yooper blah blah blah: Rants and Ramblings

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Rants and Ramblings

Citizenship Lost?
There has been some talk lately of stripping Americans, charged with, or suspected of, terrorism, of their citizenship. Before they are even brought to trial.

I have no problem with stripping anyone of their citizenship after they have been found guilty, by judge or jury, of crimes against the people or against the state. But after. Not before.

Some would argue that stripping one of their citizenship is no different than holding another without bond. The fear being they will flee the country before being brought to trial. Be that as it may, that person will still stand trial and may even be found innocent of the charges brought before him or her.

Should that be the case, their innocence confirmed, they are free to go, with full citizenship, honor, life intact. At least that’s the theory.

In my mind the same should remain true of any American citizen charged with crimes against the state, or terrorism. A trial, in a court of law, and not one of the kangaroo variety, should come first. If, and when, one is found guilty of terrorism, treason or some other heinous action against the people of this great country, then and only then should their citizenship been taken from them.

Nor should they ever again be given a second chance to do harm to this country or its citizens. It boggles my mind that any citizen of this great nation, born here or naturalized would wish to do this country harm. But they are out there. And we need to deal with them.

When I attended school (all those many years ago) what I took away in terms of the American judiciary is this: the rule of law overshadows all else. Or did I imagine that?

No matter what the court, whatever the crime, one immutable rule governs over all else in these United States of America: a person is innocent until proven guilty. That a person has a right to face his or her accusers. You can only be tried once for a crime. Once found guilty you are sentenced within certain guidelines; once found innocent you are immediately freed.

Watch Law and Order sometime. It’s in reruns everywhere and very enlightening.

Did I miss something?
American citizenship is bestowed upon us by birthright. The instrument of that right is the U. S. Constitution and is forged within the 14th Amendment, Section 1.; “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Seems pretty straight forward to me. If you were born on United State’s soil, you’re a citizen. If you want to take it away you better have a damn good reason. That reason comes at the end of a fair trial. Guaranteed by due process. Not before.

I am not a lawyer. Nor do I play one on tv, in the bedroom or elsewhere. As fun as that may be for some, and perfectly legal in the privacy of your own home, but don’t quote me. (Never quote me. That could get you into serious trouble.) Certainly I am not a constitutional scholar. But I don’t think you have to be schooled in law to understand the basic tenets of the Constitution.

There is much to afraid of out in the big, bad world. Those that wish to strip citizenship from Americans, without due process and trial, scare me. Just as much as the terrorists.

1 comment:

LenMay 15, 2010 at 10:10 PM
That's scary. Stripping it after prosecution makes sense to me, but not before. Wow. But it's kind of pointless in a way, isn't it? I'm not aware of any instance where having stripped a "citizen" of their status would have prevented them from escaping before trial. Maybe Congress thinks it gives us the impression that at least they're doing SOMEthing - while the terrorism continues. And although the suspects couldn't fly off as easily, they could certainly escape over the Canadian or Mexican borders. Everyone else seems to know the way across.

It amazes me that legislators would even consider this (before being found guilty). Thanks for the heads up. Great blog.
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Recipe Corner

This is the recipe that goes with the 'Channeling Your Inner Top Chef'. A bit late in posting, this recipe uses Sugar Twin (brown sugar substitute). Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Bread

This recipe is written for use with a stand mixer. We use a KitchenAid. Unfortunately, unlike my grandmothers, I don’t make bread kneading by hand. Unless, of course, I have a serious need for either doorstops or bricks.

Gather together
* 1/2 cup whole milk (substitute 2% if desired)
* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces.
* 1 envelope of instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
* 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
* 1/3 cup sugar or Sugar Twin
* 2 large eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups (16 1/4 to 18 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting the work surface

Sugar Cinnamon Filling
* 1/4 cup sugar or Sugar Twin
* 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* ½ cup raisins - optional
* Milk for brushing

Egg wash
* 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk (or water)

Heat the milk and butter until the butter melts. Cool until warm (about 110 degrees F). I do this in the microwave, it’s quicker, but use a thermometer to double check the temp. Too hot and you’ll kill the yeast.

In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer sprinkle yeast over the warm water (if it’s cold, slightly warm the bowl in the oven or under hot water first). Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.

Beat in the sugar and eggs and mix at low speed to blend.

Add the salt, warm milk and butter mixture and 2 cups of the flour. Mix at medium speed until blended.

Switch to the dough hook.

Add one and one-quarter cups more flour and knead at medium low speed. (Number 2 on a KitchenAid. If your stand mixer is different please check the manual for making bread). Add more flour sparingly if the dough sticks to the side of the bowl. Note: this could be as much as another half cup or more of flour and about four minutes or more mixing with the dough hook. When it pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl the dough is ready.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and shape into a round.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl (I spray the bottom and sides with cooking spray) then rotate the dough to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (covered in cooking spray to prevent dough from sticking to wrap). Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface making sure not to fold the dough. Let the dough rest about 10 minutes.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5 loaf pan.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Press the dough into a rectangle and with the short side facing you. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 18 inch by 8 inch rectangle-approximately. It’s not going to be perfectly rectangular, so don’t panic.

Brush the dough liberally with milk. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the dough, leaving about a one inch border on the far side. Sprinkle on the raisins. Starting at the side closest to you, snugly roll up the dough. Tuck in the dough gently with your fingertips to seal it as you’re shaping it. With the seam side up, pinch the ends of the dough together.

Place the loaf seam-side down in the prepared pan. If the loaf is larger lengthwise than the pan don’t be afraid to scrunch the dough from either side to make it fit. It may look like a drunken inch-worm, but that’s okay. Cover the top of the pan loosely with plastic wrap covered in cooking spray (I reuse the previous wrap) and set aside to rise until it’s an inch or more above the top of the pan. This could take from one-half hour to as long as an hour-and-a-half, depending on how warm your kitchen is and the season.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure oven is at 350 for at least 15 minutes to prevent the temp from dropping drastically when you open the door and place in the bread.

Just as you’re about to put the bread into the oven whisk together the egg and the milk. Gently brush the top of the loaf with the egg mixture; place bread on a rack in the center of the oven. Squirt water inside the oven with four or five squeezes of a squirt bottle filled with water, the nozzle set to stream. We want to make steam! Quickly close the door. The water isn’t entirely necessary, but it helps create a crustier top.

Baking
Bake until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow if you were tap the top of the bread hard with your index finger or with your knuckles (about 35-40 minutes).

Remove the bread from the pan and cool it on its side on a wire rack until room temperature, at least 45 minutes. Katy and I lasted 15 minutes before we decided to cut into the loaf. Wait longer, if you can, as it makes cutting easier and tears the bread apart less.

Notes:
I baked this bread 5 minutes longer (40 minutes vs 35). Don’t be afraid to use the entire amount of sugar and cinnamon. It looks like a lot, but I think it’s just barely enough. The same applies when replacing the sugar with Sugar Twin. Feel free to add more raisins, if you’re a raisin kinda person, before rolling up and placing in bread pan.

yooper blah blah blah

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Rants and Ramblings

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