This one ranks right after Bush’s watch getting not stolen.  From Consumerist.

So apparently, on the 14th some woman got detained at Reagan International for attempting to bring a sippy cup of water for her 19 month old on the plane.  Then she got mad and spilled the water everywhere and generally created a big scene.

Now, we have the full video from the TSA.  It’s 10 minutes, and with no sound it’s pretty boring.

I especially like watching the fat black TSA lady dance around looking like she could not give any less of a flying fuck about a potential terrorist incident.  I also like the officers making the woman wipe up the water herself.

Overall, this is my interpretation:

The TSA has a stupid policy, and like all stupid TSA policies this makes the lady with the baby mad.  Then, the lady starts getting mad at the TSA people and taking shit, and generally being a bitchy white woman.  This makes the TSA people mad, and since they’re being paid $8 an hour and the only happiness they have in life is asserting their authority over passengers, they assert their authority over this lady, pretty much humiliating her.

The loser?  The lady.  We all hate the stupid TSA policies, but you don’t win anything when trying to sidestep these policies makes you miss your flight and lets some idiots detain you.

I mean, it’s easy for people to feel for this lady.  But from the video, it does look like she’s being a bitch.  And no one wants to deal with a bitch.  Plus, the TSA is like the police.  You just have to bend over and take it from them, or else they will beat you down.  It’s like drug dealers and the police.  Don’t talk back, or you will have a cop beating your ass.

And now the video:

In case you haven’t heard about this somewhat old story, a few weeks ago, a large and organized team of casino cheats was captured by the FBI.  The scam supposedly netted millions of dollars, hitting casinos across the country.

The scam?  The fake shuffle.  Instead of shuffling the cards like normal, the dealer would simply pass one side of the deck directly through the other side, keeping the deck in the same order it was originally played.  At the same time, the players recorded the order of the cards, and once the deck had gone around once, wagered, obviously very successfully, with this information.

It’s a pretty nifty scam that was very successful.  The group also got dealers involved, which is pretty ballsy.  You’ll notice from this graphic, the team didn’t hit any big Vegas casinos either.  They focused mainly on Indian casinos, including Cache Creek, a casino here in the bay area.  It’s kind of interesting that these scams still exist, but I guess when this amount of money is up for play, people will always find ways to bend the odds in their favor.

Yes, another slow news week.  With the exception of news from the West Bank, where Fatah militants zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

No, the news this week surrounded President Bush’s watch.  Was it, or was it not stolen.  And how long would it take to figure this out.

Turns out:  not stolen.  As this video clearly shows, the President took the watch off himself and put it in his pocket.  Let’s be honest, we all wanted it to be stolen, right?

Now back to not news about Duke players not raping any black prostitutes.

I don’t know who Bob Harris is but he does an excellent Sopranos last episode download on his blog.  His theory that the last scene is in fact a funeral is interesting.  I do think though that he developed the theory then looked for things to support his point.  I’m not so sure about Bob’s onion ring theory, I think its a little too ridiculous for me to believe that.  If you follow the show, take a read and tell me what you think.

I watched the Spazmatics play last night at La Barca and I have a lukewarm opinion of the band.  Talent wise the band can play all the requisite music very well but the show with the costumes is weak.  Too phony too much of a show rather than just rocking out.

The Spazmatics are a “concept” that is franchised across several cities.  In each city a group of guys picks out a set of costumes along the guidelines of the owner of the act.  When you rent out the band you are renting a show rather then a certain band which I think sucks.  Its disappointing to know that such a funny concept is being repeated over and over again like the McDonalds of music acts.  I know everyone has to earn a living, but I’ve always thought of bands as being artists rather than workers.

A couple days ago at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone would support third party applications. Sweet, right? After all, the lack of an SDK for the iPhone was a key bone of contention for iPhone critics.

But there’s a catch.

Apple won’t allow developers to create applications to be installed on the iPhone. Instead, as Jobs outlined, the iPhone will support ‘Web 2.0′ applications through its Safari browser.

Jobs was in the all spin zone, saying that developers can “write amazing web 2.0 and Ajax applications that look exactly, and behave exactly, like the applications on the iPhone.” According to Jobs, these applications can “seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google maps.”

This statement needs a bit of translation:

Steve Jobs is giving developers permission to create websites.

While Web 2.0 and Ajax sound fancy, let’s be honest, these terms mean websites - new and trendy websites, true, but websites nonetheless. Plain as that. The iPhone, as we all know, has a safari browser. Safari, as we all know, can browse websites - even new web 2.0 websites. So, what is the news again?

The fact that Jobs put this into his keynote is insulting. Let me put it this way, if Jobs said nothing, millions of Apple geeks would still immediately start creating websites optimized for the iPhone’s screen on June 29th anyway. To tout this as a feature or as a development is a weak attempt for Jobs to play the media and placate Apple fans.

And the news about making a phone call, or sending an e-mail from these applications? That’s already available now, from distinctly web 1.0 sites. Google’s mobile search site, for example, allows users to place phone calls - and nearly any website can launch a compose e-mail screen.

What the iPhone needs is a SDK that will allow developers to create iPhone applications. Simple as that. How long will it take Apple to learn this lesson?

Snake River Farms Kurobuta Pork

Kurobuta which means “black hog” in Japanese, is 100% pure all-natural Berkshire breed pork. It is celebrated the world over for its superior flavor and tenderness.
The origins of this delicious Kurobuta pork date back almost 300 years when it was discovered by Oliver Cromwell’s army in England. Fancied for its eating quality, the Berkshire breed was refined in the 1800’s and eventually given as diplomatic gifts, beginning the tradition of Kurobuta pork in the Far East.
Snake River Farms Kurobuta pork is now raised in the USA and has become the symbol of the highest quality pork available and the perfect essence of traditional Asian cuisine like Samgyopsal and Tonkatsu.

Kurobuta Pork - Samgyopsal for Korean BBQ
Fresh Pork Strips for Table Grilling
Thinly sliced Samgyopsal for Korean BBQ is a traditional and authentic Korean way to prepare this supreme quality pork.

Kurobuta Pork for Tonkatsu
Kurobuta Boneless Pork Chops for Breading and Deep Frying
Tonkatsu is a traditional and authentic Japanese way to prepare this supreme quality pork.

Snake River Farms American Style Kobe Beef

For hundreds of years, the people of Kobe, Japan have raised the most exquisite beef. This highly marbled Kobe beef has become world renowned for superior flavor and tenderness - beef fit for the emperors.
Snake River Farms brought the world famous Wagyu cattle (the Kobe beef breed) from Japan to the USA where they raise the cattle from start to finish in a time frame that runs considerably longer than traditional beef, insuring the same superior flavor and tenderness.
Snake River Farms American Style Kobe Beef has become the symbol of the highest quality beef available and the perfect essence of traditional Asian cuisine like Shabu-Shabu and Yakiniku.

American Style Kobe Beef for Shabu Shabu
Extrememly Thin Sliced Wagyu Beef
In Japanese, Shabu Shabu refers to a traditional cooking method of quickly swishing extremely thin sliced beef in a flavorful hot broth.

American Style Kobe Beef for Yakiniku
Bite Size Portions of Wagyu Beef for table Grilling
Enjoy in traditional Yakiniku or Korean Barbecue - family style grilling at the table.

From Consumerist.  Here are 8 moving tips shamelessly stolen from Consumerist.

1. Read Your Order For Service. If something is listed as an additional cost, that means they can possibly charge you that the day of the move. Whatever a sales person promises, get it in writing on your order for service.

2. You can accompany your mover to the weight scale to verify your weight when they leave your pick up.

3. Movers do need to pack items safely in order to assure the same condition on delivery as from pick up. Make sure your items are packed or you know their packing charges if you choose not to pack your own.

4. Update your items list 72 hours before your move to ensure the most accurate weight….

5. …You are always allowed a reweigh [ed. which you can either request with the company or contact your state weights and measures department] …Weight is much more accurate then cubic feet and most states are not allowed to work by cubic feet.

6. Boxes add more weight, if you tell a sales person you have 20 boxes and the movers pick up 100….your weight can change considerably. Example 80 boxes at an average 20lbs are 1,600lbs.
7. Moving companies have legally 30 days to deliver you items but the general delivery spread is 7-21 business days. If you are not paying for an expedited shipment, understand they cannot always guarantee a specific day, only a delivery spread.

8. Content of boxes need to be verified for shipment if they are valued over $100. If you are moving dvd players, dvds, game systems, etc., show the movers and make sure it is labeled on the inventory.

Yes, Hawaiians love spam. And BK wants to capitalize.  The company is now offering a spam platter, that includes two slices of spam with rice and eggs.  You can also get a Croissanwich or Biscuit sandwich with spam as well.

Burger King’s line of spam breakfasts is going head to head against McDonald’s Spam platter, which is 10 cents cheaper.

Really, does it make a difference?  Spam is spam, fake eggs is fake eggs, and rice is rice.  Just glad to see that Hawaii got some national press on this one.

From Lifehacker.  This little guide shows you how to determine the doneness of a steak with your hand.

To be fair, I have no idea what to do with a $60 steak.  It’s better left to the professionals, in my opinion.  In any case, I grilled up the Japanese Wagyu with salt and pepper and it was not bad.  A bit chewy actually (lots of fat) and I used way too much salt, but it was really juicy.  Not worth the money though.

As for the American Kobe, what better to make than a Kobe Philly.  For this meal, I opened up my cuisinart griller wide open, using one half for the kobe and the other for mushrooms and onions (I’m not really big on peppers).  Most purist recipes call from cheese whiz, but I opted for the also acceptable Provolone.  I was trying to find a traditional Italian bun, but had to settle for a sweet bun at whole foods.

Viola!  Not bad, considering I’ve never made a cheesesteak before.  The only training I had was watching Bobby Flay’s Cheesesteak throwdown.  You can’t really see the cheese, because it’s under the onions and mushrooms, but it’s there.

The verdict, it was good.  The provolone was a good choice, and that’s coming from someone who’s lactose intolerant.  The American Kobe was good as well, but I bet the meat in a traditional Cheesesteak tastes just as good.

Version 1.0 can’t hold it’s weight against the pros though, it was strictly an amateur affair.  And it was super super rich, I fell asleep less than 5 minutes after starting to eat - and I didn’t even finish.

No, not bryant.  Beef.  Kobe Beef.  You’ve probably seen Kobe prominently featured at the last upscale restaurant you’ve been to.  Nearly every upscale sushi bar offers some form of kobe beef now, either as sushi or as a sukiyaki or shabu shabu.  And when I went to Ruth Chris’ recently, the ’special’ was a Kobe rib eye, priced at a $20 premium ($60!) over the normal 12 oz cut.  Let’s not forget to mention Kobe burgers either - a staple at upscale hamburger joints.

No question, Kobe is trendy.  Why?  Because American diners know Kobe is a prime, expensive type of beef, but most Americans don’t really know what a true Kobe steak actually tastes like.  As long as the meat is a bit more fatty, I bet that 9 out of 10 diners wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a real kobe steak and a good rib eye.

At this point, some definitions are in order.  Kobe, also known as wagyu beef, comes from the black Tajima-ushi breed of wagyu cattle (that’s straight from Wiki).  There are a lot of stories about these cows, like how they are only fed certain types of grain, and how they are massaged with beer.  The point is, however, that beef from these cows is incredible - highly marbled, rich and tender.  You can find a good history of Kobe Beef here.

So, when you order kobe beef, you’re getting these precious black Tajima-ushi cattle, right?  Not so fast.

Many types of Kobe served in the U.S. are American kobe beef.  This means Wagyu cattle cross bred with Angus most likely.  Ask next time you order Kobe beef, it’s either domestic or from some place like Australia (as was my Ruth Chris steak).

The takeaway?  Like ‘free range’ chickens are typically penned up with only the slight option to range freely, ‘Kobe’ beef is probably not what you think it is.  You’re getting a slightly more marbled version of the normal stuff, that costs at most $15 per pound wholesale.  True wagyu beef costs more in the $40 to $80 range, which translates to at least $100 for a 12 oz steak in a restaurant.

Take this cut of ‘American Kobe Beef’ that I got at mitsuwa.  A chuck cut, it cost $8 a pound, and features more than decent marbling.  I believe in this case, the term ‘Kobe’ is used as a type of brand name, rather than a reference to an actual bred of cattle.  Smart, huh?  Four ounces of this chuck could be sold in a restaurant as a carpaccio for $20 easy - that’s $80 per pound for an $8 cut.

Now lets take a look at some real Kobe.  This beef, sold as ‘Japanese Wagyu Beef’ at Mitsuwa is also a chuck cut.  But look at the marbling, and compare it to the American Kobe.  It almost doesn’t look like beef it’s so marbled.  This wagyu cost $60 a point at retail - my 0.36 pound package cost $21.60.

The difference, side by side, is clear, isn’t it?

The thing is, unless you see and taste the real stuff, the American Kobe tastes pretty damn good.  It is really juicy and tender and it does have a decent amount of marbling.  But just remember, there is a big difference between Japanese Kobe and American Kobe - a difference that totals about $42 per pound.  Next time you see Kobe on the menu, ask your waiter where it’s from - don’t let yourself get suckered paying $60 for an American Kobe that costs $8 per pound.

New York Times is reporting that oft cited Richard Rorty passed away due to complications from pancreatic cancer.