Cut 1″ off the top of the artichoke. This removes the sharp points.

Trim the stalk to within 1″ of the base of the artichoke.

Peel the outer layer from the stalk.

Rinse under cold water, spreading the petals so that the water can run into the flower.

Place base-down in a pot. If necessary, use a coffee cup in the center to keep the artichokes from flopping over.

Add sufficient water to cover the stem.

Add peppercorns to the water.

Cover the tops of the flowers with chopped garlic.

Drizzle olive oil over all.

Cover.

Bring water to a boil, then simmer until the petals pull freely from the artichoke and are to taste, approximately 45 mins. to an hour.

— Concetta Visioni Clorofilla.

It’s even uglier than I expected.

But what I find most amusing is that the glistening outer shell in the sales brochure architectural elevation drawings doesn’t glisten.

Before:

After:

Ha!

These videos from WABC and WCBS give a sense of being in the building.

September 11th

10:40:10 AM

R.I.P. WTC

10:06:15 AM

Looks like most of the news sites have been /.d. Guess no one has learned their bandwidth lessons.

10:05:26 AM

a0551 —–
wbx
AP-PENTAGON EXPLOSION, 1ST ADD
“I saw the tail of a large airliner. … It plowed right into the Pentagon,” said an Associated Press Radio reporter. “There is billowing black smoke.”

09:12:02 AM

A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. Picture on www.cnn.com

Many people started writing that day.

If she was driving from Sullivan County to Long Island why did she crash there?

Investigators have since located the cell phone Mrs. Schuler used to call her brother. It was found resting on a barrier just past the toll booths on the Tappan Zee Bridge. Apparently she pulled over to make the call. Mrs. Schuler’s niece spoke to her dad. And then someone left the phone on the barrier.

Getting from the Tappan Zee Bridge to where she entered the Taconic involves a sequence of probable mistakes: taking Saw Mill Parkway north instead of I-87 or the Sprain Brook Parkway south; deciding to take the Taconic south after missing the Taconic’s junction with the Saw Mill; then entering the Taconic from an unmarked exit ramp, before seeing the signs for the entrance ramp.

But why did she turn there?

I have to wonder if she was following instructions from a computer.

The other option is that she intentionally drove north from the Tappan Zee before deciding to turn around. I think that’s less likely than computer error.

Today the Poughkeepsie Journal did the same thing for the costs of commuting by car or rail. (Unfortunately the website doesn’t include the charts.) Rail is cheaper, but the comparison leaves out the cost of time.

Both comparisons depend on a variety of factors, including, among other things, the number of passengers, the length of the trip, whether you’ll need a car to get around at your destination, the bulk and mass of your cargo, and so forth, none of which are really taken into account. For us, trips generally involve six passengers and gear. This rapidly decreases the value proposition of plane or train travel since we’re dividing the total cost by six, making our own personal mass transit more affordable.

It doesn’t help that Amtrak’s prices this year are the same as last year’s, while JetBlue’s have gone down.

From The New York Times, April 15, 1902, the following (also at wikisource).

WASHINGTON, April 14.—The Senate Committee on the Philippines began the week with the intention of making an investigation of the charges to the effect that the “water cure,” so-called, is practiced on the insurgents, and Charles S. Riley of Northampton, Mass., formerly a Sergeant in Company M, Twenty-sixth Volunteer Infantry, was the first witness Called with that end in view.

Mr. Riley said that he had been in the Philippines from Oct. 25, 1899, to March 4, 1901. In reply to questions by Senator Rawlins, he said he had witnessed the “water cure” at Igbaras, in the Province of Iloilo, on Nov. 27, 1900. It was administered to the Presidente or chief Filipino official of the town. He said that upon the arrival of his command at Igbaras the Presidente was asked whether runners had been sent out notifying the insurgents of their presence, and that upon his refusal to give the information he was taken to the convent where the witness was stationed and the water cure was administered to him.

This official was, he said, a man about forty years of age. When he (the witness) first saw him he was standing in the corridor of the convent, stripped to the waist and his hands tied behind him, with officers and soldiers about. The man, he said, was then thrown under a water tank which held about 100 gallons of water, and his mouth placed directly under the faucet and held open so as to compel him to swallow the water which was allowed to escape from the tank. Over him stood an interpreter repeating one word, which the witness said he did not understand, but which he believed to be the native equivalent of “confess.” The Presidente agreed to tell what he knew, was released, and allowed to start away. He was not, however; permitted to escape. Water was brought in a five-gallon can, one end of a syringe was placed in it and the other in the man’s mouth. As he still refused a second syringe was brought and one end of it placed in the prostrate man’s nose. He still refused, and a handful of salt was thrown into the water. This had the desired effect, and the Presidente agreed to answer questions.

That procrastination seems to have paid off. When we went to place the order for the doors at Home Depot, we ran across vanity and top sets which cost less than ordering the doors and top, and would give us better-looking cabinets.

Now we just need to agree on which one.

• Facebook
• Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)
• AT&T (NYSE:T)

For which would you wish to work?

Brian Ulrich photographs, among other things, empty retail stores. These ruins don’t hold up as well as, for example, those of Rome.

70 years ago in August, Europe was fast approaching war.