Second Smoothie of Summer

It came time to try another smoothie and I thought I'd try some different ingredients.

Ingredients

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Liquid Base:  Low-cal Orange juice, non-sugar carbonated cherry limeade, milk

Medium:  non-sugar vanilla ice cream

Fruits:  banana and MANGO

Results

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Mix it up and it's got a nice mellow fruity flavor.

Comments

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I don't think the carbonated cherry limeade helped and I wouldn't use it again.

It didn't hurt, just didn't help either.

I also have some strawberries and a cantaloupe to try some other flavor

combinations. It's going to be experimental and tasty!

Smoooooothie

I've begun a Community College program to study computer things (what they call IT) and it will expand my knowledge into areas I haven't studied before. Today I had a "mid-term" (for the Summer term) and scored over 90%. For this I decided to do something special. I bought some ingredients to make a smoothie.

I already had a few strawberries and bananas, so that was easy.

I also had some orange juice and milk.

I bought vanilla frozen yogurt and a plastic 2 quart Rubbermaid pitcher to blend in.

I had been interested in smoothies for some years and had seen them a few places at exorbitant prices. So, last year I bought a blender. It's one of those single-prong things which weights less than 1 pound.

Today, I put several scoops of frozen yogurt and the strawberries & bananas in the pitcher, poured some orange juice and milk over that and blended away. It's delicious.

I know some people add crushed ice, but I don't have that.

I could have added some fizzy carbonated lemon-lime or cherry-limeade drink, but didn't think of it until I had finished, maybe next time.

Summer is nearly here and I'm ready.

Who Decides America's Foreign Policy ?

President Obama wanted to remove al Assad from Syria after he used chemical weapons on his people. Congress asked him to let them decide the issue and they chose not to do anything, so he stepped back. Of course, now they complain that he hasn't done anything.

In regard to ISIS President Obama didn't wait. He stepped up to the plate and told the world we would help Iraq and others to fight ISIS until they were destroyed. That was several months ago. Has Congress asked him to let them decide the issue? Well, they implied they were interested and said they would review the AUMF issue and perhaps write another one more appropriate for ISIS and the terrorism of today.

What have they done? When Democrats were in charge of the Senate the Foreign Relations Committee wrote an AUMF, but never voted on it. Since then there has been nothing. They don't want to get their pudgy hands dirty. Republicans have taken over the Senate and you would think they would be happy to authorize violence anywhere and everywhere, but even they aren't interested. Perhaps it's the idea of working with this president they detest that hinders them.

Without Congressional authorization and with the argument, coming from both Democrats and some Republicans, that ISIS is not a part of al Qaeda and should not be considered part of al Qaeda (though it originate from within al Qaeda) it would appear they don't want the U.S. military to fight ISIS. That raises the Constitutional issue of what authority the president has to continue the fight.

I have no doubt that if he were to retreat the Republicans would excoriate him and claim the end of the world was nigh. But, if Congress is to have the reins to restrain an out-of-control presidency (and the Republicans claim they want that all the time), then what else could he do?

Similarly, the president has joined five other countries in discussions with Iran to trade a lifting of economic sanctions if they will cease and desist from developing a nuclear bomb program. The Republicans wrote a letter to Iran telling them the president, or some future president (perhaps a Republicans), would not be held to a political agreement if it didn't also have the approval of the U.S. Congress. In short, they are declaring that a simple political deal should no longer exist and that only formal treaties are acceptable. They want to tie the hands of President Obama, even if it means the likelihood of war with Iran is tremendously increased.

Republican partisanship has stopped the president from removing Assad and now from fighting ISIS and perhaps from arriving at a useful political deal with Iran (thus leading the world to believe our government can't follow-through on promises in the area of foreign policy or any sort of treaty or political deal). America would pay a very high price for such behavior, but it is our form of government that we must work together (the branches of government) or nothing should happen. And, that's where our government stands today.

The American people need to know how dangerous this Republican policy of obstruction is and what its consequences could be.

Assad remains, fighting and killing his people. ISIS still exists and if we leave Iraq they will likely remain and perhaps even grow. If the Iranians decide a political deal is worthless because it can't be depended upon in future administrations then they may decide to build a nuclear bomb to force us to lift the sanctions. These are all quite real possibilities and all due to the Republican political policy.

Baked Beans Supreme

I just made some baked beans and they were terrific. So, I thought I'd post the recipe in case anyone needs inspiration for their own dish.

Start with a big can of "pork & beans". Mom used to like Showboat brand, but Walmart didn't have 'em, so I used Campbell's (I like them better anyway).

These days that means beans in a light sauce with a bit of bacon fat for flavoring. I haven't seen any pork in pork & beans for a very long time. I use a big can and make a big dish because mom always did it that way.

For flavoring add:

Mom liked...

a diced onion (as much as you like),

ground clove (lightly sprinkled on top and then stirred-in),

a dollop or two of catsup,

brown sugar or (I use) a few tablespoons of molasses,

I also like...

one dollop of your favorite barbecue sauce (not too much as it can overwhelm) and

Note: brown sugar is just sugar with molasses in it. As I don't eat sugar the straight molasses is good.

Mom used to put a few strips of bacon on top during the cooking, but if you're going to make Pork & Beans Supreme you must add smoked sausage (in small bite size chunks) or add a package of lil' smokies (which are about like small hotdogs with a bit of smokey flavor).

Stir it well.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325-375 F for about 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes. Take a look to see when they have achieved the look you want (longer cooking and they get thicker). I wouldn't be surprised if you could fix them in a slow-cooker. I was tempted to do that, but didn't want to risk it on a dish I didn't want to experiment with.

The mixture of those flavors is wonderful and the sausage makes it a real dinner meal.

Enjoy!

Extreme Partisanship in Washington

The two parties are fiercely fighting and the Republicans are arguing President Obama's policy wrt ISIL is perhaps helping Iran. With this they're arguing he may not have any sincere desire to defeat ISIL or to stick to the fight for long. Another argument they're making along these lines is that his proposed AUMF (wrt ISIL) is too limited. Tjhen there is the recent letter to Iran by 47 Republicans in Congress, arguing Iran should be careful to not sign a deal with the president because the next president could overturn it with the stroke of a pen.

In this environment it would seem to me the Right would dearly love (despite public appearances of course) for there to be a terrorist attack on America, especially one labeled ISIL or Iran or even Russia. That would let them call the president feckless (though they already have) and incapable of leading America.

This (a terrorist attack) is something the administration should be on heightened guard to avoid.

Congress Wants to Aid Ukraine

It always amazes me to hear members of Congress begging for war. Haven't they checked with their constituents. Polls have showed for a long time the public doesn't want any part of war and "boots on the ground".

I know we have a Memorandum of Understanding which says we should defend them, so their argument Ukraine deserves support with defensive weapons is at least reasonable. It would certainly be easier if we weren't already engaged against ISIL in Iraq and if we weren't trillions in debt and if the problem in Ukraine weren't the nuclear power Russia.

Given all that it would behoove a leader to speak to the public about this issue. It's not enough to hear only Congress, who have other influences on them. It requires public discussion, like many many other issues today. If members of Congress are insistent, then they have to publicly discuss this and debate it with those who aren't eager to be that involved in Ukraine.

Public support can be built as the president has shown with out involvement in Iraq -- particularly if it's of a limited nature. Talk to the public and see if there is any support for this at all! I would also say the individuals who wish to become president after the next election could (and perhaps should) discuss their view on this issue.

Republicans Claim They Know How To Govern

I. Climate Change Deniers

Senator Coburn of Oklahoma brought a snowball to the Senate floor to "prove" there is no climate change. Senator Whitehouse replied: "rips senator snowball"

What I wonder is if the climate change deniers understand mathematical averaging. Do they realize that 95 and 31 do not average to 31, but to a higher number than 94 and 31? Climate change is slow and the highs may become higher and the lows lower with the average climbing very slowly: 97 + 28 may average the same as 95 + 30, but the higher highs and lower lows bring us dramatically worse weather.

If we have to bring a math teacher to these deniers it would be helpful to the world. But then, we know they aren't stupid -- they're just pretending to be on television.


2. Stealth Legislating

Republicans who have an agenda that's not actually appealing to the public have sometimes campaigned without admitting to their real goals. In Congress there has always been pork-barrel legislating where spending for the home district is snuck into someone else's legislation. Now they stuff the legislation with stealth agenda items. Republicans slip anti-abortion language into an EDUCATION bill.

3. Who's In Charge, John Boehner or the TEA partiers?

Steve Scalise was treated roughly in the recent race for House Speaker and he may be in the mood for some revenge. Did Steve Scalise just screw John Boehner?

4. What's Behind Republican Politics?

There has always been a race for campaign contributions, but now there are a few super rich individuals who are backing campaigns. The Koch brothers are but two. GOP race starts in lavish haunts of rich donors!

So, this is governing? I don't think they're doing a very good job of it. Is this what the public wants? No, they've said repeatedly they want everyone to work together to get important things done.

And, I'm not even bringing up the delay in funding for the Department of Homeland Security.