So it's Sunday and I'm watching all the Sunday shows and it seems that not one of them can ignore the comments by Harry Reid about Barak Obama's race and how it would effect his chances of becoming president. No one seems to be commenting on how this is really OLD news. The president himself would rather move on to more important things. But the mainstream media is fixated.
This is what I call a shiny object. Something that we are paying attention to that is diverting our attention from something else we should be really concerned about. Often it is diverting our attention from MANY things we should really be paying attention to. Health care reform, the deficit, the war on terror, what's going on in world news that rarely gets covered in the main stream media, these are all things that are more important and deserve more media air time than Harry Reids comments.
I'm mention one this morning that you should maybe spend a bit of time checking out. Thomas Friedman's excellent commentary on the China and The Green Revolution. Here is the opening sentence to his commentary "Who's Sleeping Now" in yesterday's NY Times :
C. H. Tung, the first Chinese-appointed chief executive of Hong Kong after the handover in 1997, offered me a three-sentence summary the other day of China’s modern economic history: “China was asleep during the Industrial Revolution. She was just waking during the Information Technology Revolution. She intends to participate fully in the Green Revolution.”
Okie dokie then.... Let's cogitate on that for a moment...
Later in the article Mr. Friedman refers to an email from Bill Gross, who runs eSolar, a promising California solar-thermal start-up:
On Saturday, in Beijing, said Gross, he announced “the biggest solar-thermal deal ever. It’s a 2 gigawatt, $5 billion deal to build plants in China using our California-based technology. China is being even more aggressive than the U.S. We applied for a [U.S. Department of Energy] loan for a 92 megawatt project in New Mexico, and in less time than it took them to do stage 1 of the application review, China signs, approves, and is ready to begin construction this year on a 20 times bigger project!”
*Sigh* Suddenly I see the appeal in a one party system. Not saying we should switch but it is interesting how quickly they can get things done. The U.S. seems to be a slow moving dinosaur in the Green Revolution. If we don't get up off the mat soon we're going to get our clock cleaned.
America is indeed a great country. But we are NOT the best at everything... UNLESS we choose to be. We can not just sit and expect that it will come. we need better schools, we need more scientists, we need to do away with the "Drill Baby Drill!" mentality and look to the future. We need to plan our path towards growth and prosperity.
Thoughts? Leave me a comment!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Maple Gingersnaps
These are the cookies I made for my son's recent sleep over.
They loved them! But they are 16 yo boys and will eat anything! LOL
Still I've made these for years and they are yummy!
From Yankee Magazine's Great New England Food Festival Recipes (Around 1995?)
Recipe from Steven Zakon, East Sullivan, New Hampshire
The cookie jar is never empty at the Dublin School, where Steve, the chef and kitchen manager, makes sure 130 students and faculty are well fed. Steve created this cookie recipe using Crisco Butter Flavored Shortening.
Maple Ginger Snaps
1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup dark-grade maple syrup
2 Eggs
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves
4 teaspoons ginger
-----------------------------
1/2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling.
Cream shortening and sugar. Whisk in the syrup and Eggs. Sift together the dry ingredients (except the sugar and cinnamon for rolling) and add to the egg mixture. Chill batter well. Roll into balls approximately 1 " in diameter. Roll balls in mixture of sugar and cinnamon and place 2 " apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 15 min. Remove from oven let rest for 1 minute, then remove to rack.
(For a smaller batch of cookies, recipe may be halved, or half of the dough may be wrapped and frozen for later use.)
Makes 6 to 7 dozen
Note from Anne: I used butter instead of the Crisco butter flavored shortening with good results. I could not find the Butter Flavored Crisco in Canada. (This recipe from a booklet I had in the mid 90s...)
They loved them! But they are 16 yo boys and will eat anything! LOL
Still I've made these for years and they are yummy!
From Yankee Magazine's Great New England Food Festival Recipes (Around 1995?)
Recipe from Steven Zakon, East Sullivan, New Hampshire
The cookie jar is never empty at the Dublin School, where Steve, the chef and kitchen manager, makes sure 130 students and faculty are well fed. Steve created this cookie recipe using Crisco Butter Flavored Shortening.
Maple Ginger Snaps
1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup dark-grade maple syrup
2 Eggs
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves
4 teaspoons ginger
-----------------------------
1/2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling.
Cream shortening and sugar. Whisk in the syrup and Eggs. Sift together the dry ingredients (except the sugar and cinnamon for rolling) and add to the egg mixture. Chill batter well. Roll into balls approximately 1 " in diameter. Roll balls in mixture of sugar and cinnamon and place 2 " apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 15 min. Remove from oven let rest for 1 minute, then remove to rack.
(For a smaller batch of cookies, recipe may be halved, or half of the dough may be wrapped and frozen for later use.)
Makes 6 to 7 dozen
Note from Anne: I used butter instead of the Crisco butter flavored shortening with good results. I could not find the Butter Flavored Crisco in Canada. (This recipe from a booklet I had in the mid 90s...)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Funny Video on Twittering!
I twitter!
Personally: http://www.twitter.com/anneryangreen
Professionally: http://www.twitter.com/mississaugakids
and I find this video very funny!
Personally: http://www.twitter.com/anneryangreen
Professionally: http://www.twitter.com/mississaugakids
and I find this video very funny!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Miracle on the Hudson & Officer Lazarus... Are these really "Miracles"
Lately the work miracle has been tossed around quite a bit.
First the plane that crashed in New York's Hudson River.
Then today I saw a new report on a Police Officer in South Carolina who suffered a heart attack and first declared dead by emergency workers only to have another say she felt a faint pulse and he was actually alive.
I believe in God and I think he can perform miracles but how about giving the humans involved a bit of the credit!
The pilot of the plane, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, has logged thousands of hours flying and has probably spent thousands of hours studying and practicing in flight simulators. It was his job and he worked hard to be the best he could be doing it. He accepted the resposibility and did not shirk his responsibility. He was the last one off the plane.
The Nurse or EMT who double checked the pulse of Ken Kirby after he was declared dead also spent alot of time and effort to become educated and trained. It was her job to help people and to make sure the correct diagnosis was made. Perhaps she hesitated when she felt the pulse... wondered if she should just agree with her peers... but no, she insisted she felt the pulse and it was the right call. She accepted responsibility. She did her job.
These are everyday heros that we should teach out children to admire. The Banking and Investment Brokers who let us all down by selling investments they did not understand or sometimes even knew were risky should take a lesson from them.
There is honor in all work no matter what the pay if you work hard and do your best.
First the plane that crashed in New York's Hudson River.
Then today I saw a new report on a Police Officer in South Carolina who suffered a heart attack and first declared dead by emergency workers only to have another say she felt a faint pulse and he was actually alive.
I believe in God and I think he can perform miracles but how about giving the humans involved a bit of the credit!
The pilot of the plane, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, has logged thousands of hours flying and has probably spent thousands of hours studying and practicing in flight simulators. It was his job and he worked hard to be the best he could be doing it. He accepted the resposibility and did not shirk his responsibility. He was the last one off the plane.
The Nurse or EMT who double checked the pulse of Ken Kirby after he was declared dead also spent alot of time and effort to become educated and trained. It was her job to help people and to make sure the correct diagnosis was made. Perhaps she hesitated when she felt the pulse... wondered if she should just agree with her peers... but no, she insisted she felt the pulse and it was the right call. She accepted responsibility. She did her job.
These are everyday heros that we should teach out children to admire. The Banking and Investment Brokers who let us all down by selling investments they did not understand or sometimes even knew were risky should take a lesson from them.
There is honor in all work no matter what the pay if you work hard and do your best.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Birthday Mom!
Today would have been my Mom's 66th Birthday. So in the hustle and bustle of the Halloween celebrations I pause and think of her a bit.
Her favorite cake to have on her Birthday was a chocolate cake with white butter cream icing.
She loved to dabble in spells.
Just after her cancer arrived my son and I discovered KIVA and introduced the concept to her. She loved the idea of lending to women around the world. She enjoyed reading their stories and imagining the ways in which her small contribution might make a big difference in their lives.
So, yesterday and today in Honor of Mom I broke my diet and had some chocolate cake with white icing.
Did my own little secret ritual to honor her.
And reinvested some of her KIVA loan money that had been accumulating.
When you loan money through KIVA it comes back to you! You can then reloan it. When Mom passed away I decided I would continue her account in her memory.
To see Mom's Page you can visit http://www.kiva.org/lender/karen6121
You will be able to read about the women she has lent money to and how those women are using that money to change lives. Maybe you'll be inspired to start loaning as well.
Happy Birthday Mom! Wish you were here! XXOOO
Her favorite cake to have on her Birthday was a chocolate cake with white butter cream icing.
She loved to dabble in spells.
Just after her cancer arrived my son and I discovered KIVA and introduced the concept to her. She loved the idea of lending to women around the world. She enjoyed reading their stories and imagining the ways in which her small contribution might make a big difference in their lives.
So, yesterday and today in Honor of Mom I broke my diet and had some chocolate cake with white icing.
Did my own little secret ritual to honor her.
And reinvested some of her KIVA loan money that had been accumulating.
When you loan money through KIVA it comes back to you! You can then reloan it. When Mom passed away I decided I would continue her account in her memory.
To see Mom's Page you can visit http://www.kiva.org/lender/karen6121
You will be able to read about the women she has lent money to and how those women are using that money to change lives. Maybe you'll be inspired to start loaning as well.
Happy Birthday Mom! Wish you were here! XXOOO
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