Yesterday Mormanism Did Mitt In

Christianity is hard enough to swallow, but Mormonism? Egad! Yesterday Mormonism did Romney in--and a good thing too. Skeptics of every stripe, together with evangelicals in the Bible Belt and elsewhere (most of whom have adjusted to Catholics and Jews over time, but can't tolerate the Latter Day Saints.) Neither can I. Or, to be more precise, can't take them seriously. Live and let live is my motto, but what's fakier than Mormonism? It's daft. J A certain 19th century follow, Joseph Smith, born in a shack in Vermont invented it by claiming in the 1820s that an angel-prophet had revealed to him some golden plates, which according to Smith "corrected" statements in the NT about Jesus, among other things. Of course, the golden plates have never been seen since by anyone else! Sure is mind-boggling that millions around the world have bought into this stuff and have helped build a multi-billion dollar faith, and that a whole State in the U.S.--Utah--is in the hands of these people. I can't imagine even a whole county in my old country (U.K.) ever being the host for any religion, let alone the Latter Day Saints. Here's a bit from Wikipedia's entry on the subject of Joe Smith....

Smith said that an 1823 visitation from a resurrected prophet named Moroni ^[8] led to his finding and unearthing (in 1827) a long-buried book, inscribed on metal plates, which contained a record of God's dealings with the ancient Israelite inhabitants of the Americas. The record, along with other artifacts (including a sword, a compass-like device, a breastplate and what Smith referred to as the Urim and Thummim), was buried in a hill near his home. On September 22, 1827, Smith's record indicates that the angel allowed him (after 4 years of waiting and preparation) to take the plates and other artifacts. Almost immediately thereafter Smith began having difficulties with people trying to discover where the plates were hidden on the Smith farm

Read it and weep!
Read Mitt's Funeral, here:
!http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/

Obama/Clinton? Clinton/Obama

"And what do you think of the possibility of a Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama ticket?"
Susan in Oregon

Dear Susan-in-Oregon:

Your question seems to be on a lot of people's minds.

First, I just can't conceive of an Obama/Clinton ticket because it's clear to all of us that for at least fifteen years and maybe even thirty, Hillary has had her mind set on the Presidency. I just can't see her acquiescing to a subsidiary role. And if the regime continues for eight years, Hillary would have reached the same age, almost, as the doddering John McCain is today. .

Second, a Clinton/Obama ticket is a distinct possibility because his quest is not so much longstanding (despite the rumor that his desire goes back to kindergarten). He knows that a youthful vice president serving in a successful administration (we hope!) has a good chance of catching that final golden ring. Gore should have, but Barak would learn from Gore's mistakes.

I'll be happy enough that a Democrat wins the presidency. Oh, such a relief! It looks as if it's bound to happen.

Latest Debates Coming Up

Drama every day in the primary election process. Today John Edwards will announce his departure. That leaves us Democrats just two to fight it out tomorrow in the latest presidential debate.

If eventually McCain does become the Republican candidate, his age and physical frailty will be against him as the year progresses. He also has to unify his own party behind him and that may be quite a feat. Also, if he keeps beating the war drums that noise will fall on many deaf ears. On the other hand, Hillary (who I think on February 5 will emerge as the real contender) is in her prime. In debates, McCain tends to get snappish, nasty even (example: his outbursts against Romney). But Hillary lately has kept cool under fire in the face of numerous debates and crises. Even Bill seems to have piped down the last few days. Hillary's strengths could make McCain look like a querulous old man. I admire and respect Barak, but I doubt he could pull off the general election. I've heard the talk about a McCain-Huckabee ticket, but there's a danger the Huckster will go off point and insist on bringing in his embarrassing notions about gender, anti-science and everything else. That could send the Republican ticket off the rails.
Hillary vs. McCain = two known quantities with Hillary having a good chance of winning.
Barak vs. McCain = one new to the national stage and one a very well-known performer.
In this house at the moment we have one pragmatic Hillary supporter and one passionate Barak supporter. However, we will back whoever becomes our leader.

Latest Debates Coming Up

Drama every day in the primary election process. Today John Edwards will announce his departure. That leaves us Democrats just two to fight it out tomorrow in the latest presidential debate.

If eventually McCain does become the Republican candidate, his age and physical frailty will be against him as the year progresses. He also has to unify his own party behind him and that may be quite a feat. Also, if he keeps beating the war drums that noise will fall on many deaf ears. On the other hand, Hillary (who I think on February 5 will emerge as the real contender) is in her prime. In debates, McCain tends to get snappish, nasty even (example: his outbursts against Romney). But Hillary lately has kept cool under fire in the face of numerous debates and crises. Even Bill seems to have piped down the last few days. Hillary's strengths could make McCain look like a querulous old man. I admire and respect Barak, but I doubt he could pull off the general election. I've heard the talk about a McCain-Huckabee ticket, but there's a danger the Huckster will go off point and insist on bringing in his embarrassing notions about gender, anti-science and everything else. That could send the Republican ticket off the rails.
Hillary vs. McCain = two known quantities with Hillary having a good chance of winning.
Barak vs. McCain = one new to the national stage and one a very well-known performer.
In this house at the moment we have one pragmatic Hillary supporter and one passionate Barak supporter. However, we will back whoever becomes our leader.

The Countess

Saw The White Countess a couple evenings ago. Got it from our new Library! Reviews on line didn't seem to appreciate it, but we were both engrossed. If you haven't seen it, it's set in Shanghai in the mid thirties and the Japanese are on the point of invading. The countess and her White Russian family have fled the USSR and live in poverty-- she goes out at night to make money any way she can at a dance bar.

A drove of Redgraves are in it including Natasha Richardson whose voice reminded us of her mother's and whose face reminded us of Garbo. Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave gave wonderful performances. I guess some people didn't like Ralph Fienes, but again we differed. I thought he was perfect as the blind man. We liked it so much we listened to the commentary with Natasha Richardson and James Ivory. It's fashionable to sneer at Merchant-Ivory these days, but I don't. The features included a memorial to the work of the late Ismail Merchant.

A Fine Woman Photographer

Picasso. Man Ray. Steichen. Etc. In The New Yorker this week I enjoyed Judith Thurman's article about Lee Miller. It sent me back to the Paris of Janet Flanner, who wrote about Paris for decades in that magazine. What a fine time they all had, or thought they did, in the twenties and thirties. Miller helped Man Ray photograph the famous White Ball of 1930, recorded by Flanner. Mention's made of a "fine biography. 2006, by Carolyn Burke. I must look for it. I'd like to see Miller's WWII photography. It's considered as on a level with Margaret Bourke White's. But-- like so many of those moths who danced in the flame for a while and inevitably burned out when they grew out of fashion, or old, Miller eventually met that fate. Years ago I read a fascinating biog of Man Ray. Couldn't get him out of my head.

Marmalade Boiling in Vats

Imagine your kitchen
Filled with the fragrant fumes of steaming marmalade
All ready for pouring into waiting pots.
Saucer samples sit on the counter cooling off , ready for tasting.
32 shiny glass pots await the sweet golden liquid.
Should last the year if you don't give too many away
.
In British kitchens this winter
Housewives open up their secret recipes
For .
Golden marmalade to chase the blues away.

Only bitter-sweet Seville oranges will do,
From faraway sunny Spain.
But we too must have marmalade and can't exist without it.
Look to Canada my friend and Greaves in Niagara on the Lake.
Canadian master marmalade makers with a secret recipe.

Seville oranges aren't readily available in these parts.
A few small jars sit on the shelves at the Mustardseed Market,
But they're from France and expensive.
Spread on toast and the peel is chunky and hard.

Greaves knows where to get the right stuff.
Contacts in England keep them supplied with the little Seville golden globes.

Imagine mornings and the aroma of marmalade boiling below you in vats.

Click below to visit their delicious website where they picture all their varieties of preserves, marmalades, jams, jellies, pickles and others.

http://www.greavesjams.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=32&osCsid=e6a064612f4f5d1

Medina's Gorgeous New Library

Wow. What an opening for the Library this morning. Beautiful place. I'm gonna live there. Even though it was packed, that didn't mean that we all felt crowded. There's so much space it's easy to filter off into different rooms and nooks. I took some books to the Quiet Room and sat near the fire and browsed for a while over a coffee. The eye is constantly taking in new vistas. I haven't yet followed up on what school of design they drew upon but there are touches of Art Deco with the curves, pastel colors, and stainless steel railings, etc. The color schemes and the lighting are reader-comforting and the views through the windows are wonderful. But one window looks out on one of those hideous "Victorian" houses listing to one side like a sinking ship. Some misguided folks in Medina want to save them, but now people will say , "get them out of my sight"! What a crowd were there sharing in this happy event. The check outs were doing land office business and I checked mine out at the self-serve machine. Our beautiful library makes a striking contrast with the new one in Akron, which is neither handsome nor visitor friendly.

Hillary Melting

It's sad seeing Hillary's campaign melt before our eyes--before the realities of the campaign she was certain that she would be the winner. Too certain, of course. Many mistakes. The biggest, having Bill campaign with her. I cringe every time I see him--he sucks all the light out of the room. She should have sent him off to Pago Pago for the duration. She has never expressed any doubt or regret for voting in the Senate to empower Bush to make war in Iraq, and her close ties to enormously powerful commercial interests here are hurting her campaign. She says she'll create an "affordable" health insurance program for all--but what that means is keeping the huge insurance companies in the picture and they of course have given her millions for her campaign. People here know their voices haven't been listened to, whether in protest marches, letter writing campaigns, callling their representatives in Washington. But today they do have a method to show how they feel, and it's the vote. By the end of the evening I think we'll see that for once being a voter really does count for something.