This is from the memoir of current head of CIA William Burns. In 1989 he served under Secretary of State James Baker in a strategic planning role as communism fell. Here he outlines negotiations re German reunification - take note of highlighted part in context of Ukraine now.
More on the negotiations - the Russians aren’t lying about NATO:
More from Burns. Here he is discussing how the Russian foreign policy establishment felt about NATO expansion in 1995 under Yeltsin, long before Putin was on the scene. No one listened then either:
Clinton went ahead with NATO expansion despite warnings from US embassy in Moscow that it was a bad idea. Here is Burns noting that George Kennan, who developed original containment policy toward USSR, viewed it as huge error:
And here is Burns summing up his view of NATO expansion - keep in mind he published this in 2019, before this current war.
Here is Burns in a private email to Secretary of State Condi Rice in 2008. MAP refers to ‘Membership Action Plan,’ and was a neocon push - Dick Cheney in particular - to rapidly expand NATO to include Ukraine and Georgia. Russian elite - not just Putin - was totally opposed:
Burns described his final meeting with Putin as US ambassador. This was way back in 2008:
Sometimes I read that no one was ever proposing Ukraine for NATO, that Putin made it up. That’s not how current CIA director Burns described it. Here is statement from 2008 at Bucharest summit, shortly after meeting from prior tweet:
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1/Let’s do a recipe, haven’t done one in a while. This is a simple Croque Madame, a simple French bistro dish. It’s just a glorified ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg. But it’s very good, and you can do it at home relatively fast and cheap.
2/this is for 2. Take four pieces of sturdy white bread, spread 2 tbsp of butter total over both sides. Bake at 375 F for about 12 minutes, flipping halfway. Crack 2 eggs and put them in ramekins (any dish is fine of course) and hit with salt and pepper
3/make a mornay sauce. Melt 2 tbsp butter in small saucepan. When melted, add 2 tbsp of flour, combine. Then add in half a cup of heavy cream, half a cup of milk. Mix and boil. Remove from heat, add a cup (4 oz) of Gruyère cheese, salt/pepper, pinch of nutmeg, pinch of cayenne
1/Ok so let’s do Beef Bourguinion, cash in my promise. This is the finished product served over simple mashed potatoes, garnished with parsley. Directions….
2/what you need. About 3.5 lbs of Chuck roast, cut into chunks and tossed with a tbsp of salt. 2 carrots, 2 onions roughly chopped, handful of thyme and parsley. A head of garlic cloves smashed. Tbsp of tomato paste, 1/2 tsp anchovy paste. 1 lb cremini mushrooms. 2 cups pearl onions
3/you also need half a pound of salt pork cut into chunks. Place those in a roasting pan with the scraps of beef you don’t intend to use. Add in 2 tbsp butter, and roast for 15 minutes at 500 degrees. Then toss in 1/2 cup of flour and mix.
The judge in Derek Chauvin’s case refused to allow the jury to see pages from a police manual depicting the hold that Chauvin applied, which specifically called the knee on the neck/back as non-lethal. The jury didn’t know Chauvin was following protocol.
If this isn’t reversible error I don’t know what is. There was a picture in the manual showing exactly what Chauvin did. I just learned this, and it underscores even more that Judge Peter Cahill manipulated the trial to get a guilty verdict.
There are a whole bunch of PowerPoint slides you can see. They’ve been posted to a Google drive. But here are a couple examples.
1/Crème brûlée has a reputation for sophistication but is simple and easy. Good desert to make in advance. Directions if you want to do it below:
2/ this recipe is for 4 servings in shallow dishes of about 5 oz. You want two cups of heavy cream, and 5 tbsp of sugar. Place them in a sauce pan and bring to light boil, dissolve the sugar, and then pull from heat to cool for at least 5 minutes.
3/ in meantime take 6 egg yolks, whisk them with 1 tsp vanilla. When cream mixture is cooled down, mix it in bit by bit, whisking as you go.
1/ Ok, as promised here is a recipe for doing a hearty Reuben Sandwich at home. Finished product below with a shredded Brussels sprout salad. Directions further down (this is for 2 sandwiches):
2/ so I don’t buy sliced deli meat. I take a brisket (you can do it yourself or get one from the store) and prepare it. Later cut it into slices and chunks:
3/ you will want a sauce. The way I do it is I add about 1/3 cup of mayo, a couple tbsp of cocktail sauce, several sweet gerkins diced, a splash of apple cider vinegar, stir it up
2/ I used a small red apple, small onion, 4 bratwursts (there will be leftover kraut for another 4), and 3 thick strips of bacon. Peel and dice the apple, slice the onion into thin strips, cut the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces
3/ render the fat from the bacon in small Dutch oven. Remove pieces, then cook the onion until soft in the bacon fat. Add the apple and cook for another few minutes till soft