Run ol' hare
Who sees in secret
Run ol' hare
Who knows what's coming
Run ol' hare
If I was a ol' hare
I'd run too
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Thriller
Man the barricades! Once more, dear friends, into the breach! And other expressions of valor, courage and risk-taking!
I'm about to undertake a dangerous assignment, an odyssey into the unknown. In the past five weeks, I left the house only twice, not counting walks to the mailbox. The first trip triggered the worst vertigo attack in years. The second was a necessity two weeks later as I was out of bread and Ritz, essentials when I have difficulty getting upstairs to the kitchen. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad. Still, vertigo resumed, the next day.
I am now running low on supplies and think I can make the trip without restarting the whole mess. If religious, pray for me, if not, send good vibes via the fifth dimension.
I'm going in!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Daylight Savings Time, Money Wasting Time
It's time for my bi-annual rant . We are returning to daylight savings time, more accurately known as money wasting time. As reported in Scientific American, September 2010, daylight savings time in recent studies has been shown to result in more electricity use in regions of Indiana which observe daylight savings time than in regions of Indiana which do not. In other words, we may be saving daylight, but we are wasting money.
Other studies have shown that because of the enforced change of times we are creating an artificial jet lag for hundreds of millions of Americans. This results in more traffic accidents, depression, and even heart attacks. This grim picture doesn't even take a look at the wasted man-hours due to the nationally mandated jet lag.
In short daylight savings time is a program that only Congress could love. It is nothing but destructive. It has zero benefits and many negative effects. It is is all bad for the country. That's why it's so important.
Other studies have shown that because of the enforced change of times we are creating an artificial jet lag for hundreds of millions of Americans. This results in more traffic accidents, depression, and even heart attacks. This grim picture doesn't even take a look at the wasted man-hours due to the nationally mandated jet lag.
In short daylight savings time is a program that only Congress could love. It is nothing but destructive. It has zero benefits and many negative effects. It is is all bad for the country. That's why it's so important.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Let There be Peace on Earth
and let it begin with my birdfeeder.
Two days ago new peace treaty was finally struck. It's not about to make a big difference on the world scene, but it's a rather nice development in this household. A couple of months ago, I broke down and bought a new feeder for the hummingbirds. It didn't take them long to notice it was there and it didn't take much longer than that for one in particular to stake the area out as his territory.
So far, so perfectly normal. The difference was quite surprising to me. For the dozen or so years I've been doing this I've had a lot of hummingbirds out there. Usually they quickly get accustomed to me and I have even felt the breeze from their wings as they've hovered around my hands when I go out to refresh the supply of nectar for them.
Not so with this bird. From the very first he decided that I was some kind of threat. He would buzz me, dive bomb me, hover a few inches in front of my face while making nasty chirping noises...yeah I know,nasty chirping noises? If you don't get it, it is clear that you don't know much about hummingbirds!
To say the least, I was more than a little irritated. After all, if it weren't for me, there wouldn't be a feeder and it wouldn't have any nectar in it even if it were there. But it seems that even hummingbirds can learn. Two days ago he actually flew up and calmly took his drink from the feeder, paying me no attention whatsoever. It seems that even birds can learn . Maybe there is some hope for humanity. Then again, maybe not.
Strawberry Pie
VODKA PIE CRUST
Pie Dough
Yield: double crust for a 8″-9″ pie
Ingredients
Volume
flour 3 cups
sugar ¼ cup
salt 1 tsp
butter, cold 2 sticks (1 cup)
shortening, cold 1/2 cup
water, cold ¼ cup
vodka, cold ¼ cup
Instructions
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse till all is well incorporated.
Add the butter and Shortening and pulse 5 or 6 times till the butter and shortening are pea sized.
Take the dough and place it in a giant bowl and mix the water and vodka in by hand or with a spatula. I prefer to do it by hand to make sure I get all of it wet.
Make two disks and place in saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
This is a very soft dough which requires pie weights to keep the crust from separating from the bottom of the pie pan and to keep the sides from collapsing.
STRAWBERRY PIE FILLING
From America's Test Kitchen-- see video on their site.
2 lbs berries
Take out 6 oz. about 6 berries. Purée them. Add 2 tablespoons corn starch. Add 1.5 teaspoons pink box pectin. Add mix to 3/4 cup sugar. Heat to boil and cook til smooth and shiny, thick as hot jelly. Cool in bowl, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Mix in remaining berries, mix thoroughly. Add to pie shell by hand.
Pie Dough
Yield: double crust for a 8″-9″ pie
Ingredients
Volume
flour 3 cups
sugar ¼ cup
salt 1 tsp
butter, cold 2 sticks (1 cup)
shortening, cold 1/2 cup
water, cold ¼ cup
vodka, cold ¼ cup
Instructions
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse till all is well incorporated.
Add the butter and Shortening and pulse 5 or 6 times till the butter and shortening are pea sized.
Take the dough and place it in a giant bowl and mix the water and vodka in by hand or with a spatula. I prefer to do it by hand to make sure I get all of it wet.
Make two disks and place in saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
This is a very soft dough which requires pie weights to keep the crust from separating from the bottom of the pie pan and to keep the sides from collapsing.
STRAWBERRY PIE FILLING
From America's Test Kitchen-- see video on their site.
2 lbs berries
Take out 6 oz. about 6 berries. Purée them. Add 2 tablespoons corn starch. Add 1.5 teaspoons pink box pectin. Add mix to 3/4 cup sugar. Heat to boil and cook til smooth and shiny, thick as hot jelly. Cool in bowl, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Mix in remaining berries, mix thoroughly. Add to pie shell by hand.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Welfare Reform
Excerpts from and some additional commentary on: http://blog.ourfuture.org/20120309/Lets_Get_This_Straight_Welfare_Reform_Was_A_Failure
President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform legislation in 1996. He claims it as a signature success of his presidency. Today, Conservatives say the law worked well and we should get even tougher on welfare recipients. Liberals say the law failed and we should repeal it.
-- Many claim success for the program, but today’s “This Week in Poverty” column in The Nation tells a different story
A stunning report released by the University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center reveals that the number of US households living on less than $2 per person per day—a standard used by the World Bank to measure poverty in developing nations—rose by 130 percent between 1996 and 2011, from 636,000 to 1.46 million. The number of children living in these extreme conditions also doubled, from 1.4 million to 2.8 million
Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services in Appalachian Ohio, where he has been doing this work since 1973, told me that the state has cracked down on people who fail to meet their thirty-hour weekly work requirement “and in the last six months or so they’ve driven at least 30,000 people off of assistance. The welfare caseload in Ohio is dropping rapidly. ” He’s traveled throughout the county of late to see how conditions are changing. “There’s a growing number of families out there—through the combination of time limits and sanctions—who have no cash whatsoever, they’re just surviving on food stamps,” he said. “The housing conditions—people are doubling, tripling up even in little trailers. These kids are hungry, they’re sleeping in chairs, or makeshift beds, crammed together. They can’t afford transportation—they’re stuck out in these communities with no way to go anywhere or do anything.” --
So the program IS a great success, if your goal is desperate families and hungry children.
Of course, we are a Christian nation, so we do prefer these things.
President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform legislation in 1996. He claims it as a signature success of his presidency. Today, Conservatives say the law worked well and we should get even tougher on welfare recipients. Liberals say the law failed and we should repeal it.
-- Many claim success for the program, but today’s “This Week in Poverty” column in The Nation tells a different story
A stunning report released by the University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center reveals that the number of US households living on less than $2 per person per day—a standard used by the World Bank to measure poverty in developing nations—rose by 130 percent between 1996 and 2011, from 636,000 to 1.46 million. The number of children living in these extreme conditions also doubled, from 1.4 million to 2.8 million
Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services in Appalachian Ohio, where he has been doing this work since 1973, told me that the state has cracked down on people who fail to meet their thirty-hour weekly work requirement “and in the last six months or so they’ve driven at least 30,000 people off of assistance. The welfare caseload in Ohio is dropping rapidly. ” He’s traveled throughout the county of late to see how conditions are changing. “There’s a growing number of families out there—through the combination of time limits and sanctions—who have no cash whatsoever, they’re just surviving on food stamps,” he said. “The housing conditions—people are doubling, tripling up even in little trailers. These kids are hungry, they’re sleeping in chairs, or makeshift beds, crammed together. They can’t afford transportation—they’re stuck out in these communities with no way to go anywhere or do anything.” --
So the program IS a great success, if your goal is desperate families and hungry children.
Of course, we are a Christian nation, so we do prefer these things.
Prime Time Biblical Exegesis
Started watching The Bible on the History Channel. Good thing, too. I obviously missed a LOT in Sunday School and from reading the Bible. For example, I was totally unaware of the really cool Ninja Angel hoo- ha, hop n chop scenes in Sodom just before the destruction. Wonder how I managed to miss that?
I can hardly wait for the History Channel's next show on the Battle of Yorktown. I'm certain they will reveal the truth that the battle was won by Washington's secret core of zombie bigfoots.
Nothing like the History Channel to learn about history!
I can hardly wait for the History Channel's next show on the Battle of Yorktown. I'm certain they will reveal the truth that the battle was won by Washington's secret core of zombie bigfoots.
Nothing like the History Channel to learn about history!
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