w00t! Social Enterprise and Peak Oil?

Check out this social enterprise in Chicago called Growing Home. It's an urban incarnation of my father's dream come true: growing vegetables, job training, and help for people with problems.

Their mission from the website: "Since its inception, Growing Home has worked towards this by providing a transitional job program that lets previously-incarcerated and previously-homeless individuals prepare to re-enter the workforce not only by teaching job skills, but also by providing the chance to engage in what is for many a transformational experience. Our program is different from other workforce development programs because of our intense focus on the transformational possibilities inherent in learning to nurture and grow one’s own food. "

I've been thinking about doomsday and how my survival could be dependent on my ability to grow my own food, after hearing about Peak Oil in an Urban Planning class I visited. These Growing Home people are on the right track if Peak Oil is even close to being true.

Feast

Christopher Buckley Won't Be Coming to the National Review Christmas Party

Christopher Buckley, the only son of William F. Buckley, came out recently with an endorsement for Barack Obama. This isn't sitting well with the National Review, but Buckley Jr. still owns 1/7 of the magazine. I caught up on Junior in this New York times piece. I learned that Buckley Jr. is the author of Thank You for Smoking--I have to admit I didn't read the book but I thought the movie was fabulous. Buckley is scheduled to appear on the Daily Show.

I watched Charlie Wilson's War last night--a nice Afgan/American history lesson in an easy-to-swallow Hollywood format starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. The director of Primary Colors tells the story of a Texas playboy congressman raises funds from $5 milllion to $1 billion to covertly arming the Afgans to fight the Soviets, then seen as the front of the Cold War. Later, these same Afgans seize power as the Taliban. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character best states the moral of the story with his Zen Master tale which goes something like this.

A boy in a village received a horse as a gift. The villagers say the horse is a blessing. The Zen master says, "We'll see." The boy falls off the horse and breaks his leg. The villagers then call the horse a curse. Again the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, all the young men of the village go to war but the boy is spared because he has a broken leg. The villagers decide that the horse was in fact, a blessing. Zen master: "We'll see."

Spiced Black Bean Burrito

I made this tonight and really enjoyed it. It could easily be made vegan by omitting the goat cheese. If you do eat cheese, the goat cheese is a lovely twist. As broth is used instead of oil to saute the vegetables, it is a very healthy dish. I found the recipe on the World's Healthiest Foods--the site gives complete nutrition information on all their recipes.

***

Black Bean Burrito, Indian Style
The combination of Southwestern ingredients and Eastern seasonings will put an unusual and exciting twist on this vegetarian-style burrito.

Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

1 medium onion cut in half and sliced thin
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1½ cups sweet potatoes cut in ½ inch cubes
1 cup green peppers, thin julienne
1 cup red peppers, thin julienne
1 tsp garam masala (Can be found in the spice section of your favorite market.)
1 TBS + ½ cup vegetable broth
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
*optional 2 oz Chevre goat cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
4 whole wheat tortillas
Topping
*(optional) prepared salsa
1 head of romaine lettuce, shredded (remove outer leaves and discard)

Directions:
Chop onions and garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their health-promoting properties.
Prepare vegetables by chopping and slicing.
Heat 1 TBS broth in a 12 inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion, garlic, ginger, and peppers in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garam masala, sweet potatoes and mix well. Add 1/2 cup broth and cook covered on low heat for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
Add beans making sure they are rinsed and drained well first and mix. Cook for another 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
While vegetables are cooking shred lettuce. You also might want to wrap tortillas in foil and place in the oven to warm while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Place vegetable mixture in tortilla and top with goat cheese. Roll and top with salsa and shredded lettuce. Serves 4
Healthy Cooking Tips:

Cutting bell peppers thin and the sweet potatoes small will allow their flavors to blend together better as they cook than if they are cut into large pieces. Try to cut them as directed for best results. Store your leftover spices in the freezer to keep fresh for the next time you want to make this wonderful dish.

I wish I had Jewish grandparents in Florida.

Anyone else a little nervous?

Hello everyone, I was invited to join your Blahg and post two emails that I sent to several of my friends regarding the credit crisis. During the past two weeks, I've alternated between grudging support and outright opposition to the rescue plan. Being just your average ignorant citizen, I can't tell if (a) We're circling the drain and something must be done STAT!, or (b) We'll get through this if we just keep our heads. At this point, I'm not inclined to leave anything to chance...

The following is the first email that I sent to my friends last Friday afternoon, September 26:

Good afternoon dear friends and concerned citizens:

I hope that each of you is aware of the negotiations afoot in Washington to bail out Wall Street for their greed and stupidity. By the end of this weekend, the government will have added another $2,300 to each person's debt (currently over $32,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country), collectively known as the national debt:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

I urge you to contact your representative (www.house.gov) and senators (www.senate.gov) and urge them not to rubber stamp Hank Paulson's plan to bail out the Wall Street firms without protection for the taxpayers. We should urge our elected officials to carefully consider the alternatives. Personally, I believe that the government should receive an equity stake in every company that needs government assistance. That way, the taxpayers get a piece of the upside when these companies return to profitability. Don't let Paulson and friends socialize their losses and not their profits!

I also recommend contacting both presidential candidates for good measure. But don't wait too long. By the end of this weekend, the deal will likely be made, so you must act without delay.

Thank you everyone. I'm mad as hell.

Despite my opposition to the original incarnation of the Paulson plan, I genuinely believed and hoped that congress would pass something by Monday, even if it was only slightly less dreadful. I confess that I was among the stunned when the compromise plan failed, and I wrote the following email Tuesday night, partly to balance my initial criticism:

Good evening dear friends and concerned citizens,

On Monday, a majority of our elected representatives heard the popular outcry against a giveaway to Wall Street. However, rather than agree to a compromise plan that would help to loosen the credit markets while simultaneously protecting taxpayers, the majority decided to do nothing. Despite my repugnance to saving Wall Street from its excesses, I believe with many others that inaction in this case is not the answer. Many fear that the continued stress in the credit markets will have a widespread and detrimental effect upon the economy as a whole, from which few will be spared. A reasonably crafted compromise plan may mitigate the current paralysis in the credit markets while at the same time protect the taxpaying citizens, and the bill that was defeated on Monday was an attempted to achieve those goals.

No one is pleased with the current hand we've been dealt, and no bill will be approved to applause. However, by opting for nothing, the majority chose the worse option on Monday. By doing nothing for so long, our government permitted unhealthy and irresponsible growth to destabilize the very machinery of our economy, and doing nothing now will ensure that our economic descent will be raw and protracted.

Last week, I urged you to contact your elected officials to voice your opposition to a Wall Street bailout while demanding that alternatives be considered. Now I'm asking you to contact them again, this time to voice support for a compromise plan. Today I called and emailed my representative a second time. Evidenced by his voting No on Monday, last week he must have heard all of the anger in my voice and none of the fear. Unfortunately, it may be that Monday's was the best deal that we're going to get, and it's a sad comment on our predicament that we probably need to enact a mediocre plan quickly rather than an excellent plan after much deliberation and delay. Please reach out to your elected officials this week, so that they understand that we need them to be leaders at this time and take action through compromise, a couple of little somethings we've been asking of them since time immemorial.

Thank you for your time. I'm still mad as hell, but also worried.

So now it's early Thursday morning and the Senate has just passed it's monstrous version of the compromise package. As much as it disgusts me, I fear there's no going back at this point. But I do wonder just how much our fears are driving this debate and misleading us to believe that the situation is getting out of hand...