All this talk about peanut allergies has piqued my interest in peanut butter cookies. I'm
seeking the best recipe, so I called up my Mom to get her own, the chewy one I know from my
youth. Also spoke with my Dad about dentistry, and even my brother H who'd just dropped in
on his lunch break. On my lunch break I broke the ice with the on-base cafeteria's chef,
requesting his own recipe, which he promised me this Monday (his are excellent, and I
think I can achieve perfection by making them smaller). As for the peanut scare, here's
some fragments from the report on the CNN web-site:
Peanut butter bans at some New York schools are spreading bewilderment in Georgia, where most of the nation's peanuts are grown. Prompted by parents' warnings of lethal peanut allergies and the fear of lawsuits, a handful of private New York schools have declared war on peanuts and peanut butter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 88 deaths from all food allergies between 1979 to 1995. But the Fairfax, Virginia-based nonprofit Food Allergy Network -- supported by allergists -- believes the deaths are underreported and estimates 125 people die annually from food allergies, mostly to peanuts.My temporarily-resident nuts-allergic co-worker has no problem with peanuts, since they're actually seeds, not nuts. Seems to me this "fear of lawsuits" bullshit's always a prime factor in cases of "the tyranny of the few". Does any good come from lawsuits? Why can't they be banned, or at least be held to some check of reasonableness? Answer: the accursed lawyers.
Tom Tomorrow's fourth compendium of "This Modern World" cartoons is out, but for
real fun check this new color strip - it's the cover of the current
"Village Voice".
Today's unique event was watching Air Force One come in for a landing. President
Bill is in the Bay Area tonight, meeting with the tech-elites in San Jose. Whenever
the Chief Executive flies here he doesn't use the San Francisco airport; the
controlled federal enclave of Moffett Field (where I work) is his terminal point.
The plane is like his personal taxi - it flies away to some undesignated Air Force
base until he needs it again, at which point it reappears. I saw the hatch open and
waited until a suit or two came down the stairs; the first one may have been him but
I was too far away to tell. The radio reported demonstrators which I didn't see;
base employees were invited to meet him but their numbers were limited to the first
200 and they had to be there almost two hours prior, and submit to Secret Service
"screening", so I don't understand where these protestors came from. The radio
reported that one of them was wielding a three-foot cigar.
Lovely sky this evening, one of those delicate peach and blue sunsets which resemble
the paintings of Maxfield Parish.