Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Random Thoughts for Late November!

Yes, President Obama you did an apology tour!

The thing is Mr. President, I feel moved to apologize to the American public for every day you've been in office! Your conduct in foreign affairs has been...well foreign. I almost get the impression that you are ashamed to even be living here in the United States. Perhaps after the November elections you can move somewhere else where you'll be more comfortable. I know I'd feel better.

Italian Scientists getting their just deserts!

Not sure where to begin here. Apparently, in Italy at least, you can now be incarcerated for guessing about earthquakes. I mean, come on, seismology is an exact science isn't it? Here, let me prove it with a case in point. I'll predict a 9.0 on the Richter scale will occur shortly under the butt of the judge who rendered manslaughter decisions against those six scientists. Men who were doing their level best to predict quakes in and around Italy. Yep, I'll even go so far as to say that the entire courthouse is going to fall on this idiot as he gets lambasted by world opinion. What a laughingstock this action has made of his formerly great and proud country.

Sandy visits New York and Jersey: Opps there goes another rubber tree plant!

Sometimes I get the feeling that there are forces bigger than myself at work. Hurricane Sandy paid a visit to the Big Apple and I now hear that it may be over a week before some of the people there can get to the polls to vote. Uh, won't that be too late? (I'm not sure I'd be very upset about that as this city is a rabid democratic stronghold. Although I do feel sorry for those who have suffered and for the rest of the nation which will suffer even more when the multi-billion storm damage bill get handed to the American people.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Petite Vegetable Beef Soup!




This is a small soup version using a one-quart Le Creuset cast iron pot that makes just enough soup to serve a small gathering. Easy to make and oh so nutritious!

 Ingredients:

¼ c. beef chuck, cubed                           1 can diced tomatoes
¼ c. green cabbage                                  1 ½ cans water
1 stalk celery, sliced                                1 dash cayenne pepper
½ carrot, sliced                                         ¼ c. fresh green beans
½ tsp. dried basil                                      1 dash oregano
1 tsp. bouillon powder                              Dash of pepper       
¼ onion, chopped                                    1 med Russet potato, cubed
1 tsp. vegetable oil                                  

 Directions:

In a heated 1 quart Le Creuset or similar pot, add a small amount of oil and the cubed beef. Stir the beef and brown everything evenly on all sides for a few minutes. Next add the rest of the ingredient, holding back only on the canned green beans (these can be added during the last 20 minutes of the cooking cycle). Bring to a brief boil, and then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Cook for about one and a half to two hours (check for doneness anytime after the first hour). Serves 3-4.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Airing of 'Seal Team 6' to bolster Obama!

Yes, you can’t make this stuff up. Seems the Obama Administration has hired Meghan O’Hara – a producer Michael Moore’s films; “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Sicko” and “Bowling for Columbine” – to help produce the film. The presentation ‘Seal Team 6” is set to air on National Geographic 2 days before the election!

But rather than focusing on the men who actually risked their lives in the service of their country, you guessed it, I understand that Obama will be taking center stage after the original movie is ‘doctored’ to make the President seem as though he was the one who killed Osama. Yeah, that should go over well.

President Obama, just how desperate are you anyway? Do you really think that by stealing the thunder from true heroes, that your image is somehow going to be enhanced in the eyes of voters?  Really!?! I think this airing will have the same effect of someone taking a grenade, holding it up to their face and pulling the pin. Kablooey! There goes an election.

A simple and hearty chili!




A really good chili is also a simple chili in my book. It should go together quickly in the morning and then be placed in a slow cooker where all those wonderful flavors are allowed to mix it up. This recipe is perfect for the fall and winter season.

Ingredients:

400 grams ground beef 73% fat free, browned
84 grams white onion, chopped
47 grams bell pepper, chopped
11 grams cayenne pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic (10 grams)
411 grams (1 can) diced tomatoes
34 grams Canadian bacon, diced
1 dash fake salt
4 tbsp Bloody Mary mix
1 pkg of McCormick’s Original Chili Mix
400 grams (1 can) of red kidney beans, rinsed

Directions:

Brown the beef in a hot pan along with the diced onion, bacon, cayenne and bell peppers. Drain and add to a slow cooker set to low. Add one can of diced tomatoes, then Bloody Mary mix, sprinkle in a dash of fake salt, stir and cook for about five hours. During the last half hour add the rinsed kidney beans. Serves 6.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Ah yes! The promise of money for all!


In a very perverse sense, I'm looking forward to four more years of fiscal insanity under the Obama Administration. I'm so very curious to see if he tries to blame the country's problems in 2013 on the 'previous administration' (huh?).

I also pray that Reid and Pelosi both get re-elected. Why who can ever forget Nancey's triumphant walk on that day with that big old gavel in her hands when the Democrats forced that Healthcare Bill down our collective throats. Honestly, that whole deal was better than a soap opera and one has got to wonder what shenanigans will be in the works for 2013??

Perhaps this wild and zany group will tackle the 'Carbon Credits Tax' where, according to Obama, your energy bills will "necessarily skyrocket". Gosh dang it! Just think of what these people could do to our country with four more years to work with! Why, shucks, I'll bet we won't even recognize the place...

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Charlie’s Steak and Eggs!




It seems an axiom of living that those things in life which can harm you the most also attract you the most. Charlie’s steak and eggs platter is kinda like that! A mouth watering steak cooked just the way I like it along with hash browns, toast and sunny side up eggs up are what’s for breakfast in my book! Never mind the sky high cholesterol in this meal, I figure that eating this on occasion ain’t gonna git me no more faster than all that other stuff that’s out to do me in!

Side Notes:

Ali - hate to see you go! Good luck at your new job! Glad to see you're going back to school too!

Friday, October 19, 2012

It's crunch time America!


Don't get me wrong. I like President Obama and I know in his heart he is doing what he thinks is best for our Country! However, his record does not reflect the direction I think most Americans want to go. So perhaps it's time we craft ourselves a fresh start. That doesn't mean I want to see this country go to just one party, it means I want to see some people (on both sides of the isle) removed in favor of replacing them with forward thinking men and women whose first and foremost priority will be adherence to the Constitution and who have a great desire to work, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans.

Secondly, I would like us all to get started on the real work that lies ahead; returning solvency and prosperity to the greatest Free Country in the World!

Weeding time comeith!

Any one who has had a garden understands the need to keep an eye on it. Let your attention wander for even a small amount of time and gosh darn it the bed is full of weeds! If you're like most people, weeding is perhaps one of the most unfaltering aspects of growing stuff to eat.

It came to me that running and growing a Republic is much the same thing. The big difference being that not only has this 'bed' become weed infested, but the life of all those little vegetables is literally being choked to death not only by the number of weeds (government employees) but by all those little tendrils (regulations) that have wrapped themselves around every leaf (business) whose job it is to grow a plant big enough to produce fruit (profits).

Not only is that bad enough, but there are so many weeds present that their insidious little roots are taxing the very vitality of the soil. Very little energy (money) is left to feed the vegetable plants and before you know it, the whole thing becomes a total bust. The garden is still there, the weeds remain, but the gardener has departed for the shed to get a rototiller – Yep, it's time to do some serious weeding....Come November, let's kick some weed butt!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Working in Obama's World!



It’s 2012 and you suddenly find yourself out of work! Through the grace of God, you had a good job and have been able to keep your head above water up until now. Then, out of the blue, Obamanomics fully kicked in and most of the full time job markets in and around your hometown pretty much dried up. What to do?

The good news is that there is work to be found! The bad news? The jobs are almost exclusively part time, the pay is at minimum wage (7.50 per hour) and oftentimes you're going to have to hoof it a long distance (in my case 45 miles) to get to a place that will hire your sorry ass sacking groceries.

OK, no problem – time to crank up that old computer and spreadsheet everything out. Here’s an income (see tables at right) model for someone like me who; 1) drives a 17 mpg gas guzzler, 2) will accept a minimum wage part time job sacking groceries, 3) will commute 90 miles round trip for the privilege of sacking said groceries and 4) elects not to brown bag it if forced to drive some distance ( a man has to have some self pride)! The first model pertains to part and full time work if I can somehow find work in my town of Forsyth Mo. The second table pertains to the same scenario, but now I'm commuting 45 miles one way to Springfield. Wow!

Click to enlarge

In the first instance, I'm working in town and eating my lunch at home. In working either part or full time, I'm bagging a 'net amount' that's close to six bucks an hour. Be still my capitalistic heart!

Click to enlarge
In the second case, while commuting to the nearest large city, I find that my lifestyle will have to be altered somewhat. At part time, I'd be losing about $7 per hour while at full the bleeding would go down to only a loss of eight cents for every hour worked. (Now that’s what I call a bright and socialistic fulfilling future)!

Moral of this story? None. Just hope the Obama Nanny State will tax the hell out of the rich and give you some of it! All so you can adjust to the 'new normal' in these here United States and eat... Trickle on down baby!

End Times: A novel in the making?




I had an idea for a novel that would explore the concept of how a simple chain of events could end up with Earth experiencing both a nuclear and volcanic winter at the same time! The story would center around a character by the name of Cliff Roberts; an aging professor at Berkley California who specializes in sudden and abrupt climate change along with the factors that can cause it. Soon he finds himself the in the center of a maelstrom of events that will lead humanity on a path to destruction and, just possibly, salvation. Please feel free to read on…

Prologue

It was springtime and Cliff Roberts had himself a busy schedule on tap. While forty years of living a hectic lifestyle as senior professor of climate change in Berkley California had done little good for his face, inside he was still energized and intellectually razor sharp - He had to be or his students would run over him like a Mac truck.

As he sat himself down to a plate of eggs (bad for the heart), toast and milk, he looked up briefly at an old tube type TV stuffed into a remote corner of the kitchen. The words ‘asteroid strike’ had caught his attention and for a moment his breakfast was forgotten.

[This just in from NASA...Apparently, a small asteroid has struck the US in the vicinity of Yellowstone Park. Details remain sketchy as the area of impact has been cordoned off by emergency services…. stay tuned to this channel folks for unfolding events as they happen…]

“Well, I’ll be! Cliff spoke aloud to the toaster as though it could hear him. It did not. “How bad could it have been? That media guy had used the word small had he not?” The toaster remained stoically mute. Cliff decided to refocus his attention on his breakfast and then get ready for work.

-----------
Eleven hundred miles to the northwest of Cliff’s home, in the area of Yellowstone Park, a scene out of Dante’s Inferno was rapidly unfolding. While the ‘asteroid’ had turned out to be just a large meteorite measuring less than two hundred feet across, it had landed almost directly over the immense magma dome under Lake Yellowstone. Now a small fissure that had been created by the impact was rapidly expanding, and in doing so, was opening the doors to hell on earth – and super volcanic eruption was now only hours away. No one on planet, not Cliff, the President or anyone else for that matter earth had any idea of how such a seemingly minor impact was going to set the stage for a series of events that would end in the near extinction of mankind and most surprisingly, their salvation.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Critique: Celeste Deluxe Pizza for one!



At only a buck and a quarter, I thought what the heck. I’d give this ‘deluxe’ pizza creation by Celeste a go. I mean what could I lose by trying? At only 370 calories, this pizza for one should go nicely with a tosses salad and maybe a glass of milk; the perfect combo to enjoy while watching a late night football game. The only real negative that I could find when inspecting the nutritional panel was the 980 milligrams of salt (41% of the recommended daily allowance) that you also get when chow down – to me large amounts of salt are always an admission by the manufacturer that their product tastes pretty bad. Lots of salt almost always makes up for that…almost.
Pizza was even smaller than I thought!

The directions were very simple; preheat your oven to 400F with a cookie sheet on a middle rack, remove the pizza from the box and unwrap the plastic then place the aforementioned pizza on the cookie sheet and cook for about 14 minutes. (Yeah, there’s microwave instructions on the box too, but anyone who has ever nuked a pizza knows what a bad experience that can be)!

…OK, so at the last minute I decided to go with the microwave after all. (I mean, who wants to wait for 15 minutes when 3 is much better)! After the nuking, I used my handy dandy pizza cutting wheel to cut it into cute little sections and then proceeded to chow on down.

Two quick thoughts. This meal went down fast. I had finished the entire pizza in under a minute! Was it good. I dunno. Everything happened too fast to tell. But, at 370 calories I guess I made my tummy happy and will plan to order a few backups for those evenings when a quick pizza fix is all I need! Score this one an 8 and make sure to buy two next time!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

To sleep and perchance to dream

On occasion, I even manage to weird myself out!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Coming to communities everywhere!

Click on to enlarge

While my compositional skills may be lacking, this topic should concern every American out there. If no action is taken before the first of the new year, this country could collapse, seriously. And, while I'm sure some last minute deal will get hammered out, no matter who wins the White House, it is still disgraceful that Congress ever allowed this mess to get this far. Forget about party alliances, we are all Americans are we not! Now, with just a couple of months to go, the real potential for a complete collapse is being seriously discussed via the media.

Come the day of election, it's time that we all took a hard look at who is running the House and the Senate. For, in the final analysis, it is this body of men and women who have so grotesquely failed to people who hired them.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Random Thoughts for October 10, 2012



Illinois and its proposed violence tax!

Only in a whacked out state like Illinois would you see the kind of screwed up politicians as you do there. Now Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is leading the charge to levy additional taxes on guns and ammo even though he seems hesitant to declare an actual amount. Chicago, with one of the toughest gun laws in the world also boasts one of the highest levels of crime with homicides up a staggering 25% this year alone.

According to a statement made by NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde, “Chicago and Cook County has a gun violence problem, Chicago's got a [large] high school drop-out rate, they've got a drug problem, they've got a gang problem, but they want to make legal gun owners, guys like me, the scapegoat”.

Yeah, like this is going to end all the violence – tax the bejesus out of law abiding citizens while doing absolutely nothing about corralling the crooks.

Obama thinks he was too polite during debate!

Really! So what does that mean for the next one? Obama, my man, you going to get like really abusive or what? Or could it be, Mr. President, that the sole reason you lost this debate was a complete lack of anything positive to talk about. You know..the economy, immigration, entitlements... the Middle East…you know, that sort of stuff.

Well perhaps Biden will bale you out this coming Thursday! Perhaps a well placed zinger from Joe will be all that needed to restore the race in your favor. Hey, perhaps we’ll even see a pig fly. You never know.

Space X – A government program that works!

A space capsule loaded with goodies linked up with the International Space Station on Wednesday after a near picture perfect approach. I was amazed that Obama didn’t chortle about this one singularity in a vast sea of failure. It’s give him something to stick in the face of that ‘liar’ Mitt Romney at the town hall styled debate coming up later this month.

Uh, wait a sec…. I’ve just been informed by a friend that the rocket and the capsule were built by a private enterprise company. Sorry, my bad.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Obama to allow UN to tax Americans!

It should come as no surprise that President Obama will raise taxes if he is re-elected.  But here’s the shocker: He will invite the United Nations to tax Americans directly.  And the proceeds would go directly to the Third World.  In this way, Barack Obama will, indeed, realize the dreams of his father... This from Dick Morris and his new book "Here Come the Black Helicopters: UN Global Governance and the Loss of Freedom".

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Vote this November!

Because, just maybe, it does...
This fall, don't listen to the 'talking heads' - most of these men and women are highly opinionated and are supported by funding from either the left or right (MSNBC - the far left). Please, do you're own research, stand back and think with your mind and your heart. Try not to be a Democrat or a Republican this time around - just try to be awake to who's telling the truth and who's BS'ing you to death!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Another great idea: Spy on school trash cans!



A Florida school district is considering a plan to install surveillance cameras on cafeteria trash cans to monitor what kids are throwing away – after they discovered that students were tossing out their federally-mandated fruit and vegetables.

Gosh and gee willikers! What a surprise! – Now one school district wants to spend thousands of dollars on installing special ‘spy trash cams’ to catch the little nippers in the act.