Weapons of Mass Destruction and Porous Borders

This recent hysterical and breathless 24/7 reporting by the media of a man being quarantined for having a rare but drug resistant form of Tuberculosis, makes me wonder why the media can't connect the dots or add two and two to equal four. While they are hyperventilating about the risks to the population of an infectious and incurable disease, and while the ACLU is attempting to get another man with this disease released from quarantine before he is no longer contagious, I consider the real risk of a terrorist organization using diseases as weapons of mass destruction.

Am I the only one?

Consider that 10 dedicated jihadists, who are more than willing to become martyrs to Allah, infect themselves with Smallpox or Bubonic Plague We know that reservoirs of these germs along with Bubonic Plague, Anthrax, and the 1918 Flu which for some reason we have kept in research facilities world wide, have disappeared. Is no one worried about this in the media?

How to wipe out 80% of the world's population in 5 easy steps
1. Become infected with Smallpox......praise Allah
2. Send your infected smurfs out on 10 different international flights with many connecting flights in large well populated airports. No one is checking this very well, as we know our borders internationally and in the US are meaningless.
3. Be sure to cough on people and touch as many things as you can so the laws of geometric progression in infection can take place. Use an aerosol spritzer if at all possible for mass effect.
4. Rent a hotel room at your final destination. New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo ...you get it.
Touch and meet as many people as you can who will then pass the infection on to multiple other people and so on.
5. Die in obscurity or commit suicide before your symptons become obvious. That way no one can track the contagion back to you or your group.

Before long the the doctors and hospitals are swarming with sick people with a disease that many have never seen and to which we have no defenses. Millions upon millions of people will be infected and die. If you don't die in incredible pain, you will be horribly disfigured for the rest of your life.

Given the anemic and ineffectual response of the government to just one person with TB, can you imagine the incompetence when dealing with millions of people. We must dither and waste time deciding if we are violating civil rights by imposing quarantine or forcing medical treatment on those who have religious objections. Never mind that while the Governments, the ACLU, religious fanatics are fiddling, the world is dying. Link to a CDC scenario detailing the chaos and ineptitude it expects, just so you don't think I'm over reacting.

Global warming is a danger? Piffle!!! A tiny vial of smallpox or other disease germs cleverly hidden in a country the size of California......There is danger.

Just because we haven't found this tiny vial doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We know that they existed in laboratories and are now missing. I assure you that if I wanted to hide a weapon of mass destruction the size of a tube of lipstick in the Trinity Alps of California, no one would ever find it.

The liberal media is all athither about the mean evil bigots who want to have border security. They are also hyping the TB scare. They deny that there could be any danger from chemical and biological weapons known to exist and which may have fallen into the hands of jihadists. They just can't put the dots together, because the left leaning media is blinded by Bush hatred and blinded to anything else.

Contents of the Armegddon Pantry

As long as I'm on a doom and gloom kick, here are the contents of my Armageddon Pantry. When all hell breaks loose, at least I will have enough supplies to enjoy the ride to oblivion. This assumes that if all hell does break loose, it will do so fairly far from our rural location, leaving us stranded from supply lines for a while, or possibly a pandemic where we must stay isolated.

If all hell doesn't break loose, I don't have to go to the store for items that I need. Just trundle on out to the pump house and grab the ingredient I need. When I take something out of the pump house to use, I replace it with new. It is a good idea to keep rotating this stuff as food doesn't keep forever.

FOOD

Can Goods:

The quantities are in case lots of most canned goods= 12 large cans or 24 small cans
2 canned tomatoes = 24 cans
2 tomato sauce
1 tomato paste
2 black olives
3 corn
1 creamed corn
2 green beans
1 kidney beans
1 garbanzo beans
1 pinto beans
1 peaches
1 pears
1 grapefruit sections
1 home canned pie cherries


In individual can amounts from at least 8 to 20 (I'm too busy to go take accurate inventory)

Albacore tuna
Chicken meat
Beef in cans
Beef stew
Chili with beans and meat
Vienna Sausages
Spam (lol)

MSC Food

Dried fruit (about 4 pounds of dried apricots, apples, pears, prunes.)
Craisins (2 large packages)
Wild Rice in retort cooked packages
Rice, brown, wild and white
Pinto Beans
Navy Beans
Split Peas
Soy Sauce
Peanut Butter (3 large)
Apricot Jam (2 large)
Honey
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Vinegar (cider and balsamic)
Olive oil
Peanut oil
Crisco
Mayonnaise
Hot chocolate mix
Chocolate chips
Coffee!!!! very important ....ground coffee 3 large cans
Tea
Dehydrated Buttermilk mix
Marie Callander Cornbread mix
Dried milk
Dehydrated onions
Case of Top Ramen
Lots of pasta
3 really large containers of Parmesan Cheese
4 pounds of kosher salt
Iodized salt
Barbeque sauces
Marinara and Alfredo Sauces in bottles
Sardines
Anchovies
Pickles
Sauerkraut
Lop Cheong sausages (Chinese dried sausages)
Dried Mushrooms
Nori (seaweed sheets)

Case of wine, several bottles of champagne, Scotch, Rum, Vodka and other spirits
Several cases of Snapple drinks
V-8
Grapefruit Juice
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Bottled Green Tea
Lots of bottled water

Cat Food

More misc food things I can't recall right now.

Flour, Polenta, Cornmeal, Bisquick, Walnuts, Pecans and other nuts...I keep in my freezer to avoid weevils. The freezer contents are another story. Plus I have a kitchen full of spices, salt, pepper and other food stuffs. My husband says we can eat for a month out of the crap (his term) I have in the kitchen.

NON FOOD

Bleach
Rubbing Alcohol
Lots of Lamp Oil and extra wicks
Candles
Matches and Butane Lighters
Clothes Pins
Laundry Soap
Liquid hand soap and baby wipes
Twine and light rope
Paraffin blocks
Canning Jars with Lids
Paper plates, plastic utensils, paper napkins and plastic drinking glasses
Toilet paper and paper towels
Plastic drop cloths and table covers
Garbage bags
Plastic wrap and waxed paper
Amunition.... yes for the guns. If push came to shove, I would not be adverse to knocking off a deer, pheasant, goose or even one of the local cows of which there are hundreds.

Medical kit for grab and go. In addition to the extensive medical kit I have in my bathroom.
Batteries, Flashlight, Blanket, Plastic Tarp also for the grab and go. Hopefully we get to sit and stay put.

Decks of cards and poker chips (to go with the alcohol)
Scrabble and other games. Hey... If we are going to be stranded in our home, might as well have some fun.

Plus my husband has an entire shop filled with tools of all kinds, generator, gas cans, nails.... you name it..... he's got it.

It may sound like an excessive amount of pantry preparedness (probably it is), but it isn't at all unusual for my area which is quite rural and has bad winters. People tend to be more self sufficient and stock up than the people in cities. So when the crap hits the oscillating mechanism, if I don't have something, my neighbors down the road will. People also tend to share and help each other in rural areas. We hear the horrible stories of the Great Depression. What we don't hear is that the people who lived in the sticks, didn't have nearly the hardships that those in urban areas did. I pity the people in the cities who live from week to week, have nothing stored up and have no close friends or neighbors to lean on.

Anal? Yes. Being prepared? Priceless.

Serf City, Here We Come (Apologies to the Beach Boys)

With the stunningly bad immigration bill before us and the past decades of uninforced illegal immigration, it occurs to me that the American Dream if not dead is certainly in its death throes. The dream that a middle class citizen can improve their economic lot in life, advance, create a legacy to leave to their children and that their children will have a better life. Well..... unchecked illegal immigration has put the final nail into that coffin. As time goes by the middle class will slip further into poverty and marginal living circumstances. We are encouraging and creating a permanent class of have-not's. Serfs, if you will, who will provide the menial, low cost jobs for a small class of lucky "haves." A fuedal system of wealthy and a support group of undereducated peons who have little to no chance to rise above their circumstances.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but let me bring the macrocosmic train wreck that is occuring in our society and economy down to a one person example.

We have Joe Carpenter. He has built himself a nice middle class American Dream life in a mid sized city. Let's suppose Joe lives in Albequerque. Joe owns his own handyman business, maybe a small commercial shop from which to operate, has a ranch house in a modest subdivision, wife, couple of kids whom he hopes to send to college, several vehicles: one for work, one for his wife to ferry the kids to their after school activities. They like to take a vacation once a year for the family, Disneyland or camping in Yosimite. Something affordable that will create memories for his children.

Joe doesn't have any permanent employees but occasionally will contract a helper when his job is too big for one person to handle. Joe pays his quarterly IRS taxes, property taxes and sales taxes on his supplies. Makes sure his vehicles and home are insured and properly registered. As a self employed person, Joe buys a catastrophic health insurance policy to cover himself and family. He also carries liability and property insurance on his workshop and business. To protect his family, he also has a substantial life insurance policy. In addition to saving for college for his children, Joe tries to put some extra money aside for his well deserved retirement and hopes some day to have his son take over the business.

Joe is an upstanding citizen. Belongs to the Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, coaches Little League and does charity work to improve the local park where his children like to play. Joe's wife is an active member of the PTA and the Library Guild in addition to helping with school fund raising activites.


He charges a fair hourly rate in his geographic area of $35.00. Joe is making progress with a small overhead and also hopes to expand his business in the near future; get his license and employ a few full time construction workers.

We have Jose the illegal allien. Here is where we begin to destroy Joe's life and dreams. Joe is forced to compete for jobs with Jose, the illegal alien. (Before I am accused of racism, it could just as well be Pierre the illegal Canadian or Stefan the illegal Romanian or Muhammad the illegal Somalian. But let's use Jose because it equals Joe.)

Jose doesn't have to pay taxes, he works for cash. He doesn't buy insurance......for anything. Jose can apply for Medi-caid and other social welfare benefits. If Jose is injured on his job, he goes to the emergency room and recieves free medical care and prescriptions. Since his cars are not registered, they are also not insured. If Jose has a driver's license, he most likely bought it on the black market. Jose lives in a place where there are many other men like him who are sharing the costs. His family might still be back in the "home country" or (less frequently) if his family is here it consists of a larger extended family where everyone is working. Now there is nothing at all wrong with this. In fact this is how the Irish, the Italians and other immigrants of the past were able to work and integrate themselves into the society. While Jose might be active in his church, he isn't a contributing member to the local community as Joe and his wife are with their Rotary and civic commitments.

Because Jose, has none of the taxes, insurance or expenses that his competitor has, he can charge much less for the same jobs that Joe would charge. Instead of $35.00 per hour, Jose asks for $20....CASH. Joe loses out on many jobs because people are just cheap. Eventually, Joe cannot afford his shop and has to let that go and tells his part time people he can't hire them any more. He hopes they can find jobs, but knows it won't be at the pay scale that he has been able to give to them. Joe's family won't be able to afford a new car for several more years and he ceases contributions to his retirement and college funds.

You see where I'm going here, I hope.

Joe has to reduce his hourly rate in order to get jobs. He decided to charge $28.00 and work harder to make up the lost revenue. Futher paring down his lifestyle, Joe has to eliminate his health insurance and hope that nothing happens. Of course, when he does this, his insurance agent who also has a small business, loses the income from the premiums that Joe isn't paying any more. The two employees he was hoping to bring on permanently have vanished, up in smoke, just like the American Dream.

Skipping ahead, Joe is now working for cash "under the table", has cashed in his retirement plan, cashed in his life insurance, lost his home....oh and you can forget the kids' going to college. Mrs. Joe can no longer stay at home with the children and works for minimum wage at McDonalds. Soon Joe Jr. will be sixteen and will get a job after school to help out. Of course, he will have go give up his sports program. The youngest daughter at 12 is too young to work, so she just goes home after school and hangs out.

I suppose the good news is that Joe and his family now qualifies for food stamps and welfare.

As more and more 'Joe's' are sucked down, they give up. Why work and beat your head against the wall, when all you have to do is some menial jobs for cash and take the freebies that are paid for by.......who? If the middle class has disappeared into the permanent SERF class, where is the money going to come from. Where are the future builders, inventors, entrepeneurs, skilled labor classes going to come from? Since Jose and his family don't really plan to become part of the American culture because they are illegal aliens, they don't learn the language and who needs anything more than an elementary school education anyway.

The other sufferers here, besides Joe and his family, are the community. No more Rotary or Library Guild participation. The schools, Jose and his wife don't speak as much English so don't participate in the PTA. The insurance agent with the cancelled policies, the investment advisor who has no more business, the hardware store where Joe can't shop anymore, the auto dealer and manufacturer where Joe will not be buying new cars, the vaction spot where Joe used to go, the taxes that Joe used to pay....... so on and so on...... like a giant snowball going down hill, destroying the economy faster and faster, the American Dream is dead for the middle class.

Of course, there will still be people of means. The wealthy will still be with us, as will the poor. There will be fewer wealthy with much more concentrated wealth per capita, employing the Serf class at very affordable wages. The nanny, the gardener, the brick layer, Joe (our carpenter) all vying to see who can get the job at the lowest cash bid.

What will be missing is the vibrant middle class represented by Joe's extinct and enviable lifestyle. What will also be missing are all of the people Joe could have employed, the industries and businesses he contributed to which also employed others. What will be missing is the hope of a better today for ourselves and a brighter future for our children.

Serf city, here we come........

Armageddon Pantry

Since the disasters of Katrina and recently the tornadoes in Kansas added to the worries about pandemics or terrorists attacks on major population areas, I have gotten serious about stocking up supplies for an emergency. The Dumbplumber calls it my Armageddon pantry. Actually this is something I have been serious about for some time and it gives me a really good excuse for my hoarding behavior. I must have learned this when I was a child: this need to have not one, not two but a dozen cans of corn, soup etc.

Well, a while back, we got a small preview of what the effects of a "disaster" would be. Ok, a very, very small preview. Our house wasn't destroyed, my cat can still come in and whine for her "TREAT" (a tablespoon of canned food), we still had running water and the natural gas to the Wolf Range was still functional. What happened was that for some inexplicable reason the electricity went off on a Sunday afternoon about 1:00. I was in the middle of a load of laundry, in the middle of typing up recipes into my Master Cook program and whamo......power outage. Fortunately I have a power back up on the computer so I shut it down. The Dumbplumber was taking a nap. No need to disturb him. I had full confidence that the power would be back on shortly, after all it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. So, what to do now? Grab a beer, a bowl of potato chips and my latest paperback and go sit on the deck in the sun and read…. naturally.

As the day wore on, DP woke up and there seemed to be no progress from PG&E. I decided to get some of the supplies from the Armageddon Pantry. Out come the oil lamps....hmmm I only have one more bottle of oil, better make a note. Out come the candles and candle holders....better buy some more candles, all I have are two green decorative candles. I had already made most of dinner so that wasn't too bad. But after about 8 hours of no power, I am beginning to worry about the food in the fridge getting hot and my half done laundry getting moldy. Wow, I think I'd better get some old fashioned clothes pins for the future disaster room.

So, the evening wore on. We had roasted chicken, macaroni salad, green salad and rhubarb crisp. Fortunately I had purchased an antique (OK only 1950's) rotary egg beater, so I was able to make whipped cream without electricity. Whew! averted that disaster. No television! Actually that was the best part of the whole experience. Whipping out the matches, which didn't work because they were too old....hmmm more notes to self, and then getting the butane lighter from the bbq, we lit the oil lanterns. Feeling like Abe Lincoln, we read our books by oil lamps sipping on a glass of wine. I said, "No wonder women did so much needlework, they were bored." The Dumbplumber said, "No wonder people had such large families."...So we went to bed. Suddenly, twelve hours after the outage, everything comes back on with a vengeance. Lights, washer, stereo and all electronic devices begin beeping. Life is back to normal.

In all seriousness, our little inconvenience was’t much, but it has reinforced the need to be prepared. What if this was not just an annoying 12 hour event, but a situation that would last for days or weeks? We are in a somewhat remote rural area. If anything happened (earthquake, terrorist attack, bird flu epidemic) it is highly likely that we would be cut off from supplies of food and other necessities. I am determined to beef up the disaster pantry. Plus it is pretty convenient to grab that extra jar of mayonnaise from the pump house instead of trundling off to the store.

CFP Test REALLY HARD

Boy am I dense. I just realized that comments need to be moderated before they post. Sorry to everyone who tried to post.

Well, I didn't pass the test. To be frank I really didn't feel good about it after taking the test. It was two days of testing 4 hours Friday and 6 hours on Saturday. I try to comfort myself with the knowledge that only 53% of the people who took the test actually passed. Ok...that's lame comfort but I'll take what I can get. Even though I didn't pass this time, the information gleaned from the 2 1/2 years of study for the CFP and the review course has been invaluable in being able to do good overall financial advising.

So the big question is: do I want to put myself through this meat grinder again? Time, money, stress. Or should I refocus on obtaining the next license which isn't predicated on having the CFP designation? I was planning to do that as well. That one allows me to do financial planning and hourly or flat fee based business. The reality is that I am within sight of retirement and in doing a cost benefit analysis of obtaining the CFP with the time left and my clientele and how many people I would or would not do business without the designation....... I've decided.....refocus. Whew. That decision is made.

I'll post my next test results.

Big Nanny Is Watching You

Over the years there has been a gradual erosion of our right to make our own decisions about even the most mundane aspects of our lives. The State, has crept its way into almost every corner of our day to day living. For our own good of course. Spare us from the do gooders.... they do more harm in their zeal to help.

"The do-gooder leftist in all the various ideological incarnations--the antiwar crowd, the environmental crowd, the communists, socialists, and assorted collectivists--offers the rationale that he does what he does for the "common good" and for "social justice", "peace" and "brotherhood". His high-minded, self-righteous rhetoric justifies (to him anyway) imposing his will and beliefs on others for their own good; and he will not hesitate to use whatever coercive capablity he has at hand to get others to do what he wants and what he says."

In trying to be the Big Nanny and protect us all from harm, the government is smothering us with love. A parent who knows absolutely, with no reservations, they know best and who controls every tiny detail of the child's life, is creating a future adult who can't make decisions and is unable to take responsibility for their own actions. Some parents even permanently cripple the emotional growth of their children in order to become needed and indispensable. These needy parents are not doing their child or society any favors by creating adults who have never grown up.

The same can be said for a government that takes away the ability to chose and creates a dependent and infantile population. Maybe that is the intended effect, make the government needed and indispensable to a society who is functioning at a lower and lower level each generation. Like Mother knows best....the Nanny Government thinks it knows what is best for us...and we'd better behave the way they want us to or else.

The government controls what we wear... helmets when riding a bike, fire retardants in children's sleepwear whether you want it or not. They control what we eat....remember the mandate that we shouldn't eat eggs sunny side up? They control how we move about.... speed limits, seat belts, child seats until the child is the size of a small adult. What toys we can give our children..... small weeble wobbles and legos are too dangerous. We have ridiculous warning labels on products that warn us about using things in the way no one in their right mind would consider.

In the attempt to legislate away stupidity and personal responsibility New York wants to ban the use of cell phones and Ipods while walking. I say we let Darwin's laws do their fine work. We will all be better for it.

California wants to tell me, for my own good of course, what kind of light bulbs I can use in my home. What are they going to do? Set up a new bureaucracy to come to my home driving gas guzzling Chevy Tahoes and demand to inspect my closet to make sure I have the "correct" light bulbs?? I hope they give me some advance warning so I can at least pick up my dirty underwear! I don't need a lecture from the government on that topic. I heard enough about that from my real mother. I wouldn't put it past them.

They want to tell us how to discipline our children. A bill in proposed in California: " any striking of a child, any corporal punishment, smacking, hitting, punching, any of that.'' Lieber (who has no children of her own by the way) said it would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $1,000, although a legal expert advising her on the proposal said first-time offenders would probably only have to attend parenting classes." So, if I decide to swat my temper tantrum throwing 3 year old on the bottom in the grocery store. I get to go attend classes held by someone who probably never had children (they heard about them though) to tell me how to be a better parent. Better yet, I go to jail and let a total stranger rear my child in our wonderful foster care system. There are already laws that punish child abuse and I applaud the enforcement of these laws. A swat on the behind and a 'time out' is not child abuse. Big Nanny doesn't always know best.

Now the final straw in the government's interference!!. Crisco is going to change their formula after 95 years to comply with the war against trans fats. The food police are now going to be rummaging through my pantry for contraband shortening. They are getting up and personal with me now. No more Crisco in chocolate chip cookies. No more Crisco in pie crusts. Don't MAKE me use lard. I will use lard..but don't MAKE ME.

I've had it with the food police, the fashionistas, the eco-nazis and Big Nanny government. I'm buying light bulbs, Crisco and gonna swat a three year old on the behind..... come and get me...I dare you.

And in that vein I hereby publish the very best coffee cake recipe I have ever had. Full of fat, calories and sugar....nyaa nyaaa to Big Nanny.

Italian Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

FILLING
12 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Mix together the first six ingredients until crumbly. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture and to that add cinnamon and walnuts. Set the 3/4 cup topping aside for topping.

2. In a mixing bowl combine the filling ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

3.In another bowl mix together eggs buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda. Combine with the crumbly mixture. Pour half into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Don't worry if it looks like your first layer of batter seems skimpy. It will rise up just fine. Pour or spoon the cream cheese filling over the batter. Then pour or spoon the rest of the cake mixture over the cream cheese layer and top with the crumbly walnut mixture.

4.Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes

CFP Test = Hard

I've been studying for the hardest test I have ever taken. The studying has consumed all my free time. I haven't posted here. In fact I haven't read a book for fun in months. That's so unusual for me as I read several fiction novels a week.

Now that I have taken the test, my life can begin again. I won't know until January if I passed it and I have to say, I'm not all that confident that I have passed. If not, this will be the first test ever in my life that I haven't aced.

It was interesting to go to the testing site as it was at a college that I went to over 30 years ago. Talk about a time warp. So bizarre to be 30 years older and hopefully wiser and be back in the same classrooms I was in at the age of 18.

I'm Cat Meat

A Mulsim cleric in Australia has decided that I am abandoned cat meat and deserve to be raped because I don't cover myself in a couch throw and put on a mask when I go outside.

"If you take uncovered meat and put it on the street, on the pavement, in a garden, in a park, or in the backyard, without a cover and the cats eat it, then whose fault will it be, the cats, or the uncovered meat's? The uncovered meat is the disaster. If the meat was covered the cats wouldn't roam around it. If the meat is inside the fridge, they won't get it."

"If the woman is in her boudoir, in her house and if she's wearing the veil and if she shows modesty, disasters don't happen."

So I guess that makes his wife(wives?) and daughters covered up cat meat. I always thought the dating scene was somewhat of a meat market, but never really took it literally. In the Muslim world, then women are meat and men have no choice as prowling cats but to pounce on and devour the meat. Great world philosophy they have there. This does explain a lot on why we will never ever ever be able to negotiate with these people. They come from another planet, another time and a completely foreign mindset than we have.

"Satan sees women as half his soldiers. You're my messenger in necessity, Satan tells women you‘re my weapon to bring down any stubborn man. There are men that I fail with. But you're the best of my weapons."

"Â…The woman was behind Satan playing a role when she disobeyed God and went out all dolled up and unveiled and made of herself palatable food that rakes and perverts would race for. She was the reason behind this sin taking place."

Aha. Women are the cause of all evil in the world. We are Satan's tool to undermine the will of MEN. And we deserve everything we get.

What I want to know is where are the feminist and the feminazis protesting these types of statements. If a rapist from Arkansas were to state that the bitch had it coming because she dressed provocatively and had the temerity to go out alone, do you think that they would just let that go with... "Oh well, you know they do come from a different culture down there in Arkansas. We have to understand and accept their cultural diversity." Yeah... right.

It's Apple Time

Now that the weather is turning as crisp as a bowl of fresh apples, my thoughts turn to the Holidays. I break out the worn recipe box with its collection of stained and tattered 4 by 6 cards. Someday, I promise myself, I will re-do these cards before they become completely illegible. I have started to put my favorites into a computer cookbook program that I have. The program even gives the calorie count, fat content and other nutritional information. Sometimes that isn't such a good thing. Yikes!!! My favorite pasta shrimp in cream sauce dish has 1500 calories a serving, and I can't just stop at one serving. Put that on a list of things I didn't want to know.

This is one of my favorite apple pies. I don’t remember where I got the recipe but I do know I’ve had it for at least 10 years. Single crust Cranberry Apple Pie. Colorful and tasty. Enjoy.


Cranberry Apple Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Baking Desserts
Fruit

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
CRUST
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter -- cubed
3 tablespoons ice water

FILLING
1 1/2 pounds granny Smith apple
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 large egg

Make crust as usual pie crust. Wrap in plastic and chill. Roll out and shape into a pie pan. Chill again. Bake at 400 filled with pie weights 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake 10 minutes more. Cool completely

Peel and chop apples into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Mix apples, cranberries, 1 cup of the sugar and 2 tbsp flour and cinnamon. Place into prepared pie shell. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Whisk melted butter, 1/4 cup sugar, beaten egg, and 2 tbsp flour. Pour over filling. Bake 1 hour longer. Cool completely before serving


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 354 Calories; 17g Fat (42.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 50g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 51mg Cholesterol; 245mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 3 1/2 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates

Addicted to Gaming

I found this article via Instapundit, one of the blogs I routinely read. It's from a woman who is having issues with her husband's excessive gaming. Computer games can be very addicting. However, I have some thoughts about her post that go beyond gaming. I think there are other factors in play in her troubled marriage, but I won't go into those now. The comments are very interesting from gamers and non gamers.

I am a computer game addict. I admit it. Isn't that the first step in breaking an addiction? Well, actually I don't plan to completely break the addiction. Control is more the goal. Unfortunately, some people can't control their time and become so absorbed in the "games" to the extent that the virtual world is more real that the literal world. Their personal interactions with real live people suffer. Their job performance and health deteriorates. It is a serious issue. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am spending much of my time studying for a career related test. In consequence I have had to severely limit my gaming time. We all need to prioritize our time. For me at this point in time it is: Work, Study, Husband, Cooking and Household Maitenance, and Leisure Activities which include gaming, this blog, computer surfing and playing my guitar. Poor guitar has really been neglected. The importance is keeping things in THIS order as much as I want to bump up the gaming to a higher position on the list..... I must not.

World of Warcraft is my latest poison. A MMORPG A very seductive virtual world. In the screenshot above each of the characters is a real person, who is on line at the current time and playing the game. They can all interact with each other in real time. Some people even meet with their virtual gaming friends, get married,form social relationships and have pizza together. In other cases, people become so involved that they lose their friends, family and jobs. This is a true addiction.

As a woman, I am unusual in the gaming world. Very few women like to play role playing and strategy games. Not many women like to program computers and enjoy the logic of the process. I find myself outnumbered not only by gender but also by age. I'm pretty long in the tooth as a gamer as well.

How did this happen that I enjoy computer games? Why do I find it fun to play computer games? My family was always on the cutting edge of technology. When the first home computers became available in the form of the Commodore 64 over 30 years ago. It was a revelation. We could do word processing, no more white out or backspacing over erasing strips. No more carbon paper, just print out several copies. We could play GAMES and program the computer ourselves. The power and the challenge was seductive. When the next advancement came out in computers we had to have more. My father even built his own computers and we helped. Even today, I am always wanting the next more powerful processor, video card, monitor, software....GAME.

Zork, the original text based adventure game, was the first in a long series of games that challenged my mind and absorbed my time. There were no GUIs (graphic user interfaces) at that time. No pretty pictures, no animated characters. Just text on a screen, your brain, a pencil and paper and the satisfaction of the AHA!! moment when you solved the puzzle. I was hooked. The Legend of Zelda, 1986, and Nintendo further enticed me. The graphics were phenomenal, for the time at least, and you could play with other people. My daughter, then 8 yrs old, and I would have a great time with Link and then with the Mario Brothers. Her friends would come over and have Nintendo parties. Fun.

Yet, I was always more drawn to strategy and fantasy games. When Myst came out with its beautiful graphics and complicated puzzles, again I was absorbed into that world and would spend hours working my way through the game, but it was a solitary gaming experience.

The world of online gaming has been a wonderful revelation and a seductive addition to my gaming addiction. Not only are the games challenging, fun and graphically beautiful, you have a social aspect as well. Playing with and against other players, it's easy to become too wrapped up in the experience.

Do I neglect my husband and other duties...... No, I don't..... but it is hard to push myself away from the keyboard sometimes.

Algebra: Who Knew

Way back when in high school we all had to have algebra to graduate. It this still the same? I don’t know. I struggled through the course never really accepting the principles of algebra. To me it seemed like arbitrary rules made up out of thin air.

3 × (d + 4) - 11 = 321 - 23

Just looking at this gives me a headache.

“To find a solution for an equation, we can use the basic rules of simplifying equations. These are as follows:

1) You may evaluate any parentheses, exponents, multiplications, divisions, additions, and subtractions in the usual order of operations. When evaluating expressions, be careful to use the associative and distributive properties properly.

Huuuuh????

2) You may combine like terms. This means adding or subtracting variables of the same kind. The expression 2x + 4x simplifies to 6x. The expression 13 - 7 + 3 simplifies to 9.

3) You may add any value to both sides of the equation.

4) You may subtract any value from both sides of the equation. This is best done by adding a negative value to each side of the equation.

5) You may multiply both sides of the equation by any number except 0.

6) You may divide both sides of the equation by any number except 0.

Hint: Since subtracting any number is the same as adding its negative, it can be helpful to replace subtractions with additions of a negative number”

AAAAKKK Gobbledegook!!! Voodoo numbers that have no basis in reality. Ok…if you insist I will force myself through the course and take it on faith that this stuff really works and has some meaning. I took these courses way before the invention of the handy little calculators that can solve these problems practically by themselves . I vaguely remember using a slide rule. I believe these are now considered collectable antiques.

The math teachers….. strange people to begin with, who would actually WANT to study math…. would assure us that we would need Algebra someday. Well, as it turns out, they were right.

I’ve been a financial advisor for over 17 years now and have completed the CFP courses. (Certified Financial Planner) I’m now in the process of taking a review course to be able to better sit for the final exam in November. This is a very difficult exam with a pass/fail rate of about 50% passing and I am assured, by the course providers, that they have an 80% pass rate. I sure hope so!!.

Up until now to calculate things like the Present Value of a future income stream, the Net Present Value of an investment and associated cash flows, or the amount needed to save on an annual or monthly basis for a future event such as college adjusted for inflation and taxes, I have use one of several computer programs and my handy HP 12C calculator, never really knowing, or caring, that they were doing Algebra for me. We really have become lazy people, relying on machines and computers to do the heavy lifting,

Now, I actually have to understand the underlying principles of solving the program and that means I have to remember basic Algebra.

I have a headache.

Too Many Plums

I love and dread the end of summer.



The love part: the nights are beginning to cool down enough to throw a light blanket on the bed. The cat begins to snuggle up and settle down....finally. The trees are starting to turn from green to light yellow to orange and red and we know the leaves soon will fall to the ground and be recycled in the efficent way that nature has devised. I know that winter is just around the corner and I will be able to bring out my cozy knitting craft projects. I will be able to cook in the house instead of creating meals that can be cooked outside on the barbecue to keep the heat outside. Lingering on the deck in the crisp afternoons and early evenings watching the geese and egrets moving southward, with the poignant knowledge that soon it will be too cold to enjoy these moments. The garden plants and fruit trees are groaning with their valient efforts to produce food for us... the patient gardeners.

The dread part: The sun is setting earlier and rising later. The days are getting shorter and I want to savor every moment of beautiful fall color and breathe in the smells of nature beginning to settle down for her winter's sleep. And we have TOO MUCH PRODUCE.

I can't stand to see the fruit and food go to waste and there are only so many zuchinni or plums a person can eat without dire consequences to bodily functions. In the spring it is a gamble on whether the fruit tree blossoms will get to set fruit or be frozen off of the tree by a sudden freeze. This year our plum trees went insane producing fruit. Santa Rosa Plums and Italian Plums, we must have had 50 pounds of fruit. What to do? I get busy canning, preserving, making deserts and freezing for the winter.



Plum jam, canned whole plums, plum crisps and plum cake for the freezer and still to many plums. This year I tried something different for those pesky end of the harvest plums.

Chinese Plum Sauce

8 cups plums pitted and halved
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic minced1 cup water
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp ground corriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cloves

In a large saucepan, bring the plums, onions, water, ginger and garlic to a boil over medium heat. Cover and reduce to a low simmer and cook stirring occasionally until very soft. About 30 minutes

Press through a food mill, or puree with a hand blender or other method. Return to a clean pan and add the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a boil stirring. Reduce heat and simmer until it reaches the consistancy of applesauce stirring occaisonally to keep it from burning on the bottom. About 45 minutes.

Fill and seal in half pint jars an dprocess in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Makes 4 to 5 half pints.

I did this over two nights after work by putting the pureed mixture in the refrigerator and doing the second half the next night. This turned out so good that next year I am making a triple batch.

So I complain about too much produce, yet I am even now planning future crops in our new raised planting beds and what I am going to plant in the half wine barrels that lne our driveway. I think peppers, tomatoes and beans in the barrels.

I am such a glutton for punishment.

We Have A Lot Of Old People

A friend of ours has been hosting two couples from Russia recently. A little background is needed first. He met them while participating in a target shooting competition. The Russian men come to the US to hunt trophy animals they also like to gamble in Nevada. They are ex KGB and seem to be middle aged (about mid 50's). The explained that when they were young men there were only two career paths in Russia, become a party politico or join the KGB. They had an interesting observation after spending some time in the country. We have a lot of old people.

When asked to explain, they remarked that there were very many old people in the United States, meaning over the age of 60, actively participating in social life and visible. In Russia, "old people" either are not as active and outgoing as ours are, or there are just less of them due to attrition. Maybe it is the harsh weather, poor health conditions, or just that old people stay home and don't run around in Bermuda shorts at the mall like they do here. I don't know.

Anyway an interesting observation. We have a lot of old people.

What Animal Am I

Aaaaw. I'm a bunny. Funny don't you think?

You Are A: Bunny!

These adorable woodland animals are known for their fluffy cotton tail and shy disposition. Bunnies reproduce like crazy and are found all over the world. As a bunny, you spend your days hopping through fields and chewing on grass and leaves. Your cuddly, gentle appearance is irresistable!

You were almost a: Pony or a Duck
You are least like a: Monkey or a MouseTake the Cute Animal Quiz!

Folgers Happy Morning

This has to be the strangest and most surrealistic commercial I have ever seen. It is also funny in a very warped way. Somehow it brings back memories of the 1970's. It as if the Brady Bunch have gone on a yellow tinged psychedelic trip.

Watch the whole thing. I love the dog.

Hot cha cha cha!!!

Added another link in case the first one is broken

666 The Apocalypse Has Arrived

Here it is. The fabled and fated day of judgement. The mark of the beast is upon us. We had our first sign of impending doom. This morning the newspaper didn't arrive!!! The beginning of the end!! The horror! Oh...Ok ....the inconvenience. Our little cozy routine was all discombobulated. The Dumbplumber (AKA my husband) said, now he knows how the cat feels when we move things in the house or have company to intrude on her well set routine. Ah, well. This too shall pass. At least I have the Internet to get my morning news fix.

But, just in case this is the real thing, I think I'll check the Armageddon Pantry this afternoon. I'm sure we must need some more dried fruit or wine or something.

Taxing the Wealthy

When a lie is repeated over and over it becomes mistaken for the truth. This is called propaganda. The mantra that tax cuts only benefit the wealthiest 1% and that there have been massive cuts in social programs as a result of the wealthy skipping out on taxes is widespread, especially by the left. Part of the reason for the spread of these lies and misconceptions is due to the complex nature of economics, biased blathering by uneducated reporters and mostly by purposeful distortions of policy by those who benefit from the lies.

Caution: this is a link heavy article as I want to document myself. If you don't like economics or statistics, don't click the links.

First of all, income tax is not a tax on the "wealthy". It is a tax on income. Period. Wealth is taxed when you die. Politicians self-servingly promote the idea that the top 1 percent are dilettante millionaires living off of the backs of the rest of the population. The facts are something different. Of the one half of the 1 percent who are in the top tax bracket, more than two thirds are small business owners. Of all businesses in the US approximately 98% are classified as small businesses that employ less than 100 people, yet they also generate over 36% of jobs. Taxing the small business community to death would harm and halt the economic growth we have seen since the tax cuts were enacted May 28, 2003 when ALL income classes had their tax brackets lowered.

Does this mean that the people who earn more income paid less dollars in income taxes when the rates were reduceded? Yes. But here is the rub. The class warfare warriors focus on dollars of tax relief received instead of the percentage of taxes to income paid. These figures from the Cato Institute give us a real picture of where the tax revenue is coming from. The top one percent make about 17 percent of the money in this economy, but they pay 33 percent of the income taxes. How is that fair? The top five percent make 33 percent of the income, but pay 52 percent of the taxes. The bottom 50 percent pay only five percent of the income taxes In contrast, households earning less than $75,000 received about 70 percent of the benefits from increasing the child credit and 64.4 percent of the benefit from creating the 10 percent bracket on the first $14,000 of taxable income, the Tax Policy Center says. In addition, it says 55.2 percent of the benefit from ending the so-called marriage penalty was received by families earning less than $100,000.

How is our economy doing since the tax cuts? To hear the Democrats in Congress and the leftist moonbats on blogs the US is perpetually about to go into a recession.

Unemployment is at a low of 5% and lets face it 5% of the population is just not employable and will never hold a job.

The gross domestic product growth rate took off immediately after the tax cuts hitting a 20 year high of 7.2% in October 2003 and has continued to grow at a respectable 3 to 4 % average surge in tax revenue since the tax cuts.

The reason we don't see this information published in the MSM is that the MSM is composed of or controlled by left leaning Democrats with agendas. They want to perpetuate and prolong class warfare to regain power and further their Socialistic aims. By repeating propaganda over and over to create unrest and division within the population the politicians hope to gain power. This is a similar technique used by the National Socialist Party in Germany as applied to the Jewish population. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for our current politicians, there is a fatal flaw in their propaganda. Most people aspire to become wealthy and earn high incomes. It is hard to create a complete societal rift and create envy, when people want to become the envied.

But let's look at the real tax on the Wealthy.....the Estate Tax. Here is one description by proponents of the tax.
"The estate tax is the most progressive tax in place in the United States tax code. It is the federal government's only tax on accumulated wealth. It helps reduce concentrations of wealth and power." Redistribution of wealth, isn't that a central tennent of Communism?

More about the Estate Tax in a later post. But consider this, if you or your family have worked hard to create a business, have been smart in your investments, or have just been lucky in owning land in an area that has had huge property appreciation through no effort of your own, why should you be punished and have over 50% of your efforts confiscated by the government and redistributed to others?

The Best Rock and Roll Station Ever!!

Just discovered KCDX http://www.kcdx.com/ If you love music and hate the canned stuff on commercial FM stations, you know where they play the same 20 songs over and over, you will LOVE this. You need a broadband connection. I have this streaming on my computer when I am working or just futzing around and leave the website open so I can see what is playing at the moment. I don't always like rock and roll but the mix is so eclectic it works as a change up from my usual jazz, blues and old standards that I have in my comuter music library.

There is an interesting story about the station and the owner.

ENJOY!!!

Bird Watching from the Deck

This time of year is full of birds. Birds flying north for the summer. Birds chirping their heads off in the hopes of attracting a mate. Birds making nests, sometimes in the most inconvenient places. We can sit on our deck and watch the birds swooping through the tree tops, catching fish in the river below. Because we are about 50 feet above the river the birds fly at our eye level for a spectacular close up view. I have a couple of field guides and we break them out when we see a new species. At the end of the day, with scotch glasses on the table and binoculars in hand we can spy on the birds and laugh at the cows, in the fields below, who will madly stampede in one direction or another for no reason.

We saw these the other day





Cedar Waxwings. My husband thought they all looked like Pauly from the Sopranos except with a reverse (dark on light) swept back temple effect. They came through in a group, landed the the ancient juniper tree, ate some berries and moved on up north.










We also had one of these shy little guys.

Juniper Titmouse. A soft little ball of grey fluff with a body just a little larger than a golf ball. Perky crest on his head and beady black eyes.

A confession. I wish I was the photographer who took these photos. I lifted them from other spots on the internet.

In just one day around our property, we have seen Bank Swallows (which are endagered but have established a thriving colony in our area, Blue Herons, Egrets, Red Tail Hawks, Buzzards, Robins, Canadian Geese, Mallards, Bald Eagles, Great Northern Flicker and Downy Woodpeckers, a zillion Quail and White Crown Sparrows.....to name just a few. I enjoy most of the birds but must say....I am NOT enjoying the Mockingbirds who sing their heads off outisde my bedroom window beginning at 4:30 AM.

I Want To Be An Illegal Alien

So, we want to have the illegal aliens, (our gate crashers, our uninvited guests) put on a track to become citizens of the United States. We hold out the carrot on a stick of citizenship as if it is some sort of a prize. Once it was a proud achievement and a goal to become a citizen of the Untied States of America. Pledging allegiance to the flag and standing with hand over heart for the National Anthem was enough to bring a tear to the eye or least a lump to the throat. But is there really any advantage today in changing status from illegal immigrant to citizen?

What would be the change in their lives to become citizens? Illegals already get Social Security benefits in the form of SSI, welfare, food stamps, free medical care, school tuition breaks among other socialistic........oops, I mean public benefits. This latest amnesty proposal is now proposing that they are entitled to the traditional Social Security benefits and only have to pay three out the last 5 years incomes taxes. I would like that deal on the taxes!! Most illegals work under the table and don't pay income or payroll taxes. $10.00 an hour in cash equals about $15.00 in a legitimate job, where payroll taxes are withheld. State and federal income taxes, social security and Medicare taxes. The employer pays a matching portion of social security and Medicare taxes and State and Federal unemployment taxes. This money is lost to pay benefits to legal citizens when illegals work under the table for cash. It is further proposed to give driver's licenses and other legal identification without having to be an actual citizen.

Hmmmm. So far they are missing out on voting. Well, maybe not, since we don't ask for identification anymore because it might offend a black person or other ethnic voter. Voting must not be such a privilege of citizenship anyway, since over 50% of citizens don't vote. Illegals miss being called for jury duty, again a privilege that most of us try our darndest to get out of. If we had a military draft guess who won't be called up.

What then, is the big carrot, the enticement that is supposed to have all the 2 or 4 or more million illegal aliens turn themselves in and become citizens?

It used to be patriotism and pride in just being an American was a driving force. However, our schools no longer teach American History and are not even allowed to use the term in some cases

In the past years, instead of teaching pride in our heritage as Americans and celebrating the melting pot of cultures, our schools stress the "bad" about the United States. Leftist teachers indoctrinate our students and warp history to suit their own current political biases. Political correctness has run amok. Instead of stressing the strength of the United States created by the blending and absorbing of immigrant cultures, we are encourage to remain in our own separate cultural enclaves. There is no value placed on learning a common language, learning a common history or instilling pride in country. Is it any wonder that illegal immigrants have no burning desire to give up their current lifestyle and jump into the "American Melting Pot."

Free services, medical care, special treatment in schools, work under the table, don't pay taxes, give up jury duty, not be drafted into the military. I want to be an illegal alien.


Update: I guess I am not the only one with these thoughts. Here is a link to Captains Quarters for his 5-31-06 post What The Senate Didn't Tell You About Immigration