11.25.08

3 Pieces of Advice: George Washingon Farewell Speech

Posted in Politics at 4:14 pm by bayted9

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Well, I’ve been studying for the CSET (an exam that tests subject matter comptency in a field that one would want to teach), and U.S. History is the midst of my current readings.

I had to quietly laugh when I read the three pieces of advice given by George Washington, in his farewell address:

  1. Avoid political parties based on geographic boundaries.
  2. Avoid permanent alliances with foreign powers.
  3. Safeguard the ability of America to pay its national debt.
Now you may see why I mustered into a secluded laugh.  It’s like a game of telephone.  The main statement has been not only skewed, but forgotten and abandoned.
Let’s take a look at each.
Avoid political parties based on geographic boundaries.
I was a bit confused at first, as to what this really meant.  It seems that he was warning ‘against bitter partisanship in domestic politics, and called for men to move beyond partisanship and serve the common good’.  Serve the common good?  Ha.  If only he knew of the massive corruption caused by self-interests, by all – local, state, and national politicians, he would be devastated in his pronounced legacy.  One word: Bailouts.  Accepted and pushed through self-interests and personal debts of politicians, and the remarkable partisanship of this, that is the driving force in its establishment into law.  It’s no longer about The People.  It’s about how much which industry helped a specific politician’s campaign (via cold-hard cash), and how hard you can lock up the congressional votes through the buddy-buddy system of partisanship.
Next,
Avoid permanent alliances with foreign powers.
Isn’t that what we actually strive to do now?  Form and maintain permanent alliances with other countries?  Isn’t that the job of “secretary of state”?  At least, it is now.  But when George Washington established this office, the duties were as follows (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State):
On July 27, 1789, George Washington signed a congressional bill into law reauthorizing an executive Department of Foreign Affairs headed by a Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Congress then passed another law giving certain additional domestic responsibilities to the new Department and changing its name to the Department of State and the name of head of the department to the Secretary of State, and Washington approved this act on September 15, 1789. The new domestic duties assigned to the newly renamed department were receipt, publication, distribution, and preservation of laws of the United States, custody of the Great Seal of the United States, authentication of copies and preparation of commissions of executive branch appointments, and finally custody of the books, papers, and records of the Continental Congress including the Constitution itself and the Declaration of Independence. 
There was a reason why George Washington denounced entry into solid foreign friendships.  He did not want the United States to become attached or dependent on a foreign source.  He wanted us to ‘concentrate on American interests’.  He did promote ‘friendship and commerce, but warned against long-term alliances’ that would involve us into foriegn affairs too deeply, and unable to get out.
And,
Safeguard the ability of America to pay its national debt
I think the only thing that’s safe, is it’s safe to say that our current national debt, far exceeds our ability to pay it off anytime in the near future, or our great-great grandchildren’s futures.   This debt of ours, only magnifies our weakness and our inability to protect our country from those who do not want to see us prosper.  Bailout bills?  STOP THEM PLEASE, before our country is up for sale, due to owing more than we are worth to those who control the source of our debts. 
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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington#Farewell_Address

11.22.08

Maple Snickerdoodles : with Maple Frosting

Posted in Recipes at 12:42 pm by bayted9

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Even if you’re not the biggest and greatest maple fan in the world – I think these little guys are worth a try. :-)   It’s one of the simplest baking recipes I’ve come across, but it still manages to yield a unique, all-from-scratch existence.

 

It’s from www.allrecipes.com, which is one of my top favorite sites for recipes+reviews, by us common folk.. i.e. non chefs. :-)

 

The cookie recipe is separate from the frosting recipe.  I used the frosting recipe of another maple cookie recipe, to make this recipe.  That was easy to follow, right? ;-)

 

“ULTIMATE MAPLE SNICKERDOODLES” > RECIPE >

 

PREP TIME  15 Min
COOK TIME  10 Min
READY IN  35 Min
Original recipe yield 3 dozen

 

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup margarine, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple sugar

(Note: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour)

(Oops, another note: Since I’m not one to spend on specialty-store ingredients such as “maple sugar”, I used a combination of regular granulated sugar and ground cinnamon as the “coating”, a la fellow reviewers)

 

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup of white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and maple syrup. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until just mixed. In a small dish, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar and the maple sugar. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and roll the balls in the sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
  3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies will be crackly on top and look wet in the middle. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

(Since I feel like notes today, here’s another one: After rolling the dough into balls and coating in the sugar/cinnamon mixture, I flatted the tops a little with my fingers.  The cookies don’t seem to spread too much – although they do poof up a bit while they’re baking – so it was a good idea to mold them into a better shape)

 

“MAPLE FROSTING” > RECIPE >

 

PREP TIME  20 Min
COOK TIME  10 Min
READY IN  30 Min

 

It says it yields 24 servings, but I had plenty left over from frosting all of the cookies.. and I think I was using a generous mindset at the time.

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon maple flavored extract

    •  

    Directions:

     

    Combine 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon maple extract. Spread over cooled cookies.

     

    Enjoy~

    11.21.08

    Testing

    Posted in From the heart at 12:27 pm by bayted9

     

    Testing…

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