It runs to almost 2,500 pages and weighs 18kg and might just be the ultimate encyclopedia for serious foodies Got a spare 30 hours and £395 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, you might want to place an order for Nathan Myhrvold’s six-volume cookbook, published in the United States today, and spend the time creating his Mushroom Swiss burger. At 2,438 pages, and apparently weighing more than 18kg (40lb), his Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking could be the heaviest – and most ambitious – recipe book ever sold. Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at Microsoft, was inspired to create the culinary colossus in 2004 after discovering that a cooking technique called sous-vide – which uses vacuum-sealed bags to cook food in water under very controlled temperatures – was not widely available. In response, he decided “to create a comprehensive book that covered modernist cuisine in terms of history and recipes, science and technique”. Highlighting developments spearheaded over the past 20 years by such forward-thinking chefs as El Bulli ‘s Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal , the book outlines the equipment (such as test tubes) and step-by-step maths and science techniques readers will need to recreate optimum cooking conditions in their own kitchen. It took 36 people four years to put together the contents in Myhrvold’s Seattle-based Cooking Lab, using recipes from chefs both dead and alive. But despite its size it doesn’t include any pastry or baked dessert recipes (Myhrvold hints that he is saving that for a second book). And with some recipes requiring liquid nitrogen, critics have unsurprisingly argued the ingredients, tools and techniques are inaccessible to most people. But Myhrvold insists: “Eighty per cent of the recipes in the book can be made with the utensils that you can find in a shopping mall kitchen store. The other 20% is more exotic stuff but . . . even if you don’t want to cook with liquid nitrogen at home, for example, it’s still interesting to see how you would use it.” And he remains unrepentant: “This book is for people who really love food. The point of it is to be an encyclopedic reference that, in a self-contained way, explains the key techniques of 21st-century cooking and if you’re not looking for that, then there are a million other cookbooks in the world.” Food and drink Food & drink Chefs Food science Carlene Thomas-Bailey guardian.co.uk
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One of the UK’s favourite sports presenters on his freakishly successful double career In many respects an interview is not unlike an internet date. You read about the person you’re going to meet, and form some advance impressions – but everything still rests on those first
Continue reading …Former OMB Director and current Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels would appreciate it very much if you didn’t remind him of the things he said regarding budgets and the deficit back when he was part of the infrastructure that put us in this mess and listen to him now, thankyouverymuch . Back then, Daniels cajoled Congress into avoiding making the debt ceiling a political game. Nowadays, he’s just too busy union-busting to pay attention , doncha know…but then later in the conversation says that he hopes that the Republicans use the leverage they have now (holding the threat of a government shutdown over the Democrats) to effect *real* change. Funny, that, how he changes his tune. Daniels (ever enabled by the ineffectual Chuck Todd, who never met a conservative meme he didn’t snuggle up to) loves to make the distinction between the puny, miniscule little deficit he had to deal with under Bush and the huge monstrosity that the Obama administration is responsible for, ignoring the fact that the reason that Obama’s is so much larger is that his budget office much more honestly added the costs for the ongoing actions in the Middle East that were completely off the books during Daniels’ tenure. Nor was there any attempt to pay for the tax cuts for the very wealthy. It’s stupid and disingenuous for Republicans to pretend that the economic uncertainty only mattered after 1/20/09 and it’s pathetic and evil for the media to continue to let them do so. Transcripts (courtesy of MSNBC ) below the fold MR. TODD: Joining me now, the Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels. Welcome back to MEET THE PRESS. GOV. MITCH DANIELS (R-IN): Chuck. MR. TODD: All right. Well, I saw welcome back because you’ve been here before as budget director. And, in fact, it is as budget director I want to ask you something. During your confirmation hearings–we were talking about these budget shutdowns–you had talked about that you wanted to see some way to sort of change the way so that, that, that there wasn’t politics being used–the government shutdowns weren’t being used as political leverage. And you also referred to riders this way, you said, “so that there aren’t things like extraneous measures that could otherwise upset the normal appropriations process.” We’re watching that right now. Is this the type of things you were warning about? And on these riders, are Republicans in the wrong for attaching these things right now? GOV. DANIELS: You probably think I’m paying more attention to this than I am, Chuck, and your memory is a little better than mine. But, yeah, I think probably, as a general rule, it, it is better practice to do the people’s business, try to concentrate on making ends meet, which Washington obviously has failed to do for a long time, and, and have other policy debates in other places if you can. MR. TODD: So your advice to Speaker Boehner would be, “You know what, we’ve made some political points here, but take these riders out. Take these political–have–save it for another part of the discussion.” GOV. DANIELS: He doesn’t need any advice but me, but I would, I would simply say this: The financial and fiscal problems facing this country are of a level that, I believe, threatens, not just our prosperity, but the survival of our republic. And really, I’m hoping and I–that the Congress and the administration will engage very seriously. I mean, to see them arguing over nickels and dimes like this is–especially from the vantage point of people who are making big changes to make end meet–in state Houses seems a little–it’s almost comic. MR. TODD: I want to go to the debt ceiling because in, in, the first time you were on MEET THE PRESS, you were asked about the debt ceiling, the fact that it needed to be raised. This was in June of 2002. You said it’s a responsible government–what a responsible government must do. And you said, “You know, what, it’s really a housekeeping matter.” That’s about to come up in about six to eight weeks. Advertise | AdChoices GOV. DANIELS: Yeah. MR. TODD: We don’t know the exact time when it’s going to happen here. Do you still think it’s a housekeeping matter? GOV. DANIELS: Well, less, less so now that we’ve doubled and we’re on our way to tripling the national debt. And so it’s a heck of a lot more serious than it was back then. But it is certainly true that the debt ceilings are rearview mirror exercises in paying for the, as I would see it, excesses of, of recent years. And at some stage you have to do it and honor the country’s obligations. But I definitely think, in the really critical fiscal corner we’ve painted ourselves into, it’s entirely appropriate to use that moment to surface these issues. And I hope for some leverage to get some real change and not just cosmetic. MR. TODD: Did your former boss, President Bush, make a mistake about not trying to pay for the wars in some form of another, asking for some temporary tax hikes, if necessary, to pay for the wars? Or to pay for the prescription drug benefit? Because, obviously, you were there when, when the debt also went up, when the deficit went up. And it was because, among other things, those two things were not paid for then. GOV. DANIELS: Well, we’ll never know. If you’d done that and you’d hurt the economy, you’d have had less revenues than, than you expected, maybe less than you had, anyway. You know, by 2007, the deficit was tiny compared to now. It was well under 2 percent of GDP. So we would love, wouldn’t we, to be back to that level now. So… MR. TODD: But you’re an executive now. If you–you believe in paying for things. If you are going to offer something, you should pay for it. GOV. DANIELS: Yeah, don’t offer what you can’t pay for. That’d be a good principle to return to in the federal government. MR. TODD: So the prescription drug benefit probably shouldn’t have been offered without being paid for. GOV. DANIELS: Well, it’s cost a whole lot less than anybody thought. But it is part–there’s no question–it is part of the biggest problem we face, which isn’t even these massive annual deficits we’re running, it’s the unaffordable promises we have made to–in what we call the entitlement programs.
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Click here to view this media Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a stern warning Sunday that no Republican senators would vote to raise the debt ceiling if Democrats don’t take what he called a “credible effort” to deal with the country’s debt. “I don’t intend to support raising the debt ceiling and I don’t believe any Senate Republicans do, unless we do something important related to spending and debt,” he told Fox News’ Chris Wallace. “I think the administration understands that, that we’re just not going to bring up the debt ceiling and everybody say all right, he added. “It’s going to have to carry something with it that the markets, foreign countries, the American people believe is a credible effort to begin to get a handle on spending and debt.” Not every Republican leader has been willing to hold the debt limit hostage. “I think raising the debt limit is the responsible thing to do for our country, the responsible thing for our economy,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. “If we were to fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tailspin.” When asked about Boehner’s remarks, McConnell said he was only speaking for Republican senators. “My prediction is not a single one of the 47 Republicans will vote to raise the debt ceiling unless it includes with it some credible effort to do something about our debt. Now, the House is another matter. I’m just predicting that the Senate Republican votes. I don’t believe Senate Republicans are going to vote to raise the debt ceiling,” he said.
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One of two brothers convicted of killing Damilola Taylor has been returned to prison after breaching licence conditions One of two brothers convicted of killing Damilola Taylor has been returned to prison after breaching licence conditions that were applied to him after he was released last year. Ricky Preddie, who was jailed at the same time as his brother Danny in 2006 for the manslaughter of 10-year-old Damilola, was released in September after serving two thirds of his eight-year sentence. He was arrested on Friday evening after he failed to conform to a curfew on a number of occasions. Damilola, who had moved to Britain from Nigeria a few months before his death, was stabbed with a broken bottle in November 2000 as he walked to his family’s home in Peckham, south London, and was found bleeding from a leg wound in a stairwell on a housing estate. The Preddies, south London gang members who were 12 and 13 at the time of the manslaughter, were convicted of his killing after two police inquiries and three trials which cost an estimated £16m. Police forces around the UK initiated reviews of scores of murders after serious failures at the government-run forensic science laboratory were exposed. A Ministry of Justice spokesman declined to confirm Preddie’s recall but said: “All offenders subject to probation supervision on release from prison have to adhere to a set of strict conditions.” “They are subject to recall to custody if they breach their conditions or their behaviour indicates that it is no longer safe for them or for the public if they remain in the community.” At the time of Preddie’s release, Gary Trowsdale, chief executive of the Damilola Taylor Trust, said the charity had urged the authorities to ensure he received the help he needed. Mr Trowsdale said: “We have very strongly recommended to the authorities that the boy is mentored. “We hope the Probation Service will do its job and he is properly mentored.” Danny Preddie remains in prison serving a sentence for another offence and is due to be released this year. Damilola Taylor Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Guardian/ICM survey in five EU countries shows people see a bleak economic future and don’t think their leaders will deliver Europe’s hope of a better future is faltering, as the financial crisis and spending cuts bite, according to a Guardian/ICM poll of five leading EU countries. It finds trust in government at rock bottom and widespread fear of further economic decline. Few people are convinced that the present signs of recovery can be sustained. The poll was carried out online using a representative sample of more than 5,000 people of working age in five leading EU states – Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. It paints a picture of a continent confident in its liberal values and still mostly committed to EU institutions such as the euro and the free movement of people between states, but notably hostile to state spending and political leaders. Carried out at the start of a month-long Guardian series examining Europe in the wake of recession, the poll makes it clear that few Europeans believe the worst of the economic crisis is over. A majority are also against immediate cuts in government spending. The result is a crisis in European democracy. While people are divided on the need for state spending cuts and the speed with which they should take place, very few in the five states surveyed trust their politicians to deal with the problems facing their countries – or even their honesty. Only 6% of people across Europe say they have a great deal of trust in their government, 46% say they have not very much and 32% none at all. Only 9% of Europeans think their politicians – in opposition or in power – act with honesty and integrity. The lack of trust in government is greatest in Poland and France, where distrust outweighs trust by a net 82 percentage points. In France, the net negative score is 78 points and in Germany 80 points. Only Britain breaks the consensus somewhat, with a net negative score of 66 points. Even fewer Europeans think their politicians are honest. In Poland, only 3% of those questioned agree; in Spain 8%; in Germany 10%; in France 11%; in Britain 12%. Overall, the percentage of those who think politicians are not at all, or not very, honest outweighs those who disagree by a massive 89 percentage points. Political anxiety appears to be fuelled by deep economic worries. Overall, 40% of those polled think their economy will get worse over the next 12 months, against 20% who think it will improve. Only in Germany are more people optimistic than pessimistic. Economic anxiety is greatest in France, where pessimists outnumber optimists by a net difference of 46 points. In Britain, the difference is 40 points and in Poland 30 points. Spain is more optimistic, with a net difference of 18 points – which could be explained by few people in the country thinking things can get worse than they already are. There are also signs of hope: except in Poland, people on balance are more likely to think things will get “a little worse” (26% of those polled) than “a lot worse” (21%). And others (31%) think things will simply stay the same. Europe is not in economic depression. But on the other hand there is limited hope for the future expressed in the EU’s traditional economic powerhouses of Germany and France. Almost three-quarters of the French questioned think they will be worse off in a decade than they are now. In Germany – despite its recovery – over half think the same. In Britain, a majority think the next decade will either leave them poorer or, at best, no better off. Only a quarter think Britain will get richer over the next 10 years. Only in the more recent EU entrants of Spain and Poland is there significant optimism. In Poland, almost half think they will end up better off in a decade; in Spain, a majority think this. Both countries have experienced rapid growth within recent memory as a result of EU entry. The poll focused on national attitudes rather than those to the EU as a whole. But despite economic worries and the cost of bailing out Greece and Ireland, EU states already using the euro want to keep it. Overall, 68% questioned in the three euro countries – France, Spain and Germany – are in favour of retaining it. Spain (71%) is keenest, followed by France (60%). But a majority of Germans (59%) also want to keep the euro despite national concern about the Greek bailout. However, a narrow plurality of Poles (48% to 40%) oppose their country joining the single currency as is planned. ICM interviewed a random sample of 5,023 adults in five EU states aged 18–64 from its online panel between 24 February and 8 March, 2011. In order to achieve a nationally representative sample within each country, quotas were set by gender, age and region. At the data analysis stage, data were weighted to the profile of all adults aged 18-64 in each country Europe European Union Euro France Germany Poland Spain Euro European debt crisis Recession Julian Glover guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media As Japan races to avert multiple nuclear meltdowns, one expert warned Sunday that radiation could spread to the U.S. Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, told Fox News’ Chris Wallace Japan’s nuclear crisis is unprecedented. “One reactor has had half the core exposed already,” he explained. “This is the one they’re flooding with sea water in a desperate effort to prevent it from a complete meltdown. They lost control of a second reactor next to it, a partial meltdown, and there is actually a third reactor at a related site 20-kilometers away they have also lost control over. We have never had a situation like this before.” “The worst case scenario is that the fuel rods fuse together, the temperatures get so hot that they melt together in a radioactive molten mass that bursts through the containment mechmisms and is exposed to the outside. So they spew radioactivity in the ground, into the air, into the water. Some of the radioactivity could carry in the atmosphere to the West Coast of the United States.” “Really?” a surprised Wallace asked. “I mean, thousands of miles across the Pacific?” “Oh, abosolutely. Chernobyl, which happened about 25 years ago, the radioactivity spread around the entire northern hemisphere. It depends how many of these cores melt down and how successful they are on containing it once this disaster happens,” Cirincione replied. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission deployed two experts to Japan, but are downplaying the immediate danger. Michael Sicilia, spokesman for California Department of Public Health, told AFP that there was no danger to California at the present. “California does have radioactivity monitoring systems in place for air, water and the food supply and can enhance that monitoring if a danger exists,” he said.
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Police criticised for failing to secure single conviction as group warns known cases are the tip of the iceberg At least 80 children have been trafficked to Scotland to face sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse including forced labour, benefit fraud and domestic servitude, a report published on Monday says. The findings conclude that these cases are the tip of an iceberg, with many more child victims who have been sold, stolen and transported thousands of miles remaining unidentified. The report – Scotland: a safe place for child traffickers? – criticises police for failing to secure a single conviction for trafficking, and the authorities for their poor response to young victims’ needs. In November, it emerged that a young Nigerian girl had been trafficked to Scotland, held prisoner and gang-raped. Her case was just one of several documented by the Scottish Refugee Council. Some of the children identified have been forced to work in cannabis factories and private homes and pose as dependents for benefit scams. They came from a number of countries including China, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vietnam. The youngest was 14 years old. Child trafficking has long been considered an issue of border control, the study said, leading to those who have been trafficked being regarded as part of a problem, rather than as victims. Scotland’s commissioner for children and young people, Tam Baillie, and the Centre for Rural Childhood at Perth College University of the Highlands and Islands produced the report, and made a number of urgent recommendations. They called on the UK government to review the national referral mechanism to strengthen co-operation between government agencies, and to appoint an independent human trafficking rapporteur accountable to the UK parliament. The authors recommended the Scottish government should ensure adequate resources are available to tackle the problem and act as a lead for local authorities to ensure that nationally agreed procedures are followed consistently at a local level. Baillie said: “When children are raped or exploited as slaves in households or businesses in Scotland it becomes our national scandal. When we fail to notice, fail to pick up the signs and fail to act on children’s trauma, it demands action. I hope this report, the first of its kind in Scotland, will take the issue out into the open and result in action and change for child victims of trafficking.” Professor Rebecca Wallace, director of the centre for rural childhood at Perth College UHI, said the report’s findings address the previous lack of an evidence base regarding child trafficking in Scotland. She added the study was an opportunity to “harness the very evident willingness of professionals encountered during the research to improve the identification and treatment of children trafficked into and within Scotland”. Human trafficking Children Scotland Child labour guardian.co.uk
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America’s Next Top Model Tyra Banks Jennifer Love Hewitt America’s Next Top Model Season 16, Episode 3 Lori Goldstein Why Supermodel Tyra Banks ' Demand Media Deal Makes Her A … Celebrities love fashion, fashion loves celebrities, and as we’ve previously mentioned. Lastest Tyra Banks News | keymanual.info London, Mar 12 (ANI): Retired model-turned-brand leader Tyra Banks hаѕ launched a nеw website fοr women thаt wіll hеlр style members whο sign up bу giving thеm tips аnd makeover advice based οn thеіr οwn body type. … Tyra Banks HOT ! | Paula Tyra Banks launches a makeover website called TypeF! Retired model-turned-brand leader Tyra Banks has launched a new website aimed at celebrating the individuality of women, The entrepreneur’s TypeF, com site will help style members who … Why Supermodel Tyra Banks ' Demand Media Deal Makes Her A … Demand Media announced a partnership with Tyra Banks last June to launch an “interactive web property, an engaging online video series and unique mobile applications” that “closely supporting her core mission to expand the definition of … Tyra Banks – marybaker's posterous Tyra Banks . Retired model-turned-brand leader Tyra Banks has launched a new website aimed at celebrating the individuality of women. The entrepreneur’s TypeF.com site will. Tyra Banks ». Retired model-turned-brand leader Tyra Banks has … skandy_xoxo says: @mynameisfanya she dont know tyrA banks she dont know castle she don know jay alexander she dont know akon i think and she dont know carrie
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US senators who fled state are cheered by thousands despite Republicans removing collective bargaining rights Fourteen Democratic senators from Wisconsin have returned home from exile in Illinois at the end of a bruising clash with the Republicans in which the state capitol in Madison became a virtual battleground in a dispute over trade union rights. The senators had fled for three weeks across state lines in an attempt to prevent the new Republican governor Scott Walker from passing a bill to strip 175,000 public sector workers of almost all collective bargaining rights. Their ploy, designed to block the bill going to vote by making it impossible for the Republicans to gain a quorum, ultimately failed when the bill was signed into law on Friday. But the senators, dubbed the “Fab 14″, returned to a heroes’ welcome. Up to 70,000 trade union and Democratic supporters gathered in Capitol Square, chanting “Thank you! Thank you!” The crowd included many farmers who came into Madison to join the protest in a “tractorcade”. Local paper the Journal Sentinel spotted Tod Pulvermacher, a dairy farmer, driving a John Deere tractor with a sign attached to its rear manure spreader, saying “Walker’s bill belongs here”. Dave Hansen, the Democratic senator from Green Bay, told the crowd: “We lost the battle, but we’re going to win the war. I think we’ve got the momentum on our side.” However, Scott Fitzgerald, the leader of the Republicans in the Wisconsin senate, who orchestrated the passage of the bill, said the senators were “the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin”. He said: “To the senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you’re heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted and are embarrassed.” Although the bill has been passed – restricting public sector unions to negotations only over pay increases up to the rate of inflation – the battle in Wisconsin is far from over. Democrats across the country have vowed to use the scenes there as a stick with which to beat Republicans in next year’s presidential election. Democrats and Republicans in the state have declared their intention to seek revenge against each other in recall elections that will seek to unseat incumbent Wisconsin senators. Up to 16 senators, eight from each party, are vulnerable to such an attack, which can be triggered by a petition of voters. US politics United States Wisconsin Democrats Republicans Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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