Stateside New Jersey: Newark’s Archbishop of Bling Faces Organized Backlash Against His Plans for Opulent Retirement Home

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

MitreSealBY ELAINE MAGLIARO

Back in February, I wrote a post about Newark Archbishop John J. Myers’s plan to spend more than $500,000 to build a new 3,000 square foot, three-level addition to his retirement home. I should note that the 4,500 square foot house already boasts “five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a three-car garage and an outdoor swimming pool.”

Tom Kludt of Talking Points Memo reported in February that “renovations to the home, which Myers currently uses as a weekend residence, have come under a bit of scrutiny. The 3,000-square-foot expansion will include an indoor exercise pool, three fireplaces and an elevator to be enjoyed by Myers in his future retirement.”

According to Kludt, there is a Christian organization called Faithful America that has “drawn the support of thousands in its protest of a New Jersey bishop’s plush retirement home.” Faithful America has plans to deliver a petition this coming Sunday to Archbishop Myers, “calling on him to nix his plans” to move into that plush retirement home.

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Posted in Christianity, New Jersey, Religion, Roman Catholic Church | 4 Comments

Sheldon Adelson—Billionaire, Casino Magnate…and Political Kingmaker? (With a Mark Fiore Video)

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

BY ELAINE MAGLIARO

Back in late March, Josh Green of Bloomberg Businessweek spoke on Bloomberg TV about a number of Republican politicians who traveled to Las Vegas to meet with—and “kiss the ring” of—Sheldon Adelson. The politicians—including governors Chris Christie (NJ), John Kasich (OH), and Scott Walker (WI)—all appear to be interested in running for president in 2016. It appears they’re also eager to curry favor with Adelson—the Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands and one of the richest men in the world. Adelson has been extremely generous in the past with campaign donations to Republican candidates for office. The casino magnate was reported to have spent approximately $150 million dollars in an attempt to defeat President Obama and to help the GOP take control of Congress in 2012.

2016: Who’s Kissing the Ring of Sheldon Adelson?

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Posted in Conservatives, Politics, United States | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

EDIBLE FLOWERS: A Recipe for a Moist and Delicious Almond Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

SUBMITTED BY ELAINE MAGLIARO

AlmondCake

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALMOND CAKE WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

For the Cake

  • One stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 7-ounce package of almond paste (sold in cellophane tubes)—broken into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 3 extra-large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons of flour
  • 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon Kirsch
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with wax paper. Cream the butter. Gradually beat in the sugar. Then gradually beat in the almond paste. Whisk in the eggs, one by one. Gently fold in the flour, followed by the remaining ingredients. Spoon the batter into the cake pan. (Mound the batter slightly toward the edges, as the cake will rise more in the center than the sides.) Bake the almond cake for 45 minutes to one hour—or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a cake rack for 5 minutes, then invert it onto the cake rack and remove from pan.

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Posted in Edible Flowers, Recipes | Tagged , | 4 Comments

NEWSFLASH—Stephen Colbert Has Been Selected as David Letterman’s Successor on CBS’s Late Show.

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

SUBMITTED BY ELAINE MAGLIARO

I am a BIG fan of Stephen Colbert and his show The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. On his show, Colbert takes on the persona of a Bill O’Reilly type television character. I think Colbert is one of the best comedy talents of our times. He is intelligent, sharp, fearless, a master of satire…and he drives Bill O’Reilly crazy. What’s not to love about the man?

Stephen Colbert mocks Bill O’Reilly to his face

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Posted in Humor | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Celebrating National Poetry Month with “Litany”—A Poem by Billy Collins

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

 SUBMITTED BY ELAINE MAGLIARO

In “Litany,” Billy Collins “steals” the first two lines of another writer’s poem…then creates his own poem.

Litany
By Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine…
~ Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

NOTE: Below the fold, I have a link to a video of Billy Collins reading “Litany”–as well as a video of a three-year-old boy reciting the poem.

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Posted in Literature, Poetry, Short Video | Tagged | 5 Comments

Esquire’s Scott Raab Reports That Christie Prosecutor Gets Its Star Witness to Start Talking

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

Chris_ChristieBY ELAINE MAGLIARO

I was doing research for a new post that I hope to write about Chris Christie and the Mastro Report, which exonerated the governor of New Jersey from any wrongdoing in the Bridgegate scandal, when I came upon the following post on Charlie Pierce’s Politics Blog at Esquire. The post is one in an ongoing series of stories about Christie written by Scott Raab. I thought my friends at Flowers for Socrates might be interested in reading it. I’m posting an excerpt from and a link to the article:

NOTE: Scott Raab is an Esquire writer at large and New Jersey resident who has covered the Port Authority for years.

Exclusive: Christie Prosecutor Gets Its Star Witness to Start Talking

Excerpt:

Bad news for Chris Christie — and very good news for the citizens of New Jersey: Esquire has learned from sources close to the investigation that David Wildstein, the former Port Authority operative who helped plan and execute the Great Fort Lee Clusterfk, is now cooperating with Paul Fishman, the federal prosecutor investigating the soon-to-be-ex-governor and his minions for criminal conduct. Fishman has also increased the number of investigators at work on the case, and has begun presenting evidence and witnesses to a grand jury in Newark.

Posted in New Jersey, Politics, States | Tagged | 2 Comments

Site Update: Edible Flowers

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Gene Howington

FFS is proud to announce a new special section to this blog at the request of the community: Edible Flowers.  Four discrete pages to discuss cooking techniques, ingredients, recipes and libations. You can find it in the navigation banner as of today. What is more sociable than breaking bread together?  Sharing a glass?  A great many people in this community are drawn together – like many communities – by a shared appreciation of good food and drink.  We have informally shared recipes and cooking tips for years. Providing dedicated threads to these discussions seemed like a natural step in furthering those conversations and building the community. We hope you will all come to the party!

Enjoy.

Posted in FFS Update(s) | 24 Comments

A Mark Fiore Political Cartoon: Religious Liberty for Corporations

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

SUBMITTED BY ELAINE MAGLIARO

Mark Fiore says that since corporations got their free speech rights—they’re now fighting to get freedom of religion. He adds, “With the “Hobby Lobby” case before the Supreme Court, the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act may fall and corporations may get the freedom to worship.  Corporations are rapidly becoming real, live humans!” Like many of us, he thinks the HL case that is now before the Supreme Court “is about a couple of for-profit corporations wanting to foist their religious views on their employees.”

Fiore:

This is not about an individual human wanting to practice their religion as they see fit, this is about an inanimate corporation wanting to impose specific morals on employees.  If corporations get religion, just think of the things they could do with it!

Why stop with your run-of-the-mill religions that don’t like birth control?  Let’s dive back into the days of the Aztecs.  What if a corporation worshipped like the Aztecs and demanded human sacrifice?  (Okay, more than they already do demand sacrifice of humans.)  I can’t see how this argument will stand up to legal challenge but it’s looking like it may do just that. 

NOTE: The video is below the fold.

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Posted in Animation, Constitutional Law, Health Care Insurance, Pharmaceuticals, Politics, Religion, SCOTUS | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Paula Deen Closes Restaurant at Center of Racism Scandal

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

PaulaDeenBY ELAINE MAGLIARO

Paula Deen—the Duchess of Deep-Frying…the Maven of Mayonnaise…the Belle of Buttah—was back in the news this past February. Word was out that the former Food Network star was “maneuvering for a comeback.” The southern damsel know for her high calorie cooking fell out of grace with her TV network after she was embroiled in a legal dispute “with a former employee who accused her of racial discrimination and sexual harassment.” In a court deposition—as well as publicly—Deen acknowledged that she had “used racial slurs in the past.”

Deen lost important sponsors and merchandisers of her products and her food empire seemingly crumbled last year. It was reported that Deen told a crowd of people at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February that she was “back in the saddle.” She also told People Magazine that she gave credit to her fans for helping her get through difficult times. “If it wasn’t for my fans’ love, I’d be home breathing into a paper bag,” she said.

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Posted in Celebrity, Racism | Tagged | 21 Comments

It Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy: Glenn Beck Sued for Defamation

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

GlennBeckBY ELAINE MAGLIARO

Last April, during the running of the Boston Marathon, a tragic event occurred when two bombs exploded killing three people and injuring more than 260 others. Two brothers—Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—quickly became the FBI’s primary suspects for the bombings. Early in the investigation, another man was also named as a person of interest—a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian student named Abdulrahman Alharbi. Boston Magazine reported that Alharbi “became the focus of public speculation for a brief time during the search for those responsible for setting off two pressure cooker bombs on Boylston Street.” Alharbi—who was injured in the bombing—had won a full scholarship to study English in Boston. He was questioned by police and ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter.

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Posted in Conspiracy, FBI, Law Enforcement, Media, Propaganda, Saudi Arabia, United States | Tagged , | 47 Comments