Rush’s Ass By Chef Sheila

Don’t stampede boys, there’s enough of rush’s ass for EVERY republican to kiss…. And that’s what I want to see!

Every single Republican, taking a rush loyalty oath in public, kissing his ring, then his monstrous behind, prostrating themselves at his feet, kowtowing before him in total submission, one right after the other, Lott, Specter, Graham, Mccain, every single one of them showing how loyal and devoted they are to the gigantic one on the a.m. dial.

This should be the ultimate test of the Republican party.  Admit that rush is your Party Leader, your overlord and master.  Go on his show, apologize, grovel and  humiliate yourself before his holy heavy highness and then subjugate yourselves to the New Face of Republican Leadership.

“I pledge allegiance to Rush Limbaugh  and to the republican party, for which he stands, one party, under Rush, inseparable and indivisable, with loyalty and ALWAYS apologies to Rush”.

Don’t worry repub boys, it won’t hurt to kiss Rush’s ass and  it’s no big deal. After all, he’s just an ‘entertainer’. Believe me, you boys are entertaining the hell out of us.  We are savoring every delicious minute of your tripping and slipping into the annals a history. 

Go ahead, kiss Rush’s shiny, powerful ass…. you know you wanna….

Sheila’s Chicken Soup For The Soul

“Chicken Soup for the Soul” is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.   It is a  

Mr Happy Feet

story that opens the heart and rekindles the spirit.  

Its been a harrowing couple of months and frankly, I’m not sure I can pay anymore attention to the fight that’s going on inside the beltway. President Obama against the GOP is just too much for my nerves and so this week, at least.   I decided to write about goodness and doing the right thing against what has become the norm.  

  

I’ve always maintained that my only son was the greatest teacher of my life. My Little Man had such an innocent understanding of right and wrong. He owned a moral code that I truly respected. I found that I had no desire to disappoint my son with a so called, “Do As I Say and Not As I Do” moment and so this led me to strive harder to live up to what he naturally thought I should be.

Friends and family can argue with me about any influence I had on him and yet, when he was four years old, he managed to prove to me that caring for your fellow man and selfless giving could transcend any age if allowed to.   Because what he did, I never taught him…

Every weekend when he was very small and “I was too“, we were in a constant state of “hand to mouth“. A restless young mother and very active boy striving for some entertainment that was  not so hard on the pocket book, that we couldn’t still afford put food on the table.  We loved the beach, festivals, we loved our Church, but Boy did we LOVE to window shop!

Little Man had just begun to understand Santa’s lists for Christmas. So at the toy store, he would study the tiniest package or trinket,  for as long as I would allow him,  so that he could add his fancy that week to the “List”. I was just dreaming of new furniture and the porcelain figurines that were never quite in reach. At the end of the day, as if rewarding the lack of money spent, we would have a scoop of frozen yogurt with sprinkles as a treat.

One particular weekend as we were walking up to the front door of the Mall, He let go of my hand and bolted ahead of an elderly couple, while my startled heart leaped into momentary panic. Before I could react, My 4 year old son grabbed the door and heaved it open with all his might!    My four year old was opening the door for these people!!!

A very surprised older man bent down, shook his hand, said thank you to him.   My mouth still open in shock as well as the unspent reprimand said,   “Well thank you for being such a gentleman.” For the rest of the day like clockwork. In a door, hold it open for someone. Out a door, hold it for someone. That day I bought him a double scoop!

The very next day in Church, my four year old asked for a dollar and to sit by himself in the front pew of  the sanctuary with this look of “I’ll die if you say no”.    I said yes. What could it hurt. I would be only three pews away and the congregation was our family. So there he sat, all by himself, looking so proud in anticipation of his turn to put his dollar in the offering plate.   

Only the man dutifully passing the offering plate, wasn’t thinking that way when he passed it straight over Little Man’s head while  in his fist was the dollar straining to find the plate..

As I noticed Little Man’s sigh, my heart sank for him. So, I began to  call attention to his plight.  However,  a mother’s basic nightmare of an unruley child crashed on my brain. As I watched helplessly as  the little guy summarily stood up, ran up to the Pastor who was at his pulpit, and handed him the dollar!

Pastor thank him very gently and then walked him back to his seat. He then announced to the Congregation that this little boy would NOT be disciplined in anyway for his selflessness as the warning gaze landed straight on me.

After service, Pastor picked my son up, took him a few feet away, and had a conversation with him.  Then Pastor carried my son over to where I was waiting and asked me how I had managed to raise such a fine old fashioned little boy.    My only reply was; “I decided early on, that I was here to guide his soul and raise a good citizen for society“.

However as I beamed at my 4 year old son in the arms of our Pastor, I realized all the sudden, that he was someone that I wanted to be someday, when I grew up.

How the Crash Will Reshape America

Hi Guys, I’m coming up for air and finally begining to think again.  However, I am engulfed in the economic crisis.  Hipster turned me on to this wonderful Journalist Master Piece from Atlantic Monthly….as compared to the trash that is being written daily in an era of 24 hour Trash Information. I hope you enjoy it.  For once, I could look at this dawning age with interest instead of fear. 

 

How The Crash Will Reshape America  http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903/meltdown-geography

 

Really….enjoy it. Some of the best writing of 2009

President’s Own Chili. What Fun! by Chef Sheila

 

OH COME ON FOLKS!  How about a little mindless fun around here….  Its cold outside so baby, have some chili to take the Chill off.

There is now a blog  called Obama Foodorama. It is a lot of fun!  If you have a spare hour, check it out. It is all about Obama and food. Go figure.

This recipe  is the Obama family’s favorite chili recipe. President Obama used to make it in college.  What a way to connect with our new Commander-in-Chief!    This chili is different than the chili I am used to, but oh-so good. It is a spicy SOB, so I would take it easy with the chili powder.

Remember, when you use chili powder, it only gets spicier. It might be mild today, but tomorrow it will pack some heat. I have a significant other (Ethan) who is sort of sensitive (wimpy) to spicy foods.

 

Obama Family Chili

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper

 chopped Several garlic cloves minced

1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp basil

1 Tbsp chili powder (less for a more mild taste)

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Several tomatoes, chopped

1 15 oz. can kidney beans,

rinsed and drained Steamed rice,

 

 combine cumin, oregano, turmeric and basil. Mix well and set aside.

In a large pot over medium high heat, saute onion, green bell pepper and garlic. Add ground beef and cook until browned through.

Sprinkle spice mix over the meat and stir well to combine. Pour in red wine vinegar. Add tomatoes and simmer until they are cooked down. Add beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Obama Foodorama   http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/

Dnd!  Now its your turn.  ;0)

Chef Sheila’s Open Letter To President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

I’m a poster child for today’s economic turn.  Believe me, this is not where I had expected to be and this is not the letter I would have liked to write you.

I was debt free 3 years ago. I was making great money after having a “Nose to the Grindstone” attitude to make something of myself in a second career.  I am a veteran. A single parent and while all of these have impacted my place in society, I thought of myself a blessed and happy woman who was proud to be a good citizen of this country.

I was finally in a place where I could buy a home for myself.  I was feeling that is was finally my turn and So, I found the sweetest little condo that gave me such peace and for a very reasonable price. I made sure that I had a 30 year fixed loan.  I didn’t think that a loan for some renovations was a big deal because at the time I could afford it.  I bought some furniture. My credit cards were not over the top in debt.  

However, the downward spiral began with a medical loan I was forced to take out for a life threatening problem that Blue Cross Blue Shield considered elective. 

Then my dad passed away and I my mother fell ill.  I felt I had no choice but to come home to help my  sisters with her care. But looking at my finances, which were tight, I still thought I could safely relocate as long as I had a renter or got a sale.  I was going for the renter.

Mr. President, I left my home in Royal Oak Michigan in the hands of a realty agent who said that she could probably get it sold through short sale because of the circumstances of my move.    I had a prospective buyer when the market plunged and that toppled.   Hanging by a thread….Foreclosure is going to happen if I can’t find a buyer and the market is preventing that.

President Obama, there is nothing anyone can do for me. I have to weather the storm right along with millions of other people sir.  

However, there is something you can do for all of us.  The majority of us who are enmeshed in this mortgage crisis are upstanding and responsible Americans.

President Obama, I don’t suppose you could remind others that people like me are not losers and are worth more than all the blame that is being laid at our feet.  Please remind the country that not all foreclosures or bankruptcies belong to bad evil irresponsible people.   They belong to people like me who spent a life time making something of myself and could not have known that banks and corporations were playing around at our expense.   

 

Sincerely,

Sheila Stone

Meltdown 101: Unemployment by the numbers

Unemployment since 1993

The most amazing piece of  information I have read yet on the Jobs Melt Down.  I thought all of you would appreciate the work that went into this journalist’s informative piece.  Chef Sheila

7.2 percent…….

The headline unemployment rate for December is the number every TV newscaster, economic blogger and talk radio host focused on Friday. That rate, the highest in 16 years, translates into 11.1 million Americans without jobs.

But 7.2 percent doesn’t capture how many people are out of work. By another measure — from the same employment report — as much as 13.5 percent of the labor force is either unemployed or underemployed.

The 7.2 figure everyone knows measures something very specific: the portion of people in the work force who wanted to work, looked for a job last month, but weren’t working during the first week in December.

It’s a tricky definition. It includes the stay-at-home mom who started sending out resumes when her husband’s company had its second round of layoffs, but it doesn’t count the out-of-work auto worker in Michigan who’s so frustrated, she’s given up looking.

It doesn’t include 1.9 million unemployed people who looked for work in the last year, but not the last month. It doesn’t include 8 million people working part-time either because they couldn’t find full-time work or because their hours had been cut.

Add them in and you’re looking at 21 million unemployed or underemployed workers, representing 13.5 percent of the labor force.

Deep in Friday’s employment report, and in others from recent weeks, you’ll find details like these that offer a fuller view of the American jobs landscape. Here are some highlights, by the numbers.

___

COMPARING DECEMBER WITH PAST DOWNTURNS:

11.1 million: People unemployed in December 2008.

11.9 million: People unemployed in November 1982, the final month of the last recession of more than a year.

10.8 percent; 111.1 million: Unemployment rate and total work force in November 1982.

7.2 percent; 154.4 million: Unemployment rate and total work force in December 2008.

January 1993: Last time the unemployment rate was this high.

61.0 percent: Portion of the total population that had jobs in December.

January 1987: Last time the portion was this low.

___

DECEMBER UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY GROUP:

7.2 percent: Adult men

5.9 percent: Adult women

9.5 percent: Female heads of households

5.1 percent: Asians

6.6 percent: Whites

9.2 percent: Hispanics

11.9 percent: Blacks

20.8 percent: Teenagers

15.3 percent: Construction workers

17 percent: Agriculture workers

2.3 percent: Government workers

___

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008:

4.9 percent: National unemployment rate in December 2007.

2.6 million: Jobs lost nationally in 2008.

1.9 million: Jobs lost in the last four months alone.

791,000: Factory jobs lost in 2008, roughly half of them in the last four months.

522,000: Retail jobs lost in 2008, more than half of them in the last four months.

22,000: Automobile dealership jobs lost in December alone.

___

SNAPSHOTS OF DECEMBER’S UNEMPLOYED:

2.6 million: People who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer.

2.5 million: People who were trying re-enter the work force after leaving work for reasons such as parenthood or retirement.

1.9 million: People who wanted to work, were available for work and had looked for work in the last 12 months, but had not looked in the last month.

6.3 million: People working part-time because of slow work or business conditions.

___

TIME AND MONEY:

33.3 hours: Length of the average workweek at private, non-farm businesses in December, the shortest since these records were first kept in 1964.

5 cents per hour: Average December increase in private, nonfarm pay. The increase, which is in inflation-adjusted dollars, is largely due to declining prices for consumer goods — not increases in actual take-home pay.

___

UNDERSTANDING THE LABOR FORCE:

16: Minimum age to be included in the labor force. The numbers also don’t include anyone who’s in prison or other institutions, or in the armed forces.

15.7 percent: Portion of the labor force in 2007 that was foreign-born. The government doesn’t ask about the legal status of workers in its employment surveys.

47.7 percent: Portion of the net increase in the labor force from 2000 to 2007 attributed to foreign-born workers.

___

WHO’S SURVEYED FOR THE UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT

60,000: Number of households interviewed in the monthly Census Bureau survey the unemployment rate is extrapolated from.

40 percent: Portion of companies in the survey of businesses, from which payroll and job loss numbers are extrapolated, with fewer than 20 employees.

___

LOCAL HIGHS AND LOWS

23.4 percent: November unemployment rate for El Centro, Calif.

2.8 percent: November rate for Iowa City, Iowa.

By ELLEN SIMON, AP Business Writer Ellen Simon, Ap Business Writer – Fri Jan 9, 8:24 pm ET

The Highlight Of My Year – By Chef Sheila

As Chris Matthews so expressively stated.

” I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often. No, seriously. It’s a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.”

The Right Wing wanted to Label it The Obama-gasm.  Well Yes We Can now!  lol

Aptly expressed in this inspiring video by Will I AM.  Still gives me this thrill up my leg..