Sunday was the big dinner day for my birthday. Idan and I got up early and went to Patterson, about 25 minutes away from Hoboken. This area is known to have a large Arab population and we figured there would be great stores there to buy food for my Moroccan feast.

We found a place, Nouri Bros., it is labeled as a Syrian market, but it might be better described at pan-Arab. After shopping for pita, labne, zaater, a tagine, fruits, olives, and on and on, we returned home and Idan cooked up a storm! Creating a delicious lamb and dried fruit tagine with salads and other delicious dishes with ease. It was the best birthday meal anyone could imagine.

We lugged everything over to Patrick’s and all my pals joined us for the evening. Tons and tons of food was consumed by all! Then we soaked in Patrick’s heffneresque backyard hot tub under the stars.

I love photos like this one from the English Anti-Semites BBC. We have a full blown humanitarian crisis in Gaza, blah, blah, blah. But some how, some way, they can continue to smuggle in weapons and better yet lots and lots of green Hamas flags. Maybe some of those tunnels should be used to smuggle in the medicine they supposedly have been prevented from obtaining. I wonder if they are, but it simply isn’t in the interest of the BBC, or other outlets to report that part of story.

I am not 100% certain of the origin of the magical dish known as shakshuka! I am told it means mixed up in Arabic and its prevalence in Israel has something to do with the influx of Jews from Arabs lands.

I am told it is made from roasted peppers of various kinds, tomatoes and spices reduced down to make a sauce that is then cooked with eggs and eaten with bread. This is at least how Idan makes it!

I sometimes crave it, despite me dislike of tomatoes. When looking for a proper recipe I found this funny article that sums up why I might be a bit confused:

What he intended to make, he said, was shakshuka.

Almost instantly, a flurry of sighs and grunts rose to the air.

“A Greek? Making shakshuka?” said Tzachi, a short and temperamental man with warm brown eyes and a hairy chest. “Please, that’s Moroccan food, leave it to us.”

“Moroccan?” came a voice from the other end of the tent. “How dare you, punk?” It was Danny, and he wasn’t happy. Shakshuka, he said, originated from Tripoli, and was brought to Israel by Libyan Jews. Greeks and Moroccans, he said, have no right to claim it.

As you can see just about any culture that naturally has these ingredients seems to have come up with a variant or localized version of the dish. Selective pressure in action!

Take a listen to today’s The Brian Lehrer Show (podcast):

Back to the Future, Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media studies at New York University and author, Fooled Again (Basic Books 2005) accuses George Bush of electoral fraud in Ohio

And if that is not enough, check out his blog.

Not bothered yet? How about the proof that the voting machines are not secure?

Be prepared to, at the least, question what that smell is. It is America rotting at the core. Just get back in your war mobile and drive up to you chemical lawn, eat your hyper processed vitamin free food, and ignore it all.

In front of Twilo maybe 8 years ago, maybe longer, I was berated by Sean B. and George M. because I was taking a stance about sending garment production to Asia. I maintained that it was fundamentally un-American to allow your neighbors to loose their jobs so that you could have the perception of cheaper garments. They were so caught up in the PC notion that all people are equal, blah blah blah, that they couldn’t see the point. Here are the bullet points:

1. we have not seen a dramatic decrease in the costs of good and services in the country
2. increases in productivity and ease of shipment has allowed production of goods overseas to appear seamless to us
3. goods produced overseas are cheeper, but Levi’s are going up in price
4. profits are astonishing for modern corporations, stockholders have been forcing company to go abroad to increase stock values
5. healthcare is seen as something that can be shuffled off to the government
6. war on the middle class: people are poorer and poorer every year
7. shipping goods around the world is killing us through emissions
8. oil prices, or a transit shock will cause an economic disaster

And look-e-here: American Apparel has built a franchise on the notion. Whole Foods is another example. As much as you hate them, Starbucks is a semi-good corporate citizen.

This is only moderately effecting me, I have a very good job with amazing benefits, live in a degree of ease and wealth that my great-grandparents would have never imagined. But, this is about our neighbors, our countrymen, our planet.

Why have we lost our way? Why don’t we care about our neighbors? This labor day ponder when you lost your way. When a cheap piece of plastic shit from China suddenly became more important than a healthy thriving society.

More importantly, knowing a bit about Jewish and Christian thought I state here and now: obsession with the material and failure to live a balanced life with a concentration on ethics and community are the exact opposite of what we are taught. Stated more clearly: your 1000$ handbag is the devil.

I will add sources to this shortly, I have an errand to run.