Iceberg

While The Sun has covered the young people camping at the Inner Harbor in the Occupy Baltimore demonstrations ("' Occupy' protests spread to Baltimore ," Oct. 4), it has missed the adults who have been meeting on this issue for weeks and who are already planning large demonstrations in Washington on Oct. 6 and Oct. 15. The Pledge of Resistance was formed for individuals willing to engage in nonviolent civil resistance to first prevent and later to protest the war in Iraq. It is affiliated with several national peace groups, including the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance and United For Peace & Justice.

This is probably the tip of the iceberg ("Report finds disarray at IRS," May 15). Most government employees believe in large government where can you work and get a pension that you do not pay into and have health care that you do not pay into as well as paid vacation, sick time, lots of holidays and never have the department that you work in audited or held accountable for your performance because your union protects you. I am sure if someone looks...

In response to Jules Witcover's column ("Reid and Romney are playing fast and loose," Aug. 7) Harry Reid has been playing "loose" for a few years now, so anyone that pays attention to him is leading a less than fulfilling life. The man hasn't passed a budget in more than three years. I would be writing about his impeachment, but that is too logical for the big spenders in D.C. Why don't you write about President Barack Obama borrowing 40 cents on every dollar his administration spends on top of our hard earned taxes rather than continuing to worry about what Mitt Romney does with his money?

Well, Todd Akin really stepped in it, didn't he? The Missouri Representative's wacko claim that women have some sort of natural defense mechanism that prevents pregnancies from occurring in circumstances of "legitimate rape" is a real doozy. But statements like his are nothing unusual for House Republicans, who as a group are responsible for what seems like a bottomless cup of absurd, illogical and borderline lunatic comments across a range of topics. Indeed, Rep. Akin's comment is but one example of how bonkers House Republicans get when discussing sex, contraception, abortion or feminism.

Even though right-hander Jason Hammel is - at the age of 29 - the oldest pitcher in the Orioles' starting rotation, manager Buck Showalter has been careful in not labeling him the sage of the quintet. Instead, Showalter had lumped Hammel with the rest of his young starters - as promising arms still learning how to establish themselves. In fact, the Orioles weren't quite sure what they were getting in Hammel, who came to Baltimore with an ERA just south of 5.00. He was the odd man out on a young, talented Rays pitching staff and traded to Colorado following the 2008 season.

If Marie Antoinette were still around, she'd say, "Let them eat iceberg."But we demand our mesclun. Our red romaine. Our frisee.You want a revolution? You got one -- in the produce section, among the salad greens. Fancy greens are shoving aside plain old iceberg for room in the everyday salad bowl.In produce aisles of most supermarkets, iceberg shares space with Belgian endive clusters, bunches of arugula and all varieties of salads-in-a-bag.The revolution's coming at us from two sides. On the gourmet front, supermarkets have begun to sell exotic greens -- such as nutty, buttery frisee -- in those little plastic packages.

Summer days call for cool salads. You can almost hear the salad tongs clanging against a large bowl generously heaped with refreshing greens.Because I like my greens as fresh as I can get them, a couple of years ago I put in a small raised bed on the hot, sunny, southern side of my house, not really too big, but ample for providing lots of fresh garden goodies. I started out with red oakleaf lettuce and exotic red romaine, then I sowed a few seeds of red chard and feathery mizuna from the mustard family.

ATLANTA -- Being a salad snob used to be so easy. Romaine was good. Radicchio was good. Mixed baby greens were the height of sophistication.And iceberg was the pits. If you made the faux pas of professing a taste for head lettuce, it was like saying you craved Bac-O-Bits or preferred crunchy tomatoes over vine-ripened.But now people who consider themselves sophisticated indeed are taking knife and fork to iceberg with renewed gusto."It's a retro thing," says restaurant consultant John Imbergamo.

This is probably the tip of the iceberg ("Report finds disarray at IRS," May 15). Most government employees believe in large government where can you work and get a pension that you do not pay into and have health care that you do not pay into as well as paid vacation, sick time, lots of holidays and never have the department that you work in audited or held accountable for your performance because your union protects you. I am sure if someone looks...

Marjorie Robb, 103, the oldest remaining survivor of the April 1912 sinking of the ocean liner Titanic, died Thursday at retirement home in Fall River, Mass. Mrs. Robb was returning from Egypt with her father and sister when the "unsinkable" ship smashed into an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

In response to Jules Witcover's column ("Reid and Romney are playing fast and loose," Aug. 7) Harry Reid has been playing "loose" for a few years now, so anyone that pays attention to him is leading a less than fulfilling life. The man hasn't passed a budget in more than three years. I would be writing about his impeachment, but that is too logical for the big spenders in D.C. Why don't you write about President Barack Obama borrowing 40 cents on every dollar his administration spends on top of our hard earned taxes rather than continuing to worry about what Mitt Romney does with his money?

Even though right-hander Jason Hammel is - at the age of 29 - the oldest pitcher in the Orioles' starting rotation, manager Buck Showalter has been careful in not labeling him the sage of the quintet. Instead, Showalter had lumped Hammel with the rest of his young starters - as promising arms still learning how to establish themselves. In fact, the Orioles weren't quite sure what they were getting in Hammel, who came to Baltimore with an ERA just south of 5.00. He was the odd man out on a young, talented Rays pitching staff and traded to Colorado following the 2008 season.

While The Sun has covered the young people camping at the Inner Harbor in the Occupy Baltimore demonstrations ("' Occupy' protests spread to Baltimore ," Oct. 4), it has missed the adults who have been meeting on this issue for weeks and who are already planning large demonstrations in Washington on Oct. 6 and Oct. 15. The Pledge of Resistance was formed for individuals willing to engage in nonviolent civil resistance to first prevent and later to protest the war in Iraq. It is affiliated with several national peace groups, including the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance and United For Peace & Justice.

There's nothing wrong with vanilla ice cream or a vanilla-and-chocolate frozen-yogurt cone. But sometimes you just want something different, something more. Some shops in the Baltimore area have taken that idea to a whole new level, offering frozen treats in wacky flavors or spicing things up, sometimes literally, with out-there toppings. Some of the craziest cold concoctions: Dominion's vegetable ice cream, which comes in spinach, carrot, tomato, sweet potato and jalapeno; Mr. Yogato's peach yogurt with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette; Pitango Gelato's spicy chocolate, with crushed red chili peppers; Moxley's Old Bay ice cream, for that extra little kick; and Sylvan Beach's margarita ice cream, complete with salt and lime.

Capitol Hill is abuzz over allegations of vigilantism and recklessness by U.S. contractors in Iraq. But reports that Blackwater USA has operated outside the law could turn out to be a window into a much larger Bush administration scandal. Largely unnoticed over the last seven years, President Bush has increased the number of contractors working for the federal government at an unprecedented rate. And as the Blackwater debacle shows, the federal government is not equipped or prepared to exercise proper oversight over this vastly expanded, federally empowered work force.

The proliferation of drifting Antarctic icebergs caused by rising temperatures is creating a vast new ecosystem of plankton, krill and seabirds that might have the power to absorb some of the carbon dioxide that is driving global warming, scientists reported yesterday. The researchers, led by oceanographer Kenneth Smith Jr. of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, found that these iceberg-associated communities could cover a significant portion of Antarctic seas. The ecosystems use photosynthesis to take carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into plant life and other forms of organic carbon that can be held in the ocean.

Japanese director's 1953 masterpiece overflows with emotion UGETSU -- The Criterion Collection -- $39.95 The great Japanese directors are like the great 19th-century novelists. In comparison, other filmmakers come off as petty magicians or mere children. Set during a civil war in the 16th century, Kenji Mizoguchi's masterly 1953 Ugetsu (out on DVD Tuesday) makes "sublime" seem too tame a word. It's a mysteriously erotic, emotionally overflowing, almost incomparably beautiful tale of two peasant friends who follow parallel roots to euphoria and disaster.

Iceberg remnant imperils penguins WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A remnant of the largest iceberg ever recorded is blocking Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, threatening tens of thousands of penguin chicks with starvation and cutting off a supply route for three science stations, a New Zealand official says. The iceberg, known as B15A, measures about 1,200 square miles, according to Lou Sanson, chief executive of the government scientific agency Antarctica New Zealand. He called it "the largest floating thing on the planet right now" and said U.S. researchers estimate that it contains enough water to supply Egypt's Nile River complex for 80 years.

Japanese director's 1953 masterpiece overflows with emotion UGETSU -- The Criterion Collection -- $39.95 The great Japanese directors are like the great 19th-century novelists. In comparison, other filmmakers come off as petty magicians or mere children. Set during a civil war in the 16th century, Kenji Mizoguchi's masterly 1953 Ugetsu (out on DVD Tuesday) makes "sublime" seem too tame a word. It's a mysteriously erotic, emotionally overflowing, almost incomparably beautiful tale of two peasant friends who follow parallel roots to euphoria and disaster.

Iceberg remnant imperils penguins WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A remnant of the largest iceberg ever recorded is blocking Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, threatening tens of thousands of penguin chicks with starvation and cutting off a supply route for three science stations, a New Zealand official says. The iceberg, known as B15A, measures about 1,200 square miles, according to Lou Sanson, chief executive of the government scientific agency Antarctica New Zealand. He called it "the largest floating thing on the planet right now" and said U.S. researchers estimate that it contains enough water to supply Egypt's Nile River complex for 80 years.