Quote of the Day

"If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with
inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just power from
the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made
beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their
soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not
forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of
the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that
direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary."

- Calvin Coolidge, 5 July, 1926

A Tip of the Toque to Mike at South Texian.

Soylent Dumb

A Tip of theToque to Ken, the Fifth String on the Banjo of Life:

Really?

All Things to All Men

As anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows, I'm incredibly fond of my home state, an equally proud of it -- despite my frustration with the political atmosphere here, it's a beautiful place, and outside the cities (especially Eugene and Portland), quite down-to-earth.

Also, despite what people think, Oregon, and the Northwest in general, is not one continual rainfall. One of the things that I've been proud of for quite some time, as it directly relates to the beauty of this place, is its incredible geological and climatic diversity, and the surprising way that diversity stacks Oregon up in comparison to other regions of the country.

I do not deny that there is beauty to be found across this great nation, nor do I imply we hold a monopoly on it. But what is amazing is the way in which so many diferent places in Oregon compare to so many different parts of the rest of the country. With the exception of a few very extreme examples (The Everglades, or the Grand Canyon, for instance), if you pick a specific place in America known for its geology, climate, and scenery, I can, with some effort, find somewhere in Oregon with similar features -- in some cases, admittedly, the Oregon version is a second-best copy, but in other cases, I'd happily stack Oregon up for comparison with confidence that we'd come out on top.

Let me give you a few examples. For copyright reasons, I am not posting any of the gorgeous pictures I found online here -- rather, I'm posting links and letting you see for yourself:

Hudson River Valley, New York
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon/Washington Border

Arizona's Painted Desert
Oregon's Painted Hills

The Blue Ridge Mountains
The Coast Range

A Maine Lighthouse
Oregon's Heceta Head Lighthouse

Grand Tetons, Wyoming
Wallowas, Oregon

Napa Valley, California
Willamette Valley, Oregon

See what I mean?

Change We Can No Longer Suspend Disbelief In

I've been watching with a mixture of sadness, fatalistic amusement, anger, and a bit of regretful vindication the Obama administration's handling of things, especially the financial crisis, and was inspired to create the following image:

What He Said

Robert the Llama Butcher has posted a YouTube video of Representative McCotter (R - Michigan) lambasting the Dems over the AIG flap. Go watch it -- I couldn't have summed up my own feelings on this any better.

While We're At It

Found this quize at The Bow Ramp too:

I am a: Glock Model 22 in 40 cal

What kind of handgun are YOU?

Serendipity

I took a "What Beer Are You?" quiz, and guess what I scored? You, you guessed it:

Your result for The If You Were A Beer Test...

Guinness

(100% dark & bitter, 67% working class, 100% genuine)

Okay, we all know Guinness is the best possible score on any "What Kind Of Beer Are You" test, so you can just go on and pat yourself on the back now. Like the world's most famous brew, you're genuine, you've got good taste, and you're sophisticated. What else can I say, except congratulations?

If your friends didn't score the same way, get ready for them to say: Guinness is too heavy; it's an acquired taste; it's too serious--and they probably think those things about you at times. But just brush 'em off. Everybody knows Guinness is the best. Cheers.

Take The If You Were A Beer Test at

A tip of the Toque to William Powell at The Bow Ramp.

Self-Evident

A Tip of the Toque to Mike at South Texian:

My Conservative Identity:

You are a Free Marketeer, also known as a fiscal conservative. You believe in free-market capitalism, tax cuts, and protecting your hard-earned cash from pick-pocketing liberal socialists.

Take the quiz at http://www.fightliberals.com/Inside-the-Book/What-Breed-of-Conservative-Are-You.html

I'm not so sure I agree with the results -- I DO believe in the free market, but I also believe that it is merely a tool to be used to secure even more basic freedoms, and is itself dependent on other important freedoms in order to function properly. But I did my best to answer the questions frankly and accurately, and that's what came up, so there you go.

Pop Quiz

Four Questions:

1. Which of the two main presidential candidates, , during the election, claimed that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong", despite the current crisis?

2. What was his critics' response?

3. Which of those candidates is now maintaining that claim?

4. Which of them are we to believe?

Qoute of the Day

"If Michelle Obama doesn't lay off all this "giving back" stuff pretty soon, she's going to find herself in Warren Buffett's tax bracket. "

- Ann Coulter

(A Tip of the Toque to Mike LaRoche at South Texian.

Musical Geography Trivia Question of the Day

Where was the deal made on a dark and stormy day?

More Hopeychanginess

A Tip of the Toque to Phineas at Public Secrets.

Once again, a member of the administration of the President Who Will Clean Up Washington has some questions to answer regarding the ethics of his behavior.

The man who is President Obama's newly minted urban czar pocketed thousands
of dollars in campaign cash from city developers whose projects he approved or
funded with taxpayers' money, a Daily News probe found.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion often received contributions
just before or after he sponsored money for projects or approved important
zoning changes, records show.

Most donations were organized and well-timed.

Change We Can Believe In.

Das is Das Amore

As I've mentioned, my sister's genealogy research has confirmed our Celtic and Germanic ancestry -- German, English, Welsh, Scot, Irish, Swedish, with a smattering of Swiss and French.

But my favorite ethnic cuisine, hands down, is Italian (ok, not hands down -- well-made Mexican gives it a run for its money. As do Northwest cuisine and Barbecue, both of which are American and thus no what I consider "ethnic"). And I must say, I'm quite good at it. I even suggested a while back to TFR that maybe I should try my hand at it as my business. She demurred. Until tonight, when I made lasagna.

I started with a green bell bepper, 3/4 of a sweet yellow onion, and a couple stalks of celery, all fine diced. I sweated them in some olive oil along with a butt ton (that's 1.35 metric assloads for my readers outside the US). That went ito a big pot along with 30 oz. of tomato sauce and 6 oz. of tomato paste. Then I browned 1 lb of hamburger and 12 oz. ground pork along with more garlic, dried parsley, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, paprika, and powdered chili. I added this to my sauce, as well as the wine I used to deglaze the skillet. I also added some balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and fresh oregano, as well as more salt and pepper. Once it was ready, I latered sauce, ricotta, pasta, sauce, ricotta, pasta, sauce, ricotta, pasta, sauce, ricotta, pasta, sauce, mozzarella, covered it with foil and baked for 35 minutes, then removed the foul, added a little more mozz., parmesan, and baked it for 10 more minutes, then hit it with the broiler for 3 more, then let it cool and added more parmesan.