"Chai" Spiced Tea: Masala Chai

Updated slightly 10-3-22

Chai is a type of spiced tea drink, usually black tea, brewed with spices, milk and sweetener. It is pronounced like "ch," as in Charles, and 'eye,' the organ of sight. Chai is highly common in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and in these countries it is often called "masala chai," from the mixture of spices used to make it (the word 'chai' itself simply means 'tea'). I tend to make a large cup (like a mug of about 16 to 20 ounces) of chai, so this is the recipe for that amount. You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to the amount of chai you want to make. This is my recipe version of chai.   

Ingredients:

16 ounces of water (some water will boil off)1 1/2 tablespoons loose black tea *
1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped or grated
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or 5 or 6 cardamom pods, crushed to release their flavor)
1 teaspoon ground cloves (or 2 whole cloves)
1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, see note *)
1 tablespoon honey
sugar to taste (I use about three teaspoons, see note *) 

Stir the loose tea into the water, along with the ginger, cardamon, ground cloves, cinnamon stick, mace and black pepper. Heat to just boiling, then reduce heat to a bare simmer. Brew for three minutes, then add the milk and stir. Bring back to a bare simmer and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for about 2 minutes. Strain the tea, and then add the honey and sugar, stirring to mix and dissolve. Serve. 

* When I began making chai years ago, I experimented with the type and amount of black tea, and the amounts of the other ingredients I used. My suggestion is that you do likewise, using this recipe as a guide the first time, and then making adjustments if you feel they are needed the next time you make it. Also, I like strong tea, so bear that in mind as to the amount of black tea I used in this recipe (see note at end). I also used East Frisian tea from Germany, because it has a strong flavor, as it is made from "Assam" tea leaves; a type of tea grown in India and typically used there for masala chai; otherwise, I use a brand of American black tea in teabags for a regular, non-chai, cup of tea. If you use regular black tea, it likely will not be as strong, so keep that in mind, for your own taste preference. As for sugar, my experience in Indian restaurants is that the chai is very sweet (and I'm sweet enough). My guess is, they don't use any honey, as I do, but they likely add "at least" two or three tablespoons of sugar for this amount of tea, and perhaps more. Once the tea simmers for awhile, evaporation and the amount absorbed, and retained, by the tea leaves will lessen the amount of actual chai you end up with, which will be "about" 16 ounces for the amount of this recipe, and this is about what you would think of as three regular cups of tea, so the three teaspoons of sugar is not out of line, but the one tablespoon of honey helps to further sweeten the tea, but without going quite to the "restaurant" level of sweetness. Also with the milk, from what I understand from Indian restaurants and people from India and Pakistan I've met over the years, the amount of milk used in their own countries is generally about 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of water, but I have cut down on the milk. For many years, I did not add black pepper, but then I gave it a try and I liked it, so now I always add it (many in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh also add black pepper).  Note: There is a "modified" type of chai called "karak chai" or "kadak chai," which means "strong tea." It is similar, but often with more tea and longer simmering time to give it a stronger flavor and higher amount of caffeine. Here is the link to this type of chai: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2022/10/creamy-strong-chai-karak-chai.html

My big mug of chai, with some gingersnaps

WORD HISTORY:
Pundit-This word goes back to Sanskrit ^ "panditah," which had the notion of "learned man, teacher." ^^ Where Sanskrit got the word is unknown, but the Sanskrit form gave Hindi ^^^ "pandit," with the meaning, "a learned man of the Hindu religion, who interprets the Hindu religion;" thus also, "a Hindu religious philosopher." The word was borrowed into English as, "pandit/pundit," in the second half of the 1600s, as a result of British commercial involvement in India by the (English/British) East India Company. The meaning in English later gradually broadened to today's meaning of, "a supposed authority on a subject who comments and/or offers criticism on that subject."    

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India. It is related to English, but much further down the family tree.

^^ In English there are two words spelled "l-e-a-r-n-e-d." First there is the past tense form of the verb "to learn," which is pronounced as if, "lernd" (see note). Then there is "learned," pronounced as if "lern-ed," with the "ed" pronounced like the shortened form of Edward, and meaning, "the result of having learned (the first form) a particular subject or field." It is "sometimes" written as "learnèd," with the accent mark over the "e." NOTE: The past tense form, "learned," is also spelled and pronounced "learnt," especially in Britain, but it is often pronounced that way elsewhere, including in the United States, where it would NOT be considered as proper. I kind of imagine American English purists cringing every time they hear a person from England use "learnt," and I'm not kidding about this. Some take these things VERY seriously.

^^^ Hindi is from the overall "Indo-Iranian" branch of the Indo European languages, and is, therefore, related to English, but much further down the family tree. Hindi is the official language of government in India, along with.....English!

Homemade Honey French Dressing

When you see this in the bottled version, depending upon brand, it is usually a red or orange color, but whether they use some type of coloring agent, I don't know.   

Ingredients:

3/4 cup mayonnaise (reduced calorie is fine) 
3/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons white vinegar 
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon brown mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Mix all ingredients together well; you can use a blender or a stick blender, if you'd like, but I mixed mine by hand. So if you want to give me complexes, go ahead and use a blender or a stick blender. The dressing should be covered and chilled before use.

Don't go pointing out that you can see minuscule specks of mayo, because I didn't use a blender or a stick blender, or I'll really have complexes. 

WORD HISTORY:
Powder-This word, distantly related to "pollen," and more closely related to pulverize," goes back to Indo European "pel," which had the notion of "dust, finely ground matter." This gave Latin "pulvis," meaning, "dust," then also, "powder." This then gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "pouldre," which then was altered to "poudre," also meaning, "dust, powder, ashes." English borrowed the word from French in the 1200s as "poudre," before the modern version. As gunpowder became more common, the term was often applied to it simply as "powder."^

^ The expression "keep your powder dry" originally REALLY meant just that, as (gun)powder wouldn't work properly if damp or wet. The expression later became more figurative for, "don't commit any asset or assets to a situation until needed."  

Herb Cream Cheese Filled Peppers

These are great as an appetizer, or even as a snack, and they are simple to make, especially if you use store bought "whipped" cream cheese. I buy the one pound packages of multi-colored mini sweet peppers, which have red, orange and yellow peppers.

Ingredients (I use two different filling mixtures, see below):

1 pound package of multi-colored sweet peppers
2 eight ounce containers of "whipped" cream cheese  (reduced fat is fine)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (coarsely or finely)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons fresh sage leaves OR fresh basil leaves (chopped or torn into smaller pieces)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (1/2 teaspoon for each mixture)
 
First, rinse the peppers well, then dry them. Cut off the stem tops, cut the peppers in half and remove and discard the seeds. Set the pepper halves aside.
Take one of the 8 ounce containers of whipped cream cheese and stir in 2 cloves of minced garlic, the red onion, the rosemary, the thyme, the white pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of seasoned salt.
Take the other 8 ounce container of whipped cream cheese and stir in 2 cloves of minced garlic, the sage leaves (or basil leaves), the black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of seasoned salt.
Fill some of the sweet pepper halves with the first mixture, then fill the remaining pepper halves with the second mixture. Cover the filled peppers with plastic wrap and chill, or serve them up straight away, but of course, without the plastic wrap. Trust me, I've tried it, and yuk, too chewy.
  

WORD HISTORY:
Full (Fill)-The word "full," as an adjective, seems to be the original word from which the noun "full" and the verb "fill" were derived. It is distantly related to "plenty." It goes back to Indo European "pel/pleh," which had the notion of "sufficient, full, enough, complete." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fullaz," with the same meanings, and as was often the case, Indo European "p" became an "f" sound in Old Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "full," meaning "complete, whole, filled." The Old Germanic form spawned the noun form, "fulli," meaning "full, complete/whole, sufficient." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "fyllu," which meant "filled up, sated." This later became "fulle," before the modern form. The Old Germanic form produced the verb form "fullijanan," meaning, "to fill up, to make full, to make enough/complete." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "fyllan," meaning the same. This then became "fillen," before the modern form "fill." Besides the English forms, forms are common throughout the other Germanic languages:
German has "voll" (adjective, "full," the "v" is pronounced "f"), "gefüllt" (adjective, "filled, stuffed"), "Fülle" (noun, "fullness, abundance, wealth"), "füllen" (verb, "to fill"); Low German Saxon "vull" (adj), vüllen" (verb); West Frisian "fol" (adj), "folje" (verb); Dutch "vol" (adj), vullen (verb); Danish "fuld" (adj), "fylde" (noun, "abundance")  "fylde" (verb, same spelling as noun); Icelandic "fullur" (adj), "fylling" (noun), "fylla" (verb); Norwegian "full" (adj), "fylde" (noun, "fullness"), "fylle" (verb); Swedish "full" (adj), "fylle" (noun), "fylla" (verb).   

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Seven

One of the main things that certainly grabbed my attention about my friend's problems was his relationship with his mother. It was tough to gauge at first, and I assumed it was his mother's fault, because it seemed out of character for him, but then I saw other things that began to tell me it wasn't his mother; at least, not all of it. It first showed when we were discussing food, and I had asked him what he considered to be his favorite dish, "what your mother may have fixed for you on your birthday," I wrote. "My mother never did anything for me, trust me," came his reply. I apologized for hitting a sensitive issue, but he said not to worry about it. Later he told me, he and his mother clashed constantly, writing, "we can't be around each other for 10 minutes, without being at each other's throat." Now, all of us have undoubtedly had disputes with our mother, but he mentioned, what I would say, was his contempt for his mother, and more than one or two times; there was definitely a problem here. He told me his mother was just a mean and nasty person, who tried to make people feel miserable. The thing was, later I saw how he accused others of having the traits or problems that he himself had. More and more I saw how he wrote so negatively about many things and many people, including his mother. In spite of all the talk of how nasty his mother was, he also told me at a point or two that she worried about him. Could it be that his negativity was expressed against people who cared about him? Could such negativity toward Randy be far off?

WORD HISTORY:
Sill-This word, with the most common modern meaning of, "support base for a window," goes back to Indo European "swel/suel," which had the notion of "beam, board;" thus also, "frame, base, foundation." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sulja," with essentially the same meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "syll," also meaning "foundation beam, support beam;" thus also, "threshold." This then became "sille," before the modern form. Beginning in the 1400s, the meaning gradually narrowed to "support base for a window." There are many relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schwelle" (meaning primarily, "threshold," ^ but also, "railroad tie"), Low German Saxon "Süll" (threshold, sill), Dutch "zulle" (support beam, sill), Danish "svelle" (railroad tie) ^^ and "syld" (seemingly archaic for frame support beam), Norwegian and Swedish "syll" (railroad tie) and Icelandic "sylla" (sill). I could not find a form in Frisian, but I would assume there once was a form.
  
^ Also used as English uses "threshold," in the symbolic/figurative sense, "be about to do something;" as in, "The team is on the threshold of victory."

^^ This may be a borrowing from German, but I'm not certain. 

A Trump "Interview"

This was published in August 2016, but it's still relevant!


"Hello, I'm Dan Ratherbe in Philadelphia. I'm here with Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president. How are you, Mr. Trump?"

DT: "I'm fine, but I already know you'll tell lies about me."
DR: "Why do you say that, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "Because you just said you'd rather be in Philadelphia; you know, the city where those traitorous, good for nothing, criminal Democrats just met, but we're already IN Philadelphia, and I don't need Sarah Palin to tell me that. ........ By the way, Sarah stayed at home during the Republican convention to read some newspapers and magazines. She doesn't want any more trick questions from Katie Couric."
DR: "Well, in that case, what newspapers and magazines do you read?"
DT: "See... there you go! You don't listen well, do you? I said, 'No trick questions!' Geez, you scumbags in the media! When I'm elected, you, Katie, and Megyn Kelly will be locked up along with crooked Hillary Clinton and Lyin' Ted Cruz."
DR: "So Katie and Megyn bother you?"
DT: "No, no! Now you're putting words into my mouth. I didn't say that. I know how to deal with women, especially after I consulted with Roger Ailes; now there's a guy who knows about women! Why do you think I said Megyn had 'blood coming out of her ... whatever?' "
DR: "Sir, Roger Ailes just left Fox News after charges of sexual harassment."
DT: "Didn't I just say he knows about women? Boy, you don't listen. Definitely going to lock you up. Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Hey, that's got a nice ring to it."
DR: "So you want to lock up the media and your political opponents?"
DT: "I didn't say that! Man you don't listen!"
DR: "What foreign policy experience do you have, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "I know more about foreign policy than anyone. I own a golf course in Scotland, how's that for foreign policy for you? I was just there recently too; heard a British diplomat give a speech there. I didn't understand much of what he said though. Why don't those people learn to pronounce English good; I mean, it's not like they invented the language over there? Maybe I should run for office in the UK. Could put the 'great' back into Great Britain."
DR: "Well Mr. trump, I suppose you are aware that young people favor your opponent by a large margin. They say they don't like the hate and division you and your campaign espouse. What do you have to say about that?"
DT: "Well they're young, they don't know any better. It's up to me and my campaign to teach them, and we're trying our damnedest to do just that."   
DR: What will you do if you lose the election, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "See, there you go. No wonder I'm going to have you locked up. Lock him up! Lock him up! Well, I'm not going to lose the election. BUT, if in the ever so slightest case you media people and crooked Hillary steal the election from me, I have a place to go and rule where they'll really appreciate me."
DR: "Oh? And where is that, Mr. Trump?"
DT: Well I'll give you a hint ... There's a country where the ruler has been a little sick lately. I only know that from my friend Vladimir. He read Kim Jong-un's emails. Boy does Vladimir know a lot about the Democrats too. Whew!"
DR: "So you're talking about going to North Korea?"
DT: "More lies! I never said that! But that country is a mess, and only I can fix it! And in that country, I wouldn't have lies told about me all the time, because they know how to deal with media people and keep them from lying. Oh wow! I can just see troops marching into South Korea, big statues of me on every corner. More and more I like the sound of my slogan, 'Make North Korea great again.' "
DR: "This is Dan Ratherbe in Philadelphia, but I'd rather be anyplace, but here."

WORD HISTORY:
Satire-This word, related to "sate" and "sad," goes back to Indo European "sah," with the notion of "satisfaction, having enough." This gave Latin "satur," which meant "sated, having enough." This became the basis of the Latin term "lanx satura," with the meaning "a full serving of mixed types of fruit." This meaning then expanded from "full serving" ("collection") to, "collection of poetry," then to "poem or poems that emphasized a person's characteristics; thus, the modern meaning of, "story that pokes fun or ridicule at a person's habits, personality, foolish ways, often with a more serious underlying intent." Latin "satur" gave Latin "satira," meaning "satiric poetry or drama." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "satire," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s, "probably" from French, but with likely reinforcement by Latin, a language still common in those times among well educated people, which naturally included writers.  

Boycott of Oreos Is Necessary

Last year, Nabisco, a company owned by Mondelēz International, a major American food and beverage company, began to move production facilities for its famous "Oreo" cookies to Mexico from the United States; specifically, from Chicago, Illinois. About 600 American jobs have been lost because of this move. Big corporations make EVERYTHING about money, so we need to make it about money, THEIR money! Quit taking this crap! This is NOT complicated folks! If you keep supporting these moneygrubbers, they will keep doing it. Send a major message! There needs to be NO VIOLENCE against these companies and their owners, just hit them where it really hurts, not their bottoms, rather their bottom line! Don't let them get away with talk of patriotism, when they owe their allegiance to the flag of dollar bills. Send letters, emails or talk personally to your local supermarkets and grocery stores. Ask them to STOP carrying Oreos. I'm not telling you this will be easy, but we can't just sit and let this crap continue! When they announced the building of a cookie plant in Mexico, it was stated that "Mexico is a strategic market." Taken at face value, does that mean the U.S. is no longer a "strategic market?" Now let me translate the real meaning of the statement for you: "Mexico has low wages" (likely tax advantages too). Remember, when you buy Oreos, you're supporting the loss of jobs for American workers. Don't think it can't happen to you or to people in your family or neighborhood.

WORD HISTORY:
Boycott-This relatively recent word is derived from the family name of English-born Charles Cunningham Boycott, a retired British army officer. Boycott became a land agent for an estate in County Mayo, Ireland, where his strict rental policies, especially evictions, brought an organized effort by the local populace in 1880 to isolate him by refusing services of any kind to him, including the harvesting of the estate crops. The authorities (Ireland was then under British rule) sent in troops and police to control things and to harvest the crops, but the whole thing had drawn lots of press reporting, which helped to spread the term "boycott," which had been used by locals for the organized protest; thus the meaning of the verb usage of, "to refrain from having dealings with a person, group, or business to express a protest over an issue or issues." Of course, the noun form simply refers to the overall process of the verb. 

Kale Salad With Artichoke Hearts

This is purely my own invention, although I have no idea how similar it may be to any other salad recipes. I'm using ingredient amounts for two large salads, so you can adjust ingredient amounts for the quantity you want to make.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups light green (Curly) kale, rinsed, dried, removed from large stems and leaves torn into smaller pieces
1 1/2 cups dark green (lacinato) kale, rinsed, dried, removed from large stems and leaves torn into smaller pieces
16 grape tomatoes, halved
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 long Hatch green chili pepper, sliced into about 1/4 inch thick pieces (they are usually very mild)
1  6 to 7 ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
your favorite salad dressing, to taste (I used homemade Honey French*)

Mix all ingredients and top with your favorite salad dressing.

* For the recipe for Honey French dressing, here is the link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/08/homemade-honey-french-dressing.html

On the left is the light green "Curly Kale;" on the right is the dark green "Lacinato Kale," also known as "Italian Kale" or "Tuscan Kale" 

WORD HISTORY:
Artichoke-This word goes back to Arabic "al kharshufa," which meant "artichoke (a type of thistle plant). This was borrowed by Spanish as "alcarchofa," which then was borrowed by Italian as "arcicioffo," which was rendered as "articiocco" in dialect of part of northern Italy. This was borrowed into English with varied spellings, which ended up as "artichoke." 

Donald Trump, Captain of the Titanic

Donald Trump is the captain of the new "GOP Titanic." The ship took years of hate and division to build. Years of hate and fear mongers like Morton Downey, Jr., Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter preaching against government, minorities, women, gays, labor unions and just about any change, and using various conspiracy theories to scare Americans, usually white Americans, into supporting an ever more reactionary agenda and the reactionary politicians who pushed it. If you think such propaganda doesn't work, Joseph Goebbels would not have had such a prominent position in the Nazi regime. Rush Limbaugh, "seemingly" somewhat diminished in the number of listeners in the last year or two, was so powerful a force within the Republican Party, that any Republican officeholders who dared criticize him, spent the next day groveling at his feet to regain favor. Of course, another monumental moment in the march of reactionaries into the lives of many Americans came when long time conservative Republican operative, Roger Ailes, was given his own personal fiefdom with the creation of "Fox News" on cable television. It became a "conservative media paradise," where Republicans and leaders of conservative causes ran for cover, as it was anything but, "fair and balanced." (NBC then chose to make cable station "MSNBC" the anti-Fox News outlet; thus liberal/progressive.)  

While the ship was built, the escalating harshness and stridency of the hate preachers continued with barely a peep from the Reagans, the Bushes, or the Mitt Romneys and Bill Welds of the world. Some of these same folks got into a panic when Donald Trump began moving like a juggernaut toward the Republican nomination for president. Some panicked so much, they tried to derail Trump with Ted Cruz, a true fire-breathing fascist, who lacks only the armband and a raised right arm salute. Trump prevailed by a large margin. The so called "Republican establishment," those who previously tolerated this crap for so long, and who did not speak out, not even to save their own honor, have further removed the mantle of "the party of Lincoln" from the Republican Party, a party now based upon racism, bigotry, extreme nationalism, militia groups and conspiracy theories. When basically good people fail to speak out, this is how fascists take hold. I've written here before, that once you let fascists in, you can only get them back out with great difficulty and pain. The GOP regulars are passengers on board the Titanic, and they bought their tickets long ago, on an installment plan, just paying the final balance about the first of the year. There is an immense iceberg unseen in the distance and there are not enough lifeboats for all the GOP passengers.
       
WORD HISTORY:
Sink-This word goes back to Indo European "sengw," which had the notion of "to go beneath water." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sinkwanan," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sincan," which meant, "to sink, something to go below water." It also gave Old English, "besencan," which meant, "to sink something, to cause something to sink." The latter then became "sinken," before the modern form. The other form died out, or evolved, in part, into "sench," which kept the meaing, "to sink something, in the sense, cause it to sink." It has since died out, with both meanings now used only in "sink." The noun for a basin; as in, "the kitchen sink," originally developed from the verb in the 1400s, and it came from the idea of a hollow area of ground where water collected; the term then transferred to the man made objects "sunk" into a cabinet. Common throughout the other Germanic languages (verb forms): German has "sinken" (to sink) and "versenken" (to sink something, to scuttle), Low German Saxon "sinken," West Frisian "sinke" (to sink), Dutch "zinken" (to sink), Danish and Norwegian "synke" (to sink), Icelandic "sökka" (to sink, but it lost the "n" over time) and Swedish "sjunka" (to sink) and "sänka" (to lower, to cause to sink or lower).

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Six

My friend's problems showed up very much about his job, as his anger manifested itself in the nasty language he used to describe both his female boss and coworkers (he didn't specify the number of coworkers, or their gender). Now, likely most of us, if not all of us, have criticized bosses and coworkers on any given day, but this was long lasting and deep seated with my friend. The saddest thing of all, it turned out that such animosity was not reciprocated toward him; indeed, it was just the opposite, as when he had some surgery, the boss and coworkers sent a card and gifts to him. He sent me pictures of it all.

Note: In "Part 4," about my friend's few food likes and many food dislikes, I forgot to mention he also very much likes bacon.

WORD HISTORY:
Boss-This word, meaning "a person in charge (usually of employees)," has a shaky history, but English got the word in the New World during the 1600s from Dutch "baas," which meant, "manager, supervisor, master or captain of a ship." The word didn't become more widely used until the 1800s, in American English. The Dutch word came from a previous Dutch "baes," meaning "household manager, master." Exactly where this came from, however, is unknown, although it "could" be a West Germanic invention, as German has "Base" (pronounced "bah-zeh," once spelled "basa"), which is now a bit of an antiquated term for "aunt," also, "female cousin." The German form "might" be the retention of the original meaning, with the idea of females supervising household matters (child rearing, cooking, etc) progressing to the more general "manager," in the other West Germanic languages; of course, it could also be the reverse, where German transformed "manger" into the female relatives meaning. Old English had "bonda," "seemingly" from the same source, as it meant "family or household master." Forms in Low German and Frisian (both had "bas," meaning "manager, supervisor, master") have seemingly died out. "Apparently" there are/were no forms in the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages. The verb form was derived from the noun; thus further giving us the verbal expression, "boss around;" that is, "give lots of orders to someone, use a higher position to lord over others." 

On Your Death Bed ... Reflecting

Lying on your death bed, what will you be thinking? Will it be, "Wow, I'm so proud of the nastiness and hatred I felt and tried to spread in my life. It makes me feel so good! I'm so happy I supported and witnessed the way Donald Trump made America hate again; how Ted Cruz and other far right wing supporters ranted against modern times and opposed the rights of some people to love one another. Gee they make me proud. There weren't many as brave as Trump, Cruz, Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, Hannity, and of course, Ann Coulter, who might be a better hater than all of them combined, well, except for maybe the Westboro Baptist Church, whose members cloaked their hate in religion. What a great bunch! 

Yes, I'm proud of my hate and nastiness and I celebrate the hater in chief, Adolf Hitler. Now Hitler was a hater to make other haters super proud, a role model any want to be hater can look up to. Even as his life ticked down in its last hours, old Adolf kept hating, he never quit. In those last hours, he even had his own brother-in-law shot and he ranted against Jews in his final testament, so he never changed his positions, he stayed true to his hate. Wow, what a guy! And how about that Magda Goebbels? She was the wife of Joseph Goebbels, a great hater in his own right. It takes quite a hater to murder your own six kids, but Magda proved she was up to the task of being a true hater, supported by Joe, of course. So to all of you liberals, see, I don't discriminate against women.

So, like my hero, old Adolf, as I prepare to leave this world, I remain true to the cause of hate and I offer a big 'thank you' to all who have ever helped to prevent other human beings from receiving food, shelter or medical care, and an even bigger shout out, if it was to give tax cuts to billionaires, the truly needy among us; also to those who worked or spoke against military veterans and their families; who promoted war over peace; who knowingly trashed the planet, especially to pad their bank accounts; who promoted hatred against different races, religions, ethnicities, or hell, anything different from themselves, especially to derive political power. There are so many hateful things people do, I can't even think of all of them, but you've all earned the thanks of this grateful hater. And unlike some of you, I and Adolf don't claim to have our hate sanctified by a deity or deities, we just plain HATE!"

So is this how you would like to be remembered, even if not quite as extreme as I've presented here? None of us is perfect, but some are so hate filled and show little or no attempt to retreat from their hate. Assessing your own life and feelings is a start, so reflect now, before you go to your death bed.  

WORD HISTORY: 
Legacy-This word is related to "legation" and "delegation," but its distant Indo European origin presented here is not firm, although I am "definitely maybe" convinced. It was borrowed in the latter part of the 1300s from French "legacie," which meant, "group of envoys or deputies with written orders to fulfill a given task or tasks." This came from Latin "legatia," "an area over which a deputy has jurisdiction," from Latin "legatus," which meant, "deputy, envoy, official, officer, someone given power by a higher authority," from Latin "legare," a verb with the broad meaning, "to pick, to gather;" ^ thus, "choose," and in a specific sense, "to send a 'chosen' person or group (thus, "authorized") on a mission." This came from Latin "lex," which meant "law," perhaps from the idea, "gathered words used to rule, or in a contract." This went back to Indo European "leg-," which had the notion, "to gather, collect, pick."  

^ It also meant "to read," from the notion of picking out written markings and deciphering them." 

Khizr Khan's Challenges to Donald Trump

In one of the most remarkable and powerful speeches to a political convention I've ever seen and heard, Khizr Khan, a Muslim-American immigrant, and father of Humayun Khan, a U.S. Army officer killed in Iraq in 2004,* spoke to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Republican Donald Trump's earlier call for a ban on immigration from Muslim countries was met with opposition, even by some leaders of the Republican Party. Mr. Khan pointed out, that if Trump's policy had been in effect, his son would not have even been allowed into the United States. Mr. Khan told of how, as immigrants to the United States, they had come here with nothing, but that they had worked hard to improve their lives and to contribute to the country. He stated they felt "blessed" to raise their three sons here, a country where they were free to be themselves. Then came an absolutely devastating minute or so, as Mr. Khan, his wife Ghazala by his side, asked if Republican nominee Donald Trump had "even read the United States Constitution." Then, reaching into his jacket pocket, Mr. Khan pulled out a copy of the Constitution and offered it to Donald Trump. In it, Mr. Khan said, Mr. Trump would find the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law." He asked further if Donald Trump had ever been to Arlington National Cemetery, where he would see that the military personnel buried there came from all backgrounds. Then in a serious rebuke to billionaire Donald Trump, a man who has spent his life accumulating great wealth, Mr. Khan said, "You have sacrificed nothing ... and no one!"

It left me speechless, but there is nothing more to say, so I'll leave things right here.

* Humayun Khan held the rank of captain in a unit of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. 

WORD HISTORY:
Ban-This word has both a noun and verb form from the same source. The verb goes back to Indo European "bhah," with the notion of "to say openly, to speak out." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bannanan," with that same meaning, but also, "seemingly" from the notion of "speaking or calling out threats," "to put a curse on for some action;" thus also by extension, "to forbid." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bannan," with the meaning, "to call out, to proclaim, to give an order or orders." This then became "bannen," before the modern verb form. Other Germanic forms: German "bannen" (to drive out, to banish), Dutch and Low German Saxon "bannen" (to drive out or drive off), West Frisian "banne" (to exile, to banish), Danish "bande" (to curse, to swear), Norwegian "banne" (to curse, to swear), Icelandic "banna" (to forbid, to prohibit, to ban) and Swedish "banna" (to scold). The meaning in English of, "to prohibit, to bar," seems to have come from Old Norse "banna," in the 1300s, part of the meaning of which was "to prohibit, to ban." Old Norse, an old form of North Germanic, was brought to parts of northern and eastern England by the "Danes;" actually a collective term for North Germanic speakers who settled, often by force, in parts of England; thus bringing a reinforcing shot of Germanic words to the Germanic base of English already established in England. The noun form goes back to the same Indo European origin and Old Germanic verb, which then gave Old English the noun "gebann" (later, just "bann"), which meant, "proclamation, edict." The later meaning of "prohibition, something forbidden," seems to come from that meaning added to the verb form by Old Norse. Further, the form "banns" meant, "a public proclamation of a wedding to be held." By the way, the French word "ban," meaning "fanfare, proclamation, summons by bugle," was borrowed from Frankish, a Germanic language. German has the noun "Bann," meaning "a curse or spell put onto someone," also in religion, "excommunication." The Nazis also revived the noun "Bann" for battalion sized units of their party paramilitary (later fully militarized) forces in the SS and SA (Sturmabteilung, better known to English speakers as "Stormtroopers"). This came from the notion from times past of "proclamation calling men to military service." Thus they also used "Bann" in compounds for certain SS and SA ranks.          

Green Eggs & Bacon

The idea behind "green eggs," is the addition of leafy greens to a mixture of eggs and other ingredients. There are a variety of recipes, but this is my version, which uses kale, a vegetable I love. 

 
Ingredients (4 to 5 servings):

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk (I use canned milk)

4 green onions, with green, chopped

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded or cubed
4 slices bacon, chopped 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups bread, slices torn or cut into bite-sized pieces
2 1/2 cups kale, leaves torn into smaller pieces, any thick stems discarded 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Begin by heating the oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven is heating, using an ovenproof 10 inch heavy duty skillet (I use a well seasoned cast iron skillet, which is excellent for this), fry the bacon over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, depending upon how crisp you want your bacon. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the eggs, salt, pepper and milk together, reserve. Remove the bacon from the skillet and pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the green onion and begin cooking, gradually adding the bread pieces, along with the olive oil, then add the garlic. Let the mixture cook until the bread starts to brown a bit. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir the bacon, Swiss cheese and kale into the egg/milk and then pour this mixture over the onion/bread in the skillet. Let the eggs begin to set on the bottom, then put the skillet onto the middle rack of the preheated oven. Let bake for about 15 minutes, turning the skillet by a third every 5 minutes. The eggs should puff up and the top should be somewhat browned. Be sure the eggs are not runny, remove the skillet from the oven and let sit for a few minutes, which will cause the puffiness to deflate somewhat, then serve.

I served the Green Eggs with some lightly-salted halved grape tomatoes

WORD HISTORY:
Milk-This word, which has both noun and verb forms, traces back to Indo European "melg," which meant "to rub, to stroke," and is what you do to get milk from a cow or goat. The stroking process then became the word (noun) for the actual product, "milk." The Indo European form gave its Old Germanic offspring "melkuks" as the noun. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "meoluc," and "meolc," depending upon dialect, which then became "melk/mylk," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have the nouns: German "Milch," Low German Saxon and Dutch "melk," West Frisian "molke," Norwegian "melk," Danish "mælk," Icelandic "mjólk" and "Swedish "mjölk." Indo European "melg" also gave its Old Germanic offspring the verb form, "melkanan," meaning "to milk." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "melcan" ("to milk"), which then became "melken," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have the verbs: German, Low German Saxon and Dutch all have "melken," West Frisian has "melke," Danish "malke," Icelandic "mjólka," Norwegian "melke" and Swedish "mjölka." 

A Preemptive Strike by Trump

A day or so ago, Donald Trump stated at a rally that he feared the election would be "rigged." With this statement, he is setting up his followers for a loss, and like everything else disliked by Donald Trump, he will say it wasn't fair. Some of his supporters will then likely do anything up to, and including, outright rebellion. Just a guess, but it wouldn't surprise me if many of his followers believe in werewolves and vampires, and I'll bet a fair number still believe Obama is not a native born American, but rather that he is definitely a secret Muslim, born overseas, and since they likely also equate Muslims with terrorism, that Obama is rooting for terrorists. Trump cleverly cultivated the "birther issue," * just as Hitler and Germany's right wing cultivated the "November criminals" ** and used anti-Jewish sentiment to blame Germany's Jews for EVERYTHING!

Everything about Trump and his most fanatical stormtroopers.... I mean supporters, needs to be spelled out to the American public. Political consultants should never "assume" Americans "know" anything! Political junkies who follow events closely seem to fail to realize at times that many Americans are not glued to their televisions awaiting the next bit of political information. They MUST be led by the hand to valid information, or to information to give a perspective to information already out in the public. This is NOT a typical presidential election year! The deck isn't stacked, but the cards have been reshuffled!

An acquaintance says I see too many fascists in life. Well I don't, but I do know some werewolves. Ahhhoooooooooooooooo!

* For information on the use of "the November criminals," use this link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/06/german-question-part-one-hundred-two.html 

** The "birther" issue was the belief by some Americans, mainly Republicans, that Barack Obama was not legally President of the United States, because he was not an American citizen by birth. What better way to discredit the election of the nation's first African-American president, and to say, "he's NOT one of "us?" This is how deep racism still runs in this country. While there were different aspects to this overall conspiracy, the main body of "Birthers" claimed Obama had been born in Kenya. Donald Trump latched onto the issue and became something of the main spokesman for the "Birthers," as they came to be called. He and others demanded to see the President's actual birth certificate, a confirmation of which had been provided by the State of Hawaii when Obama filed to run for the presidency. Eventually, Obama signed forms  permitting the release of his actual birth record by Hawaii, but that didn't stop some of the conspiracy mongers, some of whom seemed to indicate the birth record had been planted in Hawaiian records years ago. Like Donald Trump, when confronted by facts, they refused to believe anything, including the birth notices in Hawaiian newspapers. Of course, no evidence was ever provided by these "Birther" folks, who should be asked to provide the forms showing they were legally released from mental institutions. The whole thing was a gigantic waste of time about a bunch of absolute nonsense, led and used by one Donald Trump.   

WORD HISTORY:
-some-This is the suffix used on many words, like "awesome," "meddlesome," "twosome" and "quarrelsome," but it is, indeed, related to "some." ^ It goes back to the Indo European root "sem," which had the notion of "one, together, united." This gave Indo European "samos/somos"), which meant "same." Sanskrit, an ancient Indo European language (still in use on a limited basis, primarily in India) had "sama(h)," which meant "identical," and also "level, even," all obviously with the basic meaning of "same." The Indo European form gave its Old Germanic offspring "samaz," with the "same" basic meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "-sum," with the meaning, "same as,^^ together as." This then became the suffix "-some," initially with the "e" pronounced as "eh/ah," before the modern pronunciation. German, a close cousin to English, has and uses "-sam" as a suffix.  
^ For the extensive history of "some," use this link to my article with that Word History:
 http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/01/german-question-part-seventy-four.html 

^^ "Same as," from the notion, "with the same 'collected' traits, characteristics."