Coming Out of the Bunker

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Boehner, death penalty, DODT, economy, elections, electoral college, GOP, Michele Bachmann, Pennsylvania, Rick Perry, the Fed, voting rights

I took a peek out of the bunker this morning, having no clue what I might find.

I was wary to say the least. But, oddly enough, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze, and nothing seemed untoward.

I scratched my head and wandered to the television to see if they could straighten out my puzzlement.

But not a word.

Not a word of all the mayhem and destruction that I was expecting. I mean Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer and all those right-wing evangelicals had assured me that the minute, nay the very second that DODT was ended, that God’s wrath would descend upon the Old US of A.

I can only conclude that God is tricking us, waiting until all us bunkered-down types feel safe enough to sleep in our own beds. Then he’s gonna whack us. Yeah, that must be it. Robertson and all the rest couldn’t be wrong could they?

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Ironic when you realize that yesterday we, in our ending of DODT, re-affirmed the fullness of life, and the reverence for it being full, long and filled with open love. Today, Georgia is hell-bent it seems to kill. Troy Davis’ appeal to the Parole board has been denied and he is scheduled to die this evening.

I don’t know a lot of the particulars. I just know that as a lawyer, I know all to well the limitations of eye-witness testimony. It is often faulty, and in this case there is even more reason to think it thus. It may as well be the result of intimidation by those with power against those with none.

I always wonder this. It may be more likely that the convict is guilty, it may be most likely in fact. But if there is any doubt, any reasonable doubt, and surely recanted testimony should be deemed so, and most assuredly when there is no scientific and physical evidence, then isn’t it just sensible to err on the side of life?

Beyond all the ideological reasons why capital punishment is or should be a relic of a less evolved creature, beyond that is simple decency. How do you find closure as the family of the victim when you will FOREVER have the nagging knowledge that the killer still walks the streets? 

Yet, when at a recent debate, when it was asked of Perry how he slept at night given that Texas executed well over 200 people, leading the nation, before Perry to smartly proclaim that he “slept very well,” the audience of Republicans shouted with approval and joy at the killing field that is Texas. 

Where do you go from there?

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 It’s becoming pretty common knowledge that the GOP is set upon letting the economy flounder rather than pass anything that Obama could be credited with. To that end, Robert Reich reports that House Speaker Boehner sent a letter to the Fed, actually telling them to do NOTHING to stimulate the economy.

While, as always, it is couched in terms of “not doing anything that is not proven to improve things” the threat is obvious: “nothing you could do is proven as far as we are concerned.”

As Reich points out, it is “highly unusual” to comment on the Fed at all, as the Fed is “above politics” and it is not just a breach of etiquette, but rather a dangerous interference with global economics. It just goes to show how much the GOP is willing to do (meaning screw America) in their goal of returning themselves to power.

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Two tidbits from the wacky world of the Silly Candidates forum:

• Michele (where are my peeps?) Bachmann proves her stupids once again. Standing in front of dead beef carcasses in a meat-packing plant, somewhere in Iowa, Ms. “Eyes” said something to this effect: “I call upon President Obama to deny entry to the United States to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”  Please tell the idiot about the UN’s INTERNATIONAL status!
• Ricky (I’m readin’ a book about foreign policy right now!) Perry, intervened in the expected move by Palestine to ask for recognition as an independent state, saying all kinds of nasty things about Obama, and declaring that “as a Christian” he is called upon to support Israel.” Well, even Joe Scarborough thought Perry ventured too far. He slammed both Perry and Mitt (It’s slippin’ away from me) Romney who also tried hard not to be ignored on the issue. Andrew Sullivan weighs in as well.

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And of course, it wouldn’t be a day in America without another example of how Republicans strategy is to win elections not with votes anymore, but by rigging the election so that their minority party will still win. None other than Ricky (oh don’t Google me please)Santorum explains how Pennsylvania Republican Governor, Tom Corbett’s plan, will insure the Republicans win no matter what.

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Just a short word on the blog “What’s on the Stove?” I’ve got about twenty recipes up now, and a shopping list that you may find useful to cut and paste into Word and then columnize. Also, I revised the “menus” from here, and included another page for that. And in addition, there is now the bare bones of a “tips and tricks” page which might be useful to some. Enjoy it or not as you see fit. I add about three or so recipes a week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• GOP Houser leaders urge Fed to further depress economy, apparently to ensure Obama loses in 2012 (americablog.com)
• Republican Leaders Urge Federal Reserve To Resist New Stimulus (huffingtonpost.com)

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American History, Applique, astronomy, beading, chicken, Civil War, crochet, Desserts, embroidery, founding faithers, fruit, Gardening, George Washington, herbs, Italian, Pennsylvania, pesto, quilting, religion, Rome, seeds, Women's history, world history

George Krause did this beauty, entitled “Fountainhead” in 1970. I suspect that in some parts of the west, such a delightful experience would be most welcome.

Well, the garden is officially planted for the second time. I couldn’t get any more tomato plants or any sweet peppers but I did manage to get four Anaheim peppers which are mildly hot and good for a lot of dishes. The garden doesn’t look too bad, and the corn seems to be going a bit. Some of the tomato plants look rather spindly, but who knows, they may take off. I’m wondering if I should get some fertilizer out on it. Perhaps the heavy rains have washed away nutrients. The little pepper plants, no more than about 7 inches tall are trying to set fruit. That concerns me, since I’m thinking they are not going to produce much. Nothing can be done.

It seems the story is the same everywhere. The Contrariansstep brother has sprayed his fields for weeds so apparently he thinks the corn will come along. Since we planted at nearly the same time, that gives us some hope. Surely he wouldn’t spend the money for nothing. He must feel that the chances are still worth it.

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A huge congrats to Deborah over at (Mis)Adventures of a Crafty Wifey. Seems they are pregnant. Stop by and give her and hubby a nice high five.

William Penn is of course the reason Pennsylvania is called, well PENNsylvania. Yesterday marked the anniversary of his penning ( no pun intended of course) a treaty between his white folks and the native tribe there, the Lenni Lenape. King Charles II had given Penn the land, but of course it was never his to give. Read more at Martin’s American History Blog.

Hannibal won a significant battle against the Romans on this date in 217 B.C.E. Of course in the end he lost. N.S. Gill’s Ancient/Classic History Bloghas the details. The Contrarian and I seldom hear of Hannibal when we don’t recall a funny incident. We were watching “Millionaire” back in its beginnings when Regis Philbinwas still hosting at night. The first question to a contestant was “What animal did Hannibal use to cross the Alps in his war against Rome?” Without batting an eye, the young man confidently exclaimed with obvious superiority, “Llamas!” ROFL. Now there is so much wrong with that that well it never fails to get us laughing like crazy.

Sandi’s Crochet Blog offers a pattern for an afghan, and she offers you three different sizes. The pattern is called shell triangles and it’s very lovely I thought. I have a couple of afghans in progress already, but of course I seldom work on them during the summer months. Just to hot and the yarn drags horribly and your hands sweat. (We don’t use air-conditioning) I have tried to leave comments on her site but they never open up. If any of you have any luck, let me know.

You can find a very interesting discourse on George Washington at American Revolution Blogtoday. He discusses at length Washington’s faith, and how he interpreted that in light of his responsibilitiesboth as Revolutionary General and later as President. A very impressive overview.

I’ve been on a cilantro kick for a while. The fajitas we had yesterday were so much enhanced by fresh cilantro in the salsa. So it should come as no surprise that I found this recipe from  Baking Delights enticing. It’s called Cilantro Chickenand is a quickie. I’m rather certain I shall make it before the end of the week, though I will be significantly cutting it down for two.

Today Civil War Women features Judith Carter Henry. The story is about the first battle of Bull Run and an unlikely victim of that battle. Mrs. Henry, 85 years old, was one of casualties and, and as Maggie points out, the romanticism of war soon faded.

My intestines have caught up with me so I’ve had to put on the breaks with my love affair with fruit for a bit. But that doesn’t mean that I want to deprive you of a great recipe. Mango Blueberry Fool is sure to please your family any day, but especially on the hot summer days when fruit tastes just so darn good. Thanks to Epicurious for another fine one.

I thought I would include this fromFeeling Stitchy today, in honor of our friend Vicki at Knitting Dragonflies. A plethora of dragonflies for your inspiration! Patterns, tutorials and links to other great dragonfly-inspired projects for embroidery and quilting. One is also beaded, so lots of different craft ideas are available.

Okay, have you tried planting an avocado seed? I have, and have actually grown one to a real plant, but then it just died. I think I may try again with the expert advice I found at Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas. Take a peek and don’t send that poor old avocado seed off to the compost heap again. Grow your own! Of course it takes years to produce fruit, so either grow as a houseplant or transplant to a movable container and eventually you will get fruit. We can’t plant outside here in Iowa, it’s too cold in the winter.

Alice Parker is another of those unfortunate women who was tried as a witch. While many try to play down this time in our history, especially the religious right who never want to admit that Christianity can get out of hand, History of American Womenmakes it very clear by her essays that it was indeed prevalent for a time. It is important that these poor women not be forgotten. Her conviction was later reversed and her family received 8 pounds in recompense. How very nice. 😦

Inspired by Antique Quilts has another one she is getting ready to finish. A lovely applique that is colorful and looks quite quick. The pattern is large as you can see if you follow the link and take a look yourself.

Science purely shocks me sometimes. It tells me things that frankly I never thought about before.  Most know of Homer’s Odyssey, if they haven’t read it, or seen some representation of it in film. Of course we know it is part fiction but also part fact, since Troy has long been known to exist, featured so prominently in the Iliad. In the Odyssey, an eclipse is mentioned in the 20th book. Astronomers have pinpointed the date of that eclipse as April 16, 1178 B.C.E. some months after Odysseus return, near in time to when he slayed the many suitors vying for his wife’s hand. Read all the fascinating details of how this was done at Live Science.

The new Pew Report is really fascinating as it looks at American views on religion. Some of the results are simply astounding in my view. Some of this I saw last night on the news. Apparently most of us, even most evangelicals don’t believe that their faith (Christianity) is necessarily the only way to salvation. A huge majority of Catholics (79%) feel this way, topped only by Buddhists at around 83%. That suggests I think, major room for interfaith dialogue and cooperation. The Politico has the story. Here is a link to the forum itself where you can spend a long time reading through this very detailed work.

Pesto! I love the stuff, and have about 8 basil plants doing just fine in a container by the front door. I plan on making pestowhen they are as big as i can get them. It’s very easy to make, just basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Whiz it in a food processor, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze, pop out and put in a freezer bag. You can add it to pasta, soups, well just about anything you wish. Once Upon A Feast has some great new and different ways to make it. Cilantro is a favorite substitute. Just looking at the photos are enough to make a person swoon.

Well I found this next one a bit weird to say the least. It seems glass is not a proper solid at all. It’s moving. Yeah, did I say weird? Atoms are prohibited from moving where they want to by being blocked by neighbors. All of this means (heck if I know why) that glass could be the new component in airplane construction. I’m not thinking I want to sit in a transparent plane anytime soon!

Canada can boast a new find archaeologically speaking, and we always like to speak archaeologically whenever possible. An ancient fort constructed by people before Europeans arrived in the area, has been located in Western Canada, near Cluny and east of Calgary. It is defined as a Siksika First Nation reservation and is around 250 years old. The site was long known to native peoples.

Wow, I sure missed a number of posts by Melisende at Women of History. There are several so I’ll just give you the main site and you can scroll down and read what you like. The first is onMaria Comnena, Queen of Jerusalem, grandniece to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnena of Constantinople. Second is Theodora Comnena, niece of the same Emperor. Next is Margaret Anjou, Queen to the King Henry VI of England, Artemesia of Hallicarnassus, Queen, and lastlyGalla Placidia, Empress and daughter of Theodosius the Great of Rome. They are all from June 22, so she’s been quite prolific. A lovely run of important women

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More Sign Humor:

At a Music Store: Out to lunch. Bach at 12:30. Offenbach sooner.

At a tire shop in Milwaukee: Invite us to your next blowout. 

At the electric company: We would be delighted if you send in your bill. However, if you don’t, you will be.

Church sign: To remove worry wrinkles, get your faith lifted

In a department store: Bargain Basement Upstairs.

In a Maine restaurant: Open seven days a week and weekends.

In a Pennsylvania cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Inside a bowling alley: Please be quiet. We need to hear a pin drop.

On a maternity room door: Push. Push. Push.

On a New York convalescent home: For the sick and tired of the Episcopal Church