It's good to see you. Come on in, leave your shoes in the hallway, we've got fire on the stove preparing lunch for later. In the meantime, browse the bookshelves and plunk down on the sofa with one, or pick out some tunes from the music library or come in to the kitchen to help with the cooking. Our special blend of tea is steeping and will be right up.

Make yourself at home...

It's been a long weekend and yesterday. Worked back to back nights this weekend, and then yesterday for my real job of rearing the infant, I had to contend with a sick boy, whose nose never seemed to stop running when he wasn't sneezing, and who slept on my shoulder and chest at various points for close to 2.5 hours. Later I went to work. Needless to say, one can't get too much else done under such circumstances.

So haven't had time to put something together as I'd usually like. Instead I looked over my notes of the past few years and spotted some interesting stories. Maybe you read them too, or missed them. In any case you may be piqued to discuss them.

These are two stories of American luminaries who used their status to help mend relations around the world, or put themselves and their fame out there for the betterment of others, with nothing to gain. We don't really hear enough of these kinds, so I thought they were notable.

Pleading To Iran: Boxing Great Muhammad Ali Appeals for U.S. Hikers’ Release.

It wasn't well-known to the public, but Ali, who was ostracized by the American power structure, never shied away from continually doing the right thing throughout his life, though he was harshly treated by the government and lapdog media here. Of course when he died, like Mandela, there was praise from everywhere on high for his greatness. Funny how that works.

This one blew my mind. Thanks to the producers of this piece and to ESPN for signing off on it, for having the temerity to feature it on their "30 for 30 series." It's not exactly the kind of thing they're know for covering.

"Ali: The Mission" delves into perhaps one of the most important, but least known, feats of Muhammad Ali's remarkable life. In 1990, the boxing legend traveled to Iraq to press a plea for peace and negotiate with Saddam Hussein for the release of U.S. civilians taken hostage after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Ali risked his reputation, health and safety for the freedom of prisoners held by Hussein as "human shields" to deter U.S. military strikes. Only six weeks after Ali brought 15 hostages back home to their relieved families, Operation Desert Storm bombarded Iraq.

The link takes you to the short film.

Twain, Grant And The Chinese

A largely forgotten chapter in Hartford's history, in which 120 boys from China came to the city to study and were championed by Mark Twain and President Grant, is the subject of a Chinese documentary being filmed in Hartford this week...

Many of them went on to study at Yale and other colleges and universities in New England after they graduated from Hartford Public. The program continued for 10 years, bringing over 120 students altogether. A story in The Hartford Courant in November 1874 featured the contents of a care package one of the boys received from China. The centerpiece was a small cake that the local children were nervous about tasting because they couldn't imagine the ingredients that went into the confection.

And once the bicycle had been invented, a Chinese boy was the first person in the city to own one. The locals gathered along the streets to look as the boy rode by on his bike, Phelps wrote.

During that period, though, anti-Chinese sentiment was swelling in California, where the economy was depressed. Residents there resented Chinese immigrants working on the transcontinental railway because they wanted their jobs. In the 1880s, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stripped the Chinese of rights in America,

As Twain recollected,

But we had not to wait so long. The moment the general's letter reached China a telegram came back from the Chinese government, which was almost a copy, in detail, of General Grant's letter, and the cablegram ended with the peremptory command to old Minister Wong to continue the Chinese schools.

It was a marvelous exhibition of the influence of a private citizen of one country over the counsels of an Empire situated on the other side of the globe.

Such an influence could have been wielded by no other citizen in the world outside of that Empire; in fact, the policy of the imperial government had been reversed from Room 45, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, by a private citizen of the United States.

Somewhat related to the background of this incident is a must-read Twain essay called, "Disgraceful Persecution of a Boy," written more than a decade earlier.

And finally, the world could use a few more stories like this, I believe.

In a piece by Freakonomics Radio called "Riding the Herd Mentality," there this story about a mayor in Bogota, who at least appreciates how a little fun may also sometimes disarm folks given to stressed situations.

(The) new mayor, Antanas Mockus, used some unconventional methods to bring order to a disorderly and unsafe city. Mockus, trained as a mathematician and philosopher, had been president of Colombia’s national university but things went south when he mooned a group of dissenters.

As mayor, he dressed up as a superhero and enacted all sorts of rules and programs that tried to change the way a government gets its citizens to do the right thing. You’ll hear directly from Mockus as well as the filmmaker Margarita Martinez, who made a film about him.

So, what's going on with you?

Back in the kitchen we're listening to:
Sly & The Family Stone "There's A Riot Going On"

Reading/Browsing List:
"The Great Shark Hunt" Hunter S. Thompson
"The Open-Source Everything Manifesto" Robert David Steele
"The Big Short" Michael Lewis

Fire-Roasted Babaghanoush

Cut two eggplants in half, poke holes in sides.
Place over direct fire until slightly charred on both sides.
Place cloves of garlic in broiler for 8-10 min, constantly checking to not burn.
Take charred eggplant and cook further in the oven, on 350 until golden.
Peel eggplant skin, cut into chunks and add to food processor, along with tbsp or so of tahini, roasted garlic cloves, some fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Lemongrass Chai Blend

heaping scoop of dried Thai lemongrass
shards of cinnamon bark
a few cardamom pods
a few black peppercorns
A few cloves
fresh chopped ginger