Bigger Brains, Little Sense

Tags

Andrew Cuomo, Carl Paladino, Catholic Church, Catholics for Equality, cookies, divorce, gay rights, geography, Individual Rights, invasion of privacy, new world order, Recipes, right wing religious, teabaggers

It should come as no surprise faithful readers that I think that a goodly portion of humanity is rather worthless debris. It continues to marvel my intellect that a surprising number of questionable humanity can walk and chew gum at the same time. Clearly a good number cannot.

From time to time I conclude that this proves that God is busier than I think, and only has time to do a drive by old planet Earth every few millennium or so, taking note that shockingly we still haven’t blown ourselves to smithereens yet.

I make light, but the subject is most serious. A young man, aged 18, took his own life after learning that two fellow students at Rutgers had web cast his room and had broadcast him having a sexual encounter with another male student. The students, both also 18, are being charged with the tame sounding “invasion of privacy,” apparently the only charge that will fit this 21st century crime.

One can wax for pages on how stupid one must be to know that such a thing is utterly wrong. I mean really don’t we expect more of a ten-year-old than this? I have zero sympathy for the two, and hope that they receive more public vilification than any court can hand out. I am not prepared to hear one word of, “we never for a moment thought it would lead to this,” kinda crap.

Nothing more to say on this one, it’s too despicable for words.

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I wrote a piece on dissent in the Catholic Church which can be found at my other site, Walking in the Shadows. You might find it interesting even if you are not a believer, nor a Catholic. It discusses the responsibility of dissenters to speak truth as they see it. Concomitant to that, I learned that a new Catholic organization has been formed. NCR reports that Catholics for Equality will work for marriage equality, and other issues of importance to the LGBT community.  CFE is founded by Father Joseph Palacios and others. Fr. Palacios points out that while 52% of all Americans support gay relationships, 62% of Catholics do.

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On a light note: don’t try this at home. This is only for experts. Sit in a comfortable chair. Now raise your right leg and twirl your foot in a clockwise direction. Now raise your right hand and draw the number six in the air. See what has happened to your foot. Now keep doing it until you got it right. Your skeleton will be removed when you have been missed by someone.

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A new and kinda fun blog is called: How to Become a Better You in 365 Days. It has a lot of different aspects, such as good old advice about growth and personality, some excellent recipes, and quotes of the day. Worth a look-see at least. Inspirational, and fun at the same time.

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Ree over at Pioneer Woman has a really really decadent cookie recipe that features oatmeal, M & M’s, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pecans and Rice Krispies. Ya know you wanna try ’em. There are 3,722 pictures, so if you just want the recipe, it’s down at the bottom of the post all nice and neat for ya.

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Mafia Don, turned Teabagger, Carl Paladino, threatened a reporter who wanted proof of Paladino’s claim that his opponent, Andrew Cuomo had cheated on his wife. (Paladino finally admitted to his wife, that he had fathered ten years before, a daughter by another woman.) The Godfather would be proud. Paladino called out the reporter: “I’ll take you out, buddy.”

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Don’t get me wrong here. I am in no way in favor of overly strict religious laws against divorce. They don’t prevent divorce and they  seem to encourage rather transparent attempts to call it something else–such as an annulment. However, RightWingWatch does have a point when it complains that the right-wing wackos are into every aspect of our sexual lives, always condemning,yet curiously, they are silent on divorce. And I would be the first to admit, that the bible does speak fairly directly on the issue. You’d think that there might be more bible banging about divorce. How come there isn’t? Read the post and see. I think I agree.

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I’ve long believed that nation-states and their silly borders, are just that, silly. I’ve predicted their demise. (well, I predicted it to myself at least, and that does count!) Finally, somebody agrees with me! New Geography to be specific. In an article about the “New World Order” (here come the apocalyptic doomsdayers ala Jack Van Impe!), they find that race, ethnicity, religion and culture are the main drives today around which we are forming. It’s a most interesting look at how the world divides up along new parameters.

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In our quest to understand the beastie that is Teabaggerism, we offer you a great piece by Kevin Drum over at MotherJones. Not only does it help us define who they are, but it links up to some very valuable articles that further flesh out our understanding. I think this is worth your time. It’s only three pages, and the links, I’ve yet to investigate myself.

Well enuf! Have a good one!

Related Articles

• Cheating Carl Paladino Accuses Andrew Cuomo of Cheating on His Wife [Polidicks] (gawker.com)

What’s Up? 06/21/10

Tags

bible, Books, cookies, gay rights, GOP, heroism, Jesus, reading, Recipes, sacrifice, teabagger, Texas

Take it from me, the Contrarian is a firm firm believer in this adage. You get my drift? You have been warned!

Okay, so it was supposed to rain all day Father’s Day, so you can bet your bippy that it rained nary a drop. Not a drop.

How many fine picnics were not had I have not the number, but I bet the weather people in Cedar Rapids are staying under cover for now.

I had otherwise a lazy day when I returned from church, reading some blogs but not feeling like writing. I noted a few to include today, actually some with significance.

I know this is rare, so hold onto your seats. A few folks wrote of things and did it better than I could. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe isn’t it? As the Contrarian is wont to say, “I made a mistake, then discovered sometime later than I was mistaken.”

Anyhow, I thought these posts were especially noteworthy, so I hope you might drop by and read them in full.

Mompriest talks about yesterday’s gospel reading and proves why she is a priest and I’m not. It’s so thoughtful and provoking and touching all at the same time. I hope you stop by.

D-Cup tells us all about what it takes to be a tea partier. Written with raw wit and so much truthiness it makes your nod while laughing. Don’t miss it.

In a posting on heroism and sacrifice, Tobias Haller, BSG outdoes himself, in a writing entitled The Difference of One.

Something I found so excellent, though it’s short, is from Jan at Yearning for God. Hint: It’s about bookcases. And I just loved it.

Backed to the reality of politics:

Joe. My. God has a rundown of the Texas GOP platform for this year. It’s about as hate-filled as you can get. The teabagger influence is apparent. The bright light here is that it’s hard to find two tea baggers who agree on much. I suspect that is why generally they aren’t doing well in general elections and will continue to fail. As long as they are led by their most rabid, which seems the case, they will continually fail to win votes from the middle.

I was kinda off baking for a while but have started up again, (I made bread sticks today for our spaghetti dinner). And I’ve been thinking a lot about desserts again. I was going to make Ree Drummond’s Malted Milk Chocolate Chip cookies tomorrow, but now, I’m thinking I may have to make these first. Coconut and Lime has S’mores Cookies. (I don’t think I have linked to Ree’s cookies, but I have the recipe and can e-mail it to anyone who wants it.)

Michael Bayly over at Wild Reed has a good post on the latest issue of Tikkum which features a number of articles on homosexuality. Tikkum is a Jewish religious magazine.  We carry it at our church and I’ll be looking for it tomorrow when I go in for a meeting.

Enuf for now!

Lil Bits of Rancor or Not 9/19/08

Tags

Archaeology, cake, chicken, cookies, dessert, Election 2008, energy, environment, fundamentalism, gay rights, Greek history, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Spain, tex-mex, voting

Starting out with good news, it appears that the bloom is definitely off the flower as regards the Palin candidacy. The cracks are there, and the buckling is starting to occur. Nearly 1500 gathered to denounce her candidacy in Alaska (that is a huge number for Alaska folks). The media seems to be ready to fight back at last, and there are plenty saying that only the most rabid racist hate mongers among us will be voting for that ticket in November.

Oh, I just love Tex-Mex if you hadn’t heard. And one of my favorites at the restaurant anyway is Chimichangas. Baking Delights  has a wonderful recipe that doesn’t require deep frying which is such a mess and since her brisket recipe was SOOOOO GOOOOD, I’m assuming this will be a hit too. These are for chicken but I’m sure you could substitute about any meat you like.

In a tour de force, the NYTimes  has vetting Ms Palin themselves, and boy what they have turned up is enough to curl your nose hairs as they say. It’s all cronyism and strong arm tactics and plenty of secrecy. Sound familiar? Believe me this is one damning article and you should read it. I’ve been saying that Palin would be relegated to a closet in a McCain administration. I may have been very wrong. It may be McCain who is shoved in the corner. This woman is an egomaniac on a mission to be president herself.

Oh boy, and don’t miss Frank Rich’s op ed in the Times  on the 13th. It is simplya scathing indictment of Palin and the weak McCain who now holds onto her coat tails hoping she can drag him into the White House.

We seem ruled by polls these days. And they seem to go up and down and round and round with little agreement. Distributor Cap NY  tries to make some sense out of them, and tries to explain to us how they should be viewed. I’d take a look and read his analysis and then you will understand why they are not the things to place too much credence in.

The mere mention of the word chocolate and I am there! So here is a lovely recipe, reprinted at Epicurious  from Gourmet Magazine. Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart  is easy to make and will soothe the savage beast of a chocolate addiction. Don’t miss it.

There is a new website called Women Against Sarah Palin. You should take a look. Impressive response by women in America. They have an email and you can give you views of Ms. Palin some of which will be printed on their site. Email them at womensaynopalin@gmail.com. Please do so and make your voice heard. The tide is beginning to turn. We need your help.

Remember when Sarah and John told us that she was qualified to handle the economy since Alaska produced 20% of all US energy? WRONG. According to experts, even under the broadest definition, Alaska contributes at best 7.5%, and under traditional definitions, they produce only 3.5%. They lie it seems about everything. Alaska is 9th in production behind states like Texas and Wyoming. This was fact checked by the Washington Post  and brought to us by Ezra Klein.

Garrison Keillor gives us his take on the remade Republican party. Just forget the past  (and our responsibilities for it) and write a “new narrative” as the people who are going to clean up the mess we made. As always, nobody says it quite like Mr. Keillor. Enjoy the ride.

More bad news for McCain. It seems his pundit buddies, Richard Cohen, and now David Brooks are jumping off the trackand saying, “gone too far there John, we’re done with ya.” His colossal dishonor in picking Palin is just a tad too much for even some of his former supporters.

Joseph Welch? Remember him? He is the guy who finally put an end to the McCarthy hearings with the well placed words, “Have you no sense of decency sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” History News Network  says this campaign of McCain’s is simply stunning in its use of lies and deception. If this works, then there facts and issues no longer matter at all, it’s just about skillful manipulation of facts to distort character. The answer, a well placed Welch remark in the debates. I hope it happens, and I’ve been predicting that Obama will push the buttons of Mr. McCain until he erupts. And that shall be that as they say. End of campaign.

If you are tired of the old rhetoric of gotcha politics, head over to Institute for America’s Future where they make a fine attempt to actually discuss the issues. There is a forum there as well. I haven’t had time to look it over very carefully but I got the tip from Hullabaloo.

Maureen Dowd  has a not to miss article this week. She slams dear Sarah for her non-thinking approach to running the world. Just platitudes and well, Sarah is sounding more and more like Dubya than Dubya did. Not a McCain clone at all, she’s a carbon copy of our dumb boy Bush himself. And we know where that got us don’t we?

I know you, like me, are always desperately happy to learn more about Troy. No not where I live, but where the whole Trojan Horse thing came about from. You know, Homer, Illiad? Ringing a bell? Sure, I knew it would. Well there are ongoing excavations going on there, and so I thought you would appreciate an update. Go to rogueclassicism  and read all about what they are learning these days.

A reader of this blog, Shannon, brought this to my attention, and I think it’s one of those things that we all should bookmark and read whenever we get depressed during this never ending election cycle. Anne Lamont offers us sage advice on how to deal with the insanity generated by the McCain campaign.

Two excellent entries from Scandalous Women today. One is a scandalous biography ofthe woman pope, Olimpia Maidalchini. No she wasn’t elected pope, but her brother was, and the word is she wielded the real power. And the second, right below, is a list of 100 of the best history blogs. So if you love history, check that out.

Lots of baking in the fall, as the kitchen is cool. You might want to try these Pistachio White Chocolate Cookies. These seem rather unusual and well, nuts and chocolate just go together. You can of course substitute white chocolate for any of your liking. I generally prefer bittersweet myself, but heck,  who are we kidding, there is no bad chocolate.

We of the liberal persuasion all know that if Barack Obama had Sarah Palin’s “qualifications” or did the things she and John do, he and his family would be vilified in ways that are too disgusting to relate.  Acts of Hope  has a fine piece that she got from Tim Wise on what it means to be White Privileged. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, stop by now and do so. It is very true. And I need to thank a number of folks like FranIAm  who have done similar whatif’s.

I’d recommend Susan Posner’s column, The Fundamentalist  this week at American Prospect.  She has a good perspective on the evangelical wacko right and how they have infiltrated and control the McCain campaign platform. They see Palin as their best hope of controlling McCain, whom they have always been suspicious of. They see her choice as their return to firm power. I suspect they are right. Let’s hope they don’t win.

Good news for gay marriage proponents. Prop 8 in California is losing steam and now trails by 17 points in the polls. I find this so wonderful and delight frankly in the fact that the wingnuttery right is gnashing their teeth over this development. They continue to tout that they are giving voice to the majority, but I submit that this isn’t the case! Bravo to Californians.

We reported yesterday that Old McCain got confused when being interviewed by a Spanish radio stationperson and didn’t apparently know who Jose Luiz  Rodriguez Zapatero was. Randy Scheunemann claims that of course that is wrong, he knew perfectly well who he was, but in his own bumbling round about way, he was just suggesting that he was going to continue the snub that Bush has started for the Spanish leader, when Zapatero withdrew his troops from Iraq. Well, okay, if you want to buy that rhetoric which is obviously silly, go ahead. So McCain is once again promising a continuation of Bush policies. That works! (So why did he say he would be happy to meet with Zapatero merely five months ago?) I just want to thank McCain now for screwing up relations with another ally. Good going there big guy. Ain’t senility a bitch?

Sorry, but the old dude is not to be believed. In trying to drum up voter support for his off shore drilling mantra, the dull one touts that oil rigs are safe and come through hurricanes just fine, and “fish love them.”No explanation for the latter remark of course, just the usual nonsense that pops into the old guy’s head. But the bit about oil rigs having no problems with hurricanes is simply absurd. Hurricanes Rita and Katrina destroyed 113 rigs off shore, and three rigs simply disappeared and their whereabouts is unknown. Untold spills were also the result. As they say, yes, and telephone wires are essential to the habitat of birds too. Caretakers, come in and clean up another one for da loony boss.

Okay, so I have to finish with AA. Today is a special, his love letter to  his wife. I know you will enjoy it, and you will recognize perhaps some things about your own spouse. Might be a good time to mention one or two. 🙂

Lil Bits of Rancor or Not 8/1/08

Tags

Barack Obama, Bush, cookies, crafting, Election 2008, energy, Iowa, Iraq, Israel, John McCain, Literature, lobbyists, Media, oil interests, War, Women's history

Whether from concerns about the environment, or simply the need to cut back on expenses, or perhaps for some singular mendacity, lots of folks are crafting. It’s become “IN” and in some cases haute couture. Martha of course has been trying to convince us for years. Alternet has the story and a link to a site that has exploded called Craftster.org.  There are tons of new books out there touting the DIY method of acquiring unique and useful items at way below store cost. Check out the link and don’t miss the link to Craftster. I’ll add it to my sidebar.

I made some Cherry Garcia Ice cream the other day. It turned out wonderfully, but  the taste was not quite there. I used frozen sweet cherries, but I found the taste lacking. I guess fresh cherries? Anyhoo, I thought this recipe from Baking Delights sounded good and she said you can use dried cherries which I usually keep on hand for muffins and bread puddings. It’s Cherry-Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Recall that John McSame was against drilling off shore before he changed his mind and was for it. He claims that he is for it to help Americans who are paying high gas prices. Uhuh, na. We already know that off shore drilling won’t have any impact for years, first of all. But more importantly he gave that speech just before he met with–you guessed it–Republican energy monied folk, who dutifully gave him a whopping 1.3 million the very next day! LOL, and the old guy didn’t think we could figure it out.

Oh just for fun, go to Balloon Juice and read his take on McCain and his lies. Not so much for his post which is short, but for the comments which are worth it. Some guy says Bush is going to pass by his house on the way to a campaign fund raiser and he wonders should he stand on his porch and give him the finger as his car goes by! ROFL. It’s a hoot to read.

Ezra Kleinhas a bute of a post on John McCain and a group called the International Republican Institutewhich he heads oddly enough. From its chairmanship he solicits millions of buckeroos from all the key players he loves so dearly: defense contractors, oil folksies, lobbyists (oh no Mr. Bill!!!), and others, many of whom magically have issues before his Senate committees from time to time.  Course, we shouldn’t think anything nefarious or wrong is going on should we? No. Course not.

While in Jerusalem, it seems that both of our presidential contenders and the one and only Georgie Bush have been interviewed by the Jerusalem Post. Here is their take on the three in terms of ability to speak to the issues of concern to Israelis. It’s pretty much what you might assume, Obama wins again!

It continues to be the rallying cry of Republicans–the liberal media is giving Obama a pass. Nothing of course is further from the truth. Republicans have been saying this for eons. Actual statistics show that Obama is criticized more than McCain and by a wide margin. You see, the so-called liberal media has internalized the criticism and now bends over backwards to appear “neutral” while actually favoring the Republicans. Don’t believe that? Read the fine post by Chris at Inside-Out the Beltway.

Iowa: Anybody paying any attention to the “impeachment” hearings conducted in the House, has seen our Rep. Steve King make a complete ASS of himselfdefending the prez. According to Iowa Independent, Dem hopeful Ron Hubler has hired high profile Joe Trippi, who helped mastermind the Dean campaign in 2004, to run his campaign. This King is one loonie I tell ya, and I am hopeful that Hubler can unseat him. Lets get out there 5th District and oust the idiot boy!

More Iowa news. It seems Becky Greenwald in the 4thdistrict is making a real horse race out of it with Tom Latham.Moreover, Latham is campaigning using the national McCain issue of the surge and off shore drilling for oil. Recent polls suggest that the numbers of the public who favor off-shore drilling is substantially below the 73% mark touted by McCain, in fact it is below 50%. Moreover, Republican national strategists are urging local candidates to run on local issues and NOT to assume a coattail effect. They figure that McCain can’t win. Good news!

John and his troop of merry misfits can’t seem to keep things straight. After telling George Stephanopoulous that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to social security reform, McCain retracts this through a spokesman saying “there is no imaginable circumstance where John McCain would raise payroll taxes. It’s absolutely out of the question.” The inside scoop: the GOP right wing went nuts, and our boy, never particularly sure of what he is saying when he says it, had to back pedal fast.

Okay, ready for some salacious and devilish murder mystery? Then go and read the utterly captivating story of the murder of Charles Bravo. Did wife Florence do it? Intrigue, affairs, oh this one is full of them. And to this day, it has not been solved. Scandalous Womendoes it again, with a thoroughly brilliant writing. It’s long, but she does her stories so well, you can’t stop reading, and wish there was more. Don’t miss it. And in a week or so, she’s doing one on Lillian Helman, one of my favorite women!

Urantian Sojourn has a nice piece on the Bush maneuverings to get the Iraqi government to agree to basically allow an army of occupation in their country for all eternity. It seems that this is not going well with the Iraqis for a myriad of reasons. Propagandee leads you through the sewer of Bush and his Bushbaby plans that have gone awry. It’s the July 31 post, since I still cannot link directly to any individual one.

The Angry African is at it again, telling us next weeks news. His prescient abilities continue to astound those of us in the good old US of A. Must be something about living down there in the South African tropicals. Anyhoo, get your laughter in the ready before you link up and see what fun he has in store for you today. Features this week span the globe as they say. And no, I don’t know who they are nor what they really say.

High Fallutin’ Notions

Tags

1st Amendment, abstinence, American History, casserole, church/state, cookies, creationism, dessert, Election 2008, Gardening, GOP, Human Biology, immigration, Iowa, Iraq, Italian, James Webb, John McCain, Karl Rove, Lasagna, Media, Native Americans, Presidents, salad, science, Zoology

Called, “Street, Dresden,” this painting was done by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1908. It was undated by the painter in 1919. It is from MoMA.

On the home front, things continue with house cleaning quite well. I have all the cabinets and drawers done but for a small thin one on the other side of the stove which I use to store pot lids and cooling racks mostly. I’ve really reduced a lot of clutter in all the cupboards and hopefully it will be a much friendlier work environment. Of course it’s maddening now, since one is constantly opening the wrong door looking for something.

We also got a lot of planting done this morning. Tomatoes, lettuce, beets, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet and hot peppers are all in. Tomorrow we will do corn, beans and probably peas. Squash, summer and winter will go in later as well as chard and a few other odds and ends. Gardens always look so great at this point, clean and tidy. We have been having a lot of trouble with rabbits the last few years so we fence in the cole crops and that does help. The dogs are too lazy to chase anything much. LOL.

On to the news:

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Abby Sweets has a nicemadeleines recipe. That is just a cake-like cookie that is baked in a special formed pan. I doubt you actually need one, but they are available in most high end stores that cater to kitchen wares. This has just that lovely hint of lemon that is so very nice.

I just found this article fascinating and thought you might be interested as well. Margaret McKeehan, a young woman from the South, tells us what sex education was like in her public school. She also relates what she learned from her minister in a similar class. You might be surprised and you might get to thinking. I know I did.

Read about the Creek Civil War, part of the War of 1812 at American Presidents Blog.Andrew Jackson figures in this part of the war. The tribe itself was somewhat split as to whether it wished to drive the whites out or assimilate into their culture. After the battle of Taladaga, Jackson ended up with an orphaned child whom he adopted. It’s a fascinating story.

American Revolution Blog has a great series starting on the founding fathers and faith. I keep telling you of the book review I have to do, and in truth I have about 80% of it done, but this will give you a nice flavor of that upcoming post. He starts with Madison who perhaps was the clearest in his statements of how faith fit into the newborn government.

I’m getting my act together one day this week and making lasagna. This recipe is not what I am doing, but it sure is one that I want to keep in my hip pocket for something very different. It is Eggplant Artichoke Lasagna. A very different kind of lasagna for sure, but a lovely one too. Baking Delights gives us the recipe.

God knows I don’t know how the people of Iraq continue to exist in that hellish environment. Blue Girl, Red State has a post on what is happening to psychiatric care in Baghdad, and it is sickening. The horrifying conditions the doctors work in, the limits of care, all just make one so angry and depressed. It seems the world is full of such utter meanness these days. Has it always been so ugly? I don’t know. It seems worse now, but then again, maybe I just pay better attention.

A nice salad that I would like, and the Contrarian would not is in the offing from Epicurious. It’sAvocado Watercress Salad. I love avocados and the Contrarian does not. He would be okay with the watercress probably. I’ll make it and let him pick out the avocado. Sounds good to me.

Bruce Braley is sure making Iowa proud in his thoroughinvestigation of the Postville raids.He is turning out to be one of the real shining stars among new House members. I wish he was representing me frankly. That is juxtaposed against Latham who has yet to even make a statement from the Republican side of things. Read about his ongoing questions to ICE at Essential Estrogen.

Free Sample Forager has a few new offers. Dove Body Lotion, Mighty Dog Canned food, and Purex Detergent are offered today. Stop by and get your free samples. I must say, I get my offers usually within 3 weeks of filling out the forms, and while all are not so great, I do get one free wash, or use, so hey, over time, it’s worth the few minutes it takes to type in the info.

Dick Morris is a Clinton Admin. reject, sent packing for his sexual indiscretions. He’s hated the Clintons ever since, and is  on board  at Foxy Giggle News as a resident opinionator on political things though he is mostly brain dead. Still he is laughably funny. Inside-Out the Beltwayhas a humorous take on his latest assessment of the proposed Obama/McCain run for the White House. Read it and chuckle along.

The hook said, mind-blowing new Creature found. Well, that caused me to run up the feed quite quickly. Live Sciencehas the story.  Called Y-larvae in the young stage, scientists were able to grow them up into slug-like masses. I have no clue why that is mind-blowing. They seem like parasites, they seem creepy and I don’t like em. Nexxxt.

I heard something to the effect that Karl Rove had concocted some red state/blue state thingie and decided Hillary had a better chance against McCain than Obama. The question is why would I believe anything that came out of the mouth of that so-called genius of the GOP?  Now it seems that the Pillsbury Dough Boy has such a nice deal with Foxy OopsNewsthat nobody seems to realize that he is the errr, campaign adviser to all things McCain, and is simply using his position at Fox to further that enterprise (among other devious things no doubt). Oh well, what would you expect from Fox and Idiots anyway?  And we are learning that we can expect absolutely no morality from the Crooked Mac either. Salon has the story.

Okay, listen up you dairy farmers. You have a new method of making some extra cash. Just advertise and welcome a tour of your barns filled with all those sweet cows to pregnant women! Yep, you should be able to set a fee of say $25 a head for a tour. Okay, I have your interest now, so follow the link and learn how you too can make money without even trying. Science Daily would never steer(haha) you wrong!

This is one that makes you go “whhhaaaat?” I thought that it was against the law to mix religion and state. I wonder how one gets through university with a science degree and an education certificate and then goes this route. One in eight students in America is being taught creationism along side evolution by their teachers, all of this against the law. Read it and weep. What is worse, fake history is also being taught, the type that emanates from David Barton from Wallbuilders–disguised Christian nation stuff. This is so tiresome and so unnecessary.

Jim Webb is sure the up and coming Senator these days. Many are talking that he would be a fine Veep for Obama. The Nation has an excellent post on Senator Webb and I urge you to learn more about this guy. He’s pushing through the New GI bill and giving McCain fits over his opposition.

Ya see, the reason the surge appeared to work is that the US was busy paying off insurgents to not shoot at us.Of course that only created another problem, and of course, they knew that, but hey, they are trying to protect the GOP this election cycle so I guess all is fair in love and errrr war. Course, the expected future has arrived a bit early and it seems Iraq is full of little warlords, all making their demands, just like they do in Afghanistan. The Washington Independent has the story.

Think Progress weighs in on the Rove/Foxy dilemma in this, can you believe the chutzpah?, post onFox accusing MSNBC of blurring the lines between news and commentary. Oh my goodness, I may piddle my panties I’m laughing so hard. Read it and try to keep the tears of laughter from your eyes.

To mulch or not to mulch. I think mulches are great in flower beds, but a pain in veggie gardens, and frankly us rural folks have big gardens and good mulch is prohibitive in terms of cost. But if you have questions about it, Veggie Gardening Tips has a good discussion about it.

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“If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.” Johnny Carson

“Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein.” Joe Theisman

“I would rather be a coward than brave because people hurt you when you are brave.” E.M. Forster

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Funny signs from around the world

In a Texas funeral parlor: Ask about our layaway plan.

In a toilet: Toilet out of order. Please use floor below

In the vestry of a New England church: Will the last person to leave please see that the perpetual light is extinguished.

In the window of an Oregon general store: Why go elsewhere to be cheated, when you can come here?

Notice in a field: The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for free, but the bull charges.

On a fence: Salesmen welcome. Dog food is expensive.

On a plumber’s truck: We repair what your husband fixed.

On a Tennessee highway: Take notice: when this sign is under water, this road is impassable.

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And the oldest serving member of Congress, former Klan member Senator Robert Byrd, has endorsed Barack Obama for president. That’s got to make Hillary feel good, huh? Even the Klan guy is going, “I’m gonna go with the black guy.” Jay Leno

Oil is now $125 a barrel, a very, very high price. But if you return the barrel, you get a $2 deposit back. So that’s not so bad.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Bush is back from his trip to the Mideast. And he did accomplish one thing. He found the crystal skull. David Letterman

 John McCain is so old, he can remember when “Saturday Night Live” was actually funny. – Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.

Big Brown’s trainer has admitted that he gives the horse the steroid Winstrol twice a month. That is the easy part. The hard part is getting Brown to hit away from the shift with two strikes. – Marc Ragovin, New York

It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride

Tags

abortion, African Americans, candy, cookies, dessert, evolution, fundamentalism, Gardening, GOP, health, John McCain, quilting, religion, Women's issues, world history

The artist is Zubaren and the piece is entitled, “St. Casilda.”

It can be found at El Prado in Madrid. It was painted in the time of 1638-42. It is religious in nature but the artist used presumably a friend as model. The dress is current to the day.

St. Casilda was daughter to the Muslim king of Toledo and carried bread to the to captured Christians. Once caught, the bread hidden in her skirts when unwrapped, had been turned into roses.

Well the rains seems mostly gone, and its soggy as you might expect. It’s also gloomy and dark which is starting to wear on me for sure. I suffer to a degree from SAD. I got a start on my poor craft room. What a mess. You see, we stopped taking extraneous things to the basement, because it tends to be damp, so my room got to be the receptacle of everything that needed saving. I moved out 2 towers and one monitor and 3 keyboards! Some of it still works I guess, but frankly I think it should all be pitched. It’s all piled in the kitchen. The Contrarian can decide if he wants to keep it. With that stuff out of the way, I got a fair amount put away, though I am torn about whether I should systematically clean every drawer. Crafting makes for lots and lots of tiny little “things.” Since I craft as eclectically as I think, I have bits of this and that, beads, boxes, ribbon, fabric, wooden doohickies, you name it. I dread going through everything and trying to put everything into some order. I know I have to eventually, I’m just not sure it’s a good thing to do now. Afraid I’ll get bogged down and not keep moving on to other rooms. I have a bad tendency to dump stuff into hidy holes to get it out of sight. Such is the state of my office/crafter room.

Let’s see what you need to know to get through the weekend!

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Ceres is both a asteroid and a goddess. As a goddess, she is Roman, the equivalent of Demeter, the Greek goddess. We really should be worshiping her in Iowa here, since she is the goddess of grain, and we get the name cereal from her. Read more at Ancient History Blog.

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I simply found this post intriguing and useful in improving my understanding of the evangelical right. No one can peruse this blog for long without realizing that I have a “thing” when it comes to the reactionary right. Most of that has dealt with politics and their attempts to restructure our country along their version of “Christian” life. This post addresses how this right wing sees itself in terms of family life and child rearing. It’s quite fascinating and you just might learn a few things. I think of myself as fairly knowledgeable when it comes to this subject, and I know I learned a few new things. Actually, some of it is quite chilling.

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I’ve never heard of these cookies. Maybe you have. The recipe seems simple enough. Give them a try. I think I will, after we finish the yummy cinnabuns I made yesterday. Thanks to Baking Delights for this lovely little cookie. They are called Berger Cookies.

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Want to make your own candy bars? How about a Baby Ruth? Copycat Restaurant Recipes has the recipe for you. I think I might be a tad too lazy for this one.

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This recipe is unusual. It’s fancy and perfect for an important dinner. Phyllo dough is required but you can get that at most supermarkets these days. I think it’s absolutely lovely and light and I’m rather anxious to give this one a try. It’s called Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie Stacks, and is from the ever wonderful Epicurious.

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Mother’s Day will be coming along soon, and this might be a nice gift to give. Also nice for any number of other occasions when a small personal gift is appropriate. Feeling stitchy has a pattern and a link to a tutorial to help you along. Make these sachets for lasting pleasure.

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Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas has some useful help if you have azaleas or want to plant some this season. They are an old garden standard and I like them a lot. I don’t have any, nor rhododendrons either for that matter.

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If you need inspiration, inspired by antique quilts will always help you out. Look at her lovely quilt that she has just finished. How do these folks do it? Turning out quilts in a couple of weeks, and it takes me months to get one even ready for hand quilting. I just love this one.

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I don’t pretend to know how they know, but they say they know, and I know I should know better, but know that I can’t know beyond what they claim they know. Got that? Scientists claim that the first animal life on this planet was way more complex than they thought. It was a jelly fish type thing. Have you seen some of these? I’ve seen film of some at great depths and they are florescent and colorful and so unworldly as to mesmerize one. Check out the Comb Jelly, which is fairly drab but still, it was your great-great to the nth power daddy.

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Oh you have watched Casablanca no doubt? Or you think you have. I bet you missed the ending. I mean the ending after the ending. Confused? Let Jeannelle set you straight at Midlife by Farmlight. Seems a couple of visitors told her the balance of the story very few of us have heard. You will be the talk of the cocktail parties when you wow them with this version!

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Okay, got your helmet firmly on and your oxygen mask tight? We are entering the twilight zone and next stop is weirdo world, home of folks who contribute to the National Review and the bunch of crazies who inhabit it. So up is now down, left is right, and inside is outside. Ready? Seems Thomas Sowell, black person, has determined how the GOP can capture the black vote. Not just any black vote, but that undefined part that they can win. Not the part the Democrats can get, it’s some other part. Think Alan Keyes I guess. Appeal to them on the level of no teacher’s unions, no environmental laws, no tort lawyers, no liberal judges. Apparently African Americans don’t like these things. Huh? There is some convoluted rationalism here that is beyond me. But as Mr. Sowell says, this is only for the blacks that Republicans “can realistically reach.” I guess this must be the 1/4 of 1% who are mentally disturbed. Mr. Sowell should thank God every night that he has a job.

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One of my pet peeves is universal health care. It’s a crime that we don’t have it. Most of the modern democracies in the world do. It is simply morally reprehensible that we operate on the idea that those that are lucky and have insurance through work or because they are wealthy and can afford it get what they want, the rest of us should suffer and die in silence. That is one of the reasons I continue to support Hillary Clinton. Paul Krugman has a good post on the matter, one I urge you to read. Twenty-seven thousand deaths per year stand silently asking us for an answer.

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Deepak Chopra is a spiritual guide for me. I have read a number of his books and find his work thoughtful, loving, inclusive, and deeply moving. He poses a compelling question for us today at On Faith, forum at the Washington Post and Newsweek. He claims the “Ecumenical Age may be Past.” Read what other readers think and join in the conversation if so motivated.

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If you think you might like to find out where John McCain stands on women’s reproductive rights, then I have the post for you. It goes way beyond his determination (arrived at late no doubt in an attempt to keep that religious right in tow) to reverse Roe v Wade. It goes way beyond that, and some women who are anti-choice even say he is way out of touch with the real world. See what you think.

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That’s Food for Thought

Tags

Catholicism, chicken, cookies, crochet, dessert, dinosaurs, fruit, fundamentalism, interfaith dialogue, Iowa, Iraq, Limericks, meat, salad, sociology, world history

This photograph was done by Lewis Hine and is entitled “Newsies at Skeeter Branch, St. Louis, Missouri, 11 a.m., May 9, 1910.” It is from the MMA.

We often bemoan that our children grow up too fast these days. I wonder if that has not always been the case. These boys seem to feel quite grown up wouldn’t you say? I assume they are newsboys. I wouldn’t try to cheat them out of a nickel, would you?

Spring cleaning is going well. The bath is nearly done, just the floor to do by hand tomorrow, getting into all those corners that the mop hasn’t reached for several months. And then it’s on to my office/craft room. I hope I don’t lose interest when I finish it! Oh I checked out that site, “flygirl.net” or something to that effect. What an anal retentive site! I’m sure that some can benefit from it, being told exactly what to do, but it was a bit too dictatorial for me! I still intend to spend more time there since I want to examine her “zone” cleaning ideas.

Well, the feeds were alight today, so it may be a long one and I have still to make some macaroni and cheese and something or other for dinner. Anybody got any tips on how to design a good menu planning system to avoid my daily moan about “what am I gonna fix for dinner?” The Contrarian now claims that if I say that twice in a day, I have to make gravy for dinner! Hehe, he is crazy I told ya.

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Abby Sweets starts us off with a real winner of a tart, French Lemon Tart. I am a lemon fan, and make lemon meringue pie a few times a year. This is a nice little substitute that avoids the meringue. Get you a piece and then continue reading blogs!

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I am, on thinking about this, wondering why this day is not a holiday. I guess because the losing side wouldn’t have agreed. But today is the anniversary of the day the Civil War ended. All came to an end at Appomattox Courthouse when Lee surrendered to Grant. Read about it at American History Blog.

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It is also the anniversary of the death by assassination of the Emperor Caracalla in Rome. That was in 217 C.E. I wonder of Grant and Lee remarked on the event in their meeting at Appomattox?

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Sandi’s Crochet Blog has a butterfly that you can crochet into a square for an afghan or make the square and then cross stitch it into the block. I think it’s probably quite lovely, but I think it might also be hard to do. I’ve never been able to figure out how they do designs in knitting or crochet without a lot of messing around. I have never had the gumption to try it myself. Given Sandi’s excellent instructions, I bet I could succeed at this one.

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Civil War Women brings us another biography, this one about a nurse by the name of Miss Hattie Dada. Mattie, as always, does an excellent job of researching and writing about these mostly forgotten women who played important roles in our nation’s history. Enjoy her latest offering.

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Copycat Restaurant Recipes has a good one today. Exotic, it’s Kroger’s Thai Chicken Salad. I really liked the list of ingredients and plan on giving this one a try when I get to the store again. It was a bit off putting, the Kroger thing, but hey, its the end product that counts, not the name right? Note: the bacon bowl and picture is not a look at this salad I don’t believe. There are no tomatoes in the recipe.

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I’m not a huge fan of meat and fruit together. I don’t care for ham with pineapple rings all over it for example. This recipe looked quite tempting however, so I thought I would share it with you. It’s from the ever wonderful Epicurious and is Grilled Pork Loin with fire Grilled Pineapple salsa. I hope you think it worth a look see.

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Lynda at Essential Estrogen has the remarks of Iowa congressional representatives, Harkin, Braley, and Loebsack prior to the hearings for Petraeus and Crocker. Check them out so you know what they are saying and if you agree with them or not. The Contrarian who follows hearings much closer than I, says that Braley is really a sharp cookie. I’ve written to Loebsack who has yet to reply to my e-mail. I wish Braley represented me. I think he does a better job frankly, but that’s another story.

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It’s always a delight to find that Garrison Keillor has given us another of his little gems. This one is about our urge to compete. And he is most correct. I find myself doing it constantly while I decry the competitive nature that prevents us from truly coming together to work for the common good. One begins to wonder just how genetic this trait is? Keillor points out the downside of “Midwest manners” too, so I don’t know what to do now! This post is one of his best ones, so don’t miss it.

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Russell has a nice tribute to the young man honored posthumously with the Medal of Honor yesterday. I saw a bit of it myself and was also moved. I wondered what his parents really thought of the war, I wondered how many more must die in this senseless tragedy that we have been forced to engage in. Then I remembered that it was our failure of diligence, our failure to hold the White House’s feet to the fire that enabled this travesty to occur. We relinquish our responsibilities to a bunch of politicians for whom this is but a job, and a media industry that now counts dollars before facts. I feel ashamed as I watch parents, wives, husbands and friends bear the real cost as they bury their dead.

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The “scientific” theory behind Jurassic Park, as you may recall, was the DNA of dinosaurs found in insects trapped in amber. Now scientists today find that an unlikely possibility, but they have made one grand advance. Eighty percent of the amber found is opaque, and therefore anything inside cannot be seen. By using hocus pocus machines and techniques, they are now able to find them, and it seems that this opaque amber is just full of critters who lived among the giant creatures we are so fascinated with. They so far has discovered 356 different living beings in the amber they have tested. Read more and be amazed as I always am.

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Mad Kane has another limerick and you know you are addicted to them. She is so very good. She nailed it once again.

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Maureen Dowd has a clear, no nonsense post on the hearings yesterday and the state of woe this country is in as regards the country of Iraq we are so desperately trying to remodel into a temple of democratic rectitude. It is not working, never did, never will, and what the heck are we going to do? Both Petraeus and Crocker seemed like deer caught in the headlights yesterday, doing their best but wishing for sure to be nearly anywhere having a root canal rather than in that hearing room.

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Susan Jacoby writing for On Faith, the forum on religion for the Washington Post and Newsweek, has a thoughtful post today about Catholicism and the quest to convert the world to the one “true” religion. Yes, that is the case unfortunately. It is not something bandied about by most Catholics but a small fringe believes this vehemently. Such a stance, is of course, not productive of interfaith dialogue. Such a stance is not productive in democratic societies either. Read her interesting article about how proselytizing seems to consume Christianity and Islam.

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I came of age as it were in the 60’s, graduating in 1968. Wow that seems like forever ago now doesn’t it? I have always thought our beliefs and goals were laudable. I thought we were well read, well educated, knew our politics, and were among the first to really see that this was one planet wherein cooperation and assistance should be our watchwords. We got that we were not divorced from the ecosystem we lived in. Plenty since then, have done their level best to make the 60’s a time of only wretched excess in sex, drugs and rock and roll. The Salon has a wonderful look at the subject through examining the latest book on the subject. See what you think.

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Wouldn’t you know? I am the victim of my own genes. Or at least it may be so. It seems that new studies link back pain to genetics rather than any activity. This makes perfect sense to me, since I can recall lower back pain at least since my mid-teens. It ebbs and flows, but never is completely gone. It’s never a constant pain, but it’s quite apparent when I move, especially in bending. And standing for any length of time also is misery. The details can be found at Science Daily.

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Palmiers are cookies and I think they are fabulous and so easy to make. Just a simple puff pastry and some nice sugar and away ya go. Simply Recipes has the recipe, but does not include the puff pastry recipe, which is the bulk of the work in the first place. Odd, but you can find one anywhere on the net. Note, at the end she has some great links to other Palmiers. Enjoy, this is a very fast recipe to make.

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It’s Wednesday and that means another installment from Susan Posner’s Fundamentalist, the never miss post on the religious right and their nefarious plans to take over the country. It is simply the best.

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Another must see article at American Prospect is one by Paul Waldman. He claims that John McCain has placed his hopes on America being right of center. There is seldom an article in this publication that is anything but good, but make your own judgment here. I think he raises some excellent points. Can the Democrats convince the public that they can do better?

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The Inadvertent Gardener had me laughing as she described sitting in the corner as the snow fell yesterday. I just stomped around in utter disgust and told the Contrarian that this was going to go on until at least May in this upside down seasonal joke of a Spring.

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Another of those fabulous chicken recipes we cannot do without. This one is a bit more complicated, but not much. Uncommon Artistic Endeavors offers us Savory Chicken Triangles, made with puff pastry. She used store bought, but of course, you can make it quite easily yourself. Give it a look see and see what you think.

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“I’m a born-again atheist.” Gore Vidal

“Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!” Henry David Thoreau

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If there is not one hair-brained idea per minute I’d be surprised. Do people just stay up nights thinking of possible ways to do something not done until their feeble and ill-fitting brains come up with it? All I can say, is that’s a lot of ice cream to ingest. One wonders how the boat can be big enough to hold the growing ice-cream eating idiot that thought this one up. Well, its not that bad, I guess it floats and they have good intentions. Could have accomplished the charity side of it with a good deal less effort though. Visit Dave’s Daily.

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Well, I was unaware that Bob Dylan is a comic. Seems he is, if this from Vanity Fair is any evidence. The link is from Laugh Lines, the NYTimes funnies.

“My friend’s wife is a really bad cook. I broke a tooth on her coffee.”

“I once had a friend who said liquor will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no liquor.”

“A giraffe can go a long time without water. But he wants to see a menu right away.”

“I gave a bald-headed friend a comb. You know what he said? ‘I’ll never part with it.’”

“I don’t condone [blonde] jokes. I just repeat them in the public interest.”

“I want everybody to go out and paint their cars red and white tonight. We want a PINK CAR NATION.”