Last Survivor of 'Unsinkable' Titanic Dies at age 97

Millvina Dean, who as a baby was wrapped in a sack and lowered into a lifeboat in the frigid North Atlantic, died Sunday, having been the last survivor of 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.

She was 97 years old, and she died where she had lived - in Southampton, England, the city her family had tried to leave behind when it took the ship's ill-fated maiden voyage, bound for America.

She died in her sleep early Sunday, her friend Gunter Babler told the Associated Press. It was the 98th anniversary of the launch of the ship that was billed as "practically unsinkable."

Babler said Dean's longtime companion, Bruno Nordmanis, called him in Switzerland to say staff at Woodlands Ridge Nursing Home in Southampton discovered Dean in her room Sunday morning. He said she had been hospitalized with pneumonia last week but she had recovered and returned to the home.

A staff nurse at the nursing home said late Sunday that no one would comment until administrators came on duty Monday morning. Dean just over 2 months old when the Titanic hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912. The ship sank in less than three hours.

Dean was one of 706 people — mostly women and children — who survived. Her father was among the 1,517 who died.

Babler, who is head of the Switzerland Titanic Society, said Dean was a "very good friend of very many years."

"I met her through the Titanic society but she became a friend and I went to see very every month or so," he said.

The pride of the White Star line, the Titanic had a mahogany-paneled smoking room, a swimming pool and a squash court. But it did not have enough lifeboats for all of its 2,200 passengers and crew.

Dean's family was steerage passengers setting out from the English port of Southampton for a new life in the United States. Her father had sold his pub and hoped to open a tobacconists' shop in Kansas City, Missouri, where his wife had relatives.

Initially scheduled to travel on another ship, the family was transferred to the Titanic because of a coal strike. Four days out of port and about 600 kilometers (380 miles) southeast of Newfoundland, the ship hit an iceberg. The impact buckled the Titanic's hull and sent sea water pouring into six of its supposedly watertight compartments.

Dean said her father's quick actions saved his family. He felt the ship scrape the iceberg and hustled the family out of its third-class quarters and toward the lifeboat that would take them to safety. "That's partly what saved us — because he was so quick. Some people thought the ship was unsinkable," Dean told the British Broadcasting Corp. in 1998.

Wrapped in a sack against the Atlantic chill, Dean was lowered into a lifeboat. Her 2-year-old brother Bertram and her mother Georgette also survived.
"She said goodbye to my father and he said he'd be along later," Dean said in 2002. "I was put into lifeboat 13. It was a bitterly cold night and eventually we were picked up by the Carpathia."

The family was taken to New York, and then returned to England with other survivors aboard the rescue ship Adriatic. Dean did not know she had been aboard the Titanic until she was 8 years old, when her mother, about to remarry, told her about her father's death. Her mother, always reticent about the tragedy, died in 1975 at age 95.

Born in London on Feb. 2, 1912, Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean spent most of her life in the English seaside town of Southampton, Titanic's home port. She never married, and worked as a secretary, retiring in 1972 from an engineering firm.
She moved into a nursing home after breaking her hip about three years ago. She had to sell several Titanic mementoes to raise funds, prompting her friends to set up a fund to subsidize her nursing home fees. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the stars of the film "Titanic," pledged their support to the fund last month.

For most of her life Dean had no contact with Titanic enthusiasts and rarely spoke about the disaster. Dean said she had seen the 1958 film "A Night to Remember" with other survivors, but found it so upsetting that she declined to watch any other attempts to put the disaster on celluloid, including the 1997 blockbuster "Titanic."
She began to take part in Titanic-related activities in the 1980s, after the discovery of the ship's wreck in 1985 sparked renewed interest in the disaster. At a memorial service in England, Dean met a group of American Titanic enthusiasts who invited her to a meeting in the U.S.

She visited Belfast to see where the ship was built, attended Titanic conventions around the world — where she was mobbed by autograph seekers — and participated in radio and television documentaries about the sinking.

Charles Haas, president of the New-Jersey based Titanic International Society, said Dean was happy to talk to children about the Titanic. "She had a soft spot for children," he said. "I remember watching was little tiny children came over clutching pieces of paper for her to sign. She was very good with them, very warm."
In 1997, Dean crossed the Atlantic by boat for the first time, on the QEII luxury liner, and finally visited Kansas City, declaring it "so lovely I could stay here five years." She was active well into her 90s, but missed the commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the disaster in 2007 after breaking her hip.

Dean had no memories of the sinking and said she preferred it that way. "I wouldn't want to remember, really," she told The Associated Press in 1997. She opposed attempts to raise the wreck 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) from the sea bed.
"I don't want them to raise it, I think the other survivors would say exactly the same," she said in 1997. "That would be horrible."

The last survivor with memories of the sinking — and the last American survivor — was Lillian Asplund, who was 5 at the time. She died in May 2006 at the age of 99. The second-last survivor, Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, died in October 2007 aged 96.

Source: abcnews

Here We Go Again...

More trash, different park. The latest scene: the Hackensack Riverkeeper clean-up of a local park in River Edge, NJ.

There's never a shortage of bottled water, a massive public health nuisance. The next time you go outside, see how long it takes you to spot a discarded water bottle. They are everywhere.



I know many people who insist on bottled water, believing it is healthier than tap water. Many of these same people eat at fast food restaurants regularly (not questioning how their food is produced...much scarier than tap water) and some even smoke. Seems the priorities are a bit off, don't you?

Please boycott this reckless product, and invest in a reusable bottle that you can fill with filtered water. Own a Brita? Click here to learn how to recycle your filter.

The next clean-up is Saturday, June 20, in Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus.

7.1 Earthquake Rocks Honduras and Belize

A powerful earthquake collapsed more than two dozen homes in Honduras and Belize early Thursday, killing a teenager and injuring two more. The magnitude-7.1 quake struck at 4:24 a.m. EDT. (May 28)

No, It's Not Pancho's...

It's Salsa y Salsa, a campy, festive Mexican restaurant in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood.

There's outdoor seating, or sit in their cheerful dining room.

A virgin cactus pear margarita, $5.95. Order the version with alcohol, and it's $9.50.

Guacamole with homemade chips, $8.95.

Vegetable fajitas (just hold the cheese and sour cream to veganize), $14.50.

Visit Salsa y Salsa, 206 Seventh Ave. (at 22nd St.), New York City.

Step back in time when visiting nearby The Family Jewels Vintage Clothing shop (130 W 23rd St. near Sixth Ave.) Read more. It's a bit pricey, but fun for a browse, and a great reminder that second-hand can meet every style need, from your local bargain thrift store, to vintage stores and higher end consignments shops. Why buy new?

Vegan Cupcakes and Activism

Remember that scene in Chocolat when Juliette Binoche's dinner party guests (even the dog) are all devouring their meal in a moment of unbridled food ecstasy? That was me at vegan cupcakery Sweet Avenue Bake Shop on Sunday.

Flavors vary daily. Lemon Raspberry (lemon cake, lemon frosting and raspberry preserves), and Mocha Madness (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), both $3.

To go: Lemon Raspberry, Peanut Butter Chip, Lavender Lemon, all $3, and Sexy Sadie (Red Velvet), $2.50. Yes, I shared.

While there, I dropped off some Farm Sanctuary literature.

Lit dropping is a super easy form of advocacy. Animals rights groups don't have the budget of the multi-national food giants and big agribusiness, so it's up to us to help spread their message of compassion to the masses. My friends at Farm Sanctuary's ACT (Advocacy Campaign Team) hooked me up with this literature. Consider dropping literature from them or your favorite animal rights groups. PETA also offers a great selection, including a monthly leafleting pack and literature in languages such as Spanish, French and Japanese. Cruelty in any language is unacceptable.

Visit Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, 153 Park Ave., Rutherford, NJ. Closed Mondays. Flashback to my first visit there.

Mark your calendars: Cupcakefest, a day of cupcakes and music, will be held on Saturday, June 13th, in Lincoln Park in Rutherford. Bring your donations of pet food, litter, and toys for the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, NJ.

Web- and computer Is an Ally in Quit-Smoking Fight

May 26, 2009 -- As every smoker knows, it's incredibly hard to quit, but help might be as close as the keyboard on your computer, new research suggests.

Web- and computer-based smoking-cessation programs, including some that are interactive, seem to be effective, shows a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Such methods are cost-effective alternatives to telephone hotlines or counseling services, study researcher Joel Moskowitz, PhD, tells WebMD. Moskowitz is director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

These web-based programs generally help users evaluate the benefits of quitting tobacco, telling them "how much money you'll save, how much longer you'll live," he says. "They set up rewards for smokers. Some are discussion forums, like blogs. On some you can post pictures. Some have hundreds of thousands of people coming in and going out."

"Some have 'quit meters' you can download to your desktop," Moskowitz says. "They help you track how long you've quit. It's important to have immediate reinforcement, to make a public commitment."

The researchers analyzed pooled data from 22 trials in which smokers enrolled in web- or computer-based smoking-cessation programs, and smokers who quit without them. The trials had data on almost 30,000 participants, including 16,050 who were randomly assigned to a web- or computer-based program. The trials were conducted in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.

Although cessation rates at three months were similar between the two groups, the researchers found that 9.9% managed to stay away from smoking for a year after the web- or computer-based cessation programs, compared to 5.7% who were not enrolled in a computer- or web-based program.

Data spanned 19 years and included three to 12 months' worth of follow-up information.

"Currently, Web and computer-based smoking cessation programs are not commonly recommended because evidence of their effectiveness has been inconsistent," study researcher Seung-Kwon Myung, MD, staff physician at the Smoking Cessation Clinic at the National Cancer Center in South Korea, says in a news release. "But our review of the evidence to date suggests that Web and computer-based programs have a legitimate place in tobacco dependence treatment options."

Myung, who conducted research while a visiting scholar at Berkeley, says computer-based programs won't necessarily supplant existing treatment options, such as medications or counseling. But they could help people who can't afford to pay for treatment or who are concerned about the stigma associated with seeking treatment.

Moskowitz tells WebMD that many smokers may prefer computer or web systems over face-to-face or person-to-person phone counseling sessions to avoid embarrassment.

"Some of these programs give immediate reinforcement, and that's important," Moskowitz says. And computer programs can easily be translated into many languages, which means they could benefit a diverse group of people.

source:
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20090526/computer-is-an-ally-in-quit-smoking-fight

It's a Good Thing......

Michigan Memorial Day memories: it was the first day we were allowed to go swimming; the first day we could wear white shoes; the first day of summer….. well, we thought it was. We scrubbed down our porches and painted and put out the summer furniture. And I vividly remember something else for the gardeners among you: our porch was surrounded by bushes called viburnum carlesii. The wonderfully scented May blooms of this bush could be detected over 30 feet away- and it wafted through our home, perfuming the air. Sheer heaven and a welcome sign of summer after the long winter. Alas, it does not grow in Florida.


Then there were the picnics, parades and memorial services at the city cemetery, And the first swim of the season? Brrrrrr. The water in the lakes of Michigan is icy cold in May. OMG. But we were determined to take a dip- usually not much more than that though.

Florida's not all that different: we still celebrate with picnics, parades and memorial services. ( But, and I don’t mean to rub it in or anything, when we take a dip- it’s warm.) Anyway…this year I got an invitation to a barbecue and was asked to bring some cupcakes. I have to admit I don’t make a lot of cupcakes and maybe they don’t travel as well as cookies, but everyone loves a cupcake. So festive somehow.

Because it’s been raining like crazy down here all week I have been reading and watching a little more of the Food Network than usual which has resulted in my coming up with some novel ideas for my cupcakes. First of all: I actually do read Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. I’m fessing up because I’m going to tell you about one of her “good things”: parchment paper cupcake liners. But there’s a little more to this story. I also happened to catch Nigella Bites -a show I rarely watch. ( I had forgotten how funny Nigella is- cooking while giving slinky looks to the camera.) She made some cupcakes entirely in her food processor, baked them and then topped them with some royal icing and sugar flowers. They were smashing. I went right to the computer and printed out her recipe; really not like me because as I said, I don’t often even make cupcakes.

So now three coincidences came together: a novel idea for cupcake liners, a new cupcake recipe and an invitation to a barbecue with a request to bring cupcakes. And would you believe: I even had some red sugar roses in my pantry. Would rather have found some American flags or something, but let’s not get carried away. You’re going to love this idea, whether you use it for muffins or cupcakes. Take a look:



Let’s start with the cupcake liner idea. Instead of the boring old paper liners, Martha’s Living magazine suggested cutting white parchment paper into 5 inch squares. Then spray your cupcake tins with Pam and press the parchment squares into the muffin cup- folding in the sides neatly. It kind of ends up looking like a handkerchief.

Repeat for 12 muffins. You notice I say muffins because that is what was used in the article, ( see photo below, taken from the magazine) but I decided to make cupcakes, with frosting.

And now for the cupcake recipe; Nigella was telling the truth- it really was easily made in my processor.

Nigella's Cupcakes
(Adapted from Nigella Bites)

Ingredients:
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Method:
Line your 12 muffin tin with parchment paper as described above. Preheat oven to 400°.
Put all your ingredients except the milk into your food processor. Pulse until smooth. Pulse while slowing adding the milk down the funnel to make a smooth dropping consistency. (I used the entire 3 tablespoons)
Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the mixture into the 12 muffin tins- about 1/3 to 1/2 full. It takes less than you would think- I used 1/2 an ice cream scoop- which seemed to be the easiest thing to use when dealing with the parchment paper liners.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top. Let them cool in their tins before frosting.

Royal Icing

Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Method:
Combine the egg whites and the confectioners sugar in your electric mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. Pour in the lemon juice and beat another couple minutes until spreading consistancy.

It's Memorial Day...

no, it's not about this. It's about this.



"We've been poisoned by these fairy tales," Don Henley sings in the End of the Innocence. That's so true of the way animals our viewed (vs. how they are actually treated), and by so many other pure things that have been corrupted in our world.



Here's to simpler times.

Three cases of swine flu has confirmed in Baltimore

Baltimore has its first three confirmed cases of H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, the city health department said Sunday.

All of the three people infected with the virus are adults, but not elderly, according to health officials. One of the people who fell ill is in a local hospital.

Health officials have released few details about the infected individuals, citing confidentiality.

The three cases are still under investigation, according to Dr. Anne Bailowitz, medical director for Environmental Health and Emergency Programs at the City Health Department.

To date, there have been 46 confirmed cases reported in Maryland, according to the health department. There have been no deaths resulting from the virus in the state.

"We continue to closely monitor these cases and the spread of H1N1 flu here in the city," Interim Commissioner Olivia Farrow said in a news release. "The outbreak of H1N1 in Maryland continues to involve generally mild symptoms similar to ordinary seasonal flu."

Initially, the virus caused widespread panic. But health officials now believe that cases have been mostly mild. Health officials have even backed off on closing schools at which students are sick.

In a statement, Mayor Sheila Dixon said: "I urge city residents to do their part to stop the spread of this illness by washing their hands frequently, practicing good cough hygiene and staying home if flu-like symptoms do develop."

source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.swineflu25may25,0,1036062.story

Teany...At Last

Vegetarian cafe Teany has been on my "must visit" list for some time. It was worth the wait. Prices are reasonable...no $12 desserts like you'll find at more upscale (translation: more expensive) Candle 79.

There are 98 varieties of tea on the menu! But with temperatures around 90 degrees, I went with the refreshing and unique lavender lemonade, $3.50. I'm getting into the habit of saying "No straw, please" when ordering a beverage, which garners confused looks from waiters everywhere. He put one in anyway. If I see an opportunity to cut out waste, even the most minimal, why not try?

Quiche is one of the items I miss most since making the switch to veganism from lacto-ovo vegetarianism. Their version, $9, had mushrooms, zucchini and olives, served with tomato cream sausage sauce and side salad with creamy herb dressing. Delicious. This would make a terrific addition to any summer picnic.

The triple chocolate cake, $5, for dessert. So decadent!


There are some benches outside where many were enjoying sangria or mimosas, both $8.

I would definitely come back. Service was a bit slow (there was only one waiter), but it was encouraging to see a completely full vegetarian restaurant when the economy is still suffering. A bit disappointing it's not strictly vegan (dairy is on the menu).

Images of rescued farm animals from Catskill Animal Sanctuary adorned the restroom walls.

I did notice Scott toilet paper in the restroom. Didn't they get the Greenpeace Guide on Recycled Paper Products, or hear about their campaign against Kimberly Clark? What, you don't notice the toilet paper when you dine out?

Visit teany cafe, 90 Rivington Street, NYC. Their web site warns it's cash-only.

Check out teany's cookbook at your library or a second hand version.

Is it possible to be in love with a restaurant?

If they have outdoor dining, non-dairy options like soy cheese and tofu sour cream, and reasonable prices, I say sí! Well, it would be perfect if it was organic.

A virgin mango margarita, $4.50, and sangria, $6.

Sweet fried plantains with cinnamon sugar, $6.50, to start. Like an appetizer and dessert combined into one.

Vegetable fajitas, $14.50. Definitely enough to share. Luckily, my dining companion, my mom, loves vegan food. Who would want to pollute this meal with chicken or beef?

Request non-dairy, and you'll get tofu sour cream, brown rice and a whole wheat tortilla. Although I do prefer Spanish rice with my Mexican. Craving sour cream for your at-home Mexican dinners? Try Tofutti sour cream.

The visit before this, I had the California tostados (pinto beans, shredded lettuce, tomato, avocado), with tofu sour cream, $7.75.


Visit Pancho's Burritos at 214 Main St., New Milford, NJ

The Secret Life of Animal Slaves

"Curiosity filled the breasts of these with some strange ecstasy.
Curiosity killed the best of these by robbing their lives of dignity.
Still they moved on and on." - Hateful Hate, by 10,000 Maniacs




In case you missed it, here is the fluff piece The Today Show ran on the Ringling Bros. Circus and the current lawsuit against them. While PETA's Dan Mathews, whistleblower Tom Rider, and the ASPCA got some air time, Natalie Morales was clearly swooned by Ringling head Ken Feld and his secret charm: Barack, a baby elephant born on the eve of the inauguration "It's the first elephant the Democrats can love," Feld declares.

Watch for yourself

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It's not enough that people think that animals are put on the planet for a cheap, nutrition poor food source, but they must also amuse us for a few hours. In both cases, animals are given the the most unnatural life conceivable, and most people seem to think that's just fine.

I attended a protest last year when the Ringling Bros. came to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. Circus goers were able to "connect" with these animals up close. Why are there no bullhooks in front of the circus goers?

A lifetime sentence of imprisonment for no crime committed.




Learn more about the federal lawsuit against Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Read PETA's blog entry, and visit their Circus.com site to learn more, including ways to get active.

In the New York City area, the meetup.com group HEART for Animals is a vocal friend of these animals when Ringling comes to town, and its leader, Claudia, organized the demonstration I attended.

So Hateful Hate continues:
"Curiosity spilled the blood of these for their spotted skins and ivory.
Curiosity filled the heads of these madmen with the lies of destiny.
Curiosity spilled the blood of these, then blotted their lives from history.
Curiosity filled the heads of these, one man claimed all that he could see.
Curiosity still entices these madmen with a lusting and a greed.
Their legacy, legacy, legacy..."

Iraq bombings killed 26 in Baghdad and Kirkuk

At least 23 people, including three US soldiers, have been killed in a series of deadly bombings in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Kirkuk.

In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber struck at a market in Baghdad's Dora district, killing 12 people, including three US soldiers.

The Kirkuk blast targeted members of the Awakening Council, a US-allied Sunni militia, killing eight people.

A third bombing inside a Baghdad police station killed three recruits.
Concerns over violence

The attacks come a day after at least 40 people were killed in a car bomb attack in north-western Baghdad.

Both the Iraqi government and the US say recent attacks are isolated incidents that do not undermine security gains. They say the attacks are not as sophisticated as they once were.

April was the bloodiest month in Iraq this year, with a 40% rise in the number of people killed over March - but the toll for May had been lower.

However the BBC's Natalia Antelava, in Baghdad, says many people in the capital feel the situation is deteriorating and could get worse once US troops withdraw from Iraqi cities at the end of June.

Three blasts

The US military said it could not immediately confirm Iraqi police reports of the deaths of three US soldiers in the attack in Dora, a district that was one of the city's most dangerous areas until a year ago.

The Kirkuk blast earlier on Thursday targeted members of the so-called Awakening Councils - a movement of former militias and insurgents who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied themselves with the US and Iraqi militaries.

The attacker, dressed in the group's uniform, joined a group of men waiting to receive their pay and then detonated explosives, officials said.

The attack at Baghdad's Al-Mamoun police station, in the west of the city, claimed the lives of three policemen and injured 19 people, including eight civilians.
Police said the bomb was planted inside a garbage container - the first time an explosive had gone off inside a police station.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8060883.stm

April in Paris? I Wish...May in New York

A day in the life of a New York City commuter can frighteningly start to resemble Bill Murray's in Groundhog Day. I sit on the same seat on the bus. I grab my free copy of amNewYork from the same person handing it out. But my "Phil Connors" moment really arrives when I pass the same red-headed, bearded man walking in the opposite direction as I near my office almost the exact same time each day. Spooky!

To break the monotony, I treated myself to breakfast instead of eating at home while perusing The New York Times online edition and checking various environmental and animal rights action centers (PETA's Action Center has new opportunities for armchair activism almost daily).

I'm always looking to recreate a bit of Paris in New York: tartine with strawberry preserves and a soy cafe au lait, $6.50, at Macaron Cafe. Extra points scored for the Counter Culture Coffee that is brewed here.

Seating is limited in this charming (but small) French cafe. On the morning most are on the go, so I was lucky enough to get a seat by the door. There's a similar seating area in the back.

If you come at lunch, expect long lines with many Frenchies. But that's a good sign...the French know good food! Well, except for some food. You can veganize their vegetarian sandwich, $6.50 (avocado, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce on a baguette) by leaving off the egg and mayo and adding olive oil. Pair with a lemonade, $2.25.

Crepes (not vegan) are on the menu. The Urban Vegan takes the cruelty out of this classic French treat. Veganize simple fare such as onion soup, quiche, and pain au chocolat (which I always make when craving a chocolate croissant).

Visit Macaron Cafe, 161 West 36th Street (between Seventh and Sixth Ave.), NYC.

My latest Frenchie find: Emily Loizeau, whose music I discovered on a compilation at one of my favorite places, my local library. Although that better be faux fur on her album cover (wishful thinking). The beauty of spring is I no longer have to see any more horrid fur fashions on my walk to the office.

E-cigarettes

It's been a long time since smokers could light up on a plane or during a business meeting, but a new product is allowing them to do exactly that.

Savory Palmiers

Amazingly, May is upon us and my garden club is about to have their end-of-year luncheon, which always means pot luck. And believe me when I say pot luck I don’t mean you get to bring any old thing you want. The food committee is a group of lets-get-it-done organized women, which, oddly enough, is not something I can say about us the rest of the time. A very laid back group to say the least. Anyway...you don’t just sign up for say…a salad… but you have to describe exactly what kind of salad so there are no duplications. I signed up originally to bring a pound cake- always the easiest and serves lots of people- but I didn’t get away with it as everyone else had the same idea. So a phone call from the committee put an end to that; they requested I change my dish from dessert to appetizer. Guess salads were plentiful too as that was definitely NOT an option.

Now I had to mull over this appetizer situation for a while- it’s a luncheon and I was told someone else is bringing shrimp. My hors d’oeuvre repertoire is really geared for cocktail and dinner parties which are a whole different ball game. I thought of a dip- but no- too much like a cocktail party. Thought about my red pepper cheesecake and then remembered we need finger food to start with- that certainly isn’t. And then I didn’t want anything too heavy but I did want something yummy and not run of the mill. Maybe you thought of something right away, but I was stumped.

Ina Garten came to mind the next morning. She has a mouth-watering savory cookie recipe made with fresh thyme and Parmesan cheese, but I think fruit should be served with it and that is way too involved with serving pieces and extra bowls. Things will be bad enough without me adding to the mess. So I flipped a few more pages in her cookbook, and there it was: Savory Palmiers. I’d already made them a couple times so knew I could put them together the day before, stick them in the refrigerator overnight and bake them just before I go over the next day. With our humidity I have found these palmiers lose their crispness really fast so you need to serve them fairly quickly after baking. But as long as I could put them together the day before they would be fine.

Have you had a chance to make them yet? I’ve always been a sucker for sweet palmiers but the savory ones are way better. And best of all: a snap to put together. Is there anything easier than puff pastry? I think Ina has several recipes in this book using puff pastry- it must be this year’s special ingredient for her. Fattening, of course, as a lot of her recipes are but it sure makes life easier. With all the food be available at this pot luck luncheon I don’t think anyone is going to worry about calories of one appetizer- and most people will only eat one anyway. No problem using store bought pesto either, it works just fine. I love that these palmiers can be made ahead and you will love how they taste.

Update: They were a hit! Then right on the heels of that comment came another: “These must have been hard to make.” They couldn’t be more wrong.

Savory Palmiers
(Adapted from Back to Basics, The Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients:
1 package frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted
1/4 cup prepared pesto, store-bought or homemade
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese, such as Montrachet
1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Method:

Lightly flour a board and carefully unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Roll the pastry lightly with a rolling pin until it’s 9 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Spread the sheet of puff pastry with half the pesto. Then sprinkle with half the goat cheese, half the sun-dried tomatoes, and half the pine nuts.

Working from the short ends, fold each end halfway to the center. Then fold each side again toward the center until the folded edges almost touch. Fold one side over the other and press lightly. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat for the second sheet of puff pastry using the remaining ingredients. Cover both rolls with plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the prepared rolls of puff pastry into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place them face up 2 inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes, until golden brown.

Wolfram Alpha Launched Computational knowledge search engine

How long does it take to get to Saturn at, say, the speed of light?

With Wolfram Alpha, the online "computational knowledge engine" that launched Monday, the answer - 75 minutes - can be found in a fraction of a second.

Web users can submit customized questions to the service, and Wolfram Alpha will try to work out the answer on the fly. The chance that a healthy 35-year-old woman will contract heart disease in the next 10 years? One in 167. The temperature in Washington, D.C., during the July 1976 bicentennial? An average of 74 degrees.

For questions like these, Google and Wikipedia, perhaps the two best known online reference tools, would search through vast databases of existing Web pages hoping for a match.

Not so with Wolfram Alpha. "We're not using the things people have written down on the Web," said Stephen Wolfram, the project's creator and the founder of Wolfram Research Inc., which is based in Champaign, Ill. "We're trying to use the actual corpus of human knowledge to compute specific answers."

To do that, Wolfram and his team of human curators have equipped their system with a wide array of mathematical equations, as well as 10 terabytes of data from thousands of sources: scientific journals, encyclopedias, government repositories and any other source the company feels is credible. That generally doesn't include user-created websites.

How much data is 10 terabytes? Ask Wolfram Alpha: It'll tell you that's about half the text-based content held by the Library of Congress.

And there's more to come.

Adding more data and computational capability is an endless process, Wolfram said. "The main thing we have to do is to work with experts in every possible domain."

Whether all that specific knowledge will translate into advertising dollars remains to be seen. Some analysts are skeptical about the site's potential to become a Google-like thoroughfare for online consumption.

Most search revenue comes from people doing commerce-related searches, said Douglas Clinton, an analyst at investment firm Piper Jaffray Cos. "You're not going to want an answer from Wolfram Alpha's computer about what the best digital camera is, because there's not really an algorithmic answer to a question like that."

As a much-hyped entrant into the knowledge search market, Wolfram Alpha has not escaped comparisons to Google and speculation about whether it could steal some of the search giant's massive market share.

But their mission statements make it clear that the two services are not identical.

Google famously hopes to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

The focus of Wolfram Alpha, on the other hand, is to "make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything."

Lofty hopes, but neither is there yet.

Wolfram Alpha can display the molecular structure of the solvent acetone. It can list recent earthquakes near most U.S. cities. And it can tell you the rate of inflation in Tanzania.

Yet it gets tripped up on a question as simple as "What time is it?"

As Wolfram himself points out, making the engine smarter is not just a matter of shoveling in more data. Even when the answer already exists in the database, the software may simply be unable to understand the question.

"What time is it in California," for instance, yields the correct result.

Half the battle, then, is teaching the program to parse human language so it knows what it's being asked to do.

But as rough as it may seem now, Wolfram Alpha looks to be the leading edge of a newer, smarter crop of search engines.

It's the use of so-called semantic technologies, where computers grapple with concepts and simple learning, that may define the next generation of Web services.

Does that mean artificial intelligence? Not quite yet, said James Hendler, a professor of computer science at New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

"Computers are getting very good at the sort of powerful learning that comes from recognizing patterns in very large sets of data," he said. "But they still haven't gotten at all good at figuring out the very general, intuitive, complex things that make us human."

source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wolframalpha19-2009may19,0,5810966.story

Women won four seats in Kuwait parliamentary elections

SANA, Yemen - Women won four seats in the Kuwaiti parliamentary elections over the weekend, a historic first and one of several electoral surprises that appeared to reflect a deep popular frustration with the political deadlock in the oil-rich gulf state of Kuwait.

Liberal Kuwaitis celebrated the landmark with fireworks and parties after the elections on Saturday. Women gained the right to vote and run for office in 2005, but none had been elected until now. Many conservatives resisted the idea, and in recent weeks Islamists urged voters not to elect women to the 50-seat assembly.

The elections came two months after Kuwait's ruler, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, dissolved Parliament to end its latest standoff with the cabinet. It was the third time in three years that there had been such a standoff. Each time, lawmakers accused cabinet members of misconduct or corruption, creating a noisy spectacle and cabinet resignations. Sheik Sabah has consistently reappointed as prime minister his nephew, Sheik Nasser al-Muhammad al-Sabah.

The tensions have slowed economic reforms in Kuwait that many analysts view as essential.

Such tensions seem likely to continue, despite some noteworthy electoral shifts, political analysts said. Sunni Islamist candidates, who gained ground last year in the most recent election, lost some seats on Saturday, results showed. Liberals and independent candidates slightly increased their representation.

But many incumbents retained seats, including some who are widely considered to be responsible for the confrontations with the executive branch.

Voter turnout was down, and some popular incumbents won by narrow margins, in an apparent sign of discontent with many members of Parliament over the political turmoil.

"The main theme of this election was frustration," said Ghanim al-Najjar, a newspaper columnist who is a professor of political science at Kuwait University. “People have a negative attitude toward the M.P.’s.”

Kuwaitis are proud of their relatively democratic political traditions, an exception in a region dominated by autocracies. Parliament sets the emir’s salary and is the nation’s sole source of legislation.

But many believe that their country, one of the world's leading oil exporters, has fallen behind its autocratic gulf neighbors Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Some Kuwaitis are eager for public investment and economic reforms, and say the constant parliamentary battles are to blame.

The election of women to the assembly is a separate matter and a source of intense pride for many Kuwaitis.

The winners were Rola Dashti, an American-educated economist; Salwa al-Jassar and Aseel al-Awadi, who are both professors; and Massouma al-Mubarak, who in 2005 became the country’s first female cabinet minister.

Some Kuwaitis said the election results might be less important than the announcement of the new cabinet in the coming weeks.

"If it's the same cabinet and the same prime minister, we will get the same result again," said Nasser al-Sane, an Islamist and former Parliament member.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/world/middleeast/18kuwait.html?ref=middleeast

The Future of The Earth

is in Your Shopping Cart, declares this bag. How true!


Many environmentalists refuse to think about the harmful impact on our Earth their meat and animal by-products consumption has. Did you know there is a 'dead zone' of 7,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana that cannot sustain most aquatic life because of severe oxygen depletion from animal manure pollution, noted Farm Sanctuary's Veg for Life? Or that it takes an estimated 4,000 gallons of water to produce a one day, animal-based food supply for an average American (vs. 300 gallons for a plant-based diet)? Learn more.

Would it really be a huge sacrifice to switch from a hamburger to a veggie burger or organic grilled veggies for their BBQs? Instead of pork beans, why not organic baked beans? Or from cow's milk to a non-dairy option? But I digress...

This weekend, I joined fellow environmentalists in taking part in Hackensacker Riverkeeper's clean-up of Staib Park in Hackensack. It was great to see so many youth groups participating. One teenage boy exclaimed, "You get to save the environment and have fun." Where were boys like him when I was in high school?

Trash from Route 4 businesses such as Wendy's and Fuddruckers trickles down to the woods, and often to the river, including cups, ketchup packets, and straws.

As is everywhere in our world, cigarette butts littered the ground. Note to smokers: the streets are not your ashtray. Cigarette butts can take 10 to 15 years to break down in the environment, and in the process, leach toxic chemicals into the water and soil as they corrode into tiny plastic powder, according to EcoWorldy. One tree is sacrificed for every 300 cigarettes produced, noted YgoY.com.

After just an hour and a half, volunteers collected all this. An AC, several tires, and an old lawn mower were in the mix.

Afterwards, I hit the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop, where I picked up a set of silverware for $10 for our office kitchen. For every reusable fork, spoon or knife people take, that's one less in the landfill wasting away for thousands of years. I've even started bringing my own silverware when I know disposable will be around, as well as takeout containers for leftovers when dining out, and highly recommend this. Don't feel self-conscious...be a trendsetter!

At the C.A.T.S. store, I socialized with my friend Dottie, who suffers from eye ailments. Instead of doing the responsible thing, her owners tossed her into the woods to fend for herself. Much like their trash, many people seem to think their pets are disposable too. Read about her story.

The next clean-up is Saturday, May 30, in Kenneth B. George Park, River Edge.

British fighter jet crashes in southern Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) - A British Harrier fighter jet crashed in southern Afghanistan Thursday, injuring the pilot, NATO said.

The alliance said in a statement that the aircraft had made an emergency landing at Kandahar Airfield in the south of the country. The pilot ejected and was believed to have suffered only minor injuries. There were no other casualties.

"The exact cause of the incident is not yet known, however there is currently no suggestion that the incident was caused by enemy action," the alliance said in a statement.

Earlier a spokesman blamed mechanical failure for the crash, which he said had taken place shortly after takeoff.

Royal Air Force has had BAE Harrier GR7 aircraft deployed in Afghanistan since 2006, adding more advanced Harrier GR9s in early 2007.

source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE54D1KQ20090514

'Slumdog' Child Star's Home Torn Down

The 10-year-old child star of "Slumdog Millionaire" was awakened Thursday by a policeman wielding a bamboo stick and ordered out of his home. Minutes later it was bulldozed along with dozens of other shanties. (May 14)

Sicily is Local? I Wish...

Locally grown asparagus, Old Hook Farm, Emerson, NJ. I can't wait to make cream of asparagus soup with this.


Is olive oil produced in Sicily considered local if it has a Brooklyn address? The Whole Foods Market in Paramus, NJ, seems to think so, according to Second Helpings.

Beware of dubious marketing as the local movement strengthens. Most of the food industry banks on the fact that the consumer does not question much, and they usually don't.

"So their minds are soft and lazy," Natalie Merchant reminds us in the 10,000 Maniacs song, "Candy Everybody Wants."

I cherish my weekly visits to Old Hook Farm. While mega-stores like the new 63,000 sq. ft. Whole Foods and a Fairway Market are taking over in nearby Paramus, I prefer supporting my local, organic farmer.

Many people grumble about not being able to find more money to spend on organics, yet a lot of these same people who I encounter regularly come up with funds in a flash for the highest end cable package, Netflix on top of that, every new gadget that comes out, gas guzzling cars and more. No wonder there's no money left! But why is what goes in your body such an afterthought?

I am an advocate of frugality and a staunch opponent of the idea of living beyond your means. Americans have been duped into believing everything is a necessity, but clean drinking water and air, fertile soil, and animal welfare have not made the priority list.

I'm rejecting the idea of acquiring so much 'stuff.' I love the Gardenburger philosophy, "We believe in healthy eating and great-tasting foods, gardens, respect for all living things, moms and dads, independence, veggies, education, healthy kids, a good earth, and happy people."

There are two million farms in the USA, and about 80% of those are small farms, according to Local Harvest. Find a local farm near you.

Not ready to give up your Mexican avocados? Don't fret. I try and eat locally what can be grown locally. I do believe you have to support farmers in other nations. But I don't support buying an apple from New Zealand when I can buy one from New Jersey, and I love the idea of seasonal eating. Remember when watermelon was just a summertime treat?


Hit your local library for a vegan cookbook, or take to the web. I found recipe ideas for beets with mustard dressing, to accompany carrot ginger soup or creamy broccoli soup. Perfect with a crusty loaf of bread.

"Glazed apathetic leash."
10,000 Maniacs - Candy Everybody Wants

Family Of Woman Who Died While Sick With Swine Flu

HARLINGEN, Texas - The family of a woman from Harlingen, who died of the swine flu, is exploring the possibility of filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Steven Trunnell, husband of Judy Trunnell, who died May 5, has filed a discovery petition in court against Smithfield Foods, Inc. and its subsidiary Granjas Carroll de Mexico.

The widower Trunnell says in the petition that Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a pig farm in Mexico, where the swine flu is believed to have originated. He says the pigs are kept in deplorable conditions on the farm in La Gloria.

Judy Trunnell, 33, had given birth to a baby by emergency caesarian section approximately two weeks before her death. She worked as a special education teacher in the Mercedes Independent School District.

Trunnell's death was the first reported swine flu death in the U.S.

source: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/health/090513_swine_flu_victim_husband_lawsuit

General Instructions for Disposable Respirators

This podcast, intended for the general public, demonstrates how to put on and take off disposable respirators that are to be used in areas affected by the influenza outbreak.

Google unveils new search tools

Google said in its quest to create the perfect search engine, it cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

The company's comments came at an event billed as a "state of the union" on search as it unveiled new products that aim to push search in a new direction.

Google has over 63% of the US market compared to rival Yahoo with 20%.

"The race in search is far from over and innovation and continued improvement is absolutely pivotal," said Google's Marissa Mayer.

"I've said this many times but search is still in its infancy. Our engineers are worried about what is the next big thing in search and how are they going to find it," said Ms Mayer who is the vice president of search products and user experience.

She said last year Google released over 365 products and in the first quarter of this year it was 120. Ms Mayer added that this was proof that "Google gets better all the time."

Google has in the past said that despite its lead in the marketplace, users were "one click away" from switching to other alternatives.

Vanessa Fox of SearchEngineLand told the BBC that Google's ability to constantly innovate gives them a leading edge.

"Google is saying we have to provide for all searchers and do things at scale. It means they have to launch all sorts of features while some companies can concentrate on just one thing. The key thing behind why they are still ahead is because they are able to innovate at such a pace," said Ms Fox.

Google Squared

During the "Searchology" event at Google's Mountain View headquarters, Ms Mayer and her team showcased four new products that she said would give users a "different way to look at the web."

One of the more experimental was called Google Squared which will go public in the next month or so. It takes information from the web and displays it in a spreadsheet in "split seconds," something Ms Mayer said would normally take someone a half a day to do.

During the demonstration, a query for "small dog" was typed into the search box. Seconds later a table popped up showing photographs of various dogs, their origin, weight and height in a clear and simple layout.

While Ms Mayer described this product as "transformative" she would only hint at the specific techniques that Google uses to drive this feature.

"I think we can open the kimono a little bit without talking about the computer science behind it.

"What they are basically doing is looking for structures on the web that seem to imply facts. Like something 'is' something.

"Different tables, different structures, and then corroborating the evidence around whether or not something is a fact by looking at whether that fact occurs across pages.

"This is all in the secret sauce of what we are doing and it takes an incredible amount of compute power to create those squares," said Ms Mayer.

"Refine, filter and view"

Google Search Options is a tool that is aimed at letting users "slice and dice" results so they can manipulate the information and get what they want faster.

They come into play after a normal web search and allow users to drill down into the results by offering an option for different genres like product reviews, forum posts or videos. Other choices include recently added blogs, images, timelines and so on.

Ms Mayer said this new feature should help people who struggle with the "vexing" problem of exactly what query they should type into the search box.

It is meant to give users the opportunity to "refine, filter and view results in a different way."

Another feature is called "Rich Snippets" which are search results that return more information in every listing.

For example, users looking for reviews of a new restaurant might get a "rich snippet" of average review scores, number of reviews and the restaurant's price range.

"This is a step toward making the whole internet smarter," said Google product manager Kavi Goel.

'Skymap'

A final feature had Ms Mayer "reaching for the stars" with an app for mobile phones using the Android operating system.

"For a long time here at Google we joked could we actually find physical things like keys and now with the power and technology of Android, coupled with search, you can see we are starting to find some physical things like stars," said Ms Mayer.

Skymap displays the constellations. By using the smart phone's GPS capability, it offers the user a dynamic star map that knows where they are standing and which way they are pointing

The feature came about as a result of Google's 20% time that allows engineers to spend one fifth of their time working on pet projects.

The app is now available on the Android app market.

"Clearly Google is still pushing the envelope with all these new additions," said Rob Hof, Silicon Valley editor of Business Week.

"They are certainly continuing to improve daily. Whether it makes a difference and will stave off the competition, I don't know. But they are not standing still."

Ms Mayer said keeping the user happy is at the heart of everything they do.

"There is a shoe company called Stuart Weitzman and their slogan is "a little obsessed with shoes."

"Google is a little more than obsessed with search," confessed Ms Mayer.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8047076.stm