Lil Bits of Rancor or Not 7/25

Tags

Archaeology, bible, Breads, Catholicism, cornmeal biscuits, economy, Egypt, Election 2008, Greek Mythology, History, Israel, McCain, Media, Middle East, Palestine, Politics, religion, West Bank

Ladies, this is for you. Sorry gents, unless you are feeling particularly girlie, you might want to skip this one. What Greek Goddess are you? N.S. Gill’s Ancient History Blog brings you this fun little quiz to determine which one you most resemble. I’m Athena by the way, a pleasant surprise. Have fun, and guys, go ahead and try it for your favorite significant other.

An extraordinarily good post by Media Matters, reprinted at Alternet. While the media wastes our time telling us about Jesse Jackson’s gaffe, McCain’s unbelieveable statement about Social Security being a “disgrace” goes almost unreported.The selacious wins out over serious issues once again, but not if you follow the link.

Glenn Greenwald reports in a well documented post that Johnny Mac is doing the same thing as Bush did as candidate. And what would that be? Well, stacking the deck as they say. People who seem to be against the old codger are being forcibly evicted from his “open” town meetings. Furthermore, he’s hired the same snake that Bush used for these very events. Bushiness as usual it seems for McBush, and its all negative ain’t it?

A good recipe can still be found here. Nothing is better in the late fall and winter than chili, and nothing sounds better to me with chili than cornmeal biscuits. I loved this recipe from A Mingling of Tastes. If you are inclined pop over and make a copy for yourself.

If you haven’t had a chance, drop by Dancing with Fire run by a dude name Kurt, with a fine sense of anger/humor. We think alike which is why I like him. His post on why you should vote for McCain is worth the trip!

Linda at Essential Estrogen has a wonderful piece with some nice links about the media and how it continues to fail Americafor the most part. She has the amazing opportunity to interview Helen Thomas, so well known to those who follow the White House journalists. She also has remarks from Bill Moyers. Both are worth reading. We bloggers are about the only thing going these days in trying to ask the tough questions and point out the truth as we see it. I as always know I’m on the bottom of this long ladder by I do feel the need to alert people to all the missed questions and missed research that is lacking in the major news media these days. This article is worthwhile.

The Republicans tout “free-market” economies as the only sensible way to go. Let business alone, and all will be fine. But is that true? No, not the fine part, we know that isn’t true, just look around. But have we ever had “free-markets?” Professor Steven Conn takes us on a historical trip to the so-called Gilded Age when free markets were alleged to have held the day. It wasn’t true then, and it’s not true now. It’s really about government supporting business, giving them what they want. Learn as I did that it ain’t really so, this laissez-faire they keep talking about.

Sr. Joan Chittister weighs in on the latest disciplinary action taken against Sr. Louise Lear. She cautions that the Catholic Church is punishing questioning Catholics instead of those who actually do evil things. Moreover, many who are excommunicated historically have a nasty habit of ending up being sainted in later years. Does this suggest we ought to temper our use of punishment in the Church? She sees some evidence of that in Pope Benedict’s fine warning to the Anglicans to not divide over their issues of homosexuality and women. Perhaps he is also speaking to the ultra right wing wingnuts in his own Church. I hope so.

There are things that the internet is perfectly adapted to. This is one of them. Live Science reports that biblical scholars are intent on putting together an entire online copy of the oldest copy of the New Testament. Bit and pieces are scattered around the globe, but the internet can bring them all together. I for one will be excited to see it. Look for Codex Sinaiticus to be available next July. The Codex shows a different ending for Mark that we are accustomed to, and books that were not admitted to the official canon, such as the Epistle of Barnabus.

I find that one of the things I do most here is clear up stuff the media fails to clear up. Of course, I’m reporting mostly what others are doing, and simply picking it up for you. Passing it along as it were. I think it might be worthwhile if you subscribe to Media Matters. They try to pick up and research virtually every statement and claim made by the candidates and where they are wrong. I can’t of course begin to do them all, so if you want to be updated on the truth instead of the lazy person’s version which is passed off to you by mainstream media, the hop over to http://mediamatters.org and pick up a subscription to their feed or get their newsletter. You will be glad you did so you can cut through the crap.

Raising Yousuf and Noor takes reports a story sent to her by a Palestinian man and his Gaza born wife. Their trials and tribulations living in West Bank Ramallah, occupied by the Israelis. Sounds a bit like living in Baghdad these days under the US occupation. These vignettes of life that others are forced to lead, remind us in the states, just how very lucky we are by comparison.

What many of us fail to realize is that history is seldom over. What? Well I mean that we keep finding new stuff that helps us understand what happened, and then somebody writes a revision of what we thought we knew. The advent of technology busting out all over has indeed helped this process immeasurably. Techniques for extracting text from what fifty years ago might have been unthinkable rags offer insights into history never before dreamed of. History is written by not only the winners but also the rich. Now efforts are being made to uncover a bit more of real life in Egypt in the vicinity of 300-30 BCE. Read about the fascinating methods used and what is being uncovered at rogueclassicism.

Well these are the bits and pieces I’ve collected over the week. Hope you find a link or two that tickles your fancy.

Breathing Life Deeply

Tags

Archaeology, Breads, cake, coffeecake, corn, Crafts, dessert, dieting, evolution, fruit, geology, Italian, Literature, pasta, Pizza, potatoes, psychology, quilting, recycling, salad, science, volcanoes, world history

These haunting eyes are of  a Nova-Walpi, North American Indian. I sadly don’t know if Nova-Walpi is a tribe or Nova is his name. Such things didn’t seem important enough to record I guess. The picture was taken by Edward Sheriff Curtis in 1904.

One  can but guess at his thoughts, a whole different life and wayy of seeing the world are hidden from us, but we are called  inward and can somehow feel him through his penetrating eyes.

Oh a busy day, in fact, they are all busy at this point, trying to catch up for long days spent inactive while the rains continued. Now we are a buzz with busyness. The garden seems okay, but as i said, much may be so stressed that it will simply put on a quick flourish to set some seeds and then die. Nothing to do but wait and hope for the best.

I did my cleaning today and then went for my walk, something I started yesterday. Trudging up the hill is hard, so I don’t go far yet. It’s a half mile to the road, and i went at best 2/5 of a mile. Not far. At one time I walked sometimes six miles, though four was more normal. I’ll extend the distance next week. Bear went along with me, going into the corn fields to take a pee. Not very nice of him. I am as always enchanted by what I see, the lovely green fields, the sounds of so many birds, the tracks of so many animals.

A buck must have walked down the lane, since I saw a very large track today. No doubt following what was obviously a doe and her fawn. The cute little tracks of the baby, no doubt fascinated by all he or she saw. A coon also passed by, and a pheasant for sure. The coyotes have stayed away of late. We also think that a big cat is about though we only saw him once. He was running across the field to the north, and had that tale so like a cat, long and kind of swaying. It was definitely not a coyote. Such tales are always around, but nobody has every killed or found one dead, so it always remains mystery.

I made meatballs and sauce for spaghetti today. I had made foccacia a couple of weeks ago, and I got the leftovers into the freezer for just such a meal as this. I don’t think I’ll bother with a salad. Plenty to eat without it, and we had one a couple of days ago. I did the Cilantro Chicken from last weeks blog recipes. It really was good. Plenty of leftover chicken breast and that will make a nice chicken salad for Saturday. Tomorrow is hamburgers with some of that chipotle-cheese sauce that I also featured last week or the week before.

We watched something on the news that caught us up. Dogs and cats who have been given up due to floods or losing homes in the mortgage foreclosure disaster. We’ve decided to take in a new dog, and later I’m going to try to locate where to go here in Iowa. It just broke my heart, so many of the little guys in shelters not understanding what has happened to their world. Our two dogs are 9 and 11 respectively, so it’s a good time to transition we thought. We love them so much, and nothing can replace them, but we have room for more, and can’t stand to see so many lost when we can offer them a good home and safety.

Boy, I’m yacky. Better get on to see if anything new is out there in internet land.

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101 Cookbooks has some tips on making pizza on the grill. Although her ingredients are a bit foofoo for my more pedestrian tastes as far as pizza goes, the tips are still valid of course. If you are thinking of trying this, and it does sound fun, then give it a look.

If scones are something you would like to try, then skip over to A Mingling of Tastes and find her recipe for Oat Scones with Dried Cherries and Walnuts. They are easy to make and serve as a nice alternative to the usual muffins or toast. A bonus, there are two other muffin recipes that lead into the scone one, so you get three great recipes! 

Since the 4th is on the way, I thought I might give you my potato salad recipe. I have only found one other that matched it. But I realize that potato salad  is one of those things that people tend to like the way mom made it. Here goes, and these are estimates on ingredients, I don’t measure a thing.

Sherry’s Awesome Potato Salad

Potatoes, 5-6 medium large or equivalent of waxy potatoes like Yukon
An equal number of eggs hard boiled. 6 if using Idaho potatoes
scallions, about 6, tops and green parts sliced thin
radishes, about 8, chunked so they will hold up for a few days
sour dill pickles, about 2 medium finely diced
about 1/3 cup of green olives, diced
dressing:
mayo, a good cup
dijohn mustard, and yellow mustard, about 3 TBSP's in all
salt, pepper,
celery seeds
a bit of juice from the dill pickles or olives 1/4 c. or so
mix it all together, decorate if you desire with fresh chives,
parsley, and some like sweet pepper slices. That's it.
Adjust anything to the tanginess you like. It's the dill pickles
that make the difference here.

ALemon Glazed Bundt Cake might be just the thing for that 4th of July celebration. If so, Chocolate and has a nice recipe for you. I think I’m going for gooey Molten Lava cakes myself, but I love lemon desserts a lot and this will be on my radar for later this summer.

Garrison Keillor graces us again with his wit. Today he counsels that Barack Obama could learn a thing or two from Jesse Ventura. Do say? Always fun and a nice change of pace from our favorite pundit on life!

One of the things that keeps history interesting, is that there are so many different ways to approach it. It is surely true that history is written by and large by the victors, but today, with so many more tools of examination, historians can look at it from a number of different ways and pull out the threads of unknown facts drawing a clearer and very different interpretation. One way is to examine history from the point of view of colonialism. Read more at History News Network.

Another of those great science things. Archaeologists who look for bones, have uncovered the earliest known 4 legged animal scull. They expect that this will help them understand that important transition between fish and those creatures that first walked on the earth. I don’t know about you, but this stuff always fascinates me. I feel like I’m taking a walk along my family tree. It lived 365 million years ago, and lived in water. They think it looked a bit like an alligator but with fins. Cool eh? Thanks to Live Science for the story.

If you are a baby boomer as I am, this next one also from Live Science may be of interest. Are you blue, and prone to being in the dumps a lot? Seems there is a good reason for that. Boomers, says the Pew Report, are just not very enthusiastic about the future. Looking around the economy, and the world, I can see why. Sigh, boy this bums me out!

On Faith has a compelling question: What book has made a difference in your life? I mean, where do I start? It seems every ten years or so, I would revise the list. Most everyone would agree that the bible or your choice of religious book qualifies. But oh the other possibilities are endless. Mailer’s the Naked and the Dead made an impact on me on the subject of war that I have never forgotten. I think I see a separate post for this. How bout we look at the subject Sunday?

The Scythians were horsemen in Central Asia. A very well preserved body of a Cavalier was found in 2006. Much has been learned about the gentleman since then. He died some 2,300 years ago. An amazing amount is known about him and his life through the use of modern forensic tools. Read this interesting account at Rogueclassicism.

Scientists did not believe it possible. They were wrong. It seems volcanoes are busily blowing their cool, errr, hot in very deep waters in the Arctic Ocean. The great pressures and weight of the water were thought to prevent this occurrence. Not so, not so. Read more at Science Daily.

New news for dieters! If you want to lose weight, stop thinking about dying for crying out loud. And the thoughts don’t have to be directly about yourself. Watching death related material such as crime shows, and the awful news, also contribute. We get the munchies it seems. Wow, somebody will be writing a book about this. “Diet with Laurel and Hardy,” coming to a bookstore near you!

Truly, nothing says summer better than corn salad. You can make this in any number of ways, as long as you start with grilled or seared corn kernels. Then add whatever fresh veggies, (also grilled) and do the dressing and boy you have got a great accompaniment to just about any summer dinner. I’m adding it to my July 4th day menu I do believe. So far that makes the  Texas Brisket barbecue, potato salad, pea salad, and corn salad, and the molten chocolate lava cakes. Simply Recipes has the wonderful recipe.

I just love these copycat recipes. The Secret Recipe Blog today gives us the wonderful  Macaroni Grill’s “Penne Rustica.” This recipe should probably be cut in half for the normal family. I can’t even begin to think about a sauce that requires 8 cups of cream!

Oh I found a recipe that is well, time consuming and a tad expensive to make, but I think it worthy of your attention. Tuscan CoffeeCake Bread. I mean is this made for Sunday on a lazy hot day or what? The wonders of dried fruits and warm fresh bread, with butter melting. Oh, I may get the vapors just thinking of it. I have to get some of the dried fruit, but I am definitely making this recipe. The Sour Dough is to be thanked for this gem of a bread.

The Village Shop Blog shows off some of her work that is going in a new shop as “samples” of what a person can do. I’ve never been asked to do this, and with good reason! I think they are simply lovely and so very encouraging to me as a sometime quilter.

Tip Junkie has a host of tips. They go from fun and funky craft ideas to recycling ideas. The recycling craze is really catching on as more folks realize that with prices increasing everywhere on everything, a premium is now placed on getting the full usage possible out of everything. You can find some good stuff here.

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How about some Murphy’s Laws:

Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then..

If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Trust everybody … then cut the cards.

All the good ones are taken.
If the person isn’t taken, there’s a reason

Money can’t buy love, but it sure gets you a great bargaining position.

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you are.

Friendly fire ain’t.

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch to be sure.

Are YOU Listening?

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Asteroids, baseball, Breads, Breakfast rolls, Bush, chicken, chocolate, church/state, Civil War, Condiments, Constitution, Coolidge, Crafts, Desserts, eclipses, economy, Election 2008, environment, Father's Day, foreign policy, fruit, fundamentalism, Gardening, gay rights, greed, Iowa, lobbyists, Media, medicine, morality, pie, potpourri, quilting, SCOTUS, sin, witchcraft, Women's history, world history

After having done the laundry room yesterday, I can sure say I’m glad that I don’t have to do my washing outdoors like these women. This is listed as women washing from North Dakota 1900-1910 from the Fred Hultstrand Photo collection, located at the Library of Congress.

Did I tell you I’m totally blessed with a wonderful husband? The Contrarian has graciously taken on the task of some housework and cooking today as my digestive issues returned with a fury last night. It’s the most confounding disease, and you can never peg how long it will last and how severe it will be. The last time, hardly a week ago, was a cake-walk. This morning I awoke feeling beaten to a pulp and I’m still belching up a storm. Sorry for being so graphic. I’m just tired mostly and so this is the perfect place for me; a long session traveling the internet in search of the stories you can’t live without. So let’s get to it.

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101 Cookbooks has a most interesting dessert recipe made with cream cheese and tofu and chocolate. It sounds a bit weird but Heidi promises that it’s a real taste sensation. It’s called Heavenly Pie. Drop by and take a look and see what you think. She changed up some of the ingredients and I suspect you can do the same.

I think sweets are on my mind today. Abby Sweets has a delicious sounding recipe for  Pecan Honey Sticky Buns that I think might peak your interest. It sure did mine. This is the perfect brunch item for those lazy Sunday mornings, lolling on the terrace with coffee and the paper. Okay, sitting in a lawn chair, reading a good novel and swatting flies and trying to keep them off your buns!

First off let me say that I very much admire Tiger Woods. Even though I basically despise golf, we cheer him on in every contest that I am forced to watch. I find him a terrific roll model for kids and frankly a roll model for us all by and large. That said, I found this article disturbing. Does Mr. Woods owe us some kind of moral response to wrongs in society? Read about his partnership with Chevron and see what you think?

The sickening cesspool of Iraq seems to be sucking our money faster than water drains from a tub these days. In another stunner, a Pentagon audit finds 15 BILLION dollars unaccounted for. That’s your money and mine folks, and it’s intolerable as I see it. When oh when is somebody(s) going to be held accountable? It seems the only people doing well are Halliburton and Blackwater.

First Lady of Baseball? Oh I bet you wonder who that might be. It will be a surprise I can tell you, most unlikely. Travel to the American Presidents Blog and get the answer and a nice little vignette about the president’s wife who had a passion for the game.

I talk long and hard about the misuse of history to further personal agendas. No one is more guilty of that than David Barton, alleged historian and distorter of all that is history. Mr. Barton, head of “Wallbuilders” is on a crusade to prove that America is a Christian nation and he lets no facts get in the way of that mission. Read a scathing but accurate report from American Revolution Blogand Lindsay Shuman. We first heard of Mr. Barton on a skimming of the religious cable channels. He was doing a series based on his book before two evangelical preachers, who nodded and oohed and ahhed at his every “revelation.” Pure utter nonsense, but to the unlearned sounds mighty fine no doubt.

No one who reads this blog regularly has any real question about where I stand on most issues. I am pretty vocal. I am appalled a the idea that McCain could have the opportunity to continue the reorganization of SCOTUS to reflect an ultra conservative agenda which tramples on individual rights, protects business excess and promotes majority rule over protection of minority rights. But sometimes, I figure you are entitled to both sides, and I especially enjoy giving you that when I can send you to a place that gives you intelligent, fair coverage of both sides. Bill Moyers Journaldoes just that. Read the discussion of “How strictly should the Constitution be followed?” featuring Jeffrey Toobin and Thomas Sowell. Yes, Sowell writes for NRO, and mostly I think he is a wingnut, but read on and see what you think.

Say what you will, the Bushites continue to at least provide plenty of hysterical fodder for water cooler giggling. The latest is storming the airways and blogosphere today. Scott McClellan, former WH press secretary has a book out and boy is it causing a stir. The WH is exclaiming, “this ain’t the Scott we knew.” It’s a hoot I tell you, and everyone is talking. Read Blue Girl Red State‘s humorous biting take on the media frenzy that is just starting up. As I ran though a dozen or more stories about this, it seems apparent that the WH has joined ranks and officially are pretty much proclaiming that poor Scott has obviously lost his mind. To a person they say, “This can’t be Scott, something has happened to him.”

Still looking for more and better excuses to imbibe? Wine I mean. Well Britannica Blog has more for you. It actually may help prevent certain types of liver disease, and don’t we all want to do that? So sip away, and know that you are doing your heart and your liver good.

For some this is definitely too much effort period. But think again. Making hamburger buns homemade will surely set you apart, create lots of talk in the neighborhood and make lots of women hate you for being so, well, super! I suspect you will find that they, like most things, taste ever so much better than the gluey tasteless things we get from Wonder Bread. Coconut & Lime has the recipe.

Of course with the summer grilling season just underway, we are all looking for new recipes to wow friends and neighbors. Nothing gets more tiresome that the usual, ribs, barbecue chicken and brats, so take a look at Citrus Chicken under a Brick and do something new and exotic to boot. Thanks to Epicurious for this one. I love to butterfly chicken and weight it down like this. It just works wonderfully.

Lucy Rebecca Buck was a diarist, and if you are interested on her take on the Civil War as she lived through it, be sure to make it to Civil War Women and read her mini-biography of this woman. Different from her usual nurses, this lady wrote daily of what life was like for her during this period. I find these accounts simply fascinating. A snapshot of another world in another time and place. You come away with an entirely different feel for history and you undoubtedly realize how little we have changed over time.

Gardening Tips and Ideas has a great post on creating your own potpourri from your own garden. She gives you all the information you need to create your own jars of aroma. Just a few things will be purchased, the rest comes from your own lovely roses and herbs. Enjoy this crafting delight.

Garrison Keillor has a post on soldiering. A bit late, but certainly with so many of our young men and women still in harm’s way, it’s still topical. Mr. Keillor has a wonderful way of putting things in perspective and giving us a good ponder. Somehow I don’t think Harley Davidson will be offering Garrison a contract to promote hogs any time soon.

Monday in my Editorial, I alluded to the politics of yesterday promoted by Bush/McCain–one shall not speak to those we are opposed to. I find it more dangerous that the rational approach suggested by Mr. Obama. A couple of history profs tend to agree with me it seems and find that other US presidents also did as well. Read “Must We Ever Fear to Negotiate” at History News Network.

History of American Women features a lady accused of witchcraft back in our colonial time. Elizabeth Jackson Howe was born in England and immigrated to the colonies as a very young child. Things went bad in Ipswitch and poor Mrs. Howe was accused of causing illness through witchcraft. She was tried in Salem in 1692. Convicted, she was hung on July 19. A sad blot on our history indeed.

Are you sick of the media frenzy that we encounter daily on so-called gaffes of the candidates? I sure am. Inside-Out the Beltway has a fine post on being fed up with non-news and the increasing case that the media at large has lost its ability to report NEWS.

If you have a moment, drop over to inspired by antique quilts and get a look at the lovely butterfly motif quilt she has done. It’s simply lovely and perfect for a girl’s bed, or your own certainly. A wall hanging would be fine also. It certainly looks homey and comfy and just makes me feel warm all over on this still chilly day.

Sister Joan Chittister has a great post about how we are again losing our way in this election cycle. Much like Inside-Out the Beltway, she decries the non-news that the media remains focused on and finds again, that women take the brunt of the slams. Read her always interesting takes on the world, and politics today.

We talk about terrorism as a given,  and a growing crisis in the world. Certainly a number of folks, mainly McCain and the warmongering Bushites play on our fears almost constantly, mostly to hide their own ineptitude and personal agendas. However, what is the real state of terrorism today? Fareed Zakaria points out that the idea that terrorism is on the rise is flawed, and suggests that the culprit is, you guessed it, the American government. See how the Simon Fraser Study, done in Canada, sets the record straight.

The subject is greed, remember the movie with Michael Douglas? Greed he said was “good.” Well, we have been greedy haven’t we, we in the US that is, and we collectively in the West. How’s that doing for for ya now? On Faith takes on the subject with the posts from a the panel and plenty of comments. Weigh in on this fascinating moral, economic topic of the day.

George Will on Sunday’s George Stephanopolous show said in regards McCain’s cleaning house of his lobbyist bloated campaign, “he honestly believes it doesn’t matter since he is honest.” Well bully for him. I don’t buy it. I can swim with the slime but not get slimed is a poor way of convincing me for sure. It just makes me crazy to think that he proposed legislation some years ago to ban what he got caught doing to such an extreme that he instituted a “new” policy to do what he tried to legislate years before. Uh, what? Okay, let me start again. He introduced legislation I’m told to disallow candidates from hiring lobbyists for their campaigns. That didn’t pass so he then fills his campaign with lobbyists? And when the press called him on it time and again for their sleazy associations, he then institutes a “new” policy banning all lobbyists from his campaign. Is he nuts? Anyhoo, go to Political Animaland read Kevin Drum’s latest scoop from MSNBC. Seems McCain’s national campaign co-chair was working for a Swiss bank lobbying Congress about the mortgage crisis at the same time that he was advising McCain on economic strategy. McCain is obviously suffering from dementia.

I guess eclipses still cause a minor flurry of excitement around the world today. Solar more so than lunar certainly. Did you know that they have stopped battles and induced truces on the spot historically? Rogueclassicism has a nice piece on eclipses over history and how they effected the lives of those who witnessed them.

I believe that for the first time, polls in California suggest that the electorate there by a slim margin now favor gay marriage. This will come as a shocking thing to the reactionary right who claims they are the arbiters of all things moral. I can hardly wait to check out the forums where there will be much gnashing of teeth no doubt.

Oh and in case you missed it, McCain and Bush were scheduled to hold an open fundraiser a few days ago, which is why McCain couldn’t make the vote for the Iraq funding or the new GI Bill (convenient of course). Trouble is and was, that there were so few tickets sold, they turned it into a house party, and closed it, afraid that more protesters would show up than supporters. It’s too too funny. Seems the Mac is between a rock and hard place these days.

Glenn Greenwald has another of his killer posts on journalists and their desire to find themselves innocent of lazy work during the run-up to the war. Only Katie Couric it seems even suggested that the media could have done a better job. Most defended themselves saying they asked a lot of questions. LOL. It’s an excellent post, and one I suggest you should read. This is why blogging has taken on greater importance. Anyone who knows history knows that a free often belligerent press is what helps keep us free. These people cave in at the first threat of loss of access and its despicable.

Well ya can’t say that Iowa isn’t in the forefront of important stuff. Researchers at the University of Iowa are setting up the Asteroid Deflection Research Center to bring scientists from around the world together in the development of new technologies to protect the planet should we face an impeding killer asteroid strike. I feel a good deal safer knowing that, and I’m sure you do as well.

A strawberry rhubarb terrine? Oh that sounds mighty fine to me. I adore rhubarb as I might have mentioned once or twenty times. Simply Recipes has a great summery treat to make.

Are you addicted to Taco Bell’s hot sauce? Well probably not, but then again, maybe you are. Anyway, Secret Recipe Bloghas the copycat recipe for you. And hey, making your own taco sauce is not a bad thing, and it’s probably way cheaper than buying the bottled stuff. I may well give it a try when the jalapenos are ready to harvest.

This posting caught my eye, because, well frankly I think the dude is right. I’m outraged about torture being done in my name by my government. And if you peruse the blogosphere, plenty of other people are as well. But I don’t frankly see a lot of media attention being given to the subject. Believe me, if the media smelled in the lightest whiffs of a breeze that the public cared about this subject, they would be covering it daily. The Nation asks, “Where is the Outrage?” and I have to say, yeah, exactly where is it America?

To the seven deluded people in America who don’t think that McCain is just another Bush in disguise,the proof would tend to be in the voting record would it not? Obama will surely have a field day in arguing that McCain voted for Bush policies 100% of the time in 2008 and 95% of the time in 2007. So much for distancing! Think Progress gave us the news.

Tip Junkie has a number of links to sites with ideas for crafters who want to make something special for that man in your life for Father’s Day. There is quite a long list with plenty of variety, so get busy and make something special for Dad this year.

We linked you to a bio today of a woman hanged in Salem after being convicted of witchcraft. We look upon these things as horribly misguided actions by people who were backward in thinking. Amazing as it may seem, 15 women have been executed in Africa for just that offense recently. Kenyan mobs have done this, sad to say, rounding up “offenders” in villages and burning them to death.  Our thanks to Women of History for the story.

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“Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.” Edward Gibbon

“Men live in a fantasy world. I know this because I am one, and I actually receive my mail there.”  Scott Adams

“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” Anais Nin

“My mother buried three husbands, and two of them were just napping.” Rita Rudner

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More crazy product warnings:

Earplugs
These ear plugs are nontoxic, but may interfere with breathing if caught in windpipe

Mattress
Warning: Do not attempt to swallow

Fix-a-Flat
WARNING: Do not weld can to rim.

Rain Gauge
Suitable for outdoor use.

RCA Television Remote Control
Not Dishwasher Safe

Road Sign
Caution water on road during rain.

Road Sign
Cemetery Road. Dead End

Children’s Superman Costume
Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

Rowenta Iron
Warning: Never iron clothes on the body.

Nabisco Easy Cheese
For best results, remove cap.

Japanese food processor:
Not to be used for the other use.~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

 

The cruise liner Norwegian Spirit crashed into a Manhattan pier. The entertainment director tried to spin it positive. “Today our ship photographer will take your photo in front of some ruins. – Alan Ray, Stockton, Calif.

According to a new study, teenage girls whose boyfriends are gang members are nearly twice as likely to become pregnant as girls not dating boys in gangs. This study was conducted by Dilmore University of Hoboken (DUH).

A 77-year-old man has become the oldest person to reach the summit of Nepal’s Mount Everest. He made it by repeating over and over to himself, “I haven’t fallen so I CAN get up.” –– Paul Seaburn, Spring, Texas

Hillary thanked NASA profusely for the encouragement and vowed to fight on now more than ever after Phoenix’s photographs of Mars revealed there is as much life there as in her campaign. – Eugene Cappuccio

Both George Bushes have been accused of being in bed with the Saudis for years. But when they ask for a favor — more oil — they get a resounding no. I guess they just aren’t very good in bed. – Charles Almon