"The Most Important Meal of the Day"

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My Maxine calendar for today says: "Morning coffee...the most important meal of the day!"

I couldn't agree more -- especially in the cooler weather. And it is snowing/sleeting outside my door right now.

Lately, I seem to crave the frothy-ness of a latte (having spoiled myself with some of the coffee shop stuff- -- foolish woman).

So, I looked online for an espresso machine. YIKES! The price/sticker shock was almost overwhelming. In addition, mornings I work out of a very small kitchenette--no room for that big machine.

What to do? Sure didn't want to have to "froth" that stuff by hand with a wire whisk. Too lazy for that. Besides that much effort would certainly take all the enjoyment out of the latte.

And then, an "Aha!" moment.

In my cabinet I have an old immersion blender that I used mainly to make fruit smoothies and frozen margaritas. Then I went on a further hunt for the cup that came with the immersion blender -- it would be the exact, proper size to hold the cream close to the blades and whip it.

Now we have to take a little side trip. I said "cream" because I use cream in my coffee -- NOT a powdered, synthetic product that is full of artificial preservatives. I used to use the powdered stuff, then I decided that all those chemicals could not be good for my body. So, I just stopped using it. The real stuff tastes better, too. And if I want exotic flavorings? I just reach for some extract or, better yet, a liqueur.

The only draw-back to the immersion blender is there seems to be a very fine line between frothy cream and fully whipped cream. Now, the whipped cream is not bad, but I was going for the froth.

It is a learning process. But tasty.
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I Want an Inexpensive Electric Car

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I know most of you probably don't read Mother Jones so you may have missed this about a new 3-wheeled vehicle.

• Aptera 2e, a two-seater powered by an electric motor that delivers 100 miles of driving on an 8-hour charge from a standard outlet.
• But the design that makes the Aptera so efficient also disqualifies the car from the Department of Energy's $25 billion loan program for ultra-efficient cars.
• Aptera Motors went to Washington to show the feds why the reg needs to change.

I found it particularly interesting because there is a manufacturer of LSV electric vehicles in my home town.

BigMan's basic model is, to my mind, a little pricey ($10,950) for what it is--an open mode of transportation (hey, the winters get cold around here). However, in the defense of BigMan, I believe they are not aiming their product at the average housewife running the kids to school, going to the market, picking up the dry cleaning, etc. I just happen to think a re-chargable vehicle for these short, short trips would be a good thing.

But, and it is a big "but", a certain level of driver (and passenger) comfort is essential--especially to us coddled American drivers. (Those damn winters again.)

Therefore, I would be really interested in the anticipated sales price of the Aptera 2e. Although, as a 2-seater, it would not do for delivering the kids to school, maybe for the errands.

Anyway, will they price it more like the Nano from India? Or will they take the route of the BigMan company pricing their product too high--even the used models.

Just asking.
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Hallelujah !

"FDA Ordered to Rethink Age Restriction for Plan B"

• U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman in New York instructed the agency [FDA] to make Plan B available to 17-year-olds within 30 days and to review whether to make the emergency contraceptive available to all ages without a doctor's order. [Emphasis mine ! And I'm glad to add it.]
  
• In his 52-page decision, Korman repeatedly criticized the FDA's handling of the issue, agreeing with allegations in a lawsuit that the decision was "arbitrary and capricious" and influenced by "political and ideological" considerations imposed by the Bush administration.
• Plan B consists of higher doses of a hormone found in many standard birth-control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, it has been shown to be highly effective at preventing pregnancy.

Of course, Wal-Mart still will not carry it.

BOYCOTT WAL-MART!

I do.
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More Good Republican Ideas

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Remember when Bobby Jindal gave the "response" to President Obama's address to Congress? Remember how he railed against the proposed spending for monitoring volcanoes?

Guess what?

The Redoubt Volcano located about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage and near the Cook Inlet in Alaska has erupted. The Alaska Volcano Observatory "web camera near the volcano is no longer functioning." And "an ashfall advisory is in affect."

Yep, the Republicans are right again. We don't need no stinkin' volcano monitoring.

Methinks the fine Republicans need to shut up, line up and vote for the people of the United States.

Medicare for All.

You didn't think I could get volcano monitoring around to single-payment health care system, did you?

Hah.
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The Good Things in Life

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Sunday morning I baked a tray of chocolate-chip cookies (from a tub of raw, purchased dough -- I have to admit to not mixing them up myself).

It must be getting very late in the tax-prep season or I must be getting really old or something else in life must be causing me a great deal of stress. I really got a charge out of those cookies.

Warm chocolate-chip cookies and a cold glass of milk.

How much better can life get?

Wow.
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A Look Back

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Wisdom according to Maxine:

• Someday women will rule the Earth.
• I only hope we don't have to wear what they wore in those '50s sci-fi movies.

(Those pointy, push-up bra-tops, you know. And those ridiculously high heels. Those teeny, tiny waisted skirts/dresses. Oh, and the girdles.)

Only men think of the 50s with nostalgia and want to go back.

Remember, that was the era when there were only a very few female doctors or lawyers or scientists. And the ones who did exist were invisible and the men got ALL the credit.

Women were actively (and craftily) kept out of medical school and law school and advanced studies in science and math. "They will just get married and go home to have babies" was the rallying cry and raison d'etre for the denials.

Women who did work were largely looked down-on. Day-Care centers did not exist as such.

Women could not borrow money without a male co-signer.

Sorry, but I have to stop thinking about the 50s now. I am disgusted -- again. As I was while I survived the 50s and heard so much "No you can't. You're a girl."

Never again.
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White Collar Criminals

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Chad at BuzzFlash has some interesting words on the AIG bonus-receivers & white-collar crime in general.

• A person steals a candy bar or a bottle of vodka, an article of clothing. Gets caught. Person is processed by the police. Might do time, might not, but at least this person gets scared straight by going through a humiliating process.
• Bring down an economy, offer fraudulent insurance of risky banking derivatives, run the gambit on ethics from here to Sunday, and what happens? Do the police come? Do you even get fingerprinted? A stern lecture?
• As a society, we have to decide what we should do with white-collar criminals. Not just for the AIG debacle, but in general, we need to decide whether the punishment fits the crime. Why can't we send white-collar criminals to real jail?
• We can start with the AIG people since, well, they are getting us mad enough to finally address this long-standing issue. Should the people who caused much of the Wall Street implosion at the derivatives division of AIG still be working there or be in jail?
• Having two different sets of ethics can be confusing. Rob a liquor store with a gun, and you will likely do jail time. Not white-collar jail, but real jail.
  

No different rules for AIG, Bernie Madoff, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, any of the other big boys at the big "banks" that took taxpayer money.

After they are taxed 100% on their ill-gotten gains (as my grandma would have called them), they can go straight to jail -- real jail. Perhaps they can share a cell with Bubba whose grandma lost all her 401K money when the stock market went south.

Do not pass "GO," do not collect $200. They played like the real world was a game of Monopoly. Let them endure the consequences as if the real world were a game of Monopoly.

Greed Is Good -- ?

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I may be doing less blogging, but luckily for you others are still at it.

Robert Creamer at Institute for America's Future gives us in interesting look at the "greed is good" philosophy in his blog, "AIG Bonuses and Wall Street's 'Greed is Good' Values".

• In fact, of course, "greed" was never "good". The ethical and religious teachings that have evolved over thousands of years of human development don't hold up "greed" as a value. The minister, priest, imam or rabbi doesn't get up on the Sabbath and encourage his congregates to go be "greedy".
• Commitment to others — commitment to our country — selflessness — that's what is good. Most everyday Americans understand that to their core. They get chills when they hear about the soldier who sacrifices his life for his buddies. They are inspired by the doctor who devotes himself to heal people who can't afford health care.
• They know instinctively that hard work — and sacrificing for your kid's future — and teaching the next generation — and inventing cures for diseases because they will help other people — and creating something that is beautiful, or improves the lives of your fellow human beings — those are the things that are "good" and should be valued by our society.
• They know that the highest calling of human beings is not to go make as much money as you possibly can, but rather to live a life of service to other people.

Do unto others ....
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AIG Bonus Conundrum -- Solved

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From Politico.com comes Rep. Carolyn Maloney "with a solution to the AIG bonus conundrum: Tax them into oblivion".

• The New York Democrat is proposing legislation that would tax the offending bonuses at 100 percent.
• “This will allow AIG to continue to meet their ‘contractual obligation’ to pay these bonuses, but will ensure that the recipients are not allowed to keep this money,” Maloney explained in a Dear Colleague letter sent out today asking for co-sponsors.
• Entitled the “AIG Taxpayer Protection Act,” the Maloney legislation would instruct Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to develop guidelines that tax at 100 percent any bonus that is not directly related to a commission for any recipient of government bailout funds in cases where the federal government is the majority owner of the company.
• Mega-insurer American International Group has received more than $170 billion in bailout funds, and the federal government owns about 80 percent of the company.
• “The only reason they are even working is because the American taxpayer bailed them out,” Maloney said ... of the recipients of the $165 million in bonus compensation.

I REALLY like this plan.

F Y I

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My gentle snowflakes, some of you may not know, but in one of my other lives, I am an Enrolled Agent, Licensed to Practice Before the IRS. That means -- among other things, I prepare (mostly) income tax returns for hire.

This is not a solicitation.

It is by way of an explanation.

I will return to blogging with my usual vigor as time permits and surely after 15 April 2009.

In the mean time, you are on your own.

But, until then -- Medicare for All !

Health Insurance According to Maxine

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Maxine says, "My hospital gown and my health insurance offer about the same amount of coverage."

Yep.

Medicare for All.

ColeSlaw

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Easy, quick, simple, delicious, no-mayonnaise slaw.

• INGREDIENTS:
• 1# pack of slaw mix with some red cabbage and carrot shreds
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream in a 2-cup measure
• scant 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp coarse grind (Kosher) salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 
  
• DIRECTIONS:
• Pour slaw mix into bowl.
• Stir sugar, salt & pepper into heavy cream in the 2-cup measure.
• Lightly stir vinegar into measuring cup holding heavy cream mixture.
  
• Let sit for about 30 seconds until the cream thickens.
• Pour the cream mixture over the slaw mix. Toss/stir gently.
• Serve 4, generously.
  

Mix dressing and pour over slaw mix just before serving.

The only draw-back to this recipe is that, if left-0ver and held-overnight, if does tend to separate slightly. Re-stir/toss if serving the next day.

This absolutely, to-die-for slaw comes from my second ex-mother-in-law.

Great for picnics--no mayonnaise.

Summer is coming!

No Comment

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From Michelle Tan - Staff writer Army Times

• As many as 18 soldiers killed themselves in February, Army officials announced March 5.
• Of the 18 cases in February, two are confirmed as suicides and 16 others remain under investigation. About 90 percent of such pending cases typically are ruled suicides.
• Seventeen of the soldiers were male; one was female. Of the deaths, 14 occurred in the U.S. and four overseas.
• Last month’s numbers are higher than the previous February, when 11 soldiers’ deaths were confirmed as suicides.
• This February’s number represents a slight drop from as many as 24 suicides in January. Of the January deaths, 12 have been confirmed as suicides and 12 are suspected.
• The January total was the highest monthly toll for the Army in nearly 30 years.

Re-read Saturday's post.

This You Must Go Read -- Then Weep

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What have we done to the best and the brightest of our nation?

I say "we" because even though I did not agree with the war in Iraq--vehemently did not agree, they went in my name as well as yours. Everything they experienced, everything that was done to them, everything they had to endure, was done for our sakes -- yours and mine. We are guilty of doing this to them. You and I are guilty. All of us are guilty. Guilty.

Kayla Williams offers a penetrating, riveting, disturbing, spot-on, tear evoking account.

• It is 2004. I have been back from Iraq for a few months.
• The gun is heavy in my hand, cold, solid. I sit on the edge of my bathtub and stare at it. The door is shut and I am alone. I can hear my own breathing, uneven.
• This I can control.
• It feels like the only thing I can control. I can't control my anger, which flares up unexpectedly, making me lash out at those closest to me. I can't control the moments when my boyfriend, who sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury in Iraq and has severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, gets lost in his own rage and isolation. I can't control whether or not the Army will stop-loss me, or let me out and then call me back to Iraq before my contract is up -- back to another year with no control over where I sleep, what I eat, if rockets will fall on me in the Port-a-John, if an explosive will blow off my limbs.
• I can't control the memories that suddenly, with no warning, invade my consciousness: images of men screaming, thrashing, bleeding on the ground. I can't control that the smell of diesel makes me feel like I'm in Iraq again. I can't control my physical reactions, swerving to avoid trash in the road, flinching at sudden noises.
• Can't control my dreams.

• I can't imagine going to my Chain of Command, being put on public, humiliating suicide watch with no shoelaces or belt. I can't admit these feelings of weakness in front of my leaders or -- worse -- my soldiers. Can't own up to the shame of not knowing if I can do it anymore, take it, keep going at all. Can't talk to my friends from before -- can't even conceive of explaining the war to them; I'm not who they used to know. I can't burden my family with this, they are dealing with enough. I can't let everyone down and face them afterward.

• I sit and stare at the gun. This is mine, my choice, my way out, my freedom, my escape from fear and hopelessness and desperation.
• What will they go through, my boyfriend and my roommate, dealing with blood and brains and death on the bathroom floor? What about my father? I'm his only surviving child; he lost his sister to suicide.

• To all those soldiers still struggling today, know that you are not alone. You are part of a community of veterans who understands what you're going through. Civilians may not understand, but they do care.

Yes, we do care. We do care. We do, do, do care.
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They May Be Talking, But Are They Saying Anything REAL?

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Well, I listened/watched to the health care system overhaul sessions that were broadcast on C-Span yesterday and early, early this morning.

I now know who actually wrote that letter that McConnell and his compadres sent to the White House: the insurance industry. How do I know?

Everyone (even many Republicans) was trying to be positive and offer actual things that might be of benefit to getting more bang for our health dollar spent. THEN, the guy representing Blue Cross/Blue Shield spouts off -- almost word for word quoting of that infamous letter. If the government offers a plan, it will be unfair competition. AND it will put the insurance companies out of business because they just can't get their overhead costs down low enough to compete. (Crocodile tear here.)

And here I thought that the "free market system" was the holy grail. I guess not, though. At least not if you have to actually compete. Not if you don't have a virtual monopoly on the industry (there are only 3 or 4 providers left). Not if you have to take all comers--even those with pre-existing conditions. Which the insurance companies have now broadened to include even a single convulsive episode in infancy and even pre-mature births and even broken bones in childhood.

What is so terrible about a government-run, single-payer system? I still have yet to hear any argument against it that is not extremely easily refuted by the facts as they currently exist. Medicare works. Ask anyone who has it. And those Republican congressmen/women sure do love their government run health care coverage.

If you ever needed proof that the Republicans in power don't care about you and me, just look at this one issue.

Under a single-payer system, everyone pays in a modest amount; preventative care can increase (thus decreasing the number of many of those costly ER visits); no one will have to declare bankruptcy due to catastrophic medical expenses; I just don't see a down side.

Send the message to the White House. Health Care for All. Sign the pledge. Check out the offerings at the site.

If anyone asks, say "Medicare for All."
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Let the Talks Commence

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Well, my gentle snowflakes, if there was ever any doubt in your minds, be at ease.

Senator Mitch McConnell has sent a letter to President Obama stating,

• “Forcing free market plans to compete with these government-run programs would create an unlevel playing field and inevitably doom true competition...Ultimately, we would be left with a single government-run program controlling all of the market."
  

I guess the poor Republicans have become so flabbergasted they are reduced to actually telling the truth.

Just a few points:

1. If the free market plans are so good, why do they need protecting?
2. McConnell seems to be conceding that a single-payer, government run system would be more efficient than the free market plans and thereby put the free market plans out of business. (This would be a bad thing?)
3. If it is "true competition" that Sen McConnell is seeking, the big insurance companies should be able to run Medicare-for-All right out of business, IF the insurance companies are truly better, more efficient, better received and liked by the customers (that's us, folks).
4. McConnell and his fellow signers--Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Orrin Hatch of Utah--certainly do seem to be entering into these negotiations/planning sessions with open minds, don't they?

Oh, boy. Just gotta' love 'em.

There is a ray of light in this otherwise dark, dark tunnel. Team Obama has said they will have single-payer advocates at the meeting.

Medicare-For-All.

Veterans

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Oh, no, you din't !

IAVA's Policy Director Vanessa Williamson reports the Obama administration has considered allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to bill service-members' private health insurance for treatment of a disability or injury that was the result of military service.

I am appalled.

Now, look, my gentle snowflakes. This may be cost effective, but how Bush-esque can team Obama get?

No one was/is more against the stupid "war" in Iraq, but if an injury or a disability is service related, we as a nation owe -- and I mean, OWE that service person care, treatment, care, rehabilitation, care, whatever it takes and for as long as it takes. I don't have a dog in this hunt, but right is right and fair is fair and good is good. We are either the nation we claim to be or -- or -- or I don't know what we have become.

"This seems like bad politics and bad policy," said IAVA Policy Director Vanessa Williamson, noting that every veterans group opposes it and warns it will adversely affect veterans. "I don't see this as a tenable option."

I sincerely hope this one goes away.

Soon.
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Our "Friend," Rush-bo

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"I own the men, and what must I do now to own women?" -- Rush Limbaugh (-- dressed all in black, looking as if he were the Pillsbury Dough-boy trying to channel Steven Seagal at CPAC Saturday night.)

Oh, gee, I don't know, Rush. Maybe you could just go back through the transcripts of some of your old broadcasts. Speaking as an "old feminist," I personally feel there are plenty of items which you could try to re-cant.

• "We're not sexists, we're chauvinists — we're male chauvinist pigs, and we're happy to be because we think that's what men were destined to be. We think that's what women want." (15 April 2004 The Rush Limbaugh Show--please, think again, Rush.)
• "Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. "(The Rush Limbaugh Show, on several occasions and written in 1987's 35 Undeniable Truths of Life.)
  
• "Make a freight train take a dirt road." (On the physical appearance of Joycelyn Elders, The Rush Limbaugh Show.)
• "Femi-nazi" (in use by Limbaugh at least since 1992.)
• "...the worst characteristics of women ...: totally controlling, not soft and cuddly. Not sympathetic. Not patient. Not understanding. Demanding, domineering, Nurse Ratched kind of thing." (14 February 2008, The Rush Limbaugh Show -- a nice Valentine's Day gift to us girls, don't you think?)
• "Tarting up the news. Dumbing it down and tarting up the news." (June 17, 2007 The Rush Limbaugh Show.)
• "The chickification of the news in this country from local to national newsrooms and networks has been accomplished. They're all over the place. They're producing. They're reporting. They're anchoring. We've got anchorettes. We've got info babes." (June 4, 2007 The Rush Limbaugh Show -- oh, yes, the dreaded "They" .)
• "... and they've got some B-I-itch from the -- let me just say it. I mean, just looking at her, she's a B-I-itch. She's from the Friends of the Earth" (February 1, 2006 The Rush Limbaugh Show regarding Catherine Pearce speaking out.)
• "Why do I have to change who I am?" (February 25, 2009 The Rush Limbaugh Show -- oh, Rush, you don't. In fact, you stay just as you are.)
  

Well, Rush, that's certainly not the entire list, but it should do to get you started on your quest.

I have no hints nor suggestions on how you should go about making amends. For, if you are sincere, you must let that sincerity shine through. And blind us with your goodness of heart.

Yeah, sure.
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Plant a Vegetable Garden

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" California Declares Drought Emergency, Mulls Rationing"

• SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday declared a state emergency due to drought and said he would consider mandatory rationing in the face of nearly $3 billion in economic losses this year.
  
• Agricultural revenue losses in the coming season in California, the most populous U.S. state, could top $2 billion, Schwarzenegger said.
  
• "Even with the recent rainfall, California faces it third consecutive year of drought and we must prepare for the worst -- a fourth, fifth or even sixth year of drought," he said in a statement.
  
• Schwarzenegger requested urban users to cut water consumption by 20 percent and state agencies to implement a water reduction plan.
  
• The state water department will report on conservation progress by the end of March, and if the situation has not sufficiently improved, water rationing and mandatory cuts in water use could be instituted, the governor said.
  
• California's main source of irrigation water is expected to go dry this year for most of its growers due to drought, idling at least 60,000 workers and up to 1 million acres of farmland, federal officials and experts said last week. (Reporting by Peter Henderson, Editing by Leslie Adler)

Now, I suppose those grandchildren of the Okies will all pack up and come "home."

Can we get a border fence?

Will our strict anti-immigration law apply to Californ-i-anes?

These questions are in the spirit of irony. But, the California drought will undoubtedly increase the pressure on the economic crises (yes, that is plural) this country is now experiencing.

Everybody better plant a vegetable garden this year because the price of produce is going up.
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