Making Cornbread

Cornbread is one of the cheapest, easiest breads you can make. When paired with beans, it forms a complete protein, making this combo an excellent meat substitute.

Basic Cornbread Recipe:

2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1 egg
Enough water, milk, condensed milk, or buttermilk to make a thick batter

Stir all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. For best results, you'll want to use a cast iron skillet--use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat on top of the stove until it just begins to smoke before pouring the batter in. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, a heavily greased baking pan will do, although the crust won't be as crunchy. Bake the cornbread at about 400 degrees F until the top is golden brown.

If you like sweet cornbread, add a tablespoon of sugar, or enough to suit your personal tastes. For a softer texture, substitute 1/2 cup of the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of self-rising flour.

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Senate Republicans Give Workers The Finger

In a move that displays an almost shocking display of disregard for Americans workers, Republican senators refused to support a bill aimed at bailing out American automakers. It is simply amazing that the neocons are so short-sighted and self-serving that they would sacrifice 3 million jobs on the altar of an ideology has all but destroyed this country's future.

Pelosi got it right when she stated:

“Senate Republicans’ refusal to support the bipartisan legislation passed by the House and negotiated in good faith with the White House, the Senate and the automakers is irresponsible, especially at a time of economic hardship,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement.

“The consequences of the Senate Republican’ failure to act could be devastating to our economy, detrimental to workers, and destructive to the American automobile industry unless the President immediately directs Secretary Paulson to explore other short-term financial assistance options."

We can only hope the Federal Reserve steps in and does something to help the Big Three--otherwise, it is very likely we will be plunged into another Great Depression, as millions more people lose their jobs and homes. You have to wonder how many children will end up sleeping in cars and going hungry if nothing is done.

Too many right-wingers still don't get the fact that we are all in this economy together, and that the ripple effect from the loss of the American auto industry will have effects that will ripple far and wide--note that many of the senators who voted against the bailout live in southern states that have foreign auto plants. If they think killing GM, Ford, and Chrysler will help their own states, they had best think again--if too many people end up losing their jobs, they won't be selling any cars, either--and so Toyota and all the other foreign auto plants will soon share the Big Three's fate.

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Children Resued From Pornographers

According to an article on CNN.com, 170 people have been arrested as a result of a major international operation targeting child pornographers:

So far, Operation Joint Hammer has rescued 11 girls in the United States, ages 3 to 13, who were sexually abused by child pornography producers, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and representatives of the European Union said at the Justice Department Friday.

Dozens more were located in Europe, including several young female victims in Ukraine.

Authorities found connections between producers, distributors and customers in nearly 30 countries as a single investigation grew to a global inquiry into the dark corners of brutality and child abuse.

I hope the people involved in this get thrown under the jail, and the key gets thrown away. One can only imagine how deeply scarred these little children will be for the rest of their lives.

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Surviving Tough Times

A quick perusal of the blogosphere reveals that a lot of people are looking for ways to cut down on their living expenses--recipes and grocery shopping tips seem to be in high demand. As a native of eastern Kentucky, I can say that I have seen a lot of people endure some mighty hard times over the years--you can say that thriftiness and frugal living are almost ingrained in our culture. From this point on, I'm going to share some of the recipes I grew up with--as well as some frugal dishes I have either invented or discovered since then.

Today, I will show you how to make soup beans--a staple food for many people from Appalachia:

2 cups dry pinto beans, picked over to remove any stones or other debris, rinsed
2 slices bacon, cut up
1 tsp. baking soda
Salt to taste

Soak the beans in cold water along with the baking soda over night. (This helps make them less "gassy.") The next morning, drain and rinse them. Place them in a large kettle along with the bacon slices and a little salt. Cover with about 3 inches of water. Cover and simmer on low heat several hours until the beans are tender, checking periodically to add water before they cook dry. If you like, you can add some chopped onions to the beans or you can substitute ham or salt pork for the bacon.

Tomorrow, I'll show you how to make cornbread to go along with the beans.

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Bush Comment Shocks Conservative Christians

It seems like Bush really can't do anything right. In a comment he made Monday, he stated that he doesn't believe the Bible is literally true--much to the dismay of some evangelical Christians. What's really amazing is that it has taken them 8 years to start figuring out that he is nothing but a fraud who played them like a fiddle in order to garner their support.

Too bad they didn't see it years ago--back when he unbiblically lied in order to take us to war with Iraq. Or the way his "screw the poor" policies contradicted the teachings of Jesus. Or the way he has helped the rich steal the wealth of the middle class.

Perhaps if they had dug in and actually read their Bibles--instead of swallowing the rot foisted upon the public as "Christianity" by the likes of Pat Robertson and his ilk, some of the troubles we are facing now could have been avoided.

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Cool Johnny Cash Song

I just found this over at Yallwire.com--every time I hear it, I can't help but think it was written for all the fat cats who have spent the last several years bleeding the world dry:
Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down
Free Music Videos at www.yallwire.com

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Obama Tells People To Stop Stocking Up On Guns

According to an article published in the Chicago Sun-Times , gun sales have shot up by 49% during the week following Obama's election win in November. Despite the fact that he claims he favors common sense gun laws and belief in the second amendment, many gun owners are fearful he may attempt to make ownership of firearms illegal in the United States due to his past legislative record.

Gun owners--as well as those who don't own guns but are considering buying one--certainly have reasons to fear...but not for the reasons given by NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam...

First of all, during normal times--despite Obama's past record on gun control legislation--there is little chance he would be able to get bills passed that would strip Americans of the right to own firearms. He would have to get Congress to go along with it--and since supporting such measures has the tendency to severely impact one's re-electability in many districts, it is unlikely Obama could garner the kind of support he would need in order to pull it off.

But these are not normal times. We are facing the greatest economic downturn this country has suffered since the Great Depression--and unfortunately, many people living in the US today are not as well prepared to deal with great hardship as our ancestors were. During the 30's, a greater percentage of Americans lived in rural areas where they could at least keep some livestock and raise a garden every year in order to stave off starvation. But not so today--most people live in cities and metropolitan areas where it would be very difficult for most of them to grow a meaningful portion of their own food. In addition, the know-how many of our grandparents had in regard to gardening, canning, and other rural survival skills has been all but lost.

Most importantly, however, is the fact that we have lived during a time when many people have never experienced what it is like to have to do without, to have to wait in order to get the things they want--to work, save, and perhaps suffer a little in order to reach their goals. A lot of folks are in for a rude shock as the economy worsens and more people lose their homes and their jobs. Under the sort of economic conditions we are likely to face, it is entirely possible that we could see widespread social unrest, rioting, and an astronomical increase in the crime rate.

While it may not be possible--at this time--for Obama (if he actually wanted) to get legislation passed that would ban guns, it would be much easier for anti-gun supporters to accomplish if the country was experiencing widespread civil unrest--and this is what gun owners truly need to be worried about.

It would be a monumental mistake to assume that taking people's guns away under these sorts of conditions would do anything to protect the public--law abiding gun owners would end up being the ones who would surrender their weapons--not the desperate individuals who would be committing crimes with them--and it is doubtful the police would be able to protect us.

While I believe Obama truly wants to help America get through this crisis, it would be a mistake to take away our right to protect our homes and our families. I truly hope, for the sake of us all, that he manages to contain the economic crisis quickly.

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Boredom Blogging

There are a lot of people like me out there these days--people who have been laid off or have had their hours cut, who sit by the phone waiting for that phone call from their boss or a prospective employer.

After the initial shock, you find yourself alternating between worry and boredom--so this blog is a way for me to kill time and have a little fun.

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