Ever since my better half and I commissioned another renovation of our humble condo, we have been staying at our very gracious neighbour's place 5 floors above us. She has yet to move in completely, so she has neither phone nor internet access. This is the main reason that new blog entries have been non-existent. However she does have a 30" Sony television. I had a set of rabbit ears that Jenn's sisters gave me for Christmas a couple years back, so we decided to re-immerse ourselves in broadcast news. So far, we have been able to pickup CTV, CBC, TVA, and Global. What I find most interesting is that the news broadcasts from these distinctly Canadian television stations include a suspiciously high number of stories about Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain, American presidential hopefuls. During the past week, the stories have been somewhat supplanted by coverage of Maxime Bernier and his ex-girlfriend Julie Couillard. I'm not sure this is an improvement.

Recipe Thievery
Nevertheless, an interesting thing happened during the ongoing McCain campaign. In what was most likely an intent to portray the McCain family in a Norman Rockwell light, John's wife Cindy posted "family favourite" recipes on the McCain campaign website. They were credited to Cindy's accomplished skills and included such dishes as Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage Slaw, Passion Fruit Mousse, and Farfalle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas and Mushrooms.

Sometime mid-April, Jonathan Martin, political columnist and prolific blogger (politico.com), discovered that, at least, three of the recipes were lifted directly from the Food Network. Another, clearly came from Rachael Ray, but included minor modifications. The story was later picked up by David Weiner of the Huffington Post, the LA Times, and CNN. CNN even dubbed it "recipe-gate." The recipes were quickly pulled once their plagiarism became national news. The McCain's then reportedly blamed an intern for the controversy.

Here are two comparison images that capture both recipes from the McCain website and originals from the Food Network. They come from politico.com.

Courtesy of Cindy McCain...erm...I mean Kathleen Daelemans

Was Cindy channeling her inner Giada?

Given how easy it is to source information on the web, this is downright shameful. As a foodie who blogs because of his love of food, I try my best to respect the originators of the recipes I attempt and and take full responsibility for the sometimes less than positive results. This also goes for the blog entries I write. Readers will find my entries littered with either annotations or links to originating sources of information.

Epic Fail
Annotations and links are extremely important when sourcing information on user-generated content-based websites. Speaking of which, I sometimes worry about restaurant owners taking issue with my negative reviews. While I stand by my reviews and base them on fact, I find myself somewhat leary after learning of a restaurateur who took it upon himself to censor a negative online review of his establishment by threatening the livelihood and well being of a reviewer.

The review was originally submitted to Yelp.com, a user-generated content-based website, and it concerned the owner of Beso Mexican Grill & Cantina, Derek Onstott, so much that he determined the identity of the reviewer (aka a Yelper) and embarked on what amounts to a campaign of terror. The following is a transcript from reemabeidoh.com of one of Onstott's telephone tirades.

Hi Rebecca this is Derek. I am calling in one last attempt to have you remove your review, and I spoke to my attorney about the first review you posted. I printed it out. That is defamation of character my attorney and will slap a lawsuit on you if the review is not gone in 24hrs. You never dined here. You don?t have receipt from here. You drank here, no service, no food? I will sue you. Your review has nothing to do with my restaurant? Trust me I will spend $10k in lawyers to win a $100k from you. I will drag your name through the mud, I *&$-ing mean it. I will drag your *&$-ing name through the mud. This is my livelihood. You drag my name through the mud I will drag yours. And mess up your life and job.

The restaurant itself is located in St. Louis. The incident has been tracked on many a blog by bloggers, restaurant-goers, and concerned citizens. This includes the hestreisandeffect.com, dulq.com, and pollsb.com.

I hope that the reviewer, who goes by the handle "anonymous restaurant girl" on reemabeidoh.com, does not come to any harm. Considering the number of people reading related content on digg.com, I've a feeling that Derek Onstott has heaped upon himself some unwelcome attention. Epic fail indeed!

Incidentally, according to the riverfronttimes.com, Derek Onstott isn't an entirely trustworthy businessman. He isn't new to making scenes in the restaurant business or being belligerent.



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