August is here!

I am back. Missed you all. Always some drama. Took a break from the news, too! Not a complete break, but enough to feel rested and ready to go again. Lots of concerns. Some we just have to watch, and speak up when we can.  You can be a thermometer or a thermostat. (Thanks, Dr. Dorothy M.) Will Will Smith’s movie “I, Robot” come true? How many more people will starve to death in the wealthiest nation on the planet over the next 900 or so days? Why is taking one pill a day to save your life so onorous? Why don’t we have a better system than shipping children from foster placement to foster placement with their few belongings in garbage bags? How many people have died from the cyclospora outbreak?Is there any food that is safe to eat? Does character matter?  Has it ever mattered?  Don’t forget to support NPR and PBS. Check out the Presidential Term Countdown Clock. 900 more days.

Wild Cooking Woman 8/4/26

 

 

The News

 

  • Arkansas State Representative Austin McCollum, the Republican nominee for Benton County judge, was charged with first-degree false imprisonment, aggravated assault on a family or household member, and third-degree domestic battery.

 

  • Whole, uncut onions should be stored in a cool, dark place. My garage is too hot in the summer, so I keep one on the counter and store the rest in the refrigerator. Not ideal, but better than all of them going bad. Cut onions should be covered and stored in the refrigerator.

 

 

  • Unsweetened plain Greek yogurt is your healthiest choice according to Caroline Passerrello, EdD, RDN, LDN and 2 other dietitians. 

 

 

  • LAPD Officer Daniel Flores was charged Friday with 16 felony counts of eavesdropping for secretly recording his colleagues’ racist, sexist, and homophobic comments on the job. The charges carry up to 13 years in prison. (alternet news)

 

  • The Arizona Supreme Court ruled unanimously that clergy are not required to report a congregation member’s abuse of a child if they learn of it through confession, and if staying silent aligns with their faith’s doctrine.  (alternet news)

 

  • Immigration remains a stronger issue for POTUS than the economy or Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll. 

 

  • Are you dehydrated? During these hot days and weeks, keeping your water intake up to par is important.

 

 

 

Is This True? Check It Out!

May be an image of the Oval Office and text that says 'brigmormor Trump graduated near the bottom of his class at Wharton. Jim Jordan never took the bar exam. Rand Paul was never a board-certified ophthalmologist. Mike Johnson was the dean of a nonexistent law school. Lauren Bobbert took four tries to get her GED. Karoline Leavitt had an undistinguished academic career at Saint Anselm College. Jared Kushner's daddy paid two million dollars to get him into Harvard. Such mediocrity. Definitely DEI hires.'

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10238799831167649&set=a.1063711726320

 

 

 

 

 

Should we be concerned about rogue AI? Something yummy to eat.

Kintsugi  8/1/26

 

Claude AI connected itself to the internet and gained unauthorized access to Anthropic’s systems. This was just days after OpenAI said its model slipped out of control and hacked the systems of AI firm Hugging Face. How can AI be safely kept under human control? (More) 

 

Here is my version of Neiman Marcus Dip (no bacon)

  • 8 oz smoked sausage, chopped OR 1 1/4 cups cooked (in butter or oil) and finely chopped button or cremini mushrooms

  • 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 

  • 1 cup mayonnaise

  • 8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded 

  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, plus more for garnish 

  • 1/2 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds, plus more for garnish 

  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika if using mushrooms plus optional liquid smoke

  • 1 tsp. black pepper 

  • 1 tsp. hot sauce

Directions:

  1. Cook sausage in a skillet until browned and some fat renders.  Chop it small while it’s warm.
  2. If using mushrooms, cook them in a little butter or vegetable oil (not olive oil) and chop finely.
  3. Mix cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl.
  4. Fold in cheese, green onions, almonds, pepper, hot sauce, and cooked saugage/mushrooms until just combined. 
  5. Add smoked paprika if using mushrooms. You can add a drop of liquid smoke if you want that flavor, but no more than 1 drop.
  6. Garnish with more almonds and onions if desired.
  7. Serve with your favorite crackers, crudites, or tiny thin slices of firm bread.

 

 

 

 

Now you can’t eat eggs without being concerned about possible salmonella. An egg recall for eggs produced in Texas now covers 17 states, and isn’t over yet.

 

How long has it been since you cleaned your phone’s screen? What about your TV? Your child’s tablet?  Not that you need to wipe away all your DNA, unless, of course, you have another life we don’t know about.  Clean them to remove skin oils, germs, food residue, and anything else that finds your devices. Here’s how you can clean them safely.

 

On my reading table —

  • Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child
  • River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
  • Angel Down by Daniel Kraus
  • Paper Girl by Beth Macy
  • There Is No Place For Us by Brian Goldstone
  • Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
  • The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
  • Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

 

Why did black men in the 1950s always look so sharp? My dad was one, my grandfather, another.  Watch the video here.

 

A tweet mentioning MTU's bid for the Leopards East.

 

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