Interesting Bloggers

Please welcome Duchess Omnium and also Margaret and Helen. The Duchess stopped by XE last week, and I just spent an hour re-reading M&H. DO lives on a houseboat in the UK--wotta life, huh?--and M&H live in *cough* Texas. I've missed Molly Ivins, but M&H have her feisty, unabashed way of expressing their displeasure with Republicans and other vacuities.

Also, Whoopee, another UK blogger and one of my favorite writers, had a wonderful post recently about her new baby, Oscar, who arrived weighing almost 10 lbs at birth and created wreckage on the trip. I was tempted to tell her that my sister-in-law's first baby weighed about that much, and they had to break his collar bone to get him out. Anyway, here's the post.

Do It Yourself....

I recall seeing two old farmers in the Jack & Jill store in Bismarck years ago. Their cart was empty save for some big cans of Welch's grape juice (not frozen, just plain juice), a bag of sugar, and a few packages of yeast.  It didn't take a brain surgeon to realize they were going to make wine with all of that.

Thus, here's a handy little video to show you how they might have done it.  You can make white wine, too....just use white grape juice. The white wine recipe calls for using champagne yeast, but Whole Foods has some good German yeast that might work just fine.  And here's a link to the WikiHOW article.

We made our own red wine once--gallons of it from all the red grapes that grew in the Missouri river bottomland south of town. That wild grape variety has the worst reputation among home wine makers, but we forged ahead. Peggy and Sally were just tots, but they went along on the grape picking venture with our friends the Bergers and all their ambulant kiddies.  Katie and Tom had not arrived on the planet.

The process was more complicated than the video shows: we had to squeeze the grapes and mix it with the sugar and yeast in a big ceramic crock until it was ready to sit in the fermenting containers--big glass jugs obtained from the Big Boy restaurant east of town. We kept it downstairs next to the furnace while it fermented, and it produced a LOT of wine.  We bottled some of it, but we left most of it right in the glass jugs. I gave a bottle to my parents, and we threw away the rest when we moved out of that house to the log house.

It was pretty raw, and besides, nobody was into wine in those days. It was several decades before restaurants began having wine lists.

Anyway, my parents took the bottle of wine home and put it in the cabinet over their refrigerator. And there it sat for a few years.  When my mother had a heart attack, I went down to visit her and stay with Dad. I decided to make Shrimp Newburg for lunch one day, and I needed some wine. I remembered the wine over the fridge, so I got it out, opened it, took a sip....and whoa....it had lost all of its raw edges and was clear and beautiful. So that's what happens when you age a good wine! Alas, there was no more around after that bottle was gone.  C'est la vie....

Monday musings

my dreams have been most enjoyable of late. last week i dreamt about my art, and last night, i dreamt one of my kids came to visit me. they don't, usually. so it was a nice surprise. then i woke up. hot and sneezing. couldn't open the window, had no kleenex. so i got up, took a shower, and got dressed for the day.

two weeks ago, i found my grandpa's billfold. it still has the photo of my grandma in it. i never met either of them. but i know she could sing and play the piano, and he both provided and cooked the meat (usually wild game) for supper every night--he said she had enough to do taking care of their seven children without a lot of feather plucking or skinning on top of it. when there was no pheasant or duck or fish, he'd go out and shoot a few squirrels or rabbits. his billfold used to have a receipt from the grocery store in it, too. that's gone. don't know where.

In Which We Attend a Tax Day Tea Bag Event...

[Volunteers wearing day-glo shirts and caps in front of the Tea Bag enclosure in the background]

Yesterday, April 15, was "Tax Day," and the furious tea baggers were out in force here in the City of Satan. Well, there were several hundred, maybe even close to a thousand. The WaPo, ever eager to inflate the opposition to a legally elected Democratic President, said it was "thousands." The paper enthused that "more than 50 tour buses" poured into DC for the event. When was the last time YOU were on a tour bus? Did you count the seats? You do the math.

Anyhoo, on the same slope by the Washington Monument that had been COVERED, elbow to elbow, with protesters during one of the antiwar gatherings during the Bush 2 administration, the tea baggers gathered in a fenced-in area. Inside of this, the speakers' platform was set up so that--the cameras not being able to see the empty space behind--it might actually look crowded. Two park police were out by the sidewalk near Constitution Avenue (in full sight of the traffic) trying to manage their fidgety horses. By the time we left at 7 p.m., there were FOUR cavalry waiting to run down troublemakers--which apparently were both of us old girls plus a bunch of very young folks.

It was pretty evident just who was there. Take a look at the photos. Tell me if I'm wrong when I say that I perceived most of these people to be older, white, and lower middle-class.  About half a dozen nonwhite persons were there, but they were selling flags and buttons and t-shirts in an effort to capitalize on the market.

Yes, they had their hateful buttons and signs, but this time they were mostly manufactured, not hand-made, and all meticulously spelled!!  But boy, were they pissed off! One older gentleman refused to read my little handout ("Thank you, Obama, for these tax cuts!" followed by a listing of all the tax cuts us little folks (i.e., taxpayers) have received this year.) "Nah....I've been workin since I was 10 years old and I never took a penny from anyone, and I got 17 children and...." at which point, he turned and stomped away.  I called "Thanks for your good example and hard work!" But he didn't turn around.  And I got to thinking...17 kids!  I wonder if he's my cousin!! I should have asked him if he was from South Dakota.

Tax Day 2010

Today, April 15, used to be the most exciting day of the year--the day I drove past the Minneapolis Post Office at a little before midnight to drop our tax return into a bag held by one of many postal employees out front. The postal employees wore vests with reflective tape, warm hats (it was only April, after all), and carried flashlights to help our aim in the dark. Tout le monde, it seemed, was out there dropping off tax returns. Police officers directed traffic so the lines moved along without tieups. It was an event! The only other event that came close was Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. That, too, took place around midnight, and it also gave us the same feeling of sauves par le gong.

And then we discovered accountants. Even though we had to pay $100 for an accountant back then (out of a total income of less than 5 figures), we always got that $100 investment back and more when tax refund time rolled around. No matter how scrupulous I was at counting every possible deduction, the accountants always knew more and better.

Years passed, and I moved to one of the five boroughs of NYC. I was divorced by then and my income had climbed to the low five figures, though I also had quit recently to go to grad school. (That was retirement #2--you could cut a pretty good deal if your employer a) had a good investment plan for its employees, or b) wanted to cut down the number of employees, or c) both.) But back to the borough...walking down the main street to the wonderful, enchanting bookstore (and no, I'll never buy a kindle...you'll have to pry my book out of my cold, dead hands), I'd pass an accountant's storefront shop.

One day in the end of January after my W2 form had arrived for the previous year, I walked past the accountant's and thought, "What the heck?" I walked in, talked with the accountant, who was sitting right there at a desk, and went home to get my W2. The accountant had all the other forms right there. I returned, handed over the goods, and got a quote for the accountant's work in preparing and filing my taxes: $75! And I would get several thousand back!! What was not to like?

I'm still using that blessed accountant. He files my taxes electronically now, and any returns--state and federal--appear in my checking account in less than two weeks!! This is all accomplished usually by what we used to call in the convent "Progress Day": March 4th (say it out loud). His son has joined the business now and manages investments. If I had a dime to invest, I'd give it to him.

Recently when the owner of a new storefront tax business approached me on my new main street with a coupon for discounted tax prep, I just smiled and said "I'm all finished!" In fact, I've been finished for so long it always amazes me that people still have not filed their tax returns for last year by midnight, April 15.

Thank you, Digby, for posting this

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/working-together.html

In case you're wondering, it's about jobs and fairness and cleaning up the mess wrought over the past decade by greed and selfishness. Not funny? Sorry. But it's necessary. Please read this.

Goody...more bargains!!

All my favorite cooking websites are having humongous sales these days. Here's a small appliance sale ad I got today:

OUR FIVE FAVORITE COUNTERTOP APPLIANCES!!
Blender:$548.95
Coffee Maker: $305.00
Mixer: $349.95
Food Processor: $298.95
Toaster Oven: $129.95

Yup...that's right. 500 bucks for a blender, 300 for a coffee maker ON SALE! Thank God we have Starbucks!!! With SALE prices like these, we can't afford to make our own coffee!

Who needs Conan, Dr. Oz, or Oprah? We've got Darlene!!!

Darlene emailed this valuable and timely advice to her subscribers yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't post it immediately, but I had to make sure I had enough supplies for the week.

Please share this with the important women in your life:


Important Women's Health Issue:

Do you have feelings of inadequacy? Do you suffer from shyness? Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions.

Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything..

You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include: Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, lustfulness, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing karaoke!

IMPORTANT WARNINGS NOT ON THE LABEL: The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not. The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them. The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing. The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.

Darlene knows....it's never too late to be funny!

I wanna bangerbur*!

It's Saturday afternoon, the day before Easter Sunday. I think they called this Holy Saturday, who knows? What I remember most about it was that the Lenten fast used to end at noon on this day. My dad would have a good sandwich for lunch, with probably a glass of beer and a cigarette, too. He used to give up smoking and drinking for Lent every year, but at noon today, it was back to his normal diet. I just remember feeling THRILLED about it, even though nothing much culinary changed for me. I was just glad for my dad. Mom was, too. He suffered the most from fasting, though I think he could have done ok without the food. It was the highball before dinner and the cigarettes that he missed.

He wasn't a big drinker...he saved his quarters in a little metal bank that looked like a book, and when he had enough, he'd buy another bottle of Jim Beam. He paid for his Pall Malls the same way.

There's been no fasting in Casa Maria Elena for many years, and I quit smoking in 1979. So this is simply remembrance of things past. One thing that used to amuse me about Canon Law was the fact that you could get around just about any church rule with it. For example, if you were fasting, you could still drink as much as you wanted--tea, coffee, water, and yes, beer and booze, too. And if you were drinking an alcoholic beverage, you could have a snack so that you didn't get drunk. And Bob's your uncle....(in my children's case, true!)

But it just occurred to me that i really, really WOULD like a hamburger right now. I don't fast for spirichal reasons, but I'm laying off meat cuz it's a) so expensive and b) i can't afford it. Hmmmm.... Maybe a nice turkey burger?????

*This is what our small neighbor Jeffy Berger used to call this delicacy.

Hub Man!!!

Germany bus is on the far side of Dupont Circle--to the right of the fountain and beyond the folks in red and white.

Germany bus is going north on Connecticut Avenue....

Hub Man and little Mr. Bendy.

Who says DC is not full of promise? The German Embassy here has sponsored a "Spot the Bus" contest for a couple of years. The first contests awarded winners a chance to fly to Germany. This year, the winners (those who spot the bright blue "Germany bus" on the streets of DC and send the contest a photo of it) get their choice of "German gear."

I picked the techie option, and I collected my prize at the PO today:
A little bendy toy and something they call "Hub Man"--you plug it into your USB slot, and it provides FOUR slots for things you might want to power via your computer.

I wish they still gave away trips to Germany. My mother was born in Germany, and lately I've begun to want to see where she arrived on the planet. Hmm....

Anyway, the first two photos above have glimpses of the Germany Bus--by the time I got my blackberry out and ready to take a photo, the bus in both shots was far away. But close enough to win Hub Man and the little bendy figure.

The HAT!!!

Here's the hat in more of its glory....

Now, ladies and gents, I have to ask you...how many 18-year-olds (the age when Karen's and my contemporaries usually got hitched right out of high school) would  have had the stones to put this on their heads and march down the aisle?  Karen has become my new hero. 

Ha...When they were saying their vows and got to the part where they said they would "Grow old together," she just unthinkingly paused and looked out at the congregation and thought, "We already ARE"--and everyone, catching the look on her face, all laughed at the same time.

A Hat Called "It's About Time!!"

My delightful longtime friend Karen (or Connie, to which she also answers) Morrissey just got married for the first time this past November to Jim Schumacher. She's just a year younger than I am almost exactly, and she grew up in Jamestown, same as Martha. She and Jim now live in Colorado and while unpacking from the move are preparing for a trip to Ireland.

She sent me this email about her wedding hat:

A friend of years, Vivian, and I went to a super art fair on the lower grounds of St. Kate's this summer. One of the tents had a hat maker, so I stopped. While looking I found a beautiful garden hat she created with a small pink bird in next to the crown, pheasant feathers, some stripped and crumpled corn husk, some netting, everything including the hat has been treated with a stiffening agent. I tried it on and liked it so much I decided to wear it for my wedding. Smiling, the designer asked if I would like to know the name of the hat. As I nodded she showed me the tag on the hat, which said:　IT'S ABOUT TIME!!　

Congratulations, Jim, for finally chasing down one of the last, best holdouts!  And best wishes, Karen!  You've been a wonderful writer, teacher, social worker, and friend, and now you're a vibrant bride!!  Have a swell time in Ireland. If you find yourselves in Limerick City near the jail, raise your caps (hats?) to my relatives....

Golly....

Two of my favorite bloggers--Kay of Kay's Thinking Cap, and Darlene of Darlene's Hodgepodge--picked Xtreme English for a "Sweet Award."  Thanks, Kay and Darlene! I appreciate this more than I can say.  It's always a bit of a shock to me that anyone pays attention to my bloggy ramblings and ravings. The award is VERY SWEET coming from you two. No matter what else calls for my attention, I always read your blogs.

Kay gets by with being outspokenly outspoken about everything that drives her batty in retirement, medical care, and modern politics, and her audience loves her for it.  Darlene writes long, thoughtful posts about serious topics and laces her communication schedule through with light and fun. I can never complain as well as Kay. People think she's dead right and hysterically funny--they just think I'm embarrassing. Darlene makes those of us who are still way younger than her look like doddering foofs when it comes to expressing complicated matters simply and directly--at at length, too. And she sends out the funniest Maxines!!

Kay's and Darlene's awardees have to pick ten things that make us happy, and then we have to nominate ten more bloggers for the award.

(And after that, we're supposed to have a good, stiff drink and practice throwing tomatoes at pictures of politicians from Texas, Wyoming, Ohio, and Arizona--or the state of our choice. I pick Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, and Nebraska. Also Montana.)

Anyway, here are ten things that make me happy:

1. Trees
2. Dandelions
3. My bicycle
4. Grandma Carew's recipe for chocolate chip cookies
5. My children, grandchildren, nieces & nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews
6. Flying to Paris overnight
7. WIFI
8. Pictures of the Obama family
9. Safeway
10. My Mac

And, as every recipient of this award has said, "This is the hardest part"--Here are the ten bloggers I nominate for this award. I'm pretty sure most of them will not give this a moment's thought, but I have to tell the world how much I enjoy their blogs:

1. Peggy of Lazy Gardener
2. Esther of Ishtar News
3. Sherwood of SherWords
4. Antonia of Whoopee
5. The Prince of Prince of Petworth
6. Claude of Photoblogging in Paris
7. Susan V from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
8. Susan M from Major Reader
9. Peteykins from Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog (scroll down to Wednesday, March 24)
10. Naomi from A Little Red Hen

Thanks, all.  While three-fourths of Xtreme English's readers today are in the US, and another good chunk come from the UK and Canada, intriguing small numbers have visited recently from Germany, France, Egypt, Australia, the Netherlands, India, Finland, Philippines, Chile, Hungary, Ireland, Argentina, Czech Republic, Russian Federation, Turks & Caicos Islands, Turkey, South Africa, Mongolia, Luxembourg, Singapore, Columbia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Dominican Republic, Greece, Malta, Europe (??), United Arab Republic, Norway, Romania, New Zealand, and Pakistan. My most popular posts are a curious mix: "La Petite Godin" (about our woodburning stove in Iowa), "Hell explained by a chemistry student," "Deaf operated KFC in Cairo," "Pivetta Muir Trail" (about my favorite hiking boots--also Peggy's), "Michael Pollan's 12 Short Food Rules," and "Tuna hotdish."  And you thought it was my scintillating commentary on current events all along?  Ha.

YES WE CAN!!!! Boner is sinking fast....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpOUctySD68

Almost Friday....

Have I got ten things that make me happy this week?  Hmmm....

1) Alice Walker has a new book: WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.
2) The neighbors' daffodils are up and blooming!!!
3) Alice Walker's book has a chapter "Crimes Against Dog," which says "Dogs understand something I was late learning; when we are mean to anyone or any being it is because we are temporarily not ourselves. We are somebody else inhabiting these bodies we think of as us. They recognize this.'My mommy's not in there at the moment. I'll just wait until she gets back.'" This, dear readers, has been the story of my life! If I had a dog....
4) Pillsbury's ready-made pie crust dough is not so bad, but you can't make apple pie with lousy apples.
5) The first friends you make are the best. At least mine are: Jane, Jim, Mary, Mary, Joanie, Judy, Michael and Marcia, Diane, Kay....
6) I love mashed potatoes.
7) The sky is glorious, no matter what else is going on.
8) Good haiku are great. Here's one:
Sitting quietly
doing nothing
spring comes.
 9) Old friends are the best, esp Jim and Mary and Mo.
10) Bus drivers are saints.

Yippee!!

The health care bill passed in the House of Representatives! It's not perfect--how could it be with all the wrangling in Congress over this and that? But it's a reality now....About all that remains is for the President to sign it into law.

And the first person to get a pen from that signature should be NANCY PELOSI!!! The first notice I got last night that the bill had passed was an email from "Nan," the San Francisco liberal who managed all the fractious Democrats and got the deed done. (Is that grammatical? Who cares?) (Or maybe that's syntax, not grammar...whatever)...

Please note, also: NOT ONE REPUBLICAN VOTED FOR IT IN THE HOUSE. They think they are going to call on their Tea-bagging wingnut troops and win big in November. Let's work on that, fellow libruls.

The BFF and I had the misfortune of sitting next to two Teabaggers yesterday at Starbucks. The woman was talking on her cell phone: "Yes, we're right across from the White House"--a bald-faced LIE. They were right across from the cupcake shop, which is almost a mile from the White House. Then she hung up and turned to point at all the exhausted families walking past, wending their way home from the Mall, where they were part of the huge pro-immigrant rally.
"Look at that!" the woman said. "You'd think you were in South America."
The BFF replied, "They're good people! You people disgust me. I can't believe I'm sharing this country with you."
Then the woman's husband said, "Run along. We don't want you here."
I considered offering to break his arm, but the BFF, seeing my thought processes, pulled me away. "Don't you dare say anything."
Gee...I'm still sorry I missed a chance to rumble with those unspeakable Teabaggers--the ones who have been calling out racial and homophobic epithets and spitting on members of Congress. They have been clogging the metro here all week, it seems like. Don't they have HOMES to go to?
Here's a poster on my bus stop at the metro. It says,
"The immigrants work for the prosperity of America -  Justice for all the workers!!"

Let's work on that toilet seat law!!

Michael Moore has a wonderful article in today's Huffington Post.  Here's a nice, long quote:

If Stupak were truly pro-life then he'd vote for this bill. Right now, a mother in the U.S. has a ten times greater chance of dying in childbirth than a mother does in Ireland. If you really wanted to reduce abortions, you'd have to ask yourself this question: Why does godless France, where abortion is nearly free (it's covered by their universal health insurance), have 20% fewer abortions per capita than we do? What's even more amazing about that statistic is that you can't even get an abortion in America in 87% of our counties because there isn't one single doctor in those counties who will perform one! 87%!! The Right has scared them to death -- sometimes literally -- out of performing an otherwise legal, safe procedure. So, you can say women have "choice" in this country, but the reality is the "choice" doesn't exist in the majority of the nation. "Right to Life" has essentially won this battle. (My personal position: I don't get to have a position -- I don't have a uterus. If a Senate that was 90% female told me I couldn't have a vasectomy or made it a crime to leave the toilet seat up, I guess I might object.)
What is "life"? An egg is life, a sperm is life. Those sperm aren't running on a battery pack. They are living creatures, as is a fertilized egg. But they're not "human beings." A human being is something that can exist outside the womb of a mother. If you think a fertilized egg is a human being, then I respectfully ask you to go down to the DMV today and have them change your birthday on your driver's license to 9 months older than what you've been telling everybody.
So back to my question. Why do we have an abortion rate 20% higher than France's (and more than twice as high as Germany's), especially considering most doctors here won't perform them? The answer is any country that has universal health care, where contraception is free, where child care is free or inexpensive, where there is less poverty because people don't become bankrupt over medical bills -- those societies are simply going to have fewer unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.
And there the mask gets pulled off the Bart Stupaks and the "Christians." If the statistics show that countries with government-provided universal health care and nearly-free abortions are, in fact, the countries with the fewest abortions, then why on earth wouldn't the Right be the first in line to support universal health care?

And the answer is...

Because it isn't about "universal health care." It's about controlling women, period.

TGIF....

Also, TGI...(fill in any other day of the week as the spirit moves you).

I've decided to try being happy for a change. Somebody wrote recently about changing our focus from those things that worry, grieve, and annoy us to those things that make us happy. So, here are ten things that have made or are making me happy this Friday, March 19, 2010.


1) March 19 is the feast day of St. Joseph, and since I once was a candidate for membership in the Sisters of St. Joseph, this day has many powerful, happy memories from my youth. As I recall these, I realize most of them have to do with my friend Martha: Martha sharing a smuggled bottle of orange soda after Grand Silence on our first night at 1890 Randolph; Martha loading a wheeled cart with dozens of cookies to transport them to the storeroom but first stopping at her locker to deposit a dozen or so for herself; Martha stacking a pile of Liber Usualises, the big, heavy Gregorian Chant books, on a veil spread out on the pew ahead of her as its wearer was kneeling in prayer--and when the wearer went to stand up, the Libers had her veil firmly anchored, and she sort of flopped around making (forbidden) noise. So knowing Martha--with her brilliant mind, musical and artistic talent (she taught her granddaughter Ruby how to play the recorder and the violin), and profound knack for mischief--has made and is making me happy.

2) The sun pouring into this house. It's warmer outside than it is in here, so I've got the door open.

3) In the front yard, the big old tree is suddenly covered with RED buds--is it a maple? The tree is falling apart, alas, losing its branches, but....

4) ...as I was outside sweeping up twigs and bark from the sidewalk, a long line of school children walked by two by two across the street with their teachers, and they were all singing! I don't know what they were singing, but they all knew the song by heart, and it sounded soulful and uncomplicated. Not anything like "Old McDonald"--maybe a Beatles song?

5) According to today's MR website post, the bakery downtown is doing very well, drawing in people from all over the area for its cupcakes and sweet potato cakes (pies?). Best of all, the woman who owns it is old, like me, and she's been baking all her life.

6) Day before yesterday, my BlackBerry fell out of my pocket, and a woman found it in the street, where it had been run over. She was able to call Cathy with it, and the woman turned out to be just half a block away from where we were. She didn't want any money for returning it or calling us. The BlackBerry was squashed, though, and it had to be replaced. Luckily, all the memory cards were still good.

7) My tulips are still presentable on the kitchen counter. (See the photo at the top of the post.) They look so natural in the big square lucite container (a wastebasket from BB&B), and even though they're nearly gone, they're still beautiful.

8)  I still have enough leftovers from St. Patrick's Day's corned beef and cabbage feast for tonight's supper!

9)  Peggy and Tom both chatted with me on Facebook in the wee hours of this morning.  Tom had an earache and couldn't sleep, and Peggy was up for the day in her time zone.  Sally sent an email yesterday, too. Such wonderful children.

10) The school kids just walked back to school, and they were still singing. 

Holy Toledo just got bypassed....

For years, one of my favorite expressions of awe and wonder has been "Holy Toledo!" That's straight out of Batman comics, although I think it was Robin who said it so often...not Batman.

Anyway, Texas has surged to the front of Holy Places here in the US of A, and Toledo isn't so holy any more--at least not as holy as Austin or...lessee...Crawford?? The 15-member Texas School Board have taken upon themselves to rewrite US history (so far, that's all...just the US's, but wait...) according to their idea of a "Christian" (Cruschin) perspective.

While my blood simmers on the back burner as I ponder WHO IS PUBLISHING THIS CRAP--the object of my next call to BOYCOTT--I found two good commentaries on Cosmic Navel Lint, and I'm posting the links here:

The first is Cosmic Navel Lint's link to Jeff Schneider's of Demagogues & Dictators' "An Open Letter to the Texas Board of Education: David Bradley Owes Someone $1000 Bucks", which contains this gem:

I fear when bias gives way to propaganda -- and when that propaganda is taught as fact. In my textbooks I learned that

"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round"

That is from Mein Kampf -- p. 376

And the second is Cosmic Navel Lint's St. Paddy's day post, Revisionism: The Texas Brain Saw Massacre, which starts out like this:

In a move of which Josef Stalin and his henchmen would have been proud, the Texas Board of 'Education' has now allowed itself to become a laughing stock in the realms of Western democratic academe. Indeed, future pupils who, on their résumés and curricula vitae, cite Texas as their alma mater have just been handed an additional hurdle in making progress in the world.

'Tain't funny, McGee"....

While we're at it.....

In addition to pope bashing, this column enjoys sharing posts on conservative fantasies, such as the accomplishments of Ronald Reagan. Here's a post from Cosmic Navel Lint about the Reagan Myth. Enjoy....

A few quotes:

Reagan did not reduce the size of government; indeed, the number of people on the federal payroll went up significantly under his leadership, which destroys another Republican/Teabagging group psychosis claim about them being the party of minimal federal government. A myth indeed.

...

At the time that it happened, Americans did not credit Reagan with the fall of the Berlin Wall. A USA Today poll 4 days after the fall of the Berlin Wall (in 1989) gave 43% of the credit to Gorbachev, and 14% to Reagan; the figures were 70% and 2% among Germans.

...

Finally, nowadays, whereas any self-respecting Republican, or at least those now scrabbling to be cast in the Reaganite mould (and they are legion), routinely claim to be a deficit-busting 'fiscal conservative', a term rapidly becoming a devalued currency for its claimants, interesting then that, according to former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, former Vice President Cheney claimed during a cabinet meeting that “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” Which prompts the question: then why do these self-same people bitch and whine non-stop about "the deficit", whilst seeking, feloniously, to paint the deficit as something which is Obama's fault, when he wasn't even in power during the previous eight Bush years which actually created it?

...
You get the idea....