Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Oven Baked Chicken Breast in the Kitchen

lincolnhater

 

From earlier tonight, that's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lincoln Hater" and it's excellent.


Tarita says this is excellent weather for oven meals.  I would agree.  The oven warms up my kitchen and I need that right now.  She notes Recipe Tin Eats' recipe for Oven Baked Chicken Breast:



Ingredients
4 chicken breasts , 150 – 180g / 5 – 6 oz each (Note 1)
2 tsp olive oil
Seasoning:
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano or thyme , or other herb of choice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Garnish, optional:
Finely chopped parsley
Instructions Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C (200°C fan).
Pound chicken to 1.5cm / 0.6″ at the thickest part – using a rolling pin, meat mallet or even your fist (key tip for even cooking + tender chicken).
Mix Seasoning.
Line tray with foil and baking / parchment paper. Place chicken upside down on tray. Drizzle chicken with about 1 tsp oil. Rub over with fingers. Sprinkle with Seasoning.
Flip chicken. Drizzle with 1 tsp oil, rub with fingers, sprinkle with Seasoning, covering as much of the surface area as you can.
Bake 18 minutes, or until surface is golden per photos and video, or internal temperature is 165°F/75°C using a meat thermometer.
Remove from oven and immediately transfer chicken to serving plates.
Wait 3 – 5 minutes before serving, garnished with freshly chopped parsley if desired. Pictured with a side of Garlic Butter Rice with Kale.
Recipe Notes:
1. If your breast is quite large eg 250g / 8oz+ each, cut them in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks and skip the pounding. Make sure they are no thicker than 1.5cm / 0.6″ thick at the thickest point – if they are, pound using fist.
This can also be made with thigh fillets (boneless, skinless). Follow the recipe but cook for 25 minutes for small / medium thighs and 30 minutes for larger ones.
2. Nutrition per serving, assuming 150g/5oz chicken breast.


Sounds tasty. 



The battle between Pope Francis and Donald Trump has already begun, as anticipated given the history of hostile exchanges during the former president’s tenure (in 2016, the Pope even stated that Trump was “not a Christian”). This time, the conflict centers around immigration. On Tuesday, Pope Francis published an unusual letter addressed to U.S. bishops, written “in these delicate moments,” in which he focuses entirely on this issue.

“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” he writes. “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”

The letter, written in both English and Spanish, is stern and contains strong phrases and expressions. Pope Francis refers to the “walls of ignominy” and urges the faithful to oppose Trump’s immigration policy, which he almost describes as a moral perversion — especially significant given that the U.S. president released a photo this Sunday of himself praying in his office with a group of televangelists and ultraconservative Christians.

The Pope’s critique is aimed at discrediting the confessional and religious image that the current U.S. right-wing movement has cultivated. “I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,” he writes.

[. . .]

There is a paragraph clearly written with Vice President J. D. Vance in mind, though he is not named directly. The references, however, are obvious. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, recently justified the deportations of migrants on Fox News, citing a theological concept of St. Augustine called the ordo amoris — the order of love. He argued that moral duties towards one’s children exceed those towards “a stranger who lives thousands of miles away,” placing family first, then community, country, and only lastly, the rest of the world. He even encouraged people on social media to search for ordo amoris on Google.

In his letter, the Pope explicitly references this idea, writing: “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.” In a pointed rebuke presented as catechesis, the Pontiff explains that Christian love “is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups.” “In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!” he writes.




The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a well-known story told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:25-37). It illustrates the importance of loving and showing mercy to others, even those who might seem like enemies or strangers.
Jesuit priest and editor James Martin similarly refuted Vance's claim. He wrote: “Jesus’s fundamental message is that *everyone* is your neighbor, and that it is not about helping just your family or those closest to you. It’s specifically about helping those who seem different, foreign, other. They are all our ‘neighbors.’ But Jesus’s deeper point can only be understood from the point of view of the beaten man: our ultimate salvation depends, as it did for that man, upon those whom we often consider to be the ‘stranger."


Wow.  Who could have known that?  Any Catholic at all which is why Kat and I both covered this repeatedly and told non-Catholics that JD -- a recent convert - did not understand the religion and should shut his mouth.  I agree with Kat, by the way, he should have been immediately excommunicated.  I don't care if it was a first mistake, he tried to speak for the Church and his comments were wrong and against the teachings of the Church.  As a result, I do not see any reason for leeway.  He's an adult who converted.  He didn't have the sense us cradle Catholics do as children to shut our mouths.

And to any of the twelve drive-bys who e-mailed me to tell me that I was wrong?  As I told you in my replies, you aren't Catholic.  You know nothing of my religion.  I won't insult your Southern Baptist religion so don't come at me telling me -- a woman born and raised in the Church -- what Catholicism teaches.  Stay in your lane.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Wednesday:


Wednesday, February 12, 2025.  Alien Musk is a teen girl fashion plate . . . from decades ago,  Senate Dems hold a press conference, tricksters line up against Hakeem from the shadows and think we're all to stupid to catch on, FOX "NEWS" caught lying about who they brought on as guests, and much more.


First up, BLUESKY.  An e-mail to the public account (common_ills@yahoo.com) states I don't seem to enjoy BLUESKY.  When we focus on it here or at THIRD, we're generally highlighting something really good or nonsense that the person posting should be embarrassed about.  If there's no comment from me -- like yesterday -- I have no problem with it.  But I'll start off with a BLUESKY that I found clever.



Now let's move over to MSNBC and Lawrence O'Donnell.


If you have good eyes, you'll agree with Lawrence take on Alien Musk's outfit.  If you have bad vision, like me, you may need to take a closer look.  When I first saw photos of Alien in the Oval Office, I thought he was quite girlish.  I thought he was saluting 80s teen girls -- leggings and a skirt.  Squint and you may see what I'm talking about.  It's like he's embracing his inner BLOSSOM. 

Yesterday wasn't just about Alien Musk trying to look girlish, it was also the weekly press conference from the Senate Democrats.  We'll note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

***VIDEO HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at Senate Democrats’ weekly press conference, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke about President Trump and Elon Musk’s illegal funding freeze, government funding ahead of the March 14 deadline, and the pending nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“We have a funding deadline fast approaching and we need a topline soon to be able to write and pass our bills. 

“I remain at the table with my Democratic counterpart in the House to get a result so we can move forward. But it is extremely difficult to land an agreement on toplines—much less our annual bills—when you have a President and an unelected billionaire ignoring the very agreements we pass each year in our spending bills. 

“What we are seeing now—the absolute lawlessness, the illegal funding freeze that is risking jobs and hurting working people—that simply cannot continue.

“The President is illegally blocking hundreds of billions in approved funding for our roads and bridges, for clean energy jobs, for foreign assistance, and a lot more. 

“What’s more, the problem right now is that it’s not even March 14th yet, and Trump and Elon Musk are effectively shutting down the government—whichever parts they don’t like—all on their own, without any regard for the law or the Constitution or Congress. 

“No one voted for the President to illegally block funding from Head Start classrooms or our rural health centers—but that is what Trump did his second week in office. 

“No one voted to let an unelected billionaire decide what bills the federal government would or would not pay—but Trump is giving Elon the keys to the Treasury. 

“In case Elon needs a reminder: the power of the purse sits with Congress—that means when people vote for us, we are their voice in how their tax dollars get spent. 

“The constitution doesn’t say Elon gets to decide if our elementary schools and hospitals get funding. Congress negotiates how we invest in our communities. 

“So, this has got to change, and we need our Republican colleagues to work with us to make sure it does—and I hope we can resolve things in time to pass the full year funding bills that I actually wanted to finish back last December. 

“Now, as we consider nominations on the floor this week: I want to remind you all it was only 2019 when I co-led a bipartisan Senate Health Committee Hearing with Senator Alexander to educate people on vaccines. With nearly every Republican Senator on that dais making very clear that vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving. 

“But now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Republican Party is on the verge of confirming, as our nation’s highest health official, RFK, Jr.— a man who has spent years crusading against vaccines. 

“Republicans are choosing to pretend like it is in any way believable that RFK, Jr. won’t use his new power to do exactly the thing he has been trying to do for decades: undermine vaccines. 

“People are alarmed. My phone lines are ringing off the hook with constituents who understand the stakes here and want us to stand up for science and for their health and safety. Because the Health Secretary has real power over whether Americans can get the basic information and care they need.

“I think most of my colleagues know what is really at stake here. They know what sort of agenda RFK Jr. will pursue, and they know what sort of damage he could do if confirmed.

“There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong. There is also fact and fiction. There is also people staying healthy, and people dying pointlessly—kids dying pointlessly—from diseases that we can prevent.

“So, I urge all my colleagues to show some courage, show some conscience, and say: no, a vaccine denier should not be our highest-ranking health official.”

###



Now let's move to trickery.   Justin Baragona (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Two Fox News guests who were portrayed by the network as run-of-the-mill “Trump voters” on Tuesday are both heavily involved in Republican politics, with one working as an assistant to an elected GOP official and the other a multiple-time candidate for local office.

During a Tuesday broadcast of America’s Newsroom, anchor Bill Hemmer moderated a discussion featuring two supporters of President Donald Trump, both of whom enthusiastically backed the efforts by the administration and Elon Musk’s meme-based department to dismantle government agencies and slash federal funding.

“President Trump doubling down on his support for the DOGE leader Elon Musk. Which is getting a lot of headlines – basically all of them in the last couple of weeks. It is still early, but they’re moving fast,” Hemmer noted at the top of the segment. “The president is pointing out it’s exactly what he campaigned on. But how do voters feel? I want to bring in Don O’Connor out of Iowa, a Trump voter from Mason City – he’s in banking. And screen right is Nick Schultz; he is outside of Milwaukee in Waukesha.”

Turning to O’Connor, who he called the “senior member of our panel,” the Fox host asked if he liked what he was seeing in Trump’s first weeks and if he thought it would be successful.

Why would FOX "NEWS" do that? 

Trickery.  

To trick the viewers.  That's awful.  How dare you try to put one over on your audience.  Right?  

But I guess Amy Goodman can't shriek too loudly since that's what she did over from August through the end of October on DEMOCARCY NOW! as she brought on one Socialist after another -- never identified as such -- to attack Kamala Harris and to send the message that even Democrats don't like Kamala -- even though these weren't Democrats.  (See "2024: The Year of Betrayal From Inside The Left.")

Now when FOX "NEWS" tricks their readers, we're shocked and disgusted.  But when Amy does it the bulk of the left tries to look the other way.  

She lied to viewers that Kamala and Chump were the same on immigration and the very few segments in the three months before the election -- see "Media: How Amy Goodman harmed immigrants and helped elect Chump."  

Again, when FOX "NEWS" does it, we're outraged.  

In fact, Eoin Higgins rages about FOX "NEWS" doing that sort of fakery in his new book -- a new book where Eoin does his own version of fakersy.  See "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism" and note that Eoin writes about and identifies MAGA, Libertarians, Tea Party activists, etc.  But on the other side, we're just all "the left."  It's a lie that helps pass off Socialists as Democrats -- Socialists like Eoin himself and all his friends in the circle jerk that he cites in the book -- in the book where he has a fit over Glenneth Greenwald using Twitter to promote his friends -- the same way Eoin uses a bad book to promote his own friends.  



 If you're a Socialist, you should be proud of it.  SEP members and PSL members don't hide the fact that they're Socialists.  It's really just the tricksters at DSA that hide it.  (See Elaine's "The trickster that is DSA"). 




Why can't they be honest?  Why do they have to lie and try to trick people?




Ellen: I think I've realized that I am -- I can't even say the word.  Why can't I say the word?  I mean, why can't I just say -- I mean what is wrong?  Why - why do I have to be so ashamed?  I mean why can't I just say the truth?


Do we need Laura Dern to stand in front of each of these political closet cases to coax them out of their closets?

They don't want to come out because at their most, they're 80,000 people.  That's not enough for the DSA to win seats in Congress.  So they pose as Democrats and then, the whole time they're posing, they attack actual Democrats.  Over and over, from their political closets.  Again, SEP doesn't hide who they are.  They attack Democrats -- hell, they even attack the fake assery of DSA.  

And that's fine.  

But if you're reading WSWS, the SEP's publication, you know where they're coming from.  They might make an argument you agree with (I've agreed with many) and they might make something that's way too different from what you see.  And when that happens, if you're not a Socialist, you just say, "Okay, interesting take.  That's one of the areas we disagree."

But DSAers lie and they lie online especially.  They pose as Democrats because that's the only way they'll have any influrnce.  They can't buil their own party.  They'e failed since day one.




‪Waleed Shahid‬.  The DSAer attacking Kamala on BLUESKY.  He's a Socialist but lies about that and brings up the ridiculous political closet that is "Justice Democrats."  My replies to his garbage.









Its like with THE MARJORITY REPORT and with Kyle.  Now Kyle's a Socialist.  He and Cenk worked together to form "Justice Democrats."  And there are no Democrats from that group in Congress.  There are Socialists.  And I'm sure Greg Casar has to hide that reality to be elected in his district in Texas.  But my point here is, did you not notice what the White boys are doing online.

Hakeem Jeffries is the House Minority Leader.



And the White boys -- Kyle, Sam and the rests -- are trying to remove him form leadership.

Imagine that.  White boys going after the Black man.

And you wonder why I don't like DSA?  

We're supposed to pretend, are we, Sam, that this just came about.  As opposed to the reality that you are teaming up to be on message and to take out the Black man.

I'm not really sure what you think Hakeem could do.

But I am really sure how much you suck.

Do we remember the last time DSA went after a Black man in Congress? 


Now Tabitha's not crazy about Hakeem and thinks he should step down but she can still see this organized effort to take him out.




Tabitha watched the full conference to find out what Hakeem was saying.  Not the clip that the political closet cases have edited -- a la FOX "NEWS" -- to make him look bad.

Again, when FOX "NEWS" does this trickery, we are aghast.  When people on our side do it, we just look away.



Hakeem Jeffries.  It's interesting to watch them pile on at BLUESKY.  Leave it to a White Socialist to use an offensive term for Hakeem.  (It may not be up now.  It was last night.  I reported it and will do that on all racist language.  Twitter got destroyed we need to protect BLUESKY.)  If you're wondering, it rhymes with "moon."  Now where in the world did a White Socialist get the notion that was an appropriate term to hurl at a Black person?


You don't think Hakeem is doing all you want?


You're probably right.  So pressure him.

He's in a spot that no one's been in for decades.  Nancy Pelosi is probably on her way out the door and that's probably why he went to Silicon Valley.  He's got to walk.  She can't carry him.  For over two decades, Nancy pulled in the big money.  That's why she ascended to leadership to begin with.  That and some well timed and played blackmail.  (A former Texas House Rep still feels the sting from where she burned him.)  Minority Leader or Speaker of the House, they have to reassure donors.  'We don't need big donors!'  Yes, we do.  As 2024 demonstrated, we really can't count on 'the left.'  Democrats can only count on Democrats currently.  And we need to grasp that and move forward.  


I like Chuck Schumer.  I don't even know Hakeem.  But I like Chuck.  That said, I haven't stepped in to try to defend Chuck.  Chuck has been doing his job for years and I am extremely disappointed with what he's doing currently. I'm also aware that no one's coming to rescue us.  We're going to have to rescue ourselves.  So I don't slam Chuck out of rage.  But, again, he's done the job for years and should know what's needed now.  Hakeem is getting ready to solo.  If Nancy has a popular challenger, she will announce she's not running for re-election in 2028.  (I don't see her dropping out in 2026, but I could be wrong.)  So if you want to make demands on Hakeem, do so.  But I'm not grasping the hatred and I'm certainly recognizing an organized campaign from outside the Democratic Party.


And before 2024, I would've just shaken my head and focused on other things.  But what those who hide in the shadows did to us in 2024 will not be forgotten or forgiven.  We are living under Donald Chump's threats and abuses because of DSA and their trickery.  


DSA eats their own.  Greg Casar is a member and they refused to endorse him over the issue of Palestine -- this was before the assault on Gaza began in 2023.  Jamaal Bowman was one of their success stories but then they turned on him and savaged him only to whine later.


You could argue that Jamaal is what should have taught 'uncommitted' (the DSA front) to back Kamala.  They attacked Jamaal and he . . . got replaced by George Latimer who is no friend to Palestinians. Jamaal gave them most of what they wanted.  But not all.  So despite the fact that they really needed him, they cut him loose.  AIPAC was only part of the issue in that race.  DSA-ers are not known for wisdom when it comes to electoral politics. They went after him early on -- the way they've gone after AOC throughout the last year or so.  Jamaal even let his dues paying membership with the group lapse only to rejoin in 2024 when he needed support.  But they'd already destroyed his image with their nonsense and the political equivalent of high school slam books.


And now they're demanding another Black man gets replaced.


But if you're not Black?  The DSA has been awfully accommodating to Greg Casar despite his positions -- plural -- on Israel. Apparently, the White dominated organization only feels the need to castigate and punish if the person showing independence is a Black man.  Not surprisingly, that fits the stereotype of not just DSA but of it's immediate predecessor.  


Latimer didn't struggle in the general election after he beat Bowman in the 2024 primary.  That also should have been a warning to Uncommitted.  While they pretended that the left was on their side 100% that wasn't the case.  

October 30th -- days before the US presidential election -- Linley Sanders (AP) reported on the latest AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll:


But there’s a big partisan split on whether the Israeli government bears “a lot” of responsibility for the war’s escalation. About 6 in 10 Democrats say they do — similar to the share of Democrats who say Hamas bears “a lot” of responsibility — while only about one-quarter of Republicans say the Israeli government bears “a lot” of responsibility.


DSA  preferred to ignore polling that found only 6 in 10 Democrats agreed with them on Gaza.  They had to pretend that in order to demand that Kamala not call for peace and a cease-fire but call for an independent Palestine.  They couldn't be honest about polling and not seem like the whiny, demanding, has to be my way brats that they actually were.  Maybe a new voting rights law can move us from chronological age over to an age of emotional maturity?


Again, Kamala had to navigate the Democratic Party.  And the Democrats were not 100% in support of uncommitted's Gaza plan.  Or even 9 out of 10 or 8 out of 10 or 7 out of 10.  It was 6 out of 10 -- which is a pretty even split.  Now uncommitted could have formed their own party but with a membership of only 80,000 they know they're going no where.  So instead, they glom on to our party and then try to boss us around and demand we do what they want.  Even though it's not what the Democratic Party wants.  

I was against the Iraq War before it started; however, I did not withhold my 2004 vote in the presidential election.  (I voted for John Kerry who, by the way, the DSA endorsed.  But Kamala they had a problem with.) And, again, I was for Katie Porter in the primary and thought she was the best.  I wasn't pleased that she did not make it onto the general election ballot.  That did not prevent me from voting for Adam Schiff and I have been pleasantly surprised by how hard Adam's been working since being sworn in.  


Hakeem's not saying everything you want him to?  Oh, the horror!

Some try to act as though this is an attack on Socialists on my part.  No, it's not.  It's an attack on liars who scheme together and plot together against the Democratic Party and then want to show up and pretend that they're Democrats.

You can search the archives.  We've long quoted PSL, we've cited WSWS probably more than any other publication the left, we've noted Sunsara Taylor (Communist activist) and hundreds of others.  We've not WORKERS WORLD repeatedly at this site (and used to repost in full back in the day when they encouraged that).  I didn't just fight online to get Lynne Stewart released from prison, I leaned on everyone I knew who had any say in that issue.  I don't fear being associated with radicals.

The DSA is a different issue all together and we saw their predecessor did and DSA is even worse.

And I'm glad that it upsets BLUESKY when the truth is pointed out.  First, those offended and in denial go to the fact that DSA should not be treating Socialism as an embarrassment and something to hide.  Your actions -- not mine -- are freaking voters out.  Second, those offended because they are DSA are comical as they to launch their defense -- when there's no defense from trying to influence someone's vote and political action while lying to them about who you are.  

Wasn't that why we called out The Tea Party?  Because it wasn't backed by grassroots funders?  Because the whole thing was a scam?

DSA gives the left a bad name.   And by hiding in political closets, they give Socialism a bad name as well.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


“The next Secretary of Education must fight for the best interests of students and families, not greedy and predatory for-profit colleges and inept loan servicers, and must reject extreme policies and efforts to eliminate the Department.”

“[Y]ou have a minimal track record on education issues and strikingly little experience pertaining to education policy.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sent Linda McMahon, Secretary-Designate for the U.S. Department of Education, a 12-page letter with 65 questions on McMahon policy views in advance of her nomination hearing this week.

“[Y]ou have a minimal track record on education issues and strikingly little experience pertaining to education policy,” wrote the senators. “This lack of a public record means that the American people have not been afforded the opportunity to evaluate your views on topics related to the Education Secretary’s core responsibilities.”

Given McMahon’s lack of experience, the senators pushed McMahon to explain her views and the extent to which they overlap with certain extreme stances taken by President Trump, his Project 2025 allies, and President Trump’s former Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos.

These include her views as they relate to: 

  1. President Trump’s extreme views, including his repeated call to “abolish ED” and his reported plan to do so by executive order; his history of proposing severe cuts to the Department of Education’s budget, and his proposal to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which millions of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants have relied upon for debt relief.

    “President Trump has said that he wants you to ‘put [your]self out of a job’ by helping him eliminate the Department. The harm that such a proposal would cause to students and families is grave,” wrote the senators.
  2. Project 2025’s extreme proposals, such as allowing unaccredited, often predatory, schools to receive federal funding; privatizing the federal student loan system, leaving students at the mercy of unaccountable private lenders, and replacing existing student loan income-driven repayment (IDR) plans with a new repayment plan that would raise costs for millions of Americans.

  3. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ extreme policies, such as rescinding a rule that would hold shady for-profit colleges accountable for graduates’ employment outcomes; obstructing federal and state regulators’ investigations into the misconduct of federal loan servicers; refusing to enforce existing regulations requiring that ED provide debt relief to students who were defrauded or misled by their schools, and dismantling the team at ED responsible for investigating predatory for-profit colleges.

    “During her tenure, Secretary DeVos implemented numerous policies that harmed students while allowing incompetent student loan servicers and greedy for-profit colleges to rip off students and taxpayers,” wrote the senators. “The American people deserve to know whether you will repeat Secretary DeVos’s extreme policies.” 

Senators Warren and Kim are demanding that McMahon arrive at her February 13 hearing prepared with answers.

“We need a higher education system that is accessible to all Americans, not just those with the means to afford skyrocketing costs without taking on student debt,” concluded the senators. “The next Secretary of Education must fight for the best interests of students and families, not greedy and predatory for-profit colleges and inept loan servicers, and must reject extreme policies and efforts to eliminate the Department.”

###





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