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Roasted Corn Flour Recipes
Cornbread with Maple Yogurt
- 1 cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 stick of butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs or egg substitute
- 1 tablespoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vanilla maple yogurt*
- ½ cup milk
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs. Stir well.
- Add the corn flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt to the creamed butter.
- Stir in the milk and yogurt. Pour batter into pan and bake for 15 minutes or until beautifully brown.
- * You can substitute plain yogurt plus 1 teaspoon maple extract.
Spicy Black Bean & Corn Burger (Vegan, Gluten-free)
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
- ¾ cup Hulled White Corn, cooked
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup oats (Gluten free)
- 4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp fresh Cilantro, minced
- ½ tsp Cumin
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Roasted White Corn Flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and oregano until onions are translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Cook and stir red bell pepper into onion mixture until red bell pepper is tender, 2 to 4 more minutes.
- Mash black beans and white corn in a large bowl. Stir sautéed vegetable mixture, oats, chili powder, cilantro, cumin, and salt into mashed black beans. Divide mixture into 4 patties and coat both sides of each patty with Roasted White Corn flour. Let sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook patties until browned, 5 to 8 minutes on each side. Serves 4. *recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-black-bean-and-corn-burgers/
Olive Oil and Fire Roasted Corn Cake with Rhubarb Compote
This recipe was developed by Pamela Graham, pastry chef at the Holloway House Restaurant in Bloomfield, N.Y. It was designed to showcase the delicious possibilities of cooking with the Ganondagan White Corn Project's Fire Roasted White Corn Flour. It is simple, yet satisfying and is a recipe that can easily be produced by home cooks and even children. It can be served with any seasonal fruit, warm with maple syrup at breakfast, or alone, as a rustic yet sweet ending to any meal.
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ½ cup Roasted Corn Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- zest of one orange or one lemon
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- ½ cup dry white wine (apple juice, O.J., or cider can be substituted)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 ½ qts. fresh rhubarb cut in 1" pieces
- 1 cup frozen strawberries with their juice or 1 ½ cups fresh cut in half
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla
- juice of ½ a lemon
- For the cake: oil an 8" round pan and line the bottom with parchment and oil the parchment. In one bowl stir together flours, baking powder, salt, and zest of orange or lemon. In a separate bowl whisk vegetable oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and dry white wine or juice. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just mixed, turn into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the cake evenly with 1/3 cup sugar. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until the cake is golden and a tester tests clean. Cool on rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and remove parchment. Move to serving plate.
- For the compote: Place in saucepan fresh rhubarb, strawberries, 1 ½ cups sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Cook until the rhubarb if soft and thickening but not mush! If it not thick enough for your taste you may thicken with a few drops of cornstarch mixed with water.
- To serve: Place wedges of cake on serving plates or bowls and top with the compote, garnish with whipped cream or ice cream. Best served slightly warm.
- ½ cup Iroquois White Corn Flour
- 1 cup (8 oz.) water
- 8 tablespoons (4 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups grated gruyere cheese
- Combine water, butter, salt and mustard in a 2-4 quart saucepan and bring to rolling boil.
- Once the butter has melted, remove pan from heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture comes together and resembles mashed potatoes.
- Return the pan to medium low heat and stir for 3 to 5 minutes until it glistens and is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and with a stand mixer, hand mixer or a stiff spatula, beat the dough on medium low speed until it stops steaming and is just warm to the touch.
- Continue beating and add the eggs in four additions. Wait for each to be absorbed and the dough to smooth out before adding the next egg. The dough should come together in a smooth batter.
- Beat in the cheese.
- Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper at least one inch apart.
- Bake Gougeres for 5 minutes, and then turn heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway during baking.
- Transfer the deep golden-brown Gougeres to a cooling rack.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated and re-crisped in a warm oven.
Roasted Pork and White Corn Tamales
- 2 cups of mixed Iroquois White Corn Flour and Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour (equal portions)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ cup shortening
- ½ cup + chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ lb. roasted shredded pork
- 1 can (4 oz.) green chilies, chopped
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 14 corn husks soaked for 2+ hours in cold water
- Optional: sour cream, hot sauce
- Mix dry ingredients with mixer, add shortening then liquid until play-dough like consistency.
- Combine pork, chilies, onion, and cheese in a separate bowl.
- Spread about ¼ cup of dough onto damp husk and spread evenly with fingers or rubber spatula, dip in water to help spreading. Spread evenly about ¼ inch thick, leaving top flat part and pointy part of husk empty about 1-2 inches from the top. Put pork filling in center of masa.
- Roll and tie pointy bottom side folded up, then steam (use a steamer that sits well above the water and has a tight lid) with open flat end of husk standing end up for about 2 hours.
- Add hot water to the pot every 20 minutes to prevent pot from going dry.
- Remove tamales with tongs, serve hot with sour cream and hot sauces on the side.
Pepper Jelly Cornmeal Cups
- 1 cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- ½ cup butter
- 1 small container (6 oz.) of Greek yogurt
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup red or green jalapeno jelly
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds.
- Add brown sugar and baking powder and beat until combined, scraping sides of the bowl often.
- Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until combined.
- Beat in corn flour. Beat in as much of the flour using a mixer, then use a wooden spoon when the dough gets stiff.
- Shape the dough into ¾" balls. Place one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly press the tip of your thumb in the center of each ball of dough. Fill the center with about 1/8 teaspoon of Jalapeno jelly.
- Bake in preheated oven about 10 Minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for one minute.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack. Let cool.
Zucchini Cookies with Roasted White Corn Flour
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup shortening
- 1 egg
- 1 cup zucchini, shredded
- 1 ¼ cups quick oats
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Combine flour, corn flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir to combine ingredients well. Cut in shortening. Beat in egg until well combines. Add zucchini and oats. Beat until evenly mixed in.
- Spoon drops of cookie dough onto greased cookie sheet.
- Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool.
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons juice from fresh lemon (more if needed to make frosting creamier)
- 3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Cream butter in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Add more milk and/or powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.
- Frost cookies once they are completely cooled and sprinkle the tops with a little nutmeg.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cornbread
- 1 cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour *
- 1 ⅓ cups brown rice flour *
- 1 cup tapioca starch/flour *
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree or 2 cups cooked fresh pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs or egg substitute
- ⅓ cup light flavored olive oil
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins, loaf pans, or line with paper liners. Stir together the flours, sugar, spice, baking soda, and salt. Add the pumpkin and mix until smooth. Stir in the eggs and oil and mix again until combined. Stir in ½ cup chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into loaf pans or scoop into muffin cups (about ⅔ full). Scatter the remaining chocolate chips over the top of the muffins or loaves. Bake 16 - 18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Let the bread cool completely and store in an airtight for a few days or freeze for up to three months.
- Yield: 18 muffins or one full-size loaf pan
* If you are not in need of a gluten-free recipe, simply substitute a total of 3 cups all-purpose flour for the items marked with an asterisk.
Iroquois Corn Granola Bars
- ½ cup of Iroquois White Corn Flour
- ½ cup of Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- ½ cup almonds (or other nut), chopped
- 1 tablespoon goji berries (or other dried berry)
- 1 teaspoon chia seed
- 1 cup rolled oats, gluten free
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 teaspoon honey or agave nectar (if making gluten free version)
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter (regular or gluten free)
- ½ cup of chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 tablespoon xanthum gum
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix first six ingredients in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients.
- With hands mix all ingredients together until well blended (dry ingredients are sticky).
- Pour into a 9"x9" greased baking pan.
- Press down hard until granola stops moving around.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Recipe by Chef Julie Samson.
Granola Nuggets
- 3 bananas (ripe), mashed
- ⅓ cup apple sauce
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup blueberry yogurt
- ½ cup blueberry craisins
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- Mix all ingredients together in one bowl and pour into a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Yields 12 muffins or 24 mini muffins. This recipe features no additional sugar!
Roasted Cornmeal Pancakes
- 3 cups Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 teaspoons baking powder
- 5 cups low-fat buttermilk
- 4 eggs (or 2 cups egg substitute)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons canola oil
- In a large bowl stir together flour, corn flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and oil.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour buttermilk mixture into the well. Stir until well mixed.
- Lightly coat a non-stick griddle with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat over medium heat. For each pancake, pour a ½ cup onto the griddle. Cook about 4 minutes or until bubbles begin to appear on the top of the pancakes. Using a spatula turn pancakes over and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
- For sweet pancakes: Add blueberries, bananas, diced peaches, etc.
- For savory (great for lunch or dinner): Sauté 1 cup chopped scallions, 1 cup chopped sweet peppers, and 4 tablespoons chopped parsley in canola oil. Add mixture to batter.
- Makes 24 pancakes (4-5" diameter)
Cornmeal Cookies
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
- ½ cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract *
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, corn flour, salt, and cardamom (if used). Set aside.
- In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla (or lemon zest) and beat until smooth. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, about 2 inches apart from each other onto two large baking sheets. Flatten with slightly floured fingertips.
- Bake until edges are golden, 14-16 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through.
- Transfer cookies immediately to a wire rack and let cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
- * For a different flavor instead of vanilla, substitute lemon zest and a ½ teaspoon ground cardamom for the vanilla.
Corn Mush
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup Iroquois Roasted White Corn Flour or Iroquois White Corn Flour
- In a small saucepan bring water to boil. Shut the stove off and add the corn flour. Stir until all is mixed. Turn the heat back on low and simmer for a minimum of 5 minutes.
- Serve with chopped walnuts, fresh or dried blueberries (or other berries), and a little bit of real maple syrup.
- Makes 1 serving. If you like the mush thicker, add a little more corn flour.
Email: email@example.com
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Mailing Address: P.O. Box 113, Victor, NY 14564
Physical Address: 7191 County Road 41, Victor, NY 14564


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When I belatedly reviewed Firefox 2 earlier this year (it shipped the previous October), I knew I'd have to do a more timely review of Thunderbird 2, Mozilla's new email client. I've been a Firefox user and proponent for years but I've only sporadically used Thunderbird, largely due to my dedication to Microsoft Outlook, which combines the best email functionality around with excellent personal information management features. Thunderbird, by contrast, is somewhat of a throwback: its roots lie with the late 1990's email component of Netscape Communicator, and it offers email, newsgroup, and RSS functionality, and contacts management, but no calendaring and tasks, as does Outlook. (Mozilla is working on a Thunderbird hybrid, codenamed Lightning, that will add this functionality.) That said, I've been using pre-release versions of this product as my sole email client for almost three months now. And I like Thunderbird 2 quite a bit.
What is Thunderbird?
To many in the Windows world, and to a growing legion of Web mail users, Thunderbird is a non-entity. Microsoft provides a free email client with Windows (called Windows Mail in Vista, but known as Outlook Express in previous versions), and of course, most Office users get a version of Outlook with that product suite. And today, many--especially the coming generation of computer users now still in school--use Web-based solutions like Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail.
However, there are excellent reasons to use Thunderbird. First, Windows Mail, like Outlook Express, is built on an insecure foundation, and you'd be better off using a free Web-based email solution, like Gmail or Windows Live Hotmail, than these lackluster products. But Web mail solutions aren't offline friendly, and with many of us switching to notebooks, accessing, triaging, and composing email offline is a big deal. Finally, Microsoft has somewhat dulled Outlook's future in the consumer space by removing it from the low-cost Home and Student version of Office 2007. Now, Outlook is available to a much smaller audience and, at $99 for the retail version, it's not exactly cheap. Where are the email users of the future going to turn?
Mozilla Corporation hopes they're going to turn to Thunderbird. It's a complete email solution, with support for POP, IMAP, and Gmail email accounts (and .Mac on OS X), contacts, as well as RSS and USENET newsgroups. It works just fine with multiple accounts of all kinds, features a logical and well-laid out interface, and can be customized in an almost bewildering number of ways. Like Firefox 2, Thunderbird is a somewhat tepid upgrade compared to the previous version (Thunderbird 1.5 in this case). However, since fewer users are familiar with Thunderbird, many new users will be impressed by the wealth of functionality in this product. That it's completely free--and cross-platform friendly, with native versions for Mac OS X, Linux, and other systems--is just the icing on the cake. Indeed, Thunderbird is now the default email client on many of the Linux distributions I test.
When Thunderbird 1.5 shipped in early 2006, Mozilla imbued the application with better security, automatic updating, automatic spell checking, anti-phishing technology, and other useful features. In other words, Thunderbird is already a mature, full-featured product. However, some of the improvements in Thunderbird 2 are absolutely worthwhile and make this an interesting upgrade. Let's take a look.
A look at Thunderbird 2
In use, Thunderbird is a full-featured email solution with all the expected bells and whistles. Here's what's new in this version.
Message tagging
One of the most useful features in Thunderbird 2, message tags allow you to apply tags like "Important," "Work," "Personal," and so on to individual emails. Each tag comes with its own color, so when you tag a message, it is colorized in the mail folder. You can, of course, edit the existing tags and create your own tags. Outlook users will recognize tags as a rendition of the flagging feature in older Outlook versions, or Categories in Outlook 2007. It's as useful in Thunderbird as it is in Outlook, especially since you can auto-categorize email using Thunderbird's Filter Rules (like Outlook's Rules) to parse email when it arrives.
Message history
Users are familiar with the way Web browsers track your navigational progress and the use of Back and Forward buttons is so well-accepted in navigational UI that Microsoft added them to Windows Explorer years ago. Thunderbird adds capability to email, and you'll see prominent Back and Forward buttons in the toolbar that allow you to arbitrarily return to email messages you've previously viewed in the current session. This is the type of feature some users will find quite useful, especially if you tend to triage email by manually clicking on the emails that look most important, regardless of order. Others, of course, will simply ignore this feature, and of course you can remove those buttons (and otherwise configure the Thunderbird toolbar) if you'd like.
Find as you type and saved searches
Thunderbird makes it easier than ever to find the information you need. For individual email messages, a new find as you type feature--identical to that in Firefox--lets you search for text within the current message. Just tap CTRL+F and you'll see the familiar find as you type pane. (ESC causes it to disappear.)
Thunderbird also supports an Outlook-like Saved Searches feature, which is a pretty sweet addition to a free application. Basically, a saved search is a folder that contains the results of a search you previous performed. (In Windows Vista, this is called a Search Folder.) The folder doesn't actually contain the email messages, but is rather a live view of the search results.
To save a search, perform a search using Thunderbird's inline search bar. Then, click the magnifying glass icon next to the search box and choose Save Search as a Folder. A dialog will appear, allowing you fine tune the search or just save it as is. Neat.
Smarter notifications
Thunderbird previously offered Outlook-like "toast" notifications that pop up in the lower-right corner of the screen when new messages came in, but in Thunderbird 2 they've been made even more Outlook-like: Now, in addition to the subject of the email, you'll see information about the sender and the part of the body text when possible. Thunderbird's notifications are usually quite a bit bigger than those offered by Outlook and are more simply styled, but no less useful.
Gmail and .Mac support
Thunderbird 2 natively supports Gmail and, on the Mac, .Mac email accounts, giving users of those systems a way to configure the client in the simplest possible manner. With Gmail, for example, all you need to configure is your name and Gmail account name; after that, Thunderbird will automatically configure itself to access Gmail via POP3 access. Thunderbird is also smart enough to use a non-destructive default configuration (i.e. messages are left on the server by default), and it presents the Accounts management dialog so you can tweak things if you'd like. (A .Mac account is automatically configured for IMAP access.) Kudos to Mozilla for providing this kind of functionality. You can, of course, manually configure Thunderbird or other email clients for Gmail POP3 use, but to do so, you'd have to visit Google's support pages for the configuration information. This makes Thunderbird 2 so much more accessible. I only wish similar support was available for other Web mail types. (This isn't exactly Mozilla's fault, of course: Only paying Yahoo customers can currently use an email client, and Hotmail is notoriously unfriendly to desktop email applications.)
Phishing protection
Thunderbird 2 provides users with what is arguably the most important half of their client-side anti-phishing toolbox: Protection against the emails that try to fool users into visiting malicious Web site that can steal their personal information. Thunderbird will display an IE-like information bar with a graphical red shield any time it believes the currently-selected email is an email scam. You can then tell the application the email is not a scam, or delete it. (This is similar to the way junk mail works in Thunderbird.) Suspicious emails are allowed to display simple text only, so they can't access your system programmatically.
Remote image blocking
By default, Thunderbird blocks remote images in email messages, which is now a standard security feature in virtually all email clients. You can load images by clicking the Load Images button in an email message's information bar or, if you trust the sender, add them to an address book so that images in other emails from that sender will always automatically display. Actually, this is one of Thunderbird's nicest features: When you add a address book contact card in this fashion, you can choose between your personal address book, which is of course typically used for people you know, and a second address book called Collected Addresses. I use this second address book specifically for email newsletters from companies.
Automatic updates
Like Firefox, you can configure Thunderbird 2 to automatically download new product versions and security updates. During the beta, Thunderbird prompted me almost every day to download a new version, which was an interesting way to chart the progress of the client as it improved over time, but now that I've switched to the shipping version, it's been silent. My guess is that we'll see only sporadic updates from now as occasional security fixes and updates are released. You can also manually check for updates via the Help menu.
Add-ons galore
One of the best reasons to use Firefox is its robust collection of extensions and themes, and this is true of Thunderbird as well: Using a Firefox-like Add-ons Manager, you can manage the Thunderbird extensions and themes you've installed, as well as find new add-ons online. This Add-ons Manager also lets you disable and uninstall extensions and themes you don't want, all from a single, convenient interface. (Note that you almost always have to restart Thunderbird to apply new themes or use new extensions.)
In case it's not obvious, extensions are basically software utility add-ons of varying complexity, while themes are user interface styles that can somewhat dramatically change the look of the application. Mozilla installs a single extension in Thunderbird by default--for error reporting--and a single, default user interface theme. I find the default Thunderbird theme to be pleasing and in keeping with the standard Firefox look and feel.
Thunderbird quirks for the Outlook user
The problem with moving from application to application is that the habits and skills you learn in one application don't always translate well to the new one. This is absolutely the case with moving from Outlook to Thunderbird and now, three months later, it's something I still run into on a regular basis. Keyboard shortcuts are an obvious example. As a fast typist, I don't like to lift my hands off the keyboard to grab the mouse. But many of Thunderbird's keyboard shortcuts are just completely different from those in Outlook. Some are the same: The first time I tapped CTRL+ENTER to send an email, Thunderbird asked if I wanted to use that shortcut for sending mail (which, of course, I did). So that worked fine. But CTRL+F brings up the Firefox-based inline find toolbar instead of forwarding the current message; in Thunderbird, CTRL+L is used for forwarding. Ugh.
Now, anyone can learn new skills, of course. The problem is, I've been using Outlook for years, and there are certain actions I perform there that are more muscle memory than anything else at this point. I haven't figured out how to get Thunderbird to not mark messages as read when they're selected, though I did find a place where you can lengthen the amount of time before that happens. This particular feature has been around since Communicator 4.0, I believe, and I hated it as much then as I hate it now. I'm sure you can turn it off: Thunderbird, like Firefox, is hugely configurable through its arcane, Registry-like Config Editor, but you really have to know what you're doing to mess around in there. And of course, the overloaded, multi-tabbed Options dialog can be intimidating as well. (To be fair, Outlook's Option dialog isn't exactly simplistic either.)
Anyway, after a few months of working with Thunderbird, I've come to a somewhat comfortable understanding of how it works, and I can usually grok the differences between it and Outlook without much effort. For those who are not Outlook fanatics, Thunderbird will be an easy transition. Looking forward, however, Mozilla Corporation might consider how they can make it easier for users of Microsoft email programs--and Web-based email providers--to switch to their product. Clearly, there's a lot of good work that could be done there, though Thunderbird is already taking steps in that direction. (Witness the super-simple setup of Gmail and .Mac accounts.)
Thunderbird, of course, doesn't work with Exchange email, unless your administrator configured the server for POP3 or IMAP access. For most individuals, of course, this is a non-issue.
I should also mention, on the flipside, that Thunderbird makes it easy to do some things that are difficult in Outlook. For example, it's very simple to set up Thunderbird so that all of your email is sent through the same account, even replies to emails sent to different accounts. This is possible, but difficult, to configure in Outlook. And Thunderbird supports USENET Newsgroups, which Outlook does not. (However, newsgroup functionality is increasingly less interesting over time, of course.)
Final thoughts
Though it's likely that I'll move back to Outlook full-time at some point (I still use it for calendaring, actually), I have to admit that I had intended to use Thunderbird for about a month and then move on, but it's proven usable and efficient. Thunderbird is an excellent and high-quality email solution, and while I'm guessing that many of the people who read this site haven't really given it a shot, my advice is to do so, especially if you can't get your hands on Outlook 2007. Thunderbird is quite a bit better than Windows Mail or Outlook Express, and while many Web-based email services have improved with Ajax/Web 2.0-based interfaces, users who have to manage a lot of email will be better off with a true email application. And Thunderbird is among the best of those. Is the age of desktop email clients over? I think not, and Thunderbird is among the best evidence I've seen to support that argument. Highly recommended.

subset: commoncrawl


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(CNN) - Beach bums beware: 10% of water samples collected from U.S. beaches failed to meet the government benchmark for swimmer safety, according to a new report.
It's an icky thought, especially considering the popularity of several of the failing beaches included in the Natural Resources Defense Council's 24th annual "Testing the Waters" report.
Beach choices matter: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates up to 3.5 million people become ill from poor water treatment each year, largely because of contact with "raw sewage from sanitary overflows."
"Sewage and contaminated runoff in the water should never ruin a family beach trip," said NRDC senior attorney Jon Devine in a statement. "But no matter where you live, urban slobber and other pollution can seriously compromise the water quality at your favorite beach and make your family sick."
So which beaches are "superstars" and which are "repeat offenders"?
Here's the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good
At 4%, the eastern coastline comprised of beaches in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia boasts the lowest failure rate of beach water samples in the country.
All samples were tested against the new EPA water quality standard, called the "Beach Action Value."
For individual states, Delaware, New Jersey and New Hampshire tied for the top marks, each with a 3% failure rate.
Additionally, the NRDC selected 35 beaches as "superstars" -- meaning popular spots that consistently meet water quality safety thresholds.
These locations spanned 14 states and showed at least a 98% water safety record over five years:
- Alabama: Gulf Shores Public Beach in Baldwin County, Gulf State Park Pavilion in Baldwin County, Dauphin Island Public Beach.
- California: Newport Beach in Orange County (one of three monitored sections).
- Delaware: Dewey Beach-Swedes in Sussex County.
- Florida: Bowman's Beach in Lee County, Coquina Beach South in Manatee County, Fort De Soto North Beach in Pinellas County.
- Georgia: Tybee Island North in Chatham County.
- Hawaii: Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area on the Big Island, Po'ipu Beach Park on Kauai, Wailea Beach Park on Maui.
- Massachusetts: Singing Beach in Essex County.
- Maryland: Point Lookout State Park in St Mary's County, Assateague State Park in Worcester County.
- North Carolina: Ocean Pier at Main Street and Sunset Boulevard in Brunswick County, Beach at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Dare County, Ocean Pier at Salisbury Street at Wrightsville Beach in New Hanover County, Ocean Pier at Ocean Boulevard and Crews Avenue in Topsail Beach in Pender County.
- New Hampshire: Hampton Beach State Park in Rockingham County, Wallis Sands Beach at Wallis Road in Rockingham County, Wallis Sands State Park in Rockingham County.
- New Jersey: Washington (Margate) in Atlantic County, 40th Street (Avalon) in Cape May County, 40th Street (Sea Isle City) in Cape May County, Stone Harbor at 96th Street in Cape May County, Upper Township at Webster Road in Cape May County, Wildwood Crest at Orchid in Cape May County, Broadway (Point Pleasant Beach) in Ocean County
- New York: Long Beach City in Nassau County.
- Virginia: Virginia Beach at 28th Street in Virginia Beach County, Virginia Beach at 45th Street in Virginia Beach County, Back Bay Beach in Virginia Beach County, Virginia Beach -- Little Island Beach North in Virginia Beach County.
- Washington: Westhaven State Park, South Jetty in Grays Harbor.
The bad
The new "Beach Action Value" resulted in a significant increase in failure rates in 2013, especially in certain states.
The Great Lakes region had the highest rate of beach water impurities, with 13% of all samples failing to pass safety standards. The region was also home to the worst individual state offender, Ohio, which posted a 35% failure rate.
Next closest states were Alaska and Mississippi, with 24% and 21% failure, respectively.
Under the old, less-stringent standard, 7% to 8% of beaches failed to meet water quality standards. This year, the number jumped to 10%.
The report detailed the disastrous effects swimming in infected waters could have.
"Beach water pollution nationwide causes a range of waterborne illnesses in swimmers including stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear, nose and throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis ... and other serious health problems," it said. "For senior citizens, small children and people with weak immune systems, the results can even be fatal."
The ugly
Some beaches just don't get the hint.
Over the past five years of analyzing over 3,500 beach water samples, the NRDC has identified 17 U.S. beaches that have "consistent contamination problems."
To qualify for this "repeat offender" list, a beach has failed to meet public standards for water quality more than 25% of the time since 2009 -- a dubious distinction.
Here they are:
- California: Malibu Pier, 50 yards east of the pier, in Los Angeles County
- Indiana: Jeorse Park Beach in Lake County (both monitored sections): Lake Jeorse Park Beach I, Lake Jeorse Park Beach II.
- Massachusetts: Cockle Cove Creek in Barnstable County.
- Maine: Goodies Beach in Knox County.
- New Jersey: Beachwood Beach in Ocean County.
- New York: Main Street Beach in Chautauqua County, Wright Park -- East in Chautauqua County, Ontario Beach in Monroe County.
- Ohio: Lakeshore Park in Ashtabula County, Arcadia Beach in Cuyahoga County, Euclid State Park in Cuyahoga County, Noble Beach in Cuyahoga County, Sims Beach in Cuyahoga County, Villa Angela State Park in Cuyahoga County, Edson Creek in Erie County.
- Wisconsin: South Shore Beach in Milwaukee County.
What you can do
Strictly swimming in "superstar" beaches would be a plus, but the NRDC has other recommendations on how to remain safe in troubled waters.
Here are two suggestions:
- "Stay away from beaches with visible discharge pipes and avoid swimming at urban beaches after a heavy rainfall."
- "A good rule of thumb is to avoid swimming at the beach for at least 24 hours after it rains and 72 hours after heavy rains."
For the full list of tested waters, policy recommendations to improve quality and a ZIP code searchable map, go to http://www.nrdc.org/beaches


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This article is more than 1 year old
Twitter's underwear exposed after Google Apps hack
Biz Stone's briefs
An unidentified hacker has exposed confidential corporate and personal information belonging to microblogging site Twitter and its employees after breaching electronic accounts belonging to several people close to the company.
The episode is the latest reminder that the convenience of cloud-based services that store spreadsheets and other information online cut both ways. While they make it easy to access personal notes from anywhere in the world, they also open up the information to theft - especially when the owners are highly public individuals who didn't take due care to safeguard the data in the first place.
The breach occurred "about a month ago," when an email account belonging to a Twitter admin was compromised. From there, the employee's Google Docs, Calendars, and other Google Apps were also accessed, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote here. Around the same time, a personal email account belonging to the wife of Twitter Chief Executive Evan Williams was also compromised, exposing a variety of accounts belonging to the CEO, including Amazon and PayPal.
The breach is an embarrassment for Twitter for a couple of reasons. First, it's the most recent example of employees at the highly visible company failing to adequately protect their accounts. (In January, accounts belonging to Britney Spears and other celebrities were compromised, and as Wired.com later reported, the weak link in the chain was an admin password set to "happiness"). What's more, the breach is airing documents the privately held company surely prefers to keep private.
For instance, by the end of 2013, the company expects to have 1 billion users and revenue of $1.54bn, according to documents posted on TechCrunch. They also claim that Twitter wasn't expected to generate revenue until the third quarter of 2009 (now, in other words), when the company would pull in $400,000. Sales are expected to jump to $4m in the fourth quarter, according to the documents.
Twitter's Stone compared the breach to having one's underwear drawer publicly rifled through: "Embarrassing, but no one's really going to be surprised about what's in there."
That's apt enough, but we think the episode better serves as a reminder of the difficulty of keeping secrets in a Web 2.0 world, at least when you're a target as highly desirable as Twitter. Combine it with a demonstrated lack of best password practices among Twitter employees, and such breaches are inevitable. ®


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December 7, 2004 By Max Gordon
There is a thirteen-year-old boy in America who walks to school this morning. He believes he is a pervert because he is sexually attracted to a boy in his class. Undressing in the locker room for gym, he is terrified he will get an erection or his friends will notice him staring at the other boys and call him a homo.
At night, he lies in bed. He promised God he wouldn't look at pictures of naked men having sex anymore, but he did it again after school. As a punishment, he pinches his penis between his fingernails until he breaks the skin. He believes the pain is good for him. It is only a fraction of the pain that sinners feel when they go to hell, or what Jesus must have felt on the cross.
He sits in church on Sunday and knows the priest is referring to him: deviants whose unnatural desire will keep them from entering the Kingdom of God. When he takes communion, he prays that God will heal the sickness inside him and make him clean and perfect like his Son. He promises to try even harder not to sin than he's ever tried before.
After failing again, he decides he has no more tries left in him. He cannot stop the thoughts or change them. He believes God is disgusted with him and that He refuses to help. He stands looking in the bathroom mirror and wonders if he is what a homo looks like. He thinks of his youngest sister coming home from kindergarten with school papers tucked under her arm, and wonders if the boy from his class is in bed sleeping. He lifts his father's gun and shoots himself in the head.
On January 2, 1997, 14-year-old Robbie Kirkland committed suicide after struggling with his homosexuality for four years. His mother said at the time, "Our family loved, supported and accepted him but could not protect him from the rejection and harassment he experienced at his Catholic schools." On May 8, 1995, Bill Clayton, 17, took a fatal overdose after being hospitalized for depression. He'd been assaulted by a group of boys in his community because of his sexual orientation. Jacob Lawrence Orosco, 17, hanged himself on September 3, 1997, in his mother's home. When Jacob and nine of his friends tried to form a Gay/Straight student alliance at his school, a group of students at a nearby high school formed SAFE - Students Against Fags Everywhere.
Anna Wakefield, a lesbian in her 20's from Virginia, hanged herself on February 27, 1997, after being rejected and estranged from her family; Private First Class Barry Winchell, 21, of Kansas City, Missouri, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat on July 5, 1999 after rumors that he was gay spread around the post; Steen Fenrich, 19, was killed and dismembered by his stepfather in a homophobic rage, his body found March 21, 2000; Juana Vega, 36, shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 11, 2001 by her girlfriend's brother, for "turning his sister gay"; Gwen Araujo, a 17-year-old transgender woman from Newark, California, savagely beaten to death on October 3, 2002 by a group of boys at a party; Sakia Gunn, 15, fatally stabbed at a bus stop in Newark, New Jersey, May 11, 2003 after her assailant was told she was a lesbian; Fred Martinez, Jr., a 16-year-old Native American high school student from Cortez, Colorado, found beaten to death, June 21, 2001, his skull crushed with a rock. His 19-year-old killer was heard to have said proudly, "I bug-smashed a fag."
A few days after Kerry's concession, Bill Clinton gave a speech at a conference of the Urban Land Institute in New York. The Daily News quoted him as saying that Kerry could have made more of an impact with small-town voters by emphasizing his opposition to gay marriage. "He said it once or twice, instead of 3,000 times, in rural communities. If we let people believe our party doesn't believe in faith and family, that's our fault." Clinton: our moral authority on marriage and sex. As a gay man in America, perhaps I am responsible for the unraveling of the moral fabric of this country, but I have never used a cigar in bed, and I absolutely draw the line at wearing a dress from the GAP.
America listens to its presidents, present and past. The president sets the tone for tolerance in the land. When a president proposes discriminatory legislation or supports it, however unlikely it may seem that it will be voted into law, the message he sends to the rest of the country is clear: these are the people you have my permission to harm. George W. Bush's proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is more than just a vindictive president's desire to deprive gay men of bridal registry; it is the legislation of hate, and its direct consequence will be the sanctioned murder of America's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.
I marvel at the vogue of hate today in this country; who you can freely hate these days and who you can't. You can hate women, and gays, and fat people. You can hate poor people, and the homeless. You can't, however, hate black people or Jews anymore, at least not on television or in print. (You can still hate blacks privately, but Jews are harder; some have blonde hair and it isn't easy to tell if they are in the room.)
Black and white Christians have been revitalized by the same-sex ban, agreeing to suspend their hatred for each other in favor of a combined, galvanized hatred for gays. The GOP hates us all year round, but Democrats are "holiday haters," reserving their hate for special occasions - like close elections. Holiday hate never counts as real hate, of course, it's just politics, like little white (water) lies, and promises (fingers crossed) to pass legislation protecting gays in the military once voted into office.
And finally, the passive-aggressive haters know a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage based on religious belief is wrong, not to mention unconstitutional, but since we are not "personally" affected by it, we�ve decided to watch from the sidelines. Newsflash: there are no sidelines in America anymore. Civil liberties in this country are an endangered species. We may not care that the Texas red wolf is almost extinct in North America, but, living in the same ecosystem, it might be worth noting, as we may be next.
Jesusland, can you honestly say, with all that is wrong in the world today, with millions of people infected with HIV and thousands of new infections each year, with record unemployment, families with no healthcare and billions spent on war, that the greatest moral challenge we face in America today is symbolized by a wedding cake figurine of two grooms?
Is homosexuality contagious or reaching epidemic proportions? How else can the sexuality of one section of the American population singly decide the outcome of an entire presidential election? Only one conclusion can be drawn: Gay people in the heartland are doing some serious fucking. I only wish someone had let me in on it. I thought we were supporting Kerry by voting for him. If gay sex is really that powerful, screw the oil in Iraq, Halliburton should be hooking us up to generators.
Is homosexuality so irresistible that straight men and women are leaving their homes, mesmerized and in droves, to join the gay ranks? The few straight friends I tried to seduce in my post-coming-out insecurity remained politely, but resolutely, straight. To all those who tried to manipulate me into being heterosexual to further their agendas (my mother), I remained resolutely, sometimes impolitely, gay. One might conclude from this that people are what they say they are and we can all get on with things.
Not in Jesusland. Three little words, one tiny sentence, and the best friend's face closes forever, the child is lifted from the lap of the favorite aunt, a mother sends her son his baby pictures with a note saying she no longer has a child, a girl runs away from home to escape her parents' attempts to "beat the devil out of her", a boy is forced see a psychiatrist and take medication to fix his "problem", a transgender teen hangs herself to avoid being ridiculed at a school assembly the next day.
America: you do not have the right to throw your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in the garbage. You have a responsibility to protect us whether you like us or not. If you do not approve of gay marriage, do not attend gay weddings. It is not your prerogative to decide who is worthy of your care, or to deny protection to anyone. As American citizens our protection is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
We are in a holy war, a fundamentalist Christian jihad, where the possibility exists as never before that Jesusland will finally become Jesusworld. (I wonder what the rides will look like.) With a faith-based president who doesn't respect the Constitution as separate from his belief in God, there is no difference between extending democracy and extending Christianity. Once you free a citizen for elections, you have to free a soul for salvation.
Accosted by Christians on subway cars when I first came to New York City, I never ceased being amazed at the chutzpah of a stranger suddenly asking me about my relationship with God; not to mention being deeply insulted by the lack of subtlety that announced the intrusion. "That chocolate ice cream looks delicious; do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?" I knew that no one would ever have the audacity to say to me, "Excuse me, Sir, how much money is in your bank account?" or "Pardon me for asking, how many times did you make love this week?" Yet somehow just anyone can demand to know on the spot what your relationship is with Jesus, which, if you have one, is arguably the most intimate relationship of them all. I admit it crossed my mind on more than one occasion to reply, "Why yes I do, actually, a pretty good one, and fuck you for asking such a personal question."
The most exasperating religious experience ever may be the attempt to convince a born-again Christian that God will allow someone into heaven that isn't "saved" through Jesus Christ. After a brief exchange, I inform the stranger that while I was "saved," or at least baptized as a child, and my grandfather was a minister of his own church, I have no intention of being part of a religion that doesn't accept me because of my sexuality. My inquisition on the A-train ends and my Jesus interrogator trots off to his next victim, reminding me that "we're all sinners." He hasn't achieved a new convert, but he's watered that seed of insecurity in me that maybe homosexuality is evil, that gay people do end up in hell and because of what I am, God doesn't like me anymore. It's a child's fear, like dark closets and monsters under the bed, but it can rule a life and last a lifetime.
During the six months after college that I ran around cracking people over the head with my Bible, I remember the extraordinary relief that came from finally having the Answer to Everything. No longer circling endlessly on the parking ramp of life, I had finally found a space. Trying to forge a gay identity on my own was too rangy and uncertain, and if I didn't succeed, what could be more disheartening than failing at being a pervert? The world was much easier to understand with my new faith and broken down into two distinct groups; those who were wrong, and us. I did exactly what they told me to do: love God, accept Jesus, and, like courting Santa Claus, try not to be naughty and always be nice.
Because my homosexuality, however, is dictated not by fashion or trend, but biology and DNA, I couldn't warp or mutilate myself into the desired new result. My naughtiness eventually outweighed my niceness and I was in deep shit. I wasn't told to leave, exactly, but knew that if I wanted to, I could stick around for a sort of exalted pervert status; the old "God loves you, homosexual, because He loves us all - even child molesters, rapists, and serial killers" line that some Christians think is generous.
Certain minds are vulnerable to fundamentalist thinking. It's not easy to talk about why fundamentalism is attractive, why a heart might crave it. There comes a time in a life when the world simply becomes too painful for nuance, when it's freezing out and you just want to come inside and have someone say, Relax, we'll take care of you; in fact, we've been waiting for you. Here is the rulebook, no need to ask any questions: just sign here.
There isn't an oppressed person alive who at one point or another hasn't felt the seductive gravity of capitulation. The decision to resist always means thrusting oneself into the vast, unknown and dangerous wilderness of truly being free. One is tormented, at the same time, by the grim suspicion that while a secure existence may never be found in self-determination, a designated place always awaits one who will succumb to the State.
The violence against gay people, religious, emotional, physical or political, has done what social violence is supposed to; it's driven us underground, afraid to demand our rights or protect them when they are threatened. One good, well-publicized, gay murder can do wonders. Those of us who aren't brutalized or obliterated in elaborate campaigns by strangers or our families, are perpetually trapped in nets of chronic shame; our internalized hatred simplifying the work of the bashers by beating them to it.
I was astonished the day I discovered that I was a gay-killer. Indignant over the nationally publicized murders of Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena, I'd demand a stop to gay bashing, leaving the rally or dinner party for a bashing session of my own with unsafe sex, alcohol and drugs. I had to finally consider the idea that my self-destruction wasn't fabulous or gloriously tragic; it was predictable, and (this hurt the most) not very imaginative. I was complicit with the anti-gay agendas that were aimed at me with the precision of a sniper�s bullet; an accomplice to my own gay assassination. I made a decision that although I wouldn't be able to save every gay life, I could definitely save the one I'd been given. (I'm still saving it; the mistaken assumption being that you only have to save your life once.)
I was a thirteen-year-old boy in East Lansing, Michigan on his way to school in 1983, attracted to a boy in my class, and flooded with the shame and terror that I was gay. My father also kept a Smith & Wesson in his closet. I don't believe I would have used it on myself, but a gun in any house has an aura of potential, waiting for the fatal chemistry of an escalating argument or a very, very bad day. What I did have was a lesbian friend in high school, who, one could say, "died for my sins." She came out of the closet first and when I saw that the coast was clear, I came out after her.
She was humiliated daily by notes shoved in her locker or jokes made as she walked down the hallway. Girls came up to her in groups during lunch and asked, "Are you gay?" to which she replied, "Why, are you interested?" Leaving a gas station one night, a boy, spurned by her refusals, called her a dyke and punched her in the face. She didn't allow the violence to derail her. I don't think Jesusland would have approved of her - a sassy, courageous, I'm-scared-to-death-but-you'll-never-know-it, 17-year-old black lesbian - but Jesus himself might have.
If Jesus is with us, I think he stands beside the black man who faces the lynch mob, the midwife who is brought before the church for being a witch, the bewildered and naked prisoner cowering against his cell wall in Abu Ghraib, the transgender teenager who has decided to dress as herself, no matter what her parents or the kids at school do or say. Jesus stands with all of us, but He especially knows what it's like to be innocent, to be violated and murdered for telling the truth, to face a violent mob and be alone.
America. If only you would purify your hate. When we walk into someone's country and wish to take what they have, let's just take it. Why call it liberating the Iraqi people or Operation Iraqi Freedom? Call it stealing and steal it. If you want to kill someone, don't refer to pre-emptive strikes or wars on terror. Kill them.
And if you want to hate homosexuals, Jesusland, just hate us. But don�t call it a "moral" or "family" issue, or try to legislate it and say, "I still support civil unions." And for Christ's sake, please stop dragging Jesus into it. Hasn't that poor man been through enough? Whether we believe He was the Savior or not, I think we probably all agree that He was a pretty nice guy that loved all kinds of people and never meant harm to anyone.
If He were alive to see this land today, I don't think He'd claim it.
Visit Max Gordon's blog at http://maxgordonworks.blogspot.com


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I really enjoy programming language design. Sometimes I think my language projects and their potential users would benefit from a comprehensive standards document. I've looked at many language standards, ranging from the very formal (C++) to the rather informal (ECMAScript), but I can't really get a handle on how I should break things down and organise such a document, even though I think I'm pretty good at technical writing in general.
Should I write it like a long tutorial, or more like a formal math paper? How do I keep it up to date if I'm developing it alongside a reference implementation? Should I just give up and treat the implementation and documentation as the de facto standard? Further, is there really any significant benefit to having a standard? Does requiring a standard mean that the language is needlessly complex?


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Lindsay Lohan -- I've Got a New BABY BROTHER!
Lindsay Lohan I've Got a New BABY BROTHER!
Big day for Michael Lohan ... his daughter escaped jail ... and his fiancee just gave birth to a BOUNCING BABY BOY!!!
While Lindsay was sweatin' it out in court, Kate Major went into labor at a Florida hospital.
We're told Kate gave birth to a son -- Landon Major Lohan -- at 11:39 AM PT.
The baby weighed in at 19 3/4 inches, 7 lbs 5 oz ... and is already wanted in 3 states (kidding!).
We're told Michael was with Kate the entire time ... and even cut the umbilical cord.
A rep for the family tells us baby, Michael and Kate are all doing great.


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Market Watch: Black Raspberries
While black-raspberry ice cream may be the extent of your black-raspberry knowledge, these sweet and succulent berries (not to be confused with blackberries) do exist in the primitive form – you just won't find them in most grocery stores.
Scout out your farmers' market for deep violet raspberries hiding among the typical red varieties. While blackberries (a completely different variety of berry) are easy to come by, I only know of one local farm that grows black raspberries in my area. They're only available for a short time (usually mid-June to late July). Use them for any raspberry recipe – trifle and salad dressing are just a few favorites. They make an incredibly special and refreshing granita.
Combine berries, sugar, water, and lemon juice into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until berries have broken down. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer (use a rubber spatula to press through). Transfer to a shallow glass container (such as a 9x13x2 inch baking dish); allow to cool slightly, then place in the freezer. Once the mixture begins to freeze, scrape with a fork to create ice crystals every 30 minutes until mixture is completely frozen. To serve, spoon into cups and top with a light dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
Nutrition Info Per Serving (does not include whipped cream)
Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, is a registered dietitian, certified athletic trainer and owner of Dana White Nutrition, Inc., which specializes in culinary and sports nutrition. See Dana's full bio »


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Ingredients | |
Ingredients for white sauce (Bechamel) | |
Brown onions in butter or lard. Add chopped meat, mixing constantly until mixture becomes crumbly. Add tomato sauce, wine, water, salt, pepper, parsley and nutmeg. Cover pan and cook for one hour over low heat. In the meantime, cut the eggplants lengthside in slices about ? inch thick. Salt them, let them strain in a colander and fry in deep fat. Let the fried eggplants strain again. Prepare a thick white sauce (Bechamel) with milk, flour, butter, salt, white pepper and grated nutmeg. Add eggs. Arrange eggplants in shallow pan with a few breadcrumbs. Remove chopped meat from heat, add half the grated cheese and half of the breadcrumbs. Spread evenly over the eggplants. Pour the white sauce evenly over this and sprinkle the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Pour some melted butter over the top and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and cut in squares. Good for 6-8 servings.
NOTE : Moussaka can also be made with only potatoes, or potatoes and eggplants, or with eggplants, potatoes and pumpkins.


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If there is a cerebral England we have been suffering, there is also an England of the heart, which has its most memorable voices – an England rooted in Nature of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and John Clare – and this is the tradition Helen Moore's work is in. She draws on America too, with its poetic directness, and her 'shouting nouns', her capitalisations of things, recalling Emily Dickinson, perfectly emphasise the importance of things in the natural world seen not as objects, but as subjects. This is fundamental to an ecological and an eco-spiritual poetry.
Things have voices, as they do in the roots of our own Anglo-Saxon poetry: The Dream of the Rood, where the Cross speaks, lies behind Helen's poem The Unsung Pilchard, where the fish speak on their journey to the sea: in fact every thing in this collection speaks, and her savouring of complex words also suggests an ecology of language where words, like species, can become extinct unless they are remembered.
Helen also has an impressive formal range, from tight-knit verse variations of free and formal structure (like the pantoum) to the prose poem, which she also uses to great effect as 'mini essay':
Marine creatures processed into food for humans, pets, poultry. Fish factories, floating towns, construct economies of scale, while trawlers scratch away insatiably to feed the industrial maw. Maw, maw, maw!
It's the opposite of dumbing down, and of the Dulux prose of New Age self-help guides that barely use the English language in all its range and accumulated depth. It's interesting that ecology (Joanna Macy, Thomas Berry, Thom Hartmann or David Abram, for example) tends to be so much better written.
How much love or compassion for human beings is there here? How easy is it for us to love humanity in its present state? Ironically, the tractor driver in the title poem becomes an object in his self-preoccupation. And yet without love we are doomed to another kind of collapse. But Helen is very much aware of this, and in the more personal poems that accompany her incisive diagnoses – An American Rose, Sacre Coeur (Frome) and the superb Climbing Out Of A Dog Eat Dog World – she asks the question, "What can a poet do?" Her answer is vital as well as congruent:
Now I notice when my heart has closed. Only the heart breaks patterns of fear. Together we can make a Being Love Being World.
Her own inner work and practice balance her knife-like incisions into our sleep state (Capitalism: a sonnet), freeing her from the trap of erstwhile 1980s left-wing self-righteousness and opening up a new poetic depth and maturity as well as a sustained richness and humility of utterance. Like a beautiful at-last summer day freed of endless and albeit necessary rain, I didn't want to get to the last page.


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Haskell/A Miscellany of Types
So far the only basic types we have looked at are Integers and Lists, although passing mention was made of strings and characters. This section will cover the major basic types.
An important thing to understand about the built-in types of Haskell is that they are not particularly special. From the compiler's point of view they are special because processors have special operations to do things like integer addition, but from the programmer's point of view they are just ordinary types with ordinary functions that follow exactly the same rules as any other type. Hence this section contains very little in the way of explanation on how you use these types or what the rules are, because for the most part you already know it: if it works for integers then it works for strings, booleans and floats.
Integers[edit | edit source]
Haskell has two types for integer numbers: Int and Integer.
"Integer" is an arbitrary precision type: it will hold any number no matter how big, up to the limit of your machine's memory. That is why "factorial 1000" gives you the right answer. This means you never have arithmetic overflows. On the other hand it also means your arithmetic is relatively slow. Lisp users may recognise the "bignum" type here.
"Int" is the more common 32 or 64 bit integer. Implementations vary, although it is guaranteed to be at least 30 bits.
Reals[edit | edit source]
Haskell also has two types for floating point: Float and Double. These behave like the corresponding types in C.
Arithmetic operators[edit | edit source]
All the usual operators are there, along with some extras.
- Aside: Haskell numeric types are tied together in a complicated hierarchy of classes, which will be described later. The purpose of this page is to give you enough to do ordinary arithmetic without tripping over the type system.
There are three "raise to the power" operators which work differently and take different argument types.
- **
- Takes two floating point numbers and uses logarithms to compute the power.
- ^^
- Takes a fractional number (i.e. a floating point or a ratio, of which more later) and raises it to a positive or negative integer power.
- ^
- Takes any numerical type and raises it to a positive integer power.
Conversion from an integer type (Int or Integer) to anything else is done by "fromIntegral". The target type is inferred automatically. So for example:
n :: Integer n = 6 x :: Float x = fromIntegral n m :: Int m = 7 y :: Double y = fromIntegral m
will define x to be 6.0 and y to be 7.0.
Division of integers is a little complicated. If you use the ordinary "/" operator on integers then you will get an error message (although the expression "4/3" does work because Haskell helpfully promotes literal integers to floats where necessary). Instead integer division is done using a collection of named operators.
Haskell has a neat trick with operators: you can take any function that takes two arguments and use it like an operator by enclosing the name in back-ticks. So the following two lines mean exactly the same:
d = 7 `div` 3 d = div 7 3
With that in mind, here are the integer division operators:
- quot
- Returns the quotient of the two numbers. This is the result of division which is then truncated towards zero.
- rem
- Returns the remainder from the quotient.
- div
- Similar to "quot", but is rounded down towards minus infinity.
- mod
- Returns the modulus of the two numbers. This is similar to the remainder, but has different rules when "div" returns a negative number.
Provided y is not negative then the following two equations will always hold:
(x `quot` y)*y + (x `rem` y) == x (x `div` y)*y + (x `mod` y) == x
Just as you can convert a function with two arguments into an operator, you can convert an operator into a function with two arguments: just put it in parentheses. So the following two lines mean the same thing:
(+) 3 4 3 + 4
This can also be done with any "incomplete" operator application:
(3+) 4 (+4) 3 -- not 3 (+4)
Booleans[edit | edit source]
Haskell has a boolean type Bool, with two values: True and False. There are also two operators defined on the Bool type: && and ||.
Numbers, characters and strings can be compared using the usual comparison operators to produce a Bool value:
- ==
- Equal.
- /=
- Not equal.
- <=
- Less than or equal.
- >=
- Greater than or equal.
- <
- Less than.
- >
- Greater than.
(When you learn about type classes, note that the equality operators (==, /=) are part of the type class Eq, and the comparison operators (<=, >=, <, >) are part of the type class Ord.)
Haskell has an "if-then-else" clause, but because Haskell is a functional language it is more akin to the "? :" operator of C: rather than "doing" either the "then" clause or the "else" clause, the whole expression evaluates to one of them. For example, the factorial function could be written
factorial n = if n <= 0 then 1 else n * factorial (n-1)
The syntax of an if expression is:
if <condition> then <true-value> else <false-value>
If the condition is True then the result of the "if" is the true-value, otherwise it is the false-value.


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Charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the Surrey Six massacre have been stayed against Jamie Bacon.
Eileen Mohan, whose son Christopher, 22, was killed, says she feels "totally numb."
"My emotions are so high," she told the Now-Leader. "I don't feel hot, I don't feel cold. I don't feel I have a heart beat left. It's just so unacceptable.
"I had so much confidence in the justice system, the court system. It's almost like betrayal."
Christopher Mohan was one of the six men shot dead in a penthouse suite on the 15th floor of Whalley's Balmoral Tower on Oct. 19, 2007. Eileen lived with Christopher on that very floor and had she been home, she likely would have shared her son's fate.
Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were convicted in 2014 of six counts of first-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy.
Eileen Mohan, whose son Christopher was killed in the Surrey Six slayings, said before stay of charges today she had "so much confidence in the justice system, the court system." Now she feels "betrayal." #SurreySix #Surreybc
— Tom Zytaruk (@tomzytaruk) December 1, 2017
In a news release on Friday afternoon, Crown counsel said the court announced that an application for a stay of proceedings to terminate the prosecution brought by Bacon had been granted.
The decision was released that morning, but the announcement of the result was delayed until the families of the victims could be notified.
The proceedings over Bacon's application occurred in closed court because of several issues, Crown said, including solicitor-client privilege.
The reasons the judge granted the application have been sealed.
"I am bound by the law as I have described it and accordingly am not at liberty to provide any further information about my rulings or the evidence and materials underlying them," Justice Kathleen Ker wrote.
READ MORE: Jamie Bacon faces new charges for alleged plot to kill Person X
READ MORE: Accused killer Jamie Bacon's Surrey Six trial delayed again
Bacon's trial has been delayed multiple times since he was first charged in 2009, often because of complicated pre-trial applications.
He remains in custody on a separate charge of counselling a murder. He's alleged to have been involved in a plot to kill Person X – whose name is protected by a publication ban in the Surrey Six trial – sometime between Nov. 30, 2008 and Jan. 2, 2009.
The Crown declined to comment further, but said it is reviewing the decision and whether it should appeal.
"The families of the victims and all who have been impacted by this terrible crime deserve peace, and they will not find it today," Attorney General David Eby said in a statement. "I am confident that the BC Prosecution Service will complete their review as soon as possible."


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I am seeing more and more open talks/debates about power, corruption, greed, big money, etc. While several of the conversations around the web are global in nature, a few have been about our great country. And I am saddened every time I realize the majority of us were NEVER educated in our system's history.On the site, http://essentialliberty.us/, there is a petition to correct what we have allowed to be corrupted for so long now. I am copying the Background for the Oath Accountability Act for Constitutional Integrity below. I did not ask permission of the site first but I feel this is of extremely high importance and also believe that it needs to spread far and wide across the US.--------------------------------_BackgroundWe can hold political debates and advocate the merits of conservative policies, ad nauseam, and have done so for generations. Where has that gotten us today?The prerequisite question before any legitimate political debate should concern the authority of our Constitution, and the obligation to abide by the Rule of Law it enshrines.Our Constitution prescribes "few and defined powers" (Madison) to the central government. Unfortunately, the current scope of federal activities provides abundant evidence that many elected and appointed members of the federal government have long abandoned their prescribed oaths to abide by our Constitution.At present, there is no recourse for prosecution to enforce compliance with constitutionally required oaths, with the exception of prosecuting those advocating "the overthrow of our constitutional form of government" (5 U.S.C. 7311). In the absence of that obligation, Rule of Law has eroded into the rule of men, and our authentic Constitution has, likewise, devolved into the so-called "living constitution." That erosion and devolution has greatly undermined the pillars of Liberty.Elected and appointed members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches of the central government must be required, under penalty of law, to abide by their oaths "to support and defend" our Constitution, as specified in its original language in Article II, Section 1 and Article VI, clause 3, as ratified.Such legal requirement would subject those members to indictment should they circumvent the Constitution's prescribed method for amendment as specified in Article V, by way of legislative actions and judicial diktats in accordance with the so-called "living constitution."Breach of Oath constitutes breach of trust with the American people — a violation of the contract established by our Constitution between those in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, and the We, the People. Consequently, Breach of Oath imposes harm and injustice upon citizens, who are subject to the government's laying and collecting of taxes, and accumulating of debt, for expenditures not expressly authorized by our Constitution.The first step in seeking legal remedy to restore the integrity of our Constitution is to establish whether "We, the People," have legal standing to require all members of the three branches of our central government to abide by their oaths. If not, then we will seek recourse under (5 U.S.C. 7311) charging that circumvention of the plain language of our Constitution is tantamount to advocating "the overthrow of our constitutional form of government."To that end, please register your support for this action, and join Patriots across the nation, particularly those in our Armed Services who have defended their oaths with blood and life, in this effort to establish legal standing as citizens.We will determine the appropriate legal venue and ask the court to certify this action once we have reached a sufficient number of plaintiffs to impress upon the court, and supporting members of Congress, that The People demand recourse.We believe that this complaint complies with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and thus should be provided a federal hearing, an assertion that, if denied by the courts, we will seek on appeal. We may also opt to file in one or more state courts should the federal courts reject this action. And last but not least, if enough Americans sign this action, the legislative option becomes viable.We will reject the notion that the power to vote constitutes fair "representation," where there is no assurance that representatives will abide by their oaths of office and, instead, use the treasury as an instrument to perpetuate their re-election by special interest constituencies, whose allegiance is secured with confiscated and redistributed wealth.If American citizens are rightly found to have legal standing, then the second order of business will be to question congressional authority to lay and collect taxes, and to accumulate debt, for expenditures not expressly authorized by our Constitution, with the objective of defunding such expenditures.We will seek to renew congressional requirements for enumeration of constitutional authority for each and every piece of legislation proposed by the Executive and Legislative branches.Our United States Constitution, as written and ratified, stipulates in its preface that it is "ordained and established" by the people to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." To that end, it established a republic, not a popular democracy, which is to say it affirmed the primacy of Rule of Law over rule of men.Accordingly, the first order of business for those elected to national office is that they be bound by oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution under which they were duly elected.For those elected to the presidency, Article II, Section 1, specifies: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."Likewise, Article VI, Clause 3 specifies: "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution..."The key words here are "shall be bound by oath or affirmation." Bound how and by whom? And with what penalty for violation? Currently, we believe they are bound solely by their conscience, and there is no statutory mandate for abiding by their oaths.Our Founders intended that elected officials and judges, by way of their oaths, would be constrained by Rule of Law. However, they also assumed that those elected and appointed would be, uniformly, men and women of sufficient character to honor their oaths.Our Founders were clear about our Constitution's Rule of Law and its prescribed method for amendment as specified in Article V, but the enforcement of that prescription is predicated on being bound by oaths.George Washington: "The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution, which at any time exists, 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People is sacredly obligatory upon all. ... Should, hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted by the supineness or venality of their constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to show, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no Wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other."John Adams: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. ... The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People. ... [T]hey may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. ... A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."Thomas Jefferson: "Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction. ... To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all Constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. ... The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruptions of time and party, its members would become despots. ... The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are Constitutional and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch. ... On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed. ... In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."Alexander Hamilton: "[T]here is not a syllable in the [Constitution] which directly empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to the spirit of the Constitution, or which gives them any greater latitude in this respect than may be claimed by the courts of every State. ... The Judiciary ... has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society, and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will. ... If it be asked, 'What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic?' The answer would be, an inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws — the first growing out of the last. ... A sacred respect for the Constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government. ... [T]he present Constitution is the standard to which we are to cling. Under its banners, bona fide must we combat our political foes — rejecting all changes but through the channel itself provides for amendments."James Madison: "I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that is not the guide in expounding it, there may be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful exercise of its powers. ... If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions."Those members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, who have abandoned their oaths, believe they are above the mandates established by our Founders, and thus, above the law.Our constitutional rights are being violated, and that violation is sustained by unjust taxation for purposes not expressly authorized by our Constitution. Consequently, our nation is on the precipice of insolvency, and the bill is coming due. It will most certainly be repaid in the currency of tyranny unless Liberty with its inherent Rule of Law prevails.The time has come that all American Patriots must, "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor," as we endeavor to restore Rule of Law and our Constitution's limits on the central government.We must return to first principles in order to extend Liberty to the next generation.If we are unsuccessful in this bid to seek remedy for the lack of any proscription against, and penalty for breach of oath, it is because the judiciary refuses any such accountability regarding the wanton violation of our Constitution. Such rejection would, in effect, render Americans, once again, condemned to the abuse previously characterized in American history as "Taxation Without Representation."However, if the federal judiciary refuses to hear this action, then we will take it to the national legislature for codification into federal law.To ensure that Congress will take action to pass legislation prescribing severe legal penalties for Breach of Oath, a large support base is necessary. Our goal is 500,000 signatures, which will most assuredly receive congressional attention, especially if the 2012 election results in conservative majorities.Register Your Support for Oath AccountabilitySemper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!Libertas aut Mortis!Mark AlexanderPublisher, The Patriot Post_
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For Immediate Release, August 22, 2011
As One Snake Is Saved, Scientists Identify Another Needing Protection
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Suffers Sharp Declines From Habitat Destruction, Human Persecution
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Just days after the Lake Erie water snake was declared recovered and removed from the federal endangered species list, snake researcher Dr. Bruce Means and three conservation groups (the Center for Biological Diversity, Protect All Living Species and One More Generation) today asked the government to save another snake, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, by adding it to the list of protected species.
Dr. Means and the groups submitted an extensive scientific petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service detailing the snake's natural history and decline toward extinction. The petition initiates a formal, multiyear review process under the Endangered Species Act to determine whether the diamondback warrants protection as a "threatened" species.
"We're seeking to protect the diamondback under the Endangered Species Act because it has a nearly perfect record of saving imperiled species," said Collette Adkins Giese, a conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Endangered Species Act just saved the Lake Erie water snake — it's the surest tool we have to save the diamondback rattlesnake too."
The Lake Erie water snake was listed as a threatened species in 1999 with a population of just 1,500-2,000 snakes. It was delisted earlier this month after its population grew to more than 11,000 as a result of habitat protection, public education and protection from killing. Similar recovery actions are also needed for the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, which is facing the same threats the water snake faced.
Dr. Bruce Means and colleagues first documented the decline of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake in a paper published in 2000 in the scientific journal Herpetological Natural History. The paper concluded that the species was "declining almost all over its range" and that human exploitation was having "a severe impact on remaining populations." He has conducted fieldwork in the Southeast for 40 years, including extensive research on the eastern diamondback; he is an adjunct professor at Florida State University and is president of the Coastal Plains Institute.
"The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is a wildlife icon of North America. Africa has its lion, Asia its tiger, and we can boast of this marvelous 'Don't Tread On Me' snake," said Dr. Means. "Like so many others, it's a wildlife treasure that we must not allow to go extinct. Remaining habitat for the snake must be preserved, and negative public attitudes toward these nonaggressive animals must be reversed."
The eastern diamondback was once abundant in longleaf pine savannas across the southeastern United States. But only 2 percent to 3 percent of the original habitat remains. Exploitation by humans is also having a severe impact. Thousands of the rattlesnakes are killed each year for their skins and meat with no limits on annual harvest in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. And in Alabama and Georgia, eastern diamondbacks are targeted by "rattlesnake roundups" — gruesome festivals that offer prizes to encourage hunters to collect the imperiled snakes, which are exhibited and then slaughtered.
"Sadly, the demise of the eastern diamondback is being incentivized by rattlesnake roundups," said Jim Ries of One More Generation. "Converting these events to rattlesnake festivals where the species is celebrated for its value to the ecosystem would continue to generate revenue for local communities while preserving the species."
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake poses little public safety risk. Although it is venomous, more people are killed every year by lightning strikes and bee stings.
The proportion of people who are snakebitten while engaging in outdoor activities is also very low. Those most likely to be bitten are snake handlers who either keep venomous snakes in captivity or work with them professionally. Still, malicious killings by those who perceive the snake as a threat are contributing to its decline.
"Survival of these snakes in large part depends on whether people continue to persecute them or instead choose to allow these amazing creatures to share the land with us," said Bill Matturro of Protect All Living Species. "As a farmer and owner of wooded land, all living things on my land — including diamondback rattlesnakes — are both respected and protected."
The Center for Biological Diversity recently signed a historic agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under which the agency agreed to make protection decisions for hundreds of species over the next several years. Although the agency is normally required to respond to a petition within one year, it is likely that any decision on the diamondback will be delayed as the Service works through the backlog of species needing protection and addressed in the agreement.
"Securing protection for the eastern diamondback is likely to take several years," said Adkins Giese. "We hope that steps will be taken in the interim to protect the eastern diamondback and prevent further population declines."
Background The eastern diamondback is the largest rattlesnake in the world. Adults are typically four to five feet long and weigh four to five pounds, but a big snake can reach six feet in length and weigh 12 pounds or more. The eastern diamondback is distinguished from other snakes by its large size, dorsal pattern of diamonds, yellowish unpatterned belly, dark tail with rattle, and infrared-sensitive pit between the eye and nostril.
Scientific studies over the past decade have documented range-wide population declines and significant range contractions for the eastern diamondback:
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