DISQUS

I'd like to see whether someone could bring back the thylacine.

Likewise I'd be happy to see the passenger pigeon resurrected. The only reason it's gone is our own carelessness.

You Be the Recount Judge!

Too much arcana for me. I'm not willing to go there. I just hope Coleman loses (not because I'm necessarily a fan of Franken, either; I just want another Dem. in the Senate).

(Gotta go pick up the housemate at the subway. I'll be back later as time allows.)

cutting up a pumpkin, boiling it, straining it, de-skinning it, blending it with the custard ingredients, molding the crust with my hands, and baking the pie

Ugh! Pardon my French, but that's a fucking lot of work for a custard! (Yes, I do realize the boiling, peeling, etc. is the "authentic" way to make pumpkin pie, but damn that's a lot of effort! It probably doesn't help much that I don't really care for pumpkin pie. ;-)

I can eat it, but at the Thanksgiving dinners of my childhood there were usually three pies, a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, and a mince pie. I always yearned for the mince pie, and was one of only three who truly liked it. One of my cousins and my grandmother (who made it) were the other two. If that wasn't available I went for the pecan pie.)

I've eaten duck at a restaurant before, but I've never tried to cook it on my own.

mmm pumpkin pie...

Could you do a pumpkin custard somehow? That way at least you'd get the pie filling. (Is there a recipe for a pumpkin creme brulee?)

Other solution (though much more Xmasy than Thanksgivingy) might be something like duck.

Not only pricier, but trickier to cook. I haven't done it myself, but from what I understand unless you know what you're doing very often with duck you either get moist meat, but greasy skin or nicely browned skin (with a pleasant crisp), but dry meat.

one big state

If you mean Texas, don't forget that Johnson was majority leader back in the 1950's (for the most part), back when Texas was relatively smaller than it is now.

she may find it hard to follow someone else's policies

Well, but on the other hand she is an attorney. It's not as though she doesn't grasp what it is to be an advocate of someone else's priorities (even if they don't wholly match your own).

smadin, I'm by no means a tequila connoiseur, but of the few brands of sipping tequila I've tried (including Don Julio) the one I like most is Tres Generaciones. I don't remember the color I had, but I remember that it was very smooth.

Be sure to use cheese CRUMBLES, not shredded cheese

Keori, I'm unfamiliar with this term ("crumbles"). Can you explain what you mean? It "sounds" as though you have a very specific item in mind.

Is that Bruce Jenner?

No, it's Cheyenne Jackson.

(Ahem........)

Only now seeing the picture for the first time.

Oy.................

No, the SOS won't be a wholly independent agent unless the president desires it. After all, all of the cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president, and so clearly if one tries to be more independent than the president cares for that will be the end of that cabinet secretary's career as such.

That doesn't change the fact that she will unavoidably have a voice in shaping foreign policy. We may never see how that plays out (in most healthy administrations I don't think you usually get a clear view of those sorts of matters), but it's bound to happen. I'm sure Joe Biden will also have a voice (given his Congressional resume), and so will others. However, it seems to me her voice will have more impact on foreign policy as SOS than it would have had as a senator.

I have absolutely no recollection of this show at all. Obviously it was on sometime in the mid to late 70's, but when?

That's not a small thing.

No, it's not. It also is not implausible.

I would never argue she doesn't have the chops for SOS. Besides, even if she encounters a situation she's not as familiar with as she could be is there anyone's doubt about her ability to learn quickly? My goodness, it's not as though she hasn't been engaged in national/international policy questions for most of her life!

unless African elephants are *also* more closely related to mammoths than they are to Asian elephants, which I suppose is possible

I don't see why it couldn't be possible (don't know enough one way or the other). I remember reading about ten years ago in Scientific American that - as groups (populations) - humans from western Africa and from eastern Africa both have more in common genetically with European Caucasians than they do with each other.

Can anyone tell me, how much input does the SoS have on the US imposing sanctions for human rights violations?

That's a foreign policy decision, isn't it? If so, I think the amount of input is a function of the president. From what I can remember I think most of the presidents of my life have relied pretty strongly on the advice offered by their SOS's, but it hasn't always been so. Even as a kid it was clear to me that Nixon's Sec. of State, William Rogers, wasn't really the one running foreign policy. Henry Kissinger was doing that. I'm sure Nixon did that so he could run foreign policy with minimal input from Congress. Kissinger was his National Security Advisor, and that's an Oval Office job. Those jobs aren't subject to Senate confirmation, and the presidential advisors are usually not ever called to Capitol Hill for questioning. The cabinet secretaries do all of that.

Likewise I think it was clear that while Powell offered input, mostly he was outmaneuvered by Cheney's crowd.

There have been six Dem. Senate majority leaders during my lifetime and I'm now 48: Lyndon Johnson (TX), Mike Mansfield (MN), Robert Byrd (WV), George Mitchell (ME), Tom Daschle (ND), and Harry Reid (NV).

The turnover is very slow and given the power of the incumbent unless things are going badly or the incumbent retires or otherwise no longer wants the role it isn't the sort of position a senator has much of a shot at, even if that senator is popular and influential.

Can anyone back me up on that, or am I hallucinating?

I can't cite you a source at the moment, but I know I've read that before.

what would be so wrong with bringing back a species of animal for the world to enjoy?

What animal? How long ago did it go extinct? What was its ecological role? How rapidly did it reproduce, how much did it eat, and what did it eat?

(All of which is to say that my answer to your question is, "It depends.")

Hot pepper flakes would be good in these biscuits, too.

(And yes, my guess is she'd want to chair the committee most involved with health issues, which Kennedy now chairs. I believe Chris Dodd is next in line for that one and even if he doesn't take it I'm sure there must be a few others of about her age already in line before her. So no, she won't have the seniority to be heavily influential for a while. I can see that now that you point it out.)

Think about that for a moment.

Very cool!


Thanks, Broce & Griffin. Both ideas seem plausible to me.

I am not a fan of sage, but I can easily, easily imagine replacing that with rosemary or thyme (or even cumin seed, ground or whole).