Later On

Take a look.

I’m interested because I’m going to get an Android phone next year I think. This useful article begins:

When Android first debuted on the HTC Dream (also known as the G1) back in October of 2008, it was deemed an "iPhone Killer." While it didn’t quite slay Apple’s handset, it was the first step in a revolution against the tyrannous iPhone. The initial Android platform bested the iPhone OS on several levels, but lacked some key functionalities that the iPhone could provide. Since then, Android has grown – not only meeting all of the functionalities of the iPhone, but besting it in nearly all aspects from an extensive list of devices to a growing Android Marketplace. Here is our list of the top 10 things Android does better than the iPhone…

Continue reading.

Israel certainly thinks so, by Israel seems to be somewhat paranoid (for reasons one can understand). Mark Hosenball in Newsweek looks at the evidence:

The Obama administration has been circumspect in its official statements about Israel’s deadly May 31 commando raid on the Turkish passenger ferry Mavi Marmara. In private, however, U.S. officials are questioning Israeli claims that the Gaza relief convoy’s sponsor, the Istanbul-based Islamic charity I.H.H., has ties to terrorist groups.

In a televised speech on Wednesday defending Israel’s commando operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described activists on board the ship as “members of an extremist group that … supports the terror organization called Hamas. They brought with them in advance knives, steel rods, other weapons. They chanted battle cries against the Jews.” Driving home the point, he added: “This wasn’t a love boat, this was a hate boat.” Other Israeli officials and pro-Israel groups have gone further, accusing I.H.H. of maintaining ties not only to Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement that controls Gaza but to other violent factions, including Al Qaeda.

Although I.H.H. is reportedly banned by the Israeli government, it is not on any U.S. anti-terrorist sanctions list. The Weekly Standard says I.H.H. is affiliated with the Union of the Good, another Islamic charity that has been on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list since 2008   because of the group’s alleged support for Hamas. But chief State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley confirmed in his daily briefing on Wednesday that although the government is aware of I.H.H.’s possible radical connections, the group is not subject to counterterrorism restrictions. “We know that I.H.H. representatives have met with senior Hamas officials in Turkey, Syria, and Gaza and over the past three years,” he said. “That is obviously of great concern to us. That said, the I.H.H., which stands for the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, has not been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.” [Well, Hamas is the elected government of the Palestinians, so pretty much anyone who wants to deal with Gaza is going to meet with Hamas. I don't see simply meeting with the government is automatically a terrorist act. – LG]

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Thanks to Nick for the link to this report in the Guardian by Robert Booth:

Israel was tonight under pressure to allow an independent inquiry into its assault on the Gaza aid flotilla after autopsy results on the bodies of those killed, obtained by the Guardian, revealed they were peppered with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range.

Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, which carried out the autopsies for the Turkish ministry of justice today.

The results revealed that a 60-year-old man, Ibrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less that 45cm, in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. Two other men were shot four times, and five of the victims were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, said Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the council of forensic medicine.

The findings emerged as more survivors gave their accounts of the raids. Ismail Patel, the chairman of Leicester-based pro-Palestinian group Friends of al-Aqsa, who returned to Britain today, told how he witnessed some of the fatal shootings and claimed that Israel had operated a "shoot to kill policy".

He calculated that during the bloodiest part of the assault, Israeli commandos shot one person every minute. One man was fatally shot in the back of the head just two feet in front him and another was shot once between the eyes. He added that as well as the fatally wounded, 48 others were suffering from gunshot wounds and six activists remained missing, suggesting the death toll may increase.

The new information about the manner and intensity of the killings undermines Israel’s insistence that its soldiers opened fire only in self defence and in response to attacks by the activists.

"Given the very disturbing evidence which contradicts the line from the Israeli media and suggests that Israelis have been very selective in the way they have addressed this, there is now an overwhelming need for an international inquiry," said Andrew Slaughter MP, a member of the all party group on Britain and Palestine.

Israel said tonight the number of bullets found in the bodies …

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This is new information that contradictions some earlier stories—e.g., that the American was shot 4 times in the head and once in the chest (instead twice in the head—front and back—twice in the leg, and once in the back).

I am guessing that the first books on this will be out before the end of July.

We really need an independent investigation, and Israel would be smart to insist on that—but they haven’t been smart so far, and I don’t expect that to change.

I know that some people are touting coconut oil and its benefits, and I see the shelf space devoted to coconut oil at Whole Foods go from zero to a couple of shelves. What’s up with that?

Obviously, of course, any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil is bad, bad, bad. These are the trans fats, to be avoided at all costs. But unhydrogenated coconut oil (which would then have to be refrigerated after opening)? Is it really good?

My Healthy Way reading materials proclaim its benefits, and I found this report by Diana Parsell in Science News:

It’s been an article of faith in the medical community for more than 40 years that diets high in saturated fats put people at risk of heart disease. Most saturated fats boost blood concentrations of harmful, low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and lead to the buildup of plaque in arteries. So researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health were “surprised” by the results of a new study showing exactly the opposite effect in a group of postmenopausal women.

Dariush Mozaffarian and his colleagues examined the daily diets and coronary artery conditions of 235 U.S. women. The women’s average age was 66 at the beginning of the 3-year study, and all had some plaque buildup at that time.

The scientists took X-ray images at 10 places along each woman’s heart arteries at the start and end of the study. The women all provided comprehensive records of what foods they ate and how much, including details such as the kinds of oils used for frying and baking.

The researchers analyzed the women’s intake of various nutrients in relation to plaque buildup during the study, adjusting for factors such as age, education, smoking habits, and use of medication. The X-rays after 3 years showed that those women who had regularly eaten the highest amounts of saturated fats had the least amount of additional plague buildup in their arteries.

The women who ate more saturated fat also had a healthier balance of good and bad cholesterols, as well as more desirable blood concentrations of various kinds of fats.

The body needs a variety of dietary fats for energy, for proper functioning of the body, and for processing the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. But excessive saturated fat can increase blood cholesterol, which circulates through the body in molecules called lipoproteins. When cholesterol builds up on the lining of blood vessels—a condition known as atherosclerosis—it constricts blood flow and can cause heart attacks and strokes.

Saturated fats come from meat and dairy products, as well as oils in some tropical plants such as coconut and palm trees.

The Harvard researchers also examined the women’s carbohydrate intake in relation to plaque progression. The women with the highest amounts of carbohydrates in their diets over the 3 years had the most plaque buildup. This was especially evident among women who ate a lot of low-fiber carbohydrates and those who had less physical activity.

Mozaffarian says the results, published in the November American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shouldn’t be construed as an endorsement of diets that advocate eating high amounts of fats and avoiding carbohydrates.

The outcome does support the advice of nutritionists who argue that people should be careful about what kind of carbohydrates they eat, he adds. “The women [in the study] who ate carbs in the form of whole-wheat grains did fine,” he says. “The problem was with women who ate highly-refined carbohydrates.”

An important distinction in this study, Mozaffarian cautions, is that the participants weren’t typical in a number of ways.

For one thing, all the women were …

Continue reading.

Does anyone have links to authoritative (scientific or medical) sources of information on the nutritional characteristics of coconut oil and whether it should be included in a healthful diet?

Interesting note by Kiera Butler at Mother Jones, from which I take this:

[Make] your own at home, and use the leftover whey: Simply pour American-style yogurt into cheesecloth and strain it for several hours over a container. The yogurt in the cheesecloth will be thicker and creamier when it’s done. Use the whey left in the container instead of water to make rice—or in biscuits or just about any baking recipe in place of water. Supposedly you can also drink it.

No “supposedly” about it, Kiera: I always drink the whey: it’s quite tasty. Also, depending on when you stop the straining, you get a thicker yogurt, or you get yogurt cheese, which seems to be another name for Greek Yogurt.

What got me excited was the idea of using it to cook rice—dynamite!

FWIW, I have found this to be the best strainer. It handles a quart of yogurt quite well, and it’s much nicer than fussing with cheesecloth and a strainer or colander.

A reader recently commented that embargoes are generally successful, and gave as examples of successful embargoes those currently in effect on Cuba, North Korea, and Iran.

What??? The US has imposed an embargo on Cuba since 1960. You’ll note that the Cuban people then immediately deposed Castro and overthrew the Revolution—oh, wait. That didn’t happen. Of course, the embargo has greatly depressed the lot of the Cuban people, so if we want to hurt the common people of Cuba, I would guess that it’s successful. But I thought the purpose of the embargo—and our enmity—was focused on the government of Cuba, not the people of Cuba. And I don’t see how the embargo has succeeded. Ditto with North Korea: Kim Jong-Il is still in power, last I looked. Ditto with Iraq: although the embargo there really hurt the people, especially those needing medical care, it didn’t hurt the government or Saddam Hussein’s minions in the least. And Iran? I don’t think the embargo is helping us there at all.

Generally speaking, if you want to change a government’s attitudes, you need to interact with them, build bridges, find ways to cooperate on programs of mutual benefit (e.g., fighting diseases, which do not recognize borders). Cultural exchanges help, and people-to-people interactions can be powerful. But embargoes?

OTOH, boycotts have worked in the past. Arizona is all in a lather because people are avoiding Arizona and conventions and events are canceling and going elsewhere because of Arizona’s draconian immigration stance and racist attitudes. In a Washington Post story this morning, we find this:

In lamenting the state’s increasingly bitter divisions, Laura Briggs, who teaches women’s studies at the University of Arizona, cites a painful example of ethnic strife. "It feels like what people said about Sarajevo," said Briggs, whose daughter is Mexican American. "I used to be part of a community that was mixed. People lived in the same neighborhood, people intermarried. Now there’s this unleashing of this horrible anti-Latino racism that I can’t even understand."

Opponents of the immigration law may be frustrated, but "boycotts are absolutely the wrong way to go," said Garrick Taylor, a spokesman for the state chamber of commerce. Boycotts hurt Arizonans, "particularly in the tourist industry, who had nothing to do with the law."

Taylor is especially annoyed with state and local governments that are canceling deals with Arizona businesses or calling on others to do so. "If they were truly invested in the immigration issue," he said, "they’d be pressing Washington for comprehensive immigration reform."

I think Arizonans hurt by a boycott can more easily convince their legislators to wake up than could the people of (say) Cuba, North Korea, Iraq (in the time of Saddam Hussein), or Iran. Indeed, when Arizona refused to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. day (because MLK was African-American and in favor of civil rights, pretty obviously), Super Bowl XVII moved from Tempe to Pasadena, and quite a few organizations moved their conferences elsewhere. Arizona very quickly recognized the holiday.

I would say that the Arizona boycott is exactly the right stance to take. For one thing, when this law goes into effect, it is likely to become ugly, and police are going to stop people whose looks don’t appeal to them and demand proof of citizenship. What organization wants to subject its members to that? (That is, organizations whose membership goes beyond the lily-white.) Boycott makes sense.

So today I begin the Healthy Way regimen. Last night I was really chuffed about starting, and I can’t wait to see how the week goes. I already realize that I need to buy nonfat (instead of low-fat) cottage cheese today. (I’ll use up the low-fat that I have, of course.)

I carefully read the materials I was given—well, that I bought—and I’m impressed. Based on what I know, it looks like an excellent program. I noted some revisions in the book (typos, additional information, etc.) and will doubtless share those with my HW counselor. Things like a consistent typo of using “healthy” to describe foods when “healthful” is the word intended, and information that probably should be added. For example, the book includes the chart of pesticide residue found on conventional vegetables by type (with, as you know Strawberries leading the list—I will not touch a strawberry unless it’s organic: they are pesticide sponges). What is not noted is that all the measurements were made after washing the produce. This is important because people who want to dismiss the findings will say, “Well, they didn’t wash the produce before measuring.” (People are always eager to dispute studies that upset their preconceived notions, usually saying, almost by reflex, “The study is flawed,” without (of course) even reading the study. When that happens, always ask them to please list the specific flaws that they found in the study methodology. You will be greeted with silence. The flaw that they detected was that the study disputes their preconceived notions, but somehow they are reluctant to say that.)

Anyway, I’m eager to see how this will go, and now I’m off to do my weight training and stretching. Back anon.

Eddie from Australia wrote to suggest that I pay more attention to shaving creams, instead of always focusing on soap. He’s right, and I’ll do a shaving cream run now, starting with Edwin Jagger’s extremely nice Sandalwood shaving cream, which make a generous, fragrant lather, today using the Simpson Chubby 1 Best. The the Merkur Slant Bar with a Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge blade did a fine job: 3 smooth passes, no nicks or burn. A rinse, a splash of TOBS Sandalwood aftershave, and I’m ready for the new week.

From Haaretz by Doron Rosenblum:

It’s impossible to understand or explain Israel’s passive-aggressive responses to the “flotilla crisis” without reference to the ground from which its current leaders emerged. Both the prime minister and the defense minister are dyed-in-the-wool “creatures of military operations.” Both were steeped in the instant-heroism mentality and the commando spirit − the ethos in which a military force shows up at the height of a crisis like a deus ex machina and in a single stroke slices through the Gordian knot.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s public image grew out of the 1972 rescue of a hijacked Sabena passenger plane, during which he was seen standing on the wing of the aircraft waving his pistol. And one cannot imagine the political career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without Operation Entebbe and the myth-cloaked death of his brother Yoni − a mission so glorious and electrifying that its inspiring charge alone could turn his brother into a star, both as “Mr. Terror” and as a veteran of Sayeret Matkal, the Israel Defense Forces general staff’s elite special-operations force.

Those 1970s rescue operations were seen as the continuation of the largest and most miraculous one of all, the Six-Day War. Although decades have passed since the moral “high” was injected into our veins our leaders have never stopped trying to reconstruct it in order to atone for their ineffectiveness as statesmen. And the greater the number of successive failed missions, the greater the longing for the next redemptive mission that would “heal” the trauma and the bad trip of its predecessor. The next “jackpot” always appeared to be around the corner: if not in Lebanon, then in Gaza; if not in Gaza, then in Iran.

Netanyahu and Barak came into power for the second time, despite each man’s record of failure, on the wings of two contradictory, or complementary, hopes: First, that in combination they would deliver the goods and create the redemptive “operation to end all operations,” the smartest one of all. Second, that they of all people − and not civilian leaders such as Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres or Amir Peretz, who felt a need to overreact militarily − could gain the maturity necessary for an act of diplomatic courage. But so far they haven’t fulfilled either hope. They have demonstrated both a total absence of courage and inspiration in the diplomatic sphere and an absence of creativity in the use of force. So what’s left?

The failure of the flotilla operation is less troubling than the national “jonesing” that has followed it: the frenetic flitting between the poles of reflexive victimhood − Oy oy oy they resisted, they had knives, swords and other weapons, the activists who were killed were “big-bodied” − and of inert heroism ‏(praise for the restraint and sensitivity that resulted in only nine and not 600 deaths; the desperate attempt to cling to the vestiges of the myths of military prowess and the increased stifling of criticism with the slogan “Quiet, we’re saluting”‏). All of these, together with a great sense of missed opportunity: the illusion that a “successful” operation − difficult to define and to imagine in any event − would have relieved, even temporarily, a certain existential angst.

All these responses were more intense this week, although in fact they are constant. They are the responses of addicts who are repeatedly denied their fix: the perfect IDF “operation,” or the decisive war, which will stifle any question and complaints ‏(and any need for statesmanship‏).

Some point to a sea change in the Palestinian, and even the Hamas, leadership, saying that they have finally discovered the advantages of propaganda and statesmanship over violence and terror. Instead of encouraging and wholeheartedly adopting this approach, Israel, which hasn’t changed its thought patterns for decades, is “caught by surprise” and even dismayed. ‏(Recently an intelligence official actually called the absence of Palestinian terror a “propaganda problem”‏). In the absence of statesmanship, all Israel can offer is another clumsy operation in which it comes off looking like some relic from the 1970s and ‘80s with a commando knife between its teeth. Even worse: It looks like Avigdor Lieberman, Eli Yishai, Moshe Ya’alon and all the rest.

Israel has always complained, condescendingly, that …

Continue reading.

Very interesting conversation between Daniel Pink and Clay Shirky, published in Wired.

Daniel Pink has a new book out, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, and it looks as though it covers some of the same ground covered some years back by Alfie Kohn’s book Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, available at the link in inexpensive secondhand editions, sorted by lowest total price (including shipping fee, if any).

Lately I’ve noticed a lot of use of the cooking phrase, "to sweat the vegetables." I finally looked it up in Wikipedia:

Sweating in cooking is the gentle heating of coarsely cut vegetables in a little oil or butter, with frequent stirring and turning to ensure that any emitted liquid will evaporate. Sweating usually results in tender, sometimes translucent, pieces. Sweating is often a preliminary to further cooking in liquid; onions, in particular, are often sweated before including in a stew. This differs from sautéing in that sweating is done over a much lower heat, sometimes with salt added to help draw moisture away, and making sure that little or no browning takes place.

Wikipedia is absolutely perfect for things like this. Despite those who turn up their noses at the reference, practically anything you want to know in daily life is likely to have a solid and informative Wikipedia article. Obviously it’s not for scholarly use or original research (though it can be a good starting point, just to get the links and the overview), but for a quick hit of information it can’t be beat.

Have you contributed to it from your own expertise?

Of course they do. They also opposed an investigation into war crimes committed during the Gaza invasion in 2008-09. Israel doesn’t want to answer to common standards of justice because they see themselves as eternal victims, so that anything they do is (in their eyes) justified, and "outsiders" (i.e., the international community does not see things that way and, for example, might view not view the raid on the flotilla as the flotilla attacking Israel by forcing Israeli commandos to fire down on the ship in the middle of the night and board with weapons—and that seems to be the Israeli view.

Edmund Sanders at the LA Times:

Israeli officials said Sunday that they would reject U.N. pressure to establish an international commission to investigate last week’s deadly raid of a Gaza-bound aid-supply flotilla.

Instead, leaders are leaning toward an Israeli-led probe that might include international observers or participation, officials said.

Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, told "Fox News Sunday" that Israel was "rejecting an international commission," an idea floated over the weekend by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban suggested a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer that would include representatives from the U.S., Israel and Turkey, home to more than half of the flotilla’s activists, including eight of those killed when Israel attempted to enforce its three-year blockade of the seaside Palestinian enclave.

Israel has rarely submitted voluntarily to U.N. review, saying its enemies dominate the organization and that U.N. probes are one-sided. Israel was furious over a U.N. Human Rights Council panel investigating its Gaza Strip offensive in 2008-09. The so-called Goldstone Commission accused Israel of committing war crimes during the 22-day winter assault.

"We’ve had experience with the U.N. and kangaroo courts," said an Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Likud Party leaders that Israel was "looking into other possibilities" for investigating the raid. No final decision has been made, officials said. According to Oren, the government is working closely with the U.S. to devise a process that will be seen as credible…

Continue reading. "Kangaroo courts", indeed. Israel simply refuses to hold itself accountable for its actions—such as forcing Palestinians from their homes in order to build more illegal settlements, something Israel supports avidly. The fact that actions are illegal counts for nothing with Israel: they don’t need no stinkin’ badges (or laws).

Anna Gorman in the LA Times:

In late July 1997, police officers fanned out across this Phoenix suburb searching for illegal immigrants. Working side by side with Border Patrol agents, police demanded proof of citizenship from children walking home from school, grandmothers shopping at the market and employees driving to work.

At the end of what became known as the Chandler Roundup, 432 illegal immigrants had been arrested and deported. But during those five days, local police and federal officers also detained dozens of U.S. citizens and legal residents — often stopping them because they spoke Spanish or looked Mexican.

Now, as Arizona prepares to enact SB 1070, the controversial new immigration law, many of Chandler’s Latino residents say they are reminded of those terrifying days — and fearful of a repeat of the past.

"SB 1070 just brought home the point: If you are Hispanic or Mexican, you are just not wanted in Arizona," said Joe Garcia, 65, a U.S. citizen who owned a video store in downtown Chandler and helped form a civil rights coalition to demand answers after the roundup.

The state attorney general later determined that authorities had engaged in racial profiling and violated the rights of residents.

The new law, which takes effect July 29, during the 13th anniversary of the sweeps, requires police to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop for another lawful reason and suspect is in the country illegally. It also makes it a state crime to lack proper immigration papers. Gov. Jan Brewer has said that racial profiling will not be tolerated under the law, which is supported by a majority of Arizona residents.

Though not well-known outside Arizona, the Chandler Roundup wasn’t unique. Throughout U.S. history, raids conducted by local police and federal immigration agents have resulted in the deportation of U.S. citizens, according to Francisco Balderrama, a Chicano studies professor at Cal State Los Angeles.

In the 1930s, beginning with a dramatic raid in Los Angeles at La Placita Olvera, federal agents and police arrested more than a million people in operations around the U.S. and sent them to Mexico. By researching records at Mexican consulates, Balderrama estimates that as many as 60% of those deported were U.S. citizens. Other deportation efforts, including the infamous Operation Wetback, continued into the 1940s and 1950s.
Balderrama said that history accounts for some of the unease in the Latino community about SB 1070. "It underscores the situation that your skin color and your surname are used as ways of measuring if you are American or not," he said.

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It’s beginning to look as though the commandos in the helicopters fired on the deck (presumably to break up the crowd) before descending. From the Guardian:

… Autopsy reports on the dead activists yesterday revealed that five had gunshot wounds to the head. The US joined the growing international chorus for the siege to be eased. Yesterday the Free Gaza Movement said it was planning another flotilla. “We will continue until we break the siege of Gaza,” Berlin said.

I had wondered why the American killed had 4 shots to the head and 1 to the chest. Apparently, firing down into the crowd resulted in some deaths from gun shots impacting the heads of the people on board. I presume that the American’s chest wound may have come after he toppled over from the shots to the head. The fact that there were 4 shots to the head may indicate that the commandos opened with a rapid burst of fire.

This would also explain why the passengers were flailing the commandos: after having been fired upon for (really) no cause, the passengers were doubtless quite angry, particularly if the people shot down in cold blood were their friends.

By “in cold blood”, I mean that there was not a firefight, nor were the commandos in any danger (before dropping on-board the boat), and they could readily have had the boat intercepted in daylight by the Israeli Navy. Presumably, they just wanted to be mad-dog hot-shots, showing how macho they were.

Of course, the fact that the commander of the commandos kept referring to the activists as “terrorists” indicates that they may have been badly briefed and were simply frightened.

Sort of a lazy day. I did my stretching—no obvious effects as yet. I went grocery shopping, a much easier task now that I am on The Healthful Way program (starting tomorrow). Also: less expensive. (Lettuce much cheaper than imported cheese, as it turns out.)

A certain amount of puttering took place, always a good activity. A few more tasks to be done, and then I will take it easy.

I did some searching to find this article. I think these sandwiches would be very nice to take with for plane (or train) trip. Here’s one of the sandwiches from the article:

Muffuletta

Total time: 1 hour, plus 2 to 4 hours marinating and 4 hours pressing. Servings: 8

Note: To blanch the cauliflower and carrot, cook in boiling water for 2 minutes, then plunge into cold water.

1/2 cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pitted oil-packed black olives, coarsely chopped
1 (2-ounce) jar pimentos, drained and coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, trimmed and minced, about 1/3 cup
1/4 cup cauliflower florets, blanched and minced
1 carrot, peeled, blanched and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large round loaf semolina bread
1 cup very finely shredded lettuce
1/4 pound thinly sliced ham
1/4 pound thinly sliced mortadella with pistachios
1/4 pound thinly sliced Genoa salami
6 ounces thinly sliced provolone

1. Make an olive relish by combining the green and black olives with the pimentos, celery, cauliflower, carrot, garlic, parsley, oregano, vinegar and oil. Stir to blend, then set aside to marinate at least 2 hours, but preferably 4.

2. Slice the bread in half horizontally. Scoop out some of the bottom part, leaving a retaining wall on all sides. Drain the olive mixture, reserving the liquid. Spread half the relish onto the bread. Top with successive layers of lettuce, ham, mortadella, salami and cheese. Drizzle with a little of the reserved marinade. Spread the remaining olive relish over the layers. Top with the reserved half of the loaf.

3. Wrap the sandwich in plastic film. Place it on a baking sheet and weight it with something heavy such as an iron skillet or canned tomatoes. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to compress. Cut into thin wedges to serve.

Each serving: 362 calories; 1,212 mg. sodium; 43 mg. cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 17 grams protein; 2 grams fiber.

It’s quite cool, and now you can browse all of Netflix Watch Instantly movies, not just those in your queue, and even do searches.

Martin left this comment:

I am a big fan of Wendell Potter, I describe Potter as the ONLY man in this Country with the conscience of his convictions, a principled man who walked away from the Insurance industry that paid for the food on his table that clothed his family, AND then turned their back on a little child in need of a transplant that would have saved a life, but denied by his employer the multi-billion dollar giant Cygna… In a crisis of conscience Wendell Potter turned the table on the industry and began speaking the truth on television and in print, and now in his new book Deadly Spin.

Yousef Munayyer in Foreign Policy:

In recent days, coverage of the attack on the aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip has focused on the lack of availability of certain humanitarian goods. This fact sheet is a reference tool based on data collected by international aid agencies and human rights groups on the impact of the siege on the population of Gaza.

Electricity: The siege has led to a significant lack of power in the Gaza Strip. In 2006, Israel carried out an attack on Gaza’s only power plant and never permitted the rebuilding to its pre-attack capacity (down to producing 80 megawatts maximum from 140 megawatts). According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the daily electricity deficit has increased since January of 2010 with the plant only able to operate one turbine producing only 30 megawatts compared to its previous average of 60-65 megawatts in 2009. The majority of houses have power cuts at least eight hours per day. Some have no electricity for long as 12 hours a day. The lack of electricity has led to reliance on generators, many of which have exploded from overwork, killing and maiming civilians. Oxfam reported that “[in 2009], a total of 75 Palestinians died from carbon monoxide gas poisoning or fires from generators, and 15 died and 27 people were injured in the first two months of this year.”

Water: Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system. Amnesty International reports that 90-95 percent of the drinking water in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for consumption. The United Nations even found that bottled water in Gaza contained contaminants, likely due to the plastic bottles recycled in dysfunctional factories. The lack of sufficient power for desalination and sewage facilities results in significant amounts of sewage seeping into Gaza’s costal aquifer–the main source of water for the people of Gaza.

Industry: Prior to the siege, the industrial sector employed 20 percent of Gaza’s labor force. One year after the siege began, the Palestinian Federation of Industries reported that “61% of the factories have completely closed down. 1% was forced to change their scope of work in order to meet their living expenses, 38% were partially closed (sometimes means they operate with less than 15% capacity)”. A World Health Organization report from this year states: “In the Gaza Strip, private enterprise is practically at a standstill as a consequence of the blockade. Almost all (98%) industrial operations have been shut down. The construction sector, which before September 2000 provided 15% of all jobs, has effectively halted. Only 258 industrial establishments in Gaza were operational in 2009 compared with over 2400 in 2006. As a result, unemployment rates have soared to 42% (up from 32% before the blockade).”

Health: Gaza’s health sector, dramatically overworked, was also significantly damaged by Operation Cast Lead. According to UN OCHA, infrastructure for 15 of 27 of Gaza’s hospitals, 43 of 110 of its primary care facilities, and 29 of its 148 ambulances were damaged or destroyed during the war. Without rebuilding materials like cement and glass due to Israeli restrictions, the vast majority of the destroyed health infrastructure has not been rebuilt. Many medical procedures for advanced illnesses are not available in Gaza. 1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009. 21 percent of these permits were denied or delayed resulting in missed hospital appointments, and several have died waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.

Food: A 2010 World Health Organization report stated that “chronic malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has risen over the past few years and has now reached 10.2%. Micronutrient deficiencies among children and women have reached levels that are of concern.” According to UN OCHA: “Over 60 percent of households are now food insecure, threatening the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. In this context, agriculture offers some practical solutions to a humanitarian problem. However, Israel’s import and access restrictions continue to suffocate the agriculture sector and directly contribute to rising food insecurity. Of particular concern, farmers and fishers’ lives are regularly put at risk, due to Israel’s enforcement of its access restrictions. The fact that this coastal population now imports fish from Israel and through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border speaks to the absurdity of the situation.” 72 percent of Gaza’s fish profit comes from beyond the three nautical mile mark, but further restrictions by Israel’s naval blockade prevents Gazans from fishing beyond that mark. Between 2008 and 2009 the fishing catch was down 47 percent.

Interesting, eh? David Vitter taking time off from his whoring to protect oil companies so that they can do great wrong with complete impunity. Alex Seitz-Wald at ThinkProgress:

This week, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration had opened criminal and civil investigations into the companies involved in the massive Gulf oil spill. Officials said they were looking into potential violations of the Oil Pollution Act [OPA] of 1990, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, among other laws.

But if Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) had his way, BP and its partners would have been off the hook for violations of all but the weakest of these laws. In July 2000, when Vitter was in the House, he introduced a bill that would make penalties under the OPA “the exclusive criminal penalties” for oil spills:

(a) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, sections 4301(c) and 4302 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-380; 104 Stat. 537) and the amendments made by those sections provide the exclusive criminal penalties for any action or activity that may arise or occur in connection with a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance referred to in section 311(b)(3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(3)).

Fortunately, the bill — which attracted only two cosponsors — never made it out of committee. If it had become law, BP and the other companies would be exempted from more stringent criminal penalties under the other environmental laws. It would also potentially exempt BP from any workplace safety violations on the rig or during the cleanup.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which governs offshore oil and gas exploration, provides for much stricter punishments than the OPA, such as ten years imprisonment to “[a]ny person who knowingly and willfully (1) violates any
provision of this Act.” Meanwhile, criminal negligence under the Clean Water Act is punishable by fines of up to “$50,000 per day, 3 years’ imprisonment, or both.” And under the Endangered Species Act, BP could be fined $13,000 for each endangered animal killed, while “Significant Habitat Modification or Degradation” can carry much stronger penalties including one year imprisonment. These punishments would be on top of the cleanup costs assessed under the OPA. The OPA deals mainly with cleanup costs — not punitive damages — and only allows for imprisonment if a company fails to notify authorities about a spill. It also caps a company’s liability at $75 million.

More recently, Vitter has introduced a bill to raise the OPA’s $75 million cap. But while other senators have proposed caps of $10 billion, Vitter’s bill would limit a company’s liability to the amount of its profit in the last four quarters, or $150 million, whichever is greater. This is allegedly to protect small companies with small profits, but if a big company like BP happened have a bad year and made little or no profit, they would be responsible for only the $150 million.

As The Daily Kingfish pointed out, this is exactly the case with Andarko, the oil company which owns 25 percent of the lease in the Deepwater Horizon well:

BP doesn’t own the entirety of the lease, it only owns 65% of it. Another company, Anadarko, owns 25% of the lease. In the last 4 quarters, Anadarko has lost $135 million, so they would face no more than $150 million in liability, despite the fact that they hold an estimated $50 billion in assets.

BP has already spent nearly a billion dollars on spill cleanup, and could end up spending as much as $37 billion, so a $150 million cap is paltry.

Andarko’s PAC makes few contributions, but has been a consistent supporter of Vitter. The company gave him $10,000 in 2004 — by far the largest of only four contributions made that year — and gave him another $4,000 this year. Their only other contribution this year was $500 to a state senate candidate in Texas.

All together, oil and gas companies have given Vitter nearly $400,000 since 2005, and their investment appears to have been a smart one.