Posts by carrihound

Here's a similar recipe for "Texas Caviar" made with black-eyed peas instead of black beans:

http://caloriecount.about.com/texas-caviar-ch ips-recipe-r30617

So good and good for you (just be careful working with those jalapenos!)

i'm the hot dog in my avatar

:-)

i make this one, except without cloves & nutmeg (strange?!), and without eggs since i do not bake it, and with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. no fruit or nut additions. very buttery, melts in your mouth.... always gets compliments from others & i love it too.

http://joyofcooking2006.com/recipe.lasso?menu =one&recipe=1195

Leslie Anne Levine, Culling of the Fold, and Shankhill Butchers by The Decemberists

the whole CD of Murder Ballads by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Six Underground by Sneaker Pimps

Goodnight Moon by Shivaree

I admire Colin Powell's words about bringing unity. At a time the Republican party is putting out more & more hateful, divisive rhetoric (speaking of the "real America" and how their opponents are "anti-American"), it is clear how damaging the divisions in our nation have become. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27285708/

That is a fair expression of how I'm feeling about the current trend of the Republicans' talking points (and about McCain's ambivalence in letting it happen in the party he supposedly leads & represents).

- don't let yourself accept the excuses. call yourself out when you hear yourself just making excuses. in fact, stop thinking about reasons you can't work out - think about the reasons you can! tell yourself, "Oh, I've got an hour - I can work out!"

- to mix things up, rent new types of workout videos from the library - free & no long term commitment to owning a video that you'll memorize & get bored with. or rent vintage ones & smile at the old workout fashions as you work out! i've got bellydancing workout videos now - too fun!

- know that exercising more will give you more energy, so when you think, "I'm tired," your next thought should be, "I need to get more exercise more so I have more energy."

- just do it. i sometimes sit for an hour wondering if i should work out & talking myself out of it... consider how much happier you'll be when you've done it and just stop thinking about it & DO IT :-)

Original Post by kathygator:

Don't see Obama as phony at all. He's been vetted for the last two years and found to be everything he says he is. Because he is intelligent and well-spoken a lot of people think he's a smooth talker, but no one sees him as in any way disingenuous.

Is he a politician? Sure. But then so is McCain. And frankly, I see McCain demonstrating those 'phony' characteristics more than most. He has made a complete departure from everything he supposedly stands for in order to win the White House. If that isn't phony, I don't know what is.

 

 

 Exactly!

I don't see why people criticize Obama for having his act together. I don't see it as phony at all. If it were an act, I think we'd have seen it falter under scrutiny of public office & campaigning. Maybe I'm naive, but I think he's completely genuine.

McCain scares me. He cannot effectively control his temper.  I don't want a leader that cannot control his temper & remain emotionally stable in a debate, a negotiation, a crisis, etc.

I believe this article when it comes to who John McCain is, and I don't like him very much. It's clearly biased, but the facts are the facts & I find them compelling.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/233169 12/makebelieve_maverick/print

The McCain campaign has been run by GOP handlers who I think even McCain would admit have gotten out of control. His campaign has been one silly tactic after another designed to distract voters (the Palin nomination being the crown jewel in his strategy - and it was working for a while!?!!). Many of the campaign staffers he started with have resigned in the past year - not a hallmark of a good leader. If he cannot effectively lead & manage his own campaign, how can he lead the country effectively?

I'm reading Cesar's Way (by Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer), and he describes how humans are the only species who will ever follow an unbalanced, erratic, unstable leader. All other species seek calm, assertive, balanced leaders who are characterized by strong positive energy.  Extrapolating that to our election & the candidates we've got : McCain is emotionally unstable and erratic; Obama is focused, calm, assertive, not "gimmicky" (he could have chosen a "trophy" running mate & did not), reliable... I choose a stable leader any day.

Even if you prefer McCain's policy initiatives, there's no way he'll be effective enough to implement them. He's not strong, liked, or persuasive enough to get enough support to be an effective leader.

As for the "Obama's a socialist" criticisms, clearly this Republican administration feels governmental intervention & ownership in banking is the right thing. Are folks calling Bush a socialist now? Because this is all happening on his watch.

And perhaps sometimes having the government control or regulate industries is a good thing. Perhaps Enron wouldn't have run amok if we'd not deregulated energy; perhaps our economy would not be such a disaster if there'd been more governmental controls & oversight of the risky financial instruments that came about... I'd just suggest a little more of an open mind about the capitalist v. socialist debate. Capitalism doesn't necessarily hold the answers to every problem.

Original Post by enchantingimage:

Edit:   People should take a bipartisan approach regardless of their personal belief system towards abortion. I'm Catholic so it goes against everything I believe for myself. However, I believe everyone has the right to their own choice. ( Some people seriously need to watch Life of Brian. )

You have no idea how much I appreciate that you said this. This makes my day & restores some of my faith that folks really can get along if there is understanding & respect & tolerance across belief systems/parties. Thanks.

Original Post by southerngirl4343:

Health-care: I live in Austria. Austria has Socialized medicine. In some ways, the health-care system here is fantastic! Everyone is insured and has access to doctors and hospitals. The problem is that it is EXPENSIVE... for anyone making over 25,000 Euros a year. If you make less than that, its incredibly inexpensive to get health-care. ...

Economy: NOT THE GOVERNMENTS JOB!  I think the economy works best when the government stays out of it. When the government meddles in economics, like by forcing mortgage companies to loan to unqualified lenders, crises like the one we are experiencing now happen. In this particular case, both parties are equally to blame, as are the lenders for taking advantage of legislation... That said... leave economy alone...

Abortion: I am NOT pro-life. I think the government should pretty much stay out of the entire abortion debate. It is a moral issue, not a government issue. That said, I think that statements such as "I've got two daughters, and if one of them makes a mistake, I don't want them punishedwith a baby" reveal a morally questionable way of thinking about pregnancy and abortion. ...

Health Care : I'm no expert, but the US spends a fortune on health care and fails to provide full coverage for the population. I don't think the government is the best way to accomplish many things (rife with bureaucratic inefficiencies), but some things should reach all of society without income constraints. We have too many people who fall out of the system and have no coverage. That is unacceptable in a developed country that is one of the wealthiest in the world. If there's a private way to do this, I'd love to see it; but until there is, I think a government should see to it that all people have access to good health care. It's an embarassment that the US falls so far short on satisfying this basic human need.

Economy : I'd totally agree with you if you hadn't said something that is wrong. Government did not interfere to "force" lenders to give out subprime mortgages. I'm oversimplifying a little (a lot), but the problem is actually that the lack of regulation left (greedy) lenders, banks and investment companies (1) free to lend to unqualified borrowers (some of whom should have known better than to take on debt they couldn't afford) and then (2) free to design, sell & profit from a dizzying array of derivative financial products that appeared to totally divorce the high risk of those mortgages never being paid from the investment vehicles. No one could accurately calculate risk on these products; they just insured them and felt safe. Most all of these shaky investments were insured by AIG, which, when it fell, made everyone aware of just how risky these investment vehicles were. I do prefer a free market solution, provided there is some basic regulation ensuring prudence in lending and adequate risk assessment. The bailout angers me, but that's a longer message to write.

Abortion : Again, I'd agree with you that characterizing having an unwanted child as "punishment" is harsh. I think a better word would have been that it is the "consequence" for the mistake of having unprotected sex (or the trauma of being raped, etc.).  Harsh as the statement was, it doesn't change the fact that I believe in a woman's right to choose and I know a McCain presidency would mean more conservative justices on the USSC and would jeopardize Roe v. Wade. Fundamentally, I believe the US is a free country that should permit choice and I'll support no candidate aligned with forces bent on overturning Roe.

I hate to weigh in on this sort of thread, but here's my 2 cents on why I'm voting Obama.

Obama's qualifications & experience that make him qualified to be President:

Degree in International Relations

Harvard Law degree, Harvard Law Review Editor (editors are numerous, but it's a significant distinction and responsibility, especially for the premier journal from Harvard)

7 years in the Illinois Senate; about 4 years in the US Senate (gives an understanding of the legislative process that a governorship does not provide) That totals about 11 years of spot-on experience, with topical diversity in his Senate committee roles:

Senate Committees in the 110th Congress:

• Committee on Foreign Relations
• Subcommittee on African Affairs
• Subcommittee on International Economic Policy
• Subcommittee on Asians and Pacific Affairs
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
• Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs

NO candidate has everything. His lack of pure executive experience doesn't bother me because he has demonstrated the same skill set as an effective executive. Executive leadership comes down to (1) strong decision-making skills, (2) strong management skills, (3) strong leadership skills and (4) a temperment that is calm in crisis & inspires confidence. I think the much maligned "community organizer", campaign organizer and civil rights attorney work demonstrate those essential qualities. (Wasn't Jesus a community organizer? ... why all the disrepect for that?... but I digress.)

Palin's only attribute (once you dismiss her Miss Wasilla title, her dogmatic allegiance to faith & conservativism, her ability to abuse her power, her ability to read a teleprompter, her ability to memorize talking points & fumble back to them, & her cool glasses) is her executive experience, and it is minimal (less than 2 years as governor of a state with a small population & with few crises calling upon her for any extraordinary governing efforts). A journalism degree doesn't impress me as helpful, nor does the pageant experience, the TV newscaster stint, or the mayorship of a tiny town in Alaska.

I need a leader who is smarter than I am & smarter than just about every person I know. Bill Clinton, despite his human failings, was a Rhodes Scholar. If you ask me, that should be a prerequisite to be president. Elect Someone BRILLIANT! I don't care if they come off as better than me & you - they should be better, smarter, more reliable, more level-headed, than the average person,... it's an incredibly demanding job. You wouldn't want an average person piloting the space shuttle, or performing brain surgery on you, or running this country. Demand more than good sound-bytes and smiles and someone you'd like to sit around & have a beer with, people...

... now I'm just paraphrasing Sam Harris, so I'll let him say it...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080/page/1

Anyway, Obama is not running against Palin; and comparing Obama's pure leadership ability to McCain's is a knockout. McCain is a mean person, prone to temper tantrums and saying the wrong things (then forgetting he said them & insisting he never said them, only to be proven wrong when the tape comes out), and his performance "organizing" the republicans in the House on the bailout CLEARLY demonstrates how poor his leadership skills are. He said he had brought the votes together, but when the vote happened earlier this week, the votes weren't there! He couldn't even get his own party reps to vote with the party (but he still claimed victory, too early). When things failed, he blamed Pelosi - a real leader's followers don't abandon ship when they hear a speech from their opponent. He claimed victory when he thought it had passed, but passed the buck on blame when he learned that he'd failed to muster the support.

Sounds like a boss who takes credit for your good ideas, but blames you for the ones that don't pan out. Not a very effective leader.

He also called his own wife the "C" word. Off the record, but in front of media reps. His excuse : he'd had a bad day. Hateful. Disrespectful. Classless. Nasty. Unforgiveable.