Wow, this stuff is very good.  The finished dish:

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Three day weekend, so the big meal is tonight. Moroccan food – it’s a tagine:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 8 chicken thighs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ras al-hanut*
• Large pinch saffron, soaked in 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes, drained (15-ounce can)
• 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (15-ounce can)
• 3/4 cup dried apricots, sliced into half moons
• Harissa Sauce, recipe follows
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
• *Cook’s Note: Ras al-hanut is a mixture of many different spices used in Moroccan cooking. It is available at spice markets or online.

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Jalopnik has a regular feature – Down on the Street – where they post photos of old cars, usually in Alameda, California, “The Island that Rust Forgot”. Can Stinque compete?  Check this out – corner of 74th and Amsterdam just this morning, in front of my building – a 1974 Ford Mustang II, 45K, and it’s for sale!  Seven grand takes it:

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Built during a period when British Leyland workers were mostly out on strike, they were horrible cars.  Still, that didn’t prevent BL from trying to foist them on an unsuspecting public:

The cars were so awful that Top Gear (my favorite TV show, as you know) has made a cottage industry dropping pianos on them:

And, inevitably, there is a Facebook page where you can become a fan of dropping pianos on helpless Marinas. I am, in fact, a fan.

Title: “Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century”

Author: Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Rank: 63

Blurb: “Citizens across the country are fed up with the politicians in Washington telling us how to live our lives — and then sticking us with the bill. But what can we do? Actually, we can just say ‘no.’ As New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., explains, ‘nullification’ allows states to reject unconstitutional federal laws. For many tea partiers nationwide, nullification is rapidly becoming the only way to stop an over-reaching government drunk on power. From privacy to national healthcare, Woods shows how this growing and popular movement is sweeping across America and empowering states to take action against Obama’s socialist policies and big-government agenda.”

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Today the much vaunted Mengele Bowl (HT: Dodger) occurred at the World Cup between Germany and Argentina, but apparently Argentina failed to appear for the game, as there’s no other way to explain their 4-0 shellacking.

Or maybe tonight’s World Cup Hottie, Lukas Podolski, had something to do with the German victory. A fantastic player, named Man of the Match by FIFA, he didn’t score but he was a key player in the midfield helping Germany capitalize upon their strong defense and translate it into goals.

And he likes to wax his body. Apparently a lot.

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The girlfriend tells me you can get anything – ANYTHING – from vending machines in Japan.  To wit: