Open Thread Plus Bites & Pieces

Posted on August 4, 2013 by lmsinca

I’m still catching up from last week’s news and propaganda but I did read a couple of pieces that I thought were pretty interesting.

This was from the AP Friday.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Abortion is still legal but getting one in many states will be difficult if laws passed this year are upheld by the courts. In a march through conservative legislatures, anti-abortion Republicans passed a wave of new restrictions that would sharply limit when a woman could terminate a pregnancy and where she could go to do so.

The push brought the anti-abortion movement closer to a key milestone, in which the procedure would become largely inaccessible in the three-fifths of the country controlled by Republicans even if still technically legal under Roe vs. Wade.

But rather than continuing to roll across the GOP heartland in synch with the pro-life movement’s plan, the effort may now be hitting a wall. The obstacle comes not from opposing Democrats but from GOP leaders who believe pressing further is a mistake for a party trying to soften its harder edges after election losses last year.

The resisting Republicans include governors and top legislators in more than a half-dozen states, including some of the largest and most politically competitive in the party’s 30-state coalition. They are digging in to stop the barrage of abortion proposals, hoping to better cultivate voters not enamored with the GOP’s social agenda.

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This one’s a little long but a fascinating read on our 40 year war against marijuana.  I don’t indulge but it’s pretty clear, I think, that it’s time to change our policies.  I loved this Nixon quote.

President Nixon had already made up his mind. In May 1971 he told H.R. Haldeman, “I want a goddamn strong statement about marijuana. Can I get that out of this sonofa-bitching, uh, domestic council? I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them.” And Nixon told Shafer directly, “You’re enough of a pro to know that for you to come out with something that would run counter to what the Congress feels and what the country feels, and what we’re planning to do, would make your commission just look bad as hell.”

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I’m pretty sure this isn’t going anywhere but it’s the thing I’ve been talking about since 2009…………..jeeze.  Medicare for all.  Here’s the money quote that makes it dead on arrival.

“Paradoxically, by expanding Medicare to everyone we’d end up saving billions of dollars annually,” he said. “We’d be safeguarding Medicare’s fiscal integrity while enhancing the nation’s health for the long term.”

Friedman said the plan would be funded by maintaining current federal revenues for health care and imposing new, modest tax increases on very high income earners. It would also be funded by a small increase in payroll taxes on employers, who would no longer pay health insurance premiums, and a new, very small tax on stock and bond transactions.

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And since we have peppers coming out of our ears (garden) here I thought I’d post my Baked Jalapeno Poppers recipe.

I use a combination of whatever peppers we have in the garden.  I can usually get about 15 to 18 poppers from this recipe.

Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and membrane.  I like to leave part of the stem on.

Combine:

8 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 cup mozarella, jack or pepper jack cheese

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp or less cayenne

Stuff peppers with cheese mixture.

Bowl one:  1/2 cup seasoned flour

Bowl two:  2 eggs

Bowl three:  1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I use plain bread crumbs and season them myself)

Seasoning:  salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and Mexican oregano to taste.  I just wing it and add to both flour and bread crumbs.

Roll peppers in flour, then dip in egg and finally dredge with bread crumbs.  Refrigerate several hours and then bake in a 350 oven for about 1/2 hour……………..yummy

Filed under: cooking, healthcare, Medicare, recipes, Republican Party, War on Drugs | Tagged: , , | 12 Comments »

Bits and Pieces (Lulu’s Garden)

Posted on June 8, 2012 by lmsinca

We’ve had one of those years at our house.  You know, one of the memorable ones for crappiness.  Things are looking up however, for the most part.  We even received rent money and the security deposit this week on our rental property, and the new family begins moving in today.  They don’t appear to be hoarders, and yes we did have the house fumigated.  Last weekend my husband and I painted all four bedrooms and this week I cleaned all the floors (again), the bathrooms (again), windows and the broiler.  He cleaned the windows on the enclosed patio, put in a new toilet and cleaned the fireplaces etc.  That’s over finally.  We’ve had a few health issues, some accidental, some related to being over 60 I guess, but so far we’re carrying on pretty well.

One thing that has always kept me from panicking when the worry sets in is working in my garden.  That’s right, the garden comes in ahead of ATiM.  I will try to participate a little more going forward however, as I have missed our discussions.

Anyway, I’ve been growing veggies since I rented my first house at age 20.  When the kids were little we had a fruit orchard and really large garden in the back part of our property (we have a half acre).  That’s all been replaced with a rather large warehouse for the business.  We did manage to find a nice growing spot on the side of the house, outside the bedroom window, for a small garden.  Since it’s just the two of us now it’s perfect and I can look out the window and see our handiwork.

This year I planted a couple of things I’ve never had in my garden before, bok choi and Japanese cucumbers.  In the photo below the bok choi is in the center bottom of the picture between the beets, on the left, and the Japanese cucumber.  At the back of the photo is swiss chard, which we have in our garden nearly year round.   I saute the chard in safflower oil and then add tamari and a little sesame oil and add it to brown rice after the rice is cooked……………………..yummy.

In the photos below are three kinds of summer squash, a few remaining green beans (the dogs dug up most of them), three kinds of lettuce, more swiss chard, and I just planted pumpkins and acorn squash last weekend.  These new veggies took the place of the snow peas, which we already ate, also yummy.

We’re taking a couple of days off this weekend and heading to the beach tomorrow, my favorite destination, so have a great weekend everyone.

Filed under: Bits and Pieces, food, fun stuff | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Weekends Are For Hobbies

Posted on October 1, 2011 by lmsinca


There are hobbies and then there are pastimes. To me a hobby is when you create something useful or artistic, such as a garden, rebuilding an engine, writing a short story (for fun), knitting, quilting, etc. (you get the idea). A pastime is more along the lines of doing something you enjoy, hiking, reading, watching football, camping and what not.

I work pretty hard all week, as many of us here do, and while I always have chores, grocery shopping or getting together with friends and family, I still try to work on one of my hobbies every weekend. Here in CA we have a long growing season so I’m able to have a garden in the spring, summer and fall. We usually get frost sometime in Jan. or Feb. so whatever’s still out there is generally a goner by then. By March though I’m off and running again.

My husband built me a raised bed garden a few years ago, he’s awesome, and it’s so much easier gardening now because my back kills me if I’m bent over for too long. This year I found one zucchini that got a little too large hiding along the edge of one of the railroad ties.
I also create watercolor quilts when I have time. Luckily, we have a room where I can spread out fabrics and such and make a big mess, then just shut the door and ignore it for a week or two. This quilt is made from two inch squares I cut and then pinned to a large piece of batting on the wall. I kept moving the pieces around until I got what I hope is an impressionistic image of a lattice fence, with a flowering vine, and clay pot in the bottom right corner. This one took about six months to complete. As you can see from the pic of the flower pot, it looks better from a distance.

What are your hobbies?

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