Critique: Banquet Salisbury Steak Meal!

It’s been a while since I reviewed a Banquet TV dinner! (I was eating wholesome food, but ran out of money). So, I thought I'd add their Salisbury Steak meal to my growing collection of dinner critiques. Of the ones I’ve tested thus far, this one ranks up there close to the top (of the current heap). As a side note, that little red dot toward the bottom of the box will inform you that it was 'US inspected by the Department of Agriculture'. For such small print (good for testing ones eyesight) that little mark is destined to become responsible for escalating food prices as a result of the passage of the Food Modernization Act last year. Just another benefit of your ever expanding nanny government. Here's a side bet. I'll wager this seventy seven cent meal will cost over $1.25 by fall. [Update: By fall 2011 it has gone to a buck! And by the fall of 2012 it was still at a buck!]

The Contents

To the best of my knowledge a 'Salisbury steak' is really nothing more than a fancy term for plain old meatloaf. In this package, you get one ‘steak’ soaked in gravy along with a modest amount of mashed potatoes and corn for about eighty-eight cents. (just a few months ago, these were .77 cents each).

The picture on the package is actually pretty accurate to some extent. Some of the meals I’ve tried do not look anything like what’s on the cover of the box. The taste also lived up to my expectations. Meatloaf, gravy and mashed potatoes are comfort foods aren’t they? The corn, well, it’s just corn and tasted as such.

Nutritional content

As to the nutrition (or lack thereof), this meal comes in at 290 calories of which 150 of those are from fat. You also get a not so very healthy slug of cholesterol (30 mg) and about half a persons daily limit of salt (1100 mg), so please don’t make this an everyday meal deal. Having said that, the overall taste is pretty good, so I'd give this one a 7 on a scale of ten.

Note: Banquet foods are made by ConAgra Foods, a company out of Omaha Nebraska so at least you are eating something that's still made in the good old US of A.

Measures needed to require state businesses to stay put!

In a very close 60 to 57 vote, the state legislature in Illinois voted to pass a major tax hike that is sure to cause concern among the citizens and owners of small businesses that reside in the sate. The legislation would raise about $6.8 billion a year for the state's beleaguered budget by raising the individual income tax rate temporarily to 5 percent from 3 percent and the corporate tax rate to 7 percent from 4.8 percent. Revenue from the tax hikes would enable Illinois to sell about $12.2 billion of bonds to pay off a huge bill backlog and make a $3.7 billion pension fund payment for fiscal 2011.

That will not, however, sit very well with small businesses already operating close to the red. Many will likely be forced to pass these hikes on to consumers who are also paying more in state taxes. The end result may not be pretty. State Senator Kirk Dillard was heard to remark that “no state ever taxed its way into prosperity”. I guess we’re about to find out.

Now the concern, among some in this state and in other strapped locales like California, is that anyone who can pack up and leave may do so. That fear may well spur lawmakers to pass laws requiring a business to ‘stay put and suffer with the rest’. The states could call such a measure a ‘Personal Business Mandate II’ or PBM2 and model it after the original ‘Personal Healthcare Mandate’ that requires individuals to buy health insurance as a requirement of citizenship. (A law, which is also being challenged by a number of states, is touted by many as unconstitutional).

My answer to all this constitution stuff is “who cares”? That old rage needs to be replaced anyway by something more up-to-date and the current administration is more than capable to do the job. In the words of one man on the Hill, "People are sheep and sheep were made to shear."

Dr. Keith: Tragedy of Mental Illness

[Reprint] The story of alleged gunman Jared Loughner’s murderous rampage, which took the lives of six innocent victims and critically wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Gifford’s, will ultimately prove to be a story about how severe mental illness—including that linked to violence—routinely goes untreated.

By all accounts, Loughner was psychiatrically ill long before he shot anyone. He was described by a high school classmate as a drug user and loner whose thoughts made little sense. Ultimately, he dropped out. He apparently tried to complete a high school equivalency while enrolled in the Aztec Middle Community College, a program offered by Pima Community College that caters to those who have no high school diploma. He couldn’t finish up there, either. In fact, police were reportedly called to campus five separate times because Loughner was behaving erratically. A teacher has been quoted as saying that he worried frequently whether Loughner had a gun. Students say he was prone to nonsensical outbursts. He was sent home with the instructions that he not return until it could be proven that he was not a danger to himself or others.

I have no idea whether what should have happened at that point (or much earlier) actually did happen. If he seemed to be a danger to himself or others, Loughner should have been admitted to a locked psychiatric unit. There, a firm diagnosis of his condition should have been arrived at, and appropriate treatment rendered. This would likely have included psychotherapy and medication.

Only once Loughner seemed to be a threat to no one should he have been eligible for discharge, and then it may well have made sense that he be monitored in a cohesive outpatient psychiatry setting in which participating in counseling and/or taking medications was mandatory, with failure to do so resulting in another hospitalization. If that had occurred (which I doubt) it is hard to imagine how Loughner’s case manager (who would have been appointed by the relevant department of mental health) would have missed his Internet ravings about how illiteracy, government conspiracy, “the rarest bird on earth, with no feathers,” and his “shot . . .” being “ready for aim,” would have escaped notice.

No, I would bet almost none of that happened, despite repeated and consistent evidence that would suggest Loughner may have been psychotic and having violent thoughts connected to his mental disorder. If that sounds a lot like the story of Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute shooter who killed 32 people, that’s because it is.

While polarized political parties may not be the best way to govern, I believe they will turn out to have absolutely nothing to do with Loughner turning into a killer. His murderousness will have nothing to do with the availability of firearms. His violence will be understood as a result of a severe, untreated or under-treated mental illness -- the kind that afflicts millions of young people in this country.

As a forensic psychiatrist who also has run community mental health centers, hospitals and clinics, I can tell you for sure, without any question, that the mental health care delivery system in this country is shoddy and shattered and without any hope at present of dealing effectively with sick individuals like Jared Loughner. There are slim resources and no strategy, whatsoever.

That’s the very, very worrisome story behind this tragedy.

A tale of two monkeys and an insane debt ceiling.

I think by now, most Americans have come to the realization that we have somehow, someway painted ourselves into a horrible fiscal corner. The real news, however, is why that should be such a surprise. Both parties on Capitol Hill have been extremely skilled at doing just that for decades. Problem is in 2011, we are all just about out of space.

In short order, this government will need to raise the debt ceiling for the tenth time in ten years. Like some mad family member who’s addicted to credit cards and keeps asking the card company to raise their credit limits, the America people have quietly tolerated this insane conduct for too long. We could have run this great country like a well run corporation and showed a profit. Instead, we’ve treated her like a cheap whore which very shortly won’t even be worth a quick jump.

Now, the fruit of all this waste is beginning to come home in a big way to the American worker. Just ask California residents about the proposed 59% hike in health insurance (the third since October). How about the cost of gasoline or groceries? Did anyone notice the country's infrastructure is crumbling? Do you really think this is all going to end well?

Now is the time for every American to get involved. Not to save the Republic, but to salvage it. Tell your representatives in Congress to say no to raising the Debt Ceiling. Tell them that from now on credit will be mighty hard to get. Tell your state representatives to help organize and repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. Tell them that you intend to vote the Democratic Party out of existence along with anyone else who thinks that running a country into the ground is the way things should be.

Like rats running from a burning ship, some states may opt out of the Union.

At an anti-tax rally held at the Austin City Hall back in April 15th, 2009, Governor Rick Perry mentioned that Texas had a right to secede from the United States. He said that Washington officials have moved away from limited government and is burdening American citizens with debt and taxes. He proclaimed that the economy of his state was fairly strong in light of the economic mess in other states and in the federal budget. Rick Perry suggested that seceding from the union could be a benefit to Texas in the long run.

That was then and now is now. While still just a whisper among some state legislatures, there seems to be more talk now among Representatives as to the legality and procedures required for a state to excuse itself from the growing mess in Washington.

Personally, I would like to see 49 of the states all take a step backward and leave Washington in their rear view mirror. The new country thus formed could re-adopt the Constitution minus the infected, puss-filled sore that is Capitol Hill. We could call the new collective, The ‘New’ United States with a requirement that all Democrats relocate to Washington. Hey you guys, be sure and say hi to Nancy for me.

Now that’s thinking outside the box!

Help ban the abbreviation handicapped! I mean totally!

Having survived Valspeak, I now find myself assaulted anew in the 21^st Century! Whether you call them abbreviations or Chat Acronyms, I think they are being misused. Especially with those of you out there with a limited vocabulary. LOL. See! I just used one there. Annoying wasn’t it? LOL means ‘laughing out loud’ and for some e-mailers, texters and twitterites out there, that is about the extent of their ability to communicate. Here’s a real world example of a text message I have received:

“Hey! Thanks for letting me share LOL. Thanks for being so kind. LOL! I just shot my neighbor. LOL”!

This note could better be written as:

“Hey! TFLMS for getting back. TKU4UK. LOL! I just helped my neighbor into the next world. FOMCL”

See! Much better! Actually, there exists a whole list of these abrevs, but who cares? I mean IGWS that IHA and maybe there’s nothing wrong with the English language just the way it is. Like IIABDFI!

Note: I’ve sent our esteemed president a note asking him to instruct the FCC to prohibit the general use of abbreviations unless the person has passed a state administered test showing proficiency in said. (Sort of like a drivers test, but for the internet if you get my drift). Fail the test and you will have your texting ability severely limited by (who else) the FCC!  

Strange occurances. 1000 Blackbirds fall from sky in Arkansas!

I've been thinking about doing a blog that focuses on strange events like the one that occurred in Arkansas recently. Here is one about blackbirds:

"About 1,000 black birds fell from the sky over Beebe on Friday night, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a news release Saturday.

Around 11:30 p.m., the commission began receiving phone calls about the birds, most of which were dead and fell over a 1-mile span, the release said.

Wildlife officer Robby King collected about 65 dead birds that will be sent to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.
Officers flew over the area and determined no birds had fallen outside that part of the city, the release said.

Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said in the release that the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail.

Or the birds could have died from stress if disturbed from their roost by fireworks celebrating the New Year.

Beebe has hired the commission to dispose of the birds." Maybe they will bake them in a pie?