Iranian “Negotiations”

One time deal or a start to a series of negotiations, I am not sure I care.  I am, though, rather skeptical that the Bush administration is sending the number three State Department person - William Burns - to Geneva this weekend to join other countries in sitting down with an Iranian nuclear negotiator. 

Is this a flip-flop on the Bush administration part?  While it may not be a true flip-flop yet as the administration has not yet negotiated anything, it is definitely a severe departure from everything George W Bush has previously said.  Bush has repeatedly said that there were pre-conditions to sitting down with Iran.  None of these pre-conditions have been met.  Iran has not yet stopped enriching uranium. 

Is this a step towards relations with Iran again at some point in the future? 

Is this Bush’s last push before a preemptive strike?

Being always the skeptic, I would not believe that this is a step towards relations or negotiations with Iran.  I do believe, though, that this is a way for Bush to create a world view of having tried with a country that he has repeatedly indicated was next on the invasion list.

I find the thought of a major change like this from a man who just today said that the economy was not in horrible shape and we, as the US public, could have faith in its long-term condition scares the crap out of me.  He lives in a world where he will spin, using every credit of that Yale MBA, the Geneva meeting into a last ditch effort before an invasion.  He managed to spin to some extremely intelligent people prior to Iraq.  He is now setting up something.  The question is what?  And more importantly, can it be held off until after the man is out of power?

Zucchini Recipes

The “rabbit” of most gardens, zucchini is started to ripen and there has to be ways to use it.  Here are two of favs!  Both recipes are from allrecipes.com.

Zucchini Yogurt Multigrain Muffins

1 ½ cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup oat flour (I use 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour as I don’t normally have oat flour on hand)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (I use freshly ground nutmeg)

3 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil (I use canola oil)

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup white sugar

¾ cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup shredded carrots

½ cup chopped pecans (I substitute walnuts or almonds, whichever I have on hand)

½ cup raisins

 

1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C).  Lightly grease 24 muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.  In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey, and vanilla.  Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture.  Fold in the zucchini, carrots, nuts and raisins.  Scoop into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Back 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Zucchini Brownies

 

½ cup vegetable oil

1 ½ cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

½ cup chopped walnuts

 

 

Frosting

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup margarine

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C).  Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix togheter the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended.  Combine the flour, ½ cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.  Fold in the zucchini and walnuts.  Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.  To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool.  In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla.  Stir into the cocoa mixture.  Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

 

If you want to see more zucchini recipes, go on over to KRoby’s blog at Pressconnects.com

Jesse Ventura and Politics … Again?

I am sure Minnesotans were hoping the issue of Jesse Ventura moving back into the political arena in their state would end quickly.  The race in question - a US Senate race - is already the source of constant speculation as comic Al Franken has left comedy behind to run against incumbent Norm Coleman.

Ventura was weighing a run as an Independent in this same US Senate race.  Both Franken and Coleman first dismissed the thought of Ventura as not really being viable.  In recent days, though, both have admitted that Ventura entering the race would have caused a drastic change in the race.

I watched last evening as Jesse Ventura spoke with Larry King of CNN about his decision to not run.  I listened as Ventura said that worrying about what higher power our candidates worship should not be an issue.  He did a good job of “dissing” President Bush on the God issue, basically saying that while Bush said he talked to God about invading Iraq, he himself had not heard from God that he should enter this race.  I did have quite a good laugh.

Then, in a moment of remembrance, I was quickly saddened.  Jesse Ventura’s run for governor in Minnesota had been run by a third party guru - Doug Friedline.  Doug passed away last November in an apartment in Florida after running Max Linn’s third party attempt at the Florida governorship.  While I truly believe Ventura to be his own man, I am not sure he could run this type of a third party campaign with Friedline. 

Jesse -If God does speak to you before 5 pm today, good luck!  Your campaign will be in my spotlight even though I am about 1200 miles away.

John McCain and the 21st Century

Ah, a headline like that is definitely what McCain’s campaign doesn’t need.  What else can be said, though, after McCain’s own admission that he doesn’t know how to get online yet?  I admit I telecommute so spend more time on a computer than a lot of people.  I have had a web site since the late 90’s.  I have had email as long as that.  I also can remember when the IBM Portable PC was the size of a suitcase.  Somewhere I even have a pic of my oldest as a baby sitting at it and he is the same size.  But that is me.  I am 46, not 71. 

I do realize that being 71, John McCain’s admission that he is still learning to get online and that he has never sent an email and doesn’t see the need for it is probably closer to average than my experiences.  I do believe, though, that an admission that you do not utilize one of the most popular, especially for the young and new voter, means of communication will put you at a disadvantage.

I compare McCain to both my parents.  My mother, who is not in her 70’s, and I chat via IM most week days.  She emails me pictures of what is going on in the desert of Southern California.  I email her pictures of what is going on in the Southern Tier of New York.  My father, who is 70, has gotten to the point - mostly due to his employer as far as I can tell - that he checks his email daily.  If I cannot reach him via telephone before he starts his commute or via mobile phone on his commute, I know I can email him at the “office” and he will get it.  I don’t know that he likes it but he checks it.

What will the backlash be?  How can a candidate who says he has yet to totally master getting online, who says he has never sent an email and doesn’t see the need for it relate to the average person, relate to those who are trying to convince companies to get high speed internet for all areas of the county and country?  How can a federal office candidate survive in an era when all candidates have a myspace or facebook page or use digg it to get the “articles” on their site more read when the candidate doesn’t have an official social networking page?

The New Yorker Cover

July 21 The New Yorker Cover

While it seems that the cover of the July 21 edition of The New Yorker is causing quite a stir, I think that it will unfortunately overshadow the article about Barack Obama’s political beginnings.  While reading the online fifteen pages, I am drawn to the fact that Obama has played in the dirt of Chicago politics.  I am also struck that this “outsider” to Washington and to politics is not all that much of an outsider.  Every move he has made since first interning in Chicago during summers at Harvard Law School has been been made with the Presidency of the United States in his mind.  While he has written a book that basically says he is not “into” politics, he wrote it while lining up his first political run.

Like the caricature on the cover or not.  Know that the New Yorker is a reknowned liberal publication.  Dig deeper.  Read all 15 pages of the article.  Get to know the way this man who may be the next President thinks.  Get to know that he is as much a politician as anyone else in the campaign. 

Las Vegas Inspired Charms

I posted, a few days ago, my first attempt at making charms out of dice.  I was not happy with the way they came out at all.  What I did not realize, but Trish took the time to explain to me, is that the wire on most pieces that I was envisioning was not one piece of wire.  There are pieces of wire.

Today I worked with some “bling” as that was another comment about the charms - they are plain but that tends to be me.  Below is my second attempt.

Phil Gramm does not speak for …

… John McCain.  John McCain does not speak for me.  I have to say that I have been waiting for a politician to decide to tell the American people something that they need to hear and that they do not want to hear.  While Gramm’s comments on Americans being whiners is not quite what I was looking for, it is a start.

The mortgage crisis is not a problem caused by Washington.  The mortgage crisis is a problem caused by whining.  People, Americans whined it was hard to get a mortgage.  They felt that almost everyone should be able to get one.  They complained to Washington.  To prevent Washington from becoming involved in the mortgage industry, the industry attempted to defend itself by lowering its standards.

The mortgage crisis is caused by consumer stupidity.  How many people making $45,000 a year can afford a house that is valued at a quarter of a million dollars?  Most people should realize that those two figures, even if housing is the only debt you have and who in the US would fall into that category, do not reconcile.  But no, the consumer decided to forego any intelligence on his or her own part and agreed with the mortgage originator.  The problem then comes that truthfully the consumer cannot afford that high a mortgage.

I am fully behind Phil Gramm.  He has a good head on his shoulders.  He knows the economy, which he has proven over his years of federal service as first a Democratic Congressman, then as a Republican Congressman and as a Republican Senator.  He has a PhD in economics.  He has taught economics and he has consulted on economics.  I wish it were a politican who was running for office that would grab the third rail and tell us the truth but any politician telling us that we are whining is correct.

Did you have a credit card…

I have heard these television commercials constantly over the last week or two and they were driving me nuts.  I have been a member of a class in a class action lawsuit previously.  It had to do with being a member of a record club and being overcharged.  The suit, when settled, resulted my receiving a $5, or some similarly small amount, in check form.

I didn’t run right to the phone when I heard the commercial of a suit against Trans Union - one of the big three credit reporting companies in the US.  I had recently, about three months ago, gotten my annual free credit report and checked it for thoroughness and then moved on.  I regularly check my debit accounts for unauthorized activity as well as other accounts I hold.

Today, I was reading an article on the suit at Yahoo! Finance and decided this was not what I was really hearing on television.  The article explained what Trans Union had done to have a class action suit brought against them.  In my mind, the “ the suit claim of TransUnion violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by selling lists with consumers’ personal and financial information for marketing purposes, a practice they discontinued several years ago” was more serious than just if you had a credit card between these dates. 

I encourage everyone to see if they are eligible to be a part of the class of this particular action.  You can see the action and register to be a participant at https://www.listclassaction.com/.

Hydration

I know that hydration is extremely important to casual athletes, serious athletes, the young, the old.  Our bodies need water to help with the processes of daily life.  In the heat and humidity that signify summer in upstate NY, we may need water more than just when we are exercising. 

Training people, and it is a training exercise, to hydrate before it is necessary takes years.  I have spent a lot of parenting time explaining the importance of hydration with water, as opposed to sports drinks, to my soccer players, tennis players, bicyclists and golfers.  While all understand the importance, I think I have finally found a statistic that will drive home my point.

I have Versus’s Tour de France coverage on as I am working in the mornings for the next three weeks.  Today is the second of two early mountain stages that are not the big mountains - not the Pyrenees or the Alps but just mountains.  There are rules that prevent riders from going back to team cars to pick up additional water on climbs.  These rules are in place for any number of reasons but the most important is rider safety. 

The hydration statistic that I am sure will drive home importance to the athletes in my life is, and I paraphrase, five percent dehydration results in a 20% decrease in efficiency.  There is nothing an athlete wants to do more than be efficient, whether it is in running, kicking, batting, hitting or cycling.  So, for your own safety and your own efficiency, be sure to be hydrated.

Challenge and Charm Swap

This month’s charm swap and challenge for Latest Trends in Mixed Media has a Las Vegas theme.  I have had several ideas come into my head since signing up but one keeps coming back to me.  It involves a full-sized die in a wire cage.  I was sure this would be it when I came across a package of ten different colored dice at the local dollar store.

Last night I sat down with jewelry wire, a cork from a bottle of wine to use to form a cage, and my package of dice.  The cage idea was not as easy as I first thought it would be.  So, instead of a cage as I couldn’t get one I liked, I tried to different holdings with the wire of the die.  I am not totally happy with either but am going to post the image as maybe someone can help with what I really want these to look like.  I hate when what I see in my mind’s eye doesn’t happen the first few times.