The U.S. Sold Down the Yangtze River
Have you ever tried an ice cold Torpedo? When the temperature is hovering around 70 degrees and you've worked hard all day long, these really help you relax and get ready for dinner. Schuyler really knows how to whip these up and uses very good cognac.

Jim, Carmen's husband, asked us if we remembered the days during the debates leading to Bush's first election, when he kept harping on how wonderfully well he had managed Texas' world-class economy. Well, Jim said, what Bush left out and half the country ignored was that in almost every category, he left Texas ranking at or around the bottom 50 of all the states, except perhaps in unmarried teen-age pregnancies, where Texas is right around number one in the nation. Nice legacy Dubya! Anyway, Jim pointed out, that should have alerted the U.S. to the fact that Mummy and Daddy's little spoiled boy doesn't know diddly squat about managing money. He never had to learn how, he could always be bailed out. Jim pointed out how recklessly Crawford's toxic cowboy has mismanaged the treasure of the United States. Basically, he's sold us down the river. The Yangtze River. The Chinese are now holding so much in U.S. debt, they practically own us, and mostly because Georgie Porgie just had to have his little war, that wasn't going to cost us much, and the one where every entering American soldier was going to be smothered with flowers. The Chinese, as I've said before, for a while were trying to strong-arm their way into the American petroleum industry.

We had talked previously about our misgivings about being so in debt to the Chinese, and now those fears are being realized. The Wacko from Waco doesn't want the Chinese to buy an American oil giant, and the Chinese, who have already bought El Wacko, had threatened him not to interfere. The Chinese, to whom Wacko in Chief sold us, have told the U.S. Congress to stop meddling in their affairs, and of course, the ugly truth is they're holding all the aces and can indeed warn Washington to back off and stop interfering in their business. True, they backed away from the takeover, but that's not what matters. What matters is that Bush doesn't understand how he's sold us to China. Now, Jim said, you can see what a spoiled brat can do when he's let loose in the world and doesn't have any common sense. Bush has failed to see that China is not only leading Asia, in economic power and influence, but China is also forming formidable bonds with the EU and Latin America, leaving the Bushies and the neocons, where? If Bush is so religious, why isn't he heeding this verse Liz read to us from Ecclesiastes 18:33 "Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, when thou hast nothing in thy purse: for thou shalt lie in wait for thine own life, and be talked on."

Called to Our Communally Prepared Feast
With the children in the small dining room, we proceeded to the large dining room to sit down to Shelley's pissaladières made with puff pastry, anchovies and black olives. She paired this with a superb Loire Valley Sancerre. Thanks to Art and Terry's fresh produce, we next had a Spring Vegetable Soup which they served with a Pinot Blanc with a medium-body. Max and Shelley combined their efforts to make Pan-seared Prawns with a hot chorizo butter and the Spanish paprika known as pimentón. The best wine for this dish would be a Rosé, and Shelley brought a Rhône Valley Grenache which paired beautifully with the heat of this dish. After a palate cleanser of Key Lime sorbet, Shelley and Cathy served Braised Short Ribs with Redeye Gravy and paired them with a smoky Shiraz full of plum notes. This dish can be made a day or two before serving, which makes it perfect for the way we live and dine together. With the ribs, they served Provençal Stuffed Zucchini and Haricots Verts with goat cheese (of course, from Art and Terry's farm.) Cathy's Strawberry and Elderberry Tart, with espresso, finished the meal and everybody left quite satisfied, but not before Liz quoted Hegel, to give us something to think about Dubya, "What experience and history teach is this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it".

Back to School
With the kids back in school, the cleaning up is once again completely up to us, except on those nights when some of the kids haven't a lot of homework and still want to earn a little spending money. Their help is very much appreciated.