Category Archives: Vintage

Here’s the Defense of Unsalted Pasta Water That Darden Won’t Make Itself

by ClydeSaylors Posted on September 15, 2014

Mother Jones

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Over at Vox, a virtual water cooler for the world’s most pressing problems, Matt Yglesias tells us that Darden is fighting back against charges that it has mismanaged Olive Garden. But he’s unimpressed with their PowerPoint deck:

The entire Darden counter-presentation has nothing to say about salting the water. And to be clear, this is a 22 slide presentation. They had plenty of opportunity to explain themselves, apologize, or deny it. Instead, they’re just keeping quiet.

Here at MoJo, an entirely different virtual water cooler for the world’s most pressing problems, I don’t know anything about cooking pasta. However, one of my readers claims he does. So here’s the defense that Darden has declined to offer on its own:

I acknowledge that salting the water is a common and recommended practice for both pasta and dried beans, but this practice has the effect of toughening the outer surface of both pasta and beans during the cooking process. If you wait to add salt until after the cooking is completed the texture of the boiled food will be more tender. This does not mean it can’t be “al dente,” which refers to the structure of the complete noodle (or bean), just that the skin or surface is not tough. Try it.

So there you have it. Feel free to discuss this critical issue in comments.

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Here’s the Defense of Unsalted Pasta Water That Darden Won’t Make Itself

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Teddy Roosevelt, Lewis Hine and Lazy Frogs: 15 Photos

by SuzannaBohn Posted on September 15, 2014

Mother Jones

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While searching through the Library of Congress archives last week, I noticed that a number of photos included the date they were photographed or published. I pulled together a handful, giving a little look at what was happening on this date through history. These photos are often pretty mundane, but even the most common, everyday occurrences take on new meaning, or at least become more a bit interesting when viewed from a distance in time.

Here are a few photos from August 15th, all photos from the Library of Congress, with captions as provided with the photos.

Cyanotype image of construction of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1890.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1913.

“Chopping corn” Everett Adams, 15 years and Ora Adams, 9 years. Address Hiatt, Ky. Go to Hickory Grove School, but they have been absent most of the past 6 weeks for work, sickness, etc. Location: Rockcastle County, Kentucky, by Lewis W. Hine, 1916

Theo. Roosevelt, Jr. playing tennis, 1922.

Miss M. Pearl. McCall, 1922.

Senators Goose Goslin slides safely into home and collides with Yankees catcher Wally Schang in 2nd game of double header, 1925.

Just plumb too lazy to catch his food on the fly like regular frogs do, Popeye, giant frog from Louisiana in the U.S. Department of Commerce aquarium, has to be fed his meals from acting as nursemaid for the critter, 1937.

CORE members swing down Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, toward 69th St. ferry on trek to Washington. World Telegram & Sun photo by O. Fernandez, 1963.

Defense housing, Ben Morrell Project, Norfolk, Virginia. Housing for civilian and married enlisted personnel at the Norfolk, Virginia housing naval base. Constructed at a cost of $3,356,000 by the Navy. Of the 1,362 units built, 1,062 were completed August 15, 1941. Rents range from $17 to $23 a month.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Firehouse, Vallejo, Solano County, CA, 1919

Senator Cappe of Kansas, 1921

John Coolidge, Mrs. Coolidge, & President Coolidge enroute to Vermont, 1924.

William A. Hill, Boston, Attorney for the utility king, Howard C. Hopson, leaves the Senate side of the Capitol with his counsel, Moultrie Hitt, Washington attorney, where Hill appeared in response to a citation for contempt growing out of the activities of Hopson, who is wanted by the Senate Lobby Investigating committee, 1935.

Red Bud School. County Supervisor in doorway. Teacher thought 20 absent on account of work, etc. Location: Rockcastle County, Kentucky by Lewis W. Hine, 1916.

View of Cincinnati, Ohio. Copyright entry no. 490 dated August 15, 1866 in volume covering time period, Nov. 9, 1864 – May 9, 1867. (click on photo for link to larger view)

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Teddy Roosevelt, Lewis Hine and Lazy Frogs: 15 Photos

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How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are – Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret & Sophie Mas

by Myrna Posted on September 3, 2014

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are

Love, Style, and Bad Habits

Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret & Sophie Mas

Genre: Self-Improvement

Price: $12.99

Publish Date: September 2, 2014

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Seller: Random House, LLC


From four stunning and accomplished French women — at last — a fresh and spirited take on what it really means to be a Parisienne: how they dress, entertain, have fun and attempt to behave themselves.   In short, frisky sections, these Parisian women give you their very original views on style, beauty, culture, attitude and men. The authors–Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas — unmarried but attached, with children — have been friends for years. Talented bohemian iconoclasts with careers in the worlds of music, film, fashion and publishing, they are untypically frank and outspoken as they debunk the myths about what it means to be a French woman today. Letting you in on their secrets and flaws, they also make fun of their complicated, often contradictory feelings and behavior. They admit to being snobs, a bit self-centered, unpredictable but not unreliable. Bossy and opinionated, they are also tender and romantic.   You will be taken on a first date, to a party, to some favorite haunts in Paris, to the countryside, and to one of their dinners at home with recipes even you could do — but to be out with them is to be in for some mischief and surprises. They will tell you how to be mysterious and sensual, look natural, make your boyfriend jealous, and how they feel about children, weddings and going to the gym. And they will share their address book in Paris for where to go: At the End of the Night, for A Birthday, for a Smart Date, A Hangover, for Vintage Finds and much more.   How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are will make you laugh as you slip into their shoes to become bold and free and tap into your inner cool. From the Hardcover edition.

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How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are – Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret & Sophie Mas

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5 Fresh Videos From Female Singers You Don’t Want to Miss

by FilomenHedrick Posted on September 1, 2014

Mother Jones

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Lara Janssen/Wikimedia Commons; Courtesy Diana Gameros; FKA Twigs/YouTube; Wikimedia Commons; Eric Ibarra

Summer’s pulling to a close, but perk up. Here are videos of five refreshing female vocalists whose smart and uncompromising performances have dazzled me recently:

1. Frazey Ford

Fans of the quirky alt-folk band the Be Good Tanyas—of which Frazey Ford is a founding member—won’t be disappointed with this sneak-peek single off Ford’s upcoming solo album, Indian Ocean, out in mid-October. With subtle vibrato and pulsing emotion, Ford’s velvety vocals take center stage in “September Fields.” While Ford’s a country-folk singer at heart, the electric organ in the track transforms her normally aching lullaby into something funkier and full of sunshine. As I listened, I kept picturing late summer drives through peaceful farm towns, passing barns with their paint peeling, peach stands framed by dry corn stalks, little girls in their Sunday best giggling on the steps of a small church. “Are you holding, holding on so tight?” Ford croons. Yes—to the edge of my seat in anticipation for her album to land.

2. Diana Gameros

One evening in July, Mexican singer Diana Gameros boarded the historic Balclutha, a tall ship parked in the San Francisco Bay. Under violet lights in the main cabin, alongside a handful of other masterful Latin American musicians, she delivered “Canciones Del Mar (Songs of the Sea).” The group performed ocean homages plucked from all over the continent, from fishing ditties to a silly tune about an octopus to a tribute to the Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni, who is said to have ended her own life by wading into the sea.

Gameros also performed her original, “Soy Tu Mar,” and released this humble video a month later. The waves washing through the ballad offer the singer an ethereal alternative rhythm, and pair well with her bright nylon-stringed Takamine guitar with a sound reminiscent of a mariachi. Gameros grew up bouncing between her hometown of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and Holland, Michigan, where she learned English and studied music. She now resides in the Bay Area and plays regularly at a tamale parlor in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her delicate first album, Eterno Retorno, showcases Gameros’ bilingual songwriting and jazzy voice. Like “Soy Tu Mar,” it’s at once full of yearning and serenity. Don’t miss the improvised bonus song in the tunnel at the end of the video.

3. Sevyn Streeter

Ignore the nails and revel in this diva’s silky and powerful voice. It baffles me that the guys lifting weights in the righthand corner of this scren were able to hold it together while Streeter just kills it.

With roots in church gospel music, Streeter started winning talent competitions at a young age, but her cousin had to convince her to upload her music to MySpace. It soon caught the eye of Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez’s producer Rich Harrison, who asked Streeter to join RichGirl, a new pop group he was forming. The band never really took off, but Streeter continued to write songs, and six of the tracks she helped pen made it onto Chris Brown’s Grammy-winning album F.A.M.E.

Now, with an EP to her name, Streeter is working on a debut album. The singles out so far are gussied up with plenty of electronic beats and echo-y harmonies. But after seeing this video, I hope she releases more stripped-down acoustic tracks that allow her pure voice full reign.

4. FKA Twigs

Move over Gaga: FKA Twigs has arrived. This satisfyingly weird artist struts her sultry vocals and mesmerizing poise in the video version of “Two Weeks.” This year saw the London-based Twigs, a former backup dancer, move into the spotlight with her album LP1. Hipster music blog Pitchfork raves about its “eerie, post-humanist, Uncanny Valley-girl aesthetic.” Indeed, Twigs plays a doll in many of the surreal videos off this album—in “Water Me,” her head bobs from side to side and her eyes are unnaturally large.

In the video above, she’s an unapproachable empress. But amid all this cold posturing, her voice is piercingly intimate. And her command of her space and skilled restraint suggest that this 26-year-old half-Jamaican artist is only getting started.

5. Irene Diaz

Okay, this video’s not brand new. But Irene Diaz is probably new to most of you. I just stumbled on her recently (h/t NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts), and I’m hooked on this playful song with its driving piano and flirtatious glances.

Based in Los Angeles, the soulful Diaz is just breaking into the national scene, playing at 2014’s SXSW and opening for Lila Downs’ on her current tour. Diaz seems like she’d be a ton of fun live—but here’s hoping she pauses from touring long enough to complete her first full-length album soon. As one blogger pointed out, Diaz sounds a bit like Fiona Apple, but her songs aren’t quite so morose. They’re muscular and catchy, with a hint of vintage spunk.

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5 Fresh Videos From Female Singers You Don’t Want to Miss

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From Anarchists To Tibetan Monks, Here Are Some of the Outsiders Joining Protests in Ferguson

by WSIMargene Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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“Crisis is the leading edge where change is possible,” Lisa Fithian, an itinerant protest organizer, once told me. Nowhere does that seem more true right now than in Ferguson, Missouri, where ongoing protests have drawn attention to a deep national vein of racial animus. It’s not surprising, then, that national figures have begun parachuting into town: The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, actress Keke Palmer, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey—and the list goes on. The threat of “outside agitators” is a meme that has accompanied protests dating back to the civil rights era and beyond. But in Ferguson, there are indeed complaints from local organizers that some outsiders are making the situation worse.

On Monday, when Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed an order to bring in the National Guard, he cited “violent and criminal acts of an organized and growing number of individuals, many from outside the community and state.” On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC that the protesters “have now been invaded…by a group of instigators, some coming from other states, that want a confrontation with police.” An officer told the Washington Post that visitors to Ferguson are engaging in “looting tourism.”

Arrest statistics appear to bear them out, up to a point. Of the 78 people arrested Monday night, police told reporters, 68 percent were from the St. Louis metro area, but 18—or 23 percent—had come from out of state, some from as far away as New York and California.

So who are these outsiders, and what do they want? I went looking for every non-local organization claiming to have members protesting in Ferguson, from fringe to mainstream. Here are some I found:

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From Anarchists To Tibetan Monks, Here Are Some of the Outsiders Joining Protests in Ferguson

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Let Us Now Psychoanalyze Famous Men (And Their Photographs)

by MonikaNQAmqd Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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Bob Somerby calls my attention to the following bit of psychobabble from Peter Baker and Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times. The subject is a photo released by the White House:

Mr. Holder, 63, is the one leaning forward, both in the photograph released by the White House and on the issues underlying the crisis in Ferguson, Mo. A child of the civil rights era, he grew up shaped by the images of violence in Selma, Ala., and joined sit-ins at Columbia University where protesters renamed an office after Malcolm X. Now in high office, he pushes for policy changes and is to fly on Wednesday to Ferguson to personally promise justice in the case of a black teenager who was fatally shot by a white police officer.

Mr. Obama, 53, is the one seemingly holding back in the White House photograph, contemplative, even brooding, as if seeking to understand how events could get so out of hand. He was too young and removed to experience the turmoil of the 1960s, growing up in a multiracial household in Hawaii and Indonesia. As he now seeks balance in an unbalanced time, he wrestles with the ghosts of history that his landmark election, however heady, failed to exorcise.

Seriously? Take a look at other photographs of Obama when he’s conferring with someone. Take a look at other photographs of any powerful person when they’re conferring with an underling. The boss is the one who’s free to lounge back and relax. The underling is the one who has to lean forward and make his case. This is standard body language. Obama uses it so often that in just the August “Photo of the Day” gallery alone, I count it in three out of four photos where Obama is conferring with other people.

Look, I’ve been there. You want to say something interesting. You need a hook. But come on. If you want to make the case that racial issues are more immediate for Holder than for Obama, go ahead. But don’t pretend that a bog ordinary White House photograph tells you anything. That’s just embarrassing. Before long you’ll be hiring body language “experts” and handwriting “analysts” to help you with your leads. Here be dragons.

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Let Us Now Psychoanalyze Famous Men (And Their Photographs)

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US Sent Thousands of Sailors to Help With Fukushima. Did Radiation Make Them Sick?

by Heriber8089 Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The article was reported by the Guardian’s Suzanne Goldenberg, and the video was produced by Climate Desk’s James West.

The first time it occurred to James Jackson that there could be lasting damage from his US Navy service during Japan’s tsunami and nuclear disaster came when his eldest son, Darius, was diagnosed with leukemia.

Darius, now 15, spent a month in hospital in early 2013, soon after his diagnosis. “I thought I was going to have to bury him,” Jackson recalled. The teenager who aspired to play college basketball now has a catheter in his chest and is too frail to run the length of the court.

Jackson, a navy information technologist, was stationed with his family at Yokosuka, Japan, when an earthquake and tsunami knocked out the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant in March 2011, causing a triple meltdown.

He acknowledges he can’t know for sure why Darius got leukemia—but Jackson remains convinced there is a connection to the radiation escape from the Fukushima disaster and he blames the Japanese electric company, Tepco.

On 25 August, a district court judge in San Diego will decide whether the Jacksons—and around 110 other US navy sailors and marines—can proceed with a $1 billion lawsuit that accuses Tepco of failing to avoid the accident and of lying about the levels of radiation from the stricken reactors, putting US personnel at risk.

“I don’t think the navy or the United States government would have let us stay there in the region. They would have gotten us out of there probably within the first 48, or 72 hours if they knew then what they know now,” Jackson said. “The issue is that we have this large company, this large enterprise, feeding the Japanese government and the rest of the world bad information. They could have come to the forefront and said: ‘hey we need help’, instead of trying to put a blanket over it.”

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US Sent Thousands of Sailors to Help With Fukushima. Did Radiation Make Them Sick?

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Barack Obama Loathes Congress as Much as You Do

by YTVBrianna Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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Ezra Klein responds to a New York Times article about President Obama’s chilly relationship with his fellow Democrats:

Obama does see socializing with Hill Democrats as a chore. But there’s a lot that Obama sees as a chore and commits to anyway. The presidency, for all its power, is full of drudgery; there are ambassadors to swear in and fundraisers to attend and endless briefings on issues that the briefers don’t even really care about. The reason Obama doesn’t put more effort into stroking congressional Democrats is he sees it as a useless chore.

The Times article…never names a bill that didn’t pass or a nominee who wasn’t confirmed because Obama’s doesn’t spend more time on the golf course with members of Congress. The closest it comes is…not very close. “In interviews, nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers and senior congressional aides suggested that Mr. Obama’s approach has left him with few loyalists to effectively manage the issues erupting abroad and at home and could imperil his efforts to leave a legacy in his final stretch in office.”

This is ridiculous. There are no issues erupting at home or abroad where the problem is that House or Senate Democrats won’t vote with the president. There’s no legislation of importance to President Obama’s legacy that would pass if only House Democrats had spent more time at the White House. I’ve listened to a lot of Democratic members of Congress complain about Obama’s poor relationships on the Hill. Each time, my follow-up question is the same: “what would have passed if Obama had better relationships on the Hill?” Each time, the answer is the same: a shake of the head, and then, “nothing.”

I’d probably give a little more credit to schmoozing than this. But only a very little. At the margins, there are probably times when having a good relationship with a committee chair will speed up action or provide a valuable extra vote or two on a bill or a nominee. And Obama has the perfect vehicle for doing this regularly since he loves to play golf. But for the most part Klein is right. There’s very little evidence that congressional schmoozing has more than a tiny effect on things. Members of Congress vote the way they want or need to vote, and if they respond to anyone, it’s to party leaders, interest groups, and fellow ideologues. In days gone by, presidents could coerce votes by working to withhold money from a district, or by agreeing to name a crony as the local postmaster, but those days are long gone. There’s really very little leverage that presidents have over members of Congress these days, regardless of party.

Obama is an odd duck. It’s not just that he doesn’t schmooze. As near as I can tell, he has a barely concealed contempt for Congress. He doesn’t really enjoy playing the political game, and not just because it’s gotten so rancid in recent years. Even if Republicans were acting like a normal political party these days, I still don’t think he’d enjoy it much. And yet, he spent years campaigning for the top political job in the United States. It’s a little bit of a mystery, frankly.

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Barack Obama Loathes Congress as Much as You Do

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What’s in a Word: Trophy vs. Ribbon Edition

by JustinHylton Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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A recent poll from Reason magazine investigates the burning question of whether kids on sports teams should all get participation trophies, or whether it should only be the winners. Overall, 57 percent think only the winners should get trophies, but the detailed breakdown is kind of interesting. It turns out that society’s winners generally think that only winners should get trophies. Society’s also-rans tend to think everyone should be recognized.

I wonder how much of this has to do with the word trophy? For many decades, after all, the US military has awarded ribbons to anyone who participates in surface combat. This is a very egalitarian award. You don’t need to have done anything special. You don’t need to have won. You just need to have participated. Nobody complains about this, but then again, it’s just a ribbon that shows you’ve been part of an actual combat action. It’s not a trophy or even a medal.

So would people react the same way to giving every kid a participation ribbon? I’ll bet not. No one would object. But many of them do object to trophies. It’s funny how a cheap bit of gold-colored plastic stirs the passions so much, isn’t it?

UPDATE: I have no personal experience with either surface combat or kids’ sports. Those who do should feel free to school me in comments if I’m wrong about any of this.

UPDATE 2: Several commenters have pointed out that, in fact, participation trophies are mostly limited to very young age groups, like five-year-olds. This makes a kind of sense, since at that age winning and losing is mostly just a matter of chance anyway. Among older kids, though, the whole “participation trophy” thing is just a myth.

Is that true?

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What’s in a Word: Trophy vs. Ribbon Edition

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Voter Registration Drives in Ferguson Are "Disgusting," Says Missouri GOP Leader

by RosellaHahn Posted on August 20, 2014

Mother Jones

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Over the last couple days, voter registration booths have been popping up in Ferguson. There was one by the ruined site of the recently burned-down QuikTrip convenience store, which has become a central gathering site of the protests, and another near the site where Michael Brown was shot.

Voter turnout was just 12 percent in Ferguson’s last municipal election, and in a city that’s 60 percent black, virtually all city officials are white. In December, the black superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant school district was fired by the then all-white school board, and the longtime St. Louis county executive, who is black, recently lost his seat to a white opponent in a race seen as “racially charged.” “Five thousand new voters will transform the city from top to bottom,” said Jesse Jackson Sr., who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday that he was meeting with local clergy to organize a door-to-door voter registration drive.

But the prospect of more registered black voters has greatly perturbed the executive director of Missouri’s Republican Party, Matt Wills, who expressed outrage at the new registration booths to Breitbart News Monday:

“If that’s not fanning the political flames, I don’t know what is,” Wills said. “I think it’s not only disgusting but completely inappropriate…Injecting race into this conversation and into this tragedy, not only is not helpful, but it doesn’t help a continued conversation of justice and peace.”

While some on Twitter echoed Wills’ sentiments and painted the voter efforts as Democratic opportunism, other political leaders in Missouri distanced themselves from Wills’ comments. Republican state Sen. Ryan Silvey of Kansas City tweeted, “I have no problem w/ protesters, or anyone, getting registered to vote. How do we keep our gov’t accountable if not by ballot?” And he had more to say later:

In April, an editorial in the Kansas City Star denounced “cheap” tactics by the Missouri GOP to “make voting more difficult for certain citizens, who are most likely to be elderly, low-income, students or minorities. They’re not even subtle about it.” A proposed amendment to the state constitution would require photo ID at the polls, and a proposal to bring early voting to Missouri would disallow it on Sundays—a big day for black voters. The Star pointed out that the photo ID law would cost the state over $6 million next year, “a huge cost, especially because Republicans have been able to produce zero examples of voter identity fraud in Missouri.” In fact, as my colleague Kevin Drum has exhaustively reported, incidents of voter fraud anywhere in the country are microscopically few; the New York Times found just 86 cases from 2002 to 2006, for instance.

“Elected officials don’t have to care about black citizens as long as they don’t fear them at the ballot box,” Dorothy A. Brown, a professor of law at Emory University’s School of Law who’s written a book on race and the law, noted on CNN.com last week. If anything, the Missouri GOP may be on track to increase the number of voters determined to put that notion into practice.

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Voter Registration Drives in Ferguson Are "Disgusting," Says Missouri GOP Leader

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