Playing The Blues

I may have mentioned before here... that last year I picked up the guitar again after many years and set myself to learning to play the blues. I must admit that I haven't been as diligent as I should have been but I am making progress.

I was thinking today as I was trying to understand some 'theory' about the early blues men that bubbled out of the Mississippi Delta. Did these guys worry or even know anything about musical theory? Did they think about flatted fifth pentatonic scales and 7th chords versus major or did they just play from the heart? Did it just happen by accident that blues relies on the flatted fifth scale and the 7th chord because those sound the 'bluest' or did someone do it all on purpose?

I'm not sure this is really important but maybe one of you musicians out there knows more about the history of the blues than I. How much musical 'theory' do you think Robert Johnson really understood?

Curry Something, In My Case Left Over Lamb

I have been thinking about what to do about the two lamb shanks I had left over from Thanksgiving and it suddenly hit me a few minutes ago...curry. Duh! Lamb is nice curried but it also registered in my dim consciousness that the curry sauce works equally well with other things such as seafood, chicken, turkey and even vegetables. I know this might be a little late but some of you might have a some turkey left over(still) and this might be a different way for you to use it up. Dark meat turkey is very nice in something like this. This is my recipe for left over lamb but you just need to substitute whatever you have for the lamb. If you are going to use shrimp or seafood it is probably best to leave it raw but other things like chicken or turkey would be best cooked and preferably left over.

This recipe serves 4 and should be served over rice or couscous. This is a pretty quick dish and works great for feeding a crowd in a hurry. The rice takes longer to cook. This can be doubled or tripled or more. I wouldn't let shrimp sit on a buffet very long or it will turn to rubber but you can boil the shrimp on the side (use the frozen precooked popcorn size for real easy...just thaw it) and let folks add the shrimp as they serve themselves the curry sauce. Other things like lamb and chicken will idle on a buffet in a crockpot or steam tray for an hour with no discernible loss. You might have to add a little additional chicken or vege stock if the sauce starts to 'set up'.

1 pound cooked lamb, fat-trimmed
1 teaspoon olive, peanut or safflower oil
1 cup of chopped apple (1 medium apple)peeled or not your choice
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion should do it)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder ( I use Penzey's spices almost exclusively )
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 3/4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth ( I prefer the low sodium Swanson's)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Kosher salt to taste
ground cayenne pepper to taste

Optional toppings ( a choice of a few or all of these allows the diners to 'customize' the dish for themselves and adds a little fun)

ripe banana diced (should be a little firm)
plain nonfat yogurt
mango chutney
diced cucumber
diced bell pepper
chopped dried apricot
dried currants or raisins
salted peanuts or cashews
toasted shredded coconut

cut or shred the cooked lamb into bite size pieces.

In a 5 or 6 quart pan over medium heat, combine oil, onion, apple. Cook until onion begins to just brown and add the garlic and then cook for a couple of more minutes. The total cooking time should be about 8 minutes.

Add the curry powder and cumin and stir until spices are fragrant, about 30-45 more seconds.

Add the meat. Add 1 1/2 cups broth and bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup broth. Stir this slurry into the pan and stir until it simmers again and it should almost instantly thicken from the corn starch. Add salt and cayenne to taste. Just a pinch of the cayenne will go a long way so it might be a good idea to 'sneak' up on it. Remove from heat and move into an appropriate serving bowl.

Put whatever condiments you've chosen into small bowls that can be passed.

You can either serve the rice or couscous in individual bowls and let everyone just add the curry and condiments at the table or serve it in a big bowl along with the bowl of curry and let each person serve themselves and add the condiments of choice. Of course, you can also do it buffet style.

As I said above the basic curry sauce can be used with any number of things besides lamb. Shrimp and chicken are especially suited for curry but so are things like zucchini or other squash, cauliflower and broccoli. I haven't tried it but I imagine firm tofu would work as well. Truth be told the sauce by itself over rice is not bad at all and is pretty cheap eats though a little light on protein. This very basic curry sauce is a good thing to have in your repertoire as you can use it to extend left overs very easily.

Note: for a change of pace you can substitute a cup or more of canned coconut milk for some of the stock and it will make a much richer dish.

Chicken Is Still Dangerous

Just in case you don't stop by Skippy's place or by Cookie Jill's place, Cookie Jill reminds us that, in spite of efforts to clean up the business, raw chicken is still a dangerous thing. A recent survey by Consumer Reports found that while the situation has improved very slightly, 66% of the chicken brought in grocery stores around the country harbor salmonella and/or campylobacter. The stats don't seem to be affected by the price of the bird either. High end/all natural products were as guilty as the cheap stuff.

This means that you can't relax on your kitchen hygiene when dealing with poultry. You must cook chicken/poultry to at least 165º F internal temperature and prevent raw chicken or its juices from touching any other food. Use a separate cutting board for cutting poultry and it should be plastic so that you can run it through the dishwasher or wash it in very hot water with lots of soap. Use paper towels for your hands and not the dish towel and clean all surfaces with a sterilizing solution. (1 Tbsp chlorine bleach(sodium hypochlorite) with a quart of water).

Dinner Guests

I was going to post this picture the other day with the post Thanksgiving thing but Madam had it on her camera and her camera was with her on Friday. These are the daughter and her husband's three buddies. The one on the right is Rudy who just joined the pack about a month ago and was a rescue like the girl in the middle Megan. The little guy on the left is Stewart. Megan is the lover and will stand by you for as long as you want to pet her and you will get a cold nose when you stop asking for more.

Post Turkey Day

I hope everyone had a great holiday. My daughter pronounced the dinner the best ever. Not so sure that is accurate but it was a nice compliment. She is on duty today but took plenty of left over leek and potato soup and other goodies to get her through the shift. There will also be leftovers at the firehouse as a lot of people bring goodies for the firefighters on Thanksgiving. They brought their dogs yesterday and we got to meet the newest addition Rudy. He is about a year old and was a rescue. He looks like a mixture of terrier and springer spaniel with a little red fox thrown in. Cute and friendly and seems to fit in with the other two just fine. All three really enjoyed the lamb shank bones that was their holiday treat. It was funny to watch them each take a bone and then run to their own corner of the backyard to enjoy.

I'm just knocking around today. Putting away things I dragged out for the meal yesterday. I did get a batch of sourdough started for the weekly bread bake but other than that no cooking will be done today. I had toast and deviled eggs for breakfast and it will probably be left over dressing and gravy for lunch and maybe another piece of pumpkin pie. I baked two but Mini Monk took one with her as part of her booty.

In spite of my protests Madam has gone to the mall...insanity. She even tried to convince me to go since I was doing nothing important...not happening.

Anyhow, go have a turkey sandwich or whatever and enjoy the day off( if that applies). I think I hear the distant call of 'punkin' pie.

Make It Safe

I just came in from harvesting leeks for the soup. I'm busy prepping for the feasting tomorrow. Cutting up veges, making pie crust, making soup and all that. I try and get as much grunt work done the day ahead and then all I have to do is assemble things. Things like pies need to be done the same day but soup is just as good or better having rested overnight. The veges for the lamb can wait in a zip bag overnight as well.

It's not to late, if your able, to donate to your local food bank and every little bit helps.

If you are traveling for the holiday try and be safe and have a nice trip. You'll be glad to know that the Goddess has gotten together with the FSM and they have declared tomorrow a special 'half the calories' day. So tomorrow you can have that extra helping of mashed potatoes or that second piece of pumpkin pie without guilt.

Thanksgiving Changeup

I think I have all the shopping done for the Thursday repast. I just can't seem to get excited about turkey even though I like turkey it just doesn't thrill me as a 'special' meal. I usually do something different for the feast and this year it will be braised lamb shanks. They are actually pretty easy and don't require a lot of tending and are not too expensive to boot. I do them the classic way with carrots, onion, garlic and celery, fresh rosemary and thyme. Brown them and then slow cook them in a Dutch oven with chicken stock and red wine until they are almost fall off the bone tender. I'll serve them over whole wheat couscous this year but only because my daughter doesn't like polenta. A nice Greek country salad with cukes, tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives and real Greek Feta and another side dish or two(haven't decided) will make for plenty to eat. I will make cranberry sauce and have fresh bread. The starter will be the leek and potato soup which was requested by my daughter. There will be pumpkin pie and a French Apple Tart to choose from for dessert. Should be nice.

Is everyone (except Steve and RT) doing the turkey thing or are you going do something different as well?

Oh, I will probably get a turkey after the holiday when they are dirt cheap...maybe I can afford one of the free range ones then but even a modest one was nearly a $100 last week. (and yes I went to Whole Foods as it is the only place that has good lamb anywhere nearby but I limited my purchase to the lamb and the West Va Mountaineer apples I mentioned the other day)

Cannellini Bean Soup with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary

It's been a cool and rainy two days here in not sunny Atlanta and it just makes you want soup.
With national eating day coming in a couple of days its also good to lighten up a bit before the
gorging. Here is a recipe for a Cannellini Bean Soup with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary that is
hearty and full of flavor and just the answer for a cold fall day. It will also satisfy any
cravings you may have for Italian food. As a free bonus I am going to throw in homemade garlic
croutons which this soup just screams for.

First you need to roast two whole heads of garlic. One for the croutons and one for the soup.

Preheat your oven to 400°. Slice the tops off the garlic (the top is the pointy end) to expose
the cloves. Not too much but enough to expose the actual garlic in each clove. Drizzle each cut
head with a bit of olive oil and wrap them loosely in aluminum foil. I just fold up the edges of
the foil and make a little tent by squishing it together. Roast in the middle of the oven for 25
-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and open the foil and let the garlic cool for about ten minutes or until you can handle it. Like you would a toothpaste tube squeeze the roasted cloves from the heads into a small bowl and mash with a fork and set aside.

While the garlic is roasting you can cut up the bread for the croutons, and the onion, carrots
and celery for the soup. You can drain, rinse and drain the beans while you are at it.
For the croutons you'll need:

Half of the roasted garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
about 5 cups of good bread cut into 1-inch cubes. I like sourdough but a baguette or
ciabatta works great as well. You should need about a half a loaf of bread and this is a
great way to use up stale bread.

Once the garlic is cool enough to handle and you've squeezed and mashed it, mix half of it(the
other half is for the soup) with the 1/4 cup of oil and salt and pepper. In a large bowl toss the
oil and garlic mixture with the bread cubes until well coated and spread evenly on a baking sheet
and bake about 20 minutes. You should turn them once or twice during the cooking and they should come out golden brown. No nibbling!

While the croutons are toasting lets start the soup:

the other half of the roasted garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups of finely chopped onion (1 large onion)
2 carrots , peeled and cut into about 1/4-inch slices
2 stalks celery chopped into 1/4 inch dice
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) cannellini beans(if you can't find cannellini then white kidney or
even light red kidneys or garbanzos will work). You need to drain them, rinse them and drain
them again before they go into the soup.
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (If you only have dried rosemary then cut this
back to 1 tablespoon) and this soup is also good with fresh sage instead of rosemary.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the
onion, carrots and celery and saute until tender, maybe 10 minutes. Add broth and garlic and
bring to a simmer. We are basically cooking the carrots and celery and letting the garlic infuse
the broth which should take about 20 minutes. Now add the drained beans and rosemary and bring back to a simmer cook 10 more minutes. Now depending on how you like your soup we are at decision time. You can serve the soup like it is with the croutons or go the traditional route and puree half the soup with an immersion blender or a food processor and recombine with un-pureed part and serve with the croutons. It really is best when you take the effort and cream up half the beans...it makes the soup much more luxurious. It is always a nice touch to drizzle a little more olive oil on top of the soup when served.

Enjoy.

On the Horns of a Dilemma

Jim DeRosa has a post up this morning A Great Society or a Great War. You Can't Have Both.

I too, have been thinking a lot about the weight of the decision President Obama is having to make. While President Obama was left with hundreds of tough problems by the preceding administration none are more critical to the future of what America will become than the lingering disasters of these two wars. Millions upon millions of people both here and there will have to live with the consequences of our next steps.

The always eloquent Bill Moyers had this to say about where we are:

BILL MOYERS: Now in a different world, at a different time, and with a different president, we face the prospect of enlarging a different war. But once again we're fighting in remote provinces against an enemy who can bleed us slowly and wait us out, because he will still be there when we are gone.

Once again, we are caught between warring factions in a country where other foreign powers fail before us. Once again, every setback brings a call for more troops, although no one can say how long they will be there or what it means to win. Once again, the government we are trying to help is hopelessly corrupt and incompetent.

And once again, a President pushing for critical change at home is being pressured to stop dithering, be tough, show he's got the guts, by sending young people seven thousand miles from home to fight and die, while their own country is coming apart.

And once again, the loudest case for enlarging the war is being made by those who will not have to fight it, who will be safely in their beds while the war grinds on. And once again, a small circle of advisers debates the course of action, but one man will make the decision.

We will never know what would have happened if Lyndon Johnson had said no to more war. We know what happened because he said yes.

Aside from the fact that there are thousands, if not millions of lives at stake there is also a terrible political impact to the impending decision. There is a very strong likelihood that should President Obama choose to not escalate the conflict in Afghanistan and, in effect, walk away he will most likely be a one term president. If the President chooses, instead of war, the almost impossible domestic problems which he inherited, he will pay for it with his Presidency. The charges from the war mongers and wingnut right will be poisonous. He will be labeled as weak and unpatriotic. He will be accused of betraying our dead and casting aside all of the lives and treasure we have invested in these misguided wars and it will be relentless. Trust me, it won't matter one whit to the mouthbreathers if we move toward energy independence, reduce the deficit, enact health reform or any other of the myriad opportunities we have to improve life in America. The only thing that will matter is that Obama quit. It won't matter that it was fruitless to continue. It won't matter that we were crushing ourselves under mountains of debt for no reason. The only thing they will see is quitting which they will see a losing.

This is the choice President Obama faces and it is a mighty dilemma. Is there a way to end the quagmire that was deliberately left for him in Afghansitan and still serve two terms? I, for one, believe the choice should be to end our engagement in a conflict we cannot and never will win even it means a return to power of the right. As much as I hate the idea of a return to incompetence of the GOP I have come to the conclusion that we can't, as a nation, continue on our present course. Escalating the Afghanistan conflict will just amplify the disaster. Abandoning it will be the political ruin of Obama and the Democratic party. Withdrawing from Afghanistan will add high octane fuel to the efforts of the extreme right to tear this country apart. If you think the insanity displayed since the election has been spectacular just wait until they have this to batter the President with.

The sad thing is that President Obama will probably bow to the pressure and escalate in some fashion and, in effect, turn his back on the mountain of domestic problems we face. Thousands more American and Afghan lives will be sacrificed until someone comes along and makes the right decision. I just hope that if and when the escalation comes it is wrapped in clear and decisive terms with respect to goals and exit strategy. I think it is a mistake to kick the ball down the field one more time no matter how the process is defined but it will probably happen.

None of us should delude ourselves about the reasons either. Escalating the war in Afghanistan is strictly about politics and the President's desire to not be a one term President. It will be about not ceding political power to the extreme right in the next presidential election. We have been here before and to paraphrase Bill Moyers, it is "de ja vu all over again". President Obama is in the same position as President Johnson when it came to Vietnam. Johnson chose war out of political expediency even though he chose not to run for a second term. Would that President Obama take a lesson from that dilemma and the results of the wrong decision.

Those of you that have been coming around here for any length of time know how much I loathe the far right and what they have done and are doing to our country. As much as I hate to say it, I would rather see them return to power than see us spend any more lives and treasure in the pointless conflicts in the Middle East. It was a mistake in the beginning and it is even more of a mistake now. If ending this costs us a return to the fascism of the right then so be it.

Don't get me wrong. I do believe that we should be engaged in the world and especially the potential hell hole that could erupt in the Middle East. I just don't think we should be doing it with bombs and bullets. Pakistan is trouble squared and Iran could be as well. Palestine and Israel will ever be a sucking wound on the world until we settle the issue of the West Bank and settlements. Who knows what will become of Iraq and Afghanistan if we disengage militarily. We and many before us have proven conclusively that bombs and bullets don't work in Afghanistan and the same can be said for the rest. We can't ignore the hole but we should at least stop digging.

Apple Days

Fall tradition day! Got a good deal on a peck of West Virginia Mountaineer apples so today is apple butter day. MMM good!

This is the first time in a few years that I had to actually buy apples for apple butter as I can usually find some no one wants. The trees at Hembree farm didn't fruit this year which has been a good source.

Let's End the Secrecy of the Federal Reserve

Via Firedoglake:

Alan Grayson and Ron Paul have offered an amendment calling for a full audit of the Fed, and they have the support of nearly three-quarters of Congress. But in a last minute power play by the big banks, Rep. Mel Watt will dutifully offer an amendment to not only gut the audit, but make the Fed even more secretive.

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Leo Gerard, President of the Steelworkers Union, all signed a letter with economists, labor leaders, and bloggers blasting Rep. Mel Watt’s amendment to gut the audit of the Federal Reserve.

Trumka, Stern, and Gerard teamed up economists Bill Black and Jamie Galbraith and blogger Tyler Durden, among others, against Watt’s amendment and accused the Fed of “massive secret bailouts” and “cronyism and favoritism.” Their letter says:

The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded to more than $2 trillion, along with implied and explicit backstops to Wall Street firms that could cost even more. Who received the money? Against what collateral? On what terms and conditions? The only way to find out is through a complete audit of the Federal Reserve. That’s why we support the Paul-Grayson amendment requiring a complete audit.

The Watt amendment does not repeal the existing provisions that prohibit a GAO audit of the Federal Reserve. In fact, it adds entirely new additional categories of restrictions. Instead of opening up the Fed’s secretive activities to public inspection, the Watt amendment cloaks it in further secrecy.

A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts. We urge you to support Paul-Grayson instead.

For labor leaders who don’t often see eye-to-eye this letter should tell you how important this is. This is a strong indictment of the Fed, the big banks, and their 'boys' in Congress.

You can add your name to their letter to call for a full audit of the Fed. Click here to add your name to our petition to reject more secret bailouts and Fed cronyism.

Senate Health Care Reform Proposal

Jane Hamsher at FDL speaks for me. The bill sucks. It delays the pre-existing condition change until 2014. It allows states to opt out immediately. It allows drug companies to prevent generics of of 'biologics'. It mandates coverage but doesn't guarantee you can actually get good insurance.

This bill just proves, once again, that the Senate is dysfunctional and undemocratic...the filibuster, allowing one Senator to prevent good legislation is insane.

Senator Reid should immediately move to the reconciliation process and get a bill that the majority will support and tell Nelson, Lieberman and Lincoln to pound sand.

Palin-o-lithic

One of the best lines I have read so far concerning Caribou Barbie's book release/tour is from Attaturk at FDL.

This “Palin-o-lithic” era is becoming a never ending elementary school production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with only kazoo accompaniment.

That's a memorable line.

Frightening Statistic

From TPM.

The 140 Army suicides so far this year equal the total from all of 2008 -- and almost equal the 142 U.S. troops from all the services killed in Iraq so far this year.

There is something seriously wrong when our soldiers are killing themselves as fast as the enemy is killing them.

No On Oyster Safety

Just in case you are a raw oyster lover you might want to read Marion's entire post over at Food Politics:

On November 13, the FDA announced indefinite postponement of rules requiring raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to undergo postharvest processing to destroy their content of Vibrio vulnificus, a particularly nasty “flesh-eating” bacterium. According to accounts in the New York Times and in industry newsletters, the FDA caved under pressure from the oyster industry and members of Congress representing oyster-harvesting regions in the Gulf.

The thing is that you can eat raw oysters that come from cold waters pretty safely. You shouldn't eat oysters from warm waters like the Gulf of Mexico unless they have been treated postharvest. There are several methods that yield non toxic oysters available, it's just that the industry doesn't want to invest in them and would rather see the 15 or so people who die each year from Vibrio vulnificus to just keep on dying. Simple economics!

As a consumer you should know the risks and then make your own decisions about eating raw Gulf oysters. BTW it is a pretty nasty infection though the infection is considered 'low mortality'. There is also no known effective treatment.

Leonid Meteors Tonight

If you are a space geek then don't forget that tonight is the show. The Leonid meteor shower is due across the Americas in the wee dawn hours on Nov 17th. The best time should be between 3am and sunrise. We are fortunate that we have a new moon tonight so the sky will be extra dark.

Leek and Potato Soup

Now that we've talked about hunger in America(shameful) let's talk about food. Leek and Potato soup is one of the easiest soups there are to make and one of the most delicious and it is a perfect fall and winter meal. If you don't regularly cook with leeks(or never have) then this is a great way use them and be introduced as well. Leeks are in the same family as onions, shallots and garlic but are milder in flavor and once you have tried them you will be hooked as I am.

For 6 to 8 portions you'll need:
4 cups of thinly sliced leeks - this is usually about 3 good sized leeks
4 cups of diced potato ( I prefer Yukon Gold but Russet works too)
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic (optional)
6 to 7 cups of water or for a richer soup, low sodium chicken broth ( I like Swanson's Organic or better homemade)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c sour cream or creme fraiche (optional)

Only use the white and some of the light green part of the leeks. The dark green leaves are just too tough and fibrous to eat. Make sure you wash them carefully as they tend to have sand down in the leaves. The best way I've found is to leave the root attached and cut away all of the dark green leaves. Split the leeks lengthwise in half and then hold the leaves under running water spreading each leaf to get all of the sand out. This is important. You can also just chop them and put the chopped leeks in a colander and rinse them. Whatever. After they are clean discard the root and then finely slice them.

I usually saute the leeks and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes before I add the potatoes and water but you can just put all of the leeks, garlic, potatoes and water(or stock) into a heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven or stock pot and simmer them for about 30 minutes or until nice and tender. I think the brief saute adds some depth. Once eveything is cooked I normally run my immersion blender through it a few times to thicken it up but that's just personal taste. I'll also add the sour cream and blend it in at the end. You can, of course, serve it 'natural' and just put a dollop of sour cream on each serving. Some nice crusty bread and a salad and you are good for a nice warming meal on a cool night. With all the chopping and dicing this will probably take and hour from start to finish and is well worth the investment in time.

I should say here that the traditional soup, which is French, is made with just water, leeks and potatoes. I usually make mine with chicken stock and garlic but I am a garlic lover. The leeks are plenty flavorful in themselves without the garlic. Needless to say, I use water when I am cooking for vegetarians and the soup is very good even without the chicken stock.

I might also add that with a slight reduction in the starting liquid and an increase in the sour cream(2/3 cup) and a good puree and chill you have the famous Vichyssoise. I prefer this soup hot but if you want to try it cold, go for it.

Of course, you can make this soup with onions instead of leeks but you will miss the mild rich flavor of the leeks. If you do use onions go for a sweet onion like Vidalia, Walla Walla or a red onion.

One more thing, you can also make a very nice soup by adding a 28 oz can of plum tomatoes and reducing the water or stock appropriately. Made with onions instead of leeks, potatoes and tomatoes it sometimes called 'Hoover Soup' as it was a common soup found in the soup lines during the depression. There's your food trivia for the day.

More Hungry

According to this piece in The Washington Post:

The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a government report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.

In 2008, the report found, nearly 17 million children -- more than one in five across the United States -- were living in households in which food at times ran short, up from slightly more than 12 million children the year before. And the number of children who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.

Among people of of all ages, nearly 15 percent last year did not consistently have adequate food, compared with about 11 percent in 2007, the greatest deterioration in access to food during a single year in the history of the report.

Absolutely shameful!

This country needs to seriously reconsider the amount of money we are investing in war in light of the growing number of hungry people. The proposed 2010 budget for the DOD is 664 billion dollars and represents a 7% increase(you do the math) over 2009. WTF?

Before my recent 'early retirement' I was trying to make monthly contributions to the Atlanta Community Food Bank but I had to stop for obvious reasons and while such contributions are good and help they are not the answer. I am probably not the only one that has had to trim my charitable contributions and regardless, community food banks are not the solution and only meager stopgap. This shouldn't be happening in the greatest economy in the world, deficits or not. Hungry adults are one thing but children going hungry or being undernourished is criminal. Children deprived of proper nutrition will impact the qualityof the next generation in many ways and while we may not be able to give every child everything they need to "be the best they can be" we can at least not challenge them with hunger on top of the other problems we are 'gifting' them with.

Two Faced

What a bastard. Sen. Tom Coburn, the ultra right GOP jerk from Oklahoma doesn't have any trouble at all throwing money at the sundry unnecessary wars and likewise doesn't appear to lose a wink of sleep whilst sending American soldiers to be killed or maimed in far away places for dubious reasons. He does have a problem when it comes to dealing with the results of his warmongering though.

Even though the bill to consolidate veterans benefits passed through committee unanimously Mr. Coburn singlehandedly is blocking allowing it to come to a vote. He thinks the 3.7 billion over 5 years should be offset by reducing other spending. All the money for war but nothing for its aftermath.

The Republican Senator from Oklahoma is one sick puppy.

h/t Steve

Hand Wringing Alert!

Lock up the women and children and round up all the livestock...break out the duct tape! Our dithering, socialist leader is going to bring Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, to New York City for trial in civilian court. In spite of all the dangers and warnings from the far right wingnuts he is going to do it anyway.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, a federal law enforcement official said early on Friday.

But the administration will prosecute Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- the detainee accused of planning the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen -- and several other detainees before a military commission, the official said.

The decisions to give civilian prosecutors detainees accused of the 2001 terrorist attacks and keep the case of the Cole attack within the military system are expected to be announced at the Department of Justice later on Friday by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Get ready, because you are going to hear the screaming from wingnuttia, once again, about how our criminal justice system couldn't possibly hear a case against a terrorist suspect. Never mind all the U.S. criminal courts that have already successfully heard cases against terrorist suspects. What's even worse is that if KSM is convicted he will end up in an American super secure prison that can't possibly manage to hold terrorists. Never mind all the terrorists that are already safely locked away in American prisons.

There is going to be widespread panic on the right over this, despite all the evidence to the contrary. All of the usual suspects from mini Cheney to Rove are going to be howling for weeks over this monstrous development. You have to ask yourself why they are so afraid of KSM getting a fair trial.