In today’s delightful news, I drop this nugget in front of you, tail a-wag, and wait for a chorus of GOD I WISH I LIVED THERE.
Now that I check, it’s a paywalled story, so here’s the headline, which is really all you need:
Hamtramck council approves allowing animal sacrifices for religious purposes
And here’s the non-paywalled condensation: The all-Muslim city council was asked to consider whether to outlaw the ritual killing of animals in the name of religion, and decided to weigh in on the side of state and federal law, which allows it, surprisingly. The consideration here isn’t about Santeria, but Islam:
Animal sacrifice is practiced in some religions, specifically around some holidays. In Islam, during Eid al-Adha, or the “Festival of Sacrifice,” some families may sacrifice a sheep, goat, camel or cow.
“There’s a religious and spiritual import to these sacrifices,” Walid said. “It relates to our faith being Abrahamic. The symbolism of the sacrifice in particular around the Eid al-Adha season relates to Abraham giving the permission of sacrificing a ram instead of sacrificing his son based upon a dream he had.”
Walid added: “We would normally sacrifice a sheep or goat. From that meat which is slaughtered religiously, one third is traditionally kept for one family, another third is given to the poor and then another third would be given away to others who are perhaps not indigent but would enjoy the meat. There are a lot of lessons involved in that, being charitable to the poor.”
There are a lot of strings attached to the city ordinance regarding safety, sanitation and clean-up. It’s safe to say no one’s going to be swinging a scimitar at a goat in their front yard. But if it’s done humanely, it’s hard to see a difference from regular commercial slaughter. I also like the idea of giving away two-thirds of the cuts. Not that I am particularly interested in eating goat or sheep, never mind camel.
Weirdly enough, the News didn’t open comments on this one. Gee, wonder why.
The other news of the week: Lynette Hardaway, the Diamond of Diamond & Silk and no don’t ask me which one that is, the talker or the non-talker, because I don’t know, don’t care, and…does this sentence have a landing set up? Whatever. Anyway, Diamond? Is dead. Almost certainly Covid, if you ask me, mainly because they won’t answer questions about it.
And that’s all my midweek news, and inspiration. You should see the sky here — just the most relentless gray blanket imaginable, and no snow.
Brandon said on January 11, 2023 at 3:46 pm
Lamb is easy to find, but not mutton, which is too bad.
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brian stouder said on January 11, 2023 at 4:04 pm
There’s gotta be umpteen easy jokes and puns to be made of the story, involving the pork-ey town name ‘Hamtramck’, and all the turkeys who have a beef with the intersectionality of religion and eating and limits….. we’ll have to let this simmer a bit, before and saucer comments….
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Peter said on January 11, 2023 at 4:43 pm
I would just like to point out that this is Nancy’s fifth post of 2023, and we’re only 11 days in, and I for one am very grateful.
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Basset said on January 11, 2023 at 4:47 pm
More of a harvest than a sacrifice here, or at least an attempt at one, as I play out the string on this year’s deer season. I’m lurking on the edge of a field waiting on ‘em to show up; about an hour of daylight left, we’ll see what happens.
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FDChief said on January 11, 2023 at 4:48 pm
So, animal sacrifice..?
In the Eighties I was posted to a location in the U.S. Southeast. It, like almost all U.S. Army posts, had housing for married soldiers. In said housing was a happy family; mom, dad, kiddos, dog, the usual.
So you know, these little military neighborhoods make “Nextdoor” seem like an idyll of placid indifference. You’re ALWAYS being looked at; by the neightbors, by your chain-of-command, by the post commander’s organization…
So it was not hard to imagine that at some point someone; a neighbor, a superior, one of the neighborhood busibodies…noticed that one day the kids were playing in the yard with Spot and the next day…no Spot.
The authorities were called in, and, you guessed it; Spot was neatly dressed out in the freezer.
Come to find out that post and Army regs, and state law, forbade you from mistreating your dog. Or abandoning your dog.
But nothing in the law said you couldn’t EAT your dog.
I’ll be the dinner parties on that street were a bit subdued after that, though.
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David C said on January 11, 2023 at 5:08 pm
The farmer we used to buy lamb from swears mutton got a bad reputation during WWII when soldiers were fed a lot of crappy mutton from Australia. I never took him up on his offer of mutton so I have no idea how it tastes compared to lamb.
We used to have Hmong neighbors. Every summer for a couple of weeks we would hear roosters crowing. Then one Saturday would roll around and there would be a big party and you didn’t hear crowing anymore. I don’t know if it was ritual sacrifice or just supper.
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Julie Robinson said on January 11, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Well, yanno, roosters don’t lay eggs so they’re pretty much worthless. In farm days of yore they were killed as soon as they were sexed. Plus they get territorial with each other, so you really don’t want more than one.
In personal news, I finally tested negative yesterday afternoon after two weeks. I ventured out on a short Costco trip, fully masked, and then laid down all afternoon from the effort. I readily admit I had stopped masking in public, and I won’t make that mistake again.
What the heck is going on at the FAA?
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David C said on January 11, 2023 at 5:58 pm
I think meat chickens are both roosters and hens, aren’t they? What I know about chickens would have a hard time filling a 3×5 card if you don’t include recipes though. But there was no doubt about it crowing going on.
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Deborah said on January 11, 2023 at 6:08 pm
Years ago when we read Umberto Eco’s Foucult’s Pendulum we learned about the Umbanda and Candomble, which are Afro-Brazillian religions/cults of sorts started when millions of slaves were imported to Brazil from Africa from the early 1500s until the late 1800s. For some reason which I no longer remember this fascinated us. When my husband went to Brazil sometime in the early 90s he decided to attend a Condomble ceremony in a very sketchy part of the slums of Rio. He has a bunch of stories about this experience but most of them revolve around being offered sacrificed animals of unknown origin to eat, and feeling obligated to partake because he was obviously an outsider in the event. The meat was cooked thank goodness and he had no intestinal issues after that, but he ate as little as possible that he could manage and still be polite, he hoped.
I have started reading Cormac McCarthy’s current new novels, “The Passenger” and the last one “Stella Maris” a sequel. I must say I’m not far into into the first one, and boy is it grim. I will continue reading because it’s Cormac McCarthy but it may be a slog unless I get really into it, hopefully I will because of my New Year’s resolution about reading more books. McCarthy lives in Santa Fe and supposedly eats lunch everyday in a restaurant near us in a mall we walk to often. I have not seen him yet, or if I have I didn’t recognize him.
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Heather said on January 11, 2023 at 7:55 pm
I remember a few years ago some people got in trouble for slaughtering a sheep or a goat in their Chicago garage for food. Apparently it is legal to keep said sheep or goat on your private property, but not to kill them (which makes sense in terms of preventing animal cruelty). I seem to recall that the people involved were Eastern European immigrants, maybe Polish. Instead, you’re supposed to take animals to a business that will slaughter them for you–there are a couple of places not far from me. A friend took her chickens there.
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Dorothy said on January 11, 2023 at 8:39 pm
When we went to Ireland and Scotland in September 2019, lamb was the predominant meat in the grocery stores. We rented Air BnBs so we needed a few food items when we moved from place to place. I didn’t want anyone thinking we went to those two countries just to grocery shop.
Has anyone read The Personal Librarian? It’s historical fiction about the J.P.Morgan librarian, Belle da Costa Greene. It’s really good. I’m flying through it. I’ve read a lot more since I retired a year ago and plan to pick it up even more this year.
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Julie Robinson said on January 11, 2023 at 8:54 pm
Dorothy, I read that last year and enjoyed it. In the same vein is Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini, about the black woman who created most of her dresses. She did not have an easy life.
So to be clear, if you have two roosters, one will start attacking the other, and at the first sign of blood all the other chickens will join in and you have a bloody mess.
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FDChief said on January 11, 2023 at 9:35 pm
I seem to recall reading that male chickens can be neutered – the result is a “capon” – to make them less of a pain in the butt and more tasty. Not sure how the hell you physically DO that with no external genitalia.
Mutton is supposed to be similar to lamb but much stronger (i.e. “gamy”) tasting. Apparently it is something of an acquired taste. I’ve had goat, which is sort of lamb-y but was cooked as “barbacoa” so it was less about the critter and more the preparation.
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alex said on January 11, 2023 at 10:38 pm
I could see Tucker Carlson taking the Hamtramck story and starting a new meme about Muslims being exempt from animal cruelty laws and they’re coming for your puppies with knives and forks out. And it’s because Democrats support their religious rights but want to take away your right to eat hamburgers.
Good thing Tucker’s distracted by whaddabout the Biden papers.
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Dexter Friend said on January 12, 2023 at 2:27 am
After April 30, 1975, the incursion into Southeast Asia was over. As time passed, finally The Today Show sent a crew to film post-war Hanoi. As the Tuk Tuk taxi filmed away, they caught a motorcycle laden with puppy dogs in cages , crammed in like sardines. There was no question. Those dogs were never going to be anyone’s friend.
Dad was in the US Navy during WWII, and he would not listen to anyone even talking about mutton. He hated it.
My story involved being served horsemeat, one time, on a Sunday evening meal, warned by Cookie to avoid supper, we thought he was joking…he was not. Fort Knox, 1969.
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Jim said on January 12, 2023 at 7:04 am
“Religion” was invented to legally steal peoples money .
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Suzanne said on January 12, 2023 at 7:52 am
I read The Personal Librarian a year or so ago. It’s a fascinating story but I thought very poorly written so I wasn’t a huge fan of the book. I would like to learn more about Ms Greene, though. She must have been quite a woman!
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ROGirl said on January 12, 2023 at 8:36 am
Alex, I was thinking that he would start ranting about Sharia law.
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FDChief said on January 12, 2023 at 9:33 am
Of all the many irritating things about the reactionary scum that make up U.S. “conservatism” one of the most irritating is their boneheaded braying about anything “woke” from meat inspections to vaccinations.
People like Tuck-tuck and Tubby, all their big names, are all safely protected by modern medicine and healthy food and living conditions. It’s their idiot horde, including poor saps like the now-ex-living “Diamond”, who they gleefully lead into bending over and taking it in the shorts from everything from disease to workplace injuries to gunshots.
I despise all of them because in their idiocy they make life harder for sane people. But I reserve special contempt for people like Carlson, who loll about in safety like scarlet majors while their troops get tossed into the merciless drumfire…
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Dorothy said on January 12, 2023 at 9:41 am
Suzanne I haven’t finished it yet but honestly so far I have no quibbles about the way it’s written. Maybe once I’ve finished it I’ll feel differently. You do know it is written by two women, right? Maybe you are a better and more discerning reader than I and picked up on shifts in the narrative. Also Wikipedia says that Ms. Greene destroyed all of her personal papers (diaries, letters, etc.) before she died so I’m afraid we would never learn anything from her vantage point.
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FDChief said on January 12, 2023 at 9:45 am
And I’m particularly grouchy about the plague rats today because my (vaxxed, boosted, very-careful-about-masking-in-public) friend and her daughter now have the ‘rona, probably because a nimrod with “just the sniffles” attended their scout meeting and dosed everyone.
A reminder – in case the U.S. House GQP isn’t vivid enough – that as my old drill sergeant used to remind us the success of your mission depends on the degree of stupidity of the stupidest person in your unit.
If she still could, Diamond would tell you about the “find out” part of fucking around with that degree of stupid…
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Mark P said on January 12, 2023 at 9:49 am
Today we’re isolated and insulated from the processes that provide our meat, but it is wasn’t really that long ago that it was routine for most people who didn’t live in a big city. My mother talked about how her mother killed chickens — she grabbed them by the head and swung them around, basically twisting the head off. Quick and efficient, but kind of grotesque to our modern sensitivities. Still, I draw the line at dogs. Cats, maybe, though they are probably tough and stringy.
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Jeff Borden said on January 12, 2023 at 10:15 am
You can’t say the QOP isn’t fully committed to its horrible ideas. Even after the drubbing in the midterms, the forced birthers in the House are working on a bill to outlaw abortion. . .obviously knowing full well it will go absolutely nowhere in the Senate. Just more performative politics.
And the attorney general in Alabama, where the infant mortality rate is far higher than the national average because of shitty health care, says he will prosecute women who use the abortion pill. Oh, and expect picketing at CVS and Walgreens because they’ll be selling the abortion pill, led by a group called the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising. They intend to make shoppers feel “uncomfortable.”
Why any woman votes QOP is kind of beyond me.
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JodiP said on January 12, 2023 at 10:40 am
Both of the mentioned books are on my to read list. We visited the Morgan library last August–definitely worth a visit. I learned about it from a podcast Called the Gilded Gentleman. It’s delightful: https://thegildedgentleman.com/
I actually listened to an ad on a podcast (I usually forward through them) and so learned that there is a production of The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I’d not heard of it before, and just listened to the first episode. Too bad I have to work and can’t spend the rest of the day listening!
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Deborah said on January 12, 2023 at 11:00 am
The Morgan Library is a regular visit for us whenever we’re in Manhattan. They always have interesting exhibits and the cafe there is very pleasant. The addition/renovation that is relatively recent was done by the architect Renzo Piano, he did the Centre Pompideu in Paris, and the Modern Wing addition to the Art Institute in Chicago.
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Julie Robinson said on January 12, 2023 at 11:11 am
Mark P, the preferred method at my grandparents’ farm was to chop off the chicken’s head with a hatchet, hold it upside down to bleed out, then carry it inside to begin the process of plucking the feathers. Mom had to help with that last part. They still had chickens when I was a kid and while the bloody tree stump was visible, they never killed one while I was there, thank goodness.
The chickens were what we’d call free range today, meaning they ran all over the yard leaving their droppings everywhere, and gleefully pecking the ankles of little Julie, leaving her terrorized for life.
JodiP, I’d never heard of The Dark is Rising series but will seek it out. Sounds like JK Rowling might have read it too. I was a big fan of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman and if you have HBO, the series they made is excellent.
I’m not proud of this but I just downloaded Spare.
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susan said on January 12, 2023 at 11:23 am
Julie, many may not give a rat’s a$$ about Prince Harry (well, including me), but this was a superb interview by Colbert. Harry kept up with Stephen’s quips, one on one. He’s pretty sharp! And funny. But also talks about very awkward cringey personal sentiments.
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Icarus said on January 12, 2023 at 11:46 am
I would just like to point out that this is Nancy’s fifth post of 2023, and we’re only 11 days in, and I for one am very grateful.
Our Proprietress aside, January is the month that many people find their dormant blogs and vow to write more this year. Same with going to the gym. By the last week of Jan, early February, that trends down to the previous year’s frequency.
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Connie said on January 12, 2023 at 12:17 pm
My grandmother lived in central Grand Rapids. (100 block SE for those who know.) She had a tree stump in her back yard covered with hatchet marks from chicken killing. My mother told me it was her least favorite chore.
I enjoyed the Personal Librarian last year. My best book for last year is A Remarkably Bright Creature by VanPelt.
Don’t miss the film RRR, which beat Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga for Golden Globe best song the other night.
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Sherri said on January 12, 2023 at 12:29 pm
My mother tells of learning the difference between pet and dinner when the goat she thought was the former ended up as the latter. My grandparents would also butcher a hog every year back then.
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Mark P said on January 12, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Julie, my mother so vividly remembered the nastiness of their free-range chicken yard that she was meticulous about making sure any chicken she cooked was absolutely, thoroughly done done done.
And, by the way, today, Jan 12, is my late mother’s birthday. She would be 100.
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Linda said on January 12, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Heather:
No new thing. My Polish grandma on the east side of Detroit regularly killed her own stuff from Chene Market for the table, like ducks and chicken, because how could you tell it was fresh unless you killed it yourself? Also, the market would throw out the parts she wanted most, like the duck’s blood for czarnina, or chicken feet. And when my cousin Dave could he would kill neighborhood squirrels and rabbits for the stewpot. All the neighbors were a generation or two from being peasants or sharecroppers, and felt that a few less critters eating their gardens was a positive thing.
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Sherri said on January 12, 2023 at 1:41 pm
I’ve known a lot of techies who think they’re smarter than everyone, but Sam Bankman-Fried really takes the cake. He’s under house arrest for variety of charges, his friends and co-workers have flipped on him and accepted deals, his parents are law professors, I’m sure his lawyers are telling him to keep his mouth shut, but he just won’t do it. Not only is he still giving interviews, last night *he started a blog on Substack.* The first entry is his defense of how he didn’t steal anything and how given time, he could have made everyone whole!
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LAMary said on January 12, 2023 at 2:45 pm
I buy chicken feet to make stock. They’re always available here in the local supermarket that carries items for Asian and Mexican customers. Chicken feet make excellent stock. I can also get goat heads but I haven’t seen a recipe for goat head show up on the NYT cooking site.
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Icarus said on January 12, 2023 at 2:57 pm
Here’s my chicken story. When we lived in Portage Park, Chicago, a neighbor up the street asked us to watch her chickens while she was away. A very snowy Saturday was followed by a bitter cold. She texted us that night, most likely alcohol-fueled, that she understands if the chickens didn’t make it and not to blame ourselves. As Nightingale had gone to Costco that morning and brought home a rotisserie chicken, I sent her a picture of the roasted bird and we had a good laugh.
What’s the deal with gas ovens? Any word on if it extends to propane grills and gas dryers?
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Mark P said on January 12, 2023 at 3:10 pm
Icarus, I think the gas range “ban” was an almost offhand remark by a CPSC official. He simply left open the possibility that gas ranges could be banned for their impact on indoor air quality and the subsequent effect on some vulnerable populations, like children with asthma.
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Jessica W said on January 12, 2023 at 3:24 pm
With regard to the FAA, it has been using outdated systems with lousy backup for decades. Several attempts to modernize failed mainly due to poorly drawn requirements and extreme mismanagement. My company did some work for them which is how I know. Lots of infighting.
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alex said on January 12, 2023 at 3:29 pm
Can’t believe it’s only just now dawning on me where the colloquialism “choke your chicken” comes from.
I’m not sure how Facebook’s content mediation apparatus works but I keep getting slapped with violations for what I consider to be completely innocent comments. To wit (or not to wit): A friend posted a photo of her grandparents from when they were married in the 1920s and mentioned that her grandmother was considerably older than her handsome husband. I commented “I could rob that cradle.” I then got a notice that I had “violated Facebook’s community standards.”
And yet Facebook is full of patently offensive garbage that would make you believe it doesn’t have any standards. Go figure.
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susan said on January 12, 2023 at 3:58 pm
LAMary, you know where those chicken feet been walking. Nope nope nope.
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David C said on January 12, 2023 at 4:23 pm
My wife was making stock with chicken feet. She was doing something on another burner when one of the feet became buoyant and rose out of the stockpot like it was trying to grab her. I was in the other room and heard her scream. I run in and see her laugh/crying. We’ve never made stock from chicken feet again.
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tajalli said on January 12, 2023 at 4:46 pm
This article explains the proposed legislation banning gas stoves.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/01/11/us-regulators-and-state-lawmakers-consider-banning-gas-stoves-heres-why/?sh=115fd49d4e49
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Deborah said on January 12, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Funny that chicken feet would come up in conversation here, just a few days ago I was introduced to them as food in Whole Foods as they showed up packaged frozen on the check out conveyer belt as the woman ahead of us was purchasing them. I instantly reacted negatively but LB told me that she’s been thinking of purchasing them because she’s learned how effectively they can make stock taste better. I would have a hard time getting past looking at them while cooking.
I find calamari similarly hard to take. Not the ring parts but the little whole squid or octopus (octopi?) that are often cooked and plated in dishes at restaurants. The mouthfeel and sight of those I find offensive, but LB loves them.
There are not many foods that I’m squeamish about anymore but there are some out there that don’t appeal to me in the least.
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jim said on January 12, 2023 at 5:41 pm
My grandmother chopped them on a stump, and then they were hung on the clothesline to bleed out.
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Jeff Borden said on January 12, 2023 at 6:34 pm
As a reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business, I did a story in the early ’90s on the last of the live poultry shops. Most are owned by people from the Middle East and they sell chickens, ducks, pigeons and rabbits. I watched a live chicken killed, bled out, dipped in scalding water and defeathered by a cylinder with big, thick spikes,then gutted, head and feet chopped off and wrapped in butcher paper. It took 4 minutes. The worst thing about the shops, which were primarily in poorer neighborhoods and not air conditioned, so the stench was nearly unbearable.
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Little Bird said on January 12, 2023 at 9:11 pm
I’ve also seen recipes for chicken feet that are very intriguing. I want to try some new things. That in mind, what Deborah didn’t say was that I used to be the most picky eater ever. Calamari (squid) is amazing. Even the tentacle bits that creep her out so much.
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Suzanne said on January 12, 2023 at 9:49 pm
We had chickens when I was quite young, probably 5 or 6. I don’t remember how they were butchered but I do recall how they would, after the head was separated from the body, run around headless. Made me appreciate the phrase “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” because they really do!
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