Torture

I recently replied to a blog entry by a friend of mine dealing with Torture. Please click on the hyperlink (Torture) to access the original blog entry. Below are my comments to that blog entry:

 

The torture question

 

I waver back on forth on this subject due to the fact that you can never really tell if the individual you are torturing has valuable information or has done anything other than being in the wrong place, company, or skin. I don't think I really have a problem with torture but I feel that everyone should realize that this is a slippery slope. What if the person you are torturing really is an innocent person and has no information to provide. On the other hand the person might have valuable information that could save thousands or millions of lives. My only request is that we not be hypocrites. If we proceed to use torture as a means as interrogation on captured terrorists, then we also must be prepared for any US soldier captured to be treated the same way. We can't expect everyone else to follow the rules while we break them ourselves.

 

 

DC restaurant review

If you don’t know already, I am a lover of food. I enjoy cooking, when I decide on dining in, which in these hard economic times is the best route to go, as well as dining out at multiple different restaurants that cover a diverse set of cultures (East African, West African, Spanish, Caribbean, Thai, Japanese, etc..). So, being that I do enjoy frequenting different restaurants in the DMV (for all that don’t know DMV stand for DC, MD, and VA surroundings) I will occasionally provide a review of restaurants I dine at for the first time as well as other restaurants I usually frequent or have dined at in the past.

Today’s restaurant review has to deal with two restaurants I’ve dined at recently over the past two (2) months. I enjoyed my initial visit to these restaurants, hence my return for another dining experience. The first restaurant up is Ceiba (http://www.ceibarestaurant.com/). Ceiba is a Contemporary Latin American cuisine, specifically Yucatan (Vera Cruz and Cancun), Brazilian (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), Peruvian, and Cuban restaurant located in downtown Washington DC on the corner of 14th Street NW and G Street NW. The restaurant has a very nice contemporary atmosphere. The staff is very friendly and attentive. On my first visit to Ceiba’s, I ordered the Conch fritters for the appetizer. Now, I know that all my native Miami faithful are having a flash back of the drive through conch fritters spots in Dade County (For all the non Floridians, Miami resides in Dade County). Unfortunately, the conch fritters I ordered were a disappointment. I guess when the bar for conch fritters has been set due to my visits to different Caribbean Islands, as well as being from the Caribbean and having Caribbean friends, I am going to be very critical. For my entrée, I had the Whole Crispy Red Snapper Vera Cruz. It’s a large red snapper that is fried then stewed down with Tomato Sofrito, Manzanilla Olives, Capers, and Pickled Jalapenos. You talk about delicious. The Red Snapper is served in clay like bowl, with the fish sitting in a tasty tomato stew type liquid. When I say tasty, I mean tasty.

On another visit to this restaurant, I ordered the conch fritters again as my appetizer (assuming that maybe the chef was off during my 1st visit). This time the conch fritters were better, but I must say that they still did not meet or surpass the bar that had been set. For this visit, I went with the Brazilian Shellfish Stew for my entrée. The shellfish stew included lobster, shrimp, and mussels. I must admit that the dish was very tasty.

Another restaurant that I have visited in the past is Cubanos. I have to admit that I do enjoy going to this restaurant. The food is pretty good. It’s a restaurant that one of my friends (shout out to John A.) and I classify as DC good, meaning that it’s probably one of the top Cuban restaurants in DC, but when compared to other Cuban restaurants in cities such as Miami, NY, or Havana, it’s a distant second. I cannot remember the exact name of the dish I had, but it consisted of a fillet of Red Snapper (one of my favorite fish to eat) baked in a banana leaf w/ bell peppers and onions. It is served with white rice, black beans (Frijoles Negros), and plantains (and they are always sweet). This dish is very tasty and I end up having it every time I visit the restaurant.

So, there you have it. I have provided two restaurant reviews hoping that they will inspire, who ever reads this blog, to visit one of them. Until next time, drink wine, eat well, be merry and make memories.

Star Trek Movie Review

Well, today’s blog entry has to do with a movie I recently saw. The review I am about to delve into is the recent release of another Star Trek movie. I have been watching Star Trek for years, starting with the original series (Captain James T. Kirk, Intergalactic player) and ending with the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. Well, I have to admit that I did watch a little of the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 series Starring Avery Brooks (Hawk from that old series called Spencer for Hire that eventually lead to him having his own spinoff called  “A Man Called Hawk”). Sorry for getting sidetracked but I felt the need to give you a little background on how long I have been following the Star Trek series. I would consider myself a fan of the series, but I would not consider myself an overzealous Trekie. Anyway, back to the review at hand. I would recommend this movie to the masses. It has plenty of action as well as introduces the characters to all those who did not follow the series or the previous movies. One thing that it does do is that may be a little confusing for the fans of the series, because it kinds of throws the storylines of the series off, since this movie is considered a prequel.