Nobody 812

Sunday, March 28, 2010
Nobody # 812

Nobody Asked Me But:

Action: Republicans refuse to totally condemn the hatred, violence and threats of violence coming from their Far Right and aimed at Democrats who supported the health care bill.

Reaction: It seems that many Republican leaders are emulating that famous “young lady from Niger.”<<<

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We read about this new Pasadena place, Slaw Dogs, in the LA Times and being a dog lover, I had to try it. My # 1 was excellent. It was a nicely textured dog covered with beer chili, (slightly sweet but good) mustard, onions and slaw.

Barbara, who rarely eats hot dogs out, except in Manchester Village, Vermont, and never for breakfast, settled for her favorite hamburger for lunch at Pie N Burger.<<<

And while on the subject of food, did you know that: Cranberries, blueberries and Concord grapes are the only fruits indigenous to North America?<<<

FOODS I LEARNED TO LOVE YESTERDAY (WHEN I WAS YOUNG):

Dreamsicles (orange Popsicle with ice cream center)
Fudgesicles
Popsicles - but not as much
Pineapple upside-down cakes
Wheaties and cornflakes - with real cream off the top of home-delivered milk
Grapenuts
Mars Bars
Banana splits
Navy beans on bread with butter - also later pinto beans
Chip beef on rusks
Cherry pie
Pecan pie
Dressing but no giblets
Smothered pork chops cooked with scalloped potatoes
Swiss steak
Grits
Scrambled eggs with canned salmon
Chili
Homemade doughnuts
Homemade bread
Peanut butter on bread with mayonnaise
Pineapple and cottage cheese salad
Stuffed baked pork chops
Escalloped oysters
Lima beans
Lamb

Pictures above: My slaw dog, a sign in our revamped kitchen and a Tea party gathering.

“And the seasons they go round and round”

In my 91st Nobody, dated April 4, 1997, while picking my All-time baseball team, I wrote the following:

Right Field - Al Kaline - very many candidates, probably some more deserving, but he meets my qualifications plus I loved him.

So imagine my surprise and pleasure last week when I read the following:

There is familiar name at the Detroit Tiger spring training camp, Colin Kaline. His grandfather, the great Tiger right fielder and Hall Of Famer, Al Kaline, was one of my favorites.<<<

SPORTS FACTS THAT YOU PROBABLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT

Forbes Magazine ranks UCLA’s basketball program as the 9th most valuable at $16.8 M, just edging out # 10 Arizona at $16.6M. North Carolina was ranked # 1 at $29.2M.<<<

QUOTE OF THE WEEK – on college basketball

“Sportsmanship is like pizza: There is more bad than good.” Chris Erskine, LA Times.

Action: Fox announced that this will be “24’s” last day.

Reaction: For me it ended a month ago. Too much of the same ole, same ole.<<<

"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, / Where wealth accumulates, and men decay." "The Deserted Village" by Oliver Goldsmith.

Is there any doubt that today’s United States, where anger is the coin of the realm, has become if not a broken society, at the very least a badly bent one?

It seems to me that this is primarily a result of the two great revolutions that occurred in the second half of the Twentieth Century. The first, from the left, was the cultural revolution of the 1960s and early 1970s. The second, from the right, was the market revolution of the 1980s and into the 1990s. These two shared two common themes – I’M RIGHT and ME FIRST. The left claimed their right to be free from cultural restraints so as to maximize their human potential. For the Right it was all about being freed from regulations so as to maximize their economic potential. Both replaced “I think” with “I KNOW,” and “you are wrong” with “YOU ARE BAD.” Both said “freedom trumps responsibility.”

We have become a society of selfish enemies.<<<