Right Wing Nation

The new US citizenship test. Here it is, with answers (PDF file).

Except this one isn’t funny. Obscene, yes, but not in the way you imagine. The “Good War” in Burma.

It’s a Good War, to liberals and chin-strokers, because the US is doing absolutely nothing there to abate slaughter and tyranny. Which makes reporters and academics effectively our “front line” of defense — which is how they want it. Their “defense” amounts for nothing, of course, and saves no lives and destroys no tyrant’s bunkers, but they get to be the stars of this do-nothing immorality play, which is better than the non-college-educated morons in the US military who got stuck in Iraq getting to be the stars.

So we can all cluck, cluck about how horrible this all is and pretend that it matters a whit that we are collectively “horrified.”

But it’s a lie, because it doesn’t matter how we feel about it. It’s what we do about it that counts. And were Bush to announce airstrikes of opportunity on government forces tomorrow, the MSM and our very-concerned media and academic classes would suddenly find all of this not nearly as “horrifying” as they find it now.

Which isn’t to say I advocate such an action (though neither do I oppose some low level of commitment to striking government troops and materiel and vehicles as targets may present themselves).

Just to note that for the left the proper way — the only way — to deal with brutal murderers and tyrants is to caterwaul about it and peacock-preen their pretty feathers of righteous indignation.

One of the commenters writes:

Yep if we actually did anything to try to stop this they’d be slapping “No Blood for Buddhists” stickers on their rusty old Volvos the next day.

Yup. There’s lots more. Read the whole thing.

I’m venturing out for lunch, then to Ground Zero. I may or may not take pictures. It depends on whether it feels appropriate.

That Western-civilization-hating GaiaGoddessLoons who demand that we all to back to 4,000 B.C. live in New York City, or that they set up their nutty booths in Lincoln Center?

And here are a few New Yorkers in their quaint, native costumes.

Piccys get biggy if you clicky.

You know, when you see something and your immediate reaction is, “I doubt it,” or “I don’t think so.” We’ve had several here in New York. Saturday night on our way back to the hotel, we walked past a storefront with the sign, “Amish Market” on the front.

Uh, I doubt it. I strongly suspect that at least 99.9% of New Yorkers have never seen one of the plain people, unless you count that Harrison Ford movie, Witness. About the closest New York has to Anabaptists are Orthodox Jews. We’ve seen a lot of them. Somehow, we haven’t seen any Amish in buggies. Imagine that.

Tomorrow, by the way, is the anniversary of the Nickel Mines shooting.

On our way to lunch yesterday, we walked past some “southern barbecue” place, with such items on the posted menu as “boneless chicken fingers in mango barbecue sauce.” Uh, I don’t think so. Then again, how many New Yorkers have been south of the Mason-Dixon line (DC doesn’t count), much less eaten the real thing?

Then, in front of a very narrow, trash-strewn set of stairs leading up into a dirty building, there was a sign that said, “Best Chinese food,” beneath a naked Chinese woman. Somehow, I don’t think food was what they were selling there.

Including food pics I shamelessly took yesterday (click on the pic to view the whole album):

Also note the pics of New Yorkers in their quaint native garb.

The hotel has complimentary breakfasts, but only on weekdays, and since this is New York, they’re not really breakfasts. They’re “Continental” breakfasts, you know, a little sweet roll. Obviously, we haven’t tried yet, since this is our first weekday here.

But unlike our experience in Philadelphia, we’ve had a run of good luck here. So far. Knock on wood.

Friday night: Havana Central (Times Square), within easy walking distance. Deafening (and you’d expect a Cuban bar and restaurant to be quiet?), but great food. I had the arroz con pollo, because I needed something comforting after that long train ride. Cuban comfort food at its best.

Saturday: Aïda was at 1:30, so we needed to lunch somewhere close to Lincoln Center, and found Rosa Mexicano. The lunch menu is mostly northern and central Mexican, and the food is top notch. Even the black beans were so good you wanted to dive into the bowl. Excellent guacamole, which they make tableside — do note that they make it exactly as I do, with no lime. I got the carne asada tacos, which were brilliantly done. Everything was delicious. The pinto beans. The saffron rice. The homemade tortillas. And the carne asada, charbroiled and rare, with chihuahua cheese. Uncommonly friendly staff for New York, then, he was a Mexican. He suggested that we try Maya while we were in town (see below). Rosa Mexicano is right across from the back end of the New York City Opera.

Zarela Martinez has published a couple of excellent cookbooks, so when I saw she had a restaurant in Manhattan, going was a done deal. And who can resist a restaurant whose tagline is Praise the Lard? The menu is, as I assumed from her cookbooks, mostly Oaxacan, although there are a couple of Yucatecan items. Despite the fact that my favorite Mexican is Oaxacan, the chile relleno del día was chile en nogada (central Mexican), a poblano stuffed with picadillo (shredded pork in a chipotle sauce with various fruits and nuts, in this case, apricots, raisins, pears, almonds, and walnuts) and coated with a creamy walnut and pomegranate sauce. I got the cochinita pibil, a Yucatecan specialty, and it was memorable.

Sunday: Another performance to attend at Lincoln Center, but at 3:00, so we were free to find lunch anywhere we wanted. As you know, there’s a dearth of edible Chinese back home, and we wanted good Chinese while we were here, but alas, we are quite a ways from Chinatown, too far, certainly, to have gone, then been to Lincoln Center by 3:00 (there’s a place in Chinatown with an irresistibly colorful menu, including things like Amazing Chicken and Incredible Beef Organ). I did a little research, and found several local food forums — and that the consensus was that the best Szechuan in Manhattan was at a little place just five blocks down the street from the hotel, at the Szechuan Gourmet, on 39th. What clinched it for me was one reviewer’s statement about the dan-dan noodles: “Delicious and fiery hot! It’s like eating electricity!” So off we went.

Four Rivers:Phildaelphia::Szechuan Gourmet:Manhattan

I’d say “authentic” just about sums it up. There were more than a few items most would find exotic, and it’s a big menu. Rabbit in black bean chili sauce. Braised intestine. Stir-fried chili duck tongues. I got the dan-dan noodles (how could I not, after that comment) and “double cooked pork belly with chili leek” (twice-cooked pork). The noodles were indeed fiery, though I thought “eating electricity” was an overstatement until I had my first spoonful of broth. 97% chili, and 3% other, with noodles, mustard greens, and finely diced pork. And loads of garlic.

The twice-cooked pork was the best I’ve had, and I’ve had some exemplary twice-cooked pork. It really was pork belly, hard to find in the US because we make nearly all of it into bacon, in paper-thin slices. It, too, was quite spicy, though not so spicy as the dan-dan noodles, with a splash of vinegar to sharpen it, and many leeks. I may head there again today for lunch, since I have no plans until this evening.

The restaurant business is about as cut throat as it gets, so when the staff at one restaurant recommends a competitor, it’s a good idea to follow up. We headed to Maya last night (it ain’t close — we took a cab). It’s so far the most expensive place we’ve encountered, and unlike the other two Mexican restaurants we had visited, it’s “modern” Mexican. Usually, that’s a big red light, with lots of fusion silliness, but not at Maya. The roasted corn soup was, well, there just aren’t words to describe it. The mole poblano was excellent, served over chicken, all on cilantro rice with fried plantains. Expensive, but lots of food — I couldn’t finish before I pushed the plate away and sat there groaning in pain.

I’ve heard from far too many people far too many times that good Mexican is nearly impossible to find in New York City. I don’t think it’s wise to press our luck. If we do Mexican again, we’ll probably go back to one of the places we’ve visited, rather than search out another.

There are two days left before we head back. Just a couple of blocks away is Little Brazil Way, a whole street of Brazilian restaurants. That’s certainly an intriguing idea. Or because of the lack of good Chinese back in Centre County, we may do the Szechuan Gourmet again. Or who knows?

Pics to follow. Some of these things were so pretty I had to take pictures.

Oh, and there’s a breakfast place down the street. Not to disparage anyone or any ethnic group, but lox and bagels just aren’t my idea of breakfast. I suspect we’ll have to do without.