the bastards' last stand

One of the most amazing things about the current discourse on race is how resistant it is to moving from the theoretical to the concrete; from explanation to practical prescription. This explains why it's possible for a form of 'anti-racism' centered on race essentialism and ignoring the material needs of people dealing with racism to become so prominent. Once material questions are asked its uselessness becomes painfully apparent. I'd suggest that this is not only a problem with people like Ibram X. Kendi and his work, this disconnect from the material limits some of their critics as well.  Another thing that limits all sides in this discourse is that we use the words race and racism to describe a wide range of phenomena in arenas from the personal and individual to the workings of legal and economic systems. The words are so broad and describe so much as to lack any real utility beyond extending discourse and promoting a degree of confusion. In early July Bret Weinste...

When the shutdown first began I became a little obsessed with the Bon Appétit Chef Makes online series with pastry chef Claire Saffitz. She made a number of things I'd pondered making over the years like pop-tarts, tater tots, and Ferrero Rocher chocolate hazelnut balls. I decided to follow her example to give myself something to think about other than politics and the pandemic by re-creating an ice cream I last ate in Seattle in the late 90s. The ice cream was called Fudge Hazelnut Supreme (or Fantasy) it was a vanilla ice cream with a fudge hazelnut ribbon and chocolate covered hazelnut pieces . It's the best ice cream I've ever eaten. The Destination In the process of creating my version of the ice cream I contemplated a hazelnut ice cream base before deciding that it needed to be vanilla to fully contrast the ribbon. The process for infusing the ice cream with hazelnuts for that recipe helped me perfect the vanilla flavor of the base. For the base, chocolate covered ...