25 Nov 2024

Republicans push back against Democrats’ claims that Trump intelligence pick Gabbard is compromised

by | posted in: Politics | 0

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead U.S. intelligence services, is “compromised” by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings, as a congresswoman, with Syria’s president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice to be director of national intelligence.

“I think she’s compromised,” Duckworth said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” citing Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time.

“The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” Duckworth said.

Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican Party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.”

Duckworth’s comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans.

FILE – Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., speaks during a press event on Capitol Hill, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

“For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. “That’s the most dangerous thing she could say — is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.”

In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a “Russian asset.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s pocket.”

Mullin and others say the criticism from Democrats is rooted in the fact that Gabbard left their party and has become a Trump ally. Democrats say they worry that Gabbard’s selection as national intelligence chief endangers ties with allies and gives Russia a win.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had “very questionable judgment.”

“The problem is if our foreign allies don’t trust the head of our intelligence agencies, they’ll stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs.

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Gabbard also has suggested that Russia had legitimate security concerns in deciding to invade Ukraine, given its desire to join NATO.

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said he thought it was “totally ridiculous” that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian asset for having different political views.

“It’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly. There’s no evidence that she’s a asset of another country,” he said on NBC.

Sen. James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having “lots of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia.

“We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.

21 Nov 2024

Beer pairings for your holiday feasts

by | posted in: Society | 0

With Thanksgiving and the holiday feasting season on the horizon, you may have already made a few grocery runs to pick up the basics for your cooking spree. But there’s still time to pick up the perfect beer pairings for your seasonal feast.

Perhaps you’re wondering why you might want to find the ideal beer for your holiday meal. You know the old adage, first coined by Aristotle, that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”? The same is true here.

What it comes down to is this: Your food may be good. Your beer may also be quite good. But if you find the right pairing, the two together will make it great. The complex flavors of beer can contrast, complement or cut through – the three Cs – whatever’s on your plate  in a way that no other beverage can quite manage. Because the hallmark of craft beer is in its diversity and its range of styles, there’s a beer for every dish.

Thanksgiving in particular poses a challenge, though. It’s a cornucopia of different helpings of meats, vegetables, potatoes, sauces, bread, pies and other desserts. It’s arguably the biggest meal of the year, a celebration of family, of friends, of gratitude, of our heritage and of food itself. Is there a single beer that can stand up to all that?

For many years, before Anchor Brewing Co. closed, my go-to Thanksgiving Day beer was Anchor Christmas Ale, especially in the years when it was more heavily spiced. It wasn’t very hoppy, and its sweet malt and mélange of spices both contrasted and complemented many of the turkey day dishes.

That’s still my general advice. You definitely don’t want something overly hop-forward — that would work for a very spicy dish, but little else. Malty sweetness tends to pair better with holiday meats like turkey, ham or goose. The caramelization of the meat complements what happens to the malt in brewing, plus the herbal flavors in stuffing are enhanced by the malt. I’ve found that a beer that has some light spicy notes also helps bring out those subtle herbal flavors but also cleanses your palate between forkfuls.

A few styles that hit those marks include saisons, Bière de Garde (a farmhouse ale), Vienna-style lager, and Märzen (or Oktoberfest beer). If you love sour beer, a Belgian or Belgian-style lambic is pretty perfect, too, especially if you’re looking for something lower in alcohol. And while less common, some dark styles, like brown ales, Dubbels or Dunkelweizens pair well, as do lightly spiced beers like witbiers or many holiday seasonal beers, which have added spices. Try, for example, 21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat, Deschutes’ Jubelale or the upgraded Lagunitas’ Unrefined Shugga, brewed with whole cane sugar.

For the courses

To boost your pairing game further, vary the pairings throughout the feast. Pick one beer for the entree, based on the primary protein, and one for dessert.

The mains: Turkey is the most popular choice, and an ideal beer to complement what almost became our national bird is Bière de garde, dunkel, Dubbel, Märzen or American amber lager. If you douse your turkey in gravy, consider something equally brown for your beer, or even a smoked beer like a Rauchbier.

Ham lovers will be happy with an Irish stout, a German-style pilsner (like Trumer), a Märzen, a Tripel, or a Belgian strong golden ale (like Duvel). If you decide to serve roast beef, try a British bitter, a pale ale or a German altbier. For braised beef or short ribs you’re better off with a Belgian-style Dubbel or strong dark Trappist or abbey ale.

Goose used to be far more common than it is today, but with this bird, you’ll want a Dubbel, doppelbock or a strong Baltic porter. Duck is also less common, but the same beers that work with goose are great for duck, as well, although a Bière de garde or saison will work, too. If your duck is honey-glazed, a Belgian framboise (raspberry) or kriek (cherry) is also quite nice.

Desserts: Pumpkin pies reign supreme for the holidays. The obvious choice is a complementary pumpkin ale, although a spiced ale, cream stout, Imperial stout or a strong Baltic porter are equally delicious. Apple pies, pecan pies or chocolate cream pies need something like a imperial stout, milk stout or a strong porter. But for a berry pie like cherry, try a kriek, which is a cherry lambic.

Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.

11 Nov 2024

Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98

by | posted in: News | 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Lou Donaldson, a celebrated jazz saxophonist with a warm, fluid style who performed with everyone from Thelonius Monk to George Benson and was sampled by Nas, De La Soul and other hip-hop artists, has died. He was 98.

Donaldson died Saturday, according to a statement on his website. Additional details were not immediately available.

A native of Badin, North Carolina and a World War II veteran, Donaldson was part of the bop scene that emerged after the war and early in his career recorded with Monk, Milt Jackson and others. Donaldson also helped launch the career of Clifford Brown, the gifted trumpeter who was just 25 when he was killed in a 1956 road accident. Donaldson also was on hand for some of pianist Horace Silver’s earliest sessions.

Over more than half a century, he would blend soul, blues and pop and achieve some mainstream recognition with his 1967 cover of one of the biggest hits of the time, “Ode to Billy Joe,” featuring a young Benson on guitar. His notable albums included “Alligator Bogaloo,” “Lou Donaldson at His Best” and “Wailing With Lou.” Donaldson would open his shows with a cool, jazzy jam from 1958, “Blues Walk.”

“That’s my theme song. Gotta good groove, a good groove to it,” he said in a 2013 interview with the National Endowment for the Arts, which named him a Jazz Master. Nine years later, his hometown renamed one of its roads Lou Donaldson Boulevard.

11 Nov 2024

Harriet Tubman posthumously named a general in Veterans Day ceremony

by | posted in: News | 0

CHURCH CREEK, Md. (AP) — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday.

Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland’s Dorcester County for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard.

Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for Tubman’s home state but for all of the U.S.

“Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said. “Today we celebrate one of the greatest authors of the American story.”

Tubman escaped slavery herself in 1849, settling in Philadelphia in 1849. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, she established the Underground Railroad network and led other enslaved Black women and men to freedom. She then channeled those experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, helping guide 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.

Nobody would have judged Tubman had she chosen to remain in Philadelphia and coordinate abolitionist efforts from there, Moore said.

“She knew that in order to do the work, that meant that she had to go into the lion’s den,” Moore siad. “She knew that leadership means you have to be willing to do what you are asking others to do.”

The reading of the official order was followed by a symbolic pinning ceremony with Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt.

Wyatt hailed her aunt’s legacy of tenacity, generosity and faith and agreed Veterans Day applied to her as much as any other servicemember.

“Aunt Harriet was one of those veterans informally, she gave up any rights that she had obtained for herself to be able to fight for others,” Wyatt said. “She is a selfless person.”

Tubman’s status as an icon of history has only been further elevated within the last few years. The city of Philadelphia chose a Black artist to make a 14-foot (4.3-meter) bronze statue to go on display next year. In 2022, a Chicago elementary school was renamed for Tubman, replacing the previous namesake, who had racist views. However, plans to put Tubman on the $20 bill have continued to stall.