It's Traditional!

Every year for the last twenty, this has been playing on the radio while the turkey was cooking.  There's no turkey this year (Baked Ham w/ Marmalade Horseradish Glaze, homemade scalloped potatoes, brussels sprouts w/ marjoram and the Pink Teacup's sweet potato pie), but there will be Arlo and Alice's Restaurant.

It isn't the original but the important points are there.

You'd think that we would have evolved past waging war on undeveloped countries by now, but since those on the almost never right don't believe in evolution, that would be too much to hope for.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Don't eat too much and if you do, go for a walk afterward.

Big Brass Blog

Tuesday Quickies

A tax break I can get behind and not only because I have two dogs.  Shai Shai saved mom's life many years ago.  She didn't do anything special, she gave mom something to believe in and care for after finding the body of a friend of hers.  Both my dogs lower my blood pressure and give me high quality love and affection.  In addition to reducing the blood pressure of their owners, dogs also require exercise and they enjoy etting it with their owners.  This helps owners lose weight because while it may take three weeks for exercise to become a habit for humans, for dogs it's about three days.  Cats are great too, I just find it impossible to breathe around them.

Booman, while Obama was a slightly better choice than the McCain/Palin ticket that doesn't make him the best president and when he consistently behaves the way I predicted he would, I reserve the right to point that out.  He is Bush lite and that isn't good for the country.  I'm happy he got the Nobel and I understand the committee's reasoning, but that doesn't make him the be all and end all.   Obama's latest volley at the people who supported him and naively expected he was going to help them instead of himself doesn't surprise me in the least.  If he wants us to be sycophants, he has another think coming.

I enjoy Dollhouse.  A lot.  Yeah you have to think and pay attention, but as much as I enjoy the alphabet shows I occasionally want a little more.  I find the supporting players and the premise on Dollhouse to be intensely interesting as well as thought provoking.  Watching Enver Gjokaj's portrayal of the character Kiki last week was absolutely brilliant and eminently believable.  And Topher?  My favorite.  As Boyd (Harry Lennix, the guy most likely to portray Obama in a future movie) points out, when Topher has ethical problems you know you're in trouble.

Here's hoping that Christian Slater doesn't become the new Eric Balfour (another one bites the dust, I like him but his track record sucks) of primetime television.  I enjoyed My Own Worst Enemy and was sad to see it go, but The Forgotten is a rehash of Cold Case except without the music.  Hopefully the characters will develop and the show might get a full season.

Orly, Orly, Orly.  You need a good psychiatrist.  And medication.  Lots of medication.  Something heavy duty like lithium to help ground you and bring you back to some semblance of reality.

Saturday night has been pizza night lately and it's been a lot of fun.  I make my own sauce, I vary the toppings and mom gobbles it up.  It's raining today so I think I'll make some homemade bread to go along with the split pea soup for dinner.  I've only made bread once before and I don't have a bread machine so I think I'll start with something easy.
BBB

This 'N That

As long as the Republican party continues with it's current teabagging ways, as long as the GOP continues to eliminate or prevent programs that increase the educational and social opportunities of minorities, there will be few minorities who will run for or win political office by identifying themselves as Republicans.

How can you not know that you're fat?  When your clothing consist of flowered prints and the size is followed by at least one X, you're fat.  If you're walking and stop to look at an item and parts of your body are still moving, you're fat.  If you sit in a chair and any part of you spills over the sides, you're fat.  The people around you shouldn't determine whether you are overweight or not, common sense and a mirror should be all you need.

Have you seen the McDonald's map?  The furthest away you will ever be in the contiguous 48 states is 107 miles.  No wonder we're plumping up at an ever increasing rate.

Stephen, Stephen, Stephen.  "Since Aunt Jemima stuck her tongue right in Mrs. Butterworth's flapjack", priceless, absolutely priceless.  Watching you try not to crack up brought back fond memories of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.

Yup,  I do feel this way about politicians.

Randy Bish, Pittsburgh Tribune Review

BBB

What Are They Thinking?

The absolute cluelessness of the GOP continues to either reach new heights or plumb deeper depths, I can't decide which.  Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina used the GOP radio address to tar and feather government run health care by claiming that it would cause delays in treatment that would threaten our health.  Using her own breast cancer as an example she complains that it took "took six doctors, three mammograms and one ultrasound before they finally they found my cancer. This process took only a few weeks."  Most citizens only have one doctor and the uninsured have none.  Crystal Lee Sutton, also from North Carolina and known to the rest of the world as Norma Rae, had health insurance and died of brain cancer.  Her insurance company withheld authorization for chemotherapy medication for two months and the normally slow growing cancer spread at a rapid pace.  I'm sure she would have rather had Rep. Myrick's government run access to treatment, but I'm not so sure Ms. Sutton would complain about it saving her life on national radio.

With the right determined to occupy the outer fringe, the center has become the new right.  Obama was already right of center and that he is acquiescing to pressure and moving further right is not much of a surprise.  It's tough to balance when everything is on one end, eventually things tip over.  At what point will the issues of the people who elected him be addressed?

According to a gentleman on the Texas Board of Education, that august body responsible for influencing what's in the textbooks of tomorrow, as a minority female I should be grateful to white men for the rights I currently have.  Wow, it's nice to know that being human isn't enough to qualify for basic civil rights.  No wonder we can't have a rational discussion on health care.

But here we run into a terrible problem.  The health care debate cannot be understood in historic context because many Americans have never heard of Thomas Jefferson.  Extrapolating from state surveys, only 14% of American high school students can name who wrote the Declaration of Independence.   Nearly 75% do not know that George Washington was our first president.  More than 90% could not pass the exam given to immigrants who wish to become citizens.   No wonder that Jay Leno has so much material for his Jay Walking segment.  We can say that our educational system has failed when the vast majority of American students do not know enough to pass an exam to qualify as American citizens

On my last few trips to California I had the misfortune to eat at both a Denny's and a Marie Callender's.  They both had a laminated sheet with the nutritional information of the menu and they are going to have to change their menus if people start reading them on a regular basis.  While Marie's had a more appetizing breakfast menu, you know you're in trouble when the healthiest item on the menu are in the pancake section.  I settled on the breakfast quiche special because it had less sodium and that was still one third of my daily requirement.  Healthy options?  It would take more time to find the one or two relatively healthy items than the server is likely to give you.

The GOP can't really be this clueless, can they? 

BBB

Odds And Ends

First butter was bad for you, then it was better than margarine with its transfats.  Eggs were bad for you, then they weren't.  Fish was good for you, now it has too much mercury.  Today's new health scare? Showers are bad for you.  Next thing you know swallowing saliva over a long period of time will cause cancer.  George Carlin always was ahead of his time.  Meanwhile, some guy in Texas is serving up Deep-Fried Butter.

Shai Shai and Shadow have me well trained.  Oh, they sit when I want them to, come when they are called but I'm under no illusions as to who is really in charge.  Those kisses they give me are because they want something. or they're my reward for doing something right.  They get fed before I have my tea, they go to the park or I have to put up with a lot of sneezing and shaking of the head, followed by a single authoritative bark if I don't get up from the computer.  The Geico eyeballs will blink long before they do.  I cook lamb and rice to add to their lamb and rice kibble because they expect demand people food of some sort and I won't feed them table scraps.  When fresh vegetables are chopped they hang around waiting for oopsies.  And they get them.  Shadow is happy with carrots but Shai prefers asparagus and broccoli.  Do I need to know the secrets of my dog's mind?  Not necessarily but I would like to think I'm not disappointing them.

Government may be one toxic asset, but it pays your salary and ensures you have health care Mr. Paul.  I agree that the economic recovery has not included the people, but one shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Government has its place, I wish we could all agree on what it is.

BBB

Food Funnies

Some people have way too much time on their hands, but man are they creative.

 

My personal favorites.

Life Without Credit

Russ over at Scholars and Rogues, has an excellent article about credit cards being equivalent to usury and used George Washington as an example as to some of the other reasons why our Founding Fathers started the Revolutionary War. One of my college professors had told us stories about ol' George's spending habits so it wasn't a total surprise but if the Founding Fathers thought that 5% interest was robbery, I wonder what they would think of us putting up with 30-36%?

I no longer carry credit cards, they won't let me have one. They don't even send me offers. Which is okay by me because when I run out of money to pay my bills and unlike my government and huge corporations, I stop spending. I just wish there weren't so many bills left over. The last few years of taking care of mom has taken a severe financial and emotional toll as it has for many in my generation. Every month I run out of money about two weeks before I run out of month. And just like a lot of other people we are falling through the cracks.

I don't own video games, I don't go on vacation to exotic places, I don't go out to eat very often and unlike some women, I only own two pair of shoes and one purse. I hate clothes shopping which is unfortunate since mom has magically disappeared almost everything I own several times. So, where did my money go? Rent, food, cell and gas. At the end of the month rent is not going to be an issue because unless a miracle happens we'll be homeless and that bill will go the way of the dodo. Thank goodness my two year contract is up with DiSH on the 17th and I can cancel the cable without penalty. Which I can also do with mom's phone as of yesterday since no one calls her and even though I have it set to answer when she flips it open, she misses most of my calls and uses it mainly to see the time. I can't justify the expense so there's another $10 a month saved.

Last year when gas was getting close to $5 a gallon here in San Jose I put myself on a gas budget. I bought a $100 gift card at Costco at the beginning of the month and when it ran out, I walked or stayed home. And even though I am not within walking distance of anything important such as food, I cut my driving by over 70%, a practice that continues to this day though now the requirement is one tank per month.

Could I use a credit at this moment? You betcha. When I bought the used 1994 Infiniti I checked Carfax for everything except how much it cost to tune it up. It never occurred to me that it would be more than $100. Boy was I naive. Depending on the place it is anywhere from $942 to $1200. Mainly for labor. You have to take half the engine off just to get to the spark plugs! Which can only be platinum. As tight as things are I would need to spread that amount over twelve months and hope that nothing else goes wrong. If I'm not willing to take that chance why would a creditor? So, I'm cleaning it and selling it this weekend.

Fortunately I do have an iPod and it will help entertain me while riding the bus. Since public transportation was one of the things that the Governator decided wasn't important enough to be funded and he had to give corporations a $1B tax break, I will walk a mile or two to get to a bus stop where I can pay higher fares and go fewer places. It's tough losing one's autonomy in California, the state isn't designed for it. On the bright side, there is the added benefit of increasing my cardiovascular health and helping me to lose weight.

Like a lot of people I've cut back everywhere I can, I even live in a crime ridden area because the rent is cheaper. Mom and I would like to move out of the state but we can't for three reasons. One, we don't know anything or anyone in the places mom wants to go so we would have no idea about the quality of the neighborhood. Two, she loses her Medicaid until residency is established and the drugs the doctor just put her on are as much as her Social Security each month so that presents a huge problem but three is the kicker. It seems we need a credit card to rent a truck. Not pay since they are only to happy to accept cash, just as security to rent.

It's sad that our nation has become the laughingstock of the world. Our news exports scenes of beautiful people doing nothing but attending parties or adopting babies while the poor and the middle class are blamed for not being one of the beautiful people. Hospitals are content to let people die in the waiting room, food banks are teeming with more people than they can healthfully feed while restaurants are throwing out unused food by the tons as the dinner rush becomes the dinner trickle. Meanwhile, those that have not only blame those that have not, they seem to spend every waking moment trying to get the last penny from those that don't have it to spare and then call them deadbeats because the have nots can't afford all the new rates and penalties on what they already don't have.

How many tent cities will it take before the populace can drag themselves away from American Idol Idle and see that the flood waters of debt are at their doorstep and still rising? How much longer will the people tolerate bailing out the banks when they can't bail themselves out of the mess they're in? Especially without a job. Telling people not to live above their means when everywhere they turn all they see is stuff that they are brainwashed into needing is like telling an eight month pregnant teenager that sex is even better after you have the baby but abstinence is the way to make your parents happy. Some other advice needs to be given.

There's a reason why Clara Cannucciari is becoming so popular that she is getting ready to release her first DVD at the age of 92. She knows a Depression when she sees one. Cooking from scratch is an art, cooking with cheaply available ingredients is magic in the land of Mickey Ds, Whole Foods and tight budgets. I remember many of those meals from when I was growing up and you know what? They still taste good. Comfort food rocks. I may like caviar and champagne but fried potatoes and club soda taste just as good when you're hungry. Plus, you don't need credit to enjoy them.

BBB

Nutjobs, Birthers, Food And Finances

It is absolutely amazing how often the hardly every right bugled and trumpeted that if you didn't support President Bush you were a traitor and should be tried and shot for treason but they find nothing ironic, illegal or immoral about cheerleading for the failure of President Obama.  For eight years these people cheered every step on the United State's fiscal, moral and ethical path to ruin and now that it looks like Obama is trying to stop us in midflight as we go over the cliff that nobody in the previous administration could have predicted, the nutbags on the right want to make sure that everything fails so they can gloat about the destruction of modern civilization as it now exists.  If Obama's plans fail, there will be no brink to come back from and the windbags on the right will end up exactly where they don't want to be.  In the trash heap with the rest of us.  Or to put it another way, it's like praying that the Large Hadron Collider produces a black hole here on earth and thinking that you are going to escape because you are blessed with the incredible lightness of being.  Aint. Gonna. Happen,

Speaking of nutjobs, the Birthers are at it again.  Obama was born in the state of Hawaii two years after it became a state.  End of story.  Period.  The soldier isn't defying an unlawful order, he is committing treason, deserves a court martial and a few years at Ft. Leavenworth.

Brilliant! And they paid for the study.  Next thing you know they'll be saying that exercise is beneficial in the battle against the bulge and that if you combine the two your health will improve.

Any good cook knows that when you want to introduce new foods to finicky eaters that you don't tell them what they're eating until after they have expressed an opinion.  I guess when you're young it's easier to be fooled by X-Ray carrrots instead of plain carrots with a touch of brown sugar and butter.

No kidding.  A good night's sleep is so far in the past for me that I don't remember what it was like.

Still haven't found a place to live for mom and I that we can afford.  We've got less than three weeks or adult dependent services takes her away, puts her in a home without her dogs and she probably dies of loneliness.  Since the Governor has cut back on services for the elderly the place she'll be stuck in will be one step above a home that keeps her sedated and tethered to her bed.  I, on the other hand, will turn into snap girl and either end up dead in a cop shooting when they try to take her away or have three hots and a cot for the rest of my life.  If we had done something wrong I could understand it but we haven't.   It's been a six month battle and I'm tired,  totally out of ideas and resources are nonexistent due to so many people using them.  Meanwhile, the three child molesters will have a roof over their heads.  Go figure.

You would think that after all the work Howard Dean put in over the last four years he would have gotten the HHS post but it is not to be.  Oh well, what would a doctor and friend of the people know?  So far Obama has removed quite a few elected people from government to fill positions and ignored talent that is staring him in the face.  And Burris is working out so well, isn't he?


BBB

Wake And Bake

Perhaps the police and the District Attorney's office should spend more time and effort on capturing thieves, rapists and murderers instead of potheads, prostitutes and protesters.  Wasting time and dwindling resources to prosecute victimless crimes trivializes the justice system and lets criminals of greater crimes remain at large because they have better legal representation.  Sentencing a person to jail for three to five years for possession of pot while allowing white collar criminals who bilked millions out of their savings to go free is stupid at best and criminal at worst.  Prisons are so overcrowded that rapists and murderers are allowed to go free so there can be room for people convicted of possession is a miscarriage of justice and shows a disturbing sense of priorities.  One is not soft on crime if a pot smoker is left alone, one is soft on crime when a rapist is allowed to go free so you can incarcerate the pot smoker.

Hung out with the BARBarians on Thursday night for a post victory celebration and several thoughts struck me.  First of all, very few people showed up.  I guess everyone thinks their job is done.  It isn't.  Obama deserves the same scrutiny that we gave Bush, otherwise we are the hypocrites that we accused the hardly ever right of being.

Second, Generik was surprised that I wasn't as emotionally affected by Obama's win and I never got a chance to tell him why.  Yes I'm black, but I'm also a woman and I can honestly say that being female has held me back more often than my skin color.  If Obama had been a woman, I would still be walking around with a smile and my head held high.  As it is, I don't see that things are going to change much under an Obama administration since he has very few women in his inner circle and doesn't seem inclined to step out of his comfort zone.  Unfortunately this is typical of many black men.  Women are rarely seen as equals and society will continue to reflect that unless Obama makes the same effort that Bill Clinton did to put women into decision making roles in his cabinet.  Hopefully I'm wrong but past experience has shown that politics at the top is a major boy's club.

It's rained a little bit and the weather is chilly (for California), so tonight's dinner is going to be Chicken and Dumplings with carrots, onions, rutabaga and turnip.  I can hardly wait.  And since I just typed that, the sun has decided to make a brief appearance and play peekaboo with the clouds.  Not changing my mind, my taste buds are all set for the dumplings and gravy.  Yum!

BBB

What I Did Yesterday

First, I spotted a Smart Car in the wild.  Isn't she pretty?  I really want one these babies.  It's all I need to get around town and parking looks like it would be a breeze.

Then, after making sure that all of the stop lights in San Jose were working, I went to my friend's house and we started pickling less than a peck of peppers. So we threw in other veggies.  Cucumbers, cauliflower, onions and garlic and soaked them in a salt bath.

 Then we filled the jars and topped them off with a brining solution that had Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar from Trader Joe's.

 

And put them in the water bath.

 

Voila' the finished project.  All the jars popped nicely and are now resting on various peoples shelves.

In the last few weeks I learned how to bottle my own barbecue sauce and salsa to store for the winter and now I'm working on learning how to pickle my veggies instead of letting them go to waste.  Next year should set me up nicely to weather the Depression.   Even if I don't have a home, I can still eat relatively well, as long as the jars don't break.

As a side note, finding jars was somewhat of a mission.  Between the economy and Alton Brown's pickling lessons this week, most stores were out of stock.

All in all, it was a fun day.

BBB

Sisyphus And I Are Related

My landlord could care less that the state hasn't paid me for taking care of my mother.  He wants me out so he can rent to someone who has a steady paycheck.   That used to be me.  And thanks to the state budget impasse, there is no where to take my mom while I search for another job.  Did I mention that the other day I came home and the house was full of gas because she didn't turn the stove off completely?  Caught her just before she lit a cigarette.  Or that she fell down a few weeks ago and can still barely walk? 

I hope the the California Governor and Republican representatives spend whatever afterlife there is in hell.  Pushing a rock uphill until it rolls back down and flattens them.  Time and time again.  I'm so glad I was in such a hurry to grow up and be responsible.  I'd run for office but as Kevin Costner put it so eloquently, I've lived a colorful life.  I believe that makes me ineligible since I'm not squeaky clean enough for the hypocritical voters.  To say nothing of the press.

Has anybody else noticed that the FDA lies?  Like the proverbial rug.  They don't care how many people die and they certainly don't care if it's induced by pharmaceutical companies or bad food.  Accountability, it's only for the people who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Nothing else matters.

Oh well, gotta run.  I just might be able to get food stamps.  For myself.  Isn't that special?  I've been boxed into a corner and there is no guarantee that I'll even have a place to cook the food if I qualify.  I'm really tired of fighting the same battles over and over again.  Getting my Masters was supposed to prevent that.  Instead all it did was saddle me with debt I'm never going to be able to repay.  Life is so wonderful.   I should have quit when I was sixteen.  At least the fridge was always full and the rent was always paid.

BBB

Bank Of America Sucks The Big Weenie

I cannot stand B of A. They may be my bank but they are trying to balance their bad mortgage loans on the backs of their poorest consumers. In addition to reordering how they do their debits, they have now instituted the practice of charging overdraft fees on pending items. Items that haven't been paid and may drop off for any reason, such as they aren't authorized. But that doesn't stop them from charging you a fee even if they haven't paid it.

My Netflix was due yesterday and I went to put money in the bank before the day was over. I'm living really close to the bone while I wait for the state to get its act together. This morning I check my balance and discovered three overdraft charges for items that weren't overdrawn, they were pending and the money was in the bank before they cleared. This is $105 that they won't give me back and has left me with the grand total of $35.82 until the third of September or the state sends me another check. Whichever comes first.  And even though there was enough money in my account, they didn't pay Netflix.  The last entertainment mom and I had is in the process of being canceled.

I have no gas in the car, very little food (why did Shadow have to dig up my peas and green beans?) in the fridge, (we won't even talk about the rent I can't pay) and absolutely no possibility of ever getting my finances in order because no matter what I do, Bank of America keeps instituting new fees and new ways to take my money, even when I have done nothing wrong. I guess you are supposed to keep a minimum of $1000 in the account to protect yourself from their thievery and that isn't the type of account I signed up for. If I had a $1000 I wouldn't be suffering as much and mom and I wouldn't be on the verge of being homeless.

Plus, they are paying .050% on savings, down from the 3% when I opened the account. Why keep money in a savings account that doesn't pay? Why keep money in this bank at all? Did you know that their Keep the Change scam takes the money out of your checking account at the end of the day but doesn't transfer it to your savings account for another 24 hours? They are using your money for a whole day to make money for the bank and calling it a savings plan. Yeah, for them.

The economy in the Bay Area is so bad that they didn't even have to turn on the metering lights on the Bay Bridge this morning. It isn't a holiday, but people have no jobs to go to. I can't find a job that lets me work from home so I can keep an eye on mom, who has taken to removing items of clothing in public and is rapidly forgetting how to walk or eat properly, but I can't afford to put her in a home and she is still too aware to be in a place that you go to die.

I'm tired, depressed, stressed and I hate Bank of America with a purple effing passion. I hope they go under and all their executives go to jail for fraud. As if that would happen with Bush and his cronies in power. I think I'll start using a check cashing service and keep my money in a mattress because the fees would actually be less.

Bank of America really sucks.  And I hate them.

I really hate them.

What A Crock!

Only because they aren't looking in the right places.   This is just like when they redefined hunger as food insecurity.  In less than half a mile on Seventh Street in San Jose there are currently 11 motor homes or 5th wheels currently parked and being lived in.  Then there are the side streets with one or two vehicles that are also occupied.  In the Bush economy it is possible to have a job and not have a home or a drug problem.

“It affirms the very significant change in policy shift that took place over the in the last six years,” said Mr. Culhane, who studies homelessness trends and policy, of the decline in the numbers of chronically homeless. “We’re moving in the right direction, without a doubt.”

I'll just bet everything is going according to plan.  The plan to transfer everything of value from the have nots to the have mores.

I just want to be your stepping stone.  So much for the myth of serving the public.  It's always about the benjamins, isn't it?

Major tactical error.  He should have gone to see the troops by himself, they deserved it.  But then you would have to have spent some lonely time in a hospital bed to understand that.  CNN gets interviews and soundbites all the time, these guys are still suffering the initial shock of being wounded.

Great, just great.  275 minutes a week.

Why aren't Republicans looking for another candidate?  Melanoma of the head and face are the most fatal of skin cancers and McCain has had more than one occurrence.  Between this and his encroaching senility, the odds of him finishing his term as Senator, much less President, is seriously in doubt.

The Food Network, the one that used to show you how to cook but now mainly shows you people eating at places you can't get to, has replaced the disgraced Robert Irvine with the Giggler on Dinner Impossible.  Instead of letting the ripped off John Besh handle the duties, they are forcing Michael Symon down our throats.  Well, I'm not swallowing.  And I'm not watching either.  Bring back Robert Irvine or let Besh do it. Who cares if Irvine stretched his resume, he did the job he was hired to do.  If Symon is the Iron Chef for the week, I skip it and now it looks like Dinner Impossible has become Dinner Unwatchable.  The giggle and the soul patch are just the tip of the iceberg. I miss the old Food Network, the one that gave me ideas for dinner, not dining out.

BBB

Who Knew?

Every soldier that has died in Iraq could have been used to quell the Taliban in Afghanistan and catch Osama bin Laden.  Years ago.  After almost seven years of constant war and not much has been accomplished except spreading the pain of loss to more of our military families.  So much for making the instigators pay for 9/11.  Bin Laden looks like the winner in this contest.  One man holding out against the might of the United States for seven years.  There is something just not kosher about this situation.

Ferengi Rule #269. Trying to please an enemy makes you the loser every time. Too bad the Demowienies haven't learned that. They seem more comfortable operating by Ferengi Rule #28. What's in it for me?

Living on the poor side of town is about to get slightly easier since Macy's, Wal-Mart and a British grocery chain discovered that there is money in those neighborhoods.

Officer Nugent sounds like a person who must have put his fingers in the electric sockets many times if he believed that a man could survive six 50,000 volt taser shocks in three minutes.  And then three more a few minutes later.  He sounds like the kind of person who laughed every time he watched don't tase me bro.

Absolutely unconscionable.  Raising the price of a drug that needs to be used as soon as possible in order to prevent mental retardation in affected infants from $1,800 a dose to $23,000 smacks of a "let's make money mentality" as opposed to a "let's use this drug to help children", especially since they didn't have to do research and development on it.  Shameful.  On the bright side, Hopkins proved that there was a $15 alternative that worked equally well.  The universe can work in mysterious ways.

Search engines can be another indicator of an economy that isn't doing so well.  Searches for pizza (Dominos by 980%) are up and sit-down restauraants are declining.  U-Haul and Motel 6 are popular again while Macy's has dropped almost out of the top 50.

BBB

Is The Week Over Yet?

When I have money, I shop for groceries and every week I've noticed that prices are up.  Not by a nickel or a dime, but by 30 to 50 cents.  Per item.  My income is fixed, which means I only have a certain amount to spend on food and it is forcing me to compromise on the quality of food that I serve my mother.  Fortunately my garden is growing.  So, how do you know when the Green Zebras are ripe?

The serranos are coming along nicely, the Early Girls are ripening beautifully and I finally have a few green beans.

Talk about emboldening your enemies.  Leaving Iraq is considered to be cutting and running, but this isn't? Afghanistan is blowing up in our faces, just like the 60 Minutes report from a few months ago that those on the hardly ever right labeled as lies and bashing the troops.  I'll be really glad when the mission is accomplished.  Whatever that mission is, because it certainly isn't about capturing Osama been Forgotten or eliminating al-Qaeda influence



Sometimes it seems like the bastion of hope and freedom that was called the United States is just a dwindling light in the rear view mirror.



The American people don't seem to learn from their mistakes.  With approval of Congress at an all time low what did the Democrats of Georgia do?  They reelected every one of their incumbents.  The people who have consistently voted against their constituents interests are free to do damage for another two years.  America isn't interested in change, it's interested in maintaining the status quo so it won't have to think.  Reminds me of the Distinguished Gentleman.



Not that the media here in the US would report it fairly, so the BBC has a handy list of some of the McCain/Obama flip-flops. 



BBB

It's Monday

Dolly Madison would have been my choice.  Besides being the wife of the fourth President and hostess for Thomas Jefferson during his White House years, she was a personality in her own right.  Most people remember that she saved the portrait of George Washington when the British invaded Washington D.C and burnt the White House, I remember her for saving the original draft of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  It's amazing what people think is important.

20 healthy foods for under a dollar.  Unless you live in California, then they are a little more expensive.

Hello?  This is what happens when you are wasting your military in a differnt country that had nothing to do with September 11 and everything to do with oil and daddy issues.  Nothing like having others pay for your mistakes.  Why did we think we would be the ones who could successfully invade Afghanistan when nobody else has managed this feat?

Conspiracy Sunday

Fatigue?  Wouldn't they have to have done something first?  And by the way, Katrina didn't trigger mass evacuations.   Days after the original damage was done, the government took the opportunity to divide families and prevent return of the people by use of the diaspora technique.  The Big Easy is growing again, just not with the people who gave the city its uniqueness.   But that was probably the plan all along, n'est-ce pas?

Jimmy Carter said it many years ago in his race against Ronald Reagan, it's taken almost thirty years but the job is almost done.  North against South, rich against poor, old against young, black against white, white against everybody, coasts against flyover country, men against women, etc.  Next thing you know only those living in protected enclaves will be allowed a say in government since the rest of us will be considered savages by those who have everything.

Everything is going according to plan.  Nothing to see here, move along.  Especially if the goal was to increase the size of the underclass.  Without good paying jobs throughout a neighborhood, people won't be able to save up for down payments again and if they are working part time jobs they are credit risks and their ability to get a loan is reduced.  Or as JollyRoger likes to put it, welcome to the Shruburbs.

Egg rolls with ranch dressing?  An no one thought to test this woman for being drunk?  The thin blue line in San Jose is sustaining another hit.  Courteous?  I don't think so.  Covering up for a former coworker because they went little too fast is one thing, covering up an alcohol induced car accident where innocent people are hurt is not cool.  It's also illegal and at the rate that this story is growing, someone besides the drunk driver is going to pay.  With their job.

I've been doing my best to keep mom out of any type of care facility and her doctor and I are going to have a discussion about why he hasn't prescribed any meds for the early onset of Alzheimer's but expects me to keep her blood pressure in check.  She wanders around bewildered most of the time, having no clue that what she is doing isn't the right thing, and if she could recover even a little mental function, I would be able to get another part time job to supplement our income.  Waiting until she won't be able to feed herself is foolish and extremely tiring for me.  And I'm not the only one who has notice the misplaced priorities of the healthcare system.  Unfortunately, compared to England we have no system at all.

Who cares if we already can't live on what we make now, much less save half our income for retirement?   Living on 30% less as we get older shouldn't be too much of a strain on us.  It isn't as if we worked our whole lives and contributed to making the United States one of the greatest nations in the world.  Now when you get old you are considered to be a drain on society.  Off to the Soylent Green factory.  See what happens to a generation that didn't want to trust anyone over 30?  Now that they're 60 they can't trust anyone.  Even though it was the conservatives they themselves voted in during the '80s that set us up to have a destitute future with no way out except a lingering death.  The generations that got us through the first Depression, the Second World War and produced the children who became the computer generation, are being treated like so much toilet tissue.  And used at that.

BBB

Rest In Peace Edition

Rocky Aoki is gone.  I started eating at the Benihana in Encino back when you had to point to what you wanted because nobody but the patrons spoke English very well.  And the chefs really put on a display, using knives and other implements.  Now, at least in San Jose, most chefs speak Spanish and bang the salt and pepper shakers a few times.  Whatever, it was a favorite restaurant for Mom and I and I hope that Rocky rests in peace.

As should Michael DeBakey.  His innovations have saved millions of people and he deserved every one of the 99 years that I hope he enjoyed.  Some people honestly do give more than they take.

Since he's no longer here to defend himself, all I can say is. Tony Snow, rest in peace.  One of my patients when I worked a shift at the San Diego Hospice died of colon cancer and it was the worst thing I'd ever seen in my life.  Incredibley painful and nobody deserves that.  We don't let animals suffer.

On a slightly lighter note, no more Fake Steve,  Ever since he was outed last year he hadn't been as funny, but I'll still miss him.   I hope Real Dan is enjoying himself.

In The Garden

My garden isn't fancy and it isn't even in the ground (too many toxic chemicals), but it is growing despite the fact that Shadow is constantly digging in either the Jetsetter tomato pot or digging up my peas and green beans.

Facing away from the beans and peas are the tomatoes.  The right side has the Early Girls, Purple Cherokee and Ace.  The Girls are starting to ripen, as is the Cherokee.

On the left, under the bougainvillea the landlord won't let me trim,  are the Jetsetter, Green Zebra and Brandwine.  None of them are ripe because they aren't getting enough sunlight and I can't move them because the trellis is supporting them as they grow.

Then there are the serranos, of which I have flowers but no peppers.

Last and certainly not least, are the herbs, beets and chard.  I've let the cilantro go and now it's producing coriander seeds.    And you can't really see the out of control chives behind the basil that isn't doing as well as I would like.  The empty spot is where Shadow has dug up whatever she felt like chewing on.  Like the dead green bean plant on the side of the trellis.

I can hardly wait until I have enough ripe tomatoes of all sorts so I can make the Heirloom Tomato Tart.  I admit I cheat and use frozen pie dough that I add lots of cracked pepper to before blind baking it and I substituted goat cheese for the mozzarella.  It rocks!



BBB

Are You Getting Enough Vegetables?

The first one is familiar and the rest are a hoot.


Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life.  Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it...don't  waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies.  What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.

Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?
A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories:  animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal, and they are not on the periodic table of elements, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your liquid vegetables.

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is 1:1. If you have two bodies, your ratio is 2:1, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain....Good.

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: What's the secret to healthy eating?
A: Thicker gravy.

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You  should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO ..... Cocoa beans ... another vegetable!!!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

Have a cookie ... flour is a veggie!

One more thing...When life hands you lemons, ask for a bottle of tequila and some salt.

3Bs