Too lazy to link to the examples of this today, but, then again, the people making the arguments are too lazy to research their positions.
Year: 2008
Pillsbury Bake-Off winner: A million-dollar cookie
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas
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DOUBLE-DELIGHT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup powdered sugar
1 (16.5-ounce) package Pillsbury Create ‘n Bake refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled
Preheat oven to 375 F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with nonstick cooking spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to ¼ -inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered. Makes 24 cookies.
PER COOKIE: Calories 150 Fat 7 g (1.5 g sat) No cholesterol Sodium 125 mg No fiber Carbohydrates 17 g Protein 3 g
SOURCE: Carolyn Gurtz, Gaithersburg, Md.
TOFFEE-BANANA BROWNIES
America’s Favorite Recipe, 2008 Pillsbury Bake-Off
1 (19.5-ounce) box Pillsbury Traditional Fudge Brownie Mix
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
3 Eggland’s Best eggs
1 ½ cups toffee bits (divided use)
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
2 firm ripe medium bananas, cut into ¼ -inch pieces (2 cups)
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping
Heat oven to 350 F. Generously spray 13×9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, water and eggs 50 strokes with spoon. Add 1 cup of the toffee bits, the nuts and bananas; stir just until well blended. Pour into pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup toffee bits over top. Bake 38 to 48 minutes or until center is set when lightly touched, top is slightly dry and edges just start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely, about 2 hours. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. To serve, drizzle each brownie with caramel topping. Cover and refrigerate any remaining brownies. Makes 24 brownies.
PER BROWNIE: Calories 260 Fat 15 g (3 g sat) Cholesterol 105 mg Sodium 75 mg No fiber Carbohydrates 30 g Protein 2 g
SOURCE: Gwen Beauchamp, Lancaster
Cato-at-liberty » The Helping Hand of Government . . .:
. . . strips away privacy before it goes to work.
Here’s a nice, discrete example: S. 2485, introduced in the U.S. Senate last week, would require asset verification of participants in State Medicaid programs, exposing the personal information held by financial institutions to government access.
This privacy loss is a natural outgrowth of entitlement programs. It’s nearly mandated by the simple and warranted effort to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
My 2004 Policy Analysis, “Understanding Privacy – and the Real Threats To It,” explored how entitlement programs almost always carry with them a significant privacy-cost:
To provide benefits and entitlements—and, of course, to tax—governments take personal information from citizens by the bushel. Nearly every new policy or program justifies new or expanded databases of information—and a shrunken sphere of personal privacy.
POSTED BY JIM HARPER ON 04.12.08 @ 5:13 PM
So why do we hear so much about the dire consequences of failing to pass a piddling bilateral trade deal with a ruthless Latin American regime but almost nothing about the dire consequences of the hideous $300 billion distortion caused by the latest round of farm subsidies — most of which goes to big agribusiness, not struggling family farms? How about a little more noise on the farm front?
Why don’t we hear more outrage about the ludicrousness that is are farm policy? For those on the left who decry “corporate welfare”, here is a great place to focus your opprobrium; for those on the right who are against big government programs, fire away; for those who are in favor of free trade, this is a no-brainer; for those who are protectionist, they are already too familiar with no-brainer.
[Update] Go ahead, nix the subsidies:
So by all means, eliminate farm supports and don’t stop there. I suspect that once all agricultural subsidies, including those for energy crops, are removed, the net effect on food prices will be a moderation.
Please, let this trend catch on.
If I did it with a group and at a different time of year, maybe I’d make it farther than Morgan City
New Orleans bicycle ride to help Red Cross:
Looking to repeat the success of the MS 150, the Greater Houston Area Red Cross will launch a Houston-to-New Orleans bicycle trek in October. Riders on the six-day, 538-mile Tour du Rouge will see bayous, maybe alligators and other wildlife ? and some of the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.