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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Introduction to Recipes #1


Something different: I have had more home time than I have enjoyed in many years and have taken over most culinary chores. My Mom was a great cook and each of us (9) learned our way around the kitchen.  I remember watching my mom in the kitchen and doing things I did not understand then but now fully understand what she was doing. I have cooked for years for my family but in a sort of vacuum. Now I have a great appreciation for what she was doing all of those years. I will from time to time share some of my favorites and the issues I ran in to and how I overcame them. There will be no pictures but hopefully I can explain well enough for you to get a good outcome. This first one is simple and just a simple dip for anytime and variable according to your taste.

Chili Cheese Dip

1 – 16 oz can chilli man chili with out beans

1 small cake of velveeta cheese

Spices you can add:

cumin to taste

Franks hot sauce to taste

Heat chilli in suitable size sauce pan when hot add velveeta and stir until blended. If you have a small sauce crock pot , put the mixture in this before adding additional items.

You can increase the proportions according to the amount you want to make.

You can use any type of dipping chip including plain crackers. This will also keep well in the fridge and you can portion it out and freeze it for later use. Good eating.

Dick who?


Former vice President Dick Cheney has stated that Mr. Obama is the worst president since President Carter. This coming from a man whose company Halliburton was involved in the loss and misuse of Billions of US dollars in Libya and other parts of the middle east and was OK with expensive search for the WMD’s of fable and fantasy. This is again from a man who shot his own attorney while hunting (orange vest not withstanding). “Let those who are without sin cast the first stone”. The desperation of the Romney side is as insidious as any so called WMDs if they existed. I am surprised that anyone could believe a man who while the second top executive managed to rook the American public of Billions of dollars under the guise of abstention from a company he was deeply entrenched in. If this is a key spokesman for the Dupublicans, we are in big trouble. I am outraged that this was aired at all. We certainly had our fill of politicians who forgot or never intended to do what we hired them for, now we have an ex politician who did nothing more than sock it to us during and after his term of no service. Perhaps we need to hire some mobsters then we know what they will do- no offense to the mobsters.

-Read the Ediot-

Fighting For Israel


The latest campaign issue is Israel. Mr. Romney has traveled to Israel to improve his image to the Jewish people which he hopes will translate into votes for his election. That is politics however any aspiring candidate to the Oval office has only a schtickel of information on the situation. There are ongoing nonpublic communications and efforts underway all the time. Everything that is done cannot be made public because the participants of these talks have to look after their “interests”  (translates into their people). People do not react well to the information being discussed as our humanness sometimes works against us. Diplomats while sometimes not our favorite people have to face off daily with the other diplomats to design a plan that suits both sides even if the plan is  not perfect. The Palestinian and Israel situation is just that, a situation. Situations can be resolved with effort but can be resolved. Both sides want what they want yet cannot have it without a fight. That fight involves other surrounding countries creating an underlying uneasiness. To make an observation: many of us may not remember the struggle to establish an Israeli state in the mid forties but that struggle was the culmination of thousands of years of a type of exile from their original homeland (Moses’ leading the people out of Egypt). During those years the Jewish people were in every country and prospering as small groups. Even these small groups were tormented and detested primarily for being Jewish. These abuses became evident in Hitlers reign of terror as we all know and have read about. This fight for Israel has undertones with the “darker Jews” who are shouldering an additional burden of skin color. What the issue appears to be in the Palestinian-Israel issue is how much land should be ceded to the Palestinians, essentially where will the borders be? We all as humans want what we want and often will not understand that we can live with less and still be happy. This is not to make light of a serious situation  when dealing with a group that  has had to fight for freedom and the right to exist. I totally object to politicians using a tense diplomatic case  to garner votes and essentially this is what Mr. Romney’s campaign is doing. As an aside  consider the several religious sects that are also fighting for survival in other countries in the region against repressive regimes, this also  colors the Israeli-Palestinian situation

Firearms


The issue of “gun” control is again in the headlines. The recent murders in Colorado only serves as an issue in who should be able to purchase and own “guns” (firearms is a better description). The perpetrator purchased all of his weapons and ammunition legally but that does not indicate that the existing regulations are flawed. What appears to be flawed is perhaps the training or lack of training in the individual. This man is certainly intelligent but troubled, this  trouble may have been noticed with some sort of face to face training in the laws and use of firearms. No one wants or necessarily needs more mandated training but each time an incident like this occurs the  cry of “gun control”  fills the airwaves and print. These individuals were all troubled as the investigations of their backgrounds revealed yet no one even suspected the actions they would later take. the solution is not more “gun control” but rather a closer examination of the buyer. We cannot expect the sellers to be mind readers or perceptive enough to determine if a person is barely on the track or will go off later. What we can expect is a non knee jerk reaction from our elected representatives. I do not believe we will ever get it right by questioning or pressing politicians to do something.  No one wants more laws that may or may not work but maybe some modifications to the existing ones that make sense.  Why not get a consensus from prominent shooters who certainly have some realistic ideas regarding screening of purchasers.

Failures In Leadership


I have concluded as I arrive at this age and with the accumulated wisdom I believe I have collected has prepared me for retirement and a second stage of life. I see the folly of corporations  who  initially  were the bastions of our country and its progress, who have become and remained household names.  These Corporate entities  (many of them) have outsourced jobs to maintain profitability at the expense  of  the well-being of America’s workers. Then there are the financial entities who through their greed and pomposity brought the country to the brink of economic collapse while pocketing huge fees and bonuses. These actions on by both entities are not much different from the early years of our country except now we have almost instant access to their activities and the effects are literally worldwide. Currently I see Corporate heads who have no idea of the workings of the company’s they lead and make decisions that have far-ranging effects on the bottom line  of the company and the employees. This has  had fallout (fall in?) even in the political sector where we had State leaders  who in their efforts to “save” the States economies they usurped the  rights of the citizens and their lawful union representatives. These Political leaders have served the needs of the least against greater good of all of the people. It is clearly understood by everyone that there are financial issues that require immediate attention but our corporate heads and political leaders have their collective heads in limbo. Our job as voters is to constantly remind  these “leaders” that they are failing and we will make them accountable, we cannot allow the splinter groups to dictate our future just because they are more vocal. Not participating in making our officials accountable is not the right thing to do. Every voice counts no matter what your politics are. One of the signers of the Declaration of independence stated it perfectly:

“We must hang together, gentlemen…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.”

-Benjamin Franklin-

Millionaires in Congress


The stiff resistance to end of tax cuts for the richest Americans is an issue that is stalemated because the Congressional opponents are “advocating for the people” It appears that this resistance is self serving as  there are at last count 32 Dupublican millionaire members and 18 Scamocrat millionaire members. The lapsing of the tax cuts would raise the taxes they pay. This would also increase the taxes of Americans who make $250,000 annually, this is pretax dollars (before deductions). Yes there will be Americans who will be affected by this lapse but many more lower income folks will benefit. There can always be some discussion as the pros and cons on the effect of this changes but no one can say for sure what the long range effect will be. There will be some individuals who will more affected than others but less than the folks who are way under that threshold.

Language of Aging


The progress of life brings many things. Among these are the wisdom of age, the ability to advise and the associated aches and pains. All of us have the creaks and groans the body makes as we age. We involuntarily make certain sounds as we wake and rise, get up from a chair or move. These sounds are just a normal part of moving with the stiffness that come with age. Our joints and muscles begin to lose their resilience and fluidity of movement from day one (1). When we were young daredevils and full of energy, we participated in sports and other physical activities whose results have now come home to roost. Do you think the cereal was named after these noises? As older  people we now have snaps. groans and rumbles that did not exist (or we never noticed) when we were young. Pay attention to your noises , that’s your body talking to you. An example that all of us probably know is the sound of cracking knuckles, this is caused by the air in the synovial fluid that surround the joints, this can occur in any and all joints with or without additional assistance (as in cracking the knuckles). When you get a hitch, pinch or pop, it’s just the body doing what it has done forever and we didn’t notice until we got old.

Introduction to Congressional blog-ongoing


This is issue #1 of what I am calling the Congressional blog. This will deal with the antics of our Congress as I perceive them. There will be other posts that have nothing to do with Congress in between but the Congressional items will be noted.

Things That Last Forever


There have been ideas and thoughts that nothing last as long as they did before (?). There are several things that appear to have longevity:

1. Twinkies-it has been said that Twinkies have been found in landfills and still unfazed by the burial.

2. Honey this has been found in Egyptian tombs and still edible.

3. Greed-everlasting

4. Congress (seems like forever)

5. Bigotry (all types)- apparently never goes away.

Colorado


The events in Colorado has brought up the old discussions of firearm control. The Mayor of new York has made a statement that the two men campaigning for the presidency should talk about it. The issue is not Firearm control, this less than sane person purchased everything legally but misused that ability to carry out his own twisted actions. This is something that could have happened in the most liberal firearm state or the most restrictive. What we will have for a while are debates pro and con on firearms which will end with no valuable insights or reasonable resolutions. Until the mental state of a person can be legally evaluated there can be no valuable  or reasonable solutions. A person can be as sane as anyone and degrade into the person who shot up the theater in this Colorado case. A possible solution that could help is a mandated training in order to purchase a firearm. many folks who legally own firearms have the training and knowledge already but new purchasers may not. This mandated training should not be designed to thin the herd so to speak but more to address the knowledge of the weapon to be purchased, its use and purpose. There are enough shooting ranges in this country to get this done. the most recognized advocate (NRA) for firearm ownership and rights should lead the way on this rather than spend millions in electing advocates or like minded individuals to office. I am a firearm owner and learned early on the safe ways to handle weapons, much of my knowledge came from my military service and was enhanced later as I handled more weapons. Familiarity is a way to increase safety in using firearms but common sense is the equalizing factor. The only fear we should have of firearms is the person who owns them. We will be hard pressed to discourage the illegal sales and acquisition of firearms but we can go the direction of educating  the folks who can legally acquire and purchase firearms.

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