Tasty chili

I was promising a good vegan chili recipe. This recipe was from my mom's Betty Crocker Cookbook she got when she first got married; I have modified it very slightly.

1 large onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped into ~1" x 1" pieces
2 cans diced tomatoes (14 oz)
3 cans dark kidney beans (14 oz), rinsed and drained
dash paprika
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, or to taste
dash salt

Soften onion in scant olive oil over medium heat. Add peppers and spices, stir and cook about 5-10 minutes more, until both onion and peppers are softened. Add tomatoes, and cook about 10 minutes. Add beans and simmer for about 1/2 hour, checking seasoning and adding water if needed. Serve hot with cornbread.

This approximately doubles the original recipe, but uses an extra can of beans to substitute for the pound of ground beef that the original called for. You can try it with beef if you want; or add reconstituted TVP along with the tomatoes if you wish.

imagine that

I actually agree with an NYT editorial:

None of the investigators’ major assertions, however, have been tested in cross-examination or evaluated by outside specialists. It is imperative that federal officials make public all of their data so independent experts can judge whether the mailed anthrax was indeed identical to Dr. Ivins’s supply and only that supply.

It is also critical for officials to explain more fully how they eliminated the many other people with access to the material. (emphasis added)

and

Because Dr. Ivins killed himself before he could be indicted, there will be no opportunity for an adversarial testing of the F.B.I.’s conclusions. The bureau, unfortunately, has a history of building circumstantial cases that seem compelling at first but ultimately fall apart.

Hatfill had odious associations with white supremacists, and this was leaked out to cast aspersions on him when he was the main 'person of interest' in the case. So excuse me if I'm a little skeptical when many of the the first things to come out about Ivins are of a similar nature.

waiting

Researcher Meryl Nass quotes CBS:

It is unclear how the FBI eliminated as suspects others in the lab who had access to the anthrax. It's not clear what, if any, evidence bolsters the theory that the attacks may have been a twisted effort to test a cure for the toxin. Investigators also can't place Ivins in Princeton, New Jersey, when the letters were mailed from a mailbox there.

If I have time, I'll wander over to the document dump at the DOJ and see if it looks convincing. I have an open mind on this, but after Hatfill I think we should all consider the evidence carefully.