World's hottest chili

Came across an article in the New York Times today about India's beloved bhut jolokia, the world's hottest chili:

A chili's spiciness can be scientifically measured by calculating its content of capsaicin, the chemical that gives a pepper its bite, and counting its Scoville units.

And how hot is the bhut jolokia?

As a way of comparison: Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units. Your basic jalapeno pepper measures anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000. The previous record holder, the Red Savina habanero, was tested at up to 580,000 Scovilles.

The bhut jolokia crushed those contenders, testing at 1,001,304 Scoville units.

My nose is running just thinking about it. Also, who knew that there was a scale for the measure of a chili's spiciness? How great is that? Before, my spiciness threshold was probably at the level of a poblano. But thanks to TJ, it's now at least a serrano.

Kurtz takes a jab at Romney

Howard Kurtz's Media Notes is probably my favorite Washington Post column ever. Anyway, I just caught Howard's latest Media Backtalk discussion and there's a mention of Romney and the YouTube debate:

Alexandria, Va.: Do you believe Fox News -- namely Roger Ailes -- is encouraging GOP Presidential candidates to duck out of the CNN You Tube debate? If so, isn't that quite a hypocritical stance to take? I mean, if you can't face real questions on YouTube, how can you stand up to terrorists?

Howard Kurtz: I haven't seen any suggestion that Ailes has had anything to do with it; nor do I think the candidates would necessarily take his advice. CNN says the debate is in the process of being rescheduled, but it's pretty clear that some of the GOP contenders are wary of answering questions from YouTubers. Mitt Romney says presidential candidates shouldn't have to answer questions from a snowman. To which I say: Governor, how are you going to deal with Osama bin Laden if you can't deal with a snowman?

Oh, snap.

Mitt Romney lost the snowmen vote

We just got back from a long weekend in Fresno, so I missed out on some interesting news last week...namely, that Mitt Romney may or may not skip out on the GOP version of the CNN/YouTube debate:

Asked about the format, which featured video questions submitted by the public, Romney said "There is a degree of respectfulness that ought to be associated with the process for selecting a nominee. From what I've heard, that level of respectfulness was breached."

Romney took special exception to a question about global warming, posed by a snowman in one of the video questions. "I don't know that it makes sense to have people running for president answering questions posed from snowmen."

And:

"I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," he said in an interview yesterday.

Uh, maybe Romney should be the one holding the presidency at a higher level by not employing staffers who think they're Jason Bourne.

Seriously though, I think Romney blew it on this one. He apparently has no problem using YouTube as a medium to promote his campaign, but he does have a problem with participating in a YouTube debate? And it's funny how he talks about "respectfulness" while coming off as an arrogant jerk who's above answering questions from the American public. Hate to break it to you, Mitt, but the global warming question didn't really come from a snowman. And forget about the snowman, what about the lady with cancer who can't get decent health care? Or the father who lost a son in Iraq?

Looks like someone's trying to avoid the tough questions . . .

Birthday surprise

I came home after a long day's work to find a birthday package from Lynda hidden behind the kitchen shutters (that UPS guy is so smart). Here's what was inside:

I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Bands.

How did she know?! I've had my eye on this book for a while now. It's my two favorite things (food and music) rolled into one.

Thanks, Lynda!

The final countdown

So Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale at the stroke of midnight, and some people are completely losing it over the fact that some newspapers, including the New York Times, published a review of the book ahead of its release date.

In a Huffington Post entry titled "Harry Potter And The Fact That I Hate The New York Times," Rachel Sklar writes:

How on earth could you run a review of the last Harry Potter? To do so, you had to break an industry-wide embargo -- and not just any embargo, an embargo that is almost tantamount to a public trust at this point, given the worldwide hype about Harry Potter and the excitement and intense emotion generated by -- finally -- the end to this epic series. . . .

But, hey, you're the New York Times, boldly going etc. Why should you care about honoring a book that's been over a decade in the making just for the sake of getting a two-day jump on the competish?

Competish? What are you, TMZ?

The book reviews also drew the ire of J.K. Rowling herself:

I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children.

Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, this isn't the Pentagon Papers we're talking about here. If you're a diehard Potter fan and are truly wary of spoilers, is it really that hard to turn the page or not click on the link? I read the NYT review—it doesn't give away any crucial plot points about Harry dying or anything. Instead, much of it seems to focus on the literary achievements of the book and the series as a whole (doesn't anybody care about anything besides what happens at the end?) It merely assured me that I should buy the book and that I'm in for a good read. If I were Rowling and her publishers, I'd be ecstatic that my book got such a great review from such a respected newspaper.

As for this embargo nonsense, BStu put it nicely over at Shakesville:

While someone violated an embargo, it wasn’t the New York Times or Baltimore Sun. The embargo here is specifically on retailers. A few obviously failed to uphold their part of that bargain and the publisher can take appropriate action against them for violating their contract.

Embargo has a very specific meaning in journalism, though, and neither the Times or the Sun violated an embargo. Basically, if the publishers had allowed those papers an advance copy of the book with the agreement that the review would not be printed until the book was released commercially, then the papers would have agreed to an embargo. As it stands, they were no party to such an agreement and bound by no ethical code to refrain from printing the review.

There you have it. Can everyone just relax now?

CNN/You Tube Debate

If you haven't heard, YouTube and CNN have come together to host a debate between the Presidential candidates. The Democratic debate is currently accepting questions on YouTube, so we went ahead and submitted one. The debate is on Monday July 23rd, so tune in to see if they actually choose our question. It seems unlikely since we brought up Kucinich, and networks have tried to keep him out of debates completely in the past. See here.

Also, if you want to vote for my video on Community Counts go here. Click "Answer" if you think it should be answered by the candidates and "Ignore" if you think it shouldn't.

Palapa

I was just sitting here at work, bored and hungry, when I started thinking about Palapa, which is probably my favorite Mexican restaurant ever. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

• Live mariachi band on Friday nights
• Fish tacos are muy delicioso
• You can choose between red rice and green rice
• ...and between beans and grilled vegetables
• Nice selection of refrescos and liquados
• Sitting on the outdoor patio makes you feel like you're at a real fiesta
• On Saturdays, a nice lady will bring you a freshly cooked, homemade tortilla filled with cheese as a free appetizer
• Has the distinction of being the only place where I have seen TJ defeated by the level of spiciness in his dish (they don't call it camarones a la diabla for nothing)

Obviously, how can anyone not love this place, right? Out of curiosity I checked out the customer reviews on santabarbara.com. One person complained about his taco being full of salsa and cilantro (psst, maybe you should stick to Taco Bell) and someone else was bothered by the restaurant's "seat yourself" policy. Just when I thought people couldn't get any more ridiculous, I came across this gem:

I found it insulting and rude to have a Mexican flag stuck in my food

Yeah, the nerve of this Mexican restaurant to use a Mexican toothpick flag as a garnish on Mexican food. Is this guy serious?

I happen to like the little Mexican flags.

Sicko

We went to see the Michael Moore documentary Sicko over the weekend. And just to be "fair and balanced" we also watched some Fox News to see what Sean Hannity had to say about health care.

When conservatives talk about universal health care, they usually talk about the wait time in countries like Canada. People are put on waiting lists for certain surgeries, and they report that some people may even die waiting for an essential operation. I'm sure someone has died in Canada while waiting for a surgery, but the numbers show that a lot more people are being killed by the American health care system. So how could anyone support this American system? If choosing between two programs, why would you want to support the one that is responsible for more deaths?

In Canada and Europe, a small number of people may need to wait to have essential surgeries. In the United States, there is no waiting list. Instead, most of those people needing surgery are simply told by their insurance company that they can't have it done. I'm sure if you ask these people, they would much prefer to be on a waiting list than told they can't have it done.

Under the U.S. system, many people are suffering from lack of care. However, none of these people could be considered rich. In Canada and Europe, rich people may have to wait just as long as poor people to receive their care. They also may not be able to receive all of their unessential surgeries as quickly as they desire. Rich people don't want universal health care because they want to get their liposuction done whenever they want, even if it'll cost the life of someone poorer than them. And of course the insurance and pharmaceutical companies are making tons of money on not providing service to their customers.

Best 4th of July ever

Just got back from our 4th of July trip to the nation's capitol. We had a BBQ on the banks of the Potomac River at Bolling Air Force Base, where we could see the main fireworks show in the District on the other side of the river. Close, but not too close.

Other than the thunderstorm, the tornado warning, the high winds, and the police telling everyone to evacuate the waterfront and take cover, it went pretty well. The weather cleared up in time for the fireworks, which was awesome. Because if there's one thing the U.S. knows how to do, it's how to blow stuff up.