Bombay Beach

Before the Salton Sea lived up to its saline solution name, Bombay Beach was a resort.  Now it is a residence of last resort for some, and a bohemian bastion for others, including artists.  We visited during a festival of art installations.  Think a day trip to a mini burning man.

Political Animal

As children the Barbara Walters tree thing never worked.  But we did speculate as to what kind of animal we would want to be.  Although he may be a predatory animal in many ways, there is no doubt that Netanyahu is an astute political animal.

Running in a pack with Trump aided Benjamin politically.    In attacking Trump for dining with Kanye and Fuentes, Netanyahu has declared himself a lone wolf.  A step he would never take unless he was certain Trump would not regain his position as leader of the pack.

Netanyahu is someone I abhor, but I would not bet against his political judgement.

Rams Fumble

 Rams are shedding players like a long haired cat.  But they coughed up a fur ball, losing Brandon Powell. The Vikings signed him to a one year contract, the amount not yet disclosed, but certainly not a bank breaker.  Even with cap concerns, he was within the Ram's budget.

Powell is not an imposing physical specimen.  He is only 5' 8,"  more shifty than fast, with a mediocre 40 time.  He will most likely be the last receiver off the bench.  But his value as a punt returner is undervalued.  The key is not his average return yardage, which was good because of his agility.  More important are his hands.  He catches every punt cleanly with no muffs or fumbles.

Games are often lost on special teams.   Powell will never cost a team a game.

Best Thai Restaurant in Glendale

 

Taste of Windsor is not a place to Thai one on, incongruously nestled in the back of the ground floor of Windsor Club, a building used for Alcoholics Anonymous and Al Anon meetings.  Only your taste buds will be inebriated.

Ten visits with no misses.  The kitchen is consistently excellent.  We have tried, and enjoyed, three appetizers, the steamed dumplings, the chicken sate, and pictured, the roti with a curry dip.

Perhaps our favorite dish is the Tom Ka soup, although the Tom Yum is also quite good.  Thai food may be famous for its heat, but if you spend time in Thailand you learn that a meal is about harmony, balancing, hot and sweet, sour and umami.  The Tom Ka represents that balance, a little heat, just the right amount of sweetness, and richness from the coconut.  

Speaking of coconut, the opening picture is one of the specialty items, corn and chicken curry in a young coconut.  The coconut is not just for show.  The dish is laced with strips of coconut.  Another savory dish is pumpkin with eggplant.  Pumpkin is extremely popular in Southeast Asian cooking.

Their version of Pad Thai is one of my favorite variations, being heavy on the sauce. 

To compensate you for being denied a Chang beer, revel in the tasty Thai coffee.

As an added bonus, Taste of Windsor is among the least expensive Thai restaurants in town.  Thai coffee is 3 dollars.  The corn and chicken curry in a coconut is 12, and the large vegetable version of the Tom Ka (recommended), is 9 dollars.  

Be aware that the restaurant is closed on Sunday, and only open until 3:30 on Saturday.  The rest of the week they are open until 9 pm.

Capitalism Needs Guardrails

 Conservatives usually win the war of words.  Government employees are branded as bureaucrats, with the negative connotation of being lazy and obstructionist.  Government in general is impugned.

Conversely, deregulation is regaled as unleashing the power of capitalism.  Long forgotten is the purpose of regulations.  Water flows to the lowest level, as do companies in pursuit of profits, and the maximization of the bonus for the executives that lead them.  Dumping toxic waste in a stream is cheaper than safely storing it or transporting it to a proper facility.  Fewer employees on trains, and fewer inspections of brakes saves money.

Regulations protect communities, and the nation as a whole, from unfettered capitalism. Yes, we have all been annoyed at some point by "red tape," making it too easy to miss the bigger picture.   Clean water, clean air, safe food, and efficacious medication are ensured by government regulators.

President Trump, gleefully bowing to the wishes of his party, endangered our safety in two ways.  First, he initiated broad deregulation which played a role in both the toxic crash in East Palestine as well as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.  Second, having total disdain for government, he thinned the ranks of regulators, and, where possible, replaced seasoned veterans with political appointments.

A rising tide may lift all ships, but the passengers suffer if the air and water are polluted.

Lemon Drop

 Those who cannot savor the rush of pure vodka, need to shield  their palettes with lemon and sugar.  In a newsroom like CNN you need to be able to drink life straight up with no chaser.

Don Lemon stated that at 51 Nikki Haley is no longer at her prime.  Scientifically, that is almost certainly correct.  At worst, it is an opinion, well within the province of a news personality, like Don Lemon.  Certainly as a gay man, Don  had no sexual agenda in his observation.

Nonetheless many women at CNN threatened to quit if Lemon was reinstated.  Those who fail to resign should be fired.  Destabilized by so little, how would they handle a real crisis? This is a newsroom, designed to cover the extremes of human conduct.  If you cannot handle something from the top shelf, you are ill prepared to cover the rot gut of human existence.

Ilhan Omar

 Politics trumped good sense, a hallmark of the new GOP.  Ilhan Omar should not have been removed from the Foreign Relations Committee.  

Legislators seem to confuse Israel with Judaism.  Israel is a country, Judaism is a religion, and to an extent, a culture.  Opposing Judaism is antisemitic, disagreeing with Israel is not.  Israel as a country acts in its own self interest, or at times the self interest of leading politicians.  Sometimes the interests of Israel and the United States align, at times they may not.

Omar is not antisemitic.  She has at times made insensitive remarks.  But when she stumbled she stood up and apologized.  That contrasts with Mega MAGA Republicans who double down.  Perhaps we can use Jewish lasers to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon.

Omar is however, unapologetic in disagreeing with some Israeli policies.   The bulk of the work of Congress is done in committees, not on the House floor.  Diversity of opinion and reexamination has value.  Sort of like shooting the moon in the game Hearts, in the Talmud if there was a unanimous guilty vote by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Court) the suspect was exonerated.  

A unanimous vote was considered suspicious.  A fix was in.  So too unanimity of thought in a Congressional Committee can be dangerous.  Consensus must be reached through discourse not dogma.