Month: May 2011

The in-tray is overflowing with tips on how to maintain my snacking habits. When I started this blog, I never really thought it would become an intensely personal aide. But the generosity and time of these many readers is something I'm deeply grateful for (and they may, of course, help others in the same wheat-free boat):

Being a gingersnap addict, I truly empathize on this point and direct you to the only somewhat passable substitute of Mi-Del Gluten Free Ginger Snaps (likely available at Whole Foods or other natural grocers  – I used to get them at Yes! Organic Market on Columbia in Adams Morgan).

Another writes:

I know you're in northern Adams Morgan, but Columbia Heights has a Vegan bakery, Sticky Fingers, that sells all sorts of gluten-free sweet and savory foods – and they're actually good! I don't have any dietary restrictions, but I used to stop by all the time when I lived up there. And it would be pretty funny if you wrote your blog from a Vegan bakery; you would find something that trumps the effeteness of the petite vanilla bean scones.

Another:

Here is a recipe for Gluten-Free Vanilla Bean Scones!

Another:

I'm sure you are getting hit with wheat free-ers from every direction, but just wanted to say hello and thanks for running the link to my Gluten-free Petite Vanilla Scones about a year ago.  My bakery business and I are both gluten-free as I have Celiac Disease.  I would love to co-ordinate getting you a box of very delicious gluten-free treats, including petite vanilla scones, as I know that going wheat-free can be difficult both physically and emotionally.  (My website is here, just so you know that I'm legit.) If you'd like some treats, let me know and I will get some to you ASAP!

Another:

One of your readers wrote about being "an asshole" eating out with a wheat allergy. Not long after my sister was diagnosed with celiac (and, yeah, it sucks) I got a job working in a backcounty hut where we serve a nightly meal family-style, and deal with food allergies and preferences when necessary. Hardly a night goes by where we're all forty-plus guests can dab the same meal. But, we don't think you're an asshole. You have an allergy; there's nothing you can do about that. We will refer to you as a glutard (not to your face, but in the kitchen: "three veggies, two lactards and a glutard") but we'll cook and serve your meal with a smile.

Another:

Just read your wheat allergy post and I can relate – after 37 years of suffering I found out I am massively allergic to RICE.  Less than 1% of white people are; when I was younger they didn't even test for it.  I have seasonal allergies, asthma, eczema and food allergies – since I quit eating rice three months back all have calmed down majorly.  This year I barely had spring allergies, where last year I had steroid shots in the ER from them.

Also worth knowing allergies come and go. If you can get it all out of your system and bring your whole body's alert levels down it might disappear, or you could reintroduce it to your diet in tiny amounts to build immunity (like allergy shots).  So this might be a hiccup, not a life changer.

Another:

Once you've been completely off wheat a while (the rash being gone), I suggest experimenting a bit with spelt-based products. Spelt is a form of wheat, but for a lot of us, it doesn't trigger the same response that the usual common wheats do. You might also discover that you've got a certain threshold. For instance, I can get away with the occasional cookie or even slice of pizza before there's any notable reaction.

Another:

I realize this may not matter much to you since you aren't a big imbiber, but your Celiac's Disease readers seem to be unaware that while beer can be made from wheat, such beers are usually designated as such (e.g. "weissbier" and "hefeweizen") and constitute a minority of the beer out there.  The vast majority of the beer available in the USA is made from barley (another grass seed, but definitely not the same as wheat).

Chicago as you have never seen it before:

Wilkinson measures the political power of seniors:

[T]hat nearly a third of the voting public is 65 or older does not quite capture the overwhelming electoral heft of seniors. Retirees are disproportionately likely to actually show up at the polls. Moreover, the interests of seniors are more unified than those of younger voters whose electoral might is divided between often competing and offsetting interest groups. The votes of small business owners and school teachers tend to cancel each other out, but America's silver foxes constitute a more or less consolidated force fighting for the protection of old-age entitlements.

It starts this weekend with Rolling Thunder in DC, a brilliant cultural move. And look at how shrewdly she has worked the expectations game:

Most observers believed the field to be set, particularly after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, business mogul Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee declined to run. But several Republicans have expressed unhappiness with their choices, prompting speculation a dark horse candidate could enter the field.

This is the scenario she predicted would be necessary for her "reluctantly" to throw her hair extensions in the ring. The movie will follow the Josh Green resurrection plan by demonizing the elites and pretending her record in Alaska was everything John McCain once hoped it would be.

(Photo: Christiano del Riccio, Wikipedia.)

Using the above, Larison looks at the race without Palin:

Palin supporters don’t gravitate towards any one candidate, but split up among several other Republicans.  Even when Palin is excluded from the poll, Bachmann doesn’t gain much traction, and Pawlenty gains almost nothing.  Aside from Cain’s sudden surge, the most significant news from this poll is that Pawlenty continues to get nowhere with Republican voters.

Earlier thoughts here.

An update on the fishy financing. Money quote:

Did miss Palin [sic] just procure a property to which there is no legitimate title, and which, therefore, may not have been legitimately sold to her?

Again: no evidence that Palin did anything wrong.

Alison Parker summarizes the findings from a new Human Rights Watch report, Locked Up Far Away. The report focuses on ways to improve the US immigration and deportation system:

One factor that creates inefficiencies in the immigration system is US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's increasing practice of transferring immigration detainees to detention centers far away from their communities. Once they are transferred, they are often so far from their lawyers, evidence, and witnesses that their ability to defend themselves is severely curtailed, and court proceedings are often delayed.

Deportation Nation features an extensive infographic on Secure Communities, a federal program that shares data between local jails, the FBI, and ICE:

The first anti-Huntsman ad of the cycle tries to peg him as a Republican In Name Only (RINO):

Yglesias argues that "everything Huntsman says in the video—we should tax carbon emissions, we should use fiscal stimulus in a deep recession, we should have a universal health care system—is in fact perfectly consistent with conservative politics." Josh Green reports on Huntsman's New Hampshire visit:

During his five-day swing through the state, Huntsman's events were mobbed by reporters, who often outnumbered actual citizens. Part of the interest stemmed from the anticipated clash with conservatives upset at having a moderate in their midst.

That confrontation never came, and one reason why it didn't is that Huntsman showed himself as much more conservative than advertised. Without disavowing his earlier positions, he staked out territory well to the right of some other candidates, which suggests that he's less concerned with pushing new ideas than in presenting the old ones in a more palatable way.

Tom Jensen:

Only 38% of GOP voters have a favorable opinion of him and there are now more, at 45%, with an unfavorable one. I doubt anyone has ever been nominated for President who ever had negative favorability numbers within their own party less than a year out from the primary season.