On the occasion I catch Glenn Beck's show, I often wonder to myself, "why would anyone find this guy credible?" I still wonder, but I have a feeling it has to do with his saying what they want to hear, more than actually being accurate. That's one of the fundamental problems: People, too often, look for what they want to hear instead of trying to figure out what is true.<br /><br />Given the amount of credibility that Republicans give to Glenn Beck, I wondered what politifact thought of his statements. I have seen politifact quoted by both conservatives and liberals as being a good fact checking source. I occasionally question some of their statements, but as a baseline, they are relatively accurate. Here is their<a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2010/aug/27/glenn-beck-faces-truth-o-meter/">history on rating Glenn Beck's statements</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>As you can see from the running tally in his PolitiFact file, we've rated 17 statements by the Fox News talk show host. It's fair to say that record skews toward the False end of the Truth-O-Meter.<br /><br />His record (as of Aug. 27, 2010):<br /><br />True 1<br />Mostly True 1<br />Half True 3<br />Barely True 4<br />False 5<br />Pants on Fire 3<br /><br />Beck earned a True for his claim about the life expectancy of men and women when Social Security was created (he was trying to make the point that the program was not meant to benefit as many people as it does today) and a Mostly True for his claim about public support for the Arizona immigration law.</blockquote><br /><br />They continue:<br /><blockquote>He's earned more False ratings than any other.<br /><br />He's earned them for his claim that union president Andy Stern was the most frequent White House visitor; that less than 10 percent of Obama's cabinet has private sector experience; that Mitt Romney's health care plan was bankrupting the state of Massachusetts; that 45 percent of doctors said they would quit if health care reform passes; and that the United States is the only nation with birthright citizenship.<br /><br />We define Pants on Fire as a statement that is ridiculously false. Beck earned one for his claim that John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, "has proposed forcing abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population."<br /><br />Beck also earned a Pants on Fire for his claim that the health care reform bill provided health insurance for dogs.<br /><br />Today, Beck earned his third for comments he made about the Restoring Honor rally. He claimed that the government was trying to close the Lincoln Memorial for similar rallies in the future, implying that the government was trying to silence his political speech. We found no evidence to support that. Pants on Fire.</blockquote><br /><br />Why in the world would anyone believe this guy?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-1370981045725602879?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YY7JvsXo1DCZHrNRi89ffTTdyEo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YY7JvsXo1DCZHrNRi89ffTTdyEo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YY7JvsXo1DCZHrNRi89ffTTdyEo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YY7JvsXo1DCZHrNRi89ffTTdyEo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/Tm_0xy859i8" height="1" width="1"/>
In private conversations and even some debates on John Cornyn's Facebook page, I have mentioned that the Tea Party won't ever create the change they want working within the Republican or Democratic Party. It appears I am not alone.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.digitalmeetingcenter.com/ron-pauls-shocking-message-to-the-tea-party/851883/">Ron Paul wrote that the Tea Party is being "taken for a ride"</a>by the Right by the likes of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck.<br /><br />Paul is correct in his statements that we can't possibly deal with real deficit reduction with 700 military bases in over 120 nations around the world; we can't possibly deal with the deficit while fighting wars overseas that we haven't paid for; we can't possibly deal with deficits while paying for urban projects that belong to local governments to build on the federal budget.<br /><br />However, Paul doesn't go far enough in his explanation. The GOP, which is where most of the Tea Party resides, has been a party of small government talk for the last forty years, but hasn't done anything to actually cut the budget or reduce deficits at all. The best they can do is lay claim to racing Bill Clinton in the 90s for deficit reduction, but that credit really belongs to Ross Perot for scaring both parties into reducing the deficit. Even in that case, they didn't shrink spending, they raised revenues with a tax increase and slowed the growth of spending.<br /><br />To think the Republican Party has any hope of shrinking spending is a joke. Listen to the candidates. Not one is running on cutting spending enough to put even a small dent in the deficit, and they aren't willing to raise taxes. Until they are ready to list hundreds of billions of spending cuts in annual spending, not some 10 year projection, they can't possibly be taken seriously for the goals of the Tea Party.<br /><br />And Ron Paul knows it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-5326964827756410041?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LWPcEpJ-SUgLhDUaiPV1RsHXls0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LWPcEpJ-SUgLhDUaiPV1RsHXls0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LWPcEpJ-SUgLhDUaiPV1RsHXls0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LWPcEpJ-SUgLhDUaiPV1RsHXls0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/oz0v331EhrY" height="1" width="1"/>
I was posting on a forum when someone made an observation: They noticed that for examples of racism, examples of hatred, examples of poor behavior, that no "Republicans" could admit the problem, none could apologize for it, none could even talk about it. They simply attacked. It caused me to think about it and write the following. This is my commentary on discussion with conservatives (of course not all, but many) on public forums, and in several cases, in the media and public sphere.<br /><br />This is nothing more than my observation. It is not scholarly. It is not researched. It is simply my observation from interacting with conservatives as both a libertarian, and a pragmatic voting Democrat at different times over the last decade and a half. Tell me what you think. Does it reflect your experience?<br /><br /><blockquote>It says they don't self-reflect. They don't care about what they do, as long as they can focus on hating you.<br /><br />It says they don't think about their impact on the world. All they care about is their daily life. It is all many of us care about, but they don't even glance up to think about things beyond their immediate time and space.<br /><br />It is a game. To far too many, it is not real. They post, but don't think of their impact other than to say "I win" or "my side won an election." They make up things that are beyond any sort of rational understanding. Heck, back in the day, they called Clinton a communist when he was anything but. It is a broken record repeating itself over and over and over. It is a game, like a 5 year old with his hands on his ears shouting "I can't hear you if you're talking, I can't hear you if you're talking,...".<br /><br />Notice them. Watch them. My money says their response to this will not be to answer the claims but rather it will be to attack me. That's the strategy. It goes back to the first thing, if they have to answer something, if they have to defend something, if they have to face it, if they have to recognize it, if they have to think about it... it might all fall apart.<br /><br />Truth be told, the GOP is a group of people that are philosophically contradictory at their foundations... Neocons are about elite empowerment and manipulation of the masses, Christian Cons would love a theocracy as long as it was their Christianity, Paleocons are fundamentally about liberty and limits of govt, and moderates are about some combination of the above but put into a more pragmatic framework. At their foundations, they contradict... govt religion and limited govt can't co-exist, just as govt manipulation of the masses can't co-exist with liberty and justice... it is how Kansas got a 2 term Democrat governor.<br /><br />They can't reflect. If they did... what explosion might result?<br /><br />Their only uniting theme is hating a common enemy. The enemy of mine enemy is my friend. That is why they cannot self-reflect. That is why they can only attack.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-8771977971722031916?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ok02mWTN511JVbD_EvWzSF_3jm8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ok02mWTN511JVbD_EvWzSF_3jm8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ok02mWTN511JVbD_EvWzSF_3jm8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Ok02mWTN511JVbD_EvWzSF_3jm8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/xXjH99L3o7Q" height="1" width="1"/>
This week, my doctor informed me that my cholesterol levels were too high, and so it was time to make some changes. Like most Americans, I have a few pounds to lose so I figure it is a good time to change the type of foods I eat and exercise. The exercise part is pretty easy for me, I have exercised a lot at various points in my life. But the eating part... that is a different story.<br /><br />I do like to cook and have lots of recipes. I understand a lot about diet too. So I realize I need a good meal to start the day, and lighter meals to end the day. I realize bacon and eggs just isn't going to cut it. So what's the answer?<br /><br />I go to various websites from weightwatchers to food network to allrecipes.com and the result is the same: snack food for breakfast.<br /><br />I am sorry, but the more I read, the more I got this "have a smoothie and wheat toast" and it made me wonder what they were thinking. All of the breakfast foods were light, but nothing seemed to indicate an understanding of how humans eat. When we are trying to diet, we are looking for things that make us feel full. I don't know about you, but a smoothie doesn't keep me full for very long, and toast... pullleeeeze.<br /><br />One diet plan said to eat a breakfast bar. Have you ever just eaten one breakfast bar? They may have the calories but I am starving within 20 minutes after one. They would have been better off saying "eat an apple an hour."<br /><br />We may have to re-define breakfast to get something substantial in our stomach for a diet. After all, some diet advice says eat your biggest meals in the morning and for lunch, and go light in the evening. It seems to make sense to me that way the food is burned off instead of stored. The question is how to do it while keeping the cholesterol down.<br /><br />At this point, the smoothie might be nice on the way to work after eating lemon pepper salmon with rice for breakfast, but that won't last for long. I need some variety. And yes, dinner is a light mango salsa tilapia fillet with 1/3 cup of rice, and watermelon for a snack before bed. Heavier early meals, lighter evening meals, and gym time after work. Hope it works.<br /><br />But for God's sake, would someone put some thought into a decent breakfast menu that isn't ultra-vegetarian or too light for a normal person? Don't make me return to those high cholesterol and fatty breakfast sandwiches.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-168934406311190815?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5H_oBV1d3QB-Hl82kBSEeJWRKEk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5H_oBV1d3QB-Hl82kBSEeJWRKEk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5H_oBV1d3QB-Hl82kBSEeJWRKEk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5H_oBV1d3QB-Hl82kBSEeJWRKEk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/pwkai-8s26I" height="1" width="1"/>
Over a decade ago, someone engaged me in a discussion about alternative energies and their potential. They insisted that we would build massive power plants for solar and wind power. I insisted, that was such a waste and missed the point of alternative energy. He looked puzzled. I told him the power of alternative energy isn't within the traditional grid systems, but rather through microgeneration.<br /><br />Today,<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0807/Green-living-Off-the-grid-families-pioneer-sustainable-energy-lifestyles">750,000 have taken this to heart, taking themselves off the grid</a>for their power to create a more sustainable lifestyle. Contrary to the anti-environmental right of the political spectrum, this doesn't mean giving up modern conveniences.<br /><br />Of those 750,000 people, the stories (linked above) include things like powering hot tubs, charging cellphones, and watching big screen televisions... all off grid. Alternative energies and energy efficiency would ultimately fail if it meant we had to give up our lifestyles, but it turns out that in many cases, we can have our cake and eat it too.<br /><br />In the early part of the 21st century, when California was having blackouts; I was left wondering what is taking so long to shift to microgeneration. It turned out that some cities like San Diego started requiring alternative energy generation on new housing starts. Unfortunately, many areas that are generally Republican controlled have opposed this largely to be a good opposition, but hurting themselves for the sake of saying "NO!"<br /><br />President Obama sees this potential for a market and has acted on it through the 2009 Stimulus Bill which helps to give tax credits for home improvements for alternative energies. Baby boomers would be smart to take advantage of this opportunity.<br /><br />The best thing anyone retiring can do is to minimize their bills. Why? Their income will not increase in retirement, and will probably be below their pre-retirement income. We also know that energy costs will increase over time. That is the trend throughout American energy history. To minimize the impact of those increases by investing in alternative power sources on their homes is a smart financial decision.<br /><br />The question still remains... why is America taking so long to either go off grid or to minimize the impact of power companies on their wallets?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-347387195703876223?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N9z-tPJyE00rBtz45RS-hl9FOYc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N9z-tPJyE00rBtz45RS-hl9FOYc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N9z-tPJyE00rBtz45RS-hl9FOYc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N9z-tPJyE00rBtz45RS-hl9FOYc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/EVxVJHJLpSA" height="1" width="1"/>
It is not uncommon to hear the public outcry in response to the automaker bailouts, regardless of where you travel. If one wants to hear it hyped to its potential, one only needs to read a Republican Facebook page or blog. This week, I got to enjoy that conversation about the failings of American automakers on Senator John Cornyn's Facebook page.<br /><br />The cries about the early reviews of the Volt, an electric car, are mixed. Some have said it is a poor car, others have said it is a good car. Compared to other electric cars, it is priced rather high. The right wing echo chamber has made a point of shouting them as loud as they can to indicate that somehow President Obama is responsible for the micromanaging policies of the automakers. I think this focus has missed the point.<br /><br />This is the second generation of electric with the first generation ending up in a California desert dust heap. Too often, we fail to understand the first generation of anything. We get caught up in its failure or its possibilities depending on our views of the product ideas, and we attack or boast about it regardless of its own merits.<br /><br />I remember being told how great the video disk would be for our future. As a teenager, one of my friend's parents had one. The quality was better, but when I looked for one myself, the price was huge. We now know that was the precursor to the DVD and what comes next.<br /><br />Upon discussing this topic, my father reminds me of the early days of the computer when hard drives were not talked about in terrabytes or gigabytes but rather kilobytes. By today's standards, it wouldn't hold even one picture off my cellphone. A crisis of imagination.<br /><br />The talk is of its battery shortcomings or of its only 40 mile range before it shifts to being gas powered, or the electricity fueling it coming from coal power plants which doesn't save the environment at all. The talk ignores the breakthroughs coming in battery technology or nanotechnology to miniaturize the battery that is strong enough to power a submarine for a time; or the way technology has always been expensive early until the profits of the extravagant consumers bring down the prices for everyone and fuel further development. A crisis of the imagination.<br /><br />American automakers have failed America for quite some time. They have tried to stifle innovation resting on their history. We saw President Bush give them $1 billion in funds for researching hydrogen powered cars a year after Japan had been selling them in Japan. Today, one can read all the problems of American hydrogen technology that makes it a decade away as a real possibility, but Japan is already exporting them to Canada and a few in California, and European automakers have found the answers. A crisis of imagination.<br /><br />There are plenty of questions left on what the future of our automakers will be, but until they address the crisis of imagination, they will continue to fall behind the world. Yes, they will find ways to sell cars and survive but America, the nation that invented the automobile, will no longer lead that field. Maybe the next place for them to think ahead is to ask, if we can put a film on high rise building windows that looks like a window tinting, but acts like a massive solar panel to generate power; why can't we help to power a car with a solar film on our cars? Sure, it won't fuel it alone, but maybe it helps to charge the battery while we are parked at work. A crisis of imagination.<br /><br />We seem to have a great imagination to start things, but we fall behind because we get stuck in what is, and we don't push what can be. While we marvel at the iPhone, Asia has cellphones that make ours look like child toys. To lead the world for the next century, we will have to move beyond our self-imposed limitations, we will have to move beyond our fear of having to learn new things, we will have to move beyond our "I like it the way it is" mentality. We will have to move beyond our crisis of imagination.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-77559185670681516?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udfW8yGokRKRe_Tg4r0HeWt31n0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udfW8yGokRKRe_Tg4r0HeWt31n0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udfW8yGokRKRe_Tg4r0HeWt31n0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udfW8yGokRKRe_Tg4r0HeWt31n0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/j75mIIB5AiQ" height="1" width="1"/>
Helen Thomas, the dean of White House reporters, has resigned amid controversy over her statements about Israel. Thomas has been covering the White House for fifty years.<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/07/pol.helen.thomas/index.html?hpt=Sbin">CNN reported the comments</a>like this:<br /><br /><blockquote>Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, made the comments to Rabbi David Nesenoff of Rabbilive.com, who told CNN his hand-held camera was in plain sight on May 27 when he asked her for "Any comments on Israel?"<br /><br />"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she responded.<br /><br />"Any better comments on Israel?" Nesenoff asked.<br /><br />Thomas replied, "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land, it's not German. It's not Poland."<br /><br />Nesenoff asked where the Jews should go, and Thomas responded, "They should go home," which the White House reporter identified as "Poland, Germany ... and America and everywhere else."</blockquote><br /><br />Thomas has had a long and storied career which has now come to an end at the age of 89. However, the situation should give us some pause and highlight some things we might want to think about. Before I start, this is not intended to be a defense of her remarks, but rather an understanding of some things they bring to light in our society.<br /><br />First, we should remember that Thomas' statements are not factually inaccurate. The lands owned by Israel currently were taken over from Palestine through terrorism and civil conflict. Yes, the conflict has dated back for millenia, but the current conflict is over Israel taking this land and the fight for control of religious sites that both religions find meaning in.<br /><br />Before you have some knee-jerk reaction, this is how many states are formed. Israel's efforts are not that unusual in terms of history. I have always wondered why people have to believe in some fairytale about the origins of their nation instead of dealing with the truth. I guess it has something to do with their roles in the narratives of good versus evil.<br /><br />Killing a bunch of people to take over a nation probably doesn't make one feel very "good" when told without the spin of "rising up" or "manifest destiny." Such is the problem when dealing with feelings versus the reality of situations. After all, we celebrate Columbus Day in America, when Columbus was a pretty brutal guy, and the Spaniards were pretty brutal compared to many civilizations.<br /><br />That history does not undermine the great things that America has done, the greatness of the Hispanic and Latin cultures throughout the Americas and their influence around the world, it simply explains some of our origins.<br /><br />In the case of Thomas and Israel, it does something else: It exposes a real thread throughout America in regards to the state of Israel. Whether it is World War II guilt, the number of people of Jewish origins in America, or some other factor; in America, it is almost impossible to make an honest and fair assessment of Israel without getting attacked.<br /><br />Books about Israel or the Israeli lobby in America have been attacked and shunned. Articles and authors who speak critically of Israel, whether right or wrong, have been painted with a broad stroke of "anti-Semite," whether it applied or not. Don't get me wrong, there are some people who are real anti-Semites, just as there are people who are true racists. However, the parallel of overuse of the terms racist and anti-Semites is probably more true than either group would like to admit.<br /><br />Thomas was Lebanese born, and as a result, she would potentially have strong anti-Israeli feelings. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone anymore than an Israeli born person might have anti-Palestinian or anti-Muslim feelings.<br /><br />In her case, it was not something that was said in her writings and no one has found anything anti-Semitic in her work. I guess that begs a third point: Do people with strong feelings deserve to have a job? Especially if they do it well enough to be thought as highly of as Thomas was for so long?<br /><br />Conservatives really have a bad taste in their mouths from Thomas' remarks and dealings with President G.W. Bush; and her harsh questioning of President Obama recently over the Iraq war probably didn't give anyone an incentive to step up for her.<br /><br />Isn't that what a White House reporter is supposed to do? Shouldn't they put the President's feet to the fire for the people a little? In today's age where reporters look to make politicians look good in trade for perceived access, Thomas' "toughness" was a breathe of fresh air.<br /><br />In an age where partisanship rules the day of pundit journalism, Thomas held both a Democrat and a Republican's feet to the fire over key issues like going to war. That isn't to say Thomas didn't have opinions because reporters are human and have them too. But she wasn't attacking to score political points, she wasn't sucking up to get an interview with the President, and she actually had built up sources to issues outside the "staged" insider "leaks" that most live on today.<br /><br />Helen Thomas was no saint, but she was no devil either. What she will be is missed, most by those who don't even realize her impact, though her impact probably impacted them most. She was old school. In the end, that may have been what got her pushed out the door.<br /><br />It should leave us with pause and questions about how we look at history (as Texas tries to re-write history to make it sound "better" and add a partisan spin to it), how we look at our politicians (as we hold up icons like Sarah Palin who is more dog and pony show than substance), and how we look at our assumptions about the world around us (as we refuse to allow questions of our actions, of Israel's actions, and we ignore serious discussion of our assumptions of good and bad).<br /><br />People like Helen Thomas will be missed because they weren't afraid to ask those questions and to search for those answers. Thank you for fifty good years Helen Thomas, you will be missed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-2446291600321892474?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2fc-1geWBqEZz5FSiGLCTxhs-hg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2fc-1geWBqEZz5FSiGLCTxhs-hg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2fc-1geWBqEZz5FSiGLCTxhs-hg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2fc-1geWBqEZz5FSiGLCTxhs-hg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/WXZvXi9cmao" height="1" width="1"/>
I spent today experimenting in the kitchen for my wife to see if I could create buffalo wings that she likes. She has found that she likes buffalo wings from Wing Pit, but at close to $7 for ten split wings, it starts to add up. So I wanted to create wings at home where she can get 30 split wings or so for the same $7. After experimenting, we found success.<br /><br />This isn't the first time we have done this. Usually, when I tell friends about it, they respond with some platitude of "I wish I could do that" or "you are really a talented cook." And while I have to admit the platitudes do make my ego feel good, the reality is I am no great cook. I am not someone who belongs in a culinary arts school or at some fancy restaurant or on Iron Chef.<br /><br />The biggest difference between me and those people is my willingness to try to find a way to cook what I want to save money. Face it, I am cheap. Fortunately, so is my wife. But it brings me to the point where I want to share my "secret" for being a "good cook" in the eyes of all your friends. And yes, my friends generally think I am a very good cook. So I will share my secret three step plan that made me a good cook.<br /><br />First, you have to have an idea of what you want to cook. So either you pick something you want to cook, you watch the Food Network for ideas, or you go to the<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com">Food Network Website</a>.<br /><br />Second, go to the Food Network Website and search the recipes for what you want to cook. Read the reviews on the recipes and pick one.<br /><br />Third, follow the directions and cook the recipe until you get it right. Once you master the recipe, you can tweak it to the taste you are cooking for.<br /><br />That's it. That is my secret to being a "good cook." You would be shocked at how many people tell me how good a cook I am, and no, the Food Network isn't paying me.<br /><br />I have used similar approaches to learning how to cook Filipino food, though on other websites of Filipinas sharing their recipes. Sure, cooking is an art for the masters, but for most of the rest of us, it still isn't rocket science to be good, though we may never be a master.<br /><br />In today's online reality, it isn't hard to become good at a lot of things if you know where to look, if you can follow directions, and if you have the will to try.<br /><br />Good luck and enjoy the compliments at the next party you cook for.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-205594060507277847?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9K4lDTfpMQKykquJMX0331DGYMg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9K4lDTfpMQKykquJMX0331DGYMg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9K4lDTfpMQKykquJMX0331DGYMg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9K4lDTfpMQKykquJMX0331DGYMg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/Z1H2ckvIjC0" height="1" width="1"/>
I have always wondered why interracial dating was such an issue for people. Of all the things that make up a person in this world, race just seemed rather superficial. I remember walking with a friend in 1990 who had moved to California from Houston. He noticed an interracial couple from across the street and said to me, "ya'll allow that here?"<br /><br />I was thrown back by the question. It never even occurred to me that I would care about an interracial couple, especially if it did not include me. Why would I care what two other people do, as long as they are consenting adults, in terms of their dating? At that point in my life, I had dated a couple of Hispanic females, a Black female, and a couple of Asian females, so I really didn't get why it would be an issue at all.<br /><br />Today, I am happily married to a wonderful Filipino woman, and the interracial nature of our marriage does lead to some interesting moments, but it also broadens us both. Apparently, we aren't alone in those thoughts.<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/04/pew.interracial.marriage/index.html?hpt=Sbin">CNN reported</a>that the Pew Center did a study that found interracial marriages are at an all time high (for as long as they have tracked it).<br /><br />Of course, there are regional and educational differences that aren't surprising. If you live in the Midwest or the South, you are less likely to interracially marry. If you have a college education, you are more likely to interracially marry than someone who doesn't have one. And each of those makes sense, especially when you see where the internet becomes pervasive in life (more educated, more economically prosperous communities).<br /><br />The Pew study pointed to the internet as one possible explanation because it allows you to get to know someone, many times before you even know their racial background. With more and more people meeting on the internet and building relationships there, they may find their interests match up before they even realize the race.<br /><br />The 21st century is finding technology is allowing us to broaden what we are exposed to in terms of culture and race in ways that we have never been exposed before. We can walk right into another racial or cultural area without feeling the physical threats we might have felt fifty years ago, and it is exposing how silly some of our old attitudes were.<br /><br />The result may be the end to much of racism (though it may take time and may never completely be ended) because the only solution to racism may be upon us: Interracial reproduction. As we go through generations of interracial reproduction, someday we may not be able to tell what race someone is because they are heavily mixed. Imagine the day when race becomes irrelevant.<br /><br />Sure, we will probably find other ways to become biased through different ways to evaluate status or create hierarchies, but at least one may well be on its way out. It is about time.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-4397830369169544990?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z1VbUtCOY_cgeyx2jyb-wUVoJIM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z1VbUtCOY_cgeyx2jyb-wUVoJIM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z1VbUtCOY_cgeyx2jyb-wUVoJIM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z1VbUtCOY_cgeyx2jyb-wUVoJIM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/OgFxQje5j3o" height="1" width="1"/>
Apparently, Google has sparked a crisis among Conservatives. They weren't in crisis about the Gulf disaster which cost jobs, food, billions of dollars, and environmental damage. They weren't in crisis over the deficits, the massive government spending, or the state of the economy. They are in crisis about...<a href="http://michellemalkin.com/2010/06/06/its-june-6th/">Google's failure to mention D-Day today</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote>Last year on June 6th Google celebrated the 25th birthday of Tetris:<br /><br />On June 6th the year before that, Google recognized the birthday of Spanish painter Diego Velasquez:<br /><br />But today, June 6, 2010… nothing:<br /><br />Google is purposefully ignoring a big event, aren’t they? Don’t they know that this is the 77th anniversary of the opening of the first drive-in movie theater? For shame.<br /><br />*****<br /><br />Today of course is the 66th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and we don’t need Google to salute all those who helped liberate Europe and keep the Nazis from their goal of global domination. The fight for freedom is ongoing, and we must never waiver so that the sacrifices of these heroes will never have been in vain.</blockquote><br /><br />Clearly, it was an obvious attempt by Google to slight the memory of veterans, right? After all, as they wrote, the Great Reagan spoke on this day:<br /><br /><blockquote>Many websites and blogs you might look at today that mention D-Day will post Ronald Reagan’s 40th anniversary speech in Normandy, and in the spirit of conformity, I’m going to do the same. It was a great speech and from the heart and not the prompter:</blockquote><br /><br />Let's nevermind that Reagan used NOTES instead of a teleprompter many times because he had been giving speeches for a living for GE (omg, a professional speaker, but he can't fake it, right?), and they didn't have teleprompters in those days. So like many of us as we get older, we stick to the technology we are most comfortable with. For Reagan, that was note cards. Check the Reagan Library, there are lots of "note cards" from his speeches there.<br /><br />Back to the point, apparently any company that doesn't tell you that today is D-Day must be unpatriotic and deliberately trying to slight our veterans (Today is D-Day, just to get in my obligatory mention of it so conservatives don't get upset with me).<br /><br />Could it be that D-Day is not an actual holiday so it didn't get focus, AND that Google's point was to help people learn something they didn't already know?<br /><br />Now, Conservatives could tell us one of two things: First, that people don't know about D-Day, and thus, this isn't a big deal and they are making much-to-do about nothing; or second, the people generally know about D-Day, thus it wouldn't fit the criteria that Google was using for being put up on its page.<br /><br />After all, does anyone think Google was marking this day with the 25th birthday of Tetris because its purpose was to announce something everyone already knew?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4191834103963464497-932138306443593960?l=plinkingreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yoYCIZZ34S4-STLeDfAY4qrtmBU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yoYCIZZ34S4-STLeDfAY4qrtmBU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yoYCIZZ34S4-STLeDfAY4qrtmBU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yoYCIZZ34S4-STLeDfAY4qrtmBU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PlinkingReality/~4/drSOU1my_wk" height="1" width="1"/>
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