Encoding a Passphrase in a Bash Script

There's an ftp server I need to access from time to time, and the password is one that was assigned to me, and so not one that is very memorable. Like 87sa!9s8op12mn or something. One solution is to put the password in a script and use that, but there are some obvious reasons that is a bad idea. A better idea is to adapt the encryption and decryption methods mentioned in this post.

First, we need to get an encrypted version of the old password:

echo  '87sa!9s8op12mn' | openssl enc -des -a -e -pass pass:MyMemorablePassword

That returns:

U2FsdGVkX1/ewCk0xYTJF33NCLpJ6eULDqQC60Hh3oY=

So now, in our script, we can simply do this:

PASSWORD=$(echo U2FsdGVkX1/ewCk0xYTJF33NCLpJ6eULDqQC60Hh3oY=  | openssl enc -des -a -d);

When that runs, it will ask us for OUR password, which it will then use to decrypt the actual password.

My First Cat Video!!

I caught our cat Lily playing with one of her favorite toys the other day: a piece of carpet fuzz. Since I happened to have my phone with me, I recorded her. I'm biased, obviously, but I think she is hilarious.

Frank Bruni on the "Gay Marriage" Decision

For anyone who can't understand what Justice Kennedy was going on about when he talked about the dignity denied to gay people, read Frank Bruni's piece in the New York Times.

Racism and the Confederate Battle Flag

Speaking as someone who grew up in the South, and who saw the Confederate battle flag damn near everywhere back then, I have to say it's damn near time it was removed, at least, from public places. But, in truth, I wonder if this isn't a distraction: Take down the flag, and then you don't have to do anything to deal with the actual problems the popularity of that flag indicate.

Having lived in the South, I can say with some certainty that a lot of people with whom the flag is popular really don't understand its true meaning. They really do think of it as a symbol of heritage and rebellion, kind of like a pirate flag. Of course, as Tim Wise argues at AlterNet, that's no excuse:

Those who defend the flag consider the black experience irrelevant, a trifle, hardly worthy of their concern. Who cares if the flag represented a government that sought to consign them to permanent servitude? Who cares if segregationists used that flag as a blatant symbol of racist defiance during the civil rights movement? Remembering the courageous heroics of one’s great-great-great-grandpappy Cooter by waving that flag or seeing it on public property is more important than black people's lived experience of it.

But if that is the real problem, then we need Southern politicians to do more than object to a symbol of racism. We need them to start objecting to racism itself and to stop their cynical exploitation of it for political gain. We need them to start understanding, as Wise says again, that "Sometimes racism isn't about vicious bigotry and hatred...". Though, of course, that may be difficult, since that might mean looking honestly at their own prejudices.

Maybe the best thing about the article, though, it is the way it mocks American exceptionalism, and ties it to American racism:

For Gohmert to claim that [after the gay marriage decision] God's protection will be withdrawn is to suggest that prior to this time we were the active recipients of that protection, that to this point God had shined his light upon America, blessing us with all good things, happy at the sight of our superior morality. And yet, for that to be true, one would have to believe that God saw nothing wrong with the enslavement of African peoples for over two hundred years, the slaughter and forced removal of indigenous peoples from their land, the invasion and theft of half of Mexico, the abuse of Chinese labor on railroads, the internment of Japanese Americans—nothing wrong with lynching or segregation. You would have to accept that God is more offended by marriage equality than any of those things, that God was essentially sanguine about formal white supremacy, and willing to extend his protective blanket over us even in the face of that, but somehow so-called "gay marriage" is a bridge too far.

I'll stop quoting there. Read the article.

Amazing Vegetarian (Mostly Vegan) Thanksgiving Food

OK, it's way early for Thanksgiving, and given the heat around here I'm not even thinking about turning on the oven. But it's nonetheless worth reminding Isobel about these dishes, which we made for Thanksgiving last year. They're due to Bryant Terry, who seems to have made it his life's work to create incredible vegan food.

• Holiday Seitan Roast
  It's possible to make this with store-bought seitan, and if your local store carries seitan from The Bridge that might even be acceptable. (Their tofu is the best I have ever had. I basically don't buy anyone else's tofu.) But Terry's recipe for Homemade Seitan is really easy, and it is really, really good, too. So make it.
• Honeyed Sweet Potatoes
  OMG! These are so yummy!

Here's Terry's wonderful version of the southern classic Smothered Pork Chops.

• Smothered Seitan Medallions in Mixed Mushroom Gravy
  It's amazing how rich and satisfying this is, despite its having very little fat, even in the Gravy, which can of course be used for almost anything.
  Here again, use Terry's Homemade Seitan recipe.

That recipe, and many other amazing ones, can be found in Terry's book Vegan Soul Kitchen. I heartily recommend it, as well as his other books.

While we're at it, let me throw out this vegetarian version of shepherd's pie, which we also made last winter. It's really, really good. I found the recipe at the Vegetarian Times website, but it seems as if it may originally have been due to Annie Somerville, the chef at the famous Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. 

• Wild Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Shepherd's Pies
  We made it in a single, large dish, rather than in the individual dishes, because we didn't have enough ramekins, and it was fine.

There's a companion recipe for Parmesan Mashed Potatoes that I haven't tried yet, but will.

Linguine with Crudaiola (Uncooked Tomato Sauce)

This recipe came from Bon Appetit, but it never seems to have made it to Epicurious. The sauce needs to marinate at least half an hour, and longer if you have the time. So make that ahead. There's almost nothing to be done after that, so this is a good dish for serving to friends, with salad and crusty bread, as a simple but yummy supper.

• 1 3/4 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped
  Since these are not going to be cooked, try to get them as fresh and firm as you can.
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
  This seems to be about 2 ounces of basil, which is a lot. Buy a four ounce container, if you can find one, instead of two one-ounce ones (which may well cost more), and use the rest for something else.
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
  The right way to do this is to heat a small, heavy skillet until it's good and hot and then put in the pine nuts and stir them until they're browned a bit. (Test it by flicking water off your fingers. When the water jumps and spits, it's ready.) The nuts will toast very quickly this way, and you won't be as likely to burn them.
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (or pressed)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 pound linguine
  The original recipe called for taglierini, but I've never seen it
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)

Combine the first seven ingredients in a bowl and marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour and as long as three hours.
Cook the pasta until it's almost done and definitely still firm. (It will cook a bit more later.) Reserving a cup of the liquid, drain the pasta, but don't shake it dry. Put the pasta back in the pot, add the sauce, and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Toss until the sauce is heated through and it coats the pasta, adding water as needed, in small amounts, to keep everything moist. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, tossing to blend, and add a little more water, if need be. Check the seasoning and serve with additional cheese.

Lasagnas for Isobel

Two 'fancy' lasagnas.

• Mixed Mushroom Lasagna with Parmesan Sauce
  A really good lasagna that's fairly easy to make. Most of the work goes into slicing a pound and a half of mushrooms, and then cleaning up the pan that you made the parmesan sauce in.
  I usually use some shiitakes in this, and I've used some wood-ears, too, when I can get them, which gives a really nice flavor.
• Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna
  A holiday staple for us, and always a crowd-pleaser. Just very different from your typical lasagna.
  I often use grated mozarella, purchased just that way, instead of the sliced stuff. Slicing mozarella is a PITA. And I usually use crimini mushrooms, though baby bellas also work, and you can get even more adventurous if you want.

Both these recipes call for no-boil lasagna noodles, and they can be made that way, but I have decided in recent years not to use those ever. They never come out right. So I just use regular lasagna noodles or, better yet, fresh ones.