Rolling In The Dough or The Leaning Tower of Pizza

Flat Breads, aka Pizza, with toppings were eaten in ancient times by Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks.  Such a delight passed on by generations tells the story of why today’s Pizza is loved!  

I delighted in my children helping me make pizza as long back as they can remember.

I’ve been baking bread for 50 years, love the idea of rolling in the dough - even partnered in opening a pizzeria - Monroe Street Pizza in Dearborn MI about 1982.

My daughter Renee, born 7-7-77 at 7:14 AM, delighted in spending the day with me making pizza. She was 5 years old when when I put her up to the counter on the foot stool to punch pizza dough, and let her put her favorite toppings on her rolled out dough.

The next generation.  My email to Renee recently:

“Thank you Renee and Ferran for hosting a beautiful Birthday Party for Aunt Laura…

and enjoyment for my making Pizza, and to my delight with little Estelle’s fingers touching the toppings for everyone’s delight…”  This little 7 year old granddaughter loves making pizza.

My pan fried (no oil) flat bread: 1 cup flour, couple tablespoons wheat germ,, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, couple shakes with salt shaker, 1/2 cup water (or veggie broth), mix until wet dough (add tablespoons flour to firm), spread non-stick pan with wet fingers, sprinkle bagel seasoning, cook mod heat 8 min. covered, flip 7min. covered, let rest 2 min. then transfer to cooling rack.

Pizza recipe:  basic white bread dough (ab 1 1/2 cup flour) spread non-stick pan, cover & cook 7 min flip & cook 5 min other side, flip again.  Cook zucchini, veggies stove top in another pan, and top cooked pizza dough with tomato sauce, veggies, cheese, put on cookie sheet, then  under broiler for until cheese melts.  Enjoy! 

Life has always been celebrated with gatherings, and food the source of the gathering.  We cherish our Pizza Parties with fond remembrances.

The Religious Right Is Wrong

James Madison, fourth President of the United States, in his Federalist Papers No. 10 explained that factions, alliances, were the natural state of man, that the like minded would form in groups.  But he warned of the inherent danger when these Factions turned political to the detriment of the public interest. 

The adherents of the Religious Right focus on the “me” society rather than the “we” society.  Therein lies a major conflict with the Bible: Matthew 25:45 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”  

The Religious Right is an exclusive group choosing the phrases in the Bible exclusively to further their prejudices.

Another difference between the members of the Religious Right and mainstream Christian Churches is the former are political, and Republican.  The so-called christians who subscribe to the various groups do so willingly knowing the positions that the hate groups stand by, albeit refuse to identify them as hate groups.  Moreover, these groups claim to be christian but they take passages out of context from the Bible and twist the meaning to further their agenda: money.

Here is an example of an un-christian religious ceremony introduced and promoted by Randy Wilson.  At public display, the father ceremoniously marries his daughter to hold her to swear before God her virginity which the father swears before God to hold until she marries his choice.  Totally sick and creepy!  This religious ceremony is against the Bible and a sacrilege:  

Matthew 5:34-37  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

James 5:12  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath:  but let you yea be yea; and you nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

There are many issues with so-called Religious Right Christian views.  The Jews are going to hell as one Religious Right person told me years ago.  These mis-directed sycophants are carrying on the same instilling of hate towards the Jews carried on generation after generation since the Diaspora of ancient time to the Holocaust of the 20th Century.

In his acceptance of the Ecumenical Council of 1960-1965, Vatican II, Pope John Paul II asserted that as a descendent to the throne of St. Peter, the true message of Jesus was all inclusive, that all people of the world were saved.  I believe all main-stream Christian Churches believe the true message of Jesus was love for all religious communities since all mainstream religions believe and practice the same love. 

But let’s not forget the Evangelical Religious Right homeschooling who believe that it is the parents right to instill in their children the need to save this country from the Jews, Catholics, the LGBT, the Liberals, and anyone who does not believe in the views of House Speaker Mike Johnson.  Let’s take back the Country for Christ.

 Speaker Mike Johnson on This Week TV program was allowed to rant a whole list of lies

unchallenged, e.g. the Border, the Economy, The Election Process

The LGBT community is the target of Focus On The Family and has made anti-LGBT activism a cornerstone of it’s “pro-family” cause.  The millionaire James Dobson is not an ordained minister of the pulpit, but a graduate Psychologists who discovered the propensity to make money selling religion to the vulnerable.

It is one thing for a person to hold his opinions to him self but for a person to act out his prejudices by pursuing organizations that cause harm to others is wrong. 

Former President Jimmy Carter, who in 2000 officially severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention after the SBC declared its opposition to female pastors and reiterated its calls “for wives to be submissive to their husbands.”   He condemned the mistreatment of women by religious leaders, writing: “the words of God do not justify cruelty to women.”

In an opinion piece published “Losing my Religion for Equality.”  President Carter said that a “twisted interpretation of the word of God” taught by male religious leaders has been used to justify the oppression of women:  “The truth is that male religious leaders have had — and still have — an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.”

There are phrases in the Bible that exalt women and here is just a sample of many:  Romans 16:1New International Version (NIV) Personal Greetings 16 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae”; Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”; Romans 2:11 “For God shows no partiality”; Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”.

How can this faction be morally right when its leaders, like Franklin Graham, do not condemn President Trump in his relationship to racism and white supremacy, but praise him and campaigned for him?  

I refuse to live in their world.  A world where men are superior, where women are subordinate, controlled, and relegated to motherhood.  

What’s right is St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  

The Bible is replete with God’s message of Joy and Salvation for all religious communities of the world. Inherent in a gift is there is no payment in return.

Trump canceling 500 tons of emergency food aid, enough to feed 1.5 million malnourished children, and having it incinerated instead is a great antithesis to Matthew 25 - feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger clothes the needed, tend to the sick, do for the least of these. 

Being Bullied

 

 

I’ve never been able to accept be bullied.  Even to this day.  I remember grade school 2nd grade when an errant student probably a grade or two ahead of me, would taunt me outside the entrance, even jump on me and ride me like a horse.  I would try to avoid him, but he always continued.  

One day he tried to ride me and my temper over took me and I went into a rage, knocking him down, jumping and pounding him until a couple of student pulled me off him.  He got up and ran.

I remember a day in the Army in Turkey playing pool in the game room.  I was about to shoot when a drunkard grabbed my target ball, and said “what the fuck you gonna do about it?”  I put my cue stick on my shoulder, and he looked at me and said, “wacha gonna do, hit me with you cue stick? Go on, I dare you.”  I put my cue stick on the table and left.  I didn’t want to dirty my nice Pendleton Shirt. 

I changed shirts, and went to the Service Club Fountain, but turned around because I thought he was in there.  So I went to the NCO Club.  I sat at a table with 3 buddies I worked with.  Ordered my beer.  Chatted.  

Then the asshole came to my table and started to taunt me, seeing out the corner of my eye his waving his fist in jest.  Then he sat down next to me and said some thing, but when he poked his finger into my chest. I parried his fist, and gave him a striking blow to the center of his face.  He jumped up, I jumped up swinging a right hand blow to his jaw, his falling down on the floor, and my saying ‘you get up and I’ll kill you’.  He put his head back down on the floor.  My buddy at the table grabbed my arms to restrain me. The Sergeant of Arms came over to my table and shouted for me to leave.

His buddies said that they were going to get even with me.  Somewhere, somehow.

I walked back to my barracks looking at my bloody fist and remembering my dad saying “don’t take shit off no one”.

Sunday there were about a half dozen or so other soldiers who stopped by my room and congratulated me.  They too were intimidated.

Monday morning at the mess hall, having breakfast, the bully came to my table and said “I want to talk to you outside”.  I stood up, waited, then he said, “go on, I’ not gonna hit you from behind”. 

So we stood outside and I said “if you want to continue this fight, come on, but you’ll not win”.  He said he didn’t know what hit him, because Sunday morning his face was sore, but was drunk at the NCO Club.  I told him what happened, but when he poked me, that was what started.  He said that he was drunk and didn’t remember, but if what I said was true, he said that he owed my an apology.  He shook my hand and from then on, if we approached each other, even across the street, he would wave.

Maybe the bully’s self esteem level is elevated when confronted with a stupidity of the fist confrontation, and was able to take control with an apology to the superior who won. 

I hold esteemed belts in Aikido & Karate, Aikido worked with one incident.  We were invited to daughter and son-in-law’s  cottage.  Early Sunday morning I heard a dog barking.  Looked out the front door and there was a women jogger with a little dog snipping at her heals with the dog’s owner laughing, as he stood on his front lawn in pajama bottoms only.  

I went out side to observe and then his little Whippet attacked me, barking at my heal.  I took off my belt and gave it a swipe, the dog whelped and ran home.  

“You motherfucker” the pajama man yelled while charging me. I used the attackers running force against him, ducked and  used his momentum to flip him way into the air (looked like a deer in the headlights) his landing on his back, I got him in a wrestling scissor hold, taking his own hands and punching him with his own fists in his own face. The fight was over - stood my ground!  

Daughter and son-in-law went for a boat ride when I called the Sheriff not wanting to be involved, and asked that I not press charges.  

But that was nothing compared to the doozy lately.   

She moved in with her live-in-boyfriend next door.  We put up with his broken muffler for 5 months.  When I posted a note on our window that his broken muffler at 6:45 AM was annoying.

From then on, he took their huge garbage bins out for pick up at 6:45 AM and waited until the next day, at 6:45 AM to retrieve them, rattling them so disturbingly loud.

We contacted City Attorney/Prosecutor and he allowed them to take out their bins only on pick-up day but had to bring them back same day.

I took her misdirected Amazon deliveries thrice to her door, his answer the door one time, baby in arms, took the package and thanked me.  

But when our misdirect Amazon delivery went to her house, they kept the delivery.  When confronted, he said that he returned it.  Amazon said there was no record of a return for that ticket number.  It was impossible for him to return our delivery because it happened within one day when we confronted her.  And, Amazon only takes returns at Kohls Dept. Store, and if perchance he gave the misdirected delivery to the Amazon driver, the driver would have put in on our porch.  

One Tuesday morning at 6:45 AM, garbage pick up, he rattled his garbage cans and it pissed me off.  So I hung a sign out on our front porch “Next Door Kept Our Amazon Delivery” (not accusing them of stealing our package, but according to the law they stopped the delivery, took charge of the delivery when they could have just thrown the package on our front porch.)

He went ballistic.  “Mother Fucker”, “God Damn” when he came home from lunch.  I left the sign up for 2 days.  The Asshole was pissed.  The City Attorney in a telephone conversation told me to take the sign down.

They put their security camera on their garage above our 6 foot privacy fence.  I spent the day putting up a leafy blind that I bought from Amazon for $80.00 on the fence to block the camera from viewing our yard.  After he got home from work, he immediately went and put the camera above my blind.

Then the lady moved the camera  and placed her security camera at their bathroom window, facing our bedroom window.  It’s been a battle ever since with one false police report against us for our bright light in our window for our flowers interfering with her camera, and our  911 call for her live-in boy friend threatening bodily harm against me for my posting a memo on my memo board 10 feet from our window seen only from her camera.

We filed a Neighborhood Complaint Form with the City Prosecutor .  They even used a picture from my memory board as evidence for his 3 hour tirade. 

The City Prosecutor showed us their "photo shop" picture of my memory board, blown up so large that my memo looked like it was posted in our window.  I showed the Prosecutor a picture of our room with the memo board, 10 inches x 15 inches, about 10 feet from our window positioned 2 feet above my desk next to our computer, and could only be seen from their camera.  He looked at it with exclamation “a’ha”.  Also showed him a spread sheet with over 200 line items of dogs barking, and other harassment.

We left our one hour meeting explaining to the prosecutor that all we wanted was this harassment to stop and he smiled and said “I think so”.  Then the 2 yahoos were called into the prosecutors meeting room.  

When we got home, we noticed that the lady packed her bags and left for over a week.  

I wish that I was a ‘fly on the wall’ to hear what the Prosecutor told this two yahoos, because since then things are quiet.  They were clearly in violation of voyeurism/invasion of privacy, and neighbor harassment, which holds not only a money fine, but imprisonment.  We think that he read them the ‘riot act’.

My point is to never let the bully win.  Never give in because the bully enjoys power.

I don’t know if I was Atticus Finch or easy prey.

 

A Wider Window To Life

 We’re all born to this world with individual wonderment of the same universe. And, sharing gives life to that wonderment. Human nature is revealed on the face of an innocent child where love comes first, shown with a smile. Life is an individual journey.

“The Nature of Reality in the Conscious Mind is thru Stories.“ said Deepak Chopra.

What better excitement of your finding the beautiful flower, smelling it’s unique aroma, adding to the joy by telling a friend who delights in your story?

A fundamental question of Life’s adventure, when and where is the line drawn on the depth of Parenthood?  I find it difficult to share life with adult children who are distant. The sharing of life’s wonderment goes beyond a calendar, or sharing food recipes.

As parents we went through the stage in life and had the ‘Baby Thing’.  Our children grew up, but as adults they decided to be distant. That’s their choice.  We did the ‘Baby Thing’ by raising our children with love and a bundle of care.

The gateway to happiness is held in the hands of Humanity with the Key of Love. Let Love keep us at the top of this tapestry of humanity.

I find wonderment in life with the love of animals.  Watching the little creatures keeps life simple. Sniff, look, feel, hear, taste, all reminded about what’s important, and gives us a wider window to life.  

What motivates us? Remember, life is an individual adventure. Some grow up with a competitive effort to conquer the same universe that they were born to, and cleave to greed.  

Reminded that greed is the seed for all kinds of Evil.  Greed reaches its limit when the fate of Humanity is held in the clutch of a few or submissive to one.

“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” - Tagore

 A reflection from a spoken Native American, which harmonizes with this theme of wonderment, saying their religion is not Faith Based but real. You can feel it, taste it, breathing the air, drinking clean water, seeing the sun, feeling and smelling  the earth, living plants and animals in harmony - living, loving, sharing.

“One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” - James Baldwin 

“We are all tourists, God is our travel agent who already made our itineraries, bookings and destinations...Trust him and enjoy LIFE.  Life is just a journey! Live today!”- Charles Chaplin

We sit in awe of the wonderment of the miracles of Nature.

My wife Bobbi grows butterflies, from picking itsy bitsy caterpillars on dill from the backyard garden, placing them in a cage, feeding them dill / parsley until they’re big enough to form chrysalis. Then 7 to 10 days when they emerge as butterflies is a miracle.  

Further mystery is the time when the chrysalis stops evolving at Fall Equinox, waits through winter to then emerge in the Spring as Butterflies.   It’s Life’s Wonderment.

VA Health Care

They ask “is it free?” and I respond with “no, it’s at No Cost.”  With all the Developed Nations, the U.S. ranks lowest in Universal Health Care , statistically equivalent to Third World Nations.

My argument is Socialized Medicine is GREAT. VA Health Care is the prime example.

Here’s a typical visit:  schedule a Blood Draw for analysis, pickup a Blood Pressure Cup, visit Physical Therapy for a measure for Compression Socks, visit Dermatology for skin rash, visit the Eye Clinic for glasses, and be diagnosed by Kresge Eye Institute University of Michigan Ophthalmologist, stop into the Eye Shop for no cost eye glasses, schedule cat scan, x-ray, Flu Vaccine, Shingles Vaccine, prescriptions, and more.  VA also provides for Emergency Care at a hospital near you. And, it’s at No Cost!

My wife Bobbi, a Home Care RN, had a patient with wound care, insufficient with Medicare Advantage, suffering daily.  She suggested VA Nursing Home where he received around-the-clock nursing care. Subsequently, his wife exclaimed the wonderment.

As an ICU Nurse in the private sector, Bobbi said that the warm smiles on all VA staff is from "patient ratio", compared to For Profit Health Care.

And, let's not forget the foundation of good health with an appointment with the Nutritionist, treating food as medicine.  The Primary Care Physician writes the Order.

Senator Bernie Sanders proposal of Medicare For All would be similarly Great!

We need a national health plan!  Medicare For All.

Reminded of Representative John Dingell, 1955 to 2015, Veteran and the John d. Dingell VA Medical Center Detroit.

As a veteran of the Army Security Agency, served in Turkey, I visited the City of Taylor Veterans Museum.  So proud to witness the City's many displays, especially the Honorable John Dingell Military Tributes showcased.