the bombing,” said Mansour Khalaf, the owner of Babel, who witnessed the attack from the street.
In a written statement, the Israeli military said that, on October 10, a “facility” used by a senior Hamas member was targeted “in the area in question.” It had issued “a warning to residents of the building and the area to evacuate,” the military spokesperson said. “Any claim that the IDF led people to evacuate to a strike zone is baseless and absurd.” The statement said that the case is being investigated.
International humanitarian law encourages armed forces to provide advance warnings prior to an attack when circumstances permit, but the warnings must be “effective.” In the Babel building attack, the call contained false information.
The following minute-by-minute account of the airstrike — based on analysis of videos, audio recordings, and photographs from the attack and its aftermath — is part of the monthslong investigation by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism. The investigation is being published in partnership with The Intercept as part of the Gaza Project, a collaboration of 50 journalists from 13 media organizations coordinated by Forbidden Stories to investigate attacks on journalists in Gaza.
Gaza remains under assault. Day 292 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll reaches 39,145 with 90,257 wounded." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted: