I’m watching a show on the Science Channel about a group of card counters from MIT.
The slant is that you’re supposed to feel sorry for the cassino owners, but I’m not buying it.
If you live by the sword, (which all cassinos do), then you’ll die by it, and just because someone or even a group of someones beats you at your game doesn’t mean you should receive any pity.
It’s all about statistics, and the cassino owners should have realized that someone would figure it out.
No reason to whine and throw a temper tantrum.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup well-scrubbed sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup corn, frozen or cut from the cob
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage
1/2 cup light cream or half-and-half or soy or rice milk
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and sweet potato. Saute, stirring to coat the vegetables with the butter, until
onion is translucent, just a few minutes. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, 30 minutes, until sweet potato
is tender. Add pumpkin puree, corn, and thyme and sage. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat again and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in cream
and remove soup from the heat. Puree half the soup in a blender and return it to the pot, stirring well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serving Size

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 1/2lb. kosher Italian turkey sausage or spicy hot dogs
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 (29 oz.) can tomatoes
1 (15 oz.) can Northern beans, drained
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
l bay leaf

Instructions

Cut sausage or hot dogs into ½ inch pieces. Brown in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon fat. Stir in onions. Cook 5 to
8 minutes. Stir occasionally until soft but not browned Stir in celery and garlic. Cook until soft. Stir in cabbage, tomatoes, beans, chicken broth, thyme,
basil, oregano, and bay leaf. Cover and bring to boil Simmer 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf before serving.

Serving Size

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
1 quart of water
1 onion, chopped
1 16 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
2 ribs of celery – chopped
16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables
1/3 cup of barley
1/4 cup of uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 can chicken broth
2 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon margarine

Instructions

Add all ingredients into a stock pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Cover and cook for about two hours. Adjust seasonings
to taste. If soup gets too thick add more chicken broth. or tomato juice. When soup is done, remove chicken and dice or shred and return to soup.

Serving Size

Serves 8

Ingredients

4 tablespoons margarine
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
3 (15 oz) cans pumpkin or 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
2 cups of non dairy creamer
1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions

Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add red pepper,
curry, coriander and cayenne and stir for a minute more. Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for
10 to 15 minutes. Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan. With the soup
on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add the non dairy creamer while stirring to incorporate. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy,
add more non dairy creamer to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt. Serve in individual bowls.

Serving Size

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 lbs plum tomatoes (about 12), cored and halved lengthwise
1/2 lb carrots cut into 3/4-inch pieces
10 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 lbs of eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
3 to 4 cups water
toasted bread cubes or Chinese rice noodles

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425, with racks on top and bottom. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together tomatoes, carrots, garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tsp salt, and
1/4 teaspoons pepper. Spread in a single layer, with the tomatoes cut sides down. On another rimmed baking sheet, toss together eggplant, chickpeas, curry
powder, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread in a single layer. Place both sheets in oven (tomato mixture on the top
rack). Roast until tender, tossing mixtures halfway through, about 45 minutes. 3 Using tongs, peel off and discard the tomato skins. Purée tomato mixture
(including juices) in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer to
a large pot. Stir in eggplant mixture; thin with 3 to 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, sprinkled with
cilantro; garnish with toasted bread cubes or rice noodles if desired.

Serving Size

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 cups corn
1/2 pound kosher breakfast beef or pastrami, diced into pieces
1 large sweet onion (such as Vidalia), diced small
1 large leek, cleaned thoroughly and sliced thinly into half-moons
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced small
1 pound Yukon Potatoes, peeled and diced small
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
4 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 cup non dairy creamer
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Heat a 4-quart heavy pot over low heat and add the diced breakfast beef. Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium and
cook until the breakfast beef is crisp. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat, leaving the meat in the pot. Add the margarine, onion, leeks, bell pepper,
thyme, and cumin and saute, stirring occasionally until the onion and bell pepper are soft. Add the corn, potatoes, and stock. Bring to a boil and cook
for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Use a spoon to mash some of the potatoes and corn against the side of the pot. Reduce the heat to medium
and stir in the cornstarch and water mixture. Return to boil and cook until the chowder thickens slightly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the non dairy creamer just before serving.

Today is the last day of 5766, and sunset will mark the beginning of a new year, 5767.
It will also mark the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance, which culminate in Yom Kippur.
During this time, Jews all over the world will take stock of the last year, what we did wrong and what we did right, and pray that the coming year be filled with blessing, health, success, and accomplishment, both physically and spiritually.
I’d like to take the time to wish all my readers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, a good and sweet new year, filled with happiness, good health, prosperity, and success in all your endeavors.
Personally, along with the above-mentioned, I’ll be praying for an end to the stalemate known as my work situation, and that Michelle gets her just desserts.
Rosh Hashanah lasts for two days, so there won’t be any posts from sunset tonight, until after sunset Sunday.
For those who don’t observe the holiday, have a wonderful weekend.

LONDON–Bob Gleichauf, the chief technology officer in Cisco Systems’
security technology group, has raised concerns that integrating Vista
into a complex IT infrastructure could present problems.

“Parts of Vista scare me,” Gleichauf said at the Gartner Security Summit
here on Monday. “Anything with that level of systems complexity will
have new threats, as well as bringing new solutions. It’s always a
struggle in security, trying to build for what you don’t know.”

Gleichauf told CNET News.com’s sister site ZDNet UK that Cisco views the
Microsoft operating system update, set for broad release in January, as
a bearer of possible solutions to security problems, but also as a
potential trigger of security issues.

“Vista will solve a lot of problems. But for every action, there’s a
reaction and unforeseen side-effects and mutations. Networks can become
more brittle unintentionally,” Gleichauf said.

The Cisco executive’s remarks come as Microsoft and the European
Commission move deeper into a tug-of-war over security features in
Vista. The company wants regulators to set clear guidelines as to what
it can include in the operating system, but the Commission will say only
that Microsoft must abide by its competition rules.

Systems complexity needs to be taken into consideration in any action
plan for Vista implementation, he added.

“If you’re embracing Vista, it’s not going to be 100 percent initially.
It’s going to create more heterogeneity for a while,” Gleichauf said.

Analysts from Gartner have also found that many businesses are nervous
about integrating the security features in Vista with their legacy systems.

“Most organizations are cautious about Vista,” said Eric Ouellet, vice
president for research, security and privacy at Gartner. “(Companies)
already have security tools which are being built into Vista. The risk
is to go to another system. There’s always going to be some hits,”
Ouellet told ZDNet UK.

“The risk you have to manage is: Is Microsoft going to get it right
first time? Maybe yes. But are businesses going to take that risk?” he
asked.

Microsoft has not helped to reassure customers by pushing back the
release date of the operating system and changing some of the promised
features.

“People don’t know what’s coming down the pike,” Ouellet said. “TPM
(Trusted Platform Module) is now not fully integrated–you can’t rely on
the feature and function set. Microsoft’s moving the goalposts is
definitely adding to the heartburn.”