Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

The U.S. District Court trial of former Republican National Committee regional political director James Tobin is scheduled to begin Tuesday. It’s unclear whether a flurry of pre-trial motions filed by Tobin’s attorney this week will cause a delay.

Tobin is charged with conspiracy in connection with the election day 2002 phone jam scandal. He allegedly put former state party executive director Chuck McGee, the admitted mastermind of the operation, in touch with Virginia-based GOP strategist Allan Raymond, who, in turn, has admitted to arranging to have hang-up calls jam Democratic and union get-out-the-vote phone banks on election morning.

Judge Steven McAuliffe has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow morning on several pre-trial motions that provide insight into some issues that may come up at trial:

• Tobin’s attorneys — funded by the Republican National Committee, not Tobin — are asking the judge to disallow any suggestion that the RNC or its related National Republican Senatorial Committee was involved in paying for the hang-up calls.

• McGee has admitted signing a Republican State Committee check to Raymond to pay for the operation. But the state committee’s financial filings also show contributions from the RNC and NRSC. Tobin’s lawyers say those contributions were unrelated to the phone jam and do not want the jurors be confused about who paid for it.

• Tobin’s lawyers say it appears that the government will elicit testimony from Raymond on campaign finance and election law issues. They say such a move would be improper because Raymond would not be an expert witness.

• Tobin’s lawyers are asking the judge to exclude any evidence that the recipients of the hang-up calls were made to feel “annoyed” or “harassed,” since, they say, it would be an attempt by the government “to fit insufficient evidence into the statutory requirements.”

• The government wants to be sure that Tobin’s attorneys can not cross-examine Raymond on advice Raymond received from his attorney.

Each side recently submitted its witness list. All witnesses are not always called, but the lists in this case have some interesting names.

The government’s list includes:

• Prominent Democrats Buckley, the party vice chair, and state Rep. Jane Clemons of Nashua,

• Former state Republican chairs John Dowd and Jayne Millerick, Concord GOP Chair Jeff Newman, former state GOP finance director Kristy Stuart, former state GOP vice chair Mark Pappas and GOP strategist Chris Wood.

• National GOP strategists Terry Nelson and Chris Lacivita.

Tobin’s list includes some of the above, but also includes:

• Steve Forbes, the 1996 and 2002 presidential candidate who formerly employed Tobin and Raymond,

• Former state GOP legal counsel David Vicinanzo,

• Former national Republican Chairman James Nicholson.

Both lists also include McGee and Raymond, while Tobin is listed as a witness on his own behalf.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News.

The text above appeared in Di Staso’s column “Granite Status” in the Manchester Union Leader of Dec. 1, 2005.

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The text below appeared in an article by DiStaso in the Manchester Union Leader of Dec. 3, 2005, headlined “Attorneys want no talk of RNC in phone trial.”

Attorneys for an accused conspirator in a 2002 Republican phone-jamming scandal want no suggestions made in an upcoming trial that the Republican National Committee or its U.S. Senate campaign affiliate paid for the illegal operation.

The request for special jury instructions to that effect and for deletions on certain documents was made yesterday by the RNC-paid lawyers for former RNC official James Tobin.

The motion appeared to intrigue U.S. District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. In a pre-trial hearing, he pointed out that federal prosecutors have not alleged that the RNC or National Republican Senatorial Committee paid for the operation.

McAuliffe said that undisputed evidence shows a $15,600 check to pay for hundreds of hang-up calls to Democratic and union get-out-the-vote phone banks on election day morning, 2002, was drawn on the New Hampshire Republican State Committee’s war chest.

Andrew Levchuck, the justice department prosecutor, said the RNC and NRSC contributed about $200,000 to the state committee prior to the election, but said he intends to present no evidence suggesting any of it was for the express purpose of funding the phone jam.

McAuliffe wanted to know why, then, Tobin’s attorneys were concerned about it.

“Do you feel there is a need for the jury to know this, or for the public to know?” McAuliffe asked Washington-based attorney Bradley J. Bondi.

The lawyer responded that he and his colleagues never try cases with an eye toward public opinion.

“That’s what this sounds like,” McAuliffe countered from the bench, denying the motion. “Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with this, either, but I’m not going to tell the jury that.”

McAuliffe said that if he told the jurors, “Don’t think for a moment that any of that money came from the RNC,” it would plant the idea in their minds that the RNC may have had something to do with it.

Tobin is scheduled to stand trial beginning Tuesday on charges that he conspired with former state party executive director Charles McGee and GOP political consultant Allen Raymond to deprive Granite Staters of their constitutional right to vote by jamming the phone lines manned by volunteers offering free rides to the polls.

The government says Tobin violated a federal law guaranteeing constitutional voting rights and a separate statute prohibiting telephone harassment.

The government says McGee, who has admitted coming up with the idea, asked Tobin to help him find a vendor to arrange the calls. It says Tobin then put McGee in touch with Raymond.

The government says Tobin also called Raymond, explained the scheme and told him to expect a call from McGee.

Raymond received the $15,600 state Republican Party check and used $2,500 of it to hire an Idaho telemarketing firm, which made about 800 hang-up calls to six telephone numbers on early on election day.

Tobin spent time in New Hampshire during that campaign as both RNC New England political director and Northeast political director of the NRSC. Republican John E. Sununu won a hard-fought Senate victory over Democrat Jeanne Shaheen by nearly 20,000 votes.

McAuliffe yesterday also said he will allow Tobin’s attorney to argue to the jury that Tobin was not part of a conspiracy because McGee and Raymond did not decide to go forward with the phone jam until Raymond received his attorney’s advice on the legality of the operation.

By the time Raymond and McGee went forward, a Tobin attorney said, Tobin was “off the reservation” and had no knowledge of the details of the phone jam.

McAuliffe said he will not allow Tobin’s attorneys to tell the jury what Raymond’s lawyer advised because, the judge said, it was irrelevant to Tobin’s actions.

The advice was that the scheme was legal.

Also yesterday, lawyers for the Republican State Committee and the government settled a key dispute.

The committee agreed to give the government its documents and computer hard drives from its own internal probe of the phone jam as long as they are not made public.

The proposed agreement was submitted to the judge for his review.

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CONCORD The Republican National Committee began making huge payments to accused 2002 telephone jam conspirator James Tobin’s private lawyers a week after he was indicted by a federal grand jury, records show.

According to RNC financial disclosures, it paid the high-powered Washington law firm Williams and Connolly $162,646 on Dec. 9, 2004, eight days after a grand jury charged that Tobin had aided former state GOP executive director Charles McGee in setting up an operation to jam voter-turnout telephone banks at Democratic and labor union offices throughout the state.

Five more disbursements were made on May 19, 2005, the same day a new indictment against Tobin was made public. Those five disbursements added up to $559,736, for a total of $722,382.

The Telegraph of Nashua reported yesterday that the RNC made another payment, of $164,260, to Williams and Connolly on June 15, although this could not be independently verified in a New Hampshire Union Leader review of monthly RNC financial disclosure reports.

If there was a seventh payment, the total expenditure by the RNC to Williams and Connolly since Tobin was indicted would be $886,632.

After refusing for nearly a month to comment on its arrangement with Tobin, the RNC confirmed on Wednesday that it has been paying for Tobin’s lawyers.

Williams and Connolly, which in the past represented Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, has had at least three attorneys working on the Tobin case. Most of the paperwork on Tobin’s behalf at U.S. District Court carries the names Dane H. Butswinkas, Dennis M. Black and Tobin J. Romero.

Tobin also has local counsel, Brian Tucker of Rath, Young and Pignatelli of Concord. Thomas Rath, a member of the RNC, has declined to comment on the arrangement, but several attorneys not involved in the Tobin case said this week that when a New Hampshire firm works as local counsel with a Washington firm, the Washington firm makes payment to the local firm.

Tobin has pleaded innocent to four conspiracy charges, including a charge that he conspired to deprive Granite Staters of their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. His trial is scheduled for December.

Tobin allegedly committed the federal offenses while working as a regional political director for the RNC-affiliated National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which was working to get Republicans elected to the Senate. A key 2002 Senate race on which Tobin focused was John E. Sununu’s victorious campaign against Democratic former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.

Sununu, in a brief interview yesterday, was reluctant to discuss the Tobin matter. “I don’t believe I have ever met him,” Sununu said.

He said he would have “no comment at all” on the RNC’s payment of Tobin’s legal bills.

But he then did say, “I don’t know what their policies are. Whatever they are, they should be applied equally to everyone.”

The RNC did not pay the legal bills for McGee, who is now in a federal prison after pleading guilty to similar conspiracy charges.

Yesterday, a high-ranking Republican source insisted that the leadership of the New Hampshire Republican Party was taken by surprise by the RNC’s confirmation that it has been subsidizing Tobin. The leadership was described by the source as the congressional delegation ? Sununu, Sen. Judd Gregg and Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley ? as well as local RNC members Rath and Nancy Merrill and party chairman Warren Henderson.

The source said efforts were being made yesterday by unspecified members of that leadership group to obtain more details from the RNC about the decision to foot Tobin’s legal expenses. Tobin is a former employee of the RNC and is currently employed by DCI Group, a lobbying firm also based in Washington.

The RNC, meanwhile, put a lid on information about Tobin. The Union Leader yesterday asked Danny Diaz, the RNC’s deputy communications director:

• When Tobin joined the RNC, when he left and what positions he held.

• At what point did Williams and Connolly begin representing Tobin

• Who approved paying for Tobin’s legal expenses, and when

• Who signed off on individual disbursements made to Williams and Connolly.

Diaz said that while he would “look into” those questions, he would have no comment beyond those made by another RNC spokesman earlier this week.

Tracey Schmitt, confirming the subsidy, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Tobin is a “longtime friend who has served both as an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC,” and, “This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing.”

Another RNC spokesman, Aaron McLear, told the Union Leader on Wednesday that the decision to subsidize Tobin was made by “the previous administration” of former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie. The current chairman, Ken Mehlman, officially succeeded Gillespie in January, but President Bush announced that Mehlman would be the new chairman shortly after winning reelection last November, several weeks before Tobin was originally indicted.

By JOHN DiSTASO

Senior Political Reporter
New Hampshire Union Leader, August 13, 2005

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It’s wonderful to see so many friends here tonight — not that I can recognize any of you, all dressed up for a black tie affair! That’s a shocker — as we celebrate work done by two guys wearing blue jeans, in 1973.

So I’d like to take us all back to that magical year, when Princeton was still very new to me. I’d rolled into town in my beat-up VW camper, after a lifetime spent in New England girls’ schools — where our architectural model is a white-shingled Main-Street house.

So I walked into Princeton’s beautiful Graduate College — and the opulent Princeton campus — and what I saw there simply blew me away. And I thought, “All this gorgeous architecture, the statues, these gardens of flowers, were put there by people who really cared about learning. And they wanted to inspire people like me — well, okay, maybe not really people exactly like me — because Princeton had only just started admitting woman graduate students — okay, maybe I’m not the person they were imagining, but this is my opportunity too, and I’m going to grab it.”

Still, I have to admit that the opportunity I was to grab with the most enthusiasm was a cute third-year grad student whose name was Frank Wilczek — a very young third-year grad student, because when I met Frank in June of 1972 he was only about a month past his 21st birthday.

Now, fortunately for my genetic material, 1972 was the summer of the Fisher-Spassky chess matches. And the grad college had only one television — and its position between New York and Philadelphia meant that the antenna could pull in some very large number of channels, it may have been 7 or 8 different channels! — so all the grad students would watch Fisher-Spassky together. And I couldn’t help noticing, as we sat there heckling the chess players, whenever Frank Wilczek would shout out a suggestion –“Pawn to king six!” — Boris Spassky or Bobby Fisher would do what he said. And even if Frank disagreed with the rest of the room — if we were all hollering “Take the bishop!” but Frank hollered “Take the knight!” — the real chessplayers did what Frank said and not what we said. So I said to myself, “This is a very smart person and I would like to get to know him better.”

I had, in fact, already been introduced to Frank. I blush to say, I was introduced to him by my boyfriend at that time. But it wasn’t long before Frank and I were an item, and soon our record players — remember those? — were in one apartment.

Perhaps it was fate that somehow brought us together — he with his trusty slide rule and I with my separate but equal slide rule. He with his copy of the CRC Handbook and I with my own copy of the CRC Handbook. For you young folks who don’t know why we had CRC handbooks, I’ll just say that looking up logarithms was something we often felt obliged to do in 1973.

One of the things I learned when I met Frank Wilczek was that somewhere in Princeton there lived a mighty genius named David Gross. And I also learned that Frank did not want to hear me make jokes about David’s last name. Eventually I got to meet this mighty genius and was duly impressed. But David reminded me he gets to speak last and I don’t, so perhaps I should say no more.

Jumping ahead, for a minute, I was thrilled today when the portraits of Frank and David were added to the gallery of Princeton’s Nobel Prize winners in Jadwin Hall. Frank and I used to admire those pictures together, on our many long late-night strolls through the bowels of Princeton, when we would often end up eating bagels and lox in the old Colonial Diner and doing the next day’s New York Times crossword puzzle, which arrived at the newsstand by 4 a.m.

Jadwin Hall basement had that wonderful gallery, and it also had the blackboards full of wonderful gnomic writings by our fellow-midnight-wanderer John Nash. And if I think back to the younger self I was then, I would have been very pleased but not too surprised to know Frank would end up with his picture in Jadwin Hall. But I would have been darn surprised that John Nash got a Nobel Prize before Frank did!

I can remember, in 1972 and 1973, how much it meant to us both to be welcomed into the Princeton physics community. I was so excited the first time David and Shula Gross invited us over to visit them at their house! But that was just the first of many happy times spent together. In fact, if our daughter Amity could be said to have a third parent, that third parent would be Elisheva Gross. Elisheva was just a baby when Frank and I married, but she was such a beautiful and smart and charming baby that she got us both thinking that we’d like our own Elisheva.

Sam and Joan Treiman were also a very important part of bringing young physicists into the physics community. I remember so many physics parties at their house — we would all gather in the living room for food and chat — then all the men would disappear down cellar where Sam would whup them one and all at ping pong. Joan made her part of this all look so effortless that it would be easy to forget to say “Thank you, Joan,” but I don’t ever want to forget to say it. Thank you, Joan! I wish Sam were also here to be part of this moment.

What a year 2005 has turned out to be! The World Year of Physics, some say, or the International Year of Physics according to other groups. In England, they’re calling it the Year of Einstein. Yes, physics is really in the news these days.

Why even our government is talking now about “The Nuclear Option.” Or, in the case of our president, “the nucular option.” So, what a great time to be a physicist!

I guess my talk hasn’t really been much of a roast — I’d have to say it’s really more of a toast. A toast to physics. A toast to the physics community. And here’s to Frank and David — congratulations.

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My great-grandfather,Hugo A. Dubuque–his 1928 obituaries described him as “a credit to his race,” said race being French-Canadian. He put himself through college, trained for the bar, and ultimately became a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge, spending many days riding the circuit far from his home and family in Fall River. And, late in 1918 he became something very like a blogger. My sister and I discovered his “blog” tucked away in the pages of our father’s baby-photo album–a series of short letters, written almost daily, that Judge Dubuque mailed home from his travels, addressed to his brand-new grandson. The series begins with a letter to his daughter Marie. The judge, clearly shaken by his youngest and dearest daughter’s delivering her first child in her girlhood bedroom: …I cannot tell you how glad we all are that you came through the ordeal all right. How pround Frank will be when he gets the happy news, and his folks also. You can now see, better than you ever realized before, why a mother is the center of such sweet and tender affection. The explanation is that she has earned it by going through the great trial and suffering for, and devotion to, her offspring. Suffering purifies and ennobles all things…. May God bless you and your dear little son, and bring back to you safely his father home [from the World War I battlefield]…

Here’s a characteristic “post” from January 1919:

I envied you this morning, my boy, nice and warm in your cozy bassinette. It was very chilly for grandpa — the wind was North and snowing — the walks were very slippery, but Gaga is always careful so he did not fall down.
There is no heat at all in the Elevated cars in Boston on account of the influenza.

What was that I heard this morning? that you gave an unearthly shriek, like a sort of Indian war whoop, because you were so hungry? That is very rude for a little boy to do that, and scare his Mamma and Atta Paul [Aunt Pauline]. But, of course, when a young man is hungry he cannot always repress his feelings. So be a good boy and we will all love you dearly.

Two weeks later, the proud grandfather has something new to blog:

It is the first time, yesterday, that my voice as a singer was ever appreciated. And you, sweet little grandson, were the one to do so. Nothing pleased me better than to see you apparently enjoy grandpa’s singing. You evidently could stand it with delight, on the ground, presumably, that any noise will do as an amusement.

Wait until your Dad gets home, he will sing “lullybys” for you. It will be great for you to be carried around by a hero of the greatest war in the history of the world, that of 1914 – 1918.

Springtime is a great inspiration to bloggers–even those of March 1919:

You missed it, Murray, in not getting up at 5 A.M. the same as your Gaga did this morning– There was a nice white frost, the harbinger of spring, spread over the trees and ground. The air was so sweet and pure. It is a real delight to be out early.

The spring will soon be here, and by the way this is your first spring. While you have seen flowers in the house, they are much nicer on their own stems in the sunlight outdoors.
Gaga expects to have a garden this spring, back of the house; so you’ll see things grow and you will learn farming and horticulture — garden and flower production — And you will sleep surrounded by flowers and vegetables, which will form a background to the picture of my little grandson–I hope your dad, when he takes you to Manchester, will have a little garden, if it is only to grow some flowers and a few of the ordinary vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, rare-ripes, and the like…

I transcribed only a few of these letters–of course I now wish I had copied out all of them. A good excuse to go visit my sister again…

My grandfather Lieutenant Maurice Francis Devine (known as Frank) sailed for France with his regiment in mid-1918. His wife, born Marie Dubuque, returned home to live with her family in Fall River. Four months later, their first child was born.

The baby was born at home, in Marie’s girlhood bedroom, at 6:30 a.m. on September 3. Her father, clearly shaken by the experience, wrote her a tender morning-after letter.

Boston September 3rd 1918
My Dear Marie
At last the great event of your life has arrived. You are now the mother of a boy (Joseph Murray?) whom I hope will become worthy of his ancestry on both sides, and be the joy of his immediate parents.
I congratulate you on the arrival of this welcome boy, my first grandson. I now have the proud distinction of being the grandfather of a nice little couple who will share, in equal degree, the affection of their grandpa.
May you live long to see your first born the object of your tender care and devoted motherly love.
I cannot tell you how glad we all are that you came through the ordeal all right. How pround Frank will be when he gets the happy news, and his folks also.
You can now see, better than you ever realized before, why a mother is the center of such sweet and tender affection. The explanation is that she has earned it by going through the great trial and suffering for, and devotion to, he offspring.
Suffering purifies and ennobles all things.
You have now laid the first milestone in your home career. Think of the blessings which will flow hereafter around your hearth. The light of a new world, so to speak, has burst upon you and your husband. You must both try to be worthy of this reward of your sacrifices.
May God bless you and your dear little son, and bring back to you safely his father home. The news from abroad are very encouranging. Let us hope it will not be long before his return.
With love to you and my dear little grandson
Affectionately grandpa
Hugo Dubuque
P.S. I am writing to Frank.

My great-grandfather Hugo Dubuque was a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge, who spent many days on the circuit from courthouse to courthouse. He sent many tender letters home, ostensibly to the baby Joseph Murray Devine, but in fact to amuse and comfort his daughter Marie.

Superior Court
Judges Room
Court House, Boston
January 6 1919

My Dear Murray
I envied you this morning, my boy, nice and warm in your cozy bassinette. It was very chilly for grandpa — the wind was North and snowing — the walks were very slippery, but Gaga is always careful so he did not fall down.
There is no heat at all in the Elevated cars in Boston on account of the influenza.
What was that I heard this morning? that you gave an unearthly shriek, like a sore of Indian war whoop, because you were so hungry? That is very rude for a little boy to do that, and scare his Mamma and Atta Paul [Aunt Pauline]. But, of course, when a young man is hungry he cannot always repress his feelings. So be a good boy and we will all love you dearly.
Best love from Gaga Dubuque.

I must inherit my singing voice from Grandpa Dubuque, to judge by this letter.

Boston City Club, January 27th — 1919
My Dear Murray:
It is the first time, yesterday, that my voice as a singer was ever appreciated. And you, sweet little grandson, were the one to do so. Nothing pleased me better than to see you apparently enjoy grandpa’s singing. You evidently could stand it with delight, on the ground, presumably, that any noise will do as an amusement.
Wait until your Dad gets home, he will sing “lullybys” for you. I t will be great for you to be carried around by a hero of the greatest war in the history of the world, that of 1914 – 1918. Oh my! but won’t you be proud! Keep on growing in strength so that you may wrestle with your Papa when the first chance comes–
Best love to you and yours,
Gaga Dubuque

I’m not sure what rare-ripes are, but it seems that my family comes honestly by its great love of gardening.

The Superior Court
Middlesex County
Lowell March 3, 1919

My Dear Murray
You missed it, Murray, in not getting up at 5 A.M. the same as your Gaga did this morning– There was a nice white frost, the harbinger of spring, spread over the trees and ground. The air was so sweet and pure. It is a real delight to be out early.
The spring will soon be here, and by the way this is your first spring. While you have seen flowers in the house, they are much nicer on their own stems in the sunlight outdoors.
Gaga expects to have a garden this spring, back of the house; so you’ll see things grow and you will learn farming and horticulture — garden and flower production — And you will sleep surrounded by flowers and vegetables, which will form a background to the picture of my little grandson–I hope your dad, when he takes you to Manchester, will have a little garden, if it is only to grow some flowers and a few of the ordinary vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, rare-ripes, and the like. Best love to you and your dear ones who love you — Gaga Dubuque

A sad footnote, from a 1926 Manchester, NH newspaper recording the February 1 arrival of Marie’s second child, my Uncle Shane: “The friends of Captain Devine will be saddened to learn of the death of Mrs. Devine February 8.”

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Julie Leung posted a great nostalgic photo of the Fisher-Price “record player” (remember those?) that tinkles out music box notes read from plastic discs. How funny the same toy makes us both nostalgic–she played with this when she was a little girl, but my nostalgia is for being a young mom buying the Fisher-Price toy for my daughters!

Meanwhile, my kickball pal Kevin Lawver is off at SXSW (without me this year) and thinking about his upcoming thirtieth birthday!

Hmmmm, what was I doing just pre-thirty? Was I campaigning for social justice with a bumper sticker on my Fred Flintstone mobile? And what was the big cause back then? Something like “Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt”*?

(Thanks to Suw, by the way, for her link to all this useful Latin!)

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* When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.

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http://www.lawver.net/archive/2005/03/08/h10_favorites_from_last_week.php

http://www.lawver.net/archive/2005/03/09/h08_the_thing_i_keep_forgetting.php

Wow, I just signed up as an Amazon Associate–check this out!

Now, I”m trying something else out:

Meanwhile, here’s my Associate link:

Killer brownies aka caramel-chocolate squares

Preheat oven (350).
Heat caramels and 1/4 c milk over medium heat, stirring constantly undil melted and smooth.
In bowl, combine dry cake mix, melted butter, and remaining milk. 
Spread half this dough over bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan.
Bake 6 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Drizzle caramel mixture over the top.
Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls onto caramel layer, spreading
evenly.  Bake 15 – 20 minutes, until top is dry to touch.
Cool.  Refrigerate until firm, then cut in squares.

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* Any chocolate cake mix works just fine.

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Vegetable pot pie with biscuit crust
(modified from chicken pie recipe in Devine family cookbook)

Vegetables:  broccoli, carrots, celery, onion, red potatoes cut
into bite-sized pieces and cooked in herb-seasoned broth about 15
minutes or until tender but not mushy.  (The time to cook depends
on how big the pieces are.) Save 1 quart broth to make gravy (add water
and bouillon if necessary to vegetable cooking water.)

Put vegetables into ovenproof casserole/bowl with pie bird. (You can
use an inverted jelly glass or similar heatproof object instead of the
pie bird.  The idea is to vent the heat and steam from the bottom
of the casserole in a gradual way.  What you don’t want is a solid
slab of crust holding the steam in until it bursts out with a big
splash inside your oven.)

Gravy:  Melt 1/4 cup
butter in saucepan and gradually stir in 1/4 cup flour.  Use
flat-bottomed whisk to stir until lumps are gone. It will quickly get
very thick, so have broth ready to add.
    Slowly stir in vegetable broth, so that it blends
smoothly with the thick flour/butter paste.  Pour some gravy into
casserole to cover vegetables; save the rest to serve in gravy pitcher.

Crust:  Preheat oven to 425.

Mix dry ingredients, work in butter with your hands.  
Stir in milk to create a soft biscuit dough.  Arrange all dough on top of vegetables in casserole.
Put in 425 oven and reduce heat to 350.  Cook 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Last minute–wear or carry!
Passport, visas, driver’s license, etc.
Tickets
Enough money, credit–travelers checks?
Layered, loose comfortable clothing, inc. shoes.
Earplugs or earphones and inflatable neck pillow

General travel supplies to have ready beforehand
Itinerary list printed out by home computer.
presents for people you’ll visit
camera, maybe binoculars?
guidebooks and maps
notebook and pens
Credit cards and ATM card–check with your bank about fees when you use these abroad.
extra plastic bags for laundry, wet bathing suit, etc.

Clothing–general considerations
How long is the trip?  Or, how long is the interval between being able to wash clothes?
How will clothes be washed — Laundromat, hotel valet, hotel sink, friends’ washing machine?
Special occasions to pack for–Dress-up?  Hiking?  Old clothes?   Shoes for these, too!

Clothing–generic list
walking shoes, dress shoes
trousers with shirts to match
dresses–(simpler and more comfortable than skirts)
sweaters and jackets
underwear including socks and stockings–and long-johns if needed!
outerwear, inc. coat, gloves, boots, etc. if appropriate
bathing suit

Toiletries and meds — generic
If 1) you might need it on board or 2) you can’t replace it easily, pack it as carry-on.
Any prescription (enough for trip), plus Advil, Sudafed, Immodium, Dramamine
pkg. Kleenex, pack 10 Q-tips inside to keep them tidy.
small shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrush, all tied up in plastic bag to prevent leaks
2 bandaids, tube Lanabiotic ointment, and cough drops to fill up the rest of bandaid box
Don’t bring too much–there are probably drugstores at your destination.

Pack more stuff!
Bring some Cheerios, nuts, dried fruit, etc.
Bring logic puzzles to help you fall asleep.
When these are used up, you have extra space in your luggage to take new things home.

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Bloglines is a free web-based aggregator created by Mark Fletcher. It
was the first newsreader I tried, and I like many of its features. But
I’m very frustrated they lost all my subscribers! Here’s how it
happened– I toyed with the email addresses to frustrate spambots.

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From: bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com Subject: Web Form: [Feeds] Date: 29 Oct 2004 15:10:56 -0000

Hi–Bloglines shows the RSS feed for my blog as defective or missing,
and has for about the past 24 hours. My RSS feed is fine, and I’d love
my friends who subscribe to it in Bloglines to be able to read my
latest post (yesterday). I don’t know if this is a problem with Manila,
with weblogger.com, or with Bloglines, but I’m hoping you can fix it
anyway. BTW, that was great you gave $ to BloggerCon 3! Thx, Betsy

Feed: http://BetsyDevine.weblogger.com/xml/rss.xml

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From: “Bloglines Customer Support”
<support@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com> To:
bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com Subject: Re: [#10889] Web Form:
[Feeds] Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:45:53 -0700 Hi there



Thanks for the bug report. We’re investigating it and hope to have it resolved soon.



— Kate kate@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com



Tell a Friend about Bloglines! http://www.bloglines.com/sendsubs

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From: Betsy Devine [mailto:bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com] Sent:
Monday, November 08, 2004 6:12 AM To:
support@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com;
kate@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com Subject: Re: [#10889] Web Form:
[Feeds]

 Hi Kate and/or other supporters–

Whatever “fix” was applied caused my feed to lose all its 51 Bloglines subscribers including me.

Please give me back my subscribers, I worked hard to get them to like my blog.

In related news, I re-subscribed to my feed (so did 1 other person) and it isn’t updating in Bloglines.

Unhappily yours, Betsy

http://BetsyDevine.weblogger.com “Making trouble today for a better tomorrow.”

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To: “‘Betsy Devine'”
<bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com> Subject: RE: [#10889] Web
Form: [Feeds] Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 18:08:51 -0800



 Hi Betsy,



Oh no, sorry about that.  Let me see what I can find out for you.



Thanks for your patience.



Kate

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From: “Betsy Devine” <bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [#10889] Web Form: [Feeds] Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 10:50:44
-0500

Hi Kate–

I want the 50 people you unsubscribed from my feed to be re-subscribed,  please.

If this isn’t possible, I would like Bloglines to use some other way to
help  me get my subscribers back–maybe by adding my blog as a top
Recommendation  for people who subscribe to the same blogs I
subscribe to.

If this isn’t possible, I will have to blog about this very bad
experience with Bloglines as a way to notify my former subscribers that
they are no  longer subscribed.

I hope to hear back from you soon about this problem. Betsy

http://BetsyDevine.weblogger.com “Making trouble today for a better tomorrow.”

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From :  Bloglines Customer Support <support@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com>

Sent :  Tuesday, November 16, 2004 6:12 PM

To :  “Betsy Devine” <bdevine@spambotsarestinky.hotmail.com>



Subject :  Re: [#11477] Web Form: [Feeds]



Hi there Betsy,



Unfortunately we have no way to recovering that information.



Your site will most likely show up as
a recommendation for other people subscribed to the same sites. That’s
how  the system works.



Please accept our apologies.



Thanks, — Kate



kate@spambotsarestinky.bloglines.com Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com



Tell a Friend about Bloglines! http://www.bloglines.com/sendsubs

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