If you can't win honestly, try to win dishonestly

As the article notes, Pennsylvania made an attempt to do this before the 2012 election, but didn't make it.  But as long as Republicans have aspirations to be a ruling minority (and they do, they do), they will keep trying to make ways that their fringe voice can be in power. And that's SCARY.


 GOP's new campaign strategy?  Double down on gerrymandering

"The GOP's redistricting successes enabled Republicans to maintain their House majority, even  though the Democrats got more votes. If every state awarded its electoral votes by these  gerrymandered congressional districts, Romney would have won by a 276-262 margin, despite  Obama's popular vote margin, calculated David Wasserman, the nonpartisan Cook Political  Report's House expert."

Public service for expiration dates

The HuffingtonPost has an article giving the amount of time past the "best by" (or"Sell by") dates on food that they should still be safe to eat.  This at times has been  a point of contention in my household.

As a public service, I'm putting all 23 foods in an easy-to-read list, so it can be seen here rather than having to click through each picture. 

The article provides links to other sites that provide information on more foods.  EatByDate appears to be pretty good.


Ketchup:  Six months, refrigerated

Olive oil:  18-24 months, refrigerated or not

Eggs, Raw, in-shell:   3-5 weeks

Milk:  1 week.  In my experience, skim goes bad before whole.

Yogurt:  7-10 days past Sell By date - refrigeration expected, of course

Mayonnaise:  at least 2-3 months, refrigerated. This does not apply to picnics!

Peanut butter:  3 months pantry, 3 more months refrigerated.  About the worst that happens is oil separation.

Pickles:  1 year!  (also olives and capers in brine)

Soy or almond milk:  same as regular milk

Sour cream:  two weeks, covered in refrigerator

Vinegar:  never spoils

Honey:  never spoils

Store-bought mustard:  1-2 years

Whipped cream, 3 months;  Cool Whip, 7-10 days (after thaw)

Butter:  2 weeks.  Frozen butter:  9 months.

Liquid cream:  5-7 days.   Liquid coffee creamer (my own experience):  3-4 weeks.

Ground coffee:  3-5 months.  Whole bean coffee:  6 months.

Dry pasta: 1-2 years.

Deli meats - this is one that frequently comes up, so I'm quoting:
"Packaged lunch meats last about 7-10 days longer than the best by date,  whereas fresh meats will last around 5-6 days. Salami and pepperoni  last much longer -- around 2-3 weeks."

But the problem is:  is the date stamped on the store-bought package of  fresh deli meat a "Best by" or "Sell By" date?   Either way, it's usually the day it's bought, so I'm going with "Sell By" - which might mean a couple of more days than anything with a "Best By" date.  I.e., if I bought deli ham and the date on the package is the day of purchase, I would figure that the Best By date is at least two days after that, so that gives me 7-8 days from date of purchase on the fresh deli ham.  NOW, ham is made to be less perishable than, say, roast beef or chicken, so I'd be more forgiving toward deli ham than deli roast beef or chicken.

Syrup:  never spoils, according to the article.  (But mold sometimes forms on top -- and can be skimmed off).

Tea:  6 months to a year

Spices:  2-3 years.  But in my experience, an opened half-used container of just about any spice is not as strong as something just opened.


I hope that this helps reduce some contention in YOUR household.

Golden Globes 2013 sexiest dresses

Oh, I know there's been lots of Golden Globes red carpet fashion coverage.  So I figured I'd rate who wore it best indicating that what was under it was really good.

Kate Hudson once again had me put her on a pedestal of amazingness, Jessica Alba looked totally magnificent (and I'm a sucker for a waterfall of diamonds in the bodice), Katharine McPhee showed that God had smiled upon her in the bosom department, Jessica Lopez was slinky and curvy, and Salma Hayek was just simply a mother I'd like to ... repeatedly.

Kate Hudson - amazing after 2 kids

Jennifer Lopez - nude becomes her

Jessica Alba - my night was complete with this look

Katharine McPhee - cleavage as a fashion accessory

Salma Hayek - it would be a dream to come home to her every night

How unbelievable is this? (GOP shutdown talk continues)

It seems impossible to take such shenanigans that may have significant and severe economic repercussions seriously, but apparently the idiotic GOP members in Congress are serious.  Remember one of my predictions:  national parks closed in the summer.   This may be one of my more LIKELY predictions, sadly.

The other sad thing is that the Republicans are touting the line that they're so crazy they can't control themselves.  Heck of a way to try to convince the public that you are trustworthy enough to actually GOVERN the country.

Double trouble:  House GOP eyes default, shutdown

"Republican leadership officials, in a series of private meetings and conversations this past week, warned that the White House, much less the broader public, doesn’t understand how hard it will be to talk restive conservatives off the fiscal ledge."

 To which I ask, how the f*ck did these jokers get elected to national office in the first place, if they don't understand what it takes to govern responsibly?

Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Representative: Government Shutdown Is An Option 

She was asked if her constituents supported a government shutdown. "Yes they are, yes they are. But if they want us to be thoughtful in what is done. And this is the good thing: you know, maybe it's better to keep it open so we can keep cutting it. What we want to do is look at all of these ramifications. If you were to do the shutdown, exactly what is going to continue, who is going to hold the purse?"

When asked whether she would risk default or shutdown if she didn't get the spending cuts she wanted, Blackburn said, "I think that there is a way to avoid default. If it requires shutting down certain portions of the government, let's look at that. Let's put these options on the table, be very thoughtful, but get this spending pattern broken."

 The woman is not even lucid. 

John Boehner's secret

If a solid chunk of House conservatives buy into this – and if they are backed by opinion-shaping voices on the right like Rush Limbaugh, Jim DeMint and Fox News – then Boehner should be safe. He can get a debt ceiling hike through and then force a showdown with Obama less dire overtones. In that event, the worst that would happen is that the sequester as currently constituted would go into effect, delivering a blow to the economy – but nothing nearly as severe as a default. Or the C.R. would expire and the government would shut down in the absence of a new agreement. It’s just a guess, but if the 1995 shutdown (Clinton vs. Gingrich) is any clue, public opinion would side against the GOP and quickly yield a deal more favorable to the White House’s terms. Either way, Boehner would probably get credit from the right for putting up a real fight.

Ree-dick-you-less.

China ain't happy with the air it's breathing

Numerous reports all over Twitter and the Web about the horrific air quality situation in Beijing right now.   As I've predicted before,  I'll predict again that lack of environmental laws might eventually turn into a civil unrest situation that could possibly result in the end of the totalitarian rule in the country.  There are small signs that the government is being more open about the badness of the situation - and there's a faint echo of how the Chernobyl disaster forced the Soviet Union to be more open about THAT situation, eventually contributing to the breakup of aforesaid union.

Media and blog coverage:

Beijing's hazardous pollution sparks Chinese media anger


How air pollution in China has hit previously unimaginable levels

This, from a government-run newspaper:

“The public should understand the importance of development as well as the critical need to safeguard the bottom line of the environmental pollution. The choice between  development and environment protection should be made by genuinely democratic methods…“The government cannot always think about how to intervene to ‘guide public opinion.’ It should publish the facts and interests involved, and let the public itself produce a balance based on the foundation of diversification. ”The government is not the only responsible party for environmental pollution. As long as the government changes its previous method of covering up the problems and instead publishes the facts, society will know who should be blamed.”

beijing experiences worst pollution in recent memory

 It will be interesting to see the Chinese government’s reaction to this episode. We already have one depressing reaction – Xinhua’s tweet about the “fog” – though no one’s buying it and it’s hard to believe they can get away with this sort of spin much longer. What is more interesting to me is the unfortunate timing of this pollution event. After all, the Chinese government has just racked up a couple of positive wins in air pollution control, ...

Beijing's Smog Prompts Chinese Government To Be Unusually Transparent About Air Pollution 


 If this kind of thing keeps up, people are bound to get MAD.
 

A word I've never used

Now, I've used the word "ramification" numerous times.  And heard it a lot in common English usage.  But it occurred to me the other day to wonder if "ramify" was a word.  It turns out that yes, it is a word, but obviously since I wasn't sure if it was, I've never used it.  

So I was wondering if anyone else has ever used  it?  Ever seen it in a book?

Feel free to answer, or not.

ramify
intransitive verb

1: to split up into branches or constituent parts

2: to send forth branches or extensions

 

transitive verb

1: to cause to branch

2: to separate into divisions 

 

 

OK, this amused me

Tequila ad with George Clooney, Cindy Crawford, Stacy Keibler, and Cindy's husband Randy Gerber.  Made me chuckle.