Random Notes from a Crank

The New York Times has an interesting article/quiz about nuts that's fun and informational: "What's the Healthiest Nut?"

I'm a big fan of almonds, pistachios, Brazil nuts, and walnuts. 

GoComics.com

Alcaraz has it about right with the above political cartoon. 

President Adolf can lie all he wants about how there's no affordability crisis, but people who actually pay for things know what's going on. 

GoComics.com

Markstein speaks the truth. 

I saw that Moscow Don's approval rating is in the high 20s. It's hard to understand how it's that high. 

Then again, MAGA is a cult. 

MAME: Making America More Expensive. 

In other news, there seems to be some positivity going in the other direction: "Hispanic Voters, Abandoning Trump, Are Transforming the Midterm Map." 

Let's hope there is good news with the midterms. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Tomato Sauce

My son is at college and wanted my recipe for pasta sauce. So I texted it to him, and I realized I never did a post about the sauce I make all the time. 

It's a mainstay of my kitchen. If you wanted to make it just for one person, all the ingredients would be cut in half. 

Ingredients

2 cans of crushed tomatoes - I prefer the crushed toms (short for tomatoes) from Aldi

1 yellow onion, chopped finely 

3-8 cloves of garlic (depending on how much garlic you want to go with), chopped finely

Dried basil 

Dried oregano (I typically use these in a 2 to 1 ratio)

4-6 TB of butter (usually the Aldi Irish butter)

2-3 bay leaves

Smidge of red pepper flakes

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Process

Cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat it to a little under medium-high heat. Add in the onion, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and cook for approximately 10 minutes until the onion is tender. Adjust the heat to just under medium. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1-2 minutes. 

Dump in the crushed toms, add the butter, add the basil and oregano, and kick the heat down to somewhere between medium-low and low. Add salt and pepper. 

Partially cover the pot with a lid, so there's just a crack on the side. I usually cook it down anywhere from 2-4 hours while checking on it from time to time and tasting, so it's just cooking gently. 

In some cases, instead of just using onion, I sometimes use a mirepoix by adding one stalk of celery and one carrot, both of which are chopped finely. 

Or I'll add in cooked Italian sausage or ground beef. 

Random Notes from a Crank

You know you've bought good stone fruit when you have to eat the fruit over the sink because it's so juicy. 

I bought some "Southern" peaches here in east central Illinois at a grocery store, and they actually ripened well. Sometimes that positive outcome doesn't happen at all. 

I've had peaches picked in the deep South, and none of the ones I've had here have lived up to those. 

I recently finished Michael Pollan's new book A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. It's an interesting ride into how people are trying to figure out consciousness.  

Image courtesy of Amazon

Feelings and memories seem to be key to consciousness, and I don't think the people trying to create an artificial consciousness are going to be successful. 

Bill Bramhall's political cartoon about 60 Minutes in spot on. 

Courtesy of GoComics

The only thing worth watching from that company (Paramount) is The Daily Show. And we'll see if someone starts screwing around with that fine program. 

CBS cancels Stephen Colbert because they were bribing President Adolf, and now they are destroying one of the best news programs around. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I discovered a new (to me) cocktail that I'm taking a shine to. It's called the Baltimore Bang. 

I'm a huge fan of bourbon, of course. But I also love apricots. The current recipe includes 1 oz. of lemon juice, so I may experiment doing without the lemon juice to bring out more of the apricot flavor. 

But I'm also a fan of the classic Manhattan cocktail. 

I was recently alarmed by the high prices for blueberries. I was in my local supermarket, and a carton was over seven bucks. 

Apparently, there are a number of factors why they are so high right now: climate change, the lack of migrant workers, and shipping problems. This article from 2025 explains it all: "Why Your Blueberries Are Suddenly So Expensive." 

Also, a more recent article in Business Insider cites the Iran War as a major factor for higher grocery prices across the board.

And the New York Times has an article on just that issue because, as an expert says in the article, "Berries are often the first category where consumers notice fuel inflation. When fuel prices rise, those costs move through the supply chain almost immediately." 

Read all about in "Where Might the Iran War Hit Your Grocery Bill? Start with Raspberries."  

Other significant factors are President Adolf's stupid tariffs, a weak US dollar, and a lack of migrant workers to pick produce. 

The political cartoonist usually isn't this blunt with his work, but I like it. 

Jeff Stahler 4/9/26 GoComics.com

In what is great news, the dictator Orban lost his election to remain Prime Minister of Hungary: "Orban, Beacon to the Right, Concedes Defeat in Hungary Election." 

And the new PM Magyar plans to get back on the right footing and stop the propaganda machine that Orban created: "Hungarian Election Winner Magyar Vows to Rebuild EU Relationship after Stunning Defeat of Orban." 

Random Notes from a Crank

In what may come as a surprise to some but not to me, Twitter implemented an "about this account" feature that revealed many of these pro-MAGA and pro-Trump accounts originate from foreign countries, such as Russia, India, and Nigeria, among others: "Top MAGA Influencers Accidentally Unmasked as Foreign Trolls." 

I quit Twitter a good while ago because it's a cesspool run by a wannabe Nazi. 

But this report only shows that social media platform is even worse than assumed. 

In other predictable news, the NFL team I root for, the Minnesota Vikings, is sucking. 

And my fantasy football team, the Schlitzophrenics cannot catch a break. I was set to make the upper bracket of the playoffs as the third or fourth seed, but after this week, my team's situation is looking sketchy to possibly grim. 

As I've done for a while now, I'm brining a turkey for Thanksgiving. 

Here's my recipe: "Turkey Brine." 

Random Notes from a Crank

I need someone with a culinary and scientific mind to explain to me why chili seems to taste better as a leftover as compared to when you make it. 

Sometimes that seems to work the same with red sauce. 

Watching the X-Files makes one remember the terrible stylistic blandness of mid-90s American sedans. 

Well, the meeting of Moscow Don and Putin went as expected. 

President Adolf is still trying to get the taste of Putin's cock out of his mouth. This comic by Clay Bennett sums it up. 

This week's Existential Comic about William James is pretty good: "William James and the Train Robbery." 

As is expected, Moscow Don doesn't know what the hell he's talking about: "Trump Said the US Is the 'Only Country' that Uses Mail-In Voting. That's Wrong." 

I'm still waiting on the release of those Epstein files, bruh. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I haven't chimed in yet about the eventual cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but the fact he's getting his show taken away is ridiculous. 

He has the highest-rated late-night show on TV. 

Two days before he found out he was losing his show he criticized Paramount for caving to bribing Trump so they can get its media merger. 

Here's a comic that was in Saturday's Washington Post from Tom the Dancing Bug. 

I'm surprised Bezos is letting this cartoonist do his thing since he attended President Adolf's inauguration and is trying to limit the coverage of opinions in what was an esteemed paper. 

Meanwhile, Congress passed a budget that adds to the deficit/national debt and simply helps rich people and corporations. 

And Adolf's tariff's are unlikely, as the authors of "Trumps Global Tariffs 'Victory' May Well Come at a High Price," to do what he purports them to do: "But history tells us that his overarching aim - to return production and jobs to America - may meet with very limited success. And America's long-time trading partners, like Canada and the EU, could start looking to form economic and political connections that bypass what they no longer view as a reliable economic ally." 

Jobs aren't going to return to the U.S. because of these stupid tariffs. Our trading partners are going to find more stable countries to trade with. And prices for Americans are going to go up because of tariffs. 

I'm glad I bought a half of cow over a year ago because apparently beef prices are high as hell. 

And eggs haven't gone down.  

Random Notes from a Crank

As I get older, I worry about how my brain is working. 

So when I got onto The Washington Post during our vacation here in Fort Morgan, Alabama, a couple of articles jumped out to me.

The first one is "Want to Keep Your Brain Sharp as You Age? Science May Have a Recipe." 

It's pretty clear that the Mediterranean diet is something to aspire to. I get regular exercise walking the dog weather permitting, but I could also go back to using dumbbells. 

And in this dark time during the administration of President Adolf, "7 Short, Simple Science-based Ways to Add Joy to Your Life" is worth a read. 

The phrase "little earthquakes in the mind" reminded me of this song by Tori Amos. 

Being down here in the Deep South has reminded me about how so many southerners drive way too damn slowly.

Way too many drivers are camped out in the left lane and driving slowly and clogging up traffic. 

Musing of the Moment: Golden Hami Melons

I shopped at Aldi the other day, and there was this melon I'd never seen. It's a Golden Hami melon. 

From my vantage point, it looks like a football-shaped cantaloupe. And I like melons. 

I cut it up this afternoon, and it's colored like a cantaloupe. However, it tastes more like a honeydew. 

It's like a cantaloupe and a honeydew got busy and had a baby. 

Random Notes from a Crank

 

I saw this image from the Radical Centrist on FB. I thought I'd share. 

If you were to make a Venn diagram of these assertions, that Venn diagram don't hunt. 

I don't understand why Tottenham Hotspur appears not to be showing any interest in the Canadian striker Jonathan David. 

He's a free agent. He's two-footed. He's productive. He's in his mid-20s. And there's no transfer free. I think he's a fabulous player. 

In a recent YouGov daily survey, 50% of people polled said "Yes" to this question:"Would you ever vote for a third party or an independent candidate?" I said Yes to that question. I'd vote for one for sure if the candidate was viable. 

The third question was "Do you think a third major political party is necessary for the United States, or are the Democratic and Republican parties enough?" 55% answered "A third party is necessary in the U.S." Only 20% agreed with "The Democratic and Republican parties are enough to represent Americans." 25% were "Not sure." 

Mother Jones has a solid short article that describes the importance of preserving and probably expanding wetlands: "The Economic Case for Preserving America's Wetlands." 

As the author relates, wetlands work like sponges, so they can prevent the massive flooding events that are only going to be more frequent because of climate change. Unfortunately, under the the administration of President Adolf, I doubt many projects like the one in Raleigh are going to get going.  

A frightening article in that same issue of Mother Jones is one about Clearview AI, a facial-recognition tech company whose founders have ties to right-wing extremists, Holocaust deniers, and Neo-Nazis. 

Check out "The Shocking Far-Right Agenda behind the Facial Recognition Tech Used by ICE and the FBI."

Here are some interesting statistics from the June "Harper's Index":

• Percentage by which tourism to the United States is projected to decrease this year: 9
• Percentage increase this year in seizures of eggs being smuggled into the United States: 48
• Percentage increase last year in the number of U.S. households that owned chickens: 28
• Factor by which the word "notable" appears more frequently in AI-generated sentences than in those written by humans: 13
• By which the word "esteemed" does: 120

I'm surprised the decrease in tourism is only projected to be 9%. I thought it would be in the high teens.

I'll be on the lookout for "notable" and "esteemed." 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Modified Pasta alla Zozzona with Mushrooms

This recipe is a modification of the "Dumbed-Down Pasta alla Zozzona" I made recently. 

I cut the bacon and added garlic and mushrooms. 

Ingredients

1 lb. of Italian sausage

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1/2 cup of Parmesan-Romano cheese

A healthy amount of cracked black pepper

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 package of fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/2 cup of dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)

1 bottle of pasatta (I used the Rutti brand)

1 lb. of penne pasta (use the tubular pasta of your choice)

Process

I used a Dutch oven for this dish, but if you have a very large saute pan, that will work too. 

I cooked the pasta and then drained it while doing this. Reserve some pasta water in case you need to thin out the sauce a bit. 

Set to medium heat, add a little extra virgin olive oil, add in the onion and bay leaves, cook the onion for roughly ten minutes, and add in the sausage. Cook the sausage thoroughly. I broke up the sausage with potato masher and mixed the sausage and onion together.  

Add the wine, set to high to burn off the alcohol, then move the heat to just under medium heat 

Add in the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for a minute or two. Take out the bay leaves and add the sliced mushrooms. 

Add in the passata and do a low-key simmer for approximately 15 minutes. 

Combine the egg yolks, egg, cheese, and a ton of freshly cracked black pepper. Mix thoroughly. 

Add the pasta into the Dutch oven. Thoroughly mix it in and cook for approximately 5-10 minutes. 

Taste to see if you need to add salt and pepper (I added a little of each). 

Take the Dutch oven off the heat and mix in the egg-cheese mixture. Serve. 

Random Notes from a Crank

As was expected, Moscow Don's foolish economic policies have made the economy worse because of his stupid tariffs and the amount of debt the U.S. owes to all kinds of countries: "Markets Rattled on Concerns about U.S. Debt." 

This is what the U.S. gets when the country votes in a moron who bankrupted a casino.

The GOP says they care about budget deficits, but when they get the White House, the deficit increases. 

They only seem to care about the deficit when a Democrat is in office. 

I recently purchased some chia seeds because I've been reading about the health benefits of eating them. People suggest using them with yogurt. 

I've moved from the high-sugar yogurts to something much healthier. I'm going with Greek yogurt with fruit intermixed, and I add some honey for a bit of sweetness. Then I will sprinkle in some chia seeds. 

Here's what Healthline says about chia seeds: "Chia Seeds 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits." 

Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League yesterday. #COYS

I'm intrigued with which new players will join the club to bolster its squad because of the Champions League competition. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Dumbed-Down Pasta alla Zozzona

I subscribe to Sip and Feast on YouTube, and this is a variation of his recipe. I don't think I've ever seen guanciale around these parts of east-central Illinois. Hell, I rarely see pancetta around here. 

And since I only see pecorino romano at Aldi on occasion, I just had to use parmesan. 

And before I watched the video, I had no idea what the heck pasatta was. I was able to acquire that via the InterWebs. 

If you want a truly Roman version of this dish, check out "Pasta alla Zozzona - The Secret Roman Pasta I Can't Stop Making." 

After we ate this today, the comment I made to Mrs. Nasty was that if I had to add anything to this dish, it would be mushrooms. I don't know if that would be a sacrilege or not. 

Ingredients

4 slices of good bacon, cut into small pieces

1 lb. of Italian sausage

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1/2 cup of Parmesan-Romano cheese

A healthy amount of cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/2 cup of dry white wine

1 bottle of pasatta (I used the Rutti brand)

1 lb. of penne pasta (use the tubular pasta of your choice)

Process

I used a Dutch oven for this dish, but if you have a very large saute pan, that will work too. 

Place the bacon into the oven and render it. Pull it out and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. 

I cooked the pasta and then drained it while doing this. Reserve some pasta water in case you need to thin out the sauce a bit. 

Set to medium heat and add in the sausage. Cook halfway through and add in the onion. I broke up the sausage with potato masher and mixed the sausage and onion together. 

Add the pepper flakes and distribute them for a minute or two. 

Add the wine, set to high to burn off the alcohol, then move the heat to just under medium heat, and add the Passata. 

Combine the egg yolks, egg, cheese, and a ton of freshly cracked black pepper. Mix thoroughly. 

Set the sauce to a low-key simmer for approximately 15 minutes and add the pasta. Thoroughly mix it in and cook for approximately 10 minutes. 

Taste to see if you need to add salt (I added a little). 

Take the Dutch oven off the heat and mix in the egg-cheese mixture. Serve. 

One of the aspects of this dish that surprised me is that it does not call for any garlic at all.  

Random Notes from a Crank

Rachel Maddow covered the imbecility of the Secretary of Education extensively in one of her shows, but the marketing gurus took it a step further with this Instagram post. 

That's some pretty good satire right there. 

I happened upon an interesting article from the BBC that talks about how people are using brewers spent grain. They're experimenting will turning it into food products and an alternative to leather. Check it out in "How Beer Sludge Is Being Turned into Vegan Milk and Leather." 

My word-of-the-day calendar shows that today's word as "mala fide," which is an adverb or adjective meaning "with or in bad faith." That word sums up a lot about the current administration in D.C. 

My club, Tottenham Hotspur, have a huge away game tomorrow. 

As much as I like Ange, if he doesn't win it all in the Europa League, I think he's going to get sacked. 

The team went through a dreadful spell for about three months when they had all kinds of injuries, but with the way he has turned again or criticized the fans, I don't think he'll survive for next season. 

But I hope to be proven wrong by him winning a trophy and Spurs doing well in the remaining games in the Premier League. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Salt-Pepper Seasoning for the Griddle

I got a griddle over a year ago after my grill went kaput. When I got the Blackstone, I also got the griddle paraphernalia that comes along with it. 

So I have one of those stainless shakers to use for whatever I want to put into it. 

Here's my initial recipe that I may modify on down the line. 

Ingredients

2/3 cup of fine kosher salt

1/3 cup of black pepper

1 TB of onion powder

1 TB of garlic powder

1 TB of Penzey's Justice seasoning

1 ts of Penzey's roasted garlic

1 ts of sweet paprika

1 ts of Penzey's smoked paprika

Process

Mix it all together thoroughly and put into a shaker. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I've heard of French bread, and I've heard of Italian bread. But this is the first time I've had French Italian bread. 

What manner of culinary mash-up of this? They didn't even have the grammatical acumen to use an hyphen. 

I'm sure I've said this before on this blog, or maybe I just have thought it many times. I don't go to Walmart often, but when I do, I feel much better about myself. 

If you want to feel better about your body image or your sense of style, go to Walmart. You'll feel like a healthy and well dressed person. 

The New York Times did an interesting analysis. Apparently the retaliatory tariffs from other countries are going to hurt areas that widely voted for President Adolf: "Trade War Retaliation Will Hit Trump Voters Hardest." 

I think it's pretty clear we are headed to a showdown about the Constitution and about what the Executive Branch can and cannot do. I don't feel good about with the makeup of the Supreme Court. 

Perhaps this trend has always been the case, but based on my history of watching Reels, my trinity of jokesters is Norm Macdonald, Bill Burr, and Seinfeld (the TV series). 

I started watching Krapopolis on Netflix. Episode 11 that uses the Hydra to signify social media was a brilliant move. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I volunteered to conduct a couple of mock interviews with graduating seniors in our department. The one I did last week was with a young lady who is intending to enroll in a graduate program at the University of Alberta. 

My first question to her was why that university, and I asked a joking question of "Are you a big fan of the Edmonton Oilers or something?"

Her reply was that part of the reason was the "political situation" in the U.S. 

I suspect Canadian universities are going to see an uptick in applications from U.S. students over the next few years. I know my daughter is probably looking at some grad programs in Canada along with universities in blue states. 

I saw this chart of sorts on Facebook. 

I'm no vegan, but looking at this chart and based on my tastes, here are more go-tos for protein:

• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Tofu
• Hazelnuts
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Lentils
• Garbanzos
• Lima beans
• Spinach

Now that it's warming up, I need to get to making some tofu fried rice on my Blackstone griddle. Tofu is so cheap compared to meat. I wish I would have known how to cook it back in college. 

I'm worried about Ange's future at Tottenham if he doesn't move forward in the Europa League. Thursday's match looms large. 

I see the Vikings moved on from Sam Darnold, and they resigned Aaron Jones. And then they signed Ryan Kelly for the interior line. Good moves all around. 

I also saw that Najee Harris signed with he Chargers for a one-year contract in a run-first offense. I will be targeting that guy in my fantasy football draft. Harbaugh loves running the football. 

As we expected, RFK Jr. is claiming all kinds of nonsense in a recent interview. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The American Prospect has an excellent article that pretty much describes how President Adolf has united Canadians because of his threat of a stupid trade war based on tariffs. 

As a result, as "Canada's Conservatives Crash with Onset of Tariff War," the upcoming elections for our ally to the North are set to be tightening. Trudeau is stepping down, but the new leader of the Liberal Party might do well. 

Meanwhile, the Senate has confirmed too many people to important posts, recently Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who will endanger the American people. 

While I find RFK Jr.'s anti-vax sentiments and concern about fluoride in drinking water asinine, I do like his focus on food additives and ultra-processed foods. 

The BBC has an interesting perspective on it all in "Can RFK Jr. Make America's Diet Healthy Again?" The article focuses on food, but the troubling part of his background is his anti-vaccination tendencies and propensity to support assertions with junk science. 

However, with all the hurdles in front of him and under an administration that touts junk food, I don't think he'll change squat. 

I need to find some more outlets--print, video, TV, or streaming service--that will make laugh more often. It's going to be a long four years. 

I rediscovered one, Regular Show, a series my oldest kid got me into. 

Good old Mordecai and Rigby...

That show hits the spot. Yeah!

Another one I've watched off and on recently that is not a comedy but is a sci-fi drama is Battlestar Galactica, a show I didn't watch when it was running on TV.

Of course, I could always watch one of my favorite TV series of all time, Northern Exposure. As I told my daughter, after each episode one leaves with a good feeling. Watching that show can be therapeutic. 

And I've been watching eposes of Seinfeld and The Office, but especially with the former, I've watched it so many times that I might need a break from the "show about nothing."  

Perhaps I need to revisit Parks & Recreation? 

Regardless, I am enjoying the new series St. Denis Medical. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Apparently, according to American Opposition on Bluesky, President's Day looks like it might be a national day of protest. 

I used this dressing the other day. I got it from my local Ruler Foods. 

What the heck is California French dressing? What does the Golden State have to do with French dressing? 

 

I think I should make my own anyway. It'll be Illinois French style dressing. 

Speaking of a European country, I just read an article in the New York Times about how the E.U. is preparing how to deal with President Adolf's tariffs. Like Canada, the E.U. plans "hit specific, politically-sensitive sectors--like products made in Republican states--with targeted tariffs meant to inflict maximum pain." 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Slow Cooker Cubed Steak with Mushroom Gravy and Mashed Potatoes

This is my third version of this recipe, and I think I got it to exactly the way I like it. There was a recipe in 2022 and another in 2017. 

So here goes. I liked using the cream of mushroom soup better.

Ingredients

2 lbs. of cubed steak

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of French onion soup

Water

1-2 cups of beef stock

1 package of mushrooms, sliced

Healthy smidge of Penzey's Beef Roast seasoning

Very healthy smidge of Penzey's Northwoods seasoning

Freshly cracked black pepper

Kosher salt to taste

Roughly 6-8 tablespoons of AP flour (depends on how thick you want the gravy)

Process

In the past when I worked with cubed steak, it was just too thick, so I trimmed off any excess fat and tenderized it even more with a mallet, so the steak was super thin and tenderized. 

In the slow cooker on low, add the cans of soup and cup of beef stock. I added some water to the can of cream of mushroom soup and poured it in. I added beef stock to the French onion soup can and pour it in. Add in the seasonings and add them throughout the process as needed. 

Whisk it all together and then place the cubed steak into the gravy. Cook on low for roughly eight hours. 

When it's around the last hour of cooking, make your mashed potatoes. And then put in your sliced mushrooms. Liberally apply cracked black pepper and salt as needed. 

As you're making the mashed potatoes, pull out the cubed steak. 

I ditched the corn starch in the previous version and just went old school with flour. Turn up the heat to high and add in two tablespoons of flour at a time and whisk vigorously. Add as much flour from time to time to get the thickness you like. 

Serve the steak and gravy over mashed potatoes.