National Today
Created by the United States Congress in 1933, National Maritime Day is a holiday that both honors and celebrates the Merchant Marine. (It also commemorates the first steam-powered transoceanic voyage when the American steamship Savannah set sail from the port of Savannah, GA on 1819.) What is the Merchant Marine? Think of it as the understudy to the Navy; it doesn’t get first billing, but it steps in when there’s a crisis and saves the day. Even when things are running smoothly, Merchant Mariners are working quietly behind the scenes to help make certain that the show goes on — and that the U.S.’s imports and exports get where they need to go.
Today, the celebration of National Maritime Day has expanded to include the entire maritime industry and domestic waterborne commerce, as well as the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving aboard a Merchant Marine ship. So celebrate these courageous Americans this May 22!
In case you were wondering (I was) the tune they are playing is “A Life On The Ocean Wave”, composed by Kenneth Alford.
Stella's Place 
Stellars…
‘Fireworks’ Clematis purple & red
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Good morning Lucille 🙂 !
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Good morning, lovely!
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Beautiful!
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Two articles on the state of our Merchant Marine Fleet…not so good….
Buzby: Declining Ship Numbers, Opportunities Causing Merchant Marine Talent Loss
By: John Grady – August 22, 2019
The Maritime Administration’s top official warns of “a bleed-off of talent” in the merchant fleet because there are fewer ships for each year’s maritime academy graduates to serve on and even fewer chances of a long career.
Report: U.S. Sealift Lacks Personnel, Hulls, National Strategy
By: Ben Werner – February 14, 2020
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😦
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The US Merchant Marines suffered the highest casualty rate of any service in WW II. Despite that they are not considered veterans as far as veterans’ benefits are concerned.
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Found myself at the local hospital today, had to have a blood test. We all have to sanitize our hands and don a mask upon entering, which is good as I found myself sitting next (6 feet) to and talking to a guy who had the COVID, was in the hospital and lost 30 pounds in three weeks fighting it. He was in for a COVID test, he has to test negative twice before he can go back to work.
When a slot at registration came open they called him and he left – at no time after he left and the 6 or so minutes before I was called, did anyone come and sanitize the chairs in the waiting area. Transition to the labs waiting area and ditto, no one sanitizing furniture. I get into the blood drawing area and there was no sign of any sanitization of the chair you sit in for the draw. That wasn’t the kicker though, as I was sitting getting bled in walks one of the lab techs with no mask. She stands and chats with the two techs in the very small room, both of whom were wearing masks, for about two minutes and then leaves.
When I left the draw I went into the bathroom and washed my hands all the way to the elbows for about 5 minutes and only the soles of my boots touched anything on the way out.
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Figures. That is a place that needs to be very obsessive about cleanliness.
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Or they’re ginning up business.
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Amazing. The consistent inconsistencies of the human world.
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Oy! In a hospital, no less!
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Of course! Where else?
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Still waiting for my biopsy. The worry progressively increases. June 12 can’t come soon enough!
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I am sorry, JTR, and I do understand the worry. I’ll be praying in the meantime, and hope you have good news to share soon.
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The worry makes it seem that much slower in coming.
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Mornin’ everyone. Sun’s out. It poured (finally) rain last night. It rained so hard that the rain dripped inside my sliding glass doors.
{sigh} Not a new thing. They didn’t put flashing around the doors back when this place was build about 30 years ago even though we knew back then they should. Hope the sun’s out for everyone. 🙂
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Good morning, aus! It’s a rainy day out and I had to wear my down coat going to the mailbox at 8:00 this AM. Even so, a rainy day at the beach is still a day at the beach…
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Well, maybe not a day to be sitting on the beach! 😯
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Walking on the beach hoping the umbrella doesn’t become a lightning rod.
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Good afternoon Aus 🙂 .cool and cloudy here. I thought it might rain, mowed the back lawn and going out to dinner with a friend later, our town is open for business.
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We got an inch and almost a half yesterday. My friend says we should be getting another drenching today. The sky has been mostly clear all day, but I notice that the clouds are starting to build off in the distance, so she may be right.
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That’s a lot of rain!
I took advantage of the cool day to mow my lawn 🙂 .
Hoping it doesn’t rain tomorrow since we have our Farmer’s Market.
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Good morning 🙂
10 Smiles
1) Haworthia
2) “Attorney Sidney Powell announced on Tuesday morning that Team Flynn has just delivered to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to correct Judge Sullivan’s unauthorized actions.
On Thursday the DC Circuit Court ordered rogue Judge Emmet Sullivan to respond to General Flynn’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus by June 1, 2020.”___Source Gateway Pundit
3) On a personal note my friend was tested for the Chinese Virus, not because he was feeling ill but because he wanted to add to the negative results statistics.
4) https://i.imgur.com/qrTZYe4.gifv
5) Kayleigh “Who would like their ass handed to them next” McEnany
6) The new sheriff remains in town.
Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!___President Donald J. Trump
7) https://i.imgur.com/rZp8ZKt.png
American Soldiers
9) ”Dear Kamala Harris, we call it the #WuhanCoronaVirus because that’s where it started. Just like we call call you #HeelsUpHarris because that’s where YOU started. Oh, and then, of course, there’s that pesky little ditty called the First Amendment. #Nitwit”__James Woods
10) One of my favorite artists and one of my favorite songs by him.
Actually the first song I downloaded on my first iPhone 🙂 (Maybe 10 years ago). For those who carry a music library around with them what is the first song you downloaded? I always find this interesting.
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4)
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Morning lovely and thanks for the list! The first thing I did was transfer my U2 cds to my iPod, the one with When Love Comes to Town, with BB King. It’s my all time favorite song to an exponential factor. Then followed Bob Seeger, Alabama, and Bruce Springsteen.
I now have everything from Wagner opera to Celtic music on it, as well as jazz favorites and old country, just a little of that. A little Gregorian chant too. Soundtracks from the Longmire series with newer music that I would never have heard if it hadn’t been on that show.
I don’t listen as much as I used to, except at Christmas. I’ve let my love of audio books take over too much.
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Great playlist Menagerie ! I have all of them on my phone 🙂 ! Even the Gregorian chants 🙂
I listen while driving and I drive a lot.
If you like Gregorian Chants you may like this:
I love to listen to this at about audio level 20 on deserted country roads. Windows rolled up, big music in small spaces.
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Thank so lovely, I’ll give that a listen!
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I won’t be offended if it’s not your cuppa tea 🙂 ! Music is one of those things that either speaks to an individual or it doesn’t 🙂 .
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99% of the time I agree with you, music is highly personal. The one percent is my husband is not crazy about Stevie Ray Vaughn. That I just cannot grasp.
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🙂 Understood 🙂 .
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The current Michigan Secretary of State is one supported by George Soros’ SOS Project. The office was held by Republicans for many years during which many improvements were made. The last Democrat SOS in Michigan was a do nothing which, I guess, is preferable to the current one.
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Understood. It would be nice if there was a real defining line between the parties, I believe that President Trump is forcing that line, but the Uni-Party is by and far still the majority.
We have Evers because Walker turned his bacon Conservatives, and insulted Trump voters, he made his alliance with Paul Ryan, sad to say the message to Walker was not sent and weeded up with a socialist @%^#&* in power.
Did Wisconsinites learn? Yes to no I’m not sure, we lost a WI Supreme Court seat, I’m more convinced it was do to voter fraud but it was also a Democrat presidential primary so more democrats did get out and vote.
The push for mail in voting makes me want to spit.
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I can only say that the last two Republican Secretaries of State in Michigan (both of whom held multiple terms in office) did a great job, upgrading systems and making life easier for citizens.
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I’m sure that you are right, I guess I just am so tired of the uniparty I am painting with a broad brush. I know WI would be in a far better place if Walker had been re-elected. It is just so frustrating how the republicans (pre-Trump) so often went belly up and acquiesced to the MSM and PTB.
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Oh, lovely I was just hoping you’d put up a “10 Smiles.” Love the Haworthia!
And as for #10…I fell in love with Eric Clapton when he sang WONDERFUL TONIGHT on this night in 1988 at Wembley Stadium for Nelson Mandella’s 70th birthday, which, IMO, is the greatest rock concert there ever was or ever will be…VHS taped the entire thing…
He’d agreed to join Dire Straits when one of their musicians wanted to be with his wife when she was having their baby, as I recall. Eric graciously became just one of the guys that night and gave the definite, again IMO, rendition of WONDERFUL TONIGHT. Cried all the way through it then and am crying right now listening to it on another tab. So damn wonderful and beautiful and perfect.
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…OK, so it’s DEFINITIVE, not definite, rendition…but whatever…and I remember adoring the suit he had on that night…he was totally sexy…oh, my heart!
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Awww, thanks Lucille, perfect timing !
I read Eric’s autobiography and there is a lot I can relate to. He is an interesting guy, mightily screwed up when he was young but very comfortable with himself and his journey now.
I think his son Connor’s death shook Eric awake.
He was really funny in the last interview I watched of him.
Another favorite..
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My husband, he of questionable and somewhat bland musical taste, has the good sense to love Clapton. I like him also, but he is my husband’s favorite musician. He even went to Atlanta once to see a concert. Since we both avoid Atlanta like the plague, this was huge.
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It’s heartrending to read about the troubles, foibles and sadnesses of some of our favorite gifted people. I hate it when so many can’t see their way out of ruinous alcoholism or drugs and just end up dying, breaking the hearts of their loved ones who are deprived of their presence, especially the children. All that wonderful talent and still they’re so unhappy underneath. You just pray that someday they will love themselves enough to see their way through and out the other side a whole person who searches for truth and finds it.
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Mornin’ kids! She IS out there, somewhere…..
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Good day to you, WeeWeed! Still can’t see anything you post except your typewritten part. So I’ll just send you this in response because I like it…
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Sounds like you need a new computer.
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Yes, Google Chrome is just not connecting items with my old computer. Safari doesn’t always connect either. If my nephew can ever get across the border to see me, we’ll go to the Apple store and get a new computer set up. I can’t do it by myself and sadly the friends who would have helped me have all died or moved away.
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You can order Apple computers on line. Walmart and Amazon both sell them. Perhaps your nephew could review equipment available on line and point you in the right direction that way, rather than in person?
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Thanks, Stella, for the ideas. I’ll go to the website and see what’s up. I can use a computer fine but thinking about the inner workings of same almost sends me into hyperventilation. LOL!
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That is a bit what it looked like looking out the window yesterday during the rainstorm here.
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Afternoon Lucy!
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Lucille, I’ve stopped even seeing that there is a tweet in a comment, and also on Stella’s good news posts if I am on my iPad. Don’t know if the laptop would show it or not, I try to only use it if I’m writing a post or doing taxes.
Since I’ve filled up the memory, only 64 GB, of my little iPad mini and it is an old one I’m getting myself a new one with a lot more memory. I need those grandkids pictures and videos at hand! Anyhow, hopefully next week I’ll be razzed up and ready to go. I almost never buy stuff just for me, so I am super excited. I think I’m going to even get a keyboard for it eventually.
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I am butting in maybe, because I don’t know what kind of keyboard you might want, but I bought one years ago that I just love. It is the cheap one from “As Seen On TV” at Walmart (maybe still, I don’t know) and it works better for me than the keyboard on my laptop. It also has yellow keys that are easier to see, too.
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Since I have a MAC Mini which is a separate hard drive, a too-small stand-alone screen, and the original Apple keyboard, all of which I received in 2008 as a retirement gift, I want to get new of each. That’ll be shelling out a bunch of moolah.
I’m completely ignorant about programming, apps, security, installing Microsoft Word, etc. The head of our IT department came to my home after I retired and programmed everything for me. No way could I do any of it myself. But also, no way could I get along without my computer; so it’s get new stuff or have the old one become completely unusable in the not-too-distant future.
As Gilda Radner used to say…it’s always something.
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I am having a lot of trouble with my laptop. It is only about 5 years old. I was told when I bought it it has more memory than I would ever need for what I do. My son is going to link into it and see what he can do with it. But, if he can’t fix it, he thinks I should go to a Mac (I think) instead of another one of these. He is an IT and said they have much fewer problems. And, over the years it will actually cost me less because I won’t be paying for the Geek Squad. That may be where my stimulus money goes.
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My SIL is strictly a MAC guy, but he is a graphic designer, so it is a requirement.
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Let me know if that improves your viewing experience! I love getting new electronics.
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The picture is Godzilla stomping onshore, and the caption is, “What would you do if you saw this? Run to the nearest grocery store and buy toilet paper!!!”
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WordPress is attacking me today.
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I wanted to post under Godzilla that it reminded me to try to find TP and WordPress kept saying I couildn’t post that.
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Afternoon Mom!
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Afternoon Wee 🙂 !
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Well it would scare the whatever outta me…
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I have to do a little bragging here, but for a greater good, I hope. 😀 Bitch though I did about the communist dictator mayor closing every single place you could safely and comfortably walk, from an obscure little used track near my home to nature trails and the famed river walk that crosses our town, walking very early in our no sidewalk neighborhood has been good for me. As in the best improvement I’ve ever had.
I live at the foot of a mountain and our area is very hilly, some pretty steep ones, others less steep but prolonged so that you spent quite some time going up a good grade.
I have walked five miles a day minimum for years, and I get over six or seven miles a couple times a week, and occasionally will throw in a ten mile day. This is a big deal for me because my knees are shot, the right one especially. I have a lot of pain, and a lot of loss of the ability to bend the knee. Walking is my only pain relief, or at least I have convinced myself of that.
I had not realized how little challenge I was giving myself until I had to walk the hills. For the first time in years I can feel the strength in my legs. I haven’t had my knee give out and almost make me fall in six weeks or so. My balance is a lot better. And the pain level really is a lot less now. Now I am pushing my speed up the hills.
I tried to achieve this working out with weights and it never helped anywhere near this much. If you have arthritis in your knees and can be mobile, I really think this might help. Hopefully I will get back on a better eating plan, now that my corona pout/indulgence phase is ending and we are eating better. No telling how good I might feel then.
However, damned if I will give Comrade Mayor any praise.
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I also meant to mention that I’m trying to walk more in the field behind and beside my house. Except for around the pond, the land looks flat, but boy is that wrong. It is very rough walking, and that makes it challenging to my balance and stability and seems to use a lot more muscles than walking on paved surfaces, even hills.
I’m hoping that will help the balance issues more.
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Good for you on both roads and fields! I find walking on grass is always challenging, because between the moles and dogs, someone is always digging a hole and the grass covers the holes. I’m amazed you regularly walk for MILES!!!!
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Well, I can’t do it all at once. I walk about 2.5 miles, give or take, at four in the morning. Then I have at least one more walk, sometimes two, plus time on a rebounder and just chores. I am also trying to be sure I am active at least ten minutes an hour, aside from walking and tasks, during daylight hours. I’m hoping that kind of revs my metabolism, which lately is worse than what some people who died six months ago have.
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The “ten minutes every hour” is a great idea. Sounds like you wear some sort of step counter. Over the years each one I’ve bought broke, and the last one, expensive and part of the Google system, got lost in a field on the first day I had it!
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I love my Fitbit! Getting one years ago is what made me walk more and more.
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My admiration to you, Menagerie! Have a wonderful day walking when you can and where you may. Though once a hiker/walker extraordinaire, it’s no longer possible for me. So I’ll live vicariously through your exploits. LOL!
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Good for you, Menagerie. You give me hope – I have bad knees too. I need physical therapy to get started, I think. Walking any distance at all is difficult for me these days. My leg muscles cramp and cause a great deal of pain.
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Sorry Stella, that is hard, and I agree with Menagerie walking is good for the knees, my doc said the next option for me was knee replacement (bone issue) so I started walking because I was tired of surgeries (not on my knees but in general) and even though my knee still hurt it is nothing like before and they very rarely completely give out now.
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We think alike. I’m thinking about going to physical therapy at least short term to get some help with a few issues.
Nothing I’ve ever done health wise has been better for me, including years ago when I used to run, and for a time I worked out with weights with the guys back when few women did that, and the weight room was in the basement at the Y. Learned enough from them to really see improvements.
The hill walking seems to be a good, functional workout that my body really needed, no frills but so effective. Of course it is having a good effect on my aerobic capacity and endurance level and that matters, but with the knee pain having gotten so bad, right or wrong I care more about pain relief than other things.
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I love weight training, so it must not be as good for me as aerobics! I really DO need physical therapy to be sure I am doing what is needed to improve my physical condition. I was about to start when the monster virus arrived.
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To prove how close I was to starting PT, I had even had a stress test to be sure I wouldn’t drop dead.
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You should be sure to get in when you can, I think you will be excited to see the improvement.
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Don’t worry, they’ll bill your insurance even if you do. Is that a great job or what?
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Bravo Menagerie! How awesome, I love walking also. My walks are pretty flat so maybe I need to find something more challenging. It feels so good after a long walk in the woods…I love that it is quiet these days 🙂 and the people we do see are always (and I mean always with the exception of one nutter) very friendly and happy.
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My right knee is down to bone-on-bone and I do find that, at times, walking on it does ease the pain. It may just be an increased release of endorphins but whatever, it works. It’s what it feels like when he high wears off that’s the bummer.
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Avgolemono soup. I’m sitting in a Greek restaurant where this just catapulted to the top of my favorites list. I had never heard of it, but I made the server spell it for me so I could google recipes.
It appears most recipes cook it with chicken and include the rice while cooking. What I had did not have chicken and a scoop of rice was added to the center of the bowl before serving. That is exactly how I intend to cook it exactly as it was served. The clean freshness of that lemony base should not be messed with!
A new cooking quest for me. Have any of you ever had this soup?
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It’s delicious, isn’t it?
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Yes! It is fabulous. Very Greek! A lot of greek recipes are very good for you.They eat a lot of grilled meat and fish, salads and of course wonderful soups.
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You win the internet today!!!
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I didn’t make it, don’t know who did but it is awesome!!
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Worthy of a Wee Weed morning post!
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Maybe she made it 🙂 !
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Gee, last person ever you’d expect to bee a WASP.
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Looks more like a Buzzzzzard.
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Sure don’t look like Condorleezza Rice.
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Pelosi’s Leninist Stimulus Bill
By Jeffrey Folks – May 22, 2020
This article is sort of yesterday’s news, but still very worth the reading…
The perennial strategy of the left, outlined in Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, is to foment a crisis and force government action as the “solution.” Pelosi, who stockpiles $13-a-pint ice cream in her $24,000 fridge, appears to share Lenin’s contempt for ordinary people. Hunger and shortages are mounting, and Democrats are eager to take advantage of the crisis. Even as the masses were starving, Lenin and his cronies were eating well.
Pelosi seems intent on bringing state control of the economy to America. Another word for “state control of the economy” is communism. Only GOP control of Congress and the presidency can stop her.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/pelosis_leninist_stimulus_bill.html
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Y’all remember when Nixon tried wage & price controls in ’71? Government control of the private sector kills a capitalist economy.
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