Thank You, Atty Gen Blumenthal

State Challenges Energy Law

September 27, 2005
Associated Press

HARTFORD -- Connecticut's attorney general is challenging the constitutionality of a new federal energy law that allows the developers of power projects to appeal directly to the federal government when state officials deny or delay needed permits.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the provision in the Energy Policy Act undermines the state's environmental authority and violates the 11th Amendment of the Constitution, which prevents Congress from authorizing lawsuits by private parties against a state.
He filed a motion Monday to dismiss a federal petition by the financial backers of the proposed Islander East Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that would run under Long Island Sound from Branford to the eastern end of Long Island.

The pipeline company, a partnership between KeySpan Corp. and Duke Energy, is using the Energy Policy Act to seek approval for the project in a federal appeals court. The pipeline plans have been tied up in Connecticut courts and state regulatory agencies for several years.

"I will fight Islander East's arrogant attempt to sidestep long-established state laws, violating constitutional guarantees," Blumenthal said Monday....


Read the full article at The Hartford Courant online

the tortured tree - still alive & kicking! 

Roe V Wade

In "Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything..." the author, who is an economist and a statistician, traces the collapse of the crime wave of the 80-90's statistically to Roe v Wade.

Seems that babies that are unwanted are at most risk of being dropouts, criminals and violent. When these babies are not brought into the world, they don't put more stress on families that are already stressed to the max. They don't grow up to kill and steal and otherwise suck the lifeblood of society.

Yes, an unwed mother CAN suck it up and do good by her child. Kudos to those that do, although they do more for their own psyche than for society in doing so. I know a few such mothers, and their lives were ultimately shaped by their decision - as all of our lives are shaped by all of our decisions, good and bad.

The children involved were also so shaped, and the vast majority of them are not now CEO's or anything like that. It's a hard thing to overcome a deprived childhood. Not impossible, but very, very hard. Not very many do well.

My religion teaches that the soul does not enter the body permanently until the 120th day AFTER BIRTH and there is a celebration at that time for the new child. (I am NOT saying that ANYONE should kill a child before the 120th day after birth.) To force the christian view on me is not democratic and not ethical. To abort an embryo before the 12th week of pregnancy is not killing a child, and it is perfectly legal. Stay out of my bedroom. Stay out of my doctor's office.

I stand by my original guiding principle: Procreation must be limited in this overpopulated world, and to bring a child up in an impoverished situation, when there are alternatives, is morally reprehensible. It is as bad for society as it is for the mother involved. If we are to have only 1 or 2 kids, it behooves us to give those few as much as we can, in every aspect of their life. If that means aborting a little lump of flesh that has no feeling or intellect, then so be it, with all regrets, all regrets, all regrets.

It was not so long ago that children were not even given a permanent name until they survived their childhood diseases, and if all the eggs that have ever been fertilized had grown to be people, there would not be enough room on the face of the earth for them to stand up, nevermind have any room to grow food or have any other animal or plant.

Is it so much to ask for the government to stay out of our bedrooms, stay out of our doctor's offices, and stay out of our personal decisions, with good to all concerned?

Sustainable, Indeed

Community Garden Promotes Sustainable Living
By Frank Ruggiero

Matt Cooper doesn’t intend to simply cultivate a community garden, but to cultivate a legacy of sustainability.

Matt Cooper, founder of the Appalachian Cooperative for Progressive Sustainability, is making plans for a community garden.

Cooper, founder of the Appalachian Cooperative for Progressive Sustainability (ACPS), literally a nonprofit organization in the making, approached the Boone Town Council last week, requesting to lease space off Leola Street in Boone to start a community garden.

The key word is “community,” in that anyone will be able to participate in the venture, be it tilling soil, planting seeds, harvesting crops or buying produce.

The garden will also serve as an educational resource for community members, students and children, where one can learn about agriculture, vermiculture (worm studies) and sustainability, as well as the primary differences separating organic foods from the processed variety.

Now, this is a truly sustainable and ingenious way to build a prosperous community! You get a lease that's so cheap that it's laughable from the local government, grow food and stuff that you can sell. Then you take the proceeds, buy solar panels for your fav charities, and get them off the grid, and (eventually) into a position where the charities are being paid for the electricity they generate! Kudos to Matt Cooper!!
(click on "garden" in the title to go to the original article.)

This One is Dedicated to Old White Lady!

Old White Lady had a couple of stunning fog shrouded pics over at It's Morning Somewhere. When I was going to the grocery store this morning, and saw the fog rising in a place where I didn't know there was a pond, I pulled over and got this!

The Meme

The Rules
Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect.

1. Left of Centrist
2. Fun Central
3. Last Left Turn Before Hooterville
4. It's Morning Somewhere
5. The Gypsy's Caravan

Next: Select four new friends to add to the pollen count. (No one is obligated to participate and anyone can play if they want to). (I'm glad about that caveat - I'm not the best at always getting to it when I'm tagged, although it's always nice!)

'The Meme':
1.) What were you doing 10 years ago?
Living in LA, working graveyard shift at KPCC.
2.) What were you doing 5 years ago?
Living in CT, working as an Office Manager, planning my wedding.
3.) What were you doing one year ago?
Same old job, same old place
4.) What were you doing yesterday?
Get up, go to work, lock myself out at work,
I remembered to bring everything except my keys, so I couldn't set the alarm, or drive home. I called my son, who thought it was real funny that I was stuck, and he came and opened up so that I could get my keys and lock up properly (thanks steve! whew)
come home, make din-din, watch Jon Stewart on TIVO with my sweetie.
5.) Five snacks you enjoy
Fruit, cheese sticks, carrot sticks, pistachios, and jumble pie!
6.) Five songs I know all the words to.
a. Don Henley - "You Must Not Be Drinkin' Enough"
b. Simon & Garfunkle - "Sounds of Silence"
c. Little Feat - "Fat Man In The Bathtub"
d. Queensriche - "The Thin Line"
e. Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
7.) Five things you would do if you had a million dollars
a. Pay off the mortgages of our kids, and our siblings.
b. Retire
c. Get an Airstream, see the USA
d. Get land in Canada & Mexico
e. Take out full page ads in newspapers around the country - run ads explaining what a mess this admin has made of the country.
8.) Five things you like doing
a. Blogging
b. Hiking
c. Taking Pictures
d. Cooking
e. Making Love!(of course)
9.) Five bad habits
a. Defensive reaction
b. Perseveration
c. Putting things off
d. Avoiding chores
e. Saying too much (or too little)
10.) Five things I would never wear again
a. Mini Skirt
b. Thong underwear - ouch, as well as ick!(unless I get to take them off pronto- see # 11 below...)
c. bathing suit at the beach (I sunburn in longsleeves!)
d. high heeled torture chambers
e. pigtails
11.) Five favorite toys
a. Thong underwear - and other toys along that line...
b. My potter's wheel
c. Computer
d. Kiln
e. TIVO!!

Passing the meme baton to:
1. Clover's Field
2. The Dharma Bums
3. Traumatized by Truth
4. The Demi Orator
*the Demi Orator graciously bowed out, but The Fat Lady Sings wants to do it!

Saturday Dragon Blogging

Taking time to smell the roses

I have been way too serious lately, and I'm taking a break to smell the roses. My favorite, this one blooms from early spring to the last gasp of fall.

Cosmos

The last flowers of the season. We finally got some rain in the wake of Katrina, and these cosmos decided to burst forth!

Our Christmas project

Last weekend my husband and I took on a project that we've been planning for awhile. He got a set of instructions for a santa, sleigh, and reindeer lawn display on ebay. The sleigh was first, and here you see one side (of two), painted and complete.

~

The backside. There are flat pieces of plywood to attach the sides together

Bullfrog

This bullfrog loves hanging out with the fish in our pond

Waterfall at our outside pond

All that moss just finally took hold this year. I'm hoping it helps to filter the water, but it looks sooo luscious on the rocks.

~

The waterfall helps to aerate the water, while the water hyacinth's roots spread in a mat below them to soak up the fish's "by-products". In the fall, the hyacinth is thrown in the garden to fertilize it, and the pond gets a little more salt, to foster the slime that the goldfish excrete to keep their scaly skin healthy.

~

Come first frost, we'll cut off the tops of these iris, and drop the whole pot to the bottom of the pond for the winter.

fishes hanging out in the pond 

I OPPOSE the nomination of John Roberts!

COPIED FROM "WHAT SHE SAID" http://whatshesaid.the-goddess.org/

The BlogSheroes Community
opposes the nomination of John Roberts

We are a group of writers who are passionately committed to supporting women’s basic freedom as citizens of the United States. We are appealing to you as free citizens dedicated to political growth, fairness and the spirit of Liberty guaranteed in the US Constitution.
~ snip ~
In defending a religious minority’s demand to impose their religious customs on the majority(1), in attacking Congress' right to regulate commerce under national standards (2) and in stating that using the full extent of the law in cases involving minors is necessary to promote "parental awareness of commission delinquent acts” (3); John Roberts has advocated positions which

(1) are skewed to the ideology of religious extremists,
(2) balkanize the country into a loose mesh of little republics
(3) coerce a moral outcome based on a restrictive fundamentalist view through legal means

The extremist religious minority in this country have used the excuse of the states' compelling interest in children's welfare as a reason to seek limits to the Constitution through unfettered limitation of reproductive rights on the state level. All across the country laws have been passed curtailing the movement of minors from one state to the other in search of abortions. Some states have even made it a capital offense punishable with the death penalty to aid a minor with no parental consent. This is appalling.

Some of us are mothers and fathers and we would most certainly want the government to uphold our rights to choose how to parent our children without intervention of the government. But these laws act completely to the contrary. They do not protect the right to privately decide how to raise a family, but rather prevent it.

These laws impose a view of parenting that may actually be harmful to many underage women in need of an abortion. To restrict their individual rights and define them as extensions of their parents or guardians endangers young women’s lives. Judge Roberts' rulings can become a weapon for extremists who would impose their reproductive agendas against the will of their underage yet sexually mature daughters. It exposes young women in abusive or coercive situations to further abuse and physical danger.

We advocate Freedom.

It's a long, but worthy read. http://whatshesaid.the-goddess.org/

What does Love Mean?

My friend from Oregon sent me this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Touching words from the mouth of babes.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,

"What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.

So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.

You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."

Billy - age 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Chrissy - age 6



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

Terri - age 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

Danny - age 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.

My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"

Emily - age 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6

(We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."

Cindy - age 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"My mommy loves me more than anybody.

You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

Clare - age 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine-age 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

Chris - age 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

Mary Ann - age 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (What an image)

Karen - age 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

Mark - age 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Look at what he does.

When my first marraige (to a professional salesman) fell apart, I learned a very useful thing: Ignore what they say -> look at what they DO!!

If he brings home a nasty little germ, he's been fooling around.

If he's not where he says he is, He's with someone else.

If he doesn' t know how long it's been since you last had sex together, He's been doin' the nasty elsewhere.
("really honey, a whole year?? has it been that long?" I mean, how many of you don' tknow exactly where you were and who you were with last time you had an orgasm? - well, you were way too drunk, then! ;)

How pitiful is it, you think, that someone could ignore those signs..... Well, you don't know just how much I wanted it not to be true!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, so what's the Bushco been doing?

He took us from record surplus to record deficit in 2 years
He invaded Iraq for no other reason than the OIL : several hundred thousand Poor People dead
He lies constantly : people all over the world die
He's trying to gut Social Security : Poor elders will die
He gutted Fema : several hundred thousand dead
He refuses to even acknowledge that Darfur exists : several hundred thousand poor people dead
He's trying to do in the UN : untold suffering will ensue, all around the world
He's gutted our environmental laws : that kills 18,000 Americans every single year. Six times the number of people than were killed by the World Trade Center attack. Nobody talks about that!
He refuses to abide by treaties and obligations that the United States has signed off on for years and years: everyone hates us!
He's refused to reup on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and is actively pursuing new nuclear weapons
He gives billions to Saudi Arabia, but for the poor of africa: no condoms -> die of AIDS why dontcha
He's moved lobbyists into all the areas of federal government that are supposed to protect citizens from evil greedy Corporations
He allowed 9/11 to happen while he was on vacation : 3 thousand dead
He allowed the EPA to sign off on the air quality at ground zero for first responders: now those heros are all dying
Our military STILL does not have sufficient armor and resources to do their job : how many more young men & women will come home in a bag, or spend the rest of their lives in a wheel chair?
We use depleted uranium in our explosives in Iraq : untold thousands dying of cancer - both ours & theirs -gulf war syndrome??
He's allowing EPA to sign off on NOLA : how many will die cleaning up that disaster with no protection against poisons?
His first act as president was to deny aid to any agency that talked in a reasonable way about family planning, which pretty much cut off aid to women in Africa. Forget about Right to life and all that stuff, to some of these women, this was the only doctor they will ever see in their lifetime - gone compliments of Bushco.

So, forgive me if I say, it looks like he's declared war, not on terrorists, but on the poor of the world, on overpopulation and on poverty - but only in the sense that if you stamp out the poor, then you stamp out poverty.

How pitiful is it, you think, that someone could ignore those signs.....



Crossposted on the Dark Wraith Message Board

The Ultimate Argument for Conservation

The Smirking Chimp has a transcript of Robert F Kennedy Jr's speech delivered at the Sierra Summit 2005, San Francisco, California, September 10, 2005

Here are a few excerpts:

...This is the worst environmental president we've had in American history.

If you look at NRDC's website you'll see over 400 major environmental roll backs that are listed there that have been implemented or proposed by this administration over the past four years as part of a deliberate concerted effort to eviscerate 30 years of environmental law.
~snip~
All this right wing propaganda which is planned and organized and dominated this country, the political debate for so many years talking about a liberal media. Well, you know and I know there is no such thing as a liberal media in the United States of America.

There is a right wing media, and if you look where most Americans are now getting their news, that's where they're getting it. According to Pew 30 percent of Americans now say that their primary news source is talk radio which is 90 percent dominated by the right.
~snip~
When people hear this message and what this White House is doing and the Gingrich Congress, there is no difference between the way Republicans react and the democrats react except the republicans come up afterwards and say, "Why haven't we ever heard of this before?" I say to them, "It's because you're watching Fox News and listening to Rush."

And 80 percent of Republicans are just Democrats who don't know what's going on [applause].

... they found that ... the people that voted for Bush had the same ideology, the same basic values, they were just misinformed. 70 percent said that they believed that Saddam Hussein bombed the World Trade Center, 70 percent believed that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, 64 percent believed that President Bush strongly supported the Kyoto Protocol and strong labor and environmental standards in our foreign treaties and on and on.

When Pippa went back and asked them what they believed, there was almost no difference between what the Republicans and Democrats believed where America should be headed. The problem was a huge information deficit because the news media in this country is letting down American democracy and democracy cannot survive long without a vigorous news media.
~snip~
...this president has put the brakes on the statutory requirements that those companies, those coal burning power plants clean up the acid rain. As a direct result of that decision, this year for the first time since the passage of the Clean Air Act sulfur dioxide levels went up in our country an astronomical four percent in a single year.

When those coal burning power plants put mercury into the atmosphere that comes down from the Ohio Valley and it comes down on my state New York, I buy a fishing license for $30 every year but I can't go fishing and eat the fish anymore because they stole the fish from me.

They liquidated a pubic asset, my asset. The rule is the commons are owned by all of us. They're not owned by the governor or the legislator or the coal companies and the utility. Everybody has a right to use them.

Nobody has a right to use them. Nobody has a right to use them in a way that will diminish or injure their use and enjoyment by others. But they've stolen that entire resource from the people of New York State.
(emphasis mine)

This is only a small part of it, and it makes me so mad that George Bush is pimping our environment, pimping our health, and selling off our assets cheap, for short term gain. Go read it, it's so good to hear someone talk about what's happening in the country that you and I live in, not the fairy tale place that Bushco and his ilk think they will be able to retire to.

The great irony is that when they're done, there will be no pristine places left for anyone, and Bushco and all his money will not be able to escape the terrible cost and terrible result of what they're doing now.

Your Personality Profile

You are pure, moral, and adaptable. You tend to blend into your surroundings. Shy on the outside, you're outspoken to your friends. You believe that you live a virtuous life... And you tend to judge others with a harsh eye. As a result, people tend to crave your approval.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

When I started reading this, I was surprised at how accurate - then I got to "judge others with a harsh eye - eeuuw! that stinks -and I hope I'm not harsh to anyone! ...and I've never known anyone to crave my approval. Ahh well, please accept my apology if I'm ever harsh to anyone, I really don't mean to be. (unless you're a troll, and stupid to boot! lol)

Our President calls for corruption free zone at the UN

When President Bush calls for the UN to be corruption free, it's like being lectured on sobriety by a drunk. While an uncorruptable UN would be an honorable goal, President Bush is hardly the one to be lecturing anyone about corruption.
In an article in the Online Lakeland Ledger: http://tinyurl.com/cnjvh they point out -

Brown was not alone in the FEMA ranks when it came to lack of experience. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that five of the top eight FEMA officials have virtually no experience in handling national disasters.

Three of them (Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler) had connections to the Bush 2000 campaign or to the White House's advance operation. Two other jobs are filled by the former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska, and a former U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who has been a political fund-raiser and campaign adviser.


Fema, the SBLA, the EPA, and most of the other agencies in our federal govt that are usually manned by some of the best and most qualified public servants in the world are now staffed or, understaffed by the likes of Mike "Brownie" Brown.


"If member countries want the United Nations to be respected and effective, they should begin by making sure it is worthy of respect," said Bush today in a speech at the UN.


Bush would do well to take his own advice. Lobbyists have overrun all parts of our federal government, they write our laws to suit their industries, overturning our right to clean air and soil and water for their short term profit. They cut down trees and build intrusive roads in our national forests, are planning the rape of the arctic refuge. They empty our coffers when we are engaged in a war of choice (ugly concept, that) that enriches the mega corporations at the expense of the vanishing middle class.


World to Bush: clean up your own act before you dare to lecture those whose Summit you've just sent your attack dog Bolton to obstruct.

John Bolton Doesn't Speak For Me

Please go to Common Dreams and here, and check out what John Bolton is doing at the World Summit to embarass the American people and set back world diplomacy in this, the most dangerous of times.

Here we are, in the wake of Katrina, undermining the UN and all it stands for.

The opening salvo a couple of weeks ago was the remarkable assertion by the United States government that the Millennium Development Goals do not even exist, so that the phrase itself should be expunged from the document. This was news to the rest of the world, who were gathering at the Summit first and foremost to find ways to reinforce the Millennium Development Goals.
-snip-
The argument was not very impressive. All 18 of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals - to halve hunger, fight disease, reduce maternal mortality, ensure access to safe drinking water, and more - are explicitly part of the Millennium Declaration. With 190 countries standing in opposition to the US position, the US relented.
-snip-

This aggressive position has continued down to the details. The US has fought commitments to a “Quick Win” against malaria through the mass distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets and effective medications. It has resisted commitments to quick wins in other areas as well. In the end, every specific target and timetable to help the world’s poorest of the poor has come under US fire.

John Bolton: YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME!
Please go crawl back under that rock.

President Bush: "I take Responsibility"

He's (Bush) taken responsibility for the failure of FEMA. Now what exactly does that mean???

Does that mean he will be on trial for mass Murder? I somehow don't think so. I don't think he knows what taking responsibility means. It's just another empty phrase to pacify the masses, as he goes about doing his photo ops, and looting the treasury, and giving billions to rich people. Gosh, what a mess, and the dems are going to lay right down on the scotus nominees.

Is it time yet to say "Oh Lord, why have You abandoned us" ?

Morning Glories

Only the most drought resistant plants are left in my garden here at work

Pink Sedum

Allium 

The Dragon guarding his treasure... 

Eggplant Parmesan

When I'm stressed, I either write, clean, or cook. Well, the house is not so clean right now, but hubby is happy - I made his favorite! He fancies himself an eggplant parm connoisseur, and he says this recepie is better than fried!!

First, you thin slice the eggplant, 1/4" slices, and sprinkle them with Kosher salt. Let them rest for 20 minutes, while you set up the breading brigade, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

The slices will be double breaded. Set up three bowls: 1. a cup of flour (preferably whole wheat) with a tbs of black pepper mixed in. 2. One large egg, beaten into a half cup milk. 3. A cup of bread crumbs mixed with a cup of parmesan cheese (freshly grated if you can) and a couple tbs basil.

When the eggplant looks like it's sweating(about 20-30 min), rinse the salt off, and pat dry, then dip it into the flour, then the egg mix, then the breadcrumb mix. Bake in 425 deg oven for 20-30 min, turning to brown on both sides. If you really want a little oil, you can spray the eggplant with Olive Oil or Cannola before they go into the oven.

breaded & baked

If you use a pizza pan, or a wire rack, you don't have to turn the eggplant slices. Next, you cool the eggplant, and then layer as usual: a little sauce in the bottom, followed by a layer of eggplant, then mozzerella cheese, then spoon on a little sauce, followed by another layer of eggplant, and a drizzle of cheese. Spoon sauce over the top, and some more cheese, with a final spritzing of parmesan cheese, and bake until warm thru, and melted. voila!

Ready for the Oven

You can freeze the Breaded and Baked slices (I put them between layers of paper towels in a freezer bag to keep them from getting freezer burn) for about 6 months.

The Gilded Age strikes again!

Shades of the Titanic Disaster, The rich, clean and fed are bussed out before the poor, starving and filthy.

This from the AP:

At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.

"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.