Pollywogs!

In reference to this: http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2010/02/25/patriot-act-without-reforms-passes-house-roll-call-included/

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I am writing to request you explain why you voted to extend the Patriot Act in light of the widespread violations of constitutional rights that took place under it, and the abuses of the powers it granted.

Please save me any song and dance routine with regards to national security.  I’ve read the party line:

“In the end, it became non-controversial,” Senate Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) told POLITICO. “[There was] the growing concern about increase on the pace of attacks on the homeland… and frankly, I think the Patriot [Act] got a bad name under the Bush Administration.”

“Increase on the pace of attacks on the homeland”?  The Sender Gleiwitz? The Reichstag?  The Shoe Bomber?  The Underwear Bomber?  Pathetic.

I guess I’m writing mainly to express frustration with the horribly travesties carried out against the US citizenry in our recent history, between our soldiers being used to create banana republics in the Middle East (Halliburton this time instead of Dole), our taxes being used to line the pockets of the ultra-rich (Geither making sure his Goldman buddies make out literally like bandits being simply the latest installment), our civil liberties being trodden upon (the FBI issuing NSL AFTER a FISA court denied them)…and don’t get me started on this farcical attempt at health care reform, with the talking points being it is impossible for the government to run health care, pretending the US public has no knowledge of any country outside of our own borders…

I guess you could sum things up by saying that there is growing opinion that the government is not only ignoring the will of the people (which is has done off and on for the past two hundred odd years), but instead actively engaging in policies designed to thwart the power of the people and consolidate wealth and power within itself.  A government no longer For and By The People.

You know what?  Don’t even bother sending me your form letter, carefully crafted with talking points of why the Patriot Act is essential in stopping the Underwear Bomber.

I’ll simply vote for your opponent, and recommend anyone who will listen to do the same.

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Feel free to drop him a note yourself: http://thompson.house.gov/contact/index.shtml

So I saw someone recommended rice and beans on Reddit under a Frugal post where someone was looking for recommendations on how to eat cheaply short term, without adversely affecting their health.  I thought the “rice and beans” could use a little fleshing out, and somehow a paragraph turned into what I’d usually consider a blog post…so here’s a blog post!  I cleaned it up, fleshed it out, changed the formatting a little, added some more links to nutritional and product information…the usual.  Someone else broke down how to eat for $2 a day on rice & beans.  Enjoy.

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With the rice, try to get brown rice in the cheapest, largest bag you can find. The brown rice has more nutrition than white rice.

With beans you cannot go wrong.  I made some really great split pea soup yesterday from scratch, but you can make a pretty good split pea soup just with a bullion cube, water and a bag of split peas. Black beans are also nearly impossible to screw up.  I literally take my spice cabinet and throw stuff in by smell (oh, this smells like it’d taste good).  If you don’t have a spice cabinet, just get a thing of bullion (I suggest “Better Than Bullion” as even though its more expensive than regular bullion cubes, per-use it is actually quite a bit cheaper and its flippin delicious).  You may want to pick up a thing of Goya Sazon depending on how you feel about MSG…as it will also make your taste buds dance. Navy beans make a delicious soup….mmm so many delicious beans…

Split peas are nice because they don’t take any soaking, you just cook them till they’re soft (I like them completely dissolved).  My soup yesterday was some curry, turmeric, cumin, better than bullion, Adobo (salt, pepper, spice mix), two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, half an onion, half a bulb of garlic, one carrot, and a packet of goya sazon.  I literally just chopped the veggies, threw everything in a pot with six cups of water and a whole bag of split peas (rinsed) and let it cook for an hour (bring to boil, then simmer with lid on). If its too thick, add water.  Too thin…it’ll thicken as it cooks!  Took maybe 10 to minutes to throw everything in a pan, an hour of cooking and presto I had numerous servings of a crazy nutritious and delicious meal, very very cheap.

Split peas have a TON of fiber and protein, as well as a lot of other vitamins.  Black beans also are amazingly good for you, and delicious.  I love making black bean soup (pretty much the same thing, just with soaking overnight and hotter spices) ladled over some brown rice…wonderful food.   Beans and rice will see you through almost anything, last forever if kept cool and dry, are cheap and amazingly versatile (even if I just usually make soup cause I’m lazy)…dunno why folks don’t eat them more often!

Since this is just temporary I wouldn’t suggest any fruits or veggies (or meats, dairy or anything else calorie dense) as they’re pretty expensive.  Just get a decent multivitamin and you shouldn’t die of scurvy short term!

Someone else recommended potatoes, which I can’t really recommend using as a bulk source of calories alone.  Sure they’re cheap, but they don’t really have much in them other than starch (which basically becomes sugar as soon as your body starts processing it).  One thing they do have is Vitamin C, which may preclude the short term need for a multivitamin if you substitute two potatoes for one multivitamin a day.

Peanut butter toast is also really good if you can find cheap whole wheat bread, which is usually next to impossible.  I’m partial to Weis “Whole Grains” series.  White bread is cheap but is also worthless, you might as well eat sugar and a multivitamin…