If someone sent you a check for $3 billion every year, what would you do with it?
And how would you feel about the group that sent you that money every year?
Would you be likely to take in their enemies and give them shelter? Or bite the hands that feed you by calling them names and attacking them verbally?
Would you perhaps use the money to build up your own military strength and weaponry in order to one day turn against them?
Sounds an unlikely scenario, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly what is going on between us and Pakistan, in simplistic terms. Three billion taxpayer dollars, every year, sent to people who hate us, publicly vilify us, don’t want us in their bleak little country, but never refuse the handout or send back the funds.
What’s worse is that there is no real accounting for what they do with the money. They call it “fungible” (look that one up in your Webster’s) and there is some speculation that a good portion of our annual donation of $3 billion taxpayer dollars may be used to fund what has been referred to as the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world.
Do you wonder, as I do, if they would hesitate to use any of that weaponry against their benefactors?
In their recently passed resolution declaring U.S. drone strikes a violation of sovereignty, Pakistan’s Parliament warned there might be a “strong national response” if any nation tried to touch in any way their nuclear arsenal. I wonder who they meant when they said “any nation,” and what, exactly might their “strong national response” be?
If that’s the way they feel, I hereby suggest they return the last $3 billion we sent them and adamantly refuse to take one more penny of our money.
If I’d been sending that much money to people so outright ungrateful and antagonistic, I’d pack up every bit of personnel and equipment ever sent to and installed in their wasteland and go home, leaving them to figure out how to get their next $3 billion without us.
And what would I do with the “extra” $3 billion I’d then have instead of pouring it down the rat hole?
First and foremost, that money would go to schools across the country. We’re falling more and more behind when it comes to educating our kids, and even though I know throwing money at things isn’t always the answer, I’d certainly prefer throwing $3 billion taxpayer dollars into our education system rather than into the sewer called Pakistan.
What would you do?
RECIPES
If only there was a “recipe” for dealing with tyranny, treachery, villainy and most of all, stupidity. In all my years of searching for and saving recipes for anything and everything, I’ve never yet found one for understanding or dealing with the vagaries of human nature.
However, I do have some wonderful recipes for dealing with the springtime offerings of Mother Nature, such as these, beginning with another recipe for that first taste treat of spring, rhubarb. Save this for that first warm day that we have to believe will come.
RHUBARB STRAWBERRY SORBET
¾ lb. rhubarb (5-6 thin stalks), trimmed
2/3 cup water
¾ cup sugar
10 oz. (about 1½ cups) fresh strawberries
½ t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Cut the rhubarb into ½-inch pieces (if they’re more than an inch wide, slice them in half lengthwise.) In a saucepan (non-reactive; i.e. not aluminum), bring the rhubarb, water and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the rhubarb is tender and cooked through, about 5 min. Cool to room temp.
Slice the strawberries and puree them in a blender or food processor along with the cooked rhubarb mixture and lemon juice, until smooth. Chill mixture thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 1½ qts.
All of my family know of my long-time aversion to green beans for reasons you don’t want to know, but they’re already beginning to appear in the produce section (at more reasonable prices), and soon they’ll be at the farmers’ markets and yes, in the garden. Through necessity, I’ve found many, many ways to make them edible and even tasty. The vegetarians in my family really like this soup.
HEARTY GREEN BEAN SOUP
2 cups chopped onion
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken broth, if you’re not vegetarian)
1 can (14 oz.) plum tomatoes, drained and chopped; reserve the juice
4 cups water
2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and cut into ½-inch lengths
½ of a head of cauliflower, separated into small flowerets (about 2 generous cups)
½ lb. small red potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes; place in a bowl of cold water until ready to use
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
½ cup coarsely grated fresh Parmesan
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
In a soup kettle, cook the onion in the oil over med.-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the stock, tomatoes with their juice and 4 cups water; bring to a boil. Add the beans, cauliflower, potatoes (drained), and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer mixture about
15 min. or until vegetables are just tender.
Transfer about 1 ½ cups of the vegetables and ½ cup of the liquid to a blender or food processor; add the garlic, Parmesan and cilantro, purée mixture. Add the puree back to the soup pot, adjust seasoning to taste, and heat soup over med. heat until it is hot. Serve immediately, with extra grated Parmesan to sprinkle on as desired. (You may also want to have some garlic croutons to add as desired.) Serves 8-10.
I’ve also found a way to use one of my favorite ingredients, fresh ginger, to make fresh green beans very palatable as part of a salad; you may find other ways to use these.
GINGER-PICKLED GREEN BEANS
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into thin strips (or “frenched”)
1 ¼ t. kosher salt, or to taste
1 ½ T. sugar
2 ½ t. soy sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar
12 slices, 2-inch, paper thin, peeled fresh ginger root (cut these with a vegetable peeler)
In a colander, toss the green beans with 1 t. ofthe salt; let them drain for 30 min., then pat them dry.
In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, remaining salt, soy sauce and vinegar until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Stir in the ginger root and allow mixture to stand for 15 min. In a bowl, toss the beans with the vinegar mixture. Chill to use over a bed of greens or fresh baby spinach, with cherry or pearl tomatoes and sprinkled with feta cheese or freshly grated Parmesan, or use as a side dish, or whatever you come up with. Serves 4, depending upon what you’re doing with them.
