Bumped Random Chat - Winter is coming

Yakker

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Hey Dory_77 I managed to make pretty good gnocchi finally.

I got inspired watching Rick Stein make some on From Venice To Istanbul. So I used his recipe. But I also got some advice from articles online also. I think the secret of though dough not being too heavy was using a food mill on the biggest hole setting (I don't have a potato ricer) for the baked potato insides - then not overworking the flour, so it retains more air. Rick did his with just a potato masher but he's a show off. I made potato gnocchi in a crab sauce made from those super long, weird Alaskan king crab legs, and it was really really good.

For those that buy cookbooks - I do, just to slobber over the pictures - I can recommend Rick Stein's as having the best ratio of stuff that looks good on telly to stuff that actually tastes excellent out of all the tv chefs. Also he cooks heaps of seafood and I love fish and seafood.


IMG_0216.JPG
 

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d33my

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Sorry to derail flathead/seafood/gnocchi talk, but tennis fans: who do you want to win tonight?

I love Federer and hope he wins; but I also like Nadal and won't be disappointed if he gets up. Really I just hope that the match lives up to expectation.
 

Proper Gander

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Sorry to derail flathead/seafood/gnocchi talk, but tennis fans: who do you want to win tonight?

I love Federer and hope he wins; but I also like Nadal and won't be disappointed if he gets up. Really I just hope that the match lives up to expectation.
I'm confused in much the same way as you. Still, what a great final. Hope it's massive and I have to stay up way beyond my bedtime because you can't switch off. If I have to pick I'm probably behind Federer, but it's a tricky one.
 

PerfectFooty

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Sorry to derail flathead/seafood/gnocchi talk, but tennis fans: who do you want to win tonight?

I love Federer and hope he wins; but I also like Nadal and won't be disappointed if he gets up. Really I just hope that the match lives up to expectation.
Federer
 

Yakker

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Yum. A big flathead. Or something that looks a bit like a flathead anyway. Do they have poisonous sticky-out bits or am I getting that fact mixed up with another fish?
They have spikes behind their heads and also their fins have spikes. See the two spikes behind its head inhe pic below? They carry a toxin in their spikes that acts as an anti-coagulant so you bleed a fair bit if spiked . Also the wound will feel very bruised. Interestingly though, flathead have a natural antidote, the slime on their belly, so when you get spiked, rub the slime from their belly to alleviate the pain.... I kid you not

On another note, you would have seen the odd photo of me catching flathead on a kayak. I once caught a monster and bought the fish in and laid it between my thighs... it then went batshit crazy and started thrashing about my nether regions. Spiked me a few times in each inner thigh..... some belly slime was administered that day might I say.

I love flathead
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Proper Gander

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They have spikes behind their heads and also their fins have spikes. See the two spikes behind its head inhe pic below? They carry a toxin in their spikes that acts as an anti-coagulant so you bleed a fair bit if spiked . Also the wound will feel very bruised. Interestingly though, flathead have a natural antidote, the slime on their belly, so when you get spiked, rub the slime from their belly to alleviate the pain.... I kid you not

On another note, you would have seen the odd photo of me catching flathead on a kayak. I once caught a monster and bought the fish in and laid it between my thighs... it then went batshit crazy and started thrashing about my nether regions. Spiked me a few times in each inner thigh..... some belly slime was administered that day might I say.

I love flathead
View attachment 331452
Stephanie Alexander's favourite fish to eat. I'll go along with that. I really like flathead. Also I find SA quite intimidating so I'll go along with that one in any case.

I thought I had heard something about toxic or painful spines. The only times I have been fishing were in the Hawksbury which has lots of flatties but even more catfish. And I knew they could be super painful so I was a bit leary of the whole 'take fish off hook' thing. So I went with a more executive approach barking orders and so forth. Turned out its the bloody fish hooks where you can do the most damage with the least effort.
 

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LeverPuller

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I hate talking politics on here, but after the events of the last 24 hours I feel like I need to get this message out there.

Remember that political freedom is a privilege, not a right. The reports of refugees being arrested and detained without trial or representation is dangerous for us all. A Western liberal democracy has arrested and banned people purely based on their religion.

Caring about politics is a bridge too far. I understand not everyone loves it like I do. But caring about your own rights and freedoms is not.

I don't want you to march or protest. No, what I would love is for you all to further connect to your community. Chat to your neighbour. Tell a yarn to the old lady down the road. Establish new links and bonds. They're only people. But by building a stronger community, when it comes time for your views to be challenged, hopefully you will have someone standing next to you screaming NO! instead of disappearing into a hidden room forever.

We need our voice there because it's hard to scream with no vocal cords.
 

PerfectFooty

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I hate talking politics on here, but after the events of the last 24 hours I feel like I need to get this message out there.

Remember that political freedom is a privilege, not a right. The reports of refugees being arrested and detained without trial or representation is dangerous for us all. A Western liberal democracy has arrested and banned people purely based on their religion.

Caring about politics is a bridge too far. I understand not everyone loves it like I do. But caring about your own rights and freedoms is not.

I don't want you to march or protest. No, what I would love is for you all to further connect to your community. Chat to your neighbour. Tell a yarn to the old lady down the road. Establish new links and bonds. They're only people. But by building a stronger community, when it comes time for your views to be challenged, hopefully you will have someone standing next to you screaming NO! instead of disappearing into a hidden room forever.

We need our voice there because it's hard to scream with no vocal cords.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I've lost faith in humanity a little over the last year, we need to work hard to be heard, to make up the voices of those who cannot be heard at all
 

schmuttt

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I hate talking politics on here, but after the events of the last 24 hours I feel like I need to get this message out there.

Remember that political freedom is a privilege, not a right. The reports of refugees being arrested and detained without trial or representation is dangerous for us all. A Western liberal democracy has arrested and banned people purely based on their religion.

Caring about politics is a bridge too far. I understand not everyone loves it like I do. But caring about your own rights and freedoms is not.

I don't want you to march or protest. No, what I would love is for you all to further connect to your community. Chat to your neighbour. Tell a yarn to the old lady down the road. Establish new links and bonds. They're only people. But by building a stronger community, when it comes time for your views to be challenged, hopefully you will have someone standing next to you screaming NO! instead of disappearing into a hidden room forever.

We need our voice there because it's hard to scream with no vocal cords.
You realize that what Trump is doing is something that Obama has already done right?
 

LeverPuller

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You realize that what Trump is doing is something that Obama has already done right?
Not exactly.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/

Obama put a six-month halt on Iraqi refugee processing due to a situation where they missed someone who had been involved in building IEDs in Iraq. They stopped it in order to review the 58,000 existing Iraqi refugees.

It wasn't the same thing. It didn't cancel existing visas, it didn't hit dual-citizens and it sure as hell didn't hit green card holders.
 

Cannon82

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Not exactly.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/

Obama put a six-month halt on Iraqi refugee processing due to a situation where they missed someone who had been involved in building IEDs in Iraq. They stopped it in order to review the 58,000 existing Iraqi refugees.

It wasn't the same thing. It didn't cancel existing visas, it didn't hit dual-citizens and it sure as hell didn't hit green card holders.
Interesting how the media polarizes certain people.

Saint Obama
 

LeverPuller

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Interesting how the media polarizes certain people.

Saint Obama
I'll actually defend the drone strikes. Hitting terror cells is messy no matter how you do it. With strong intelligence and good drone pilots you can do a pretty good job. Sure, mistakes happen - but it's a lot cleaner thsn trying to send in commandos every time.
 

Cannon82

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I'll actually defend the drone strikes. Hitting terror cells is messy no matter how you do it. With strong intelligence and good drone pilots you can do a pretty good job. Sure, mistakes happen - but it's a lot cleaner thsn trying to send in commandos every time.
Not sure there's much that's clean about long distance bombing /drone strikes. That's about as indiscriminate as it gets. The preference would be in not putting American lives at risk.
 

LeverPuller

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Not sure there's much that's clean about long distance bombing /drone strikes. That's about as indiscriminate as it gets. The preference would be in not putting American lives at risk.
Considering they can now isolate which room someone is in in a house, it's pretty accurate. The biggest issue is about intelligence quality.

Unfortunately mistakes happen, just as they can with anything. The question is whether the cost is worth it.

The Atlantic says that of the 415 drone strikes in Pakistan, 400-1000 civilians were killed out of 2500-3500 dead. It's not acceptable but its something that will be worked on.
www.theatlantic.com/article/391445/

Now if you want a problem with drone strikes, look up drone double-tap.
 

Cannon82

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Considering they can now isolate which room someone is in in a house, it's pretty accurate. The biggest issue is about intelligence quality.

Unfortunately mistakes happen, just as they can with anything. The question is whether the cost is worth it.

The Atlantic says that of the 415 drone strikes in Pakistan, 400-1000 civilians were killed out of 2500-3500 dead. It's not acceptable but its something that will be worked on.
www.theatlantic.com/article/391445/

Now if you want a problem with drone strikes, look up drone double-tap.
Bit of a head scratcher for me how you can be up in arms about people being detained in custody but comfortable to rationalize the killing of civilians. I'd be more concerned with the rights and freedoms not to have bombs dropped on my head.
 

LeverPuller

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Bit of a head scratcher for me how you can be up in arms about people being detained in custody but comfortable to rationalize the killing of civilians. I'd be more concerned with the rights and freedoms not to have bombs dropped on my head.
The catch is about information gathering. The bombs sre being dropped based on extensive intelligence work. Trump's move isn't based on that and is ending up in people being detained based on their nationality rather than any hard fact.

It's the difference between a precision laser and a sledgehammer.
 

PerfectFooty

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America is always going to be flexing it's power, through drone strikes and what not. Yeah i know, it's not great, i don't like it either. I'm not a big fan of the states all round. But Trump isn't going to help it's warmongering nature. (That said, neither would Hilary who was pro war)
 

Cannon82

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The catch is about information gathering. The bombs sre being dropped based on extensive intelligence work. Trump's move isn't based on that and is ending up in people being detained based on their nationality rather than any hard fact.

It's the difference between a precision laser and a sledgehammer.
Not sure I agree there. As I'm reading in the comments being spammed on some Guardian article, the seven countries selected is based on a list from Georgie W Bush's era (passed on to Obama, passed on to Trump) regarding those regimes not supplying intelligence to the US.
 

TheDarkDwarf

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Considering they can now isolate which room someone is in in a house, it's pretty accurate. The biggest issue is about intelligence quality.

Unfortunately mistakes happen, just as they can with anything. The question is whether the cost is worth it.

The Atlantic says that of the 415 drone strikes in Pakistan, 400-1000 civilians were killed out of 2500-3500 dead. It's not acceptable but its something that will be worked on.
www.theatlantic.com/article/391445/

Now if you want a problem with drone strikes, look up drone double-tap.
Yeah, but what about third drone up! :rolleyes:
 
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