green: raven (Default)
green ([personal profile] green) wrote2013-01-23 10:06 am

split pea soup, with or without the ham, and then I talk about the 19th Knesset

This is the second time I've made this recipe for crock pot split pea soup in a couple of weeks. It's soooo good and I can't wait to eat it up again. The recipe makes a lot, so I have tons left over, and the leftovers are even better than the just-made, which is pretty damned good, too.

There are a couple of changes to the recipe I've made: no marjoram, no thyme, no bay leaf. pretty sure you could leave out the ham for a veg or kosher variety. it's the PEAS that make it. And the veggies (and the little bit of garlic). Oh, also, I cook it on HIGH for about four hours, then low until it's time to eat. So all in all it takes less time to cook that way (about 6 hours total, shaves off 2-4 hours?) than the recipe says, and it's just fine that way.

Anyway, some people run their pea soup through the food processor when they're done to get it to a creamier consistency. I just use the potato masher on it all after it's all cooked and it's mostly creamy that way without dirtying another appliance.

Today is CABIN PRESSURE DAY. \o/ I hope mom doesn't talk to me today so I can chat on gtalk about it. Mom is sewing. She sews at the kitchen table when she's not sewing in the living room. Close enough to talk to me. ALL. DAY.

She's not saying anything negative about ME! She's not sniping at ME! She's just talking about ... stupid shit. Obama. Gun control and how it's of the devil — or Obama, which is the same thing to her. How this quilt is different from the last quilt. How her ex husband won't stop calling her (even though she does nothing to dissuade him). How because of abortion, the population is going to dip, and therefore there will be no one to take care of the old folks, and they're going to institutionalize mandatory euthanasia eventually anyway. Everything that's wrong with Desmond Tutu. How Glenn Beck wants to start a theme park (the theme being Liberty) with its own commune (Which is too hippie-ish for Mom). How she uses the ironing board and the presser foot backwards (I don't even know what she's talking about). The crazies (except that people listen to them) who yell that "the Jews" are behind 9/11 (We agree on something! Those people are vile).

Which reminds me: I have no idea what's going on with the elections in Israel. I don't understand how they work. Or how the government itself works. I want to understand. From what I have gathered, though, there's a coalition. Of people. Somehow they are put together from the political parties Israel has. Israel has a LOT of parties. The major parties are Likud (which is what Netanyahu is), Kadima, and Yisrael Beiteinu. (there are other major parties too! it's so confusing!) Likud is right-wing and against Palestinian statehood. Kadima is kinda centrist, and sorta maybe support a Palestine that is toothless and lame. (this is just what I'm getting from online research! correct me if I'm wrong!) Yisrael Beiteinu is mostly secular and supports "a viable Palestinian state". At least they say they do?

(just to interject: I don't even know how I feel MYSELF about a viable two-state solution. so I can't even imagine how hard it is for folks to decide for themselves what's what, people it affects on a personal/professional/whatever level)

DON'T EVEN get me started on what these parties think about the Law of Return and who's a real Jew. DON'T EVEN.

There's also the Labor party. Which, in the past, did a lot of good! (health care! affirmative action!) But for some reason (I'm not getting it, it's going over my head) shit happened and most of the Labor people left the party and went over to Kadima. IDK IDK. It's making my head hurt.

ANYWAY. The elections! Likud lost some seats but are still in the majority(?). The other parties that made good are: Yesh Atid (I didn't even research them. wtf. *goes to look them up* oh, they've just been founded!), Labor, Beyit Yehudi (another one I didn't look up, and lookie here, they are AKA 'The Jewish Home', so I totes just didn't understand the Hebrew. Ha.).

Yesh Atid is a new party, founded in 2012, wants a lot of change. Changes in government, in priorities, in who serves in the IDF. They want an Israeli constitution. They want "two states for two peoples".

OKAY. So. There's a Knesset. It has 120 seats. Likud still fills the majority of the seats, but they lost a lot in this election, too. There are a 'record number' of women in this Knesset. (5 more, the grand total being 26)

I still don't understand fully, but I get the gist. Israeli politics are a bit (a bit!) confusing. I think it's because of the BILLION parties.
johngreen: (Default)

[personal profile] johngreen 2013-01-24 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I have never had pea soup and I think that's because it looks a little gross to me (I think I was traumatized by the Exorcist), but I want to try this, as I LIKE peas. Hmm.

I... feel like I would have a good time arguing with your mom. My mom doesn't talk about that stuff at all, she just lets me yammer on about those kinds of things and sort of looks at me blankly. But I like to fight with people, so...
skywaterblue: (Iron Man)

[personal profile] skywaterblue 2013-01-24 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
Israeli politics ARE really complex, and unfortunately unless we have a great grasp of Hebrew, we only really get really filtered opinions on the parties.

Basically what happened was that Ariel Sharon split from Likud (Conservative) to make Kadima (Center-Right-ish) and then had a stroke and is now a vegetable. Kadima became led by other people and fell out of power, and is currently run by Tzipi Livni, and is basically no longer a viable concern. The Center-Left then split into a couple of different parties and Yesh Atid, which just sucked up most of Kadima's votes, is run by a former TV journalist. (It's basically like the Keith Olbermann party.)

The other big parties are Shas (ultra-conservative) and Jewish Home, which is basically the 'Settlers Are Awesome' party.

Anyway, as far as I understand it, Netanyahu cannot really put together a coalition without Yesh Atid, but Yesh Atid is too liberal to get along with Shas and Jewish Home. So he has to either moderate OR Yesh Atid can make a coalition with Labor, but then Yair Lapid (the TV journalist) would be Prime Minister and it sounds like he doesn't want to do it.
Edited 2013-01-24 03:20 (UTC)
skywaterblue: (awesome star trek)

[personal profile] skywaterblue 2013-01-24 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
Except since last time I looked, apparently Tzipi Livni started her own party and Kadima sucks even more. SO!
skywaterblue: (death)

[personal profile] skywaterblue 2013-01-24 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
I had to look up a bunch of it yesterday, so I don't promise 100% accuracy. Like, IDEK where the Yair Lapid party came from...
waketosleep: signboard saying 'I have seen the truth and it doesn't make sense' (Default)

[personal profile] waketosleep 2013-01-24 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Coming from a country with a multi-party parliamentary system, the comings and goings don't really confuse me. I can answer questions about the logistics of these systems if you want.
waketosleep: signboard saying 'I have seen the truth and it doesn't make sense' (Default)

[personal profile] waketosleep 2013-01-24 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Splinter parties usually do great for at least one or two elections after forming because they're usually formed out of disgust with the status quo. Whether they keep that momentum when the shine wears off is another thing. At least Israel is open to coalition! I think Canada would be better off if we were too.