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Costco has brought back Margherita pizzas, but now they are rectangular -- not round, and no longer have basil. Basil is a key ingreditent and they've gotten rid of it in favor of their oily, salty, pesto topping. Also, the dough is no longer pizza dough, but this foccia-like flat bread that is far too tough. So we have an oily mess on hard bread with way too much salt and not much else in flavor. It is edible, but not worth the price ($16.99 -- item #1816582).

Before you read that, see also: Choreographed celebrations in Venezuela as Maduro claims win

There are some things that are indisputable. Some which I, as an observer on the ground, was witness to.

There were the huge queues at polling stations, but only tiny amounts of people being let in at one time.

This led to accusations of deliberate delays, perhaps in the hope some people would give up and go home.

When our BBC team arrived at one polling station, the organiser of the station took a call saying the international media were there. 150 people were then suddenly allowed to be admitted.

There were some poll stations that didn’t open at all, leading to protests and clashes with the authorities.

There were allegations that some of those who work for the state, including police students, were told how to vote.

The protest coverage says:

The opposition has disputed Mr Maduro's declaration of victory as fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González won convincingly with 73.2% of the vote.

A heavy military and police presence, including water cannons, was on the streets of Caracas with the aim of trying to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.

In some areas, posters of President Maduro were ripped down and burned while tyres, cars and rubbish have also been set alight.

Armed police, military and left-wing paramilitaries who are sympathetic to the government clashed with protesters and blocked off many roads around the city centre.

See also similar coverage from Al Jazeera: Protests break out as Maduro declared winner of disputed Venezuela election (archive)

ghost archive | Article has several recipes from author's new book. Sodah has been writing recipes in "The new vegan" column for about seven years, totaling 348 recipes.

The recipes are heavy on Asian ingredients and include: Simple tomato dal, Turnip cake, and Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince.

FYI to U.S. readers: aubergine=eggplant and courgette=zucchini.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15211295

After adding operatic vocals to Gojira's rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira," a song popular during the French Revolution, she went on to sing a portion of Georges Bizet's Carmen.

From NME:

The heavy metallers performed ‘Ah, Ça Ira!’ (which translates to ‘It’ll be fine’), a song that was popular during the French revolution, during a segment titled ‘Liberté’ (in reference to France’s famed motto ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’) that celebrated one of the most famous events in French history, as well as the nation’s emphasis on freedom.

Gojira appeared on the side of a castle surrounded by fire and bursts of red streamers to represent blood, with Viotti later appearing on a moving prop boat. Their performance followed a portion dedicated to Les Miserables and came just after a beheaded Marie Antoinette was shown singing.

Traditional lyrics translated at wikipedia (linked above) Gojira's lyrics translated via redditors:

"Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Hang the aristocrats from on high!
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
The aristocrats, we'll hang 'em all.
Despotism will breathe its last,
Liberty will take the day,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
We don't have any more nobles or priests,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Equality will reign everywhere,
The Austrian slave will follow him,
To the Devil will they fly.
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
To the Devil will they fly."

The hydrothermal explosion happened around 10 a.m. in Biscuit Basin, a collection of hot springs a couple miles north of the famous Old Faithful Geyser.

No injuries were reported, but the Biscuit Basin area was closed for visitor safety. The eruption damaged a boardwalk that keeps people off Yellowstone’s fragile and often dangerous geothermal areas.

On occasion they get much bigger: The largest known crater from a hydrothermal explosion on Earth is in Yellowstone and measures 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) across, Poland said. Scientists theorize that a series of hydrothermal explosions created that crater some 13,800 years ago in the Mary Bay area on the northeastern side of Yellowstone Lake.

By comparison, the crater from Tuesday’s explosion will likely be measured in feet, Poland said.

“What we saw today was spectacular and definitely hazardous. But on the scale of what the Yellowstone system has done in the past, it was relatively small,” he said. “It’s a very good reminder of an underappreciated hazard in Yellowstone.”

The hydrothermal explosion did not indicate new activity within the volcanic system, which remains at normal levels, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

the director of Project 2025, Paul Dans, told the hundreds of RNC attendees ...

“We have to take the vitriol down” — seconds before he suggested that Biden’s amped-up rhetoric around Project 2025 created the climate for an assassination attempt.

The Republican Party line that it’s now time for national unity — and that this week in Milwaukee is about asking America what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding — is clearly carrying the day. Never mind that most GOP calls for toning down the rhetoric are followed with an attack that blames Democrats for all the toxic political speech.

Just like the days after 9/11, Americans need to watch what they do, watch what they say — or so we are told. We continue to obey in advance.

“The more we as a society bow to the pressure and self-censor — the dream of autocrats is for you to silence yourself, doing their job for them — the more arrogant and lawless the enemies of democracy will become,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the New York University historian and author of the book Strongmen on modern dictators, posted on Monday.

Thanks to silence7@slrpnk.net for this gift link

I usually make dip with a packet of soup mix powder, but I was out so I did the following and it turned out well -- and since it was mostly with Coscto items, I thought I'd post here.

All measurements were eyeballed, so change as you desire:

• 10oz frozen chopped spinach (cut spinach is too stringy, but if you want to use a food processor, you could use either, or substitute fresh spinach, kale, Yu Choy, Dau Miu, or anything else -- or skip completely)
• 1 cup mayonnaise (from the giant jug taking up all that refrigerator space)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-2 tsp "Better Than Bullion" "Seasoned Vegetable Base" ("Organic Reduced Sodium") soup starter -- this is in the spice aisle and any variety will do
• 1 tsp Kirkland "Organic No-Salt Seasoning" -- also in the spice aisle
• a chunk of a pepper, minced (Italian long hot) -- can sub red bell pepper, another hot pepper, or omit
• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, minced (or skip if you don't love garlic)

Optional stuff you might like: chives/scallions/red onion, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, chopped mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, or go traditional and fry up a good sized onion until it is brown and caramelized to make more of a traditional 'french onion' dip.

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, microwave frozen spinach until warm, then lightly squeeze out excess water. It should be damp (to absorb the no-salt spice mix), but not so wet that the dip becomes soupy. If using a fresh veg, cook as desired.

2. Add No-Salt Seasoning and Better Than Bullion to vegetable and mix together. Taste to ensure a bold flavor (the flavor will be softened by the dip base, but also bloom a bit as the dehydrated bits absorb moisture).

3. Add garlic and fresh bell/chili/long-hot pepper, and any optional items you desire. Mix. If you are using a food processor, this is a good time to pulse everything together ... but you can also wait until the end if you need more bulk to mix properly.

4. Add the sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir together. Add optional ingredients as desired. Refrigerate for an hour. Note: You can it serve immediately, but it is weird to have warm dip for potato chips.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/10115569

Norman Lear, the television writer and producer who introduced political and social commentary into situation comedy with “All in the Family” and other shows, proving that it was possible to be topical as well as funny while attracting millions of viewers, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 101.

His death was confirmed by Lara Bergthold, a spokeswoman for the family.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/10112418

Denny Laine, the original lead singer of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s co-founder/guitarist in Wings, died December 5 after a short battle with Interstitial lung disease. He was 79.

“I was at his bedside holdings his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him,” his wife Elizabeth Hines wrote in a statement. “My world will never be the same. Denny was an amazingly wonderful person, so loving and sweet to me. He made my days colorful, fun, and full of life – just like him.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/5301538

Archived version: https://archive.ph/BayAw
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20231109053322/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67361888

The main allegation is that Costco lets Meta collect communications related to health care from its website, violating HIPAA and effectively acting as a wiretap of the customer.

The first lawsuit was news earlier in October, and the new one from the 25th appears to be similar. Links to first suit:

• https://www.classaction.org/news/costco-uses-tracking-tech-to-disclose-online-pharmacy-customers-health-info-to-third-parties-class-action-alleges
• https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/costco-lawsuit-customer-health-information-meta-18420718.php