Keep it simple in the summer...(plus dogblogging Friday follies)

This time of year, I cannot be bothered with any recipe that calls for use of the oven (such as any type of casserole, even if it involves peppers and other summer standbys); if it can't be divided so that it can fit in a toaster oven, it doesn't get baked.

Thus, summer squash (which are not my favorite vegetables anyway, although I will slip finely chopped squash into a gumbo) such as zucchini do not get made into zucchini bread or muffins. Too hot for that mess, tasty as they can be.

However, one great summer recipe for zucchini is for mock crab cakes (Kim O'Donnell's version), which are easy to make and turn out well, especially if you don't make the cakes too big. The result is an easy, scrumptious meal (video via the saminal's flickr stream).

You must, however, use the original Old Bay Seasoning for any mock crab cake recipe; the other brands contain even more salt, and are thus dilute and bland. (I've checked the labels of the pretenders, and they don't even come close.)

Your great reward at the table:

(Photo by Kim O'Donnel of the Washington Post.)

So, don't be too surprised if your cakes are lapped up in double quick time because everyone can't get enough of them (I know I can't)...

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...

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...

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.

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:

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!

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

Happy New Year (dogblog edition)

We can only hope that 2009 turns out better than 2008--after all (if you have any funds left), there may be reason to party more, during Obama's inauguration, with the hope that he can inspire cooperation among all sectors of America.

Who knows, perhaps the public's confidence in the President-Elect may lead to the beginning of the easing of the current economic meltdown. Currently, however, the behavior of financial institutions doesn't give cause for optimism. A large local bank [which has had problems with subprime lending] yanked the credit card line of a family friend who has been dutifully paying down the balance, from a large one to a much more manageable size! If banks are denying credit to creditworthy customers, how is the economic crisis supposed to stop? Wasn't the bailout of the financial institutions based on the assumption that they would responsibly loosen credit restrictions, where appropriate?

How is such crazy behavior unlike the following?

Friday Follies (aka dogblogging)

Now that Christmas day is over, renewed shopping frenzy begins--which is why I'm avoiding the store today, even the grocery. (I forgot how bad it could be when I decided to venture to the grocery store midday Christmas Eve--in addition to the crowded roads and lots, I saw a driver pull a dangerous stunt that I'd never seen before, and hope never to see again--Speed Racer streaked down the wrong side of the street to make a left turn [on the other side of the concrete median], to ignore an established left-turn signal lane that was within the proper side of the median strip, and barely missed being hit broadside by traffic coming down Pennsylvania Avenue. Unreal.)

Now, I'm trying to avoid being all judgmental about excessive consumptive behavior (too late!), I can't help but notice that it's so much running amok.

Everybody was kung fu fighting...

Wow, seems the world's in a fighting mood, although W, for once, is trying to keep the economic peace by today's announcement of an auto industry rescue package. For the very short term, that should keep some southern lawmakers quiet. I'm sure he's wanting a little holiday peace, after a true surprise during his unannounced trip to Iraq:

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

Further south however, say in Mexico, lawmakers are even less able to peacefully agree (on infrastructure legislation), and let fists fly:



There is still youth (and other) unrest in Greece, and South Korean lawmakers apparently can't all just get along either.

Such recent events seem to suggest that many folks are having a difficult time behaving better than animals, since we're fighting worse than cats and dogs, whose fights are usually akin to insignificant scraps like this:


Collection Of Fights Between Our Corgi And Our Kitty - The best bloopers are here

Friday Follies (aka dogblogging)

With the refusal of southern Republicans in the Senate to ratify the auto industry bailout loan package, snarling about the high wages of its unionized workforce (while not complaining about the humongous Wall Street bailout approved previously on top of those extravagant executive salaries), it really makes you wonder, as Hale "Bonddad" Stewart muses in the Huffington Post, whether "The Republicans Want a Depression."

Visible proof of such ridiculous, circular behavior, also exists in the canine kingdom (which at least has the virtue of being humorous when practiced in the house):

Attacking the air? (aka dogblogging)

Perhaps the holiday season is a slow news time, particularly in the transition between presidents--not that that's stopped criticism of a President-elect who's not even in office yet. An apt visual interpretation of such sniping is rendered in the video below, only the perpetrator of its foolishness is cuter than most.

Post-Thanksgiving "Feed" (aka dogblogging)

Yesterday's yummy Thanksgiving feast (followed this morning by the greatest breakfast in the world, a slice of sweet potato pie!) just might mean that today becomes a small timeout from the gorging, a mini-detox, if you will, for the system.

Of course, any true detox course will include plenty of water--assuming that you drink most of it! (Shorty below seems have forgotten the basic need to drink for a few moments. Oh well...)

Friday Folly (more dogblogging)

Unfortunately, too many of our Republican friends have forgotten that we are one America, and instead of being proud of our country and happy for our President-elect, are engaging in pointless infighting and other behavior, instead of joining with us in solving our many ongoing problems.

Hence, their failure to be constructive is similar to the odd doggie behavior below--and this guy isn't even the current Presidential pooch:

Time to celebrate the new President!

Woo hoo! He did it! We did it! America did it! We have a new president, President O--and it won't take a lawsuit to settle it, either! The race is over!

I almost feel as jubilant as the little guy below!

Pre-election jitters got you down? (Friday Follies dogblogging)

Like many people, you may be suffering from pre-election anxiety, which is, surprise, affecting African-American women particularly hard, according to Diane Tucker in Huffington Post's Off the Bus, a background nervousness to which I can testify. My current coping mechanism is to turn off the tv, so that I can avoid the ubiquitous political ads.

Because the election is almost here, so close you can almost smell it, I'm almost as frustrated as the cute critters in the video below--

(I think the dog's saying, "Is it over now?")

Friday Follies (aka dogblogging)

With the presidential election coming up within two weeks, it can't come soon enough, so that we can finally be done with it! All of this tension, being on pins and needles, can't be good for the nervous system, et al.

However, the following behavior is NOT recommended for dealing with the stress, tempting though it is...

Friday Follies (aka dogblogging)

How sweet, to be this blissed out...