teddywolf

 One Texican dish I enjoy eating out is enchiladas.  Previous years I have tried making them at home but with poor results.  Recently I decided to give it another whirl — I had some TJs enchilada sauce I wanted out of my pantry — and I got it right.  They do take a bit of prep, but all told they make for a good meal in quantity.  Corn tortillas filled with refried beans, grilled onions, grilled poblano peppers and “Mexican cheese blend”, topped with store-bought enchilada sauce and more cheese… tasty.  My usual batch is 4 at a time.

Considering something like this normally would cost $15-20 at a restaurant at this time but my ingredients were definitely under $5, I get to call this one a win.

One of the crazy-making things about English as a language is how it grabs words from around the world without rhyme or reason. So, I have a conundrum that results from this chaos: how many words can you add a letter to and subtract a syllable?

I know of only one pairing: fugu goes to fugue. Anybody have any others?

Hello, Russian Livejournalers. I’m going to use an online translator to do a probably-awful Russian interpretation, as my Russian is just about non-existent.

I’m going to be very surprised if my account stays after posting this.

For a couple of months, President Putin has massed Russian troops and war materiel around Ukraine.

He initially said it was just military exercises, then sent more troops.

He lied and said he pulled back troops when he sent still more troops.

He then lied again, saying that Ukraine was committing a genocidal ethnic cleansing, like the Nazis of World War 2 Germany.

Why a country led by a Jewish comedian-turned-politician would contemplate such an inhuman series of acts escapes me. It escapes Mr. Putin too, but he’s still not afraid to lie about it.

Much like US President Bush in 2003, Russian President Putin had a timetable. He invaded Ukraine last week based on his timetable and on a brazen series of lies.

Your neighbors and cousins in Ukraine… many have stayed and are fighting the Russian military to a standstill. Over 500,000 have fled. Over 4000 have died.

Russian soldiers are conflicted. Some are attacking civilian targets with lethal force. Some are surrendering without fighting. Some are questioning their mission. Any bear who danced like that would look like a ballerina, a tap dancer and a breakdancer trying to do the same dance in the same leotard all at once. It’s not a pretty sight.

Some of your soldiers have died fighting your neighbors and cousins in Ukraine. I do not envy you who have lost loved ones and friends.

Your country has become an international pariah among nations, all in under a week.
Your European trading partners who buy your oil and gas, they’ve decided the cost of cheap energy is too high when it is streaked with blood.
Your airplanes have very few destinations left to them.
Some retailers in the US have stopped stocking Russian vodka. I know vodka is part of life there, but here it’s not a common beverage. Even so.
Food and other human basics will still come to Russia — we know it’s not about you — but don’t expect fancy finished goods for a while.

President Putin pushed for this invasion of Ukraine. I don’t know if he longs for glorious Soviet days of if he thinks he should be tsar, but I know he and his inner circle want to make Russia great again through fear and hate, with other people’s terror, misery and blood as the only price he is willing to pay.

I know you risk arrest or worse if you speak out against Putin. I cannot tell you to make such a sacrifice.

However, only enough Russians willing to risk that sacrifice will force the fighting to stop and a faster return to peaceful, friendly times — possibly times with fewer lies from people in authority in Russia.

I want you to have good lives. Living in fear is not a good life.
You deserve better leadership. I wish much better for you than you’ve had these past thirty years.

A joyful peace to you, hopefully soon.

(signed, me)

_____

Здравствуйте, российские живые журналисты. Я собираюсь использовать онлайн-переводчик, чтобы сделать, вероятно, Ужасный русский перевод, так как мой русский почти отсутствует.

Я буду очень удивлен, если моя учетная запись останется после публикации этого.

В течение нескольких месяцев президент Путин собрал российские войска и военные средства вокруг Украины.

Сначала он сказал, что это просто военные учения, а затем отправил больше войск.

Он солгал и сказал, что отбросил войска, когда отправил еще больше войск.

Затем он снова солгал, сказав, что Украина совершает геноцидную этническую чистку, как нацисты Второй мировой войны в Германии.

Почему страна во главе с еврейским комиком, ставшей политиком, будет рассматривать такую бесчеловечную серию действий, ускользает от меня. Он убегает от мистера Путин тоже, но он все еще не боится лгать об этом.

Как и у президента США Буша в 2003 году, у президента России Путина был график. Он вторгся в Украину на прошлой неделе, основываясь на своем расписании и наглой серии лжи.

Ваши соседи и двоюродные братья на Украине... многие остались и застопорились с российскими военными. Более 500 000 человек бежали. Более 4000 человек погибли.

Российские солдаты конфликтуют. Некоторые из них атакуют гражданские цели смертельной силой. Некоторые сдаются без боя. Некоторые сомневаются в своей миссии. Любой медведь, который так танцевал, будет выглядеть как балерина, танцор чечетки и брейк-дансер, пытающийся сделать один и тот же танец в одном купальнике одновременно. Это не очень красивое зрелище.

Некоторые из ваших солдат погибли, сражаясь с вашими соседями и двоюродными братьями в Украине. Я не завидую вам, кто потерял близких и друзей.

Ваша страна стала международным изгоем среди наций менее чем за неделю.

Ваши европейские торговые партнеры, которые покупают вашу нефть и газ, решили, что стоимость дешевой энергии слишком высока, когда она наполнена кровью.

У ваших самолетов осталось очень мало пунктов назначения.

Некоторые розничные торговцы в США прекратили запасы русской водкой. Я знаю, что водка - это часть жизни, но здесь это не обычный напиток. Тем не менее.

Еда и другие человеческие основы все равно придут в Россию - мы знаем, что дело не в вас - но не ожидайте модной готовой продукции какое-то время.

Президент Путин настаивал на этом вторжении в Украину. Я не знаю, жаждет ли он славных советских дней, если он думает, что должен быть царем, но я знаю, что он и его ближайшее окружение хотят снова сделать Россию великой через страх и ненависть, с ужасом, страданиями и кровью других людей как единственной ценой, которую он готов заплатить.

Я знаю, что вы рискуете арестовать или, что еще хуже, если выступите против Путина. Я не могу сказать вам, чтобы вы принесли такую жертву.

Однако только достаточно россиян, готовых рисковать тем, что жертва заставит боевые действия прекратиться и быстрее вернуться к мирным, дружественным временам - возможно, временам с меньшим количеством лжи от людей, находящихся у власти в России.

Я хочу, чтобы у тебя была хорошая жизнь. Жить в страхе - не очень хорошая жизнь.

Вы заслуживаете лучшего лидерства. Я желаю вам гораздо лучшего, чем за последние тридцать лет.

Радостный мир вам, надеюсь, скоро.

(Подписано, я)

Scripted?

Clocks in at 471 words.

I have a juvenile mind. Also, I am slow because I should have realized this a few decades ago. Since I am about to share, and it is decidedly blasphemous to Christianity, I apologize in advance to my Christian friends, though I suspect several had the brainstorm some years ago, and will place the relevant bit under a cut.

We are currently watching the TV play radio, specifically "Says You" on WGBH. It's a rerun from when Richard Sher was still alive. Yes, he died earlier this year.

But back to the point. The musical guests sang during the bits where the teams have to guess the right definition of a niche word from the other team. The group in this case sang Christian spirituals. I realized, after the first song, that you could replace Jesus with "penis" for the same scansion but considerably more amusing music, and that such music did not have to be quite so omnipresent with a small tweak.

As I said, I am a bad, bad man. And very slow on the uptake sometimes.

Knows that Chainmail is a game system as well as armor and probably knows where to find a copy if they don't already have one
Carries a stylish Dice Bag of Holding
First exposure to Steve Jackson Games was Melee or one of its later versions, including GURPS
Never throws dice away--gives retired ones an honorable burial instead
Seriously thinks there's no real difference in protection between a large shield and head-to-toe hardened leather armor
Knows CoC as "Call of Cthulhu"*
Has at least one full bookshelf of gaming books and knows where to find the little rules wrinkles in every one of them
Even when roleplaying well, can take any game mechanics and make a hideously overpowered character that's the same level as yours
Surprised by HR setting up roleplaying scenarios at work because roleplaying is about games

If you can think of any others that are not too obscure, feel free to write some in the comments. *This is the one that got me started on the list.

If you live in the US and click on the ballot box, it offers a polling place lookup. I cannot speak to the accuracy around the country but it got mine right.

Good way to not be evil, Google.

The top ten reasons to vote for Don Berwick in the Democratic primary for governor of Massachusetts on Tuesday. In truth, I did two top ten lists, one more silly, one more serious. They are both here.

If you like it, share it round. To my friends voting for other candidates, so long as you are voting I am happy, even if I'd hope you'd vote for my candidate of choice.

On "Real Time with Bill Mahar" tonight, Bill Mahar talked about the militarization of the police over the past 40 years. He brought up how crime was at historic lows, but the police looked less like the sheriff's department in the fictional town of Mayberry and more like something you'd expect in a war-zone, complete with attitude.

He ended his polemic with this little address to the political right, which keeps talking about Freedom going away: "You're always screaming about the loss of liberty and how tyranny is coming. Yeah, it's coming right through the door! With a battering ram, no warrant and a stun grenade. Or to put it in a way you can understand, I'm scared of the cops, and I'm white."

Now, Bill Mahar is well known for his cannabis advocacy and he routinely talks about smoking pot on TV in front of a national audience. However, he has many things going for him: he's a cisgendered man, straight, very visible, in his 50s, has his own TV show, I believe his own production company, has good ties to a variety of powerful people, and has a decent pot of money.

And he's scared of the police. He mentioned that he feels a lot of police are fine, but there are some bad apples. (Does he read this blog?) He spent a small chunk of his monologue trying to sweet-talk the next police officer who pulls him over: "...You're fine. And handsome! And I rarely say that to a man ... And let's just both agree that the strong smell coming from my car is a skunk I rescued on the road, brought into the vet a few days ago."

If someone as set up as Bill Mahar is scared of the police, might it be reasonable for other people who are not in groups considered high profile by the police to be scared of them?

Police who in the main maintain their power by intimidation lack legitimacy. If they want people to trust them, they have to show that they can be trusted with their expanded authority, including authority to use force. This is not an easy job, no, but it should be one that they try harder to do in those places where they don't. The fact that police abuses happen every day, in more states than not, is worrisome.

Comments screened (and can be anonymous) in case people are nervous about replying to a public post about the police.

I'm currently watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. On the shows, Dish Network has an ad that has stopped me from fast-forwarding. They have an extremely attractive lady dressed in Brazilian festive dance gear--pretty much a red bikini with sparkles and a feathery plume (peacock style) of the same color--dancing.

I cannot stop watching her dance. It looks like a combination of salsa, bellydance and hula, and it is amazing.

OK, yes, she's attractive and not wearing very much, but you should see how this woman moves! When is she coming to Boston to dance, I ask you?

I am only slightly tongue-in-cheek about this.