Sojourners

A coalition of religious leaders, called Sojourners, seems to me to be more a political than a spiritual group. I've reached that conclusion based on their desperate plea that there be no limit to spending by the federal government.

The question to which they keep bringing me is, "Why do they want to abdicate their responsibilities?"

Somehow they seem to think that the church shouldn't be in the business of helping and ministering to the poor; but rather that is the job of government, or perhaps it's merely that that the church isn't able to meet the needs they see.
Even apart from the horrifically inefficient manner in which governments tend to do things, it also means two things I see as desperately wicked:

1. There can be no connection between the "charity" and the gospel, and
2. It requires the taking of money from people who may not approve of that particular "charitable" cause but may have another charitable use for that money.

By advocating government "charity" to the poor, these religious leaders are actively encouraging the government to break the 8th commandment by stealing from some members of society to give to others.

As Congressman Crockett once said, "We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money.”  

In short, forced charity is no charity at all, and if it is simply a payment of money or a gift of material goods, it misses the point of doing charity in the Name of the Author of Charity - Jesus Christ.

I would amend Rep. Crockett's statement to say that as individuals, we have an obligation to give away as much of our own money in charity as is prudent. Remember what John Wesley said, "Having, first, gained all you can, and, secondly saved all you can, then give all you can."

Once again, remembering that Charity is one of the Four Loves, I come to the same question, "Why do they want to abdicate their responsibilities?"

More on this here.

Carnage du Jour - 16 July 2011

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

It's been too hot to consider much in the way of cooking, really. Still, there were some left-over chicken thighs (made with a smoky citrus rub and roasted / semi-braised with some orange juice) in the fridge, so that seemed the logical starting point.
Pasta salad is always a good way to go when it's too hot to cook, but one is still hungry, so:

• A pot of small-ish shells was boiled and cooled
• Some aromatics were diced - onion, green pepper, and celery
• A few cherry tomatoes were sliced (generally into 3, sometimes 4 slices)
• Three chicken thighs were stripped and diced.

Now to dress the salad. Ranch dressing is a nice base for a pasta salad dressing, and I had just purchased a jar of jerk seasoning - a quick few squirts, a spoonful or two, a bit of mixing, and - voila! - a jerk ranch dressing that was quite tasty.

All in all, it was good enough to just grab a bite or two from the fridge the next day. Highly recommended to all and sundry.

A Dick Tracy Moment

I don't know how many of you will remember the old Dick Tracy cartoons on TV, but one of the best parts was the opening sequence where a police car is driving through the city with siren blaring and lights blazing.
The scene was drawn from directly above, and the cool thing was watching all the cars and trucks pull off to the side to let the cops go by.
This morning on my way to work, I was driving up Hayes between 7 and 8 Mile when an ambulance was heading South with full lights and siren.
It was very gratifying to join all the other drivers in pulling off to the side to let the ambulance go by. Note that I said I joined - it wasn't a matter of my being the first and everyone else realising what they should be doing, but rather everyone on both sides of the road pulled over to let the ambulance roll.

Very cool.

Oh, and Dick Tracy's wrist radio was cool as well.

Carnage du Jour - 09 July 2011

Chicken? Another Chicken recipe?
Of course, folks - it's the most consumed protein in America (source: I made that up, but I'm probably correct).

At any rate, we had a couple nice chicken breasts ready for cooking, and that's just what we did.
We have a great old roasting pan (I guess that's what you'd call it - kind of like a 9x12 cake pan, but heavy aluminium), so I preheated the oven with that pan inside. Once all was up to temp (375F), I pulled it out onto the stovetop with the burner on high to keep things going.
 
The breasts had been rubbed with a combination of chipotle powder and Old Bay (great on chicken by itself, too!), so I just put a bit of oil in the pan and put the skin sides down to sear.
Once they got a bit of a crisp on, they were flipped over, the burner turned off, and the pan returned to the oven.

The accompaniment this evening was a nice wide egg noodle pasta tossed with some Alfredo sauce with pearl onions and sliced black olives along with the pan drippings from the chicken.
There was a nice plate of asparagus spears as well, so all in all, there was nothing to dislike.

The chicken was so moist and tender that it surprised even me, and everything else did nothing but enhance the overall experience.
I think I'm going to do chicken this way again soon, and I would encourage you to give it a try as well.

Enjoy!

Instant Photography is Back ?

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

I guess I didn't realise that it had gone away, but Polaroid is making real instant cameras and film again, in the form of the Polaroid 300.
This means you can capture the world in full analogue instant colour beauty, and you don't need a printer to see what it looks like.


Glad to see it's back - my first camera was a Polaroid Swinger, original list price $19.95. You can find them on eBay now for anywhere between $1 and $50, for all the sense that makes..

Huzzah!

The Dogs We Love

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

(I had to use that title, for when a DeWitt sees this post.)

Anyway, it was a dog's life, and we were privileged to share it for over fifteen years.

What a great dog.
From that little puppy watching the mist rise from the surface of Lake Nipigon, to that valiant dog making his final CROP Walk to help end hunger, to that somewhat unsteady old guy who had to be carried up and down the back steps, and so much between, that little dog with the funny tail has given us love and memories beyond measure ...
and to think we weren't ready for him.
 
We would have missed out on him, had Christian and James not picked him out of that litter of nine, and our lives would have been much the poorer for it.
Nice work, guys, nice work indeed.

Anyway, the poor old guy has been fighting a stinking bloody brain tumour for over a year, and we all knew that at some point he wasn't going to be able to keep it up, and now he hasn't; and once again, we weren't ready for him ... to go.

It's hard, but I'm glad I knew him and loved him and shared his joy in the simple act of living and being a dog. Kooder was the best dog that could be imagined, let alone that could be.

Have fun with the cats, buddy.

I'm ready for some Football!

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

At last, the CFL season has begun, and what a great game we saw on Canada Day eve pitting the Montreal Alouettes against the BC Lions.
Two quality teams with quarterbacks at very different points in their careers, but both slinging that ball around like crazy, great catches, missed Field Goals, amazing hits, all the stuff that makes the CFL game so great.
Now, for Canada Day, there's a double-header with the fabulout Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and then the Toronto Argonauts (Argos Suck) visiting the Calgary Stampeders.
Rounding out the holiday weekend, the Edmonton Eskimos will visit the Saskatchewan Rough Riders on Sunday.

It's pretty cool that the NFL Network is showing some of these games, but ESPN3 has them all if you have access to that service.

If you've never seen Canadian Football, you need to check it out - it's a faster, more exciting game than the NFL, and each team is really a part of its community.
Very cool, and highly recommended.

Oskee Wee Wee!