Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Washington, D.C. is being dumped on, and not by angry Tea Party members. This time it’s snow. LOTS of snow. Record amounts of snow. To which I say, Good. Let it snow.

In his extraordinary book, “The Worst Hard Time; The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Dust Bowl, author Timothy Egan tells of the time that dust started falling on Washington, D.C. It was years into the man-made ecological disaster and devastation. Congress kept saying, it was a temporary problem, it would blow over, it wasn’t really happening, just a minor weather problem, the problem was being exaggerated, a conspiracy by Roosevelt liberals to tax and spend to try to fix the problem, and all those other deja vuish articles of faith we now hear said about “global warming.”

Then dust started fallin on Washington, DC. The sky darkened, literally, and the dust fell. For days and days. Dust from Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, the Panhandle. Dust falling from dark skies at high noon. For days. Scared hell out of the Congressmen who woke up and said, “We got a problem here,” and finally allocated funds for the CCC and various farm bureau programs to get to work planting trees, teaching and instituting soil conservation measures, and buying out near-dead farmers and excess, “toxic” farmlands that never should have been farmed in the first place.

Slowly, through human efforts and the end of a drought cycle, much of the land was restored and the dust blows stop. All it took was dust to fall on Washington D.C. Tons of dust.

Since we have a similar situation with this Congress (global warming is a myth, it isn’t caused by humans activity, it’ll blow over, it’s just a conspiracy by Obama liberals to tax and spend to help avert the coming disaster, & etc.) I say, Let it snow. And snow. And snow. Darkness at noon in D.C. is what we need now.

On the Other Hand

Tim Rutten, in his L.A. Times column presents a far darker problem. Congress itself. Do nothing Congress in the form of Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala) “who has put a personal hold on more than 70 executive branch appointments until the Obama administration agrees to fund a couple of pork-barrel projects hehas earmarked for his state. One involves tens of millions of dollars for an FBI laboratory focusing on improvised explosives – something the bureau desn’t think it needs. The other involves contract specifications for an aerial tanker that Northrop Grumman and Airbus would manufacture in Alabama, if they win the deal. . . . Unless the administration agrees to give Shelby what he wants, he intends to invoke an archaic senatorial privilege that allows him to prevent the chamber from considering any of the administration’s nominees to executive branch vacancies, no matter how crucial. Without the 60 votes to force cloture – another archaic convention – there’s nothing the Democrats or the White House can do. . . . Outside the Senate, Shelby’s conduct would be called extortion: inside the chamber it’s a ‘parliamentary tactic.’

“It’s also the sort of shabby situation that brings into sharp focus both the sources of congressional dysfunction and the popular discontent on both the left and right with the congressional parties. Earmarks and pork are anathema to a majority of conservatives and independents; the Senate’s outdated, made-for-obstruction rules and susceptibility to special interests are a source of increasing frustration to liberals and some independents. Yet, here we have one senator from one Southern state obstructing with impunity an entire nation’s business – purely for his narrow constituency’s financial interest.”

Compared to what global warming will do to this country, the devastation of the Dust Bowl is miniscule. With a dysfunctional government, a clueless, asleep-at-the-switch citizenry, even a mile-wide glacier falling on D.C might not be enough to do the trick.

Get the rowboats.

Oh, Wait, That’s Right.

Republican Vice Presidential candidate and former (resigned) moose-shooting Governor of Alaska (who can see Russia from her house) announced on Fox News that she would consider running for President if she felt it was the right thing for her.

Thank Goodness. We are saved!

Your Sunday Recipe

This is from the L.A. Times SOS column, adapted from “Wine Bistro Pierre Lafond,” an amazing rice pudding with a sort of middle-eastern-y flavor (the cardamom). The original recipe called for ¼ c sugar but I found that way too sweet and cut that down to about 1/8. You could use real maple syrup as well, or brown sugar. I also used the dry roasted pistachios from Trader Joe’s. And instead of cream, can use low fat milk since the pudding is really rich and creamy on its own. Enjoy.

Chilled banana and pistachio rice pudding

½ tablespoon butter
½ tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 c. sugar
½ c basmati rice, rinsed and drained
2 c milk
1 c cream or half and half
¼ c pistachios, shelled and chopped, plus extra for garnish, if desired.

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2. Stir in the rice, milk and cream. Bring the mixture to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook the rice, uncovered, until very tender, stirring occasionally, 20 – 25 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and set the pan aside, uncovered, until the rice cools to room temperature, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. (The pudding will be very soupy at first, but will thicken as the rice continues to absorb the liquid as it cools in the pan.) When the rice is almost cooled, peel and dice the banana.

4. Stir in the pistachios and banana, then cover and refrigerate the pudding until well chilled. Garnish with whipped cream and extra pistachios if desired. Makes about 3 cups rice pudding.

How Much Is That Fighting Pit Bull In the Window?

Well, in the case of quarterback Michael Vick, about “$1.6 million this season with a team option for another year at $5.2 million,” according to an August 15 L.A. Times story by Sam Farmer. Vick, who spent 18 months in federal prison for running a dog fighting operation which included charges of inhumane treatment of dogs, including torturing and killing them when they angered him or didn’t perform properly, recently signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for that nice $1.6 million.

Michael Vick's Redemption

In prison he apparently saw the light with mentoring from retired Colts coach, Tony Dungy, who also ministers to prison inmates. Dungy believes in second chances and spoke recently on 60 Minutes about many young black men who may have lacked proper childhood parenting and so too often went wrong. In that same interview, Vick spoke of a childhood where dog fighting was simply an accepted way of life, including watching the police observing the activity, shrugging and walking away. Which sent the young Vic a powerful message: Dog fighting and gambling on dog fighting and abuse of dogs was simply an accepted cultural norm for his community.

Also on 60 Minutes with Vick and Dungy was Wayne Percelle, head of the Humane Society of the US (HSUSA). As part of his parole and as evidence of his redemption, Vick has committed to an ongoing outreach program to communities to talk about his downfall as well as educating communities about dog fighting as well as urging kids take another look at the issue of animal cruelty in their own lives and community.

So, it’s win-win all round. Vick gets the dough, Dungy saves another soul and the media-savvy Percelle gets a high-profile spokesperson for his money-making operation.

And Then PETA Shows Up!

Naturally, PETA and others had a cow. As the Times reports, one wag showed up at the team’s headquarters bearing a sign that said, “Hide your beagle, Vick’s an Eagle.”

The Times also notes this all important gem: “Meanwhile, according to Sports Business Daily, the price and number of tickets purchased on the online ticket site StubHub for the Eagles’ Dec 6 game at Atlanta against Vicks former team have tripled since he was signed.”

Ah, yes, money, money, money. Makes the world go round. But before too much outrage gets generated over this deal, a couple of points should be considered. First, people do change. As Oprah Winfrey is fond of saying, we do better when we know better. For Vick, it’s likely he realized that in the wider culture, pit fighting and dog abuse isn’t supposed to be “publicly” acceptable.

Too Many Dogs In L.A.

Which brings us to point Two – Irony. In Los Angeles alone, the Animal Control Services there euthanized 7,500 unwanted, unadoptable dogs in 2008. There were also 10,000 owner turn-in dogs and 20,000dogs were picked up as abandoned strays or lost. That’s a whole lot of “abused” dogs and an excellent example that our culture at large, just like Vick’s childhood neighborhood, doesn’t value dogs very much at all. In reality, in our wider culture, dogs (and cats) are as disposable as garbage.

And point Three. If what Vick did to the fighting dogs in his control was brutal and cruel, what do giant, testosterone-fueled football players deliberately do to each other each Sunday afternoon? Professional football is not beanbag and the physical damage these players are supposed to inflict on each other in pursuit of that lucrative win can leave players with short careers and permanent disabilities, including brain damage from head-slams that even a helmet cannot protect against. Professional football, like pit fighting, is a brutal “sport,” which is exactly the way sports fans like it.

Fighting dogs, bad-boy, body-slamming human behemoths, big money, violence and blood on the field on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. What could be more American?