Thread 13 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 12).

Looks like spring has sprung! Tulips, apple blossom and early hay fever are upon us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm, because "something something 'til May is out". The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Whereas the NICE style guide specifies using the capitalisation an organisation uses itself.

It's just the NICE thing to do, isn't it? Interestingly they style WHO correctly.

The Daily Star has the best front page:

https://www.frontpages.com/daily-star/

But really: in what sort of a tin-pot banana republic would such a man not only be eligible to stand again for Prez, but actually be the favourite? If I was American, I'd find it fucking shameful.

I'm sure a lot more Americans find it shameful than don't. I do think the Democrats have made things far more difficult for staying with Biden as their candidate and I think if he had any sense he would have stood down. He's too old, he keeps making small but noticeable mistakes. I don't think he's senile yet but others do and it's possible to frame him as senile. I think it's more likely that Trump is touched in the head in some way or other.

I didn't think that him being found guilty would make a huge difference to his chances of winning/losing but I'd forgotten about those who've haven't made their minds up yet. Him being a felon is more likely to put them off than want to vote for him which is a good thing. I think he's slightly less likely to win now than before the verdict but it's still too likely that he will/could win.

I think the media needs to step up and do their job. So, for example, when he's saying that Joe Biden was behind his trial/him being found guilty they need to correct it after he's finished. This isn't true and the jury who found him guilty is made up of men and women just like you and me.

Further they need to show footage of him talking about how great Hannibal Lector was/is and let it stand. Mother Theresa as well with maybe the added information that while she was a deeply unpleasant woman who was happy to let dying patients die in agony, she was never involved in paying off the media for dodgy sex stuff.

Instead of the way they covered him last time, let the utter bollocks he comes out with just be shown alone this time around. No talking heads trying to make right of it. Just Trump coming out with the sort of pure shite that Hitler was probably coming out with in the bunker as he slowly, then quickly lost his mind.

Sorry. Really tired so not sure if I made any sense at all in the little stream of consciousness.

Agree with all of that, Mouse, I'm sure we all do; he's despicable. But then you look at the Democrats, the state of some red States, and no-one sings the praises of 'The Squad' any more, do they?

I mostly agree with you Mouse. I would have preferred someone younger than Biden, but that's the choice we have and I don't think he's as out of it as people opposing him claim. I would have liked to see someone like Corey Booker or Pete Buttigieg running. But it really isn't the done thing to oppose a sitting President of your own party. I just hope if Biden is elected that he brings on some younger people to prominent positions.

With any luck, although Trump will always have his base and I am worried about violence if he loses, the convictions will sink his chances of being elected. Not all Republicans are MAGA types.

More controversial than Trump v Biden!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5086527-does-your-lasagne-have-a-pasta-sheet-floor

While on the subject of Trump v Biden...

More than 100 posts on on lasagne and not one of them puts in a layer of spinach even when prompted (by me). I won't be going to dinner at their houses.

I recognise that as a vegetarian my
views on lasagne don’t count for much but I don’t recall ever having lasagne with a sheet of pasta at the bottom. But the years of vegetable lasagne being the default veggie option for restaurants with no imagination means I seldom have it (unless I’m in Italy as my favourite restaurant in Venice does an ace vegetarian lasagne full of lovely fresh greenery).

I used to make an aubergine and mushroom lasagne, but can't find the recipe anywhere. Perhaps I invented it? Instead of the ragu, I cooked a variety of chopped mushrooms (including some porcini), aubergine, onion and probably garlic and otherwise just made it as usual. Delicious!

That sounds jolly nice - though like most things in life, it would be improved by a layer of spinach.

I enjoy veggie lasagne as much as lasagne with meat in - that aubergine/mushroom/onion/garlic combo sounds delicious. In fact I make a veggie pasta sauce with much the same ingredients.

We're not vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but we have been making an effort to eat less meat these days, so I'm always on the lookout for good veggie recipes. My most recent discovery was a feta cheese, chickpea and tomato sheet pan recipe, which was both easy and delicious.

For two of us I use one can of chickpeas, a container of cherry or grape tomatoes, one thinly sliced red onion, and one six ounce block of feta cheese. The recipe says to use sheep's milk feta rather than cow's, but comments on the recipe claimed it made little difference. Heat the oven to 400F, dump the chickpea, onion and tomatoes on the sheet pan and drizzle with a tablespoonful of runny honey, one or two tablespoons of olive oil, and ½ teaspoonful of red pepper flakes (dependng how spicy you like it). Cut the feta into small blocks (recipe says 1" blocks but I find that a bit too big so mine are more like ½ inch) and arrange them among the chickpeas etc. Roast until the feta and tomatoes are soft and the chickpeas golden brown - about 30-35 minutes.

This makes two good helpings - I often split it into three with one of those being a little smaller than the other two, so I can have it for lunch the next day.

These recipes are making my stomach rumble, they all sound lovely.

Just been looking at this thread and I'm not sure the subject of the thread realises just how much trouble he's in.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5087065-to-think-it-was-obvious-they-were-for-the-kids?page=1

Gosh - that's heading-for-divorce territory isn't it? Not that either of my husbands would do anything like that.

Divorce if he's lucky...

Bloody hell! Although I see there are a couple of handmaidens about, as per usual.

If you don't already know it (I know, some people did science, weirdos), I recommend Robert Graves' A Slice of Wedding Cake:

Why have such scores of lovely, gifted girls
Married impossible men?
Simple self-sacrifice may be ruled out,
And missionary endeavour, nine times out of ten.

Repeat 'impossible men': not merely rustic,
Foul-tempered or depraved
(Dramatic foils chosen to show the world
How well women behave, and always have behaved).

Impossible men: idle, illiterate,
Self-pitying, dirty, sly,
For whose appearance even in City parks
Excuses must be made to casual passers-by.

Has God's supply of tolerable husbands
Fallen, in fact, so low?
Or do I always over-value woman
At the expense of man?
Do I?
It might be so.

I was totally unaware of that poem. Thank you so much for sharing it!

Thanks @SqueakyDinosaur - I've never read his poetry. On the strength of that I've just downloaded his Complete Poems and will give him a go.

Frankly, I'm not much of a poetry-lover, having had Wordsworth inflicted on me at O-level and then moved schools (and exam boards) only to get it all over again at A-level. The headmaster (who taught Eng Lit) called me in after reading one of my essays and said although it was very entertaining, and he agreed with much of it, I might want to avoid the Wordsworth questions in the exam as the examiners' views might differ. And I still have my copy of The Alchemist, which falls open at the end of the (extremely short) prologue. Thank goodness for T.S. Eliot!

Excellent poem, the sentiments of which my husband often echoes.

Like Gonners inflicted poetry put me off, too. I like to listen to it, if read well, but I usually struggle to read it; but give me Pam Ayers, Benjamin Zephaniah, or John Cooper Clarke...

DeanElderberry I do hereby solemnly swear that next time I make lasagne, I WILL use spinach.

I thought I hated poetry for a long time and then one day I found myself saying "But not that poet, or that one, or that one. Oh and I love her stuff, and ..." and I had to acknowledge that I really don't mind poety as long as I'm not being forcefed it and it's a bit shit. I don't have lots of poetry in my life but occasionally I turn to if for a bit of solace and it works.

I only came to Sylvia Plath as a writer in my late 30s/early 40s - The Bell Jar - and it was love at first read. A couple of years or a bit more later I got taken to see a reading of Ariel at the Southbank. It was revelation. A lot of women actors, women famous from a number of backgrounds, Plath's daughter read each poem and it was so beautiful. I fell in love with her all over again, as a poet. The beauty had me close to tears.