It’s Friday afternoon, time for some comic relief. Thing is, for a San Diego judge accused of using her courtroom as a launching pad for a career in stand-up comedy, the situation may no longer seem so funny. The judge, DeAnn M. Salcido of the Superior Court, is facing removal or censure by the California Commission on Judicial Performance on charges of “willful misconduct” and conduct that “brings the judicial office into disrepute.” She is accused of having her courtroom proceedings filmed as an audition for a television show and for ridiculing defendants, their friends and relatives, lawyers, prosecutors, other judges and pretty much anyone who got in her way to get a few laughs from the courtroom audience.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/09/24/judge-judy-wannabe-isnt-laughing-anymore/?mod=djemlawblog_h

Congress punts net neutrality back to FCC
Despite garnering some industry support, the net neutrality legislation being drafted by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) got shot down yesterday when Congressional Republicans said they would not support it. Waxman had been holding meetings with both consumer groups and telecom companies while drafting legislation aimed at bridging the gap between proponents and opponents of net neutrality. However, now that negotiations have fallen apart, Waxman has signaled to the Federal Communications Commission that it should act to reclassify broadband services as telecommunications services. In essence, then, we're back to the same point we were at earlier this year when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to stop Comcast from throttling peer-to-peer Internet traffic.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9189084/Congress_punts_net_neutrality_back_to_FCC?taxonomyId=13

There is something in the Autumn that is native to my blood--Touch of manner, hint of mood; And my heart is like a rhyme, With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time . . . There is something in October . . .
See rest of the poem by Bliss Carman at: http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1266.html

Three quotes Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.
Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat. Jules Renard (1864-1910) French writer

English or Spanish speakers probably do not even imagine that they speak more Arabic than they think they do. It's not "real" Arabic they are speaking, but rather words that come from Arabic. After Latin and English, Arabic is probably the biggest contributor of words to the Spanish language, and a large portion of English-Spanish cognates (words that the two language share) that don't come from Latin, but from Arabic. The Spanish words of Arabic origin are those that start with "al-," such as álgebra, Alá, álkali and alkimia (algebra, Allah, alkali, and alchemy in English). But they are far from the only ones. A variety of other types of common words such as café, cero, and azucár (coffee, zero, and sugar in English) also come from Arabic. The etymology of Spanish words goes beyond these lines, but the introduction of Arabic words into Spanish began in earnest in the eighth century, although even before then some words of Latin and Greek origin had roots in Arabic. People living in, what is now Spain, spoke Latin at one time, of course, but over the centuries Spanish and other Romance languages such as French and Italian gradually differentiated themselves. The Latin dialect that eventually became Spanish was highly influenced by the invasion of the Arabic-speaking Moors (Moros) in 711. For many centuries, Latin/Spanish and Arabic existed side by side, and even today many Spanish place names retain Arabic roots. It wasn't until late in the 15th century that the Moors were expelled, and by then literally thousands of Arabic words had become part of Spanish. See a list of some of the most common Arabic-origin Spanish words. Many of the words are a part of English as well, but most Arabic words in English probably entered English by other routes. http://www.mexpanol.com/About_Spanish/Arabic_roots/arabic_roots.html

FLAT AND CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
This recipe is based on one published in The Essential New York Times Cookbook (Norton, 2010).
ELEGANT PORK CHOPS
Authors Jane and Michael Stern gave us this recipe from Virginia Miller, a home cook from Iowa who bakes thick-cut pork chops in a sweet, tomatoey sauce.
BROWN BUTTER PASTA
Chef Gabrielle Hamilton of New York City's Prune restaurant gave us her recipe for this delicious pasta, which is tossed in brown butter and pine nuts, then topped with sunny-side-up eggs. See these recipes and others at: http://www.saveur.com/in_this_issue.jsp?page=2&order=1&subcat=&issueId=201007

Seaweeds (kaiso) have been an important part of the Japanese diet for many centuries. Today, various types of seaweed are used extensively as soup stock, seasonings and other forms in daily Japanese cooking. The following are the three most commonly used types of seaweed: kombu, wakame and nori. See information and images at:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2310.html

The Road to Carnegie Hall at Manhattan's, 1516 Adams in Toledo
On every second Tuesday, 5-7 p.m. through April, Manhattan's will donate a percentage of their food and beverage sales to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra to help the musicians and team get to New York City for their Carnegie Hall concert.