Not my cup of chai

Some years ago my mother, who had taken to drinking tea in the afternoon, offered me a cup of chai . I had never heard of chai but I took to drinking it on occasion during the 90’s as espresso shops and carts became prevalent (even in Stinson Beach). The machine-made chai was much better than my mom’s which, as I recall, was a sort of teabag variety. Neither preparation matches the chai described by Eric Margolis in his “War at the Top of the World”:

"Known as chai, this form of tea is unique to the Asian subcontinent. To make it properly, you must take a battered, blackened, greasy aluminum pan; add contaminated water, two or three tablespoons of insect-infested sugar, raw, unpasteurized milk, and black, perfumed tea; then boil it all up into a sweet white drink that will either cure whatever ails travelers to these parts or, more likely, leave you with Q fever, cholera, and assorted parasites. In these parts, tea cannot be refused when offered, which it always is. I discreetly gulped down an antibiotic capsule I had learned to always keep secreted in my pocket for just such social occasions."

Make mine a double

“According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again,” David Letterman said in a late-night monologue. “And I thought, "Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.”

Some Questions:

Since over 300 billion dollars has been given to--excuse me, infused into--our banks with the intention of freeing up credit, why don't the banks lend the Top Three the 25 billion they want?

Why is Hilary dithering over the nomination for Secretary of State and when will
Obama cut her off?? If she can't negotiate this, what good is she?

If it walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then I call it a duck. Why does this not apply to Joe Lieberman?

Veterans

Washington Post via Daily Kos

• 
  Obama Positions Himself to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues
  By Ceci Connolly and R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, November 9, 2008

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse the president on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

Compare and Contrast:

Chicago 1968
Chicago 2008

Ok -- the '60s were a lot sexier. But now that I'm in my sixties I like last night just fine.

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

Make it happen...