Category: Update

Quick Tips To Help Organize Your Pantry

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Quick Tips To Help Organize Your Pantry

D. S. Mitchell

Here are some quick strategies to organize your pantry. An organized pantry through labeling, and zoning helps reduce prep time for meals and gives you control when unexpected guests stop by.

Start with breaking down your pantry space into 8 zones.  Label the areas, 1.)Home Remedies, 2.)Holiday 3.) Staples 4.) On-the-Go 5.)Weeknight Meals 6.)Baking & Spices 7.)Kids 8.)Guest Snacks.

Zone One: If you have a flu or cold you are in no mood to rummage through multiple drawers looking for cold remedies. Prepare a bin with proven com fort food: Chicken noodle soup, ginger tea, saltine crackers and even medications. Zone Two: Find a hard to reach corner  and fill it with seasonal items, pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce, holiday specific table decor. Zone Three: Store dry goods, like pasta, beans and rice in clear airtight containers, this makes it easy for you to restock when products become visibly low.

Arrange canned goods so all labels are visible. Every six months you should check expiration dates and donate food you may not be able to consume by the expiration date. Zone Four: Purchase or find in your garage a three compartment bin. Fill with items you might need to bring breakfast or lunch with you. In first section fill with breakfast bars or small cereal boxes. In the second section fill with microwavable soups, dried fruits and nuts. Keep utensils and napkins in the third compartment. Zone Five: Planning ahead can help reduce stress. Sort ingredients for a week’s worth of easy dinners into separate bins, organizing by meal. For example store taco fixings in one bin and spaghetti fixings in another.

Zone Six: Arrange spices on a two-tier turntable with cooking spices on one level, baking spices on another. Use a larger turn-table for oils and shortening. Store items such as sugar, flour and other baking goods in labeled, stackable canisters. Zone Seven: Remove individually wrapped children’s snacks from their boxes. Store in a large basket on a low shelf with fruit, crackers and other treats so they are easily accessible for the little munchkins. Zone Eight: Place specialty goodies in a basket or bin. Items that favorite friends enjoy or fancy crackers for appetizer trays. You will always be ready for surprise guests.

Armed with a plan, your canisters, your bins and baskets, rearranging your pantry space should only take a couple of hours. Do not take on this project when you are stressed, overtaxed or short of time. Plan on doing it when the family is out of the house and you can work uninterrupted.

Good luck, you can do it. And, you will be glad you did.

Calamity Politics is a progressive on-line news magazine pointing out the activities of our government, for good or bad. Join me for comment and opinion. Join the Resistance.

Dar

27 Reasons To Smile

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27 Reasons To Smile

D. S. Mitchell

The wind is howling, the surf is broiling, and the fireplace is blazing. The dog is contentedly snoring in front of her food dish. I just remembered it was Sunday, and I am supposed to be working on my weekly, “Reason To Smile” post. So, here we go, I want you to smile too:

1.) Willow tree at the pond’s edge 2.) First day cold enough for a cable knit sweater 3.) Elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos and the majesty of Africa 4.) Palm Springs,CA at Christmas 5.) An unexpected caress 6.) Penguins marching 7.) Mist rising off the river 8.) A vine covered cottage 9.) Coffee and cinnamon toast 10.) Steamer clams dunked in melted butter 11.) A friend’s smile 12.) A silent beach walk after the tourists leave 13.) Polished wood floors 14.) A winning Bingo card 15.) Long winter weekends 16.) Watching whales journey the Pacific coast 17.) High school basketball games 18.) 1/2 off sales 19.) The estimated 45,000 words per pencil 20.) My dog greeting me when I get home all wiggling and waggling 21.) Scented oils 22.) The weathered shingles of beach side cottages 22.) Tootsie Roll Pops 23.) A bathroom towel warmer 24.) Old suitcases to make a coffee table 25) Portland, OR 26.) Turkey & Spiraled Ham for Thanksgiving dinner 27.) Shorty skies for speed

Hope you smiled at a couple of the entries. Have a great week.

Calamity Politics is an online political news magazine. Calamity Politics has an admitted progressive agenda, supporting Democratic and Independent candidates with Progressive ideas and ideals. Calamity Politics shares opinion and comment on the catastrophe going on in Washington, D.C. Join the Resistance.

Dar

The Color Of My Hand

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The Color Of My Hand

D. S. Mitchell

Random Question: If you were blind and wandering confused in an unfamiliar landscape, would you care the color of the offered hand?

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Calamitypolitics.com is a progressive on-line news magazine working for a future that will benefit everyone, and not just the few. Speak up, speak out, sometimes you only have one chance to make your voice heard. Make it Blue in ’18.
Dar

Does It Really Matter?

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Does It Really Matter?

D. S. Mitchell

I was sitting in the doctor’s office reading a February 2016 Reader’s Digest article that offered the following advice on when and what to shred.  It seems our greatest danger is through ‘mass hackings’ of our credit information. No matter how cautious we are our greatest danger is as victims of other people’s carelessness, or bad intent.  But, every bit of protection we can develop should help keep our private information private. Kelsey Kloss article suggested the following things, we as individuals can do to protect ourselves.

 

Receipts: If you aren’t saving the receipt for taxes or other purposes and you made your purchase with a credit or debit card shred it. The receipt shows the last 4 digits of the card number and possibly your signature. Those clever crooks can use receipts for fraudulent returns and benefit from your store credit.

Prescription Labels: Sometimes they are stapled to the prescription bag or on the bottle. Labels frequently list your name, date of dispensing, name and strength of the drug and dispensing pharmacy.  Crooks can use the information to refill prescriptions or steal your identity.

Pet Medical Documents: Keep records of major events for the pets health history, but shred the rest.  The paperwork will show your name, address, phone and the pet’s name, which according to many studies to be the most common computer password choices.

Airline Boarding Passes: Shred after landing. The boarding pass will show your name, your itinerary, and a bar code that in some cases will show your frequent flier number, which would allow thieves to “log in to airline accounts to view upcoming travel plans, check in to flights, and even cancel trips.”

Return Labels: Shred free return labels that come in the mail and any envelopes showing your name and address. When writing a return address on an envelope omit your name. Identity thieves will use that information to collect more information from social media and piece together your identity.

Any little thing we can do to help keep our private information private should be considered important. Do it.

Calamity Politics is a progressive news magazine that shares interesting information with its primary focus on the ongoing events in Washington, DC.

Join the Resistance

Dar

79 Reasons To Smile

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79 Reasons To Smile

D. S. Mitchell

I posted a reminder yesterday that September is National Suicide Prevention Month and then today I posted a Remembrance of 9/11/01. I decided I needed to think of “Reasons To Smile.” Here we go with a new list of things that should bring a smile to your face.

1.)Theme parties 2.) Your daily horoscope 3.) An Amish buggy on a Pennsylvania country road 4.)Levi 501 button fly jeans 5.) A day hike 6.) Pumpkin soup 7.) Filmy, gauzy dresses blowing around tanned legs 8.) Sunglasses after dark 9.) Having to replay a voicemail more than twice to get the phone number right 10.) A B & B week-end 11.) An herb garden 12.) Holiday beer gardens 13.) A shady porch on a hot day 14.) A nice driver’s license photo 15.) Small airports 16.) A mailbox filled with donation requests 17.) The sound of a Texas fiddle 18.) Doves cooing 19.) Realizing you have just said something of merit or maybe, something truly brilliant 20.) Polished brass 21.) Having my own private office with lots of windows 22.) Staying focused 23.) Smiling so big your shoulders quake 24.) Souvenir t-shirts 25.) The little deli at the “Cove”  26.) Beach side living  27.) Air dried sheets 28.) Finding a friendly adversary on Twitter 29.) Cleaning out that junk drawer 30.) The crashing sound of the ocean 31.) Having that secret place to escape to 32.) “More isn’t always better” 33.) Drawing Smile Faces in the sand 34.) Trains 35.) Habitat For Humanity 36.) Homemade fudge with walnuts 37.) Plaid flannel shirts 38.) Frosted Margarita glasses their rims dusted with salt 39.) XXX’s OOO’s on a letter from Mom 40.) The seventh inning stretch 41.) Changing my hair color  42.) Brew pubs 43.) Bright, cold, autumn days 44.) That first cup of coffee 45.) The sound of a zipper going up or down 46.) Mornings on the boat 47.) Jumping over puddles and not getting your feet wet 48.) Park benches 49.) Candlelight 50.) Finger painting 51.) Sisters, OR 52.) Reading glasses slid to the end of my nose 53.) Cypress trees 54.) My quirky, oddball friends 55.) VIP seats  56.) “I love you” 57.) Having time to check my options 58.) Saturday Night Live with Alec Baldwin doing President Trump  59.) Australia’s Great Barrier Reef  60.) The Statue of Liberty 61.) After dinner walks 62.) Google Maps 63.) No one in the express lane 64.) Yesterday’s meatloaf in today’s sandwich 65.) Amazon 66.) Hugging Teddy after a really bad day 67.) Automatic garage door openers 68.) Hot air balloons over a New Mexico landscape. 69.) The sound of church bells 70.) Planting an avocado seed and watching it grow into a tree 71.) Losing ten pounds  72.) Quiet time 73.) Caramel apples 74.) Biking the prom 75.) Watching a Bumblebee kiss every flower in the garden 76.) Fall leaves gathered in large piles 77.) A thank you note written in calligraphy 78.) “A Separate Peace”  by John Knowles 79.) A really funny dirty joke

Well, I feel better now. Hope you do too. Keep smiling.

Calamity Politics intends to present relevant and topical information on the current U.S. political scene. We’ll be back with more from the swamp, join us for the remaining installments of “Trump:Behind The Curtain”.

Join the Resistance

Dar

Remembering 9/11-Sixteen Years Later

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Remembering 9/11, Sixteen Years Later

D. S. Mitchell

Thousands of victim relatives, survivors, rescuers and others gathered at the World Trade Center Memorial to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the terror attacks masterminded by Al Ouida and Osama Bin Laden that took the lives of 2,977 people and will be remembered as the worst terror attack on the U.S. homeland in history. Terrorists high jacked 4 commercial airliners, two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center, New York City, N.Y., a third was directed at the Pentagon and the fourth was crashed into a rural field in Pennsylvania when passengers and crew fought the terrorists for control of the plane leading to it crashing before reaching its intended target, savings many lives.

Civil De-construction, One Tweet At A Time

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Civil De-Construction, One Tweet At A Time

D. S. Mitchell

On July 26, 2017 President Trump tweeted: “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow……”
That was the president of the United States starting his morning with an ominous tweet. Then for the next nine minutes there was no follow-up tweet. His audience (the world) was left to wonder what would follow those six dots. The reporters at Buzzfeed confirmed that Pentagon staffers and officials alike believed Trump was about to announce a strike against North Korea or another Afghan military strike.

After a mind bending nine minute wait, the president finally continued his tweet, “transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgenders in the military would entail.”

My first thoughts, 1) the tweet is both too organized and clearly written to have been originally authored by Trump, and instead, I suspect was the work of Steve Bannon or Stephen Miller. 2)  the writer acts as if transgender military service was not already a fact of life.  If this thoughtless tweeted policy is implemented, which I assume they will attempt, it will negatively affect an estimated 15,000 service personnel who openly identify as transgender.

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Vice President Doomed

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Vice President Doomed

D. S. Mitchell

In today’s (8-8-2017) New York Times, writer Frank Bruni had an excellent piece on the Vice President. I can’t reprint it here, but I decided I would paraphrase Bruni’s opinion piece.

According to Bruni Mike Pence was furious over recent reports by NY Times reporters, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, that indicated Pence might be readying himself for a presidential run in 2020.

Problem 1) Trump is only six months into a four-year term. 2) Trump is vicious in attacks on anyone that might be putting their agenda ahead of his.

Pence felt endangered by the reporting and pushed back quickly and vigorously, with a red-faced proclamation of “disgraceful” assertions, never detailing exactly why the assertions were disgraceful. According to Bruni, the Vice President’s anger “reflects the inconvenient truths, it is overarching. It’s existential. On some level he (Pence) must realize that he’s in a no-win situation.  Without Trump he’s nothing. With Trump he’s on a runaway train that he can’t steer or brake. If it doesn’t crash, Trump can scream down the tracks straight through 2020. If it does, Pence will be one of the casualties.”

The question is why has Pence formed a political action committee, the only sitting vice president in history to do so? It could be that he is generating contributions to a legal defense fund, which is permissible under election laws.  The Russian conspiracy probe is broadening and Mike Pence is not as financially well off as the President and attorneys in such circumstances charge big bucks.

However, all those donations and bridge building efforts could also be a quiet effort to make himself a viable 2020 presidential candidate.  It seems unimaginable, but according Bruni, “there could be some imaginable future in which Trump falls and Pence is left to soldier on. But, mostly he is in denial , and he’s living very dangerously.”

The various scenarios of the future are mere speculation.  But, it is within the realm of possibility that Trump will self destruct-be impeached and run out of town-or throw a tantrum and stomp off on his own. Who the hell knows? Anything now seems possible. Bruni theorized that, “Pence indeed needs an infrastructure and a network of his own.”  But there is a rub to this, “there is no way to assemble those without looking disloyal to Trump and courting the wrath of alt-right types who know how to go on a Twitter jihad.”

Other possible primary challengers include a Ohio Governor, John Kasich and Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse.  These adversaries don’t owe Trump what Pence does. They didn’t pledge complete allegiance. Kasich started his unofficial campaign before Trump’s inauguration. He is free to raise money, hold news conferences, become a fixture on cable news and attack Trump’s proposals and his failures. When Kasich and Sasse go after the President the Trump base will react but they will not be targeted like Pence would be.

Pence is being squeezed into a box of “compulsory worship”. And despite his behind the scenes machinations, he has done a masterful job of appearing perfectly content” looking devoted, and damn near infatuated.

Before being tapped by Paul Manafort as Trump’s running mate Pence was losing popularity in Nebraska based on his performance as their governor.  Before accepting the role of Trump running mate Pence blasted Trump’s “travel ban” calling it “offensive and unconstitutional”. Pence advocated free trade and Trump’s protectionism was alien to Pence’s earlier stated trade stance. Pence claims to stand for “Christian values” and refuses to be alone with a woman other than his wife, yet he stands beaming next to an admitted gropper and female abuser. Mike Pence has even admitted feeling guilt over his past political behavior as a “negative campaigner” while he collaborates with the most corrupt and dirtiest politician in U.S. history. Pence seems to have given up his core values to stand next to such great power.

Bruni finishes his piece as follows, “No wonder he (Pence) wants and expects a reward as lavish as the White House itself: He sold his soul. but I don’t think he studies the contract closely enough and thought the whole thing through.  There’s no political afterlife in this equation, just the loopy, mortifying limbo where he and so many of Trump’s other acolytes dwell.  Maybe the howling is cathartic, but it won’t change a thing.”

Mike Pence has protested loudly that there is no 2020 presidential election run in his future.  I think he is right, but not because he doesn’t want to be president, but because he can’t afford to enrage Trump.

Calamity Politics publishes nearly everyday.

Join the Resistance

Dar

82 Reasons To Smile

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82 Reasons To Smile

D. S. Mitchell

Another perfectly silver day at the Oregon coast. There must be a million tourists in my little North Oregon hamlet, which makes getting on our main roadway, Hwy #101 a near impossibility. Friends are here from Portland for the week. It was 103 the other day and running high nineties for the last couple weeks in the city of bridges. Oregonians aren’t used to such high temperatures and they all run to the beach, especially if they have friends that live surf side.  Summers are fun and I enjoy the company.

On Sunday Calamity Politics abandons it usual political posts and focuses on things that make me smile. Today I decided that I needed at least 82 Reasons to Smile.  So, here we go:

1.) Philly Sandwiches   2.) Hugs   3.) The comfort of old friends   4.) A forest hike   5.) Thick wood planks that squeak with age   6.) Brand new business cards  7.) A full piggy bank  8.) Watermelon hearts  9.) Neutron stars  10.) Uncle Norman’s boathouse  11.) High school basketball games  12.) 1980’s rock  13.) A whitewashed fireplace  14.) Two in the shower  15.) Antique scrimshaw  16). Street musicians  17.) Looking through old picture albums  18.) YouTube  19.) The song of a Western Meadowlark 20.) Using the Internet to correct my spelling 21.) Miniature golf  22.) A perfectly executed omelet  23.) Historic Places  24.) Painted rocks left for tourists to find  25.) Food trucks  26.) Farmer’s Markets  27.) A Yo-yo  28.) Hand knitted slippers  29.) A sky full of multi-colored hot air balloons  30.) Making homemade sausage  31.) Antique airplanes 32.) Going fishing with Daddy  33.) Pitching a tent in the back yard  34.) Long afternoon shadows  35.) Patsy Cline  36.) The calls of migrating geese  37.) 20 questions on long car rides  38.) kids art on refrigerator doors  39.) Saturday Market, Portland, Oregon 40.) Full moon  41.) Coffee mug with my name on it  42.) Using the dog to clean up left overs 43.) A surprise party  44.) Harry O. the old television series with David Jansen  45.) Old trunks in dusty attics  46.) Thunder and lightening 47.) Poetry readings  48.) Root beer floats  49.) Starting a collection  50.) Embroidery on old jeans  51.) Turning off the phone  52.) Karaoke night  53.) Bottles of champagne chilling in buckets of ice  54.) Tooth fairies and Easter bunnies  55.) A good horoscope or fortune cookie  56.) A barge tour down the Seine River  57.) French doors to massive bedrooms  58.) Brass fire poles  59.) Playing strip poker  60.) Flowers floating on a pond  61.) Ferris wheels  62.) Re-upholstering dining room chair seats  63.) Old movie posters  64.) Sundance catalogues  65.) White daisies  66.) Caller ID  67.) Letters to the Editor  68.) A flattering driver’s license picture  69.) Being in a party mood  70.) Oversize sweaters and skin-tight jeans  71.) Panning for gold  72.) Lady bugs  73.) Disney movies 74.) Beer gardens  75.) Summer whites  76.) Kentucky Rain by Elvis Presley 77.) Being alone to dream and scheme  78.) Track meets  79.) Crashing waves  80.) Sea breezes  81.) Electric pencil sharpeners  82.) Riding my bike on the Prom

That’s it folks. Stop smiling and go to bed.

Join the Resistance

Dar

Thank You ADAPT And All The Resistance Protesters

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Thank You ADAPT And All The Resistance Protesters

D. S. Mitchell

I haven’t written much about health care for awhile, not because I haven’t had plenty to say, but there have been a lot of other people speaking up and saying it probably better than I could, so I let them take the lead. But, now after the Republican attack on health care has been stymied for a short time at least, I think it is time that we thank all the individuals and groups that came together to stop the Repeal and Replace train.

Who could ever forget the images of disabled protesters being pulled from their wheelchairs and zip tied and carted off to jail. Absolutely riveting. Horrific images that labeled the Republican lawmakers as heartless and unresponsive to the needs of the American public.

The protests by the grassroots disability rights organization ADAPT I think were what turned the tide in favor of the protesters. The ADAPT protesters set the stage for the subsequent heroic votes cast by three Republican Senators, John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

In 1974 a non-disabled former nursing home recreational director and several disabled associates formed the Atlantis Community. The mission of the group was to assist disabled persons to escape institutionalization and live in the community at large. On 7/5/1978 a historic protest for wheelchair access to public buses was initiated by the group. The protest took place at a Denver intersection where protesters stopped buses and disabled individuals placed themselves in front and behind the buses and then others would leave their wheelchairs and dramatically crawl up the bus steps to bring attention to their plight.

In 1984 after several years of bus protests, as the group struggled to obtain wheel chair access lifts to Denver city buses, the campaign went national. ADAPT became the designated  arm of the Atlantis group to form protests and civil disobedience. ADAPT became the militant wing of the disability rights movement and is well known for its non-violent direct action with a mission to bring public awareness to the civil rights violations of the disabled.

The group has successfully used Twitter and Facebook to dramatize their issues. ADAPT strategies used so effectively in the health care fight include using civil disobedience as a tool to gain public attention to direct change in laws, policies and services affecting the disabled and those strategies were used effectively to bring attention to the drastic Medicaid cuts proposed under the TrumpCare plan.

Also important to note were the hundreds of thousands of people who marched, went to town halls, visited lawmakers offices, wrote letters, sent emails and faxes and called their congressional representatives. It was each of these people as individuals and as organized groups that stopped the Republicans from erasing health care for a projected 20-30 million people over the next decade.

Thank you. For whatever you did, large or small, your participation in the resistance changed the direction of this callous legislation.

Join the Resistance

Dar