I was reading the BTW section in BusinessWeek about the fact that JC Penney’s “American Made” t-shirts are actually made in Mexico, and this is causing a bit of a stir.

I think we all know that the American flags, cups and t-shirts we’re buying at Wal-Mart and the corner store are often being made in China and elsewhere, so on one level, should we be surprised?

I was however, taken aback by a couple of things the JC Penny spokesperson had to say:

1) “[The line is] intended to evoke our American lifestyle and pride in being American.”

But apparently not in our pride in American workmanship.

2) “‘American Made’ refers to “the actual person wearing the shirt, not to the manufacturing of the merchandise.”

No word on whether JC Penny would seek legal action if they found any Mexicans wearing the shirt, or God forbid, Canadians.

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I have been listening to some great food ideas on NPR during my homeward commute this week. They are running a spot all week where the challenge is to feed a family of four for $10.00 or less. In these fiscally responsible times it’s a great idea, plus it’s nice to get away from spaghetti and meatballs for a while.

Monday night was a Spanish dish, Spinach with Chick Peas. As these are two ingredients we are seldom without and it’s a vegetarian dish I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s served with a fried egg and even the kids ate it!

Last night it was Chicken Fried Rice on Wilted Spinach. I subsituted the chicken for some minced up Quorn Tenders and it was great. I have never seen the kids eat so much spinach.

I’m looking forward to tonight’s recipe, hopefully it will be as good as the first two.

Just wanted to add a note  about Quorn. It’s great, we first ate it back in the UK. The range of products seems a little more diverse over there. It’s actually fermented myco protein, more like beer that soy.

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W.S. Merwin is an American poet who was recently awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for poetry for The Shadow Of Sirius. Merwin has published over 20 books of poetry and won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for The Carrier Of Ladders.

It is March

It is March and black dust falls out of the books

Soon I will be gone

The tall spirit who lodged here has
Left already
On the avenues the colorless thread lies under
Old prices

When you look back there is always the past
Even when it has vanished
But when you look forward
With your dirty knuckles and the wingless
Bird on your shoulder
What can you write

The bitterness is still rising in the old mines
The fist is coming out of the egg
The thermometers out of the mouths of the corpses

At a certain height
The tails of the kites for a moment are
Covered with footsteps

Whatever I have to do has not yet begun 

- W.S. Merwin

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I’ve just recently discovered LÄRABAR, simple and delicious bars made from a blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices. Each flavor contains only a few ingredients. For instance, their Banana Cookie bar contains just dates, almonds and unsweetened bananas. LÄRABAR is free of: gluten, dairy, soy, corn, added sweeteners, preservatives, fillers and colorings. So simple and so good.

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Thanks to Bill Diehl, and who ever forwarded this email to him, and whoever forwarded it to….

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Remember that bone-headed idea floated during the election season that both John McCain and Hilary Clinton floated, about removing the tax on gasoline when it spiked to $4 a gallon?

That idea would have caused gas prices to continue to rise (because demand wouldn’t have softened as much) while at the same time deprived America of much needed revenues to fix our failing infrastructure. Minnesota bridge collapse, anyone?

Well, here’s a wacky idea. Now that prices have plummeted to about $2 or less a gallon, let’s have a temporary tax increase on gasoline.

Please, hear me out.

First, I do mean temporary. We could tie it into the price of gasoline; let’s say the when the national average shoots up again to $3 (or whatever number we could agree upon) the tax goes away, or it could be more of a rolling target that abates as the average goes up.

In the meantime, we would get a surge of new revenues that should be split two ways. Half would go to rebuilding America’s infrastructure; that would lead to better, safer roads and bridges, while putting more people to work, and hopefully taking a nibble out of the depression unemployment numbers.

The other half would go to offset tax breaks on fuel efficient, American-built cars. I’m not talking about cars made by the big 3 necessarily, I’m talking about any car manufactured in the US by tax paying Americans. Toyota, Honda, or any “US” company as well.

It’s my strong belief that we need to get off of our addiction to foreign oil asap for the safety and security of our nation. It’s not (just) a tree-hugging idea; it’s a matter of national security. You don’t put the future of your energy needs in the hands of people who genuinely don’t like you.

OK, well, that’s my .02. Fire away.

Rich Brooks
Yes, I Realize the Hypocrisy That I Drive an SUV

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My dad sent me a link to this Flickr slide show from Barack Obama and his family on election night. It’s a mixture of intimate and public moments. Very nice.

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Keep this on file for the next Commute Another Way Day here in Maine.

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If you didn’t catch the opening segment of SNL this week you can thank Hulu that you’ll be able to watch it now. Tina Fey nails Sarah Palin again, but not enough has been made of the other characters in the sketch, Jason Sudeikis as Biden and Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill.

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I finally finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer…WOW. It was pretty awesome. Ok, I’m am slightly embarrassed that I’m reading the same thing as my 15 year old babysitter, but I guess I was a late bloomer and still have a soft spot for teenage romance. Despite the fact that this was written to a “young adult” or YA audience, Stephenie did manage to create a little bit of heat.

Well maybe a tiny bit.

The author profusely defends her YA audience and claims that she was writing books her kids would read, and eventually movies would be made that her kids would see. Phoey! My sister, Leila, who is about to begin the 4th and final book, and who began the series upon my insistence has complained loudly and numerously to me about the lack of heat, and “when are they going to get it on”, “hurry up and make her a vampire already!”.

Well I won’t spoil it for those who may still be working their way through. I will say that that I found the end satisfying. Although not in the happy ending sense.

Now, I’ll quickly mention another book that I read in the days following my completion of Twilight. And it’s party due to my sister who came to visit this past weekend and watched “True Blood” with us on Sunday night (HBO). Now that is a show with some heat, and chemistry.

More vampires, again with the human girl and vampire guy…but this show is not for the young adult crowd. It’s kind of vulgar and spicy (caliente)…directed by Alan Ball (our man from Six Feet Under). So anyway, Leila told me that she envisions Bill when she’s reading Twilight and pictures him as Edward. This got me thinking about envisioning characters while reading a book. I decided that since I like the characters Alan Ball cast for his show, I should go and read Charlaine Harris’s books that are the basis for his show.

The first book “Dead Until Dark” provides the basis for pretty much the first season, I’m told. And even though I know how it turns out and ‘who dun it’, it was way satisfying in the happy ending sense. So for those of you adult fans of the Twilight series who are looking for a little more punch, I would strongly recommend Charlaine Harris. I can vouch for her first book, I have no doubt that the other 8 in her Sookie Stackhouse series are just as good.

Cybele, vampire groupie

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