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Ugh. This took me over 30 minutes...
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Amaro is the liqueur used for a Black Manhattan instead of sweet vermouth. Farandaville can vouch for it as a good option! We can also vouch for standard Manhattans, Prefect Manhattans, Rum Manhattans ...
“The world of amaro is a place where you can go and you’ll never find the end of it,” says Sother Teague, the proprietor of New York City’s bitters-focused bar Amor y Amargo. If it’s your first visit, you have to start somewhere. And if you’re an amaro aficionado, there’s likely still plenty to learn.
An amaro is a bittersweet herbal liqueur that is made by infusing an alcoholic base, such as a neutral spirit, grape brandy, or wine, with botanical ingredients that include herbs, citrus peels, roots, spices, and flowers; the exact recipes are often closely held secrets. The resulting liquid is sweetened and then aged.
Amari (the plural of amaro) can be produced anywhere, but they’re a cornerstone of Italian culture. Monasteries started making bittersweet liqueurs as far back as the 13th century, touting their healing properties and digestive benefits, and in the 1800s Italian producers such as Averna and Ramazzotti took amari to the masses. Today, amari are most often sipped as pre-dinner aperitivi to whet the appetite or post-dinner digestivi to aid in digestion. “Amaro is a part of every Italian’s life,” says Matteo Zed, the owner of The Court in Rome and the author of The Big Book of Amaro.
Because there is no governing body of amaro, the liqueur defies neat categorization, says Teague. However, every amaro will include a bittering agent (such as the gentian flower, wormwood, or cinchona) and a sweetener. Regional variations will often infuse the alcoholic base with local ingredients, such as bittersweet oranges in Sicilian amari or mountain sage in an alpine amaro. “Amaro is the business card of a territory,” says Zed.
More if you hit the link. Straight up, it has a bitter tang, but mixed with other booze - nice!
A little late. Her complaint was inevitable. This from the Wall Street Journal.
It took 13 years, but Elizabeth Warren is at long last acknowledging that ObamaCare has increased healthcare prices and industry consolidation. Who would have believed it? Government price controls and profit caps have resulted in unintended consequences.
he Massachusetts Senator and Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana this week wrote a letter to the Health and Human Services Department inspector general complaining that the nation’s largest health insurers are dodging ObamaCare’s medical loss ratio (MLR). The result, they say, is higher costs for patients.
The MLR is a de facto cap on profits....
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Instead, as we’ve been pointing out for years, the rule has spurred insurers to merge with or acquire pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), retail and specialty pharmacies, and healthcare providers. This has made healthcare spending less transparent since insurers can shift profits to their affiliates by increasing reimbursements.
The Senators cite a Journal news story in September that found insurers were paying affiliated specialty pharmacies more than 20 times for generic drugs what manufacturers charged. Patients can get slammed by hefty out-of-pocket cost for these drugs if they have high deductibles or co-insurance requirements.
“Even worse,” the Senators write, “insurers can use their PBMs to steer patients to their own pharmacies, while disadvantaging competing pharmacies with lower reimbursements and predatory fees.” In a 2017 editorial we highlighted complaints that CVS’s PBM was paying independent pharmacies less than the wholesale drug cost while billing Medicaid for significantly more.
The Senators complain that insurers have evaded the MLR by vertically integrating with other companies in the healthcare supply chain.
Hospitals have acquired independent physician practices to gain more leverage with vertically integrated insurers, allowing them to bill more for services. Independent pharmacies have closed or been sold to the giants. It’s no surprise, then, that health premiums have risen on average about 20% faster since 2011 when the MLR took effect than in the five preceding years.
ObamaCare’s market distortions are spurring a bipartisan movement in Congress to regulate PBMs. It’s a familiar story: Big government intervention creates incentives and raises costs that help big business, and then politicians demand more government intervention to fix the distortions they caused.
Took one minute as luck trumps skill.
Ugh I've never seen such an outpouring of sorrow for a prolife leader. He was 68 and had a three year battle with cancer.
We have a special bond with Chris, since our second son Tim came to us through his efforts. He wouldn't be a Faranda without Chris and Expectant Mother Care. Brigid had a conversation with Chris a few years back when he told her that his motivation to leave the advertising business and start some organization looking to help women in unexpected/difficult/crisis pregnancies began after hearing a homily by then Cardinal O'Connor at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The result - 40 years of immensely hard work - and at times very frustrating work as he was constantly harassed by the incredibly well organized and well funded pro abortion forces in NY City. On the other hand, that's how he met his beautiful wife Eileen (result: four children), who joined Expectant Mother Care as a volunteer in the early days!
You can read about him here Chris Slattery R.I.P. and below are a few pictures.
This was six or eight years ago in Manhattan.
Chris in June, 2019, at a White Plains fundraiser with abortion survivor Melissa Ohden (not shown). They were raising money for sonogram machines. His cancer manifested itself shortly after this.
And here are two pictures when we were with Chris, Eileen and a few other folks for a few days in the Shenandoah Valley, November, 2021. The effects of the disease are starting to show.
Chris with Eileen and Reverend Patrick Mahoney, an ordained Presbyterian Minister and a close friend of the Slatterys. As the sun sets in Shenandoah!
Heartbreaking for so many people. But for Chris -he's now in touch with the whole universe in ways we can only imagine!
Lawler would be characterized as a "moderate Republican". I spoke to him briefly at a prolife breakfast a couple of months ago - I like him Thanks to MC for pointing me to this in LoHud - the article is by one of their longest running political writers, David McKay Wilson. A few excerpts in the link and below.
Here's what Rep. Mike Lawler said at sold-out Rockland Town Hall
Outside the Town Hall, activists chanted for a cease-fire in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Inside the auditorium, Lawler told a supportive crowd of about 300, many of whom were from the Rockland Jewish community, that he’s waiting for Hamas to waive the white flag.
“The best way for a cease-fire now is for Hamas to surrender, period,” said Lawler, R-New City.
Lawler, one of 18 Republicans who won districts that voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president in 2020, answered questions on federal tax policy, the chaotic Republican struggles over House leadership, and the future of Social Security and Medicare.
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Lawler, who voted for McCarthy in mid-October during the failed attempt by Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan to win the speakership, said he still thinks McCarthy is the right person for the job. He said he voted to back Rep. Mike Johnson, the right-leaning Louisiana Republican, to end the intraparty squabble.
“It’s not a question of agreeing or not agreeing with him," said Lawler. "It’s a function of we need to unify behind someone so we can get back to work on behalf of the American people, so we can focus on the task at hand: the appropriations bill, securing our border, and getting aid to Israel and Ukraine.”
Lots more if you hit the link.
Took two minutes. Maybe three.
Here's the Thanksgiving happiness and below it is an invite which Brigid and I will be going to. I know Fr. Jack Rathschmidt fairly well and in fact was on a retreat he was the presentor on, at the end of July. Got to love those Franciscans!
I'm sure this will be a morning well spent. the 9AM Mass is not a requirement. but for most of us, wouldn't be a bad idea! Note there are two ways you can register.
Glad he was speaking rather than the official spokeswoman, who is a dumbbell.
Kirby on a Roll. More clarity from the White House podium.
Don’t laugh, but once again in this topsy-turvy world a message of clarity and good sense is emanating from the podium of the White House press briefing room. Recently National Security Council spokesman John Kirby appropriately addressed the claims of the ironically titled Gaza Ministry of Health. On Monday Mr. Kirby was back at the podium with a helpful instruction on the correct use of a term that is among the political world’s most misused words. He also noted why people must remain free to use it. Here’s the White House transcript, beginning with a reporter’s question:
Q. . . . Protesters here in D.C., in New York, across the country—they’ve settled on a nickname for the President. They’ve been calling him “Genocide Joe.” They wrote it on the gates. Do you have a response from the White House for that nickname that they’ve settled on?
MR. KIRBY: We’re not worried about nicknames and bumper stickers . . . it’s First Amendment, free speech.
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Again, people can say what they want . . . on the sidewalk . . . and we respect that. That’s what the First Amendment is about.
But this word “genocide” is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks.
What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They’ve said so publicly on more than one occasion—in fact, just recently.
And they’ve said that they’re not going to stop, what happened on the 7th of October is going to happen again and again and again. And what happened on the 7th of October? Murder. Slaughter of innocent people in their homes or at a music festival . . .
Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. Yes, the numbers are too high. Yes . . . too many families are grieving. And yes, we continue to urge the Israelis to be as careful and cautious as possible. That’s not going to stop, from the President right on down.
But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel is not trying to wipe Gaza off the map.
Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So . . . if we’re going to start using that word, fine, let’s use it appropriately.
Took longer than it might seem - over 15 minutes.
Here's the notice - will check it out this week. Let's hope they do well.
This is a NY Times guest essay, and is this woman ever right. A few excerpts under the link.
The mortal enemy of Bidenomics isn’t Donald Trump; it’s a reliance on aggregate and average numbers that mask the nature of the economy Americans experience. Focusing on G.D.P. is a mistake, as it obscures the range of financial success and hardship in an economy as unequal as that of the United States.
Although the Fed’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances showed that wealth inequality has dipped a bit because of recent generous federal spending, income inequality is worse than ever.
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In a nation this unequal, the income generated by a growing G.D.P. is so unevenly shared that the impression of widespread prosperity falls apart. The most recent U.S. data shows that the top 5 percent of households by income received 23.5 percent of aggregate household income in 2022 and the top 20 percent got over half. In sharp contrast, the bottom 40 percent received 11.2 percent, a scant return for all their hard work.
G.D.P. may look robust, but 64 percent of households live paycheck to paycheck from time to time, according to a March consumer survey.
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The percentage of Americans who told the Federal Reserve they were worse off in 2022 than the previous year increased to 35 percent from 20 percent — the highest level since the Fed started asking the question in 2014.
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These economic survey results align far better with voter sentiment as seen in the polls than with the data that Mr. Biden deploys to persuade them of their supposedly growing prosperity. Listening to advisers — not voters — is a fatal campaign error, one that Hillary Clinton made in 2016. Mr. Biden only narrowly pulled out a win in 2020 because Mr. Trump wasn’t listening to voters when it came to Covid. Now they’re tuned in to Mr. Trump’s perspective on the economy because he is, in his way, listening to them.
And when did income inequality narrow recently? Yup, under Trump, 2017-2020. U.S. income inequality narrowed slightly over last three years: Fed
On a walk heading out to Teller's Point.
This guy.
And here are a couple of other pictures.
Looking south from Teller's.
The Knights of Columbus had their annual luncheon affair for seminarians at St. Augustine's in Ossining this past Sunday. The young man in the middle is Kirk and he's doing a year of discernment. He has two degrees from Fordham. Funny guy, when he got up to speak and introduce himself the first thing he said was "Despite what I'm wearing I'm not a Mormon." The four men who spoke were clearly high quality. My Council at Holy Name of Mary is sponsoring him. There I am walking out with a piece of cake...
From the BB. No kidding. 300,000 antisemites this past weekend. Former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is OK with Hamas. He lost his ranking in his party years ago because of his past antisemite statements.
LONDON — Eighty years after Hitler's failure, the Nazis have at last seized London.
"Hitler's dream has finally come true," said John MacDonald, watching as Picadilly was overrun with Nazis. "You just know that somewhere, Hitler is looking on today and smiling."
As chants of "Death To Jews" and "Final Solution" rang through the London air, longtime Nazi leader Josef Schmidt was overwhelmed with joy. "After so many decades of being an outcast here in Britain, to now watch Nazis march through the heart of London yelling 'Gas the Jews' - well, it brings a tear to your eye," said Mr. Schmidt. "I've had to hide my swastika flag for years, but no more! We're going out for a triumphant walk right by Buckingham Palace."
Though resistant to Hitler's "Blitz", London ultimately fell without a single shot being fired. "It's a Nazi miracle," said march organizer Duncan Richards. "Well, technically shots were fired, but they were at some elementary schools in Israel, a thousand miles from here. Seeing those Jewish people murdered, children set on fire, knowing hundreds of women and children are still hostages - well, that helped us see that the real Nazi was inside us all along. It just needed a little Jew murder to bring it out."
At publishing time, the London mayor was warning the Jewish community to refrain from engaging in hateful Naziphobia.
Not easy -
UPDATE: Dinesh D'Souza discusses this here
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an interesting person originally from Somalia - at the age of five she suffered female genital mutilation. She is married to the historian Niall Ferguson. I had heard of her - she was interviewed I think by Laura Ingraham a couple of years ago.
Hirsi Ali has long been a prominent critic of Islam. As a young girl growing up in Somalia, she suffered female genital mutilation in Somalia and in 2002 renounced her Muslim faith and declared herself an atheist. In the years since she has been a vocal critic of what she sees as extremist violence and intolerance from many Muslims.
In an essay published Monday on the British website UnHerd, she said that although she identified as an atheist for over two decades, she now considers herself a member of the Christian religion.
She wrote that she turned to Christianity in part “because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive.”
Her whole essay ( takes ten minutes to read) is also here - Why I am now a Christian - it almost seems that she's become a Christian for sociological reasons - but see the 2 excerpts below - she admits she has a lot to learn about Christianity.
In 2002, I discovered a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell entitled “Why I am Not a Christian”. It did not cross my mind, as I read it, that one day, nearly a century after he delivered it to the South London branch of the National Secular Society, I would be compelled to write an essay with precisely the opposite title.
...Of course, I still have a great deal to learn about Christianity. I discover a little more at church each Sunday. But I have recognised, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.
Quick; took under 2 minutes.
Rats. I was hoping for a Scott/Haley or Haley/Scott ticket. Now I'm down to Haley/Scott. But I'll still wear my Tim Scott t-shirt.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina had hoped his personal story and positive message would be enough to elevate his Republican presidential campaign, but he was unable to catch momentum in a crowded field dominated by former President Donald Trump. On Sunday evening, he withdrew from the race, acknowledging that his strategy wasn’t working.
The 58-year-old senator, who had been the only remaining Black candidate in the GOP primary race, made his announcement Sunday on Fox News Channel during an interview with his close friend former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), who was hosting.
“When I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, not now, Tim,” he said. He went on to say voters weren’t telling him not to run ever, “but I do think they’re saying not now. And so I’m going to respect the voters and I’m going to hold on and keep working really hard.”
Scott started his campaign with strong fundraising and a hopeful message, but struggled to move beyond the single digits in most polling in the race. Scott failed to stand out in the three primary debates that have been held and was backed by just 7% in an Iowa Poll released late last month, despite his campaign emphasis on that state.
While all of the Republican hopefuls are trailing Trump by wide margins, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were seen in polls as the most likely alternatives to Trump with the rest of the field falling behind.
Another close call.
This excerpt from The Chosen just went up on youtube. Just to give the setting, Jesus is on his way to see (and revive) the daughter of the synagogue official. This is in all three of the synoptic gospels (Mark, Luke and Matthew). There is some artistic license taken in this excerpt as earlier she has met some of the women who are followers of Jesus. And she tells Jesus she had heard about him from the man who was cured at the pool - the man who was crippled for 38 years.
Great.
And here is a comment left by a woman in the comment section under the video...
Wow, my mom and I read the Daily Bread devo and this was the story today. We then watched this scene after we did the devotional. It's so amazing that our faith is what leads us to healing! Whether our healing is instant like this, or over time, the premise still remains that Jesus can do anything. He brings healing to the hurt and comfort to the sorrowful. As I struggle to break free of lust and addiction, this passage has been a bedrock for me and God led me to include it in the first book I wrote. So, it hits me incredibly hard each time I read it or see it as I watch this scene. The cloak of Christ holds tremendous power and will bring each of us the healing we need, in His timing! I've reached 40 days of sobriety today, thanks be to God!
From Reuters - but on the other hand this may not mean much in the practical world.
Federal spending and political polarization have been a rising concern for investors, contributing to a selloff that took U.S. government bond prices to their lowest levels in 16 years.
"It is hard to disagree with the rationale, with no reasonable expectation for fiscal consolidation any time soon," said Christopher Hodge, chief economist for the U.S. at Natixis. "Deficits will remain large ... and as interest costs take up a larger share of the budget, the debt burden will continue to grow."
The ratings agency said in a statement that "continued political polarization" in Congress raises the risk that lawmakers will not be able to reach consensus on a fiscal plan to slow the decline in debt affordability."
"Any type of significant policy response that we might be able to see to this declining fiscal strength probably wouldn't happen until 2025 because of the reality of the political calendar next year," William Foster, a senior vice president at Moody's, told Reuters in an interview.
Republicans, who control the U.S. House of Representatives, expect to release a stopgap spending measure on Saturday aimed at averting a partial government shutdown by keeping federal agencies open when current funding expires next Friday.
Moody's is the last of the three major rating agencies to maintain a top rating for the U.S. government. Fitch changed its rating from triple-A to AA+ in August, joining S&P which has had an AA+ rating since 2011.
Tough one.
Manchin had also been the Governor of West Virginia and had won his Senate elections easily, despite coming from a generally Republican state.
He was a sensible guy - a loss to the Senate. He would have been 77 years old when he'd be running next year but is in good shape.
“To the West Virginians who have put their trust in me and fought side by side to make our state better – it has been an honor of my life to serve you,” Manchin wrote on X. “Thank you.”
“I will not be running for re-election to the U.S. Senate, but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Manchin said in a video address.
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Manchin would have been 77 years old at the time of the next election, which he faced challenging odds to win. As of May, polling showed Republican Jim Justice, the sitting governor, up 22 points over Manchin in the West Virginia Senate race and with a significantly higher approval rating. An Emerson college poll from October similarly had Manchin trailing far behind. In October, former president Trump endorsed Justice. Manchin has still refused to rule out a White House bid.
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Manchin has resisted the Democratic party’s leftward push in recent years, speaking out against progressive efforts to weaken the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court. In 2022, Manchin, who has described himself as “pro-life all my life” and Catholic, voted against the Democrats’ attempt to codify Roe v. Wade into law because of concerns that it was intent on “expanding” abortion.
Close call - took a few minutes.
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