King George

Bush Is Not Above the Law
By JAMES BAMFORD

Washington

LAST August, a federal judge found that the president of the United States broke the law, committed a serious felony and violated the Constitution. Had the president been an ordinary citizen — someone charged with bank robbery or income tax evasion — the wheels of justice would have immediately begun to turn. The F.B.I. would have conducted an investigation, a United States attorney’s office would have impaneled a grand jury and charges would have been brought.

But under the Bush Justice Department, no F.B.I. agents were ever dispatched to padlock White House files or knock on doors and no federal prosecutors ever opened a case.

The ruling was the result of a suit, in which I am one of the plaintiffs, brought against the National Security Agency by the American Civil Liberties Union. It was a response to revelations by this newspaper in December 2005 that the agency had been monitoring the phone calls and e-mail messages of Americans for more than four years without first obtaining warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. More

Westport?

All Over America, Wines Search for Identity
By ERIC ASIMOV

MAYBE it was the 2004 Peninsula Cellars riesling that I tried last fall out in San Francisco. It was dry and delicious with a minerally flavor that I don’t find so often in American rieslings. What surprised me most of all, though, was the wine’s provenance: Old Mission Peninsula, north of Traverse City, Mich.

Or it might have been the 1998 Ultra Brut blanc de blancs I had from Westport Rivers in Westport, Mass. Who knew there was such a thing as the Southeastern New England appellation, or that it would include such an elegant Champagne-like sparkling wine as the Westport Rivers?

It might even have been the 2005 Chaddsford pinot noir, a light-bodied wine with earthy cherry and spice flavors that was distinctly not a California pinot noir, though I would have been hard-pressed to guess it was from Pennsylvania.

Regardless of the particular wine, these three bottles and more like them have convinced me that credible wines at the least, and often enough really good wines, are emerging from the most unexpected corners of North America, and now is a good time to start paying attention to them. More

Lemons

When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Pasta and Confit
By MARLENA SPIELER

WITH winter having unmistakably arrived, the sunny presence of lemons is more welcome than ever. Each year, demand for lemons peaks with the temperatures, as millions are squeezed for lemonade. But this is the time of year you need their brightness the most.

The harvest season’s variety of diversions lets you feel free to juice lemons and dispose of the rest. But these cold days require more resourceful use of the fruit, especially with lemon prices rising and supplies reduced because of a recent freeze in California.

With plenty of sugar, and time to transform, whole lemon slices — pulp, pith, peel and all — become an intensely flavored tart. Candied, the peel gives another dimension to the pie’s lemonade flavor. An almondy shortbread is an assertive pairing. (A little lemon juice added to the dough tenderizes it.)

Lemon zest — the yellow part of the peel — adds lemon flavor without the acidity of the pulp and juice. Sprinkle it on a meaty braise, on chunks of salty feta, or crisp fritters, sweet (ricotta) or savory (spinach). Candied strips also make a delightful afternoon nibble.

Pasta has an unlikely affinity for lemon, both zest and juice. Creamy, cheesy spaghetti al limone is succulent and lively. For a more streamlined dish — no need for a recipe — toss olive oil-splashed spaghetti with lemon juice and zest, then finish with Parmesan and a hit of the fermented anchovy sauce called garum, or some anchovies melted in hot oil. It’s the umami flavor of a Caesar salad for a cold night.

Lemon is chicken’s best friend — stuffed whole inside a roasting bird with a sprig of rosemary, or wrapped in foil, baked soft and puréed for a sauce, à la Jean-Georges Vongerichten, or tossed with fennel and egg yolk for a rich, tangy sauce.

Dozens of lemon varieties are grown around the world, varying in their sweetness, astringency and fragrance, the thickness of their skin, their juiciness. In the United States one variety, the Eureka, is probably the most widely grown. More

Recipe: Spaghetti al Limone
Recipe: Chicken Breasts With Fennel and Lemon
Recipe: Lemon Confit Shortbread Tart

I knew...

I knew everything could be found on the Internets, but I did not realize that included costumed Hong Kong dramas dubbed into Vietnamese and transmitted for free...

Molly Ivins Dead at 62

Molly Ivins, Columnist, Dies at 62
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:20 p.m. ET

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as ''Shrub,'' died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

David Pasztor, managing editor of the Texas Observer, confirmed her death. More

NY Times