Idealogian

Trompe L'oeil

For those of my readers who may be going for the "gangsta" look: bullet holes the size of matzoh balls.

Prisoners Brain Teaser - Update

I'm conveniently notified any time someone comments on any post I've made, so I've been involved in a bit of an ongoing, if delayed, discussion regarding the brain teaser I posted a few weeks back.

Someone calling himself (or herself) "vvilly" has just posted a very clever, though slightly complex method of solving the problem for any number of prisoners, and more significantly, any number of possible colors. The solution I gave works only when there are two possible hat colors; his would work even if there were two hundred. Check it out.

If further clarification is required, don't be embarrassed - just ask in the comments to this post or that one. (Or, if you prefer, be embarrassed, and ask anonymously!)

Reuven's Recipe corneR - Hearty Vegetable Lasagna

Not much to say about this recipe, other than that it's as good as, if not better than, any lasagna I've ever had in an Italian restaurant. Very thick and hearty; make sure you have a deep pan. (The original recipe called for mushrooms instead of spinach, but I generally try to avoid mushrooms like the plague.)

Hearty Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) package lasagna noodles
1 package (10 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3/4 c. chopped green bell pepper
3/4 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (26 oz.) jars marinara sauce (even better if it's got chunks of stuff in it)
1 tsp. dried basil
2 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain them in a colander. (I've never tried this with those oven-ready lasagna noodles, but I suppose they should work just as well, without this first step.)

2. Sauté spinach, peppers, onions, and garlic in oil. Stir in marinara sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Mix together ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, and eggs.

4. Spread about 1 cup tomato sauce mixture into the bottom of a greased, deep 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer 1/2 each: lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, sauce mixture, and parmesan cheese. Repeat layering, and top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 minutes (or more - until top is starting to brown just a bit). Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Fun and Games! (until someone loses an eye)

Irwin Mainway would be proud.

Footloose

I've never been much of a dancer, but now I can dance vicariously through a pipe cleaner! (Make sure your volume is turned up.)

Thanks for the link, Dad!

Too Smart For Your Own Good

A co-worker of mine was trying to find out about a bar in New York City called "Sin-e." Typing "sin-e" into Google, he got one result:

sin(-e) = -0.410781291

Google was calculating the sine of negative e. So he tried to be more specific, typing in "sin-e bar", and again got one result:

sin(-e) bar = -41 078.1291 Pascals

Apparently, bar is a unit of pressure, and Google converted it into Pascals for him.

Eventually, he noticed the link below the single search result - "Search for documents containing the terms sin-e bar" - and found what he was looking for.

Brain Bulk

A few people have sent me links to various articles reporting scientific findings that exercising a specific part of the brain can cause that portion to increase in size:

In a study conducted by Dr. Arne May and colleagues at the University of Regensburg in Germany, people who spent three months learning to juggle showed enlargement of certain areas in the cerebral cortex, the thin sheet of nerve cells on the brain's surface where most higher thought processes seem to be handled. They were then asked to quit juggling completely, and three months later the enlarged areas of the cortex had started to shrink.

Which means that if I want to be in tip-top shape to juggle at my friends' upcoming wedding, I'd better start exercising again. For those of you who don't know how to juggle and would like to learn, watching this guy may help you pick up the rhythm.

Also, I wonder if certain areas may be more malleable/plastic than others. It's said that once you learn how to ride a bicycle, you never forget. Is the portion of the brain that controls bike riding less "plastic" than others, and thus once it expands, it never fully contracts?

Speechless

By now I'm sure we've all heard the news that NASA has pretty much lost communication with the Mars rover. In the words of the New York Times:

Mr. Cook said brief beeps from the rover were picked up Wednesday night by the Mars Global Surveyor, which is orbiting the planet and acting as a communications relay station. But the transmission, he noted, "was a random pattern of zeroes and ones," indicating that the rover's radio was on but that its computer was perhaps unable to send anything intelligible for transmission to Earth.

In short, the Spirit seemed to have a voice and power but for some reason was left with nothing to say.

I think the explanation for the lack of communication is pretty clear, based on a fact stated earlier in the article:

With each passing hour and no clear message, concern grew that the mission of the robotic spacecraft might have come to an abrupt end, just as it was getting started, on the 19th day of a planned three-month exploration of Mars's geological history. At the time communication ended, the rover was preparing for another day analyzing its first rock.

If all I'd done for the past 19 days was look at one rock, I'd probably have run out of things to say too.

Also:

The 400-pound, six-wheel Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 3 and rolled off its lander on Jan. 16.

Am I the only one who didn't realize that the rover was this big?

The Dr. Dean Dance Mix

Though I'm not a big fan of Howard Dean, I think the media's attention to his post-Iowa-caucus speech (like most media attention) is a bit overdone.

But it does make for some great techno music.

Update: More here.

Thanks for the link, Dad!

Stunningly Gruesome

Warning: You may not want to read this if you've just eaten, or plan on doing so anytime soon.

Is Kosher Meat Safer to Eat?

Kosher rules don't permit the use of "downer" cows -- those that are too sick or injured to walk. Until just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did allow downer meat but now prohibits it as well. Kosher law also requires that animals be killed by having their throats slit. They are not stunned first.

In the past, cows used for nonkosher beef were sometimes first stunned with an air injection to the head, which can scatter brain tissue into other parts of the carcass. Because the proteins thought to cause mad-cow disease are found in brain and nerve tissue, the USDA recently stopped this practice, too. However, cattle are still typically knocked unconscious with a bolt into the skull, which critics say poses a risk. The USDA disagrees.

Many kosher authorities say the kosher postslaughter inspection process to weed out animals with abnormalities is stricter than that of the federal government, and more animals are rejected. But the USDA says its requirements, though somewhat different, are just as rigorous.

In other words, the article's answer to its title's question is "maybe, but not necessarily."

The strange part, though, is that bit about the "air injection to the head." Wouldn't "scatter[ing] brain tissue into other parts of the carcass" do a bit more than "stun" the animal?

Thanks for the link, Dad!

Mitzvah

You Don't Have to Be Jewish To Want a Bar Mitzvah Party

After going to a dozen bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs last year, Laura Jean Stargardt told her parents she wanted one of her own. She said she found the singing inspiring and offered to learn Hebrew. She also said she wanted a big party.

Her parents thought the request was unusual since the family is Methodist. But they co-hosted a lavish party for her and two of her friends last month that looked like a bat mitzvah, without the religion. They booked a country club in Dallas and a disk jockey, invited 125 friends, and hired a professional dancer that Laura had seen at her friends' bar mitzvah parties.

"I wanted to be Jewish so I could have a bat mitzvah," says Laura. "Having the party fulfilled that."

Obviously these kids have a skewed perspective on what it means to be Jewish. But that's sort of to be expected from non-Jewish kids (and probably from most non-Jewish adults and, sadly, Jewish kids as well).

But more disturbing is the "contrasting" viewpoint presented in the article - the expression of what it's really supposed to mean to be a bar/bat mitzvah:

The bar mitzvah is actually an ancient, solemn event marking the coming of age of a Jewish male, undertaken after study of Jewish history, traditions and Hebrew. Bat mitzvahs, for girls, are a more recent phenomenon. Typically, children start intense preparations about a year before the event, spending several hours each week learning to read from the Torah -- the scroll containing the Five Books of Moses -- and sometimes writing a speech and doing charity work.

. . .

Many rabbis are quick to point out that the parties have little in common with the real thing. "Bar and bat mitzvahs are about accepting adult responsibility in the community," says Rabbi Richard Block, senior rabbi of The Temple-Tifereth Israel, in Cleveland. "If non-Jews are going to emulate their Jewish neighbors, better they emulate the enduring values of Jewish tradition than the material excesses of contemporary life."

"History" and "traditions?" "Adult responsibility in the community?" Well, that may be part of it. But what does it really mean to be a "bar mitzvah" or a "bat mitzvah?" (Note that a boy doesn't have a bar mitzvah, though he may have a party celebrating the fact that he now is a bar mitzvah.) "Mitzvah" means "commandment;" "bar" (or the feminine "bat") in this context means "one who is subject to." Thus a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah is one who is now subject to (and obligated to obey) God's commandments. How is it that even the rabbi quoted in the article failed to make any mention of commandments, obligations or God? (That's a rhetorical question; it's not too hard to guess at an answer.)

Assuming this definition of bar/bat mitzvah, though, I wonder if things can perhaps be taken in an interesting direction. After all, even non-Jews are subject to several of God's commandments. (I had trouble finding a relatively normal site to link to for that one. I did my best, though I wouldn't vouch for the entire site, particularly the parts reflecting Lubavitch messianism.) At what age does their obligation begin? Is it conceivable that a non-Jew also becomes a bar mitzvah at the age of 13 or a bat mitzvah at 12?

Thanks for the link, Dad!

Whoops! Er, I mean, Whoooo!

I prefer not to think of it as "slipping down an icy flight of stairs." To me, it's "Spontaneous Xtreme Sledless Sledding."

I Have A Dream

"Slow Wave is a collective dream diary authored by different people from around the world, and drawn as a comic strip by Jesse Reklaw." Some are funny, others are a bit strange, but at least now I know that I'm not the only one who dreams about free pudding.

You can even submit your own dream for consideration. Here's the one I sent in, which I dreamt a few months ago:

I was in midtown Manhattan, and a giraffe in high heels was on a rampage, skewering people with its heels as it ran. Someone told me that giraffes have a very poor sense of vision but excellent hearing, so the best strategy was to stand perfectly still and not make any noise. Those around me unfortunate enough to not know this were trying to run away, and were getting impaled left and right.

For the record, I can't find any indication that my information regarding giraffes' senses is accurate, so if you're ever approached by one, run like the wind. Perhaps I was confusing them with rhinoceroses.

I also suggested this one:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

May not translate well into a comic strip, but it's still a beautiful dream.

Where the Sidewalk Ends - Part II

Similar to my earlier post, here's some more incredible 3D sidewalk art. Not as epic, but still pretty impressive.

Pinnacle of Evolution

Current scientific thinking is that the loss of hair the human race has experienced (in our evolution from apes and early humans, assuming one believes in all that) is the result of a specific evolutionary need. Less hair means fewer disease-carrying parasites, better hygiene and better health.

If that's the case, men (and women) who are losing their hair represent the next link in the evolutionary chain. Sort of like the X-Men, but without the whole "mutant" stigma.

Thus it's only appropriate that:

You are Professor X!
You are a very effective teacher, and you are very committed to those who learn from you. You put your all into everything you do, to some extent because you fear failure more than anything else. You are always seeking self-improvement, even in areas where there is nothing you can do to improve.

Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

Babes in Toyland

Google Punchline Contest

Someone surfing from an nyc.gov domain reached this site by searching for " "human clone" USA suitcase " (which finds matches in three separate entries). First prize to anyone who can provide a good guess as to what in the world this person was looking for.

Second prize to anyone who can provide a good answer to the two people who came here asking the question, "What is supper conductivity?" (which hit this entry).

Temple Lessons

Tailors Today has come out with a fourth set of Temple Lessons, wisdom gleaned from ancient stories of Eastern religions and aimed at helping those who study it attain enlightenment.

My favorite is still this one (from the second set):

A rich man came to tour the temple, and when he had seen it he asked Joshu why the monks, who were said to be wise, slept on bare mats and ate only rice.

Joshu said, "Where does a wise man need to sleep? What does he need to eat?"

But actually it was because Joshu had embezzled quite a lot of money from the temple.

Big Brother?

To Avoid Fuel Limits, Subaru Is Turning a Sedan Into a Truck

The Subaru Outback sedan looks like any other midsize car, with a trunk and comfortable seating for four adults.

But Subaru is tweaking some parts of the Outback sedan and wagon this year to meet the specifications of a light truck, the same regulatory category used by pickups and sport utilities. Why? Largely to avoid tougher fuel economy and air pollution standards for cars.

. . .

Subaru's strategy highlights what environmentalists, consumer groups and some politicians say is a loophole in the fuel economy regulations that has undermined the government's ability to actually cut gas consumption. The average fuel economy for new vehicles is lower now than it was two decades ago, despite advances in fuel-saving technology.

"This is a new low for the auto industry, and it would make George Orwell proud," said Daniel Becker, a global warming expert at the Sierra Club.

I'll admit to never having read 1984 or Animal Farm, but I'm not quite sure what Orwell has to do with this. I thought "Orwellian" refers to a completely totalitarian state, with no room for individuality. If anything, this is the exact opposite, where all that's needed to appease government regulation is a symbolic gesture to circumvent the rules.

Am I off base, or has "Orwell" just become the buzzword of choice whenever anyone wants to go off on an anti-government tirade?

(A Google Search turns up no explanation of Mr. Becker's statement, but it does turn up some questions regarding his intellectual integrity.)

Dunkin' Donuts

A co-worker brought in some Entenmann's donuts (the "Ultimate Chocolate Lovers" collection), consumed, of course, with the requisite cup of cold milk. Nothing extraordinary, but I now know how to do it right:

Len Fisher used an old equation from 1921 to predict how long it would take for the liquid to rise in your favourite biscuit.

But he did more than just scribble equations - he did experiments, involving gold, a belt-sander, a microscope, an X-ray machine, and sensitive weighing scales. He found that the best dunking time for a gingernut biscuit was 3 seconds, but 8 seconds for a digestive biscuit.

Overall, his personal recommendation was to use a wide-brimmed cup filled almost to the top, to do horizontal dunking (so that only the bottom side got wet), and then to quickly turn your dunked biscuit upside down so the stronger dry side gives structural integrity to the wet side.

. . .

And sure enough, dunking your biscuit into a milky drink gives you up to 11 times more flavour release than from eating the dry biscuit alone.

Why? Well, the answer lies in the fat in milk. Milk is basically little tiny droplets of fat which are suspended in water. These droplets of fat do two things. First, they absorb the flavour molecules really well. Second, these little fat droplets also hang around in your mouth, so that the flavour and aroma chemicals can sit on your tongue AND be released up to your nose.

Which means that I didn't get it quite right. I was using skim milk - no "little tiny droplets of fat" suspended in my water (though there were probably more than enough in the donut itself).

What I'm Doing Today:

Staring at this.

And, if I have time left when I'm done, checking out how he did it.

Let the Swooning Begin

Seeking Women's Votes, Clark Changes His Style

Gen. Wesley K. Clark Gone has replaced his suit with an argyle sweater in an attempt to increase his support among women.

Swayed yet, women?

One interesting feature of the article: it states that "Some Democrats say the problem is that women are put off by the military persona." And yet the Times insists on refering to him, no less than eight times throughout the article, simply as "the general." (I'm not counting when they call him "General Clark" - that's just his title.) A quick perusal of recent articles about Howard Dean and John Kerry turns up no references to them as "the governer" or "the senator," respectively. Granted, his being a general is directly related to the issue, but is it truly unbiased reporting by the Times to repeatedly and gratuitously emphasize his "military persona?"

Frostbite

Current Temperature: 21^o Fahrenheit

Temperature At Which Exposed Skin Freezes: 23^o Fahrenheit

Security Stupidity

This morning's New York Times article on international reactions to new American air security regulations is brimming with so much stupidity, it actually hurt my brain just to read it. The stupidity comes not from the article itself, but from those quoted in it. Let's proceed in order, mocking as we go along:

There is widespread agreement, however, that coming to the United States will not be more enjoyable because of what William Gaillard, head of communications at the International Air Transportation Association, calls "the hassle factor."

"People are not afraid of flying, but all these security measures take the fun out of flying; it's as simple as that," Mr. Gaillard said in Geneva, where the trade group that represents most international air carriers has its European headquarters.

You know what else takes the fun out of flying? When that flying stops. Abruptly.

Michel Ayral, an air transport director for the European Union in Brussels, described the carrying out of the new security measures in a telephone interview as "unilateralist and impetuous."

Impetuous? Maybe. Unilateralist? You bet! And why shouldn't we be, when it comes to defending our own citizens on our own soil? Maybe we should ask Mr. Ayral what he thinks about parking laws in Iowa as well. If he doesn't like them, he's welcome to stay in Brussels; I'm sure nobody here will miss him.

In some countries, the fingerprinting requirement has tapped into deeply rooted resentments of the United States. A Brazilian judge was so furious that Brazilians would have to be fingerprinted and photographed that he took revenge.

"I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis," the judge, Julier Sebastiao da Silva, said last week in a court order subjecting all Americans entering Brazil to the same practice.

I rest my case. (And I significantly toned down my selection of links for that one.)

"There are two goals in aviation security: one is to make sure no act of terrorism can occur; the other is to make sure the flow of aviation commerce is maintained," said Frank Costello, a lawyer who specializes in aviation at the Washington law firm Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger. "It is difficult to reconcile the two. If terrorists can shut down the system, it probably does more to furthering their goals than doing harm to an aircraft."

Not entirely stupid, Mr. Costello's comment is still insensitive and irrelevant. Insensitive because it fails to recognize that terrorists aren't trying to harm aircraft; they're trying to harm the people aboard the aircraft. And irrelevant because his distinction is spurious. The only time in history that the system was indeed shut down was after terrorists succeeded in doing harm to four "aircraft."

The only valid "criticism" came a bit earlier in the article, with regard to the requirement of armed marshals on all incoming flights:

"We don't need additional security in the sky," said Rich Mkhondo, a spokesman for South African Airways, the national carrier, which has 28 round-trip flights a week to Atlanta and New York. Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, told reporters on Tuesday that he would not allow armed guards on his country's national carrier, Thai Airways. "We don't need to go that far since we always conduct proper checks from our end and our planes stop at one destination," he said.

That may be, but surely they don't expect the United States to conduct monthly airline-by-airline checks, deciding which ones already have sufficient security, and which ones don't and therefore require air marshals in order to meet our standards.

In a surprise ending, the most sensible quote comes from France:

On the other end of the spectrum are countries like France, which has long fought its own battle against terrorism. For Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, who owes much of his popularity to a tough approach to crime and terrorism, the American measures do not go far enough. "We share the analysis of the American services that we live in a very tense period and what is required is increased vigilance," Mr. Sarkozy said last Friday. "I prefer that we are reproached for having too many security measures than too few."

You know the U.S. must be doing something right when even France agrees with its policies.

Brain Teaser

Here's my favorite brain teaser. The setup is somewhat elaborate, but the payoff is worth it. Attempted solutions or requests for clarification are welcome in the comments section.

Twenty inmates are scheduled for execution in the morning. The night before their execution, the executioner notifies them that the manner of their execution will be as follows, giving them a chance to gain their freedom. (Don't ask why - it's a brain teaser!)

The prisoners will be lined up in random order, single file, such that the last person on line can see all those in front of him but none of those behind him, the second to last can see the eighteen in front of him but not the one behind him, and so on. The executioner will then place on each of their heads a small hat - either black or white, with any possible ratio of black to white hats among the twenty of them (e.g., they could all be black, they could all be white, there could be fifteen black and five white, etc.).

The executioner will start from the end of the line (with the prisoner who can see all those in front of him). One by one, making his way towards the front of the line, he will ask each prisoner, "What is the color of the hat on your head?" If the prisoner answers correctly, he will be freed immediately; incorrectly, he will be shot immediately. Prisoners are not allowed to turn their heads or try any "funny stuff" to communicate with each other. This includes answering "Black, er, I mean White," conspicuously coughing, or even answering the question in an odd tone of voice.

The prisoners get together that night and realized that, if they play their cards right and cooperate, they can guarantee that a certain number of them will make it out alive. (This does not include any possibility that some may get it right by chance.) What is the greatest number that they can definitely save, and how do they do it?

If you've heard it before, please don't post the answer (even just the number - that's part of the puzzle). If you think you've figured it out now, please do!

Warning: The comments now contain the correct answer (and a few interesting not-as-correct ones).

Seeing Is Not Believing

This must be the most convincing optical illusion I've ever seen. I had to copy it into a paint program to check the colors for myself, and I still don't believe it. Downright eerie.

Filmwise

My best score yet on Filmwise's weekly Invisibles Contest - I've got #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8 (and I haven't seen even half of those).

Can anyone get #1?

Pirates of the Caribbean

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night, going in without any particularly high expectations after having overheard this on the train on Friday:

Man #1: Did you see Pirates of the Caribbean?

Man #2: Yeah, last week.

Man #1: What'd you think?

Man #2: I thought it was pretty good. I didn't realize it was a Disney movie, though. If I'd known, I wouldn't've been so hard on it - I thought it was trying to be a real movie.

Man #1: It's not even based on an actual story, y'know. It's just based on some ride in Disney World.

Despite that, I thought it was actually pretty good. Lots of fun and, as almost all the the reviews said, Johnny Depp's performance (which was supposedly inspired by Keith Richards) really made the movie.

Best line, by Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp):

Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is - what the Black Pearl really is - is freedom.

Biblical Criticism

Dean Narrowing His Separation of Church and Stump

"If you know much about the Bible - which I do [emphasis mine] - to see and be in a place where Christ was and understand the intimate history of what was going on 2,000 years ago is an exceptional experience," [Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean] said.

Asked his favorite New Testament book, Dr. Dean named Job, adding: "But I don't like the way it ends." "Some would argue, you know, in some of the books of the New Testament, the ending of the Book of Job is different," he said. "I think, if I'm not mistaken, there's one book where there's a more optimistic ending, which we believe was tacked on later."

Job, the Old Testament story of a righteous man who suffers hardships as a test of his faith, ends with the Lord restoring his fortunes and the protagonist living to be "an old man, and full of days." Some scholars have posited that the original ending may have been more dour.

An hour after his comments, Dr. Dean returned to the clutch of reporters, saying he realized he had misspoken because Job is not in the New Testament.

Seems he's not even sure how his favorite book in the something-or-other (about which he knows much, mind you) ends. Imagine how much he knows about things that he doesn't know much about!

The article also alludes to the fact that Dean is one of the "religion switchers" I "reported" on earlier:

Dr. Dean grew up spending Sundays in an Episcopal church, and attended religious boarding school, but became a Congregationalist after the Episcopal church he belonged to in Burlington, Vt., refused to yield land for a bike path around Lake Champlain that he championed. His wife is Jewish and their children observe both traditions, though the family stopped attending services years ago after scolding sermons about once-a-year attendees.

The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal had a very sharp editorial about this; anyone even considering voting for him should read it.

Reuven's Recipe corneR - Untitled Pasta Dish #1

I made some pasta for dinner last night and, if I may say so myself (and since it's my blog, I may), it came out quite good. I didn't measure anything out, but here's my approximation of a recipe:

Untitled Pasta Dish #1

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped/crushed (i.e., just get it into small pieces somehow or other)

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh ginger (about the size of 1-2 cloves of garlic), minced (I happened to have fresh ginger; if you don't, you're on your own guessing how much of the ground stuff to put in)

1/4 of a 10 oz. package of frozen peas (if I'd had asparagus, I would have used that instead)

1/4 cup white wine (I had some Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc in the fridge)

1 can tuna (I used solid white albacore in water, mashed into small pieces)

1/4 cup marinara sauce, to thicken the sauce a bit

Olive oil, for sauteeing

Cooked pasta (how much depends on what you want your sauce/pasta ratio to be; I used about 1/4 - 1/3 of a 16 oz. box of cavatappi that I had around)

Optional (actually it's all optional, but this is really optional): Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Optional: Parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions:
1. In a medium pot, sautee the onions in the oil, on medium heat, for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, peas, wine, tuna, and marinara sauce (i.e., everything else, except the pasta) and sautee for another 5-6 minutes.

2. Stir in the pasta.

3. Top with some pepper and/or Parmesan cheese, if desired, and enjoy!

As good as anything you'd get in a restaurant, except for the canned tuna. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too!

And if anyone out there speaks Italian (or at least eats lots of it) and can come up with a better name, suggestions are welcome.