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The Death of Intellect

in·tel·lect
/’in(t)l,ekt/
noun
The faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract or academic matters.

Every single day I see the severe lack of intellect of humans on this planet. OF COURSE it’s obvious in the US with hillbillies running rampant with their conspiracy theories, science denial and cultish behavior. But it’s not just here, it is endemic.

Facebook is the shining star of showing just how fucking idiotic people are and NextDoor is the shining star for old people who think it is FB. Every single day I see stupid posts, stupid comments and just overall mournfully moronic evidence that the human species is definitely on the downward trend.

If I had a dollar for every comment that asks for information that is in the goddam post, I’d retire to the South of France and never be heard from again.

I weep for the complete lack of intellect that I see daily. People who cannot understand even the simplest concept. People who cannot discern blatant lies from truth. People who cannot discriminate between reality and unreality.

Lack of intellect encompasses all the people who refuse to find out information on their own. Every day, I see people who are begging for help from everyone else, yet they have done absolutely NOTHING to help themselves. Example:

There is a guy on ND, begging for help and money for his bizarre health condition. He’s run up $600k of medical bills for nothing more than TESTS. He has not had ONE SINGLE THING done about the condition. Just tests. And he’s begging for money for MORE tests. He simple does what the Drs tell him to do – over and over again – never once questioning the redundant tests or the lack of ACTUAL treatment. The particular ailment has a LARGE psychological part to it, that I found in a 10 second Google search that sent me to NIH documents. Of course this guy has never even googled the ailment. And of course he’s not seen a shrink for anxiety because he’s been too busy getting medical tests done. I gave him the search link to the NIH, which contained MANY medical research excerpts about this ailment. My comment was completely ignored by the myriad people busily advising him to get more insurance and get more tests.

This guy has no desire to help himself. Clearly. He’d rather whine and have the other intellectual zeros whine with him. Not being able to discern the difference between continuous, redundant TESTING and getting actual MEDICAL CARE is a perfect example of zero intellect. It is rampant in this country, which is why horrible medical care is still happening. Americans are too intellectually stunted to understand that our system is FUCKED and we should dump it. Immediately. I still see people who say insurance is the only way! Why? Because they don’t even understand that large companies SUBSIDIZE insurance, so you pay only a fraction of the actual cost of premiums and they think that medical care actually costs what the insurance companies SAY it costs. They do NOT.

Another example: Willful ignorance. Being willfully ignorant does not absolve anyone from supporting that fascist, racist, misogynist piece of shit T****. And YES you are willfully ignorant if you STILL support T****. Voting for him once MIGHT get a pass, but voting for him twice is just plain stupid. Voting for him TWICE shows that NONE of his bullshit is a deal breaker for you, therefore, you are complicit in EVERYTHING that has happened. You condone everything T**** stands for and you are an ignorant asshole. Period. You are an intellectual ZERO.

It feels like it is getting worse, but I have to cut young people slack for being young. Young people have been raised in shitty schools with nothing more than multiple choice tests, which does nothing for learning to THINK, but they are also young and have no experience, either.

But people who are my age (Gen X, I’m looking at YOU) should have enough experience to overcome shitty schooling and should have a bit more intellect to call upon. Alas, I don’t see that. Gen X seems to be about as bad as Boomers for being unable to navigate information and discerning truth from fiction.

I have no fixes for any of this, mind you, I just felt the need to bitch about the morons I see online every single day. I struggle to keep my own intellect intact while withstanding the onslaught of DUMB.

It’s obvious the human race is on the decline. We’ll end ourselves, I’m sure of it. And I really think the Earth will be better for it. The Earth will carry on, repair the damage we’ve done and perhaps a new species will arise that has more sense. Perhaps it will be dolphins and they’ll appreciate all the fish.

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Holiday Oyster Stew

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Angela's Holiday Oyster Stew

Oyster stew is a traditional Christmas Eve meal. I didn't like any of the recipes I found, so I wrote my own. This is an easy stew to make and very satisfying!
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword creamy oyster stew, holiday, oyster stew
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 1 large shallot, small dice (or two smallish ones) sub about 1/4 cup finely diced onion
  • 2 stalks celery, finely sliced
  • 1 med carrot, scrubbed, halved and finely sliced dice if carrot is large; about 1/3 cup
  • 1 med leek, cleaned, halved then finely sliced
  • 1 small fennel bulb, finely diced, about 2/3 cup
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced about 1.5 Tbl
  • olive oil for cooking veg, about 1 Tbl
  • 1 tsp each, S/P use white pepper if you prefer
  • 4 Tbl butter I always use salted
  • 4 Tbl flour, any type
  • 1/4 cup sherry optional
  • 1 med lemon, zest and juice about 1-2Tbl juice, to taste
  • 4 cups fish stock sub veg stock
  • 2 Tbl sherry vinegar sub white wine or champagne vinegar
  • 2 Tbl L&P Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbl Frank's Hot sauce or whatever you like
  • 1 16oz container shucked oysters with liquor, cut into bite sized pieces (they are LARGE; 4-5 pc EA) OR 1-2 dozen large freshly shucked oysters (SEE NOTES)
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream, up to 3/4 cup, to taste
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraîche optional, but adds thickness
  • 2 Tbl fresh tarragon, minced +/- to taste; sub basil (use HALF for dry)
  • 1 Tbl fresh mint, minced optional but lovely with tarragon or basil (HALF for dry)
  • 2 Tbl fresh parsley, minced adds freshness, use fresh parsley or omit
  • fennel fronds for garnish

Instructions

  • Do all your prep first. Have all ingredients ready to go.
  • Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Cover bottom with olive oil and gently sweat shallot, celery, carrots, leeks, fennel and garlic.
  • When veg is translucent, add butter and when melted, add flour. Stir the flour, butter and veg and turn up the heat to med hi while stirring. 
  • Add lemon zest and sherry, stir. Add fish stock and turn up heat to hi. Bring to boil for one minute, reduce to simmer. 
  • At simmer, add sherry vinegar, L&P, Franks and herbs. Taste for S/P levels. Add oysters and liquor. Cook at simmer for about 10 minutes. 
  • Off heat, add cream, lemon juice and sour cream, then check seasoning one more time.
  • Serve with fennel fronds and a swirl of Franks. Toasted baguette is great for this soup. 

Notes

Do make an effort to use fresh herbs for this stew. They really do make all the difference.
I use a LOT of tarragon because I love fresh tarragon and it goes so well with fennel. Feel free to dial it back if you don't like that anise flavour. Or omit and use basil instead.
I like a bright taste, so I used about 2Tbl lemon juice. Tune the amount to your taste. SAME with the cream. You want a balance between cream and citrus.
If the stew is too thick, thin a bit with water. Mine was too thin, so I doubled the butter and flour.
The pre-shucked oysters are very large, they were cut into 4-5 pcs EACH. If you shuck fresh oysters, you need about 30-40 pcs, so figure your amount that way.
This recipe makes about 2 quarts. It CANNOT be frozen due to the cream.
Posted on

Veggie Dip Base Recipe

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Vegetable Dip (base recipe)

This dip recipe can be adapted to many cuisines! I use it often for catering and parties and it's always a hit! See notes for variations.
Course Drinks, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword cream cheese, roasted veg, vegetarian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Food Processor or Blender

Ingredients

  • 1 8oz block cream cheese you can use reduced fat, but why?
  • 2 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled you can multicolor mini peppers here if you like, use 8
  • 1 6-8" zucchini, halved and roasted about 1.5 - 2 cups chopped
  • 1 small onion, halved and roasted with veg cut side up any color is fine, about 2/3 cup chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
  • 1/2 tsp each S/P to taste
  • olive oil to roast veg
  • 3 Tbl chopped fresh parsley or other herb, see notes
  • 1 tsp sweet or smoked paprika optional, see notes

Instructions

  • Put cream cheese on counter to warm up while you do the veg.
  • Put prepped veg on a sheet pan and lightly coat in olive oil, salt and pepper. Put peppers cut side down, with zucchini and onion cut side up. Put under the broiler and roast until peppers are charred. Flip onion or take it out if it gets too charred.
  • Cool veg, peel red peppers and cut all into 1-2" chunks.
  • Put all roasted veg and garlic into food processor and whiz until uniform.
  • Add cream cheese in chunks, whiz until smooth.
  • Add paprika and parsley (or other flavorings, see notes) and pulse a couple of times.
  • Check seasonings and serve slightly chilled or room temp. Store in fridge.

Notes

This is a very versatile recipe! It can be changed drastically simply by swapping out veg and changing the herbs and spices. I typically add whatever herbs I've got to this; I've added mint, cilantro, tarragon, basil and thyme at various times. This dip is also a lovely condiment for sammies.
NON Veggie Ham Dip
I had leftover ham from Tgiving, so I whizzed it up and added to the dip. SO GOOD! It can be used for dip or on sandwiches - it reminds me of ham salad. I added about 1.5 cups of ground ham to the base. 
Mexican
  • Add one roasted roma tomato, seeded
    Use cumin and oregano rather than paprika
    Use fresh cilantro rather than parsley
Middle Eastern
  • Use one Chinese eggplant (or very small standard, or 3-4 of the tiny ones) instead of the zucchini
    Add 2 Tbl tahini
    Use cumin in addition to smoked paprika
    Use fresh cilantro and/or mint
Italian
  • Add one roasted roma tomato, seeded
    Add 2 Tbl grated parmesan
    Use dry basil and oregano
    Use fresh basil
Indian
  • Add 2 tsp curry powder instead of paprika
    Or use garam masala
Posted on

The Day the Music Died and Other Tragedies

I watched the Patsy Cline biopic the other day and it reminded me of all the talent that’s been lost due to stupid decisions by a pilot. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens died because the pilot was not qualified to fly with instruments only. Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas died for the same reason and the fact that the pilot was an amateur (only 160ish hours flying). Stevie Ray Vaughn and the people in that helicopter died because the pilot decided to fly with near zero visibility and promptly slammed into a mountain seconds after take off.

In all three incidents, the pilots were to blame for flying in very poor conditions. These deaths were all 100% avoidable.

I have 27 hours of flight training, which is just past soloing. My father had over 1000 flight hours and was instrument rated. It is incredible to me that people would board an aircraft when the weather is obviously terrible. And it pisses me off that a pilot would go ahead and fly despite lack of training and obviously terrible conditions. Even with instrument ratings, there are still times to avoid flying!

My father had a Bonanza A36 (4 passenger plus 2 pilots) that he flew regularly from E TN to his restaurant in MO. Only once did he (with my mother!!) attempt to fly in poor conditions. It was cold and icy but he took off after deicing. Once you are above the weather, ice is not an issue. BUT they had to land in KY because the ice had compromised the plane’s handling before he could get above the weather. He told me about this and how scared he was – it was early in his flying years. That was the last time he ever flew in bad conditions. Later on, even after getting his instrument rating (IFR means he can fly without seeing the ground which is VFR or visual flying), he was still very particular about when he would fly.

I suppose all the pilots above might’ve been in a similar position, perhaps they’d never flown in such dire conditions and didn’t realise how bad it really was. But two of these guys were professionals. I expect more from someone with 700 hrs of flying! (The Buddy Holly pilot was a pro, but even HE flew in IFR conditions when he was not qualified to do so. HUBRIS.)

I won’t take a commercial flight if the weather is bad. If they have to deice the damn plane to get it off the ground – NOPE. My ass will not be on it. I don’t even like flying in the rain!! One Christmas we flew to Detroit and they hadn’t bothered to clean off the goddam runway! We skidded several hundred feet upon landing. Most ppl didn’t even know it, BUT I DID. I was LIVID when we got off the plane. Luckily the weather cleared up by the time we flew back. Just damn.

So, hey kids, just don’t fly if it’s questionable. Seems pretty logical to me. I don’t care what the pilot or airline says, if you feel that the weather is too bad, don’t get on the plane.

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Alternatives to FB

Someone posted about an alternative network to FB today and it sent me down the rabbit hole to explore what’s out there. I’m aware of several networks that have been created in the last few years, but none can seem to scratch FB’s dominance. In an effort to encourage others to leave FB – even if I can’t due to adminning umpteen pages – here is the comment I made to the Parler person with lots of links and info.

A while back, some folks were going to WT Social. It’s by the Wikipedia guy. And some others went to MeWe. Yet another is Ello. I don’t really endorse any of these, they are all MEH. However, I’ll go to any network (that is not right wing) where my friends go.

So where y’all wanna go? WT Social ELLO is MY vote! (changed my mind after looking them over)

Mastodon and the other decentralized platforms are a PITA to use and I don’t like them. I’ve got a Mastodon account, but it’s just too much work to use. I deleted the phone app and haven’t been over there in ages.

Yes, I’ve got accounts on all these platforms, fwiw. Perhaps I shall go forth and see if my accounts are still working… I like to jump on all new things to get my preferred handle! If you don’t know it, I guess you don’t know me that well, eh? LOL

Here is a very extensive article on the various FB alternatives; BTW, this site has SHITTY info for sites, hosts and domain registrars. I DO NOT ENDORSE this site in the slightest. I can confirm that the social network list is accurate, however.

And FINALLY: I have confirmed that Parler is a right wing/T**** network. I would not use it nor do I endorse it. I’ve also seen that MeWe has been the network of choice for MAGAts who are trying to organize their stop the election shit. So I’ll probably delete that account here shortly. I want NOTHING to do with any network that is a nest of ignorant T**** followers.