The newest O, Bo...(the first dog)!

Finally, the newest Obama has arrived at the White House...and it appears he's already bonded with the President...

Photo by Pete DeSouza.

Seems the Portugese Water Dog is a good choice for this athletic family! However, I wish the naysayers grousing about the Obamas not getting the dog from a shelter would calm down --he said that he would prefer to get a shelter dog, but didn't guarantee that the dog would come from one. Bo was returned to the breeder because the original owner couldn't keep him, so the Obamas are Bo's second family--what more can you ask for? Sheesh! (How soon we forget that he recently posed with "Baby" to encourage people to get dogs from shelters whenever possible in the A Rare Breed of Love campaign.) As much as I admire the work of the Humane Society and other organizations, I wish they'd concentrate more on helping people keep their pooches and kitties, which would greatly reduce the numbers of critters in shelters. It's much more complex than simply spay or neuter your pet, important as these measures may be, as recent economic pressures have forced many to give up their four-legged loved ones (such as having to move into housing that doesn't allow pets).

Some of the more common reasons that people give up their pets (not including the aforementioned economic one):

• Pet behavior, such as soiling the carpet, destroying furniture, or other behavior issues, many of which can be dealt with by training, offered by stores such as Petsmart.
• Dog is "too" energetic.
• No time for the dog.

While other reasons are beyond the owners' control, such as illness or death of the owner, many of the others ultimately stem from folks not researching the canine lifestyle in general, not researching particular breeds, and not researching whether a small dog or large dog would better fit your lifestyle (as large breeds tend to have more expensive upkeep [e.g., larger kibble and vet bills], yet don't live as long as smaller pooches).

Also, the policy of shelters not allowing people who don't have fences to adopt a dog is counterproductive. Unfortunately, too many people who have a fence allow their dog to stay outside for far too long; if this is the case with a young dog that is of age to be spayed/neutered (but it hasn't yet been done), it's easy for a dog to slip under the fence to sow its wild oats, so to speak, or for a stray dog to come under your fence to mate with your dog, which are all-too-common scenarios.

The sad fact is that most of the dogs languishing in shelters tend to be medium to large breeds, rather than smaller dogs, which are quickly snapped up when they do arrive. (I know--I've tried--you almost have to conduct a vigil outside a shelter in order to get a small dog [under 30 pounds]; a neighbor who successfully obtained his Benji lookalike from a shelter agreed).

Can't we all get along, and try to help people keep their dogs (dogs that are not being abused, that is), so that the animal shelter population has a reasonable chance of being reduced in the future?

Radical Good Friday?

Who says Christians don't have a sense of humor? Of course, you can always attend a great service today (Good Friday services often seem more intense than other church services, but that could be my selectiveness playing tricks on me), but if you need some laughs when you return, and are a Facebook addict, you may get a kick out of the following Facebook "page":

The team (I assume it's a team!) did a good job with this one, which I originally saw on Ben Witherington's site (who also has a sense of humor).

* * *
A balm for the soul in troubled times is the rendition of the hymn Peace Be Still, performed by the Hutchinson sisters, better known as the Emotions, which is part of the Wattstax documentary. Powerful.

Something soothing (or, a good tea is hard to find)

With all the lovely Yoshino (and other) cherry trees in bloom at the Tidal Basin and beyond, beautiful, comforting sights in these distressing times, another soother of frayed nerves from the Far East also comes to mind--tasty hot and cold drinks from the leaves of the camellia sinensis shrub, otherwise known as tea.

All types of tea--green, oolong, and black--are known to be medicinally (and psychologically?) beneficial, but how to get the most flavorful brews is the question, as we are primarily a nation of hopped-up java junkies.

Ironically, some of the best places to get a good cuppa in DC if you're away from home include coffee shops! As the better ones want to offer high-caliber drinks and noshes of all types, they've stepped up their tea game as well. For instance, because Starbucks owns the Tazo tea line, Tazo is offered in all Starbucks, which is a good thing, as Tazo is good tea. Of course, you can also purchase a box of Tazo tea there (which is sometimes on sale, such as near Christmas), at Whole Foods (which sometimes also has it on sale), or other stores, where it tends to be priced much higher.

Although Tazo tea is most often offered in bags (heresy!), the leaves contained therein are high quality, not fannings, and the sac is large enough to offer the leaves enough room to expand. Even better is that ALL Tazo teas are delicious, high quality brews--green, oolong (which is even rarer than green), and black, as well as its herbal infusions (more properly called tisanes). [The oolong is part of the "Om" blend, which is re-packaged as "Joy" near the holidays.] The company even offers a tasty decaf green tea, "Lotus. "

Another surprising place to find good tea was Caribou Coffee. While its tea offerings are much more limited compared to Starbucks, in addition to black tea, it offers a good quality jasmine tea (a type of green tea which is scented with night-blooming jasmine blossoms), a box of which is about $7.

Decent loose leaf jasmine tea can be found at Target, part of its in-house Archer Farms line.

One more odd coffee place to get a bag of tasty loose-leaf black tea (of the Assam variety) is Swing's coffee, near the White House.

* * *
You may ask why it's so hard to find good green tea at the supermarket, given all the reporting about its beneficial qualities? Long story short, according to Kit Chow and Ione Kramer in their opus on tea, All the Tea in China, most of the green tea produced in China stays in China. (As their neighbors in Japan are also massive green tea drinkers, they purchase much of the rest.) Thus, there's not enough of the good green brew to go around. This is important, as you're only inclined to drink decent quantities of a beverage that actually tastes nice. Also important is that good green tea can be drunk without sweetener, or with very little. I often don't put sugar in my green tea; if I do, it's a scant teaspoon.

Thus, only buy green tea from the supermarket or health food store if you find one of the following brands:

• Tazo
• Numi (Its Water Sprite Ginger Oolong is good, too.)
• Republic of Tea (The green, white (a premium type of green), and black teas are excellent, but the tisanes are indifferent.)
• Forte (The black currant is awesome. I'll have to try its decaf breakfast tea someday.)
• St. Dalfour (I know, the company is known for its preserves, but its lemon and peach flavored black teas are special, provided you can find them anymore. They used to be at Safeway, but...)

The supermarket brand green and black teas are too bland to even merit a mention--Celestial Seasonings should stick to tisanes, in which it excels (especially the Bengal Spice, an herbal chai, and the various rooibos blends); oddly enough, Bigelow's tisanes are also superior to its green and black teas (particularly "I Love Lemon," cranberry blends, and the peppermint tisanes).

* * *

Of course, the best places to enjoy tea away from home are teahouses. Perhaps the most "authentic" is Ching Ching Cha, which arrived in town when tea was just becoming cool. It's a tranquil spot in Georgetown, near the C & O Canal, and is like entering another world. I get relaxed just thinking about my trek there a few years back.

Most accessible is the local establishment with three locations (and a dedicated tea shop), Teaism. While most of their menus and teas are the same, there are slight differences in offerings of each, and each has different hours. Nonetheless, all locations offer fantastic green, black, and oolong teas and delicious food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (including desserts). The location near the White House is probably the most casual, and is across from Lafayette Park. The two-story original location, near Dupont Circle, is an urban oasis, as is the newest location at Penn Quarter (which has a downstairs level featuring an indoor waterfall and colorful carp swimming about, in a small pool near the stairwell).

Teaism's anxi oolong is one of my favorites, and is a great way to start the day when accompanied by those zesty ginger scones. If you're in the mood for tea and dessert, the chocolate torte with green tea ice cream is a winner. (The salty oat cookies are extremely good, too.) The Dupont and Lafayette locations offer bags of tea for sale, but the best selection comes from the tea shop two doors away from the Penn Quarter restaurant.

* * *

When brewing green tea to enjoy at home, you probably know that you should brew water for green tea (including jasmine tea) to just below boiling, so as not to stew the leaves, nor your throat. (I ruined a delicate jasmine tea by brewing it with boiled water.)

The burning question with brewing individual portions of loose leaf tea is what to put the leaves in. Over the years, I've had unfortunate experiences with all kinds of contraptions reputed to keep leaves from straying into the hot water, such as tea balls (which always break apart), bamboo strainers, and the like. More recently, I've tried a cute metal mini-teapot with holes to keep the leaves in line, but that didn't work any better.

The best solution I've found is not marketed to be used for tea, but works wonderfully. For loose tea (or tisane), the best strainers are those organza party favor pouches, found in the wedding planning department of Party City. Those drawstrings tie up tight, and are spacious enough to cover the bottom of the sac with leaves, with plenty of room for them to expand. No more stray leaves to spit out and ruin your serene state!


Ahhhh!

Fab Fabian House Cafe (or, a nice place to come in out of the rain)

After a meeting, the rain, and another lunch(?) establishment that didn't pan out, Moz, Mom, and I headed to Old Town Bowie's Fabian House Cafe for a late lunch. So glad we went off the beaten path to get there.
You go through the antique store to get to the cafe. No, actually the cafe is the back part of the antiques shop, because it also had whimsical antiques for sale there, too. A small, friendly place, there were a family there and a cafe regular, speaking with the owners. We were offered samples of the two soups of the day (cream of garden vegetable and Mediterranean lentil); we all chose cups of the lentil soup to go with the various sandwich platters we ordered. (Good thing we had sense enough not to get bowls of soup, or I would have had to be rolled out of the place.)

The sandwiches--the alternative burger, tempeh salad, and the CAT--were all delicious and filling. The tempeh salad, on whole grain bread, was full of fresh dill as well as tempeh and vegan mayo, thankfully. (Apparently, that monstrosity known as sweet pickle relish isn't used in their salads.) The alternative burger contains mushrooms, is nicely seasoned, and very good, even if you choose to leave off the toppings. (Well, I had a bit of mayo on mine, but the flavor still came through.) The CAT was pretty good, because it's mostly avocado and mayo on whole grain bread, and how can you go wrong with avocado?

The rest of the platter was interesting, as the sandwiches came with couscous and a (suspiciously tasting like canned) tropical fruit salad. The couscous initially fell flat, because the dried cranberries and almonds on top led to me to believe that it might be sweet, which was not the case. However, it had a nice smoky flavor from the sesame oil (the couscous was not oily, however), and was fluffy, like properly cooked millet; I think it would make a good bed for a Morrocan-style stew.

All this food was filling enough that no one was tempted to get a dessert, although we saw the regular finishing off a float when we first arrived there. (And that's saying something from this family of sweets fiends!) Fabian also offers smoothies and hot drinks such as Tazo tea (nice!), coffee, and of course...
(This must be the best welcome sign ever!) All the while, we were taking in the quirky antiques in the cafe, such as the fan painted in a giraffe motif, the botanical prints (which were $14 each), and used books. When it was finally time to pay, we went to the front of the store, where the register is currently near a telephone bench (never saw one of those before), surrounded by other antiques. Sweet!

What a nice afternoon, in a place that seemed a thousand miles from the beltway. Friendly people, friendly prices, vegan-friendly food, eclectic antiques, what more could you want? I'll have to find some excuse to slip back there again.

Feeling the strain...

Events of the past few days--the multiple fatal shootings--certainly have me on edge as much as anyone, considering that you never know when you may cross paths with someone like the gunman in Binghamton, obsessed with guns in addition to undergoing the stresses that we're going through.

Don't know if any policies can help reduce this problem; after all, how can you ban someone from purchasing a gun who has no criminal record and has not undergone psychiatric treatment, which was the dilemma with the gunman of the Virginia Tech killings--he hadn't been confined for mental health treatment, so nothing could have stopped him from buying guns legally. This situation is way past scary.

Just as scary is talk of budget cuts in DC. Of course, they're necessary, but one can only hope that they're not done in such a way as to make a bad social situation too much worse. According to the Washington Post, the budget axe is supposed to fall fairly evenly across agencies, but then I heard that the greatest cuts are to take place to outpatient mental health facilities. What?! Um, it's good that the police and fire departments aren't scheduled to take cuts, but then if outpatient mental health services are cut even closer to the bone, they'll have even more work, and more strain for them and us all. Ugh.

* * *

Stumbled across another "version" of the timely Isley Brothers classic, Harvest for the World. Actually, it's the prelude to the song, a shorter, yet haunting, rendition. For those of us who feel the strain.

Blooming...

It's starting to look a lot like springtime...everything's now in bloom, even the nighttime temps will be above freezing from this point on. Question is, will such good news tempt to brave the crowds in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival events? After all, milling about in a beautiful setting, even in the middle of a crowd, can make for a peaceful outing.

Speaking of peace, this year's turn of events, in which we now have an intelligent President who is at least willing to talk with other world leaders before rattling a saber, make me reflect on how Washington's cherry trees were a present from another political leader, Yukio Ozaki, who was mayor of Tokyo in 1912 and was opposed to Japan's descent into militarism. His gift was part of his ethos of extending the cherry tree branch, so to speak, as well as an outpouring of efforts to improve his own city. As his daughter related a couple of years ago, "He always wanted to make a new Japan."

* * *

Certainly, Ozaki was well aware of nature's fragility; I am reminded of the same when listening to this song, Les Fleurs, from the late Minnie Riperton.

Turn off the lights? About "Earth Hour"...

Hmm, while I'm all for increasing environmental awareness, I'm not sure that some "symbolic" gesture, at a not particularly appropriate time, is going to be of any positive effect. Honestly, how can any businesses that function at 8:30 pm (and operate past 9:30) afford to turn off or dim lights? (Maybe restaurants, but many of them already have dim lighting!) Also, shouldn't any lights that such businesses have turned on be essential anyway?

And, turning off the lights at well known landmarks--is that even safe? I think the reason that it hasn't caught on in Washington is a very practical one--considering how close National Airport is to the national monuments, one can just see the blaring headlines if a jet crashed into one of them during such time, "Dark times in the city," and such. Oh, the horror.

Now, this symbolism would seem less silly if it were timed better, so as not to try to make people feel as if conserving energy is a type of deprivation. For instance, if Earth Hour was on Valentine's Day instead, folks would be willing to keep the lights out all night that night! (However, having the stereo on to hear the following music to swoon by would be considered essential electrical use!)

A warrior silenced...the death of John Hope Franklin

Eminent historian John Hope Franklin, most recently affiliated with Duke University, died today at age 94. This pioneer, noted for his seminal American history textbook, From Slavery to Freedom, broke barriers throughout his life. Although he grew up in a fairly prosperous black community in Oklahoma, its residents still suffered discrimination. Throughout his life, Franklin lent his considerable analytical skills to helping bring down the intellectual infrastructure of racial discrimination.

Recently, Franklin remarked on the significance of the election of another barrier breaker, Barack Obama, as our 44th President. He was as surprised as the rest of us by this political development, in a good way.

Red meat!

With all that's going on in the world today, the most sustained gasping in the media concerned research published in the current Archives of Internal Medicine, "Meat Intake and Mortality." I suppose the brouhaha stems from the unusually large number of its participants, over 500,000 in all. It certainly can't be because the findings are novel, because there have been smaller previous studies which came to a similar conclusion, namely that consumption of red meat and processed meat notably increases people's risk of developing cancer. Also significant is that the study found that consuming "the other white meat," pork, increases one's risk of cancer, unlike consuming poultry and seafood.

What's unclear, and which can't be discovered by such a study, in which participants responded to a detailed questionnaire, are overall differences between the actual dishes consumed by heavy red meat eaters and those partial to poultry. For instance, what is contained in the "chicken mixtures" mentioned as a type of white meat consumed by some participants? Since so many people eat prepared foods and in restaurants, it's possible that many poultry and seafood dishes and sandwiches differ markedly from those composed of red meat--namely, I suspect that many white meat and seafood dishes contain higher amounts of vegetables, and a greater variety of them, than do red meat dishes.

The basic slant of all the panic is that doing without red meat is a hardship. Please, tell that to my taste buds. All they know is, insert flavorful seasoned food and enjoy!

In that spirit, I decided to try a new product that I spied at a new Giant Food, Melissa's soyrizo (vegan chorizo). It looked promising, and even had an enticing garlicky, peppery aroma as soon as I broke open the casing to prepare dinner...

The bright red (paprika) color and crumbly texture were the clues that told me that this "sausage" follows The Rule of All Good Food--namely, that good food is messy. The red goop all over my hands as I was making small patties confirmed that the soyrizo conforms to this rule, as did the fantastic smell wafting all over the house as I pan fried them in a bit of oil in a nonstick pan.

This preparation was to get the patties ready to top homemade pizza--homemade dough, topped by spaghetti sauce and mozzarella slices, ground fennel, thinly sliced onion, Italian seasoning, with the soyrizo. As this "sausage" is not a lowfat dish, there's no need to, say, sprinkle olive oil over the pizza after you remove it from the oven. (Although I still added a bit of oil to the pizza's naked edges.)

The (admittedly blurry, but decidedly tasty) result:

Homemade pizza dough is quick to make; in fact, the entire pizza can be in your mouth in an hour! Heeeeeerre it is...

Homemade Pizza Dough (enough for six slices of one large pizza)

1/2 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

pinch sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. olive or canola oil

~1 1/2 cups whole wheat or all purpose flour

favorite pizza toppings--sauce, cheese, etc.

In a medium bowl, place the water, yeast, and water, and stir with a fork. Cover the bowl with a plate, and let sit in a warm spot for 5 minutes. Grease the pizza pan with a bit of margarine.

After five minutes, the yeast mixture should be bubbly. Stir in the salt, oil, and the flour a half a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Add a bit of flour to the counter, and knead the dough for a couple of minutes. Then, return the ball of dough to the bowl, cover with a plate, and let rest for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare topping(s).

The dough should have risen some and be soft, but not sticky. If it's sticky, add a bit of flour to your hands, and pat into the pizza pan. Add the sauce, cheese, toppings, and bake for 10 minutes. When the cheese is well browned and the crust lightly browned, remove the pizza from the oven, cut into slices, and serve.

HIV in DC (or, a woman's worth)

The periodic ritual of hand wringing, head shaking, and teeth gnashing is taking place about the catastrophic rate of HIV infection in Washington, DC. To be fair, the current D.C. government is trying to get back on track in combatting the disease, but has had its hands tied--for instance, until recently, there was a congressional ban on local tax dollars being used to fund needle exchange programs. (Another reason that DC needs real congressional representation, but that's another rant.)

There were glimmers of good news in the gloom--that only one infant was born with HIV in 2007, contrasted with 10 in 2005. Moreover, 70,000 residents were tested for HIV as part of a campaign, compared with 40,000 four years ago.

However, horrifying are the stats on heterosexual sex--according to Donald Blanchon, who runs the Whitman-Walker Clinic, ..."70 percent of them said that did not use condoms..." Sadly, I'm not surprised. While the phrase that the AIDS infection rate is comparable to that of West Africa, we say that as though the attitudes of men in America are different from those in Africa. If we don't deal with what a refusal to use condoms represents--a blatant disregard for one's own life (suicide on the installment plan?), a clinging to the plantation-era myth that one's manhood is based on one's reputed sexual prowess, and disregard for the lives of others--the infection rate will continue to skyrocket.

Interestingly, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy mentioned the high rate of infection of the STD chlamydia in DC, which weakens the immune system and makes HIV infection more likely, as a sign of how vulnerable DC's black female population is. I agree with him that any AIDS public service campaign needs to be in-your-face, because, sad to say, we are numbed to the gravity of the situation, and need a visual face slap to wake up.

Of course, provocative public service campaigns urging condom use, increased testing and surveillance, needle exchange programs, will probably prove to be of great help if implemented with gusto. However, to quote Elizabeth Pisani, "The belief newly empowered women would be more likely to refuse sex or use condoms than already empowered men rests on the questionable assumption that women care more about staying alive." While Pisani was speaking of African women, the same could be said of African American women--whether we, though newly empowered (another shaky assumption) care enough about our own survival. What is a woman's worth?

St. Patrick's Day surprise(s)...

I surprised myself yesterday as I finished preparing dinner, as I realized that I had prepared a St. Patrick's Day meal, of sorts--vegan scalloped potatoes (half a recipe), "beef" (Gimme Lean mixed with The Wizards worcestershire sauce) with gravy, and cabbage. The last dish turned out to be more like a quick sauerkraut.

I cut the (whole, without the core) cabbage into thin strands (better to cut cabbage with a knife than to fool with a shredder, unless you're using a food processor), placed it in a large cast iron saucepan with canola oil, added salt and pepper, and stirred occasionally, until "shiny." I then added water (about a cup), more salt, then added a lid and cooked for about a half hour. I then finished off cabbage with a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar, and let it sit a few minutes on top of the stove. The result...

Dinner was extremely tasty and filling, but was all "brown," from the potatoes (even with the yummy and colorful pimenton [Spanish smoked paprika] sprinkled on top) to the cabbage. Though drab looking, it was nutritious, filling, and tasty, and only took slightly over an hour to prepare (the potatoes and cabbage cooked from scratch, and the "beef" with the assistance of the microwave). Lazy me, I cooked enough so that I only need heat it up today. It should be even better, as I added a bit of ground coriander to the cabbage to it earlier, so it should have soaked up the extra flavor by tonight, a bit more like a choucroute.

* * *

The green-tinged water at the White House fountain is a fun, fitting touch to today's activities and makes the day feel more inclusive.

The Metal Monk nails it...

The world's been a topsy-turvy place these past few years, for good and bad. Obama is president (who'da thunk it a few years ago?), taking over from a president who took the American economy and good name and put them in the sewer, and doing a decent job, with all he has to deal with.

Just when I thought I'd seen everything comes word of the Capuchin monk from Milan who is the lead of a heavy metal group! Brother Cesare claims he got the idea to "sing" metal after attending a Metallica concert; his group has released several albums and recently performed at a metal concert with such acts as Iron Maiden. Strangest of all, he's actually not bad in that genre of music (not that it's my favorite), as he wails and screeches his laments about life on this existential plane along with the loudest of them...

Glimmer of good news for the 13th...

That a hospital CEO makes the news for being decent is good news, although it should not be so rare. Well, it shouldn't be unusual either that a person in that position actually bothers to exhibit mental creativity, instead of lazily firing people, but in today's world, Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who asked for input from staff on cost cutting measures to avoid firing people, is a rarity indeed, a mensch.

Wonder what his views are on universal healthcare coverage, which might make his patients smile as well?

* * *

Ridiculous ideas are being suggested by conservatives regarding healthcare reform, such as taxing some healthcare benefits (what!?!). Whatever else Obama does, he needs to get a wider perspective on universal healthcare--perhaps he'll hear those opinions during his upcoming European visit. Let's hope he gets a chance to speak in depth with such people as the Swiss president, Pascal Couchepin, who told journalist T.R. Reid in the documentary Sick Around the World (in response to the question, "Could a 100 percent free-market system work in health care?"): "No, I don't think so. If you do that, you will lose solidarity and equal access for everybody."

Wow. When a conservative Swiss politician admits that a completely free market system won't work in health care, perhaps America should listen.

In the meantime, concerned Americans such as Michele Swenson struggle to inform the rest of us about possible healthcare options, letting us know how other countries provide healthcare for their citizens. For instance, common features of health coverage in the five countries visited by documentarian Reid include:

• Everyone is accepted by the insurance companies, with no exclusions.
• There's a mandate to buy into the system, and government subsidizes the poor.
• Doctors and hospitals negotiate yearly for fixed-rate payment.
• Most utilize electronic medical records systems as well as individual smart cards with medical history.

(Via the Huffington Post.)

To restate--the reason that EVERY other industrialized nation has lower healthcare costs while providing health coverage for everyone (although they use differing payment mechanisms) must be that, inherently, universal coverage itself is a prerequisite to being able to keep healthcare costs responsible! The very fact that everyone is covered and must be provided necessary, reasonable healthcare is incentive to keep costs manageable, given that these countries do not have infinite budgets any more than the United States does.

* * *

Regarding personal health, the weather rollercoaster we've been riding recently has given folks the sniffles, and made me feel creaky. I don't sound as creaky (I don't think!) as this fluffball, however...

Still standing...but what a week!

Whew! A good but tiring week, in more ways than one. First the snow, then the shoveling, etc. The last snow of the season turned out to be the real one, and just around the corner comes daylight savings time this weekend (springing forward and all). With a loss of sleep to boot! No more days like this to tempt you to sleep just a bit later...

I imagine it's been a busy, tiring week for Obama as well. The various proposed provisions of Obama's economic agenda--the stimulus package, its funding, the healthcare summit--amidst British PM Gordon Brown's visit, and fending off potshots from Senator McCain, who scorned efforts to fund research as pork (umm, didn't that backfire during one of the debates, when he scoffed at funding for a planetarium?) and wealthy people who claim to be fearful of his tax increases for them, even going so far as to deliberately decrease their income.

Times like these probably make O wonder whether he bit off more than he could chew, or climb over...

Republican Wamp (wamp, wamp?) thinks healthcare is a privilege!

President Obama continues with his ambitious agenda, today's healthcare reform summit. Wish I could have made it there (although Ezra Klein's highlights are probably the next best thing), as there seems to have been a reasonable representation of the public. However, it doesn't appear that there are any commentators on health care from countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, France, or any other industrialized country invited to attend. That's kind of a shame, because it's always good to consider a variety of options on this potentially complicated issue.

In any case, one reason (which even progressive folk seem scared to voice outright) that universal healthcare systems offer reasonable quality healthcare at lower cost than ours is that covering everyone is cheaper than only covering some people. Unfortunately, our current healthcare "system" is built on the opposite assumption, voiced by Republican congressman Wamp of Tennessee, who stated on MSNBC that healthcare is a privilege. Unbelievable.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

More offensively, Wamp kept mentioning that half of the people without health insurance "choose" not to have it. Where does he get that figure from? I presume that these people are choosing to eat and have the heat on instead of paying medical insurance premiums or medical bills. Even if it were true that half of the uninsured are voluntarily doing without coverage, the other half is not, and half of 45 million is over 22.5 million people, a frighteningly large figure in itself. Not that he seems overly concerned about that fact.

Like other Republicans, he'd like to fiddle with the tax code to provide incentives for health insurance. Lame. Ineffective. Obstructionist. The Republican way.

Such a pretty mess...

You'd think that the D.C. public schools would be closed this once, as a bit of snow did actually fall yesterday, before today's big one, and weather reporting has become much more accurate since the 1980s, when I distinctly remember a forecaster saying that the area would get a dusting of snow, and a few inches came. Today's snow is not only a half foot, but that wind is whipping it around, making it hard to see when walking/driving. But, in the meantime, it sure is making things pretty...

The D.C. schools' being open might not be so bad, if the responsibility for clearing snow off sidewalks belonged to the D.C. government, and not to landowners, because they can be lackadaisical about cleaning off snow (and this in commercial districts of the city), making getting off the bus, subway, out of a car, or simply walking down the street hazardous endeavors.

In any case, all this dry fluffy stuff, while fun for kids, is work for me, so I'm trying to stave off thoughts of the shoveling that I'll be doing in a few hours. Makes me wish I had a dog trained to follow this unusual command apres snow...

Don't tease me now....(dogblogging too)

For the last few days, amidst all the justified doom and gloom, there's been a ray of hope, at least for many local residents. Yesterday, the Senate has passed a D.C. voting rights measure, which is expected to go to the floor of Congress early next week. This matter has been moving along quickly since President Obama took office. What a difference a few days make!

This bit of good news being dangled in front of our faces is almost too good to be true--because you know someone's going to introduce a challenge to it. In the meantime, the near possibility of D.C. residents having a full vote on the floor of the House almost has me looking like poor Stains the dog of Animal Planet fame, as the object of desire is so near, yet so far...

Wasting no time...

Downtown today the requisite piece of D.C. street theater, a protest, took place, albeit with modifications.

The difference in tactics this time was that traffic was not stalled and the protesters themselves were silent. Perhaps this is what caused us onlookers to actually pay attention to what was being protested, the continuing embarrassment and atrocity that is Gitmo.

This protest, coming on the heels of Attorney General Holder's visit to Guantanamo Bay, is timely, and an admirable example of Americans exercising our constitutional rights.

* * *

Now, if only D.C. residents could get their full right of representation. That dream is coming closer to a reality, but a roadblock has been thrown in. A Nevada senator, John Ensign, wants to amend the bill that would grant D.C. a representative by weakening D.C.'s current gun control regulations. Huh? What is it with congressmen who are not from the Washington region--why do some of them seem to have a need to screw D.C.? Oh, aren't Republicans the ones usually complaining that voting in Congress has become too complicated, that they should be able to vote straight up or down on bills without riders? Hypocrites!

Metro matters...

What a coincidence--Lena Sun must have been working on one of her periodic Post articles on the continuing failure of the Metro board to be accountable when Thursday's monster orange and blue line delay was taking place.

While area commuters should consider as many different forms of transportation as possible, we shouldn't all be pushed to the following mode because of bureaucratic incompetence and indifference:
Yet again, it is exposed that half of the Metro board is a kitchen will not eat its own soup, so why are these people on the board? Particularly insulting is the statement that "taking transit is inconvenient for their jobs." What do they think of fellow board member Catherine Hudgins, who got caught in Thursday's delay on her way to a Metro meeting--that she and other Metro riders take transit for entertainment purposes only? Sheese!

Also sickening is that many of these people don't even bother to pay for their parking spaces. This is a "problem" that's easy to fix, if board members were so inclined; when I had reserved parking at a Metro lot, the fee was charged to my credit card. Payment quandary solved. Next!

Most disgusting of all, and related to the fact that so many Metro board members do not take public transit on a regular basis, is that when there is a budget shortfall, their first instinct is to propose service cuts, instead of first attempting to find ways to make other cuts and raise additional funds. Service cuts are risky in that they undermine the reason for public transit's existence in the first place, to offer an alternative to relying on the car.

Now, raising additional funds need not mean raising the fare. As a first resort, how about the board doing something it's been criticized for not doing in the past--upping the fee for its deal with the wireless carrier Verizon, which is paltry compared to the fees other cities receive for similar deals? I suppose broaching such options involves too much mental creativity. Sigh.

Up in a down time...

Finally, a bit of good news for these gloomy times...Obama signed the economic stimulus package into law in Denver yesterday. Woo hoo! While he cautioned that it's not an instant panacea to our economic plight, it's a good start.

Even before he signed the package into law, Obama's coming to office has itself been an unofficial economic stimulus program, keeping the economy from sliding even lower. Certainly, his presence has been a boon to area businesses, and to other entrepeneurs looking to make a quick buck, from this...

to this...

Argggghhh...

* * *

More good news...D.C. is closer than ever to obtaining a vote in Congress, legislation that Obama co-sponsored in the Senate in 2007. (Perhaps even more shocking is that yesterday's New York Times editorialized in favor of the measure.) Change we can believe in, indeed.

Not again...the tragedy in Buffalo

Those frightening scenes from Buffalo, all those lives gone aflame, literally, make me sad and angry. Sad for obvious reasons, but also angry because yet again, another commuter plane goes down, with fatal results.

A Continental Connection plane, from the commuter plane arm of Continental Airlines, made the fatal collision into a home, killing one of its occupants, as well as all on board the plane.

While many tout statistics that air travel is the safest form of travel (which is comparing apples and oranges, if you're comparing air travel with traveling on the road, as airplanes are really for intercontinental travel), they often ignore the seemingly obvious--that a disproportionate amount of the fatal air collisions involve a commuter plane. Many people may have noticed this sad trend because it seems to be celebrities that are often affected by such crashes--Aaliyah, Buddy Holly (whose fans recently celebrated the 30th year of his death by tinker plane), and the list goes on, regrettably.

I'm inclined to agree with P.A.'s comments in today's New York Times regarding the collision:

The airlines should not be permitted to use smaller planes to fill gaps...

The fliers purchased tickets on a major airline and were put on a two propeller plan
in a high wind area to save the airline money...

Buffalo in winter is a known dangerarea [sic] for two propeller plane. This should be illigeal [sic] if it is not.

Not the airline for which people signed on.

Wrong, on every level.

* * *

Thinking of Aaliyah...

Warm days, colds stay?

Getting a bit spoiled by this recent streak of warm weather, and plan to take advantage of it again today.

Unfortunately, just because we get a few days of spring preview weather like today's...

(Flickr photo by Vicky Brock)

doesn't mean you can't fall prey to nasty microbes. Yesterday, my sinuses were plaguing me something awful--the air is still dry, so with the roller-coaster temperatures, it can be prime time for developing an upper respiratory infection. Yuck!

Thus, I was intrigued by a health feature in yesterday's New York Times, "The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold," if only because it confirmed my own experience--blowing my nose when I had a cold only made me more stuffed up and miserable! However, the "proper method" mentioned near the end of the article is odd, to blow one nostril at a time. Huh? How is that even possible? No thank you, I'd rather rely on nasal irrigation methods, which keep me uncongested, and often even ward off infections. (Using neti pots is one of several methods of nasal irrigation.)

Super stew for a super day...

I really don't care about either of the teams playing in today's Super Bowl, so I can't get that excited over it. However, the weather was something to be happy about, as the temp is currently over 50 degrees F, making scenes with snow increasingly rare (at least until Tuesday).



On the other hand, Super Bowl or not, a nice bowl of chili, which can be whipped together in record time, is always a tasty meal choice which can be made with ingredients that you may already have on hand.

Quick Meaty Veggie Chili (serves 4)

1 tsp. canola or other vegetable oil
half a green bell pepper, chopped
one small onion, chopped
another tsp. canola oil
6 oz. (half a bag) of Morningstar brand veggie crumblies
1 tsp. chili powder, plus more if desired
dash chipotle powder (optional)
dash smoked paprika (optional)
16 oz. can pinto or black beans, opened (but not drained)
16 oz. can diced tomatoes, opened (but not drained)
salt to taste

In a small pan, heat the first teaspoon oil over medium heat, then add green bell pepper and stir around until softened, then add the onion. Stir over the heat until it, too, is soft. Microwave the crumblies for 60 seconds, then set aside.

In a dutch oven or other large casserole, heat the second tsp. oil over medium heat, then add the crumblies, bell pepper, onion, and the chili powder (and the other two spices, if using), then stir for a minute. Dump the beans and their liquid into the mixture, stir, then add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and stir. Add salt if desired, and/or more chili powder, if stew still needs a kick. Stir occasionally, until heated through.

Serving suggestion: Nice with chopped avocado on top. Serve alongside corn-based carbohydrates such as cornbread or tortilla chips/strips.

Watershed moment?

I thought I might faint while participating in the Sunday morning pastime of watching the public affairs programs, Meet the Press and such, after seeing an ad from the SEIU in favor of promoting healthcare reform which was co-sponsored by such diverse organizations as PhRMA and the AMA. Apparently, President Obama's not the only one demonstrating a willingness to reach across the aisle to get things done.

The ad, To Help the Economy, Fix Health Care.



Wonders never cease!

Tone deaf?

The impact of President Obama at this, the beginning of his term, makes me optimistic about what's in store for the future. After all, he just signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, and, with Vice President Biden, is taking steps to strengthen organized labor, which has been badly battered as of late (and, as a consequence, also battered are the salaries of ordinary Americans).

The economic stimulus package has passed the House is more good news, but it may have a tougher time in the Senate, as Republicans are still jabbering about only cutting taxes, but are still clueless that this moribund economy needs the jolt provided by getting funds in the hands of the non-wealthy, via jobs and such.

So, the Republicans' response to Obama's proposals is akin to....



...even if the Republican National Committee has selected Michael Steele as its new chair.

Mmm, good (cornbread to go with beans)...

There's nothing better than hearty comfort food in cold wintry weather. Last night's edition included black-eyed peas (pre-soaked) and cooked with kale, which took less than an hour to cook (and that's using a regular saucepot, not a pressure cooker).

Making the beans stick to your ribs is easy when eating them with their natural sidekick, cornbread. The cornbread was particularly good last night, as I modified a recipe that I use often, the all corn cornbread from Bryanna Clark Grogan; I modified the order of preparation, not the ingredients. As it does not use flour, it's acceptable for gluten-free diets, and is delicious to boot, light in texture, with an intense corn flavor.

Vegan All-Corn Cornbread
makes a 9" square panful

1 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal (preferably stoneground)

2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. (8 tsp.) sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbs. ground flax seed

another 2/3 cup (stoneground) cornmeal

2/3 cup boiling water

1 Tbs. lemon juice, plus

soymilk or nut milk to make 2 cups

2 Tbs. melted Earth Balance spread

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. (Spread the baking pan with extra Earth Spread, then a little cornmeal, and shake the cornmeal around the pan. Set pan aside.)

Mix together the first cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flax seed in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, mix together the 2/3 cup cornmeal and the boiling water and mix well (preferably with a whisk). Stir in the melted Earth Spread, also with the whisk, then the lemon juice/soymilk mixture, with the same whisk.

Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet, then add the batter into the prepared 9" pan. Bake for 25 minutes. When done, the top should have cracks, and the tines of a fork stuck in its center should come up clean.

* * *

Just like cornbread itself, this song by Louis Jordan, Beans and Cornbread, is an oldie but goodie.

Everything is beautiful, on a snow day

OK, so this is not some whopper of a snow squall--just some steady fluffy stuff coming down today, which is fine by me. Not so great will be tomorrow's mess, that nasty precip mix of sleet, freezing rain, etc. The sooner that stuff turns to rain (and the sooner the rain stops before freezing over) the better.

Nonetheless, today is to enjoy as much as possible, before and after you're done driving through it.

Cell phone use while riding a bike? What in the ***?

There are some things you hope never to see. Like today, I had to swerve to avoid hitting a guy on his bike when I turned into a parking lot, because he was chatting on his cell phone while riding!

At least the guys in the photo above had the sense to wear a helmet, unlike today's doofus. However, it's scary that these are cops blabbing on cell phones while riding!

I haven't heard of a jurisdiction banning cell phone use while riding a bike (which you'd think was challenging enough without that distraction), but if anyone on the Prince George's County Council would like to propose one, that would be a very good thing. Let's hope it doesn't take someone being killed or seriously injured before such a bill is put before a legislative body (but I'm not holding my breath).

Some inauguration week highlights (with dog blogging)

Will wonders never cease? The city was packed from last Sunday through Wednesday. My miracle story: on a packed train Sunday, a young boy and his mother were traveling, and the little guy offered me a seat--I could have fainted from the shock. So, I wasn't so surprised to hear that there were no arrests on the Mall Tuesday--meaning that there weren't incidents serious enough for the police to bother getting micro-bureaucratic with the public.

Later that Sunday, the 1st Baptist Church of Glenarden had a regular Sunday evening service, with a few songs from Kirk Franklin, so the place was packed. Of course, we all assumed that he would blow in, do a couple of songs, then blow out. Ha! It turned out to be a two-hour+ concert (I left before he was completely done!), and, of course, Kirk knows how to put on a show!

Other surprises included a white/multiracial "go-go" band (for want of a better term, as their musical skills sounded basic, but they were enthusiastic) playing on the sidewalk outside the Verizon Center Wednesday night.

I knew go-go music was popular with Washingtonians of all stripes, but never witnessed nonblack folk playing any. You go guys!

The New York Times reports that some social scientists (don't laugh just yet-perhaps bigger studies are in the pipeline) have noted an Obama effect on some black youngsters taking tests, showing that near the election showed less anxiety while taking tests, doing as well as whites. Let's hope the results can be replicated, and the effects are not temporary.

* * *
Woo hoo! Good to see that President Obama is serious about undoing some of Shrub's damage, by signing an Executive Order to shut down Guatanamo Bay and secret prisons on his first day in office.

The details of that decision, laudable as it is, will naturally take time, as will other policies. Trouble is rearing its ugly head in the form of opposition to the nominee for Secretary of Labor, Rep. Hilda Solis, and the continuing mess over the peanut butter recall (it's unclear what other type of federal action will need to take place to sort that out).

Meanwhile, you're unlikely to see many scenes like this at home in the near future, because of the peanut scare:

Food, American style (inauguration edition)

The following recipe is for a delicious appetizer, a strata (pictured above, being prepared). It's a good dish to bring to a gathering when, like me, you have an aversion to transporting cooked food (and the resultant sloshing of food inside your car or on the subway), which does not need to be reheated, and is not a dessert.

It's best made the night before an event, so that it can "set" completely, making it easy to cut into squares. Like inauguration week, this dish is colorful, packed with flavor, and easygoing.

Vegetarian strata (savory bread pudding)

11 ounces day-old bread, torn into bite-size pieces (I used most of a sesame semolina loaf from Firehook Bakery, but any crusty bread will work)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon dried porcini
1/2 cup whole flax seeds
1 cup water
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons canola or other vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy milk (oat or rice milk are good substitutes)
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 or 2 green onions, finely chopped (white and green parts)
1 sprig fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 package veggie shrimp, thawed, OR 2 links veggie chorizo, finely chopped*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a small bowl, pour the boiling water over the dried porcini and let soak.

In a small saucepan, add the flax seeds and one cup water, bring to a simmer, and let simmer for five minutes. While flax mixture is simmering, in a small frypan, heat the oil over a medium flame, then add the red bell pepper and cook for two or three minutes, until softened.

After five minutes, strain the flax seeds and let the liquid drip into a small bowl. (The liquid should be clear yet thickened, akin to raw eggs in texture.) Add the soy milk, porcini water (use the leftover mushrooms in another dish), salt, and pepper. Gently mix.

Place the torn bread pieces into a casserole dish, then pour the flax seed/milk mixture over the bread and combine thoroughly. Mash mixture around with either a fork or a potato masher, so that the bread becomes mushy. Add all remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly in the casserole dish.

Cover casserole dish with foil, then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After removing the strata from the oven, let cool, then refrigerate overnight.

To serve, cut into squares. (The pieces are easiest to pick up, after cutting, with toothpicks.) Yum!

*The veggie shrimp is available at area health food stores and co-ops, as is the veggie chorizo, which is also available at supermarkets and Whole Foods.

History, Continued

History continues to be made, today, with the inauguration of Barack Obama as President. As he's being sworn in, this beautiful song by Deniece Williams will be on my mind:

(The image at top is from MoveOn.org)

Martin Luther King Jr.--A man of, and before, his time

There's always something new, even in history. As we've been reminded today how rhetoric can inspire and uplift by listening to Martin Luther King Jr.'s most reknowned oration, I Have a Dream, the BBC has unearthed a 1964 video of Dr. King in which he predicted that in less than 40 years, a Negro would become President of the United States. (He actually said that it could happen in 25 years.) Optimism, confidence, and ability to take the long view are what made King a visionary.


(Full-length video of Dr. King giving his speech, I Have a Dream.)

King believed that the struggle for racial justice in the United States was related to other struggles worldwide, and correctly noted that apartheid would end when Western nations decided to stop economic relations with South Africa. (Text via the ANC's site, although I originally read it years ago from the excellent compilation of Dr. King's speeches and writings, A Testament of Hope.)

Dreamer that he was, King knew that dreams take hard work to become reality. Let the work continue.

A Good Day...(Friday fun, with dog[s])

It's turned out to be a good day, a good week even. Yesterday's crash landing in the Hudson sent chills down my spine, for I was afraid that one of the passengers, though rescued, might freeze to death or drown before being rescued, so a sigh of relief went up when all were found and everyone was OK. Initially, reports of the crash brought back bad memories of a previous one, of the Air Florida crash years ago, and the people that needed to be rescued from those frigid waters.

For some reason, remembering that tragedy makes me think of the CBS affiliate Channel 9, and John Goldsmith's reporting. It also reminds me, gladly and sadly, of the late, great Glenn Brenner, sportscaster par excellence (and I'm not even a big sports fan). Good times...



* * *

Didn't bother to listen to Bush's farewell speech, because I knew it would be about as exciting as watching paint dry. The mere thought of Bush talking about himself and his "legacy" strikes me as utterly ridiculous, so much noise and posturing...


Find more videos like this on MyCorgi.com

* * *

If still undecided (like me!) on what to do for Dr. King's birthday, National Service Day, suggestions can be found at the Obama inauguration committee website.

Which means--time to work and party!

Zzzzz fight disease?

Yuck, it's that time of year, when, even if you've gotten a flu shot, you can still come down with a cold, the most common of the upper respiratory diseases.

Of course, there are scads of folk remedies, and even prescribed medicines, such as cough medicines, often don't do much for cold symptoms. (Although a UK physician with the International Society for the Study of Cough admits that "alcohol in the form of spirits has been demonstrated to effectively suppress the cough reflex. In adult patients this can be particularly successful for nocturnal cough suppression." In this paper, he also mentions that although dextromethorphan is an effective cough suppressant, the amount used in most over-the-counter preparations is inadequate to relieve symptoms.)

However, there's been little research on the prevention front concerning this common aggravation, until recently. A study to be published in an upcoming Archives of Internal Medicine 2009; 169 (1):8, "Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold," in which subjects were monitored for 14 days--during which they were administered a rhinovirus (cold virus).

The results were striking--study participants who slept less than seven hours were 2.94 times more likely to develop a cold than those who had eight or more hours of sleep. Ouch! According to the study authors, "These relationships could not be explained by differences in prechallenge virus-specific antibody titers, demographics, season of the year, body mass, socioeconomic status, psychological variables, or health practices." They concluded, "Poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration in the weeks preceding exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness."

* * *

More than neti pots...

If you think you might be coming down with a cold anyway, in addition to getting more sleep, what to do? Consider nasal irrigation--which is starting to be taken seriously as a treatment for sinonasal conditions such as rhinitis. In their medical review, "Nasal irrigations: good or bad?," researchers Christopher L. Brown and Scott M. Graham conclude, "Nasal irrigations should no longer be considered merely adjunctive measures in managing sinosal conditions. They are effective and underutilized. Some of the persisting unanswered questions will only be answered by further research."

Seconding that opinion include researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, which released a video on the benefits of nasal irrigation, mentioned as a cheap and easy way for the millions of people who suffer with spring allergies and nasal congestion to get relief for their symptoms.



(The video is called Spring Cleaning...for your nose, which may be unfortunate in that nasal irrigation may prove helpful year round.)

More Crazy (aka dogblogging)

Will the Sarah saga ever end? Now Sarah Palin's whining about being exploited by the media, Katie Couric, Tina Fey, ad nauseum. Um, she wanted to be Vice President, and was parodied and interviewed for precisely that reason. Politics ain't pretty--not even for a pitbull in lipstick. (Funny how she's not complaining that she was exploited by the Republican party, which offered her the VP nomination in the first place, solely because she is female. Hmmm...)

So, Ms. Palin, who can dish it out (e.g., referring to the President-Elect as someone who was "palling around with terrorists") but can't take it only makes herself laughable. Sadly, she's not being ridiculous in an adorable manner such as this...

Find more videos like this on MyCorgi.com

Out with the old....

This dreary day is perfect for taking down the holiday decorations; the tiny tree will be chopped up tomorrow and scattered around for mulch, fertilizer, etc., and the soil and pot saved--more soil to be added, to start more container gardening nonsense...

One thing potentially made easier is throwing out the trash, as a few weeks ago the county provided new, gigantic recycling bins. These are to be used for the improved recycling process, known as single-stream recycling. Basically, this means you can recycle almost anything you're likely to throw out in the course of a week, except for food or items that have touched food (that is, items which could be composted).



(The above video from the Science Channel is of a manufacturing plant that uses a single stream recycling process.)

That's right, newspapers, paper, (rinsed out and dried) cans and bottles, torn up cardboard boxes, magazines, you name it, you can toss it into the recycling bin. Yippee! Makes life easier.
I'm keeping the old bin, however, as a recycling way station, and transferring stuff from it to the colossus on recycling day.

The one thing that could mess up this scheme is the lack of communication by the county regarding the new process. One day, guys just showed up bringing the bins, which had a couple of pamphlets attached to them with instructions, etc. No letters preceeded this rollout, no appearances were scheduled by county leaders to discuss the benefits, etc.

* * *

Finally, corporations are starting to reduce waste. Perhaps it's no coincidence that one of the few retailers this season to have something resembling a profit, Amazon, has also introduced a process to reduce customers' "wrap rage,"; they call it Frustration-Free Packaging. I wish I'd known about this when I had to purchase a Verizon cell phone earlier this year, and a Timex watch; it took some ten minutes to release the $30 watch from its package. Sheesh!

Smaller companies are joining the reduced waste bandwagon, as well. Two manufacturers of my favorite ginger candies, Ting Ting Jahe and Reed's Ginger Brew, have changed the paper that wraps the individual candies to edible rice paper wraps! This doesn't affect the taste of the candies, as far as I'm concerned. So, the only thing that has to be thrown away when done downing all the chews is the bag that they came in. Nice!