This fish is delish!!

Some of you may recall my New Year's resolution to learn to cook a few decent meals. I'm pleased to report that said resolution is coming along splendidly. Dave and I have been making ourselves a nice dinner about once a week, and since it's really kind of a team effort, I'm not finding it to be such a repulsive chore. Dave likes to handle the meat; he says it makes him feel "manly" or something like that. This works out just fine for me because I'm grossed out by the feel of uncooked meat and because I like to chop vegetables, perhaps a little too much.

Anyway, a few days ago, we made this really yummy fish recipe that I found on the Food Network's web site, and I wanted to share it with you guys. It was astoundingly easy, though I wonder if that may have been more because we weren't competing with six other people for use of the kitchen. In any case, here it is...

Chili-Rubbed Tilapia with Asparagus and Lemon

Ingredients

* 2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
* 1 pound tilapia, Pacific sole or other firm white fish fillets (I think we used Atlantic cod instead.)
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 3 tablespoons lemon juice (I thought this was too much lemon juice, but that may have been because we only cooked a pound of asparagus and didn't adjust accordingly.)

Directions:

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Put asparagus in a steamer basket, place in the pan, cover and steam until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a large plate, spreading out to cool.

Combine chili powder, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt on a plate. Dredge fillets in the spice mixture to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook until just opaque in the center, gently turning halfway, 5 to 7 minutes total. Divide among 4 plates. Immediately add lemon juice, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and asparagus to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the asparagus is coated and heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve the asparagus with the fish.

My reaction to the Scott Roeder guilty verdict

As I sit here in front of my laptop, tap-tap-tapping away and defrosting after a subzero morning spent in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood, I have to feel especially grateful for yesterday's guilty verdict in the trial of Scott Roeder.

If you don't know already, Scott Roeder is the anti-abortion extremist who walked into the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, on May 31, put a gun to Dr. George Tiller's head, and pulled the trigger, before threatening witnesses and then fleeing the scene. Roeder was fortunately apprehended only three hours after the shooting, and on Friday, a jury of his peers found him guilty of first-degree murder.

The jury made the right decision. There was some concern by pro-choice groups that Roeder might be convicted on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, but Judge Warren Wilbert rightly ruled that the jury could not consider that lesser charge in their deliberations. They deliberated for only 37 minutes, which shouldn't have been as surprising as it was to me. Still, I couldn't help but feel a huge wave of relief.

I firmly believe that if Roeder had been convicted on a lesser charge - or dog forbid, acquitted - not only would that have bolstered the convictions of those extremists who believe any measure of force is necessary to stop abortion, but he would have committed further acts of violence against abortion providers and clinic employees and volunteers. The possibility that he could face anything less than life in prison after openly admitting to murdering Tiller in his place of worship (something that even this "hardened atheist" thinks is a supremely dick move) frightened me. And it should have frightened you, too.

CNN's article on the story features some highlights of Roeder's testimony, and I'd recommend that you watch it. It's clear that he is a mentally unstable lunatic who truly believed that murder was justified to achieve his social and political ends. He is a threat to society, and thankfully, he will be removed from society now.

Now to be fair, most anti-abortion activists and organizations have condemned Roeder's actions, as well they should have. A few select voices refused to either condemn or condone what he did, and that's a bit unsettling, but I'll grant that most abortion opponents do want to work within the system to outlaw abortion. I still fundamentally disagree with them, but that's mildly respectable nonetheless. No abortion opponent should want this guy on their side, and I don't blame you few rational pro-lifers for disassociating yourselves with Roeder, though I have to wonder to what extent the inflammatory rhetoric used by many otherwise non-violent right-wingers could inspire similar actions in the future. It's something to be wary of, I believe.

Scott Roeder is not a martyr. He is a menace, and I'm glad to see that justice was dealt swiftly in this case. I can only hope now that he serves the rest of his life behind bars.

More chuch-state separation bullshit...

I could only characterize this bit of news as bizarrely inappropriate. Essentially, the U.S. armed forces have been using combat rifle sights inscribed with references to Bible verses in, of all place, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number. Trijicon's rifle sights use tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, to create light and help shooters hit what they're aiming for.

Markings on the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, one of the company's most advanced models, include "JN8:12," a reference to John 8:12: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

The Trijicon Reflex sight is stamped with 2COR4:6, a reference to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

The company has apparently been doing this for the last 30 years. Obviously, I'm not complaining about what the company chooses to do, but there is something unsettling about our soldiers using guns inscribed with Biblical references in a military conflict in the Middle East. Here is one extremely good point against it...

Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says the biblically inscribed sights could give the Taliban and other enemy forces a propaganda tool: that American troops are Christian crusaders invading Muslim countries.

It certainly doesn't help our case that we're trying to foment peace and democracy in the Middle East and not engage Muslims in a holy war. That's for sure.

Ultimately, it may not be the most egregious violation of the establishment clause and it may not be outright proselytizing, but it's still not good. As Weinstein points out in this article, there is no question how Americans would react if references to the Koran were inscribed on rifles used by our military. My assessment: They would flip their shit and demand that the references either be removed or that the military contract with a different company. Why should Christianity get preferential treatment?

Plus, as my friend Kristen Tsetsi pointed out (albeit, on my Facebook page), it's worth considering that not all American soldiers are Christians, and that also, we're not engaged in a holy war.

Via Friendly Atheist...

April 18, 2010 is apparently "Pray4Trig" Day, in which participants pray for God to cure Trig Palin's Down Syndrome. I cannot make this shit up.

Atheists and others who hate God like to claim that He only “answers prayers” where divine intervention can’t be proven. They make websites about it, like Why Won’t God Heal Amputees? They say that God won’t answer the prayers of amputees because He isn’t real!

Okay...

With enough congregations joining up, I have no doubt there will be sufficient people with genuine faith in God (instead of lip service) to ensure that Trig Palin is healed of Down Syndrome.

Continue...

Also, it is known publicly that Trig Palin indeed has Down Syndrome. Science has no way to undo this condition, which is the result of an extra chromosome; but God can. When Trig Palin is found to be miraculously healed, everyone but the most hardened atheist will have to acknowledge God’s Majesty!

You don't say!!

I'm sorry, but this "hardened atheist" believes that folks with Down Syndrome can lead equally happy and fulfilling lives as people without handicaps. The only thing Trig Palin needs to be cured of is his mother.

History in the making.

The Prop 8 trial, Week 1 in review.

I certainly don't want to speak too soon, but if the defense is really citing Carrie Prejean and "Will and Grace" against eminent researchers? Weak. Really, really weak.

I love punctuation!

Some brilliant genius has finally come up with a punctuation mark to indicate sarcasm!

I'm not being sarcastic, either. This makes me genuinely excited.

Creationist lies, part one.

I often hear creationists attempt to debunk evolution by saying something to the effect of, "If evolution were real, you would see proof of it. You would see a half-human-half-monkey if evolution were really happening!"

Ok, ignoring the fact that evolution takes place over millions of years and therefore happens very, very slowly, they're just plain wrong. Want some proof?

Killer whales are evolving into two different species, scientists now say.

Creationism: 0
Evolution: 1

New Year's resolution success!! Part 1!!

As you may or may not recall, I made a New Year's resolution to learn to cook at least a few halfway decent meals. Well, my first experiment in this endeavor has been successful!

Wednesday night, Dave and I made this spicy chicken curry.

It could have used more chicken, maybe more jalapenos, and probably fewer potatoes. (Then again, maybe we just selected huge potatoes.) But overall, I was extremely pleased (and surprised) with the result. I know, I know... I probably shouldn't have been surprised that it was actually edible, let alone tasted good.

We're going to try to do this about once a week. Does anybody have a good recipe for salmon???

Not quite, Rush, not quite...

When I heard the other day that conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh was hospitalized in Hawaii with chest pains, the jokes came way too easily.

"He had a nasty fall after tripping over his own ego."

"He was on his own personal fact-finding mission to Hawaii, and when he finally saw Obama's birth certificate, he had a heart attack."

No, I didn't wish for his death. I did, however, wish for his doctor to be a gay, black woman who volunteers for Planned Parenthood and ACORN in her spare time. At the very least, I hoped that he might "see the light" and have some kind of revelation about being a decent person, but alas, that never happened.

When Rush was released, he issued this very predictable statement: "The treatment I received here wa$ the be$t that the world ha$ to offer. ... I don't think there'$ one thing wrong with the American health care $y$tem. It i$ working ju$t fine."

You missed the point, Rush. Yes, I agree: America does have some very fine doctors and hospitals and medical technologies ... if you can afford them! The problem with our health care is not necessarily quality of care, but rather access to care.

Apparently, tests showed nothing was wrong with his heart, except, as my friend Mr. Dan pointed out, being 100 sizes too small. Time to let that hate start sitting on your chest again, eh, Rush??