Snarky One-Line Descriptions of Countries http://masonporter.blogspot.com/2014/11/snarky-one-line-descriptions-of.html

Do check out the link; it’s hilarious. The best slogans are those of Poland and Russia.

Whatever it is that you do or do not celebrate tonight, enjoy yourself!

I did the gefilte fish the Ukrainian way instead of the Polish recipe I had used before. The Ukrainian version has no sugar added, and the sweetness is achieved through the use of beets. Which is why the whole thing is so red:

The ornament on the coulibiac is my rendition of a hedgehog:

It’s a  hedgehog in profile. You can see the little feet on the bottom. Yes, I suck as an artist but it turned out very tasty.

And for those who are neither cooking nor celebrating, here is a nice collection of links for you to peruse tonight:

Germans are incredible wusses: “Angela Merkel has proposed that high-level trade talks be held between the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Union in hopes of easing tensions over Ukraine—in part to tamp down on domestic critics that she is being unreasonably tough on Russia.” Merkel is being unreasonably tough? On Putin? Do these people live on the same planet? Merkel has been beyond limp-wristed with Putin.

Spain is doomed, too. (In Spanish). See and contrast the first last sentences of the article.

And to relieve the tension: a hilarious video about somebody acting very stupid at a museum.

Radio Shack is dying, and here is a collection of hilarious and sad stories from the former employee.

“How Famous Artists Would Plate Thanksgiving Meals.”

Bath rituals. I have my own, too, which is why the article interested me.

I have been rewarded for reading miles of Dan Savages inanities in my blog roll: “Couples who wind up in counseling before their first year together is up are, in my opinion, better off being counseled singly. By which I mean to say: being counseled as singles, not as a couple.” Yes, a million time yes. I wish more people knew this.

People are so funny: “Despite the Right’s Thanksgiving myth, the Pilgrims rebelled against their corporate landlord.”

An article on how cell phone size impacts our behavior. None of this has been true since I got my huge-screen phone but I’m normally weird.

Putin’s European Fan Club: “The Europhobes and Putin are ideal bedfellows—the Russian autocrat’s own brand of moralistic vigor has a close affinity with the illiberal anti-American creed that unites Europe’s far left and far right.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates (probably the best American journalist right now) on Obama’s response to Ferguson.

You’ve got to laugh when you can’t cry any longer. Here is a hilarious analysis of Darren Wilson’s horrifying injuries at the hands of the “demon” that attacked him.

And a perspective on Ferguson from an immigrant from Western Europe.

Juan Cole’s website published its most offensive piece yet. It is titled: “What if it was Russia and China invading and Bombing?” Yes, seriously? What if Russia invaded and bombed a country? Can anybody imagine what would happen then? I, for one, have absolutely no idea whatsoever how something this weird can even be imagined. Fuck you, Cole.

A very good article on the language of demonization used by Darren Wilson against Michael Brown.

A beautiful article on Ferguson and why we need history: “My fellow historians, your society needs you.  We need to go out and set things straight.  We need to go out in public and interpret the wonderful if obscure academic histories for the masses, who need to know the context of what they are seeing.  We need to do it because no one else will do it.  The price of inaction is too high.”

Why everybody is so angry: “McCulloch didn’t present a case. He dumped a case file in the hands of 12 people who were not legal experts and said have at it. He knew there were inconsistencies in testimony, because guess what…there ALWAYS is. If that were a reason to not indict, most of the people in prison wouldn’t be there. This was a game for McCulloch, a game he knew he could manipulate and win. He didn’t want to indict a cop and he knows that juries don’t want to either. So a little prod here and there is all he would need.” This sums it up quite well.

And this is a really stupid article about Ferguson: “So, with the decision today I will be confronted again with the fact that I do not live in a just country and perhaps never will. That my existence is only possible because of the existence of the Great Satan. I don’t know what to do with that besides get angry and hope for the fall even though such a fall can only bring me great pain. I would be lying if I said I welcomed that. But, like I already said, education is hard.” This is not about you and your delusional fantasies about “Great Satan”, you freak. I, I, I, me, me, me. This is beyond self-centered.

I have no idea who this Bill Cosby fellow is but the whole story is quite shocking. Here is a good post.

The case against early cancer detection: an important article.

Terror in the Crimea today. The fate of the forgotten region that everybody joyfully erased from memory to please Putin.

The strange happenings on a suicide hotline.

“Schumer, New York’s senior senator and a likely heir to Reid, called for Democrats to “embrace government” as they try to hold the White House and recapture control of Congress in 2016. “We must convince the middle class that the only way out of their morass is by embracing a strong and effective government, not demeaning or running from it,” Schumer said during a lengthy speech at the National Press Club, which at times sounded like an analysis of political trends over the last 100 years. “We’re a pro-government party,” he added in summation. “We have been all along. We can’t run from it.”” Oh, Lordy. We are all screwed. If there is one message likely to bomb at the time when the nation-state collapses, it’s this one. Are the Democrats trying to throw away their obvious and great advantage?

And a really, really great post about an immigrant experience that every immigrant keeps having. And I hate it as much as the linked blogger. The only part of my experience that is different is the last paragraph. Students ask me where I’m from all the time. But that is only because it is extremely unprestigious to have a non-foreign foreign language teacher. So I don’t mind.