I loved this guy. Here he is in one of his best movie roles, On the Waterfront. I missed the news yesterday.

Oscar winner Karl Malden, the bulbous-nosed character actor acclaimed for film roles in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront" before gaining TV fame as a leading man in "The Streets of San Francisco," died on Wednesday at age 97.

Also remembered as the commercial spokesman for American Express travelers checks, sternly warning tourists, "Don't leave home without them," Malden died in his sleep at his Los Angeles-area home, according to his longtime agent, Budd Moss. He said the actor had been in failing health in recent years.

In a career spanning seven decades, Malden made his mark playing plain-spoken men of gruff manners, though he was noted for bringing an understated, natural dignity to many roles.

More at Gateway Pundit.

..that we havent heard much from our Republican leaders on Honduras.

“Americans should support the Honduran people and their legitimate leaders in their brave and heroic stand for freedom and the rule of law.”

Jim DeMint (R-SC)

The Statement:

"The people of Honduras have struggled too long to have their hard-won democracy stolen from them by a Chavez-style dictator. The Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, and the Honduran military have acted in accordance to the Honduran constitution and the rule of law.

“For weeks leading to his arrest, Zelaya flouted the constitutional authority of the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court, and claimed for himself extra-constitutional control of his nation’s military and political institutions. Every institution from the Electoral Tribunal to the Supreme Court ruled that his actions were unjustified and illegal. Zelaya’s open defiance of democratic norms has set Honduras on a path toward violence, instability, and tyranny.

“I am hopeful that as President Obama grows in office, he will eventually turn away from despots like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, and Zelaya, and give the United States’ full-throated support to the people of any country who are fighting for the same values we cherish and defend in America. The people fighting for freedom around the world, in Iran and Honduras, should never have to wonder which side America will choose between freedom and tyranny.

“President Obama’s call for the reinstatement of Zelaya is a slap in the face to the people of Honduras. And the resolution written by the Organization of American States tramples over the hopes and dreams of a free and democratic people.

“The rule of law is working in Honduras. President Obama should not undermine the democratic institutions that guarantee freedom by forcing an illegitimate President back into power.

“This is not an ideal transition, but Hondurans are adhering to their constitution. The United States should support the Honduran people and their legitimate leaders in their brave and heroic stand for freedom and the rule of law.”

I had a wonderful master plan.

I swear did.

I know I’ve been AWOL for a while now. I’ve been taking some much needed time off from cooking and blogging. Rest assured, I am still cooking and I am still blogging. I just haven’t done them concurrently for the past couple of months, but that’s not important right now.

So I was all set to wow you today.

I was going to amaze you with a wonderful recipe for Beer Butt (ahem…) Can Chicken.

So I got not one, but two! birds cleaned and marinating in the garlicky goodness that is Mojo Criollo*.

I even purchased beer. In cans! An entire six-pack! Which I never, ever do because my husband only drinks dark English beer which comes in bottles, but that's not important right now either.

So, back to the marinating…

I pulled out the seriously mojo’d chicken. I drained the marinade and rubbed on some of my uber-tasty dry garlicky rub.

When I went to get the beer cans for the birds to sit on, I found they were gone. Vanished. What do you suppose could have happened to them?

Apparently now I have to add post-it notes to items in my own refrigerator to alert the other inhabitants of Chez Darby (who shall remain nameless) with an explanation that I’m planning to use those items in a recipe and please don't just consume those items willy-nilly. Yes, those other inhabitants who usually only drink dark English beer in bottles. (Hello?!) *sigh*

Okay, fine. I am a World-Class Resolvedora (is that a word?).  I’ll just use Coke.

So I prepare the Coke cans and I manage to balance the birds in a tripod stance. I march out to our gas barbecue only to find that we are (what??) Out. Of. Gas.

Shut. UP. This is sooo not happening.

But seriously, I am an Olympic Gold-Medal Caliber Resolvedora.

I reason that cooking the chicken in my covered gas barbecue is like using an outdoor OVEN. Hmm...

“But, Marta, everyone knows you can’t make Beer Coke Butt Can Chicken in a regular oven!”

You don’t know me very well, do you? 

Oven Baked Beer Coke Can Chicken

INGREDIENTS
Two 3-4 lb. whole chickens
Mojo Criollo Marinade*
2 -12 oz. cans beer (or Coke or any canned beverage will do)
Garlicky Barbecue Rub*

*Mojo Criollo Marinade
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. Oregano
8 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together to make marinade.
Mojo Criollo-type marinade is also available in bottles.

*Garlicky Barbecue Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup pimentón (or regular paprika)
ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. Garlic powder
Mix together (go ahead and just use your fingers) all ingredients.

1. Marinade the chicken at least 4 hours in the Mojo Criollo.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. When you’re ready to cook, remove the chicken from marinade and pat dry.
4. Pat the Garlicky Barbecue Rub all over the birds.
5. Open your cans as much as possible by using a church key type opener.

6. Pour out about a third of the liquid. (Or you could just drink it! D’oh! =D)
7. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
8. Insert the beer (or Coke or other beverage of choice) can into the chicken. Open the cavity of the chicken and spread over the can forming a “tripod” with the two legs with the can being the third. (Trust me, you do not want to see an "action" photo of this.)

9. Place the pan in the oven being careful not to tip over the chicken.

10. Bake at 350 for 90 minutes. Or when temperature is at least 180 degrees in the meatiest part of the thigh (avoid the bone).
11. Drink the rest of the beer while you’re waiting and have a good laugh over how the pair of birds seem to be having a which-is-better-beer-or-coke argument.

Capital Hill Cubans wields the clue bat:

An Important Challenge for the OAS

Yesterday, the Organization of American States ("OAS") vociferously advocated "the importance of strict adherence to and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" in its Resolution to the Political Crisis in Honduras, AG/RES 1, (XXXVII-E/09).

Consistent with this declaration, and to ensure credibility, it would be imperative that the OAS and its Member States simultaneously proceed to vociferously challenge the egregious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Castro regime in Cuba.

Furthermore, if the Honduran government is suspended from the OAS for violating the terms of the Inter-American Democratic Charter ("Charter"), the OAS should immediately proceed to revoke the June 3rd resolution that terminated Cuba's suspension from the regional body, and issue a new resolution specifically enumerating the terms of the Charter -- of which the Cuban regime must strictly adhere to prior to readmission.

Finally, the OAS should press all of the Members States that are advocating for diplomatic and commercial sanctions against the non-democratic government of Honduras to extend similar sanctions towards the only other non-democratically elected government in the hemisphere, the Castro's Cuba.

Alternatively, the OAS building in Washington, D.C. would make an ideal location for the Smithsonian's upcoming Latino Museum.

Barney Frank just can't keep his grubby paws off of your money:

Barney Frank: Let's spend TARP profits before taxpayers can get them

When President Obama announced on June 9 that some financial institutions would be allowed to repay Troubled Asset Relief Program dollars, he said the massively expensive TARP bailout had made money for the federal government. "It is worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these [TARP recipients], the government has actually turned a profit," the president said. Indeed, TARP supporters have long held out the hope that the program might be profitable.

But now Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has come up with a proposal to spend any TARP profits before they can be returned to the taxpayers. Last Friday, Frank introduced the "TARP for Main Street Act of 2009," a bill that would take profits from the program and immediately redirect them toward housing proposals favored by Frank and some fellow Democrats.

You know what? We should make the morons that elected this clown flip the bill.

From our friend Alexander Maistrovoy, a journalist with the Russian-language Israeli newspaper Novosty nedely:

A pinnacle of self-destruction

It is difficult to say the clash of which civilizations Samuel Huntington meant. Those who think he wrote about Islamic civilization on the one part and the West on the other part, make a mistake. There is no such conflict, it is inherently impossible. The events of the latest decades show that the civilizations in question are far from clashing. On the contrary, they co-operate and complement one another.

Any conflict assumes that both parties have ideological oppositions, pride, courage, and desire to fight. If one of the parties has neither principles, nor will to resist, or at least aspirations to survive, the conflict does not exist. There is a simple absorption of one civilization by another, a kind of submission or assault. The situation becomes even more hopeless if one of the parties not only obediently submits to an aggressor and tyrant, but meets the conquerer with readiness and enthusiasm.

Can there be a conflict between a sadist and a masochist; hatred and self-hatred; aggression and self-flagellation? Certainly not. Such pairs complement one another ideally.

It is difficult to find more hatred of the West, than in the West itself. Listen and read what the representatives of the Western elite - academicians, novelists and show-business stars - say, and you will find no difference in their ideas and those of the leaders of Taliban or “Al Qaeda”. Do the judgements of Tom Hayden differ from those of Mukdata al Sadr? Is Noam Chomsky or Susan Sontag different in their statements on the USA from Mullah Omar? Sean Penn hates America as strongly as the Islamists do.

Continue reading Can a tango of a murderer and a suicide be considered “The Clash of Civilizations”?

Every time I see a busy-body do-gooder asswipe liberal talking-head on a morning show giving advice on how to "change your lifestyle," I want to throw a brick at the television set! (The old one, not the LCD.)

Is it a symptomatic of my middle age, or has my curmudgeonness finally gotten the better of me?

Just askin'...