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White House Garden Party

On Tuesday Michelle Obama hosted a party for the 5th graders from Bancroft Elementary School to celebrate all of their hard work in the White House Garden. After the children harvested the produce they prepared a meal of salad, chicken and brown rice. They had cupcakes with fresh berries from the garden for dessert. Over 90 pounds of fresh produce has been harvested so far. Some is being used by the White House but most is going to local soup kitchens.

Historical Keepsake Photo

Last month, Sherri Goforth, an executive assistant for Tennessee Republican State Senator Diane Black, sent out an email of what is supposed to be an Historical Keepsake Photo depicting all of the presidents of the United States. There is no picture of Obama, but instead, a picture of a black ghost with white eyes, or a "spook," a derogatory term for a black person. I don't want to put the picture on my blog but you can see it here: http://newscoma.com/2009/06/15/racist-and-ridiculous/
When contacted by Christian Grantham of Nashville Is Talking (WKRN), Goforth refused to apologize but instead said: "I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button. I'm very sick about it, and it's one of those things I can't change or take back." She has no problem being a racist and sending out racist material she's just sorry she sent it from the wrong email account to the wrong people. Email, by the way, paid for by the taxpayers of Tennessee. She should have been fired but as far as I know she's still working for Senator Black. Here is Senator Black's contact information if you would like to express your outrage over this: sen.diane.black@capitol.tn.gov

After 8 years of never seeing the VP, you can hardly turn on the news without seeing the dick's smirking face and hearing his opinion on Obama's foreign policy. He is critical of everything Obama is doing including Obama's decision to close Guantanamo and his decision to stop using "enhanced interrogation" (i.e. torture) techniques on prisoners. He is trying to convince anyone who will listen that these policies are making the country less safe. In an interview for The New Yorker, CIA Director Leon Panetta said "It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point. I think that's dangerous politics."

Of course Panetta is correct. Nothing would make the dick happier than another attack on this country. The attacks on 9/11 sure worked out well for him and his friends at KBR. He and the other right wing nuts would of course blame the Obama administration even though they never accepted any blame for the attacks on 9/11. The dick's war in Iraq has killed hundreds of thousands of people and has made the United States less safe. Anyone who can read and think can figure this out. It's time for you to go back to your dungeon dick. You had 8 years to f*** up the country. It's time to let the legitimately elected leaders fix the problems you and your little puppet bush created through your lies, greed, and just overall evilness.

Nancy Pelosi in Houston

I went to the Wortham Center last night to see Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at an event sponsored by the Progressive Forum. She spent the first half of the event answering questions submitted earlier on the Progressive Forum website about education, health care, the economy, and energy. After that she talked about her book Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters and answered questions about her life in politics. Everyone who attended received a copy of the book which she signed after the event.

Security was very tight and there were several hundred protesters outside the Wortham holding signs that made no sense to me. One of the signs said something like "When Nancy lies people die." Maybe they are recycling the old George Bush protest signs. Most of their complaints seemed to be about problems created by the Bush administration, not Pelosi or the Dems. I believe the protest was organized by the teabaggers. Probably some secessionists there too. Not very bright people.

Spooning

Pants on Fire

Three-Bean Salad with Quinoa

Here's a recipe I found on the Whole Foods website. I like it because it's vegan and because it has quinoa, my favorite grain.

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces, cooked and rinsed in cold water
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup organic Italian dressing
1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Method
Rinse quinoa under cold running water and drain. Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a small pot. Stir quinoa and a pinch of salt into water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and let cool. Put cooled quinoa, green beans, edamame, peppers, kidney beans, dressing, tarragon, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle turned 40 this year. I found this adorable cupcake creation on Cakewrecks. It was made by Coco Cake Cupcakes of Vancouver.

Ben and Erin

My incredibly wonderful and beautiful niece Erin got married this weekend to an equally wonderful person she met at UVA where they are both in graduate school. The ceremony was held on the banks of the Frio River in Concan, TX.