When asked whether he had seen such tensions or divide before, Bratton replied, “1970, when I first came into policing, my first 10 years were around this type of tension.”Via Drudge
“… It’s quite apparent, quite obvious, that the targeting of these two police officers was a direct spinoff of this issue of these demonstrations,” the police chief said.
“Many issues of the 1970s are now revisiting us once again. And once again at the forefront of dealing with those will be America’s police forces,” Bratton said at a police promotion ceremony on Friday
He continued, “While the focal point has been on policing, and now growing to the rest of the criminal justice system, the issues are not just about us, or the criminal justice system. They are societal issues, societal issues that were very evident in the 1970s which we thought we addressed but quite clearly, for so many, in this city and this country, have not been addressed.”
“We’re in a change moment,” Bratton said. “The idea is to take out of this crises, find opportunity to move it forward and I think that can happen … We will seize on this tragedy, we’ll seize on all these issues and we’ll move forward.”
Monday, December 22, 2014
"Bratton: Tensions in NYC like 1970s"
“Who would’ve ever thought déjà vu all over again, that we would be back where we were 40-some-odd years ago,” Bratton said in an interview on NBC’s “Today.”
KLEM FM
I was shopping tonight at Trader Joe's and a cover version of that song came on. I held down the record button on my iPhone voice recorder and held it up to the speaker long enough to make a note. I forget whose version it was -- everybody has covered it -- even Bob Dylan tried to "uncover" it.
The song, originally the B-side of "White Christmas," was written in 1942 as a nod to soldiers who couldn't be home, but, more universally, to anyone who wanted to be home.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
bûche de nöel
Yule log cake. I made this in February so mine is called bûche de février, and that breaks the rules.
There are no rules.
The log is a rolled genoise type cake made of flour and sugar and salt folded into warmed beaten egg white for its structure. A plain sponge cake designed to soak up liquid flavors. That takes a bit of technique that I did not understand at the time. Here is a video. It is in French, but eh, so what. He shows you his mise en place, and that is easy enough. He forgoes beating egg white separately, rather, he beats whole egg over moderate heat to lighten the whole thing and warm to the touch. This is to strengthen the egg as an incomplete sauce. Then beats it for a long time until it changes color to pale. For a very long time, say five or seven minutes. Maybe even ten minutes. It will double in bulk. Then folds in the dry ingredients. You can see he does the fast careless way for he does not care. He is an insouciant chef #idon'tcare.
When baked It puffs like a soufflé.
For a bûche, a log, you need a large thin rectangular cake baked on a sheet pan. So, that must be carefully prepared first with parchment paper, butter and flour so it can be lifted without damage. It is rolled with the parchment still on. Cooled a bit in the shape of a roll. then carefully unrolled and frosted and rolled up again.
I did not do all that, for I too do not care. I used a box cake mix and prepared frosting. What a cop out. It is not the real deal, and in France you will be mocked for such a pathetic effort as if you know nothing important at all.
Then little mushrooms made from meringue in two parts, caps and stems glued together with frosting or ganache and set all around and stuck onto the log, as if mushrooms exist outside in winter. This is a fairy tale cake where such things can happen. Scraped with a fork to suggest bark. Dusted with powdered sugar for snow. I used cocoa powder because my snow is quite dirty. There used to be high pollution where I live and it is a form of silent protest.
People put holly and holly berries, pinecones, pine needles and other things to evoke the idea of an actual log, Sometimes they become quite ridiculous with cookies, and fruit, and jellies chocolate curls, candy, candy canes, train sets, elves and presents and ribbons and bows, wreathes, woodland creatures and other holiday things improbable to find on a log. Even chocolate signs in exquisite handwriting that say, "Merry Christmas!" Or, "Happy Holidays!" Or "Joyeux Nöel." So there is no chance of being faked out and your cake tossed onto the fireplace fire mistaken for a genuine log.
But now people in France and in French Canada have become jaded about the whole thing but not burnt out entirely on bûche de nöel so their cakes have developed a more elegant style. And there goes all the kiddy holiday fun that started it off. Now they are coated with smooth ganache, or made to look like cushions with buttons of silver dot nonpareilles, so-called because they are so perfect that nothing parallels them. Sprinkles. Kiddy sprinkles. Sometimes they have layers of crunchy wafers inside. These are highly stylized logs, not fantasy logs.
There are no rules.
The log is a rolled genoise type cake made of flour and sugar and salt folded into warmed beaten egg white for its structure. A plain sponge cake designed to soak up liquid flavors. That takes a bit of technique that I did not understand at the time. Here is a video. It is in French, but eh, so what. He shows you his mise en place, and that is easy enough. He forgoes beating egg white separately, rather, he beats whole egg over moderate heat to lighten the whole thing and warm to the touch. This is to strengthen the egg as an incomplete sauce. Then beats it for a long time until it changes color to pale. For a very long time, say five or seven minutes. Maybe even ten minutes. It will double in bulk. Then folds in the dry ingredients. You can see he does the fast careless way for he does not care. He is an insouciant chef #idon'tcare.
When baked It puffs like a soufflé.
For a bûche, a log, you need a large thin rectangular cake baked on a sheet pan. So, that must be carefully prepared first with parchment paper, butter and flour so it can be lifted without damage. It is rolled with the parchment still on. Cooled a bit in the shape of a roll. then carefully unrolled and frosted and rolled up again.
I did not do all that, for I too do not care. I used a box cake mix and prepared frosting. What a cop out. It is not the real deal, and in France you will be mocked for such a pathetic effort as if you know nothing important at all.
Then little mushrooms made from meringue in two parts, caps and stems glued together with frosting or ganache and set all around and stuck onto the log, as if mushrooms exist outside in winter. This is a fairy tale cake where such things can happen. Scraped with a fork to suggest bark. Dusted with powdered sugar for snow. I used cocoa powder because my snow is quite dirty. There used to be high pollution where I live and it is a form of silent protest.
People put holly and holly berries, pinecones, pine needles and other things to evoke the idea of an actual log, Sometimes they become quite ridiculous with cookies, and fruit, and jellies chocolate curls, candy, candy canes, train sets, elves and presents and ribbons and bows, wreathes, woodland creatures and other holiday things improbable to find on a log. Even chocolate signs in exquisite handwriting that say, "Merry Christmas!" Or, "Happy Holidays!" Or "Joyeux Nöel." So there is no chance of being faked out and your cake tossed onto the fireplace fire mistaken for a genuine log.
But now people in France and in French Canada have become jaded about the whole thing but not burnt out entirely on bûche de nöel so their cakes have developed a more elegant style. And there goes all the kiddy holiday fun that started it off. Now they are coated with smooth ganache, or made to look like cushions with buttons of silver dot nonpareilles, so-called because they are so perfect that nothing parallels them. Sprinkles. Kiddy sprinkles. Sometimes they have layers of crunchy wafers inside. These are highly stylized logs, not fantasy logs.
Doesn't this look like fun?
It is not fun. It is serious business. But your kids will not know that. They will have fun. Lots and lots of fun being silly with cakes and spending time with you because that is the most important thing to them in the whole world, and then eating it.
Larger photos and more description here.
Annie Lennox
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
I love the strength of her sustains and the powerful clarity of Lennox's phrasing. I love the steady progression of the music and its breaks. I love the corresponding power of her walk, and the progression of the parade of people in the video. I adore the oddness of costuming. The charm of Lennox's multiple characters. The humility of kneeling to angels that appear in the sky, the silliness of the angels halo, the theatrical-medieval sepia, the antique haze, the overlapping fades, dissolves, double, triple, quadruple montage of the whole pastiche, the children throwing snowballs, and the ridiculous wickerwork Father Christmas, the fire and stereoscope flip book. I love it all through and through. This is so ace. I play it all year. It totally gets me.
Mad as a brush. Lennox is a true professional musician and I love her. I do. I think she's even atheist I'm not sure. She said on the radio she was raised with carols that she loved. I think it is just music to her, and that makes me love the song, the video and her even more. There is no maudlin piety. It is just music and theater. That's all. And what music! There is a live version introduced by George Stephanopoulos that is every bit as good even without the video that so arrests my attention, and with stronger instruments and choir. On stage she is wearing a black t-shirt with text that reads oddly: "hiv positive" under her black jacket pinned with a looped red ribbon. Did I mention she is quite mad? I hope you like this as much as I do, both the song and the video.
I love the strength of her sustains and the powerful clarity of Lennox's phrasing. I love the steady progression of the music and its breaks. I love the corresponding power of her walk, and the progression of the parade of people in the video. I adore the oddness of costuming. The charm of Lennox's multiple characters. The humility of kneeling to angels that appear in the sky, the silliness of the angels halo, the theatrical-medieval sepia, the antique haze, the overlapping fades, dissolves, double, triple, quadruple montage of the whole pastiche, the children throwing snowballs, and the ridiculous wickerwork Father Christmas, the fire and stereoscope flip book. I love it all through and through. This is so ace. I play it all year. It totally gets me.
Mad as a brush. Lennox is a true professional musician and I love her. I do. I think she's even atheist I'm not sure. She said on the radio she was raised with carols that she loved. I think it is just music to her, and that makes me love the song, the video and her even more. There is no maudlin piety. It is just music and theater. That's all. And what music! There is a live version introduced by George Stephanopoulos that is every bit as good even without the video that so arrests my attention, and with stronger instruments and choir. On stage she is wearing a black t-shirt with text that reads oddly: "hiv positive" under her black jacket pinned with a looped red ribbon. Did I mention she is quite mad? I hope you like this as much as I do, both the song and the video.
The whole album is great, A Christmas Cornucopia.
A nos freres d'armes Americains
A French soldier shared daily life with two American Army units. He tells his story to a French newspaper. Here is the translation. It is impressive, to say the least of it.
This is seen on Ace of Spades, overnight open thread 12/20/14
This is seen on Ace of Spades, overnight open thread 12/20/14
Mayor de Blasio passing through a corridor for a press conference on shooting of two NYC police officers
In the distant past when I cared to socialize in crowded places, weekend patio bars, cocktail parties, what have you, busy places I'd go to see and be seen, met up with friends, encounter new ones, stand shoulder to shoulder, this was a technique I picked up. A simple quarter turn to shut off unwanted conversation or snip undesired attention and engagement .Everybody is drinking, everybody is talking anyway. Not even a full reversal,is necessary a mere shift in posture does the trick.
It seems de Blasio burned one bridge too many. Apparently MoveOn,org (yes, that thing is still around) started a petition asking for de Blasio's resignation and the petition already has 21,000 signatures.
I heard, I heard it here a smatter of fact, they always do eat their own. But who would have thought so quickly?
[The gunman, Ismaayil Brinsley, said on Twitter, "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take one of ours, Let's take two of theirs." Then shot two officers then shot himself. It is believed he also shot his previous girlfriend earlier in the day. But apparently did not kill her. That is two for two. Honestly nothing else can be expected when community organizer is elevated to national community disrupter. Yes, this is programed community agitation on a national scale. Al Sharpton's 80+ White House visits says so. #failed philosophy #failed math]
Winter Solstice 2014
The photo is a near perfect disequilibrium. Imagine the border as a cell wall or impermeable membrane which blocks the mixing and spread of enlightenment. There is an unnatural driving force -- almost like a concentration gradient -- the question is whether lightness or darkness will spread. History knows both.
- solstice
- mid-13c., from O.Fr. solstice, from L. solstitium "point at which the sun seems to stand still," from sol "sun" (see sol) + pp. stem of sistere "to come to a stop, make stand still" (see assist).
Saturday, December 20, 2014
It's De Blasio Time
Two police officers were shot in their patrol car today as they sat outside a housing project. One is dead at this point and another is critical. There are conflicting reports that the perp might have been shot at the subway station. Reports differ.
I wonder if that college professor who was arrested for throwing a garbage can on the Brooklyn Bridge will protest? Will the hipster who closed down traffic stop to think about these two men? Will De Blasio and Obama go on TV and say "That could have been my son?" Will Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart and Chris Matthews and Rachael Maddow all talk about how terrible this is on their shows?
I am old enough to remember Officers Piagentini and Jones. To remember what NYC in the 1970's was really like. How you were afraid to ride the subway. Walk down the street. Go to Times Square. Those oh so happy days are here again.
________________I wonder if that college professor who was arrested for throwing a garbage can on the Brooklyn Bridge will protest? Will the hipster who closed down traffic stop to think about these two men? Will De Blasio and Obama go on TV and say "That could have been my son?" Will Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart and Chris Matthews and Rachael Maddow all talk about how terrible this is on their shows?
I am old enough to remember Officers Piagentini and Jones. To remember what NYC in the 1970's was really like. How you were afraid to ride the subway. Walk down the street. Go to Times Square. Those oh so happy days are here again.
I live in the belly of the beast. This is what NYC has become under Obama and De Blasio.
Don't let anybody fool you. Don't let anybody offer excuses and lies. This is what they really think.
This is De Blasio time.
“I was driving too fast, arrest me”
"Michael Ware, 53, allegedly falsely told cops that he had no idea his daughter Julia used his vehicle during a trip to the Poconos over the Labor Day weekend, according to a report this week."
"But the truth was that Ware knew the girl was joy riding in his SUV because he handed her the keys and even asked her to bring him back a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from a barbecue restaurant, the Bucks County Courier Times reported, citing court documents."
Dad facing charges after he ‘lied’ about teen’s deadly joyride
"But the truth was that Ware knew the girl was joy riding in his SUV because he handed her the keys and even asked her to bring him back a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from a barbecue restaurant, the Bucks County Courier Times reported, citing court documents."
Dad facing charges after he ‘lied’ about teen’s deadly joyride
Marco Rubio on Mark Levin
Rubio is talking about Obama's one-way deal with Cuba. He is tremendously knowledgeable and interesting. Fifteen minutes of rapid fire dishing out knowledge. I learned quite a lot. And one of the few instances, I think, that' you'll find Mark Levin in listening mode.
Right Scoop.
Right Scoop.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Christmas Dinner Redux
The one that never was.
How to top saying that it was John Huston's career-topping last movie? The best of better films? A labor of love for a beloved writer?
My revision of that scene would be a metaphor for the old Althouse crowd. One by one they self-identify like guests at a dinner party that never really happened in real life.
The context was Irish -- as certain as Joyce was constrained to what he knew best. But, the theme is universal and cuts across literary media.
How to top saying that it was John Huston's career-topping last movie? The best of better films? A labor of love for a beloved writer?
My revision of that scene would be a metaphor for the old Althouse crowd. One by one they self-identify like guests at a dinner party that never really happened in real life.
The context was Irish -- as certain as Joyce was constrained to what he knew best. But, the theme is universal and cuts across literary media.
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