Monday, June 07, 2004

 

posted by deborah 1:00 PM

 

Sent in by Jean

THIS NEEDS TO BE PASSED ON TO GET THE TRUTH OUT.
Interesting perspective from none other than Geraldo, the former very liberal Democrat.

Interesting, isn't it? Surprising would be more like it.
******************************************************************

The buildings that AREN'T burning in Iraq. "They have a saying in the news business," Geraldo Rivera related this week. "Reporters don't report buildings that don't burn." And with that introduction, he told a TV audience about the story that is being systematically denied to our entire nation: the success story of post-Saddam Iraq.

Are we losing some soldiers each week? Yes. Is there some frustration in the public about electricity and waterservice? Yes. Are some Saddam Hussein loyalists throughout the land, making trouble? Yes. Has this opened a window for some terrorist mischief? Yes. But that's ALL we hear. No wonder the country is in a mixed mood about Iraq. If you hear about the buildings that are not burning, though, it is a different story indeed.

Rivera is no shill for George W. Bush. But Bush, Condi Rice and Colin Powell together could not have been as effective as Geraldo was Thursday night on the Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes program.

"When I got to Baghdad, I barely recognized it," he began, comparing his just-completed trip to two others he made during and just after the battle to topple Saddam. "You have over 30,000 Iraqi cops and militiamen already on the job.

This is four months after major fighting stopped. Can you imagine that kind of gearing up in this country? Law and order is better; archaeological sites are being preserved; factories, schools are being guarded." But what about the secondhand griping that the media have been so efficiently relating about power, water and other infrastructure?

"To say that Iraq is being rebuilt is not true," answered Rivera. "IRAQ IS BEING BUILT". There was no infrastructure before; we are doing it. I just think the good news is being underestimated and underreported." At this juncture, one must evaluate how to feel about the voices telling us only about the bad news in Iraq, whether from the mouths of news anchors or Democratic presidential hopefuls. At best, they are underinformed. At worst, their one-sided assessments of post-Saddam Iraq are intentional falsehoods for obvious reasons.

If I hear one more person mock that "Mission Accomplished" banner beneath which President Bush thanked a shipload of sailors and Marines a few months back, I'm going to spit. That was a reference to the ouster of Saddam's regime, and that mission was indeed accomplished, apparently to the great chagrin of the American left. No one said what followed would be easy or cheap, and that's why the dripping-water torture of the cost and casualty stories is so infuriating.

Remember we pay our soldiers whether they are in Iraq or in Ft Bragg, North Carolina.

We should all mourn the loss of every fallen soldier. But context cries out to be heard. Our present news media is not performing this task. As some dare to wonder if this might become a Vietnam-like quagmire, I'll remind whoever needs it that most of our 58,000 Vietnam war toll died between 1966 and 1972, during which we lost an average of about 8,000 per year. That's about 22 per day, every day, for thousands of days on end.

Let us hear NO MORE Vietnam comparisons. They do not equate. What I hope to hear is more truth, even if we have to wrench it from the mouths of the media and political hacks predisposed to bash the remarkable job we are doing every day in what was not so long ago a totalitarian wasteland. Local elections are under way across Iraq, Rivera reported. "Where Kurds and Arabs have been battling for decades, things have been settling down. Administrator Paul Bremer is doing a great job."


So does Geraldo think his media colleagues are intentionally painting with one side of the brush? "I'm not into conspiracy theories,..but there's just more bang for your buck when you report the GI who got killed rather than the 99 who didn't get killed, who make friends, who helped schedule elections, who helped shops get open for business, who helped traffic flow again.

"The vast majority of Iraqis are very happy to have us there. I would like to see a bit more balance." This needs to be reported to the American Public who are presently being duped. I expect the dominant media culture to nitpick and attack Bush, and Democrats to blast him with reckless abandon. But when that leads to the willful exclusion of facts that would shine truthful light on the great work of the American armed forces, that level of malice plumbs new depths.

If you have a friend that is looking for the truth, pass this on.

posted by deborah 12:10 PM

 

AMISH BREAD

1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. all - purpose flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. Amish bread starter(recipe follows)

Mix together all ingredients. Pour into 2 large well - greased and sugared loaf
pans. If desired, sprinkle with extra cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350° for 1
hour or until done.
*************************************
STARTER:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only
glazed ceramic or plastic bowls or containers.

1 package active dry yeast
1 C. warm water
1 C. buttermilk, at room temperature
1 C. bread flour
1 T. sugar

Make the starter:
Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a warmed glass bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk,
bread flour and sugar until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or cheesecloth.
Allow the mixture to stand, at room temperature, for 5 to 7 days or until the mixture
is bubbly and has a sour aroma. A clear liquid will form on the top of the starter
6 to 12 hours after the original mixing; that is normal. Stir mixture every day with
a fork. After the mixture is done fermenting, cover and refrigerate until needed.
For every cup you take out of the starter, add 3/4 cup bread flour and 3/4 cup liquid,
such as buttermilk, milk or water. Stir the starter and let it sit at room temperature
for one day, then cover and refrigerate again. If the starter is not used for more than
two weeks, scoop out 1 cup, then feed it as usual, adding 3/4 cup bread flour and 3/4
cup liquid.
::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::
DANDELION SALAD

6-8 c. young dandelion leaves, chopped
4 slices bacon
1/4 c. chopped green onion
1/4 c. vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Wash dandelion well before chopping.
Fry bacon and drain on paper towel.
Add onion, vinegar and sugar to hot drippings in skillet.
Pour hot dressing over dandelion.
Add bacon and toss.
Top with chopped eggs and serve at once.
::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::
I would also like to share a recipe found in the Recipes Remembered
Cookbook for some old-fashioned-

FRIED MUSH AND GRAVY

Mush:
1 c. cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 c. cold water
3 c. boiling water

Mix cornmeal, salt and cold water.
Add to 3 cups boiling water.
Stir until slightly thickened.
Put lid on kettle; continue cooking on low heat about 15 minutes or until
nice and thick.
Put in a pan, cool and refrigerate.
When ready to serve, slice and fry in butter until crisp.

Gravy:
4 T. butter
4 T. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
2 c. milk
2 pkgs. dried beef

Melt butter, add flour; stir until well blended.
Add milk gradually, stirring constantly.
Bring to a boil.
Add chopped beef.
Serve over fried mush.
::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::=::
AMISH CUSTARD PIE
Yield: 1 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 c Sugar
2 ts Flour
1/2 ts Salt
3 Eggs
3 c Milk
1/4 ts Nutmeg
1 9" unbaked pie shell

Combine sugar, flour, salt and eggs and mix until smooth. Heat milk to
boiling point. Add 1 cup hot milk to egg mixture. Pour that into the
remaining hot milk.
Pour into unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle nutmeg over top. Bake at 350 degrees
F. for 45-60 minutes.

Source: The Best Of Amish Cooking by Phyllis Pellman Good

posted by deborah 12:08 PM

Sunday, June 06, 2004

 

They weren't really "kids"

I actually toook six, count them s-i-x, teenage boys to see DAT. That was an adventure all in itself. Let's just say I'm glad testosterone is not contagious because I sure have been exposed to a lot of it lately!

posted by deborah 8:27 PM

 

End of the World
No, wait, just the next ice age. I took the kids to see Day After Tomorrow. It was a typical disaster movie, but WOW did the special effects rock.

Could something like this really happen. Well, the woolly mammoths aren't talking.

posted by deborah 8:25 PM

Friday, June 04, 2004

 

Still, all is not lost

I understand our city's resident philosopher/cemetary keeper is going to be on Coast-to-Coast tonight talking about his UFO sighting years ago.

posted by deborah 10:11 PM

 

Chehalis's 15 minutes of fame fizzled as quickly as the meteor

And it wasn't even all of the fancy-smancy radar or satellite imaging or anything like that. It was the earthquake people at the University of Washington who triangulated where the meteor impacted. Somewhere up north.

But, not to feel bad. All of the folks around here who thought they saw where it landed were victims of an optical illusion!

posted by deborah 10:01 PM

Thursday, June 03, 2004

 

It came from outer space

It seems we had a meteor strike somewhere around here last night (or maybe just a sky burst). Anyway, it seems witnesses heard a series of sonic booms and saw a streak and a bright light. TBTB are out looking for it. More details later.

posted by deborah 6:58 AM

 

...and which lesser Harry Potter character are you?

posted by deborah 6:45 AM

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