Short form: if we speak on the phone, or communicate via text message, I no longer have your phone number. However, I also don’t yet have a replacement cell phone (with, I assume, the same phone number). So I’ll need you to contact me in a few days to reconnect.
A couple days ago, my four-year-old iPhone SE stopped working. I didn’t drop it, didn’t get it wet, didn’t abuse it, didn’t damage or mistreat it. But the power button just stopped working. So I called Apple, and the guy on the phone couldn’t help me, but he was able to set up an appointment for me at a nearby Apple store. That appointment was for 4:50pm today.
I got to the store at 4:40 (trying to be on time or a little early), and stood outside in the line for half an hour. When I finally got inside and to someone to help me, he seemed surprised at the quaint notion of an appointment with a time.
He played with the phone, agreed with me that the power button was not working, and said I ought to leave it with him for two hours, so I did. I came home, ate dinner, found an email saying they had news and I ought to call the store. I called the store, and learned that, even though they had completely erased the phone, they were unable to do anything to fix it, and I would have to buy a new one. “You can have the same phone for $269, but it’s four years old, or for $399, you can get a brand new version of it. The dimensions are slightly different, but it’s otherwise the same.”
I trekked back to the store, got to a clerk, and asked “will I need a new charging cable, or a different adapter to use my Square with the phone? I know that engineers love to change things. And I think I heard they’d removed the headphone jack on some models.” She said “No, this is the same as the phone you have, just newer, so it has a better camera, things like that.”
I took it home, took it out of the box, and discovered that “slightly different” dimensions are actually completely different, to the point that the case I have for the old phone does not fit the new phone. The buttons are in different places. And there is indeed no headphone jack for the Square credit card reader to use. I also discovered a little metal clamp of some sort in the box (attached to a form-fitting card, so apparently it’s supposed to be here) with absolutely no idea what it’s for, since Apple has decided users don’t need manuals.
I’d grumble about bait-and-switch, but I think it’s much closer to “what do you mean you don’t know everything about our nifty, cool products?” For me, a cell phone is a tool I use, not a status symbol or a technological toy. Apparently, that makes me a customer the company really doesn’t care about.
So, now I have an iPhone which I have no idea how to use. No manual to tell me how to transfer the sim card from the old to the new (I gather I have to go searching online for a manual for this phone—guess I’m really lucky I have a computer, too), and none of the extras that go with a phone that I need, because all the pieces I have work just fine… just not with this phone.
Yeah, I’m not terribly happy.
And since I’m grumpy, let me share the rest of the grumpiness-causers I ran into:
While I was waiting outside of the store for half an hour, I realized why 418,000 Americans have died during this pandemic. Ten months we’ve been at it. I would think that after ten months, my fellow Americans would have learned something about queuing up (and not breathing down the neck of the person standing in front of them). I would think they would have learned something about wearing a mask (like, you don’t breathe through your chin). Heck, I’d think they’d try to do as I have, and avoid unnecessary contact with people (like, don’t go out if you don’t have to: the repair tech who told me to come back in two hours suggested I hang out in the whole foods store around the corner). No wonder we’re dying in droves, and sick, and the rest of the world wonders what kind of morons we are: we are morons.
As of today, Jimmy Carter has been a retired President of the United States for 40 years. His post-presidency is longer than any other (the previous record holder was Herbert Hoover, who died in 1964, 31 years after leaving the office). New president Joe Biden did say he’d spoken with Carter last night, but today’s was the first inauguration Carter has missed since Richard Nixon’s in 1972. Carter was inaugurated in 1976, and attended every one thereafter.
Carter is truly a man from another era, so long retired from the presidency that he is a part of history.
There is only one serving Senator who was in office when Carter was president: Vermont’s Patrick Leahy took his seat in the Senate on January 3, 1975, when he was 34 years old. Two current members of the Senate were born during Jimmy Carter’s administration, and one—Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who was sworn in today—was born six years after Carter left office.
There is also only one serving Representative who was in office when Carter was president: Alaska’s Don Young, who joined the House on March 6, 1973. The 87-year-old Young is the oldest and longest-serving member of Congress, though he is nine years younger than Carter. Thirty-one members of the House of Representatives were born after Carter left office.
The senior member of the Supreme Court is Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who joined the Court on October 23, 1991, more than ten years after Carter retired. (Carter is the only president to serve a full term without making an appointment to the Court.)
Of the 20 people who served in Carter’s Cabinet, he has outlived 13 of them. Those still surviving include W. Michael Blumenthal (Secretary of the Treasury, 1977-79), Benjamin Civiletti (Attorney General, 1979-81), Ray Marshall (Labor, 1977-81), Joseph A. Califano, Jr. (HEW, 1977-79), Maurice Landrieu (HUD, 1979-81), Neil Goldschmidt (Transportation, 1979-81), and Charles Duncan, Jr. (Energy, 1979-81).
Born October 1, 1924, Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived President (he eclipsed George H.W. Bush’s record in March 2019). His wife, Rosalynn, was born August 18, 1927, and #3 on the list of longest-lived First Ladies (Bess Truman lived 97 years 247 days; Lady Bird Johnson was 94 years 201 days old when she died).
Jimmy and Rosalynn married on July 7, 1946, so they are the longest-married Presidential couple (they eclipsed the record set by George and Barbara Bush, which was 73 years 101 days).
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Today, we inaugurated a new president. Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden, Jr., is now the 46th president (the 45th person to hold the office, since Grover Cleveland counts twice). With the coming of a new President (and Vice President, and First Lady) it seems a good time to look at my books and see what needs to be updated.
Joe Biden
I’ll start with the first book, The Presidential Book of Lists, and start with an oddity in that.
Chapter 7: Most Common Presidential First Names
The list starts with James, John, William, and George. The US Census Bureau lists the ten most common male first names: James, John, Robert, Michael, William, David, Richard, Charles, Joseph, Thomas. Joseph, Joe, is the ninth most common male first name. But Joe Biden is the first President to be called Joe or Joseph, first or middle name.
Chapter 8: Most Popular States Where Presidents Were Born
Joe Biden is the second President born in Pennsylvania (after James Buchanan, 1857-61). Thus, Pennsylvania is now tied for fifth place (the birth state of two Presidents) with North Carolina, Vermont, and Texas.
Chapter 13: Presidents Who Shared Birthdays
Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942. He doesn’t share his birthday with any other Presidents, but he was born in a very busy week. James Garfield was born November 19, 1831. Franklin Pierce was born November 23, 1804, and Zachary Taylor was born November 24, 1784.
Chapter 17: Presidents Who Were Older than the Greatest Number of Their Predecessors
Ronald Reagan had held the top spot on this list solo until today. Reagan was older than four of his predecessors: John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter. Biden, too, is older than four of his predecessors: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump (who himself was tied for second on the list, being older than three of his predecessors).
Chapter 19: Presidents Who Had the Most Living Predecessors
Biden joins the top of the list, with five: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Already on top of that list are Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.
Chapter 33: The Five Presidents Who Outlived Their Wives the Longest
Joe Biden is now number one on this list. His first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, died in a car crash in December 1972, more than 48 years ago. He remarried five years later, to the current First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. Now #2 on the list is Thomas Jefferson, who outlived Martha (and remained unmarried) by almost 44 years. Martin Van Buren is now in third place, having outlived Hannah by 43 and a half years. And at #4 is Theodore Roosevelt, who outlived Alice by almost 35 years. Like Biden, TR remarried a few years after the death of his first wife, and had more children with her.
Chapter 34: The Six Presidents Who Had More Than One Wife
When I wrote the book, five Presidents had been widowed and remarried, and one—Ronald Reagan—was divorced and remarried. Since then, we’ve had Donald Trump, the only President to have married three times (twice divorced), and now Joe Biden is the sixth President to have been widowed once and then remarried.
Chapter 46: Presidents Who Had All Their Siblings Live to See Them Take Office
Joe Biden is now number 10 on this list. He is the eldest of four siblings, including his sister Valerie and brothers Frank and Jim.
Chapter 57: Vice Presidents Who Were Elected President
Joe Biden joins the list of now ten Vice Presidents who were elected President. He is only the second to retire from the Vice Presidency and then return to the political scene to later be elected President, after Richard Nixon (Vice President 1953-61; President 1969-74).
Chapter 75: The Five Oldest Presidents
When I wrote the book, Ronald Reagan was the oldest when counting from their age at inauguration (he was 17 days shy of his 70th birthday). Reagan was followed by William Henry Harrison, James Buchanan, and George H.W. Bush. Counting from their age when they left office, the list was Reagan, then Dwight Eisenhower, Buchanan, and Bush. When Donald Trump took office, he was nearly eight months older than Reagan had been at inauguration. He served one term, and left office at the age of 74 years and 7 months. Joe Biden takes complete control of this list: he is older on inauguration day than Reagan was when he left office: 78 years and 61 days old.
Chapter 86: Presidents Defeated In Their Bids for Re-election
To the twelve who were on this list—from John Adams to George H.W. Bush—we now add Donald Trump.
***
Jill Biden
As Joe Biden was sworn in, his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, becomes First Lady: the most consuming unpaid job in the administration.
She, too, will cause me to update Ranking the First Ladies.
Chapter 5: The Most Common Names of First Ladies
Like her husband, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is the first First Lady to have her first name. But while her husband’s name is the ninth most common in the general population, hers is #159.
Chapter 6: The Most Popular States for First Ladies to be Born
Jill Biden is the third First Lady to be born in New Jersey, elevating that state into a three-way tie for fourth place with Missouri and Illinois.
Chapter 10: First Ladies Who Shared Birthdays
Jill Biden was born on June 3, 1951. She doesn’t share her birthday with any other First Lady, but Martha Washington and Helen Taft were both born on June 2 (1731 and 1861).
Chapter 22: First Ladies Who Were College Graduates
Dr. Jill Biden is the 14th First Lady with a college degree. But she went farther… much farther. Pat Nixon and Laura Bush continued on to earn masters degrees. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama earned JD degrees, and worked as lawyers. Jill Biden earned a bachelors degree, two masters, and, in 2007, a doctorate of education.
Chapter 24: The Five Oldest First Ladies
Based on their age when their husbands took office, the list was topped by Anna Harrison, who was 65 years 222 days old when William Henry Harrison became President. Based on their age when they moved out of the White House, Bess Truman was three weeks shy of her 68th birthday, followed by Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan. Jill Biden is 69 years 231 days old today, and thus, #1.
Chapter 26: The First Ladies Who Were the Greatest Number of Years Older Than Their Predecessors
Jill Biden leaps to number 2 on this list. She is 18 years 327 days older than her predecessor, Melania Trump (President Trump’s third wife, she is 24 years younger than her husband). Caroline Harrison, in 1889, was 31 years 293 days older than France Cleveland, who married President Grover Cleveland during his first term, when she was 21.
Chapter 41: The Presidential Wives Who Missed Their Husbands’ Presidencies
Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, who was born in 1942, died in a car crash in December 1972, six years after marrying Joe. She is the sixth woman to have died before her husband became President.
Chapter 47: The First Ladies Who Had All Their Siblings Live to See Them Become First Lady
Jill Biden is the oldest of five sisters. She is the ninth First Lady to have all her siblings alive when she became First Lady.
***
Kamala Harris
Which brings us to my third book, Ranking the Vice Presidents. And Kamala Harris.
Sure, she’s the first woman to be Vice President. Sure, she’s only the second Vice President to be in a long-term relationship with a man (see William R.D. King). Sure, she’s the second Vice President of non-European heritage (see Charles Curtis). Sure, she’s the first Vice President to use a different last name than her spouse (Douglas Craig Emhoff, who is seven days older than she is).
But those are all the obvious differences. Let’s see what her inauguration does to modify my book. (Surprisingly, the answer is “not too much.” In other words, other than physical characteristics, Kamala Harris looks pretty much like her predecessors: age, family, work experience, and so on.)
Doug Emhoff
Chapter 5. The Tallest and Shortest Vice Presidents
Kamala Harris is now the shortest Vice President. She’s 5’2″ tall. John Adams, Martin Van Buren, and Hubert Humphrey were all 5’6″.
Chapter 6. The Most Common Vice Presidential First Names
Yeah, this one’s a gimmee for anyone who has been paying attention. No previous Vice Presidents have been named Kamala. On the US Census Bureau list of most common first names, Kamala ranks #3,559, with about 1,518 people sharing that name. (For comparison, #1 on the list is Mary, which adorns 3,991,060 people.)
Chapter 7. The Most Popular States for Vice Presidents to be Born
Kamala Harris is the second Vice President born in California (joining Richard Nixon).
Chapter 11. The Vice Presidents Who Shared Birthdays
Kamala Harris was born October 20, 1964, so she doesn’t share a birthday with any of her predecessors. But she was born during a popular week. Richard M. Johnson (1837-41) was born October 17, 1780. Adlai Stevenson (1893-97) was born October 23, 1835. James Sherman (1909-12) was born October 24, 1855. And Theodore Roosevelt (1901) was born October 27, 1858.
However, October 20, 1964, was the day former President Herbert Hoover died, at the age of 90, 31 years after he retired from the Presidency.
Chapter 17. The Vice Presidents Who Had the Greatest Number of Living Predecessors
Kamala Harris joins Al Gore (1993-2001) at the top of the list, with six living former Vice Presidents: Walter Mondale (1977-81), Dan Quayle (1989-93), Al Gore (1993-2001), Dick Cheney (2001-09), Joe Biden (2009-17), and Mike Pence (2017-21).
Chapter 23. The Vice Presidents Who Had the Fewest Children
Kamala Harris is the fourth Vice President to have no natural children, joining William King, William Wheeler, and Thomas Marshall.
Help keep the trivia flowing by dropping something in the virtual tip jar: paypal.me/ianrandalstrock . And thank you!
I just gave a new talk, “Inaugurations and Installations: Presidents’ First Days on the Job,” as Kentuckiana Mensa’s monthly speaker. It went pretty well. About five percent of the group’s membership showed up for it, which strikes me as a good turn-out for 6pm on a Saturday night. Nobody logged off in the middle, and several had questions and comments after I was finished, so I guess there was some interest.
As I was talking, I noticed a few pieces that can be trimmed, but overall, I’m pleased with it.
So, that’s another topic I can offer to groups looking for speakers. I’m available; ask.
I just got an email from a regular convention customer, who notes that he always buys something from me at Arisia, and that in better times, that would be this coming weekend. He writes “since I don’t want you or your authors to lose out because we’re not conventioning in person, can I purchase some books directly from you?” I’m very touched to receive this loving offer. As I told him, I’ve been running the company at the bare minimum this year, not growing as it should, but operating cautiously enough that we’ll emerge from the pandemic in as good a shape as we entered it, having missed out only on the growth. Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful offer which I told him I’m willing to accept, only so long as it doesn’t present any hardship for him.
Hearing all the blame being heaped on the Capitol Police, I’m starting to think they weren’t so terrible on Wednesday. Yes, they let a mob break in to the building and vandalize it (mind you, it’s a building with more than 500 rooms, and who knows how many different entrances). On the other hand, no member of Congress was injured. Was it a conscious decision to let the building go and focus on the people? Had they stood up to keep the rioters out of the building, it is almost certain there would have been far more deaths, because they would have had to use force, quite probably deadly force, to keep them out.
Was the day a clusterfuck? Definitely. But are the Capitol Police villains? No, I don’t think so. I think they were overwhelmed with insufficient support which should have been called in far in advance. For instance, if the Executive Branch of the government had not exhorted those animals to go take the Congress, perhaps it wouldn’t have happened. And if the Executive Branch had authorized the presence of the National Guard to backstop the Capitol Police, those animals would not have been able to breach the bicycle rack-barricades.
The building can be repaired and cleaned; the dead cannot be brought back.
It’s a shame that it took the horrors of yesterday to wake so many of our leaders to the need to invoke the fourth clause of the 25th Amendment. I called for it last summer, but my voice is not so loud. Today, however, the 25th is everywhere, so here’s a brief discussion of what it is, where it came from, and what it can do and has done.
Up until 1967, the Constitution provided a means of filling a vacancy in the presidency—the vice president would succeed to the office—but no way to fill a vacancy in the vice presidency. If the vice president died in office, or succeeded to the presidency, there would be no vice president until the next election chose one and he was inaugurated the following March (the date of inauguration was changed to January by the 20th Amendment, starting in 1937).
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
But in the 1960s, after Franklin Roosevelt’s death in office in 1945, and John Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, there was enough public will to find a way to fill that role. This was especially true after Kennedy’s death, because the next two in line—the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate—were both considered to be less than completely healthy.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
The 25th Amendment was written to enable a vice presidential vacancy to be filled (that’s the second section: “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”).
At the same time, there was recognition of the fact that a president might not be dead, but still unable to execute the duties of his office. This was brought to light when Dwight Eisenhower suffered a serious heart attack that put him out of commission for a while. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon had an agreement that Nixon would take over if necessary, but that agreement wasn’t enshrined in law.
Woodrow Wilson
And we’re pretty sure now that earlier, in 1919, Woodrow Wilson’s stroke left him completely unable to do the job. But nothing was done, except that his wife was most probably the acting president for about six months.
Thus, the third section was written, enabling the President to say “Hey, I’m having trouble doing the job. I’m going to step aside temporarily and let the Vice President act in my stead.”
The fourth section is the other side of that coin: if the President is unable to make that determination (for instance, if he’s in a coma), the Vice President—acting in concert with a majority of the Cabinet—can say “The President is unable to do the job. For the good of the country, the Vice President will serve as acting President until the President is once again able.”
The third section has been invoked several times in recent decades, but not in any terribly dramatic fashion:
Ronald W. Reagan
On July 12, 1985, President Ronald Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He elected to have the lesion removed immediately. On July 13, Reagan signed a letter before going under general anesthesia, and Vice President George H.W. Bush was acting president from 11:28 a.m. until 7:22 p.m., when Reagan transmitted a followup letter declaring himself able to resume his duties.
George H.W. Bush
On June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush invoked Section 3 and temporarily transferred his powers to Vice President Dick Cheney before undergoing a colonoscopy, which began at 7:09 a.m. Bush awoke about forty minutes later but did not resume his presidential powers until 9:24 a.m., to ensure any aftereffects had cleared.
George W. Bush
On July 21, 2007, Bush again invoked Section 3 before another colonoscopy. Cheney was acting president from 7:16 a.m. to 9:21 a.m.
Dick Cheney
In all three cases, the acting President didn’t do anything other than carry out his usual duties.
Perhaps the clearest instance when section 4 should have been invoked was on March 30, 1981, when Reagan was shot and rushed into emergency surgery without time to sign a letter under section 3. Vice President Bush did not assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president because he was rushed back to Washington via airplane, and Reagan was out of surgery by the time Bush landed in Washington.
Sections 3 and 4 get far more play in fiction. They were notable in a two-episode arc of The West Wing, and as a poorly executed subplot in the movie Air Force One.
By the way, there’s also the first section of the Amendment, which clarifies something that had been less-than-clear
Clause Six of Article II of the Constitution says that if the President dies or is unable “to discharge the powers and duties” of the presidency, “the same shall devolve on the Vice President.” That left open the question of whether a succeeding Vice President became the President, or was merely acting as President. John Tyler, the first Vice President to be faced with that situation, insisted that he was the President, and through force of will, made that determination stick. But still, it wasn’t entirely clear until the 25th Amendment was adopted. The first section reads “In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.”
Section 3: Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4: Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
The 25th Amendment was adopted by the 89th Congress in 1965, submitted to the states on July 6 of that year, and was adopted (ratified by 38 states) on February 10, 1967. To date, it has been ratified by 47 states (all but Georgia, North Dakota, and South Carolina).
The only up-side to Donald Trump’s presidency is that, if the country survives, it will show that our Constitution, our system of government, our very idea of the United States of America is strong and vibrant enough to survive even someone like him as president for four years.
Yesterday, before the Trump Party tried to destroy our country, I had intended to put together and post this, but then I wound up staring at the television all day.
What I’d intended was to say that on Tuesday, I was finally able to listen to this entire two-hour conversation Scott Edelman and I had for his “Eating the Fantastic” podcast series (actually, 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 54 seconds). Other than the discomfort of listening to a recording of myself for two hours, it was a pretty good conversation, but I can’t imagine anyone else will want to sit through two hours of it. (You are, of course, very welcome to prove me wrong in this.)
And, as has become my wont when doing an interview like this, I’m offering a list of the people, books, and so forth that I mentioned with links for you to find out more about them.
The gingerbread cookie and fruit pie recipes I used are at the end of this file.
At Snowball, I gave a talk about Isaac Asimov, because it was his centennial. I don’t have a recording of that talk, but two months previous, I gave a very similar talk as Greater New York Mensa’s monthly speaker. That talk is available (in three parts) on YouTube. Here’s a link to the first part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAeIvR4RvuA
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (instead, I used 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/16 tsp nutmeg, 1/16 tsp cloves)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
1. Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until well blended.
2. Beat together the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer starting on low and increasing speed until pale and fluffy, about three minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl down as needed. Beat in the molasses until combined, then the egg. Turn to low speed and beat in the flour mixture a little at a time until the mixture comes together, then increase speed and beat until all of the ingredients are well incorporated and you have a sticky dough. Divide the dough in half, flatten into two disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least two hours and up to overnight.
3. Position two racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Keeping the other disk refrigerated, roll one disk to an 1/8-inch thickness on a well-floured surface, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking. If the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside edge in. Cut cookies (original recipe called for a gingerbread man cookie cutter; I just used a round glass). Pull away the extra dough around each shape and use a small spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheets about one inch apart. Gather together the scraps, leaving behind the excess flour, and knead them a few times to form a smooth dough again. Reroll them in the same way. Freeze the cookies to firm them, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake the cookies in the center of the oven racks, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and also turning them 180 degrees around halfway through baking, until they are slightly firm to the touch but not brown, about 12 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
5. Cool the cookies 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
***
Pie:
Crust Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
ice water
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and work it through with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and work it in with your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. This recipe will make two pie crusts.
Roll out the dough on the floured surface into a circle about 14 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Gently fold the circles of dough in half and then in half again so that you can lift it without tearing it, and unfold into a 9-inch pie pan.
Filling:
3 pounds of apples and pears
1 cup raisins
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Peel and core apples and pears, then slice 1/4 inch thick. Toss apples and pears with raisins, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt until evenly coated.
Put pie crust in bottom of pie plate. Fill with fruit mixture, cover with other pie crust. Crimp edges, then cut vents in top crust.
Bake at 450 degrees F on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 degrees F and bake 40 minutes more. Cool two to three hours, then refrigerate. Pie tastes best the after overnight in the refrigerator.
A potentially very interesting scientific discovery. The article focuses on jet fuel, but if it can do that, I can picture it having some effect on the total petroleum-based fuel market.
Hearing all the blame being heaped on the Capitol Police, I’m starting to think they weren’t so terrible on Wednesday. Yes, they let a mob break in to the building and vandalize it (mind you, it’s a building with more than 500 rooms, and who knows how many different entrances). On the other hand, no member of Congress was injured. Was it a conscious decision to let the building go and focus on the people? Had they stood up to keep the rioters out of the building, it is almost certain there would have been far more deaths, because they would have had to use force, quite probably deadly force, to keep them out.
