Time for a new browser

Washington Post article

A flaw in Windows allows a website to install malicious software on your machine – even taking control of it, just by you visiting that website using Internet Explorer.

Solution: Linux! Okay, I'm kidding. (Mostly kidding, it does solve that problem, and it is fun to use. Dear old Simon would have suggested that it is right for everybody, but I won't go that far.)

More workable solution: A different browser.

I like to recommend Firefox 1.5. It is stable and reasonably secure, available free of charge, and has some nifty extensions available for it that you can use to tailor your browsing experience. My favorite extension is Adblock.

Also available is Opera 8.5. Very full featured and also free of charge.

Remember kids: Don't click on the blue “e” unless you absoultely have to. Using a different browser will keep you safer.

If you are feeling very ambitious, you might want to look here, here, or here ;) Also, a way to try things out with no commitment (full install) can be had for free here.

Happy New Year to All!

I hope everyone has been enjoying a great holiday season (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc.). I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new computer to better my voicework efforts here at the Radioguy homestead. I'm still trying to back up the files on the current system to transfer to the new beast, but it'll take a long time to do so, I think.

Anyway, try not to go out on New Year's Eve, as it is a night where far too many people think they can drive after having one too many drinks. I want you to see 2006 safely!

Happy New Year everyone!

A Scare I NEVER Want To Experience Again

Yesterday, I was given the scare of my life - twice in a 90-minute span.

The Sports Director (SD) at the radio station I work at is 89-years-old and suffers from a medical condition that leaves him in a great deal of pain. The medication prescribed to him to treat that condition is to be taken before bedtime, and not after. Early yesterday morning, he awoke to remember that he hadn't;t taken his meds before he went to bed - he then took his medication and went back to bed, four hours before he was to start his on-air shift.

Yesterday morning, during the third of his six morning sports segments, I cued him to begin. Then things got weird... His eyes got glassy, his face was frozen in a frightening expression, and he leaned into his microphone. At first, I thought he had fallen asleep, but his eyes were wide open. It was if someone had switched him off. It took about 30 long seconds, and grabbing his face and turning toward me, for him to snap out of it. And as if someone had switched him back on, he started giving scores and such, like nothing had happened. After we were off the air, I asked him if he was OK. He didn't remember the episode.

Once the General Manager (GM) arrived at the station, I told him what had happened, and I wasn't sure he fully understood. Then, about 45 minutes later, with the GM standing in the doorway to the control room, our venerable sports director "left the building" again. The second time, the GM tapped him on the shoulder to get our SD's attention and snap him out of his unconscious state. Again, he didn't remember what happened.

The GM and were pretty scared at that point, thinking our Sports Director had suffered a couple of strokes or something equally as dangerous. We learned later in the day that our SD hadn't taken his medication as per the prescription directions. He took them properly before going to bed last night, and was in top form this morning.

One of my greatest fears with the job I have is that our Sports Director, with his advanced age, medical problems and such, will die in front of me, while doing our morning show. Yesterday, I thought the guy was "checking out," and it frightened the hell out of me. Fortunately, for all concerned, yesterday's episodes seem to be attributable to a medication snafu, but the look on his face when he blanked out is burned into my brain. I do not want to experience that again.

Seattle Voters to decide Enhanced Stip-Club Rules

Seattle voters will get a chance next year, in a special election, to vote on tighter restrictions on Strip Clubs. Here's a link to an article on the subject from the Seattle P-I. I'm of the opinion that such additional regulations on strip clubs are not only an excercise in futility for the majority of Seattle voters, but do not reflect the opinions of most of the patrons of such clubs.

First and foremost, I do not frequent strip clubs. To the best of my knowledge, most of the folks who frequent strip clubs are lonely individuals looking for a visually "stimulating" experience. I've seen strippers plying their trade, via friends' bachelor parties, but my wife is all I want or need (CNBC anchorwoman Liz Claman, though, is pretty easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean!)...

The proposed regulations to Seattle strip clubs are politically-motivated. That is, it'll be an election year for most of the City Council, and those incumbents will want to thro a bone out to the voters to garner as much support as possible (in this case, the majority of the voters in Seattle do not frequent strip clubs, and would rather not have a strip club in their neighborhood - hence, a proposal to enact increased regulations on the operation of strip clubs that would, in essence, drive such clubs out of town). If you are a Seattle voter, please keep in mind that the proposed regulations are intended soley for a political purpose, regardless of how much you may agree with them.

In defense of strip clubs (again, I don't go to them), the proposed regulations will not be enforceable on a daily basis, and they are a representation of how a large part of the voting public could feel about what a small part of that same public conducts itself. And that same small part of the public, meanwhile, conducts itself in a manner that does not injure others. Like them or not, those clubs are operating legally, and they provide a service to a small slice of the public.

And we're not talking about porn shops on 1st Avenue - we're talking about strip clubs.

The concept of going to a strip club may be a bit beyond my comprehension (I think that if one were that interested in seeing a naked woman, there are plenty of sites on the World Wide Web that would provide that for free). But the regulations proposed by the Seattle City Council directly prevent legal businesses from doing business. The City Council already has a 14-year moratorium on construction/establishment of new strip clubs in place. Legally, they can't say "no strip clubs in our city." What they're proposing is a loophole around what they can't legally do - regulations that will make operating a strip club so difficult, it will be unreasonable to continue doing business.

To use an extreme example - let's say your City Council doesn't like dogs. I mean, really doesn't like dogs. They can't legally pass ordinances prohibiting the ownership of dogs, the establishment of dog obedience training schools, or the creation of a dog-friendly park.Instead, your City Council proposes regulations on owning dogs that are so restrictive, that the average person cannot either abide by the regulations or cannot afford the fees associated with those regulations. Obedience schools and dog-training centers go out of business. What's going on in Seattle is something like that.


Bottom line - regardless of how you feel about strip clubs, that the Seattle City Council is proposing is a campaign-year, back door, way around what they can't legally do - put the kibosh on a business/service that is provided to a legally-abiding segment of the populace. Like it or leave it, strip clubs are legal under state law, and the right to have those clubs in an economically-feasable manner has just enough merit as any attempt to keep the business you work in afloat.

A Shameless Bit of Self Promotion...

For whatever reason, you are reading this blog. And for that, I give you my thanks. Maybe you are a college friend of mine, or someone I've become friends with since college. Perhaps you are a family member. Perhaps you are blog junkie who agrees with my political views. Whatever the circumstances that brought you to this blog, again, I thank you.

I started this blog on advice from a friend and published author who recommended that I write something every day. Since this blog's inception, my posts progressed from a diary-like format to include political commentary and some recipes. This year, I invited my best friend and older brother to join me blog as a co-contributor (to be a sounding-board for my erstwhile rants, to "balance" my posts with the ideas/positions of someone with a slightly different background than I, and also because I wanted him here!)...

Here's my shameless self promotion for the coming year - if you like this blog, please, please tell your friends, family, or others who may like it, too, to visit this blog! And I encourage you, our valued blog viewers to comment whenever the mood strikes you! Droyne and I have no way accurately guage just how many people visit this site, and the comments on our posts are few. The more comments we get, the more we know that the site is looked-at, and the more valuable the discussion about our posts gets.

Again, thanks for visiting the blog! You folks are great! I'm sure we'll be posting again before the year closes out, but I want you to know just how much we appreciate you're visiting this site.

Thank you, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

My holiday recipe for you: CHEESECAKE!!!

Give this one a try - if you enjoy the simple pleasure of a New York style cheesecake, this recipe is for you!

New York Style Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 pre-formed (store-bought) graham cracker piecrust)
• ½ cup sugar (or Splenda)
• 2 tbls. melted butter
• 1 ½ cups sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 lb. cream cheese, broken into small pieces

Preparation

• Blend the sour cream, sugar (or Splenda), eggs and vanilla in a food processor for 1 minute. Add the cream cheese. Blend until smooth.
• Pour the melted butter through the top of the food processor. Pour into the pre-made piecrust.
• Bake in the lower third of a 325-degree oven for 45 minutes. When baking is finished, remove the cake from the oven, and turn the oven on to broil. Broil the cheesecake just until the top begins to show spots of brown.
• Refrigerate for 4 hours, or preferably overnight, before cutting and serving.

Enjoy! And a Merry Christmas to everyone who has given this blog a look. What started as a creative-writing excercise has evolved into a fully-functional weblog, and it you, the reader, that made it possible. Thanks again, and Seasons Greetings to you and your families!

Weather in NW Washington can be unpredictable

Weather in the northwest corner of Washington State (where I live) is typically predicable - grey skies, mild temperatures, a chance of rain, etc. What was forecast to be a mostly cloudy night tonihgt, with a chance of showers, has taken a turn for the weird. We've got a strange storm moving through the area, with heavy rains, lightning, storm drains overflowing, power brown-outs, etc. We'll see how long this lasts (a recent check of the National Weather Service short-term forecast said the thunder and lightning was supposed to start about a half-hour before it actually did - obviously, they were wrong in their predictions).

So, with lightning flashing all around, and my storm drains overflowing, I wish you a good night. Try to stay dry!

A much graver blow to our freedom

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1431415

The Senate has passed a six month extension of the Patriot Act.

Another blow to fair use rights and freedom

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/47939.html

The article says it all, I think. Nutshell: Congress wants to restrict video recording devices so you can't make legal copies.

The DMCA itself goes too far. It says that I can't write a program to watch a DVD that I own on a player that I own, as I would have to "circumvent" the "encription" to play it. The article also mentions the Broadcast Flag being struck down. This was to be a signal that would prevent you from recording an on-air program or restrict your viewing therof. Sadly, congress may still pass some version of the broadcast flag.

What a Difference 10 Years Make

In college, I was at the top of my musical game - I was a sought-after bass player - jazz groups, orchestras, big bands, country groups and rock bands wanted me to play with them. It's not vanity - it was a limited pool of musicians (each of which could play many musical styles) combined with the particular venues those musical groups performed in. When I was in college, I was in gigging heaven.

I was so much in demand that during my junior year, I was playing in so many groups, that I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and tennis elbow in one arm. The resulting physical therapy was excruciatingly painful, and I was forced to re-assess how many bands I was physically able to perform in. Thinking about how to pay my rent bills, I prioritized my gigs on how much money I could make. A few of the "hardcore" jazz musicians took offense at my attempt at fiscal responsibility, giving me jabs like, "I guess you don't like to play {music}" and "I guess the music doesn't matter to you anymore." There musicians, however, did not play in as many groups as I did, nor did they suffer from the physical maladies my enthusiastic efforts rewarded me with. Read: while painfully trying to pick up my bass bow or trying to work my way through a chart in my college music classes, my peers told me I turned down their gig offer because I was a "snob". Jerks.

More than ten years later, I've been tempted to catch up with some of the musicians who actually treated me with the respect I gave them, as well as some of those who snubbed me once I was unable to accomodate their "gigging" wishes. My search for my old compadres has, so far, been odd...

Many of the brass instrument players, guitarists, drummers, woodwind players and others who I played with in college - most of which told me I was a jerk for not playing in their band while I was undergoing physical therapy - are now underpaid teachers, playing in punk bands, or have pursued "civilian" jobs, like acountancy for the Boeing Company. The funniest thing about this is that those "hardcore" musicians who "dissed" me back then aren't returning my e-mail attempts to simply say "Hi" and see how they are doing these days. What a difference 10 years make...

Gregoire's budget battle with the Democrats

In the aftermath of the release of Gov. Gregoire's budget proposal, key budget-writers gave their reaction:

Senate budget Chairwoman Margarita Prentice and House Appropriations Chairwoman Helen Sommers both say they think Gregoire's approach of mixing spending with savings is headed in the right direction, although Sommers says she wants more money for higher education, pensions and possibly human services. But Minority Republicans expressed skepticism that the Democrats will be able to restrain themselves from spending more. Senator Joe Zarelli, ranking Republican on the Senate budget panel, said Gregoire's proposal doesn't meet the taxpayers' demand for frugality, coming on the heels of a two-year budget that raised spending by 12 percent and boosted taxes by more than 400 million dollars.

Historically, a governor's budget proposal is not what gets passed by the legislature, it's used as a guideline for the sorts of spending the governor will approve of. With that said, the Democratic reaction to Gregoire's budget proposal indicates approval for her message of being cautious with spending, but at the same time, more spending is needed? What??? More spending?

The underlying difference between Democrats and Republicans in Olympia (when it comes to money) is that Republicans view state money as belonging to the people of the state. Democrats view the money as belonging to the state to spend state lawmakers see fit.

During my radio news career, I had the opportunity to know a VERY Democratic man who is a small business owner and was Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon. One of the things that made him popular among voters was his policy on city taxes - if, come budget time, it turns out the city overtaxed its citizens, he gave the money back to the taxpayers, because is was the taxpayers money, not the city's. He understood that keeping the money would come back to bite his administration later on. Why aren't there more people like that in Olympia? I wish I knew.

MARK MY WORDS - Here's what we're going to see by the end of the 2006 legislative session: Democrats in the legislature will take Gov. Gregoire's budget proposal, tack on a number of additional spending bills, and once those bills are passed, claim a "budgetary emergency", requiring even more tax increases. Gregoire will sign those bills, and declare a "victory for those in the state in desperate need of social services previously underfunded". Republicans (the minority party in each body of the legislature) will call for a second recall of the estate tax (called the "death tax" by the GOP), a repeal of the latest gas tax, reinstating the I-601 spending cap, and the redirection of the $1.4 billion budget "surplus" toward items such as adequately funding the state's pension benefits obligations, increased funding for the state's beleagured Department of Social and Health Services Foster Care Program, higher restrictions/penalties for sex offenders, and a means to give B&O and L&I tax relief to small businesses. However, with the Republicans being in the minority, such demands will go unconsidered, unheard, and unpublished by the media. Print out my prediction, and look at it once the session is over. I think you'll find I'm correct.

FISA judge resigns in protest

Link to story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10538136/
(Sorry I have no HTML skills)

Notes:
FISA is the high court that grants wiretaps for domestic phones that call overseas. They are a rubber stamp court; in their over 25 year existance they have denied exactly *four* wiretaps. You are even allowed to place the tap and then retroactively get a warrant within 72 hours. The question is: who was the President tapping that he and his advisors believed weren't going to somehow qualify for a warrant? Bush and his advisors knew they would get legal warrants, unless something wasn't above board. Tapping a line that needs a FISA warrant without obtaining one is a felony and Bush has admitted to the tapping publically.

Gregoire Budget Proposal - Closing Comments

While I have an inkling of how Dino Rossi would've approcahed a $1.4 billion "shortfall", I do know how Gov. Gregoire is approaching it - a token call for fiscal responsibility, while calling for spending on additional state programs and more money for programs/issues that have yet to show any fiscally benefitial return.

If the money touted by Gregoire and her colleagues were truly a surplus, I'd have an immediate budget solution:

Use 1/3rd of the money to help relieve the fiscal burden placed upon counties for services that were funded by the state, but (due to excessive state spending) are now are the responsibility of the counties to provide on the county nickel.

Use 1/3rd of the money to fix the state's existing transportation woes (most of which weren't included in the biggest gas tax in state history (the remaining balance would be returned to the voters).

Split the remaining 1/3 of the money between healthcare and existing county corrections programs.

Gregoire's P.O.'d a number of her fellow Democrats by calling for fiscal reponsibility (hinting that the D's are incapable of doing that), but while the state is in the red, her budget proposal smacks of new spending, and she has left the remainder of the "shortfall" to her Democratic colleagues to spend however they wish.

Expect the state to go deeper in the red next year. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Gregoire's budget proposal - Point Five

A hefty portion of Gregoire's budget proposal literally throws money at education, an effort that has proven in years past to be costly and ineffectual. Education (under the guise of "smaller classrooms" and "Better teacher pay") is the largest single budget item in the state. Somehow, though, student test scores continue to drop statewide...

I come from a family with a 200+-year history in education. I understand the need for better working conditions for our state's teachers and I have a soft spot for them. I do, however, recognize three faults with the way the state legislature writes its budgets, and the education aspect of the governor's budget proposal:

Teachers in Washington State are represented by the second-largest union in the state, the WEA, wich has time and again flexed its collective muscle on behalf of teachers, merely to increase union spending and bargaining power. I think that if the WEA was truly doing what it was established to do, I wouldn't be seeing reports of teacher strikes and walkouts every year (meanwhile, teachers pay more and more dues to the union)... The state, and school districts, BTW, are also funded by the federal government. Where is that money going to?

Students now have the option of taking the WASL (the Washington Assessment of Student Learning) test - used to determine if a student is qualified to graduate from high school - five times to pass. When I was that age, we got one chance to pass the WASL. If we passed, we were more readily accepted to colleges in other states. If we didn't pass, it was our responsibily to convince an out-of-state college that we were worthy of an education leading to a professional degree. The "five chances to win the WASL" experiment was encated last year, and the result of that experiment have not been calculated yet (the current high school sophomore class is is the first to give any hard data on the matter). Meanwhile, "education-minded" lawmakers on both sides of the aisle - instead of waiting for data to confirm or deny the spending they continue to spastically shout to their constituents that even more money needs to be spent on education. The message portrayed by those elected officials is almost like the increased spending encacted in sessions past is either non-existent, or "thanks for your money! We can do it better this time by spending money on the same programs".

Regardless of how much the state has spent taxpayer money to "relieve the burden" on our teachers by providing them with smaller classrooms, etc., statewide classroom comditions have NOT improved. Teachers rely more and more on the bargaining power of unions for state spending outide of what's already provided, and student continue to fail in ever increasing numbers.

Gregoire's budget proposal - Point Four

What's not mentioned in the two news items I've quoted in my initial posted is that Gregoire said that her budget proposal is akin to "spending money like a family would". In my family, if we were to budget for X amount of dollars in a year, and we were to come into some additional money, regardless of the source, we would use that money to pay existing bills, then sock away the rest for a financial crisis in the future. We would not, for example, spend the money on a digital flat-screen TV when we already have a television. The flat-screen would be nice, but the welfare of our family is not dependent on getting one. Nor would replacing our washer and dryer with new ones be. If something goes wrong with our TV, or with our appliances, we work around those problems, because we can't afford to put those items above our ability to pay our rent, our utility bills, etc. If the money in the state coffers were truly there to fund the sort of programs Gov. Gregoire is calling for, that would be nice. Tsunami warning systems? Great idea! But the "surplus" she's anxious to spend was gathered to pay for existing programs - it's not a new "revenue source". Budget-wise, what happened is that, under Gov. Locke, the state taxed everyone more than they thought they were, and now - instead of "paying bills like a family would", she wants to get a new flat-pannel TV on the assumption that everyone is dependent upon a cripser television image.

Gregoire's budget proposal - Point Three

Gov. Gregoire proposes to put $905 million into state coffers (to save for a "rainy day", I suppose), but at the same time, she proposed spending over $500 million for new programs and for teacher pay increases that were already voted down by state initiative.

Gregoire's budget proposal - Point Two

Today, Gov. Gregoire unveiled her supplemental budget proposal, which (to her credit) does not spend the entire $1.4 billion touted by her Democratic colleagues as a "surplus". NOTE: The $1.4 billion is not a surplus, though. It's tax moneys gathered to fund existing projects and programs. The majority of that money was collected through taxes enacted before the 2005 legislature "killed" the state spending cap, reinstated the constitutionally-illegal estate tax and enacted the heftiest tabacco and gas tax increases in state history.

Gregoire's budget proposal - Point One

Despite being in office for less than a year, Governor Gregoire's approval rating is abysmal. Regardless of how you consider the outcome of the 2004 gubernatorial election, Gregoire's assertion during her campaign that she would not support new statewide taxes (a campaign point she took from her opponent, Republican Dino Rossi), combined with her steadfast upholding of former Gov. Locke's tax policies (Locke, BTW, enacted more and higher tax increases than any other governor in state history), and her enthusiastic support of the bill that "killed" the I-601 state spending cap during the Democrat-controlled 2005 legislative session - the public opinion, by both Democrat and Republican voters, is that she's not doing what she said she would do.

Governor Gregoire unveils Supplemental Budget Proposal

About a week or so ago, it was disseminated to the public that the Washington State has a budget surplus of $1.4 billion. Shortly afterward, Governor Christine Gregoire announced she would release her Supplemental budget proposal, stressing to her Democratic colleagues in the legislature that the "extra" money in the state coffers was not to go for new programs, but to "pay the bills" (that is, existing expenses). Some R's (Republicans) in the legislature skeptically applauded her assertion that the money should cover existing programs. Some D's in the legislature took offense to what was construed by her as an indication that Democrats love to spend, spend, spend, and press releases were issued frantically to assuage the voting public that spending would be kept under control.

Today, Gov. Gregoire unveiled her budget proposal:

Gregoire releases budget that blends spending and savings

Governor Gregoire has proposed a supplemental budget that would take the one-point-four (b) billion dollar surplus and increase spending by about 500 (m) million dollars and put about 900 (m) million in savings. Her plan calls for 223 (m) million dollars in new or expanded spending on education, energy, pensions and Puget Sound cleanup. Her plan also includes 281 million for a teachers' pay hike, higher human services caseloads and school enrollments and health care. Gregoire wants to put 905 (m) million dollars into savings and paying down the state's pension liability. The supplemental budget adds to the two-year 26 (b) billion dollar spending plan that was approved earlier this year. The governor's proposal goes to the Legislature, which convenes January ninth.

Here's another one:

Washington governor wants to boost emergency systems

Washington coastal counties would get a new radio warning system for tsunamis under Governor Gregoire's plan to boost emergency preparedness. The governor's supplemental budget proposal to the Legislature includes half-a-million dollars to install hazard broadcasting radios (in Grays Harbor, Clallam, Jefferson and Pacific counties). She also is asking lawmakers for another half-million dollars to improve communication networks for emergency workers. Gregoire says lessons from the country's worst disasters have shown that the state should be ready for up to five days without help from the federal government.

In the interest of my readers, I will be making my rebuttal points one at a time (I've found excessivly long posting to be a real "snore", and I'm sure you do, too.)

Christmas gift worries

It's Christmastime, and once again, I worry about whether or not my niece and nephew will enjoy the presents Wifey and I have purchased for them. The kids are growing so quickly, and they are such clever kids, I wonder if what we got for them isn't up to their standards... Over the weekend, we purchased toys for them that were labelled "appropriate" for their ages. Earlier in the year, while on vacation in Canada, we also bought for them a couple of "thinking" gifts - where you "unearth" some archaeological treasures with tools in blocks of sandstone.

BTW - we got most of our Christmas shopping done over the weekend - something I do not recommend. If you've already finished your shopping, imagine bee-lining to Pier 1, than making your way to the local supermall. We shopped early Sunday morning, assuming that many shoppers would be at church, rather than buying gifts. As it turned out, a lot of other folks thought likewise. We still managed to finish our shopping for relatives, as well as buying a couple of gifts for Wifey. I'm still shopping for a particular set of PJs and slippers for Wifey, and she wants to get me a new computer for Christmas.

Twas The Night Before Christmas... in Washington State

Twas the night before Christmas, despite R'’s in the House,
tax increases were coming, for you and your spouse
The tax bills were hung by the chimney with care,
in the hopes that St. Gregoire soon would be there.

Voters were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of state spending danced in their heads.
And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
had just become friendly with a 601 cap.

When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
I yelled from my bed, "“government shouldn'’t get fatter!"”
Away to the window I hastily made tracks,
to try to stem off an increasing gas tax.

But the mood of the voters in greater Seattle,
gave the lustre of slaughter in fat moon-eyed cattle,
when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a Governor dressed like a quick marketeer.

Like a Gary Locke counterpart binary star,
I knew in a moment it must be Gregoire.
More rapid than eagles, her coursers they came,
and she whistled and shouted and called them by name:

"Now Brown! Now Doumit!
Now, Eidie and Franklin!
On, Prentice! Kastama!
On, Berkey and Haugen!
To the top of the porch!
To the top of the wall!
Now tax away! Tax away!
Tax away all!"

But before voters could say they'’ve had quite enough,
she backed a tax plan that told us all, "“tough!'”
Up to the capital, the Democrats they flew,
to increase state spending, saying "“601'’s through"”!

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the fly,
that R'’s want the gas tax to go bye-bye.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
the Democrats poo-pooed the idea into the ground.

She campaigned "“no new taxes'”, but we found that was glossy,
a Dem-crafted try to campaign just like Rossi.
A bundle of tax increases flung on her back,
and increasing regulations on the fast-track.

Her eyes--how they twinkled! Her dimples, how merry!
like an anti-war protester backing John Kerry!
Her mouth was drawn up like a big Christmas bow,
with her lawmaking pen bathed in a Locke/Lowery glow.

Forget what the voters need, forget all the laws,
she said, "“let'’s enact an Emergency Clause!"”
"“Lets pass all the things that the people will need,
while feeding our collective left-leaning greed."”

She passed lots of increases, like a sly elf,
against her campaign and in spite of herself.
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
soon gave me to know that all tax breaks were dead.

She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work,
and filled the state coffers, then turned with a jerk.
And laying her finger aside of her nose,
she called for more WASL bucks, and KingCo pros.

She sprang to her sleigh, to her team gave a whistle,
and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard her exclaim, 'ere she drove out of sight,
"You're screwed at the pump, and to all a good night!"

How Political Parties Get Their Votes

If you’ve ever wondered why you voted one way, and your city or county voted another, or if you’ve ever wondered by your city, county, or state votes one way or another, here’s some insight…

• Low to median income families tend to live in, or work in, large counties, cities or metropolitan areas than in small counties/cities/towns. This could be due to the availability of jobs, or accessibility to services established to help families in need of financial/job/social assistance programs.
• “Small” counties/cities/towns are more rural than urban, are less populated. Their populations tend to be either more affluent or more self-dependent.

The Washington State example: About one third of the voters in the state live in King County, the majority of which live or work in Seattle, the biggest city in the state. San Juan County, one of the smallest counties in the state, boasts a median home price in excess of $400,000. East of the Cascade Range, counties tend to be large in geographic size, but low in population.

• The job base in these large counties/cities/metropolitan areas comes, in part, from large companies/corporations with offices in those locations. Many of these companies/corporations employ workers who belong to a union. Thus, what benefits unions tend to benefit employees of those businesses/corporations, and as a result, those businesses/corporations are more likely to support unions than not.

The Washington State example: King County (the largest county in the state) is home to major employers, including Boeing, Microsoft, and Weyerhaeuser, just to name a few. Few of the state’s major employers base their businesses east of the Cascade Range – most of the businesses in these counties/cities/et al are small businesses or ag-related businesses owned by families – these aren’t big businesses with union card-toting employees.

• Large counties/cities/metropolitan areas - by their rural, housing project and commercial/industrial makeup, are less environmentally “pristine” than their smaller counterparts. Thus, elected officials in the larger municipalities aspire to make their communities as “clean and green” as they can (establishment of new parks, building moratoriums, increasingly stringent environmental regulations, etc.)…

The Washington State example – King County, Pierce County, and Snohomish County (the largest metro area in the state) are urban by design. In recent years, those counties have passed ordinances, regulations and laws to restrict already out-of-control industrial growth in favor of parks and scenic views. Smaller counties, like Skagit County are subject to statewide regulations that have been established to benefit the large counties. Those small counties, by their smaller-populace (and hence, taxpayer base) nature, have difficulty in paying for the state mandates placed upon them. The tax burden ends up going to the voters, who tend to move to larger counties, where the price of the same regulations is shared by a larger population).

OK – based on what I’ve mentioned above, the political landscape should be clear-cut.

• The Democratic Party platform (or, at least, the campaign platforms made by Democratic candidates) is directly targeted to benefit most of those who live in the large counties/cities/metropolitan areas: Establishing ever-increasing social assistance to low-to-median income families. Tax incentives to large corporations to generate more job opportunities for members of those families. Close association with unions. Heavy regulation of environmental issues to benefit the “typical” voter in those large areas. The voter “backbone” of the Democratic Party is the union worker, or the low-to-median income family living in an urban setting.

• The Republican Party platform (or, at least, the campaign platforms made by Republican candidates), differs somewhat from their Democratic counterparts: Tax cuts/incentives for small families to relieve the “tax burden” given from state programs that benefit others. Tax cuts/incentives for small business owners. Easing statewide environmental regulations to benefit municipalities that are not urban. By and large, both political parties (and their elected officials) tout the “streamlining” of government. That is, trimming the fat from ever-increasing budgets.

Each party treats this differently, though.

• On the state level, Democrats “trim the fat” by taking state funding from a program they deem as inappropriate or unnecessary to fund, while giving the financial responsibility for that program to counties and cities. Democrats may also “trim the fat” by redirecting the bill for a statewide program or agency to the voters, which (by the Democrat-heavy nature of the more populace counties/cities/metropolitan areas), almost ensures voters in less populace counties will be footing the bill for programs/agencies that primarily benefit the larger municipalities.

• Republicans “trim the fat” by cutting the number of employees for a state agency or program, while maintaining the same level of service. Republicans may also cut statewide funding to a program or service, based upon the amount of money available to the state versus the amount of money state agencies/programs want to spend. If the money’s not there, the money’s not there. (To use the supermarket shopping example, if you go to the grocery store with $100, you buy no more than $100 of groceries, instead of buying $150 of groceries, expecting someone else to put $50 in your bank account before the check bounces.)

Budget-wise, Republicans tend to legislate (or campaign) on the immediate needs of the taxpaying voter: less regulation, incentives for small business owners to build their businesses further, etc., and a greater sense of self-reliance by those that don’t own a business but are employees. Most voters who vote Republican are small business owners (refer to the small municipality demographic breakdown above), or people who have built their estate equity to a “comfortable” level, and do not want to be stuck with the bill for services that others have not worked as hard for. Republicans believe in “smaller government” – that is, less administration and dependence on the state (or county) to provide services that can be provided on the community level.

Democrats, generally, will legislate on the “longer term” – that is, expect their voter base to support tax increases in the future that benefit the low-to-middle income voters who live in the large municipalities now (thus, Democrats tend to win in statewide elections because their voter base lives in the biggest municipalities), or support tax increases that specifically benefit areas within Democratic strongholds, with those same tax increases benefiting other areas marginally. Democrats believe in “bigger government” – that is, services provided by private individuals or organizations on the community level can be better administered by municipalities (particularly by the state).

In Washington State, the split between the two parties is about 50-50. The 2004 gubernatorial election is proof that despite voting tendencies of the greater Puget Sound region, half of the voters in the state called for a state administration far different from that of now-former Governor Gary Locke (a Democrat), and now Governor Christine Gregoire (a Democrat). In the Washington State Legislature, Democrats now control the House and Senate. The Democrats hold a strong position to control the spending habits of state government. In order for Republicans to gain control of either body of the Legislature, or the governorship of the state, they will need to find a way to appeal to the majority of the Seattle/King County voter base in a way that they haven’t been able to do so before.

The Hypocrite Fish

The Washington State Democratic Party stepped in - badly - last week by offering a product for sale on their official web site: the Hypocrite Fish. Once the item garnered attention late last week by a Seattle radio talk show (which criticized the item as anti-Christian), it was pulled from the site. Demands from the public (and the state's Republican Party) for the Democratic Party to issue an apology, or some sort of statement about why they offered the item in the first place, have been met with silence.

I am convinced, however, that the Hypocrite Fish is not an exclusive "product" of the Washington State Democratic Party - a little bit of poking around on the World Wide Web on my part has uncovered a web site that not only offers the Hypocrite Fish, but many other items that are equally hurtful to the majority of the people of the state and the nation. The site also offers items for sale that are very anti-war, anti-Administration, and particularly anti-Bush. The majority of the merchandise for sale contains vulgar language, and would not be suitable for display in public, short of a heated protest rally against President Bush and his Administration.

Here's the link: http://evolvefish.com/index.html

I have no idea if this is the web site that the state Democratic Party obtained inspiration to offer the Hypocrite Fish for sale through their site, but I'm of the opinion that the Dems stepped in it (badly) by trying to cater to the farthest-left-leaning, angry, hateful members of society, rather than sticking to items that promote the Washington State Democratic Party and it's policy views.

I'm not accusing the state Democratic Party of "guilt by association", but they offered (albeit for a short time) an item that is currently offered by a site that sells many items less-than-poor taste. The Democrats should have issued an apology as soon as the item was pulled from the Party web site. So far, no apology, and with the exception of one Seattle-area radio talk show, this has not garnered any media attention. It's almost as if the Democratic Party is, once again, banking on a combination of voter apathy and a collective short-term memory problem by the citizens of the state.

Great recipe for those office Christmas parties

Here's a good one - Mexican Cheese Squares. I can't remember where we got this (somewhere off the Internet), but it's quick, easy, and tasty...

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded Moterey Jack cheese
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1 can chopped jalepeno peppers
• 6 oz. whipping cream

Preparation

• Combine the cheeses in a large bowl.
• Spray an 8-inch sqaure backing dish with cooking spray or olive oil (I prefer the olive oil).
• Spread 2 cups of the combined cheese on the bottom of the baking dish (1st layer).
• Sprinkle the peppers evenly on top of the cheese layer (2nd layer).
• Evenly spread the remainding 2 cups of cheese on top (3rd layer).
• In a seperate bowl, whisk the eggs and whipping cream together until smooth. Pour over the cheese/pepper layers (4th layer).

Cooking

• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, broil for 2-3 minutes until top is brown.

Cut into 2-inch squares. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Welcome to Droyne, my fellow blog conspirator!

Yesterday, I had a nice, long phone conversation with my older brother (known to you as Droyne, known to me as something easier to pronounce), and he has agreed to join my blog site as a contributor/co-administrator. To use the old BBS lingo, he is my co-sysop.

I think you will find his postings very fun to read. While he and I come from very similar childhood backgrounds, you will find that he and I differ somewhat on a few things here and there, so you will get a fresh approach to some of the rantings I've posted over the past few months. (He's a parent, I'm not. He works in the commercial sector, I don't. He pursued science in college, while I pursued music. He lives in a different part of the country than I. You get the idea.)

He's honored me with being a regular reader of this blog over the past few months, and I'm very excited to have him come on board as a contributor. I look forward to reading his postings, and I hope you will, too!

10 things right and 10 things wrong with the Christmas Season

I love the Christmas Season ("Holiday Season", for those of you who are P.C.)... It's a time to enjoy family togetherness. It's also a time to shop like crazy and worry about what to bring to the family gathering.

In no particular order, here's my list of the ten things that are right with this time of year:

1. Families are together for the first time since Easter or Thanksgiving.
2. Holidays generally make people kinder or sweeter toward family members.
3. Gifts from family members.
4. A chance to show off new recipes you've learned since the last time your family gathered.
5. Grandma's baked beans with bacon.
6. Turkey.
7. Spiral-sliced ham.
8. An excuse to eat mashed potatoes, despite a low-carb diet.
9. Cheesecake.
10. Catching up with relatives you wouldn't normally be in contact with.

Holidays can be more of a bust than a boon, on occasion. Here's my list of the 10 Things Wrong with this Christmas season:

1. Christmas cards - so much effort for so little return.
2. Holiday e-mails for everyone on your list. See #1.
   
3. Christmas lights. No matter how many light you put up, the neighbors either aren't impressed or don't care.
4. Office parties - If it's a potluck party, chances are whatever you bring will be shoved to the back of the buffet tray. If it's a catered event, the food sucks. In either case, you are stuck with making small-talk with the spouses of YOUR spouse, while he/she plays the social butterfly. You end up as the designated driver for the evening.
5. Holiday cooking - you think will "wow" your family with a new recipe. You haven't made it before, as it is a "holiday" recipe. You follow the recipe directions, hope for the best, and the result is NOT what you see in the picture caption on the recipe page. You take it to the family gathering, all the while saying things like, "I'm sure it will be better next time," or "this is a new recipe."
6. The Christmas Tree - After selecting a tree, you need to find an appropriate spot to put it in your home. Over the course of the 365 days, you've got more stuff in your home than at this time last year. Now, you've got no room for the tree. Nice job, buddy.
   
7. Gift for the spouse - After spending a month dealing with decorations, what to cook for the family gathering, etc., you haven't picked out the PERFECT gift for your spouse.
8. You've already bought the PERFECT gift for the spouse - In my case, I had a star named after my spouse a couple of years ago. That whole year, I was the ultimate hero in her eyes. What gift can better that? Nothing I can think of. Guess I'll get her slippers or something this year...
9. Disigenuous holiday greetings - "Happy Holidays" when you know the greeter wants to say" Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hannukah".
10. Time off for the kids at this time of year, when you have to work!

Fond Friends

While backing-up some files today, I came across a PDF file containing part of the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book, "Dieties & Demigods". This got me thinking about the group of friends that led me to download this gem...

Admittedly, I didn't have too many friends as a child (I don't have too many now, come to think of it). While most children my age (70s-early 80s/grade-school through junior high) were involved in sports, I was reading archaeology textbooks and encyclopedias - I was considered by many of my peers to be a bit of a brainiac, to which I have no complaints. I was fortunate enough to be included in Washington State's initial effort at a Gifted Program, which I was a part of through my public schooling. However, at that time, for a book-minded kid like myself to "fit in"(socially) was difficult, at best. Here's where Dungeons & Dragons came into play.

The state's Gifted Program was in it's infancy, and as such, "gifted" classrooms were organized by 2 years at a time - that is, when the program was implemented, I was in the 5th grade, and was put in a classroom with 5th and 6th-graders. It was there that I became part of a close-knit group of kids - the D&D group - Jim Hudson, Eric Anderson, Lee Gladen, Kenny Martin, Simon Britnell, and yours truly.

Individually, our members scored at the top of the IQ test, scored in the higher brackets for the SAT, and were otherwise brainiacs. I think what drew us to become so close-knit, though, was the creative thinking required to play Dungeons & Dragons (this is during the early days of the game, before the game got all that bad press about it, but I'll get into that some other time). We would gather every week (usually in the loft above Kenny's church) to play D&D. After a few years, we met in eachothers living rooms, and a new member, Dan Sauter, joined in the fun.

I did not participate much as a Dungeon Master (the non-playing "referee/rulemaker/narrator" of the D&D adventure players are on), nor did Simon or Kenny. Jim, Eric, and Lee did the bulk of the DMing, and the bulk of the "sleep-over" D&D sessions were held at either Eric's or Lee's houses. Eric and Lee were brutal DMs, and Eric often took the time to build models of the "dungeons" we were to adventure in. It was a full-blown affair.

Years have passed, and the D&D group drifted apart. Last I heard from Dan, he was an officer in the Coast Guard. The last time I saw Eric, he was one of Jim's roommates at the University of Washington. Simon, who moved back to New Zealand around the time I entered high school, passed away a couple of years ago from a rare disease. I haven't heard of Kenny's whereabouts since high school. For a couple of years in college, I lived with Lee's younger brother, Jeff. Didn't get any correspodence from Lee then, and I still don't know what he's doing these days. Jim and I, however, have kept contact with eachother, and we regard eachother as "brothers".

I'd give an arm and a leg to have a reunion of this group of childhood friends - we gave eachother a sense of belonging that other folks didn't. Good guys, I wish I knew what they were up to.

Another Bill O'Mara Bobble Head Doll

A fourth Bill O'Mara Bobble Head doll has been added to the collection at our radio station.

For those who don't know who Mr. O'Mara is, he's been a TV and radio sportscaster since the late 1930's. Best known during the heyday of professional hydroplane racing, he was the first person to provide play-by-play coverage of a hydroplane race, and covered the SeaFair races in Seattle for KING-TV for years. It's his voice you hear behind any clips of the infamous flip of the Slo-Mo hydroplane. For the past 15 years or so, he has been sports director for our radio station. He's 88 years old now, and the general manager and I give him a hard time during the morning news block each weekday. These days, Mr. O'Mara's sports picks are dubious - we jokingly say that he couldn't pick a Toyota hatchback from a lot full of Cadillac Sevilles.

For a few years, we were joking on the air about getting some Bill O'Mara bobble head dolls made. This year, we found out just how expensive such a venture would be. So, we opted for the "low-tech" approach - take some snaps of Bill's head, then scotch tape them onto existing bobble head dolls. The collection grows as we get new dolls, and we've got four so far. Bill loves the doll idea, and hams it up in front of the camera each time we get a new doll for the collection (note: he wears a different hat each time).

If you'd like to download your own copy of the four dolls, you can get the picture here.

Those Wacky TV Reports When It Snows

I'm no expert on the inner workings of the TV broadcast industry. I'm a TV consumer, just like you. When the snow falls, though, I laugh out loud as to how typical winter weather is portrayed by stations in western Washington.

If you live in Washington state, or have access to the major TV stations in Washington state, just watch their reports... You'll see that I'm right!

Every winter, area TV stations send their junior-most reporter to either Snoqualmie Pass (the most-used mountain pass in the state) or some obscure location in Seattle, usually in the middle of the night or early in the morning, to give a "live, exclusive, breaking-news" report on the weather. The news anchors (sitting comfortably in their Seattle studio) try their darndest to ad-lib an intro the report to describe the weather as if the world is coming to an end, and viewers should stay tuned for updates. The video feed cuts to the junior reporter, who either kicks at the snow on the curb or tries to pick up a handful of snow to illustrate visually just how dire the weather is. All this while, the reporter is merely reiterating what that station's weatherperson has been saying all morning long - it's snowing.

I realize TV is a visual media, but it's almost as if those TV stations think their watchers, myself included, can't get it through their heads that there is snow on the ground unless we see someone standing along a roadway with snow falling in the background. In my opinion, the already extensive weather coverage given by TV stations during a storm of any magnitude suffices. To make non-severe weather conditions into a "breaking, exclusive, blah blah blah" news story is a waste of time for all, especially the junior reporter.

I'm starting to think that TV station management puts their junior-most reporters through the "snow story" situations like some sort of frathouse intitiation: "let's give them the crappiest, most ineffecive news situation possible and make them work their hinders off for some air time". Weather is weather, not news, and if it's not a weather-related disaster, it's just weather!

Snow Falling in Northwest Washington

Well, winter weather has finally arrived in northwest Washington state, and I am dreading it's arrival.

Now, I love the snow. I really do. Some of my fomdest childhood memories are of playing in the snow, and the arrival of snow in my Puget Sound community put an exclamation point on the Christmas season. During my early adulthood, I lived in central Washington (10 years). Each winter during that time, we typically were snowed upon from Halloween through mid March (one year, we got snow in late April!)... Each winter would bring about 6-10 feet (feet!) of snow accumulation, and the resulting sales of snow removal folks would be an advertising boon for the radio station I worked at each year. People in central Washington knew how to drive in the snow, and school-age kids and their parents dutifully tuned into our station for school closure/delay information. It was the kind of Winter Wonderland that would make a person smile.

Ten years ago, after moving back to western Washington to work at my current radio station, I learned how different snow affects people west of the Cascade Mountains...

For starters, people in western Washington have no clue how to drive in the snow. Think of all the tips your driving instructor gave you for winter weather driving, then throw them away. Far away. The collective Puget Sound populace is so accustomed to rainy road conditions (which, by the way, they know how to deal with very well) that they seem to think snow is just like rain. A massive pile-up on Interstate 5 today that has blocked all lanes in the Stanwood area (about half-way up the state's main highway corridor) is testament to the inability of the common western Washington driver to function below 35 degrees Farenheit. In some of the major metropolitan areas of Western Washington, the inability of motorists to drive for conditions, coupled with lots of poor city planning (residential areas on steep hills, etc.) tend to grind those areas to a halt when so little as 1/8th of an inch is on the ground.

What burns me the most is the school closure/delay situation. While in central Washington, folks would simply listen to the radio for the information they need, but students and parents in western Washington, particularly in my neck of the woods, generally seem to think that making any effort to listen to the radio for the information they need is either beneath them or is just not part of their thinking process. As western Washington can't deal with snow properly, I'll end up giving a very long list of school closures and delays at the slightest hint of the white stuff. What typically happens is, once I get done reading the list on the air that I worked my buns off to gather, I get phone call after phone call from people who:

1. Were listening to the radio, but weren't paying attention while I was reading the list.
2. Weren't listening to the radio.
3. Say they aren't listening to the radio, while you can hear our station in the background on their end.
4. Students who aren't listening for school updates, but figure that they can get an excuse to stay home for the day by calling the radio station.
   

During the morning shift, the station staff is our 87-year-old sports director and me, and I'm the only one answering the phones. Trust me, folks, I've got better things to do with my time than answer your phone calls (like, for example, gathering the information you're wondering about to get it on the air!)... If you want to find out about your school, please listen to the local radio station! If I had a dime for every time a school district couldn't get through to our station because the phone lines were jammed with people who aren't listening to the radio for updates... well, you get the idea. This is my biggest beef about being in this business in this part of the state. During winter weather conditions, radio stations provide information on the air, not via the phone, dammit. So, please, don't pick up the phone - listen to your local station for the information you seek.

OK, I'm off my soapbox (for now).

A small piece of plastic can mean so many headaches

The image you see in this blog posting is of a small piece of plastic that was kicked out of my HP 722c printer on Friday. This piece of plastic is not part of the internal workings of the printer, but rather, part of the mechanics of making sure the paper that is spit out of the printer comes out evenly. It's a part that that would, normally, be "unessential" to the workings of a printer, but as I found out, this small piece of plastic is costly in both time and money.

This small piece of plastic prevented my printer from doing anything other than a flashing light, telling me if I wanted to print any document, I was screwed. After a photo session Saturday (annual family photos), Wifey and I went to Office Depot and bought a new HP PSC1500 printer to replace the otherwise faithful 722c. I got the 1500 out of the box, set it up, and started the instal process (software on a CD to use the printer). 90% done with installing the software, I get an error message, saying a driver for CD burning software I have on my computer is incompatible with the printer software. The suggestion made by the printer software was to uninstall the "offending" software, continue with the printer installation, then upgrade the cd burning software. Like some sort of lemming, I followed the software's instructions.

What I didn't know until it was too late was that the CD burning software was bundled with the drivers that enabled my computer to recognize, and thus use, my 2 cd drives. For the next 36-48 hours, I tried deleting unnecessary files and backing up others by e-mailing them to myself at my office. Removing that CD software also screwed-up my Arial font, which is system-wide.

I downloaded the latest version of the CD burning software today, and TADA, I have my CD drives back. I tried installing the printer again. It gave me the same error message I had before, but this time, I deleted the offending file, and the install finished just fine. So, now, I've got my CD drives back and access to a new printer, but my Arial font is still screwed up. Tried today to download a new copy to fix that problem, but all I can find are web sites to buy the Arial font. Pardon me, but no.

BBQ Sauces, recipes and such

Here's a concept logo I did for the BBQ sauces I've been making (and posting on this blog). I'm working on a cookbook, and I would LOVE any recipes you could submit. I'm hoping to get a coookbook together to promote on my radio station, the proceeds of which would go to a local charity (the local battered women's shelter, for example).

I've posted a few recipes on this blog over the past few months, here's your chance!

Another Awesome Recipe

This time, the recipe is Chinese Stir Fry with Chinese Brown Sauce and Sesame Noodles. Easy prep, and lots of flavor!

I don't want to hog up the blog with tons of text for those who might not want to see the recipe, so I have links for the recipe for you to download.

As a Windows Word document.
As a PDF file.

Enjoy!

New BBQ Sauce

Well, I've tried out a new BBQ sauce that differs significantly from the "regular" sauce I make, in that it uses water instead of vegetable oil and beer, and uses onion soup mix and a touch of maple syrup in addition to the ever-wonderful brown sugar. It's a very tasty sauce (I'll post the recipe later) - I used it on some giant steaks a couple of nights ago, and the results were well above par.

Yesterday, I slow-cooked a moose roast for dinner (Wifey and I had our 8th Wedding Anniversary yesterday). As we have done in the past (with country ribs and my other two BBQ sauces), the roast was drenched in sauce and cooked on "low" in the crockpot ALL DAY. I love BBQ sauce, and I love moose meat in any form, but I would recommend to anyone thinking about using the "new" sauce with moose... don't do it. The flavors in the sauce just didn't marry well (hehe, "marry well"... Anniversary dinner...) to the flavor of the moose. I think, though, that this "new" sauce would work very well with pork or chicken (again, it's fantastic with beef).

I'll get the recipe for the "new" sauce up on the site soon. Try it when you get a chance to!

Awesome Chicken Recipe

Got inspired last night to make dinner for Wifey and I, so she would have a hot meal when she got home from teaching dog obedience. I was pleasantly suprised with the results...

Give this one a try, it's pretty easy...


Radioguy's Sweet Baked Chicken


Ingredients

• 1 cup light soy sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• garlic powder, to taste
• onion powder, to taste
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 dash lemon, lime, or orange juice (optional)
• chicken wings (or drumsticks), enough to fill a 9x9 inch glass baking dish

The trick is to combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in proportion to the amount of chicken you're using. Last night, I used 6-8 chicken wings and a couple of chicken legs (whatever I had in the freezer, that is). If you use more chicken (if you are cooking for more than two people), use a bigger backing dish and try more of the soy/brown sugar combination. Chances are, though, the proportions above should be sufficient.

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place chicken pieces in a baking dish.
• Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl - mix well (until brown sugar has dissolved).
• Pour mixture over chicken.
• Bake chicken for 30 minutes, remove from oven and turn chicken pieces over, spooning the "sauce" over the chicken.
• Bake for another 30 minutes, remove from oven and turn chicken pieces over, spooning the "sauce" over the chicken.
• Bake for another 15-20 minutes and remove from chicken. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with salad or rice. Very tasty!
  

If you end up with additional "sauce" after the chicken is done, you can reduce it for a thicker "sauce". Just be careful while reducing it, as it has a lot of brown sugar, which can burn easily. The ginger gives the dish a slightly Chinese flavor - for a different flavor, try leaving the ginger out and adding some mild chili powder (for example). Experiment with it, and have fun!

Let me know if you get an opportunity to try this recipe!

A Wish For All the Difficult People In Your Life

I can't remember who sent this great picture to me, but the picture is appropos.

An open letter to bulk mailers, spammers, and off-shore e-mail distributors

Dear Sir or Madam:

I would like to thank you for the e-mail I received from you today. It is comforting to know that you (and others like you) consider me (and millions of others like me) a possible consumer of the product/service you are selling. However, I will not be purchasing the product/service that you (and others like you) are offering to me (and millions of others like me) today, and there are specific reasons why. Allow me to explain.

• I have no interest in purchasing Viagra, Cialis, or related products, and my “personal relations” with my spouse are none of your concern.
  
• I do not intend to purchase pharmaceutical products from Canada, thank you.
  
• Small cap stocks? I think not.
  
• Visit your pay-by-credit card porn site? No thank you, I’m not interested. And if I were, there are terabytes upon terabytes of pornography on the World Wide Web that does not require a credit card, let alone valid identification.
  
• Refinance my home loan? I (and millions of people like me) either rent or have already refinanced my home loan, through a reputable, local, financial institution. So, no thank you.

While I (and millions of people like me) will not be giving you our business, some people may. To improve the chances of obtaining those clients, I have five recommendations.

1. Before you send an e-mail, please obtain a grasp of the English language, and how to use it in the printed form. For example, the subject line of your e-mail should read, “Discount offer on Viagra,” not “dude, she likes iT bigGer. Cheap ViAgrA noW.”
2. Please learn to spell. You may have better results if your e-mail’s subject line reads, “Opportunity to make money in the stock market with a low initial investment,” not “small cap St0cks.”
3. Make a concerted effort to know who you are sending the e-mail to. If my name was - for example, Jerry - why would you send me an e-mail with a subject line that reads, “Look at this, Julie”???
4. I (and millions of people like me) would be more inclined to look at your e-mail if the name of the person sending the e-mail doesn’t make me (and millions of people like me) giggle out loud. It’s difficult to take an offer to refinance my home loan seriously when it is sent by “Humungous G. Pointless,” “Foolish R. Investment,” or “Spanky Foofernickel.” If your name IS Spanky Foofernickel, forgive me – you’re still on my ignore list, and you should sue your parents for years of counseling and lost revenue potential from mass -emails.
5. Finally, consider changing the domain/e-mail provider to better match your name. If your e-mail says it’s from “Katherine Smith,” and the e-mail address says “frank_jones@aol.com,” I (and millions of people like me) will give your offer a sideways glance. E-mails from foreign countries always raise a red flag for me (and millions of people like me) – basically anything that does not end in “.com,” “.net”, or “.org”. May I suggest becoming a client for a reputable American Internet Service Provider?

With “hindsight being 20/20,” perhaps you should consider giving up on the e-mail efforts and concentrate on more accepted forms of advertisement? Chances are that I (and millions of people like me) would be more apt to take offers by you (and others like you) seriously. A free market is a wonderful thing, if done correctly!

If you would like to send me feedback, or if you would like to send me additional offers, please send e-mail to “Frankly T. Enormodrome” (todd_jones@jkllirhs.dk) or “Y. R. U. Botheringme” (allan_smithy@freddyfredsuperfreddyfredrickson.bz)

Buy American! Shop American!

Yours truly,

RaDi0gUy (and millions of people like me)!

Poor Man's Pizza

Another recipe from the mind of Radioguy...

Wifey and I are on the low-carb diet thing, and have been for a few years now. "Believe you me," - it really isn't that bad. Smart substitutions for everyday ingredients make the low-carb lifestyle very easy. Thursday nights are our "low-carb pizza nights," that is, we get a low-carb pizza each Thursday night from Pappa Murphy's. Well, I am a big pizza fan, so I came up with something to tide me over until Thursday nights...

POOR MAN'S (LOW-CARB) PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

• 4 slices of bread (or 2 flour tortillas)
• pasta sauce
• onion, chopped
• green bell pepper, chopped
• cheddar cheese, shredded

This one is an easy-cooking meal. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spritz a cookie sheet with vegetable oil. Place the bread (or tortillas) on the sheet, and spritz them with oil. Thinly spread pasta sauce on top of the bread (or tortillas). Add toppings, witht the cheese on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until bread (or tortilas) are crispy and easily removeable from the cookie sheet. Serve hot.

This recipe is a winner, I think. Much more "family friendly" than the "fried spaghetti" or "burnt weenie sandwich" recipies I've been tossing about.

ANOTHER GREAT BBQ SAUCE

Here's another sauce for you BBQ nuts... This one is different from the "regular" sauce I cook/use, most notably that it does not use tomato paste or beer, and that it uses mustard as a key ingredient. I haven't got a disctinctive name for the sauce yet. For now, it's just "Radioguy's BBQ Sauce with Mustard."

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon gound thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon gound black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt or salt substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation

Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and mix/grind until the mixture obtains an even consistency (ground pretty fine), then place dry mixture into a medium-sized saucepan. Add the wet ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionly (so as the molasses and sugar don't burn the bottom of the saucepan). Pour into a glass jar (I use an empty 16 oz. beer bottle with a ceramic stopper).

This sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three months. It is great with chicken, hot dogs, ham, etc.

BBQ Season is almost here!

With the coming of BBQ season, I wanted to share a homemade BBQ sauce recipe for any and all to enjoy...

RADIOGUY’S SPICY BBQ SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup catsup
• ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 tbls. Vegetable oil
• 1 tbls. Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce
• 12 oz. tomato paste
• 12 oz. Beer, any brand
• 1 ½ cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

• In a 2-quart saucepan or pot, combine the catsup, brown sugar, lime juice, vegetable oil, Worchester sauce, tomato paste, and beer.
• In a food processor or spice grinder, mix the onion and garlic, then add to the sauce.

Heat all ingredients to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Yield: about 5 cups of sauce.

(for a spicier BBQ sauce)

• ½ tsp. Chili powder
• ½ tsp. Cayenne pepper
• Jabenero pepper sauce (to taste)

For a spicier BBQ sauce, mix the optional ingredients in a food processor/spice grinder, and add to the sauce (I recommend preparing the sauce AS IS, adding the “hotter” ingredients to taste).

Chunky Tomato Bisque

Another great recipe!

Chunky tomato bisque soup

Ingredients: 1 large pot for cooking
2 28 oz. cans of diced, stewed tomatoes (Italian blend w/oregano, basil and garlic) S and W or Delmonte brands work well. (If you cannot locate an Italian brand, then put your own oregano/basil in the soup to taste and buy just plain stewed/diced tomatoes)
sea salt (preferably), pepper to taste
2 or 3 cups chicken broth (no msg)
2 cups heavy cream
Parmesan cheese for topping (optional).

How To Prepare: Makes a giant soup..mmm. Make the soup as creamy as you like or add less cream if you like less creamy soup. Add more chicken broth if like more chicken broth. Just heat to boiling, and serve. Add all ingredients, and salt/pepper to taste. MMM quick and easy...

Number of Servings: 12 Carbs per serving (including complete nutritional information if known): the only Carbs in this come from the healthy tomatoes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes!

Baked Chicken Wraps

I haven't tried this recipe out yet, but it sounds great...

Baked Chicken Wraps

Chicken breasts (2)

2 Bell Peppers (or equal amount of other peppers), finely chopped

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 tbls. Dragon sauce

2 tsp. Chili powder

2 tbls. Vegetable oil for frying

Low carb wraps (2-4, depending on the size of the wrap)*

Shred chicken and place in a large bowl.

In a large frying pan, sauté the onions and peppers with 1 tbls. oil and chili powder.

In a separate frying pan, sauté the chicken with the remaining oil and the Dragon Sauce.

Stuff wraps with the chicken and vegetables. Spritz the wraps with oil before placing in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (oven temps will vary). Serve on a bed of lettuce with any extra onions and peppers. Great with melted cheese and/or chipotle salsa.

* low-carb tortillas can be substituted for the wraps.

Radioguy's Cream of Asparagus Soup

Thanks to wifey, I'm making my homemade cream of asparagus soup tonight. I wanted to share the recipe with anyone who may enjoy it...


INGREDIENTS

2 cans (bunches) asparagus (if you get canned asparagus, drain the juice)
1 large onion, chopped
4 strips of bacon
1tsp. celery seeds
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup cream
3 tbls. butter


PREPARATION

In a soup pot, add onion, celery seed, and butter, and cook until onion is soft. Place onion mixture in a food processor.
Cut up the bacon and fry in the pot (yes, the pot) until crispy. Remove the bacon and add to the food processor.
For the asparagus - if it's canned, cut stalks in half and add to the food processor. If fresh, steam the stalks, then cut in half and add to the processor.
Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to the mixture in the food processor, and mix until almost smooth.

Put the mixture in the soup pot, adding the cream and the remainder of the broth. Cook on low heat until ready to eat.

Wifey's making grilled cheese (or grilled tuna, she hasn't told me which, yet) sandwiches to go with the soup. Makes for a great (and healthy) dinner. More recipies to come... Enjoy!