Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day

FREEDOM FLIES IN YOUR HEART
LIKE AN EAGLE
Dusty old helmet, rusty old gun,
They sit in the corner and wait -
Two souvenirs of the Second World War
That have withstood the time, and the hate.

Mute witness to a time of much trouble.
Where kill or be killed was the law -
Were these implements used with high honor?
What was the glory they saw?

Many times I've wanted to ask them -
And now that we're here all alone,
Relics all three of a long ago war -
Where has freedom gone?

Freedom flies in your heart like an eagle.
Let it soar with the winds high above
Among the spirits of soldiers now sleeping,
Guard it with care and with love.

I salute my old friends in the corner,
I agree with all they have said -
And if the moment of truth comes tomorrow,
I'll be free, or By God, I'll be dead!

. . . Audie Murphy

Friday, May 28, 2010

Grains

This article on cooking grains piqued my curiosity.
http://tinyurl.com/348wger
My wife bought millet and quinoa at the
local health food store.
quinoa 14 oz $5.65 = $6.46 lb
millet 28 oz $3.95 = $2.26 lb

One of several companies that ships grains is
Pleasant Hills Hampton NE
in nitrogen in plastic bucket
price includes shipping
http://tinyurl.com/2g784r8
sorghum 32 lb $53.00 = $1.66 lb
millet 43 lb $83.50 = $1.94 lb
quinoa 42 lb $140.50 = $3.35 lb
spelt 43 lb $97.50 = $2.27 lb
hard white wheat 45 lb $67.50 = $1.50 lb
hard red wheat 45 lb $64.50 = $1.43 lb
navy beans 45 lb $83.20 = $1.85 lb

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Huzzah for Arizona !

(I stole this from Bitmaps blog)
http://bitmaps-misc.blogspot.com/2010/05/1-for-another-new-law-in-az-and-ca-can.html

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
+1 for another new law in AZ, and CA can boycott this
First up, AZ has passed a new law stating that firms have no legal duty to provide translators. Alright. I like that. It's a shame that they had to pass a law to confirm something that was already the law. According to this article a non-English speaking person filed a discrimination suit against an optometrist because he wouldn't allow the woman's 12yo daughter to serve as an interpreter, he wouldn't provide an interpreter, and he suggested she go to another optometrist who spoke Spanish. Wow. The arrogance of that person, who apparently lives in the United States of America, refuses to learn English, and wants to force everyone else to pander to her. I wonder if she was in the country legally?

Good for Arizona. I am jealous because I know this state would never stand up to that kind of nonsense.

**********************************************************************

Second, do you remember all the people in CA that announced they would boycott AZ over the illegal immigration law? It seems that the zapato is on the other pie so to speak, as AZ residents have started calling hotels in CA and canceling reservations because they have decided to boycott CA. The funny part is that the Californios don't seem to like it. They want to push their ideas on others, but when those others push back they get upset.

From the article:

Several councils in large cities like Los Angeles, Austin, Boston and San Francisco have approved boycotts on employee travel or future contracts with Arizona businesses as a result of the law that goes into effect on July 1. The state tourism bureau has said the losses so far have reached nearly $10 million as a result of 23 canceled meetings.

Now for the other side of that coin, here is some of the whining from CA:

That has tourism officials urging Arizonans to consider the resolutions as merely symbolic and local politics at work.

"We're in a very tough environment already because of everything else going on, and we don't need another negative impact to our industry," ConVis President Joe Terzi told the Union-Tribune. "This affects all the hardworking men and women who count on tourism for their livelihoods, so we’re saying, don't do something that hurts their livelihoods."

So places like LA and SF can boycott AZ to the tune of $10 million and that is ok, but if please, please, please don't hurt OUR livelihoods.

Crybabies. They like to dish it out but they can't take it. This reminds me of a Family Circus I saw years ago:
Mommy!! Dolly hit me back!!

This is another example of the left wing mindset. It is ok to use a boycott against someone that liberals define as BAD like Arizona, but it is terrible to use a boycott against someone who the liberals define as GOOD like California. Hypocrisy is the calling card of the left wing these days.

All in all I have to say that it looks like AZ is getting better and better. Open or concealed carry without a permit, the illegal alien law, requiring a birth certificate to be on a Presidential ballot, and now reaffirming that AMERICAN businesses have no duty to provide interpreters for would-be customers who can't speak English.

I'm going to buy something from a business in AZ just to show my support. I think I'll eat a bag of Doritos while I open the package when it arrives.
Posted by Bitmap at 1:00 PM

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sorghum, a nutritious alternative to wheat and corn

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Grain_sorghum.html

some facts from a long article

Grain sorghum was grown on 13,902,000 acres in the United States (average for 1966-67), ...
World-wide, grain sorghum is grown on more than 100 million acres. China, India and Africa grow large quantities. In the United States most of the grain sorghum is used as livestock feed, but in the Orient and Africa most is used as food. .....
The grain consists of about 6 percent bran, the pericarp or surface layers; 10 percent germ; and 84 percent endosperm, which is largely starch. In protein content, sorghum is higher than corn and about equal to wheat. In fat content it is lower than com but higher than wheat. ..........
For feed use, sorghum grain should be ground for most classes of livestock, since the grains are small and relatively hard. In feeding value it is almost equal to kernel corn. ......
For food use, the grain may be roughly ground and made into breadlike preparations, used after grinding and stewing as a mush or porridge, or made into flour for mixing with wheat flour for breads.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

If we are short of wheat and corn

I asked an old pal about other grains if corn and wheat
are in short supply. His answer:

Don't see any problem with wheat and corn in Oregon.
The crops are as large as normal (and we grow a hell of
a lot of it). If it gets diverted to other uses, like gasohol,
then that is a different situation. It's sold to the highest
bidder. It will follow the money.

Yes, all of those "Other Grains" are not getting diverted.
Yes, I have used the other grains in bread, pancakes, mush
or grits. They are more nutritious than wheat, or corn,
tastier, and they don't have the allergy causing problems
that wheat does. Millions of people cannot eat wheat,
or wheat gluten (it literally eats out the lining of their
stomachs). Modern wheat is sort of o.k. for MOST folks,
but it is not really a healthy food (don't forget that we
once shipped wheat to the starving Chinese and they
sent it back). They have bastardize the stuff so much
from the original tiny wild wheat that it has all kinds
of problems.

It has only been a thousand years since China switched
from only millet being the common grain, to the use of
rice. Why they did that I do not know? Millet is a
wonderful healthy food! It is cheap in bulk, and stores
long term easily. I have 4 or 5 buckets of it in my storage
foods.

Boil a tablespoon of Millet and it will produce nearly a cup
full of food. It really bulks up. Very tasty. I recommend
that you buy a small package of it and try it for yourself.
Use it like any other cooked cereal, or grits (Add fruit,

sugar/honey, milk, butter, whatever you normally would).
Plus you can use it like any cooked grain in salads, main
dishes, etc. It is the main ingredient in parrot feed, and
look how long they live!

All of those grains are very healthy and very available, It's
just that the wheat and corn industry have a monopoly here,
and can control the price by growing so much. Thus wheat
and corn are usually cheaper in the U.S. Try some of the
more exotic grains from Peru, etc, also, things like Quinoa
("keen-wah"). Wonderful! ----