BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 10:50 PM

For those of you who think poor people still have it too good even after their junk food has been taken away, there was this bit of cheerful news in the local Minneapolis paper today too. Debtors prison and the workhouse must be coming soon--and remember, Minnesota is one of the most progressive states in the union. (The compliance rate for payment of student loans in Minnesota is 97%, but maybe this is part of Dubya's plan to finance the perpertual war on poor people--oops! terrorists. Well, they are the same thing, aren't they?)   

Marshals visit folks behind on student-loan payments

Associated Press

Published Feb. 7, 2003 LOAN07
   

Falling behind on your student loans? Be careful -- U.S. marshals soon could knock on your door.

On Thursday, marshals arrested four people in Minnesota who failed to appear for court-ordered debtor exams, in which debtors are asked to provide financial data to help the government collect overdue payments on federal student loans. "Operation Anaconda Squeeze" is part of a larger effort to collect student debts, U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger said.

Rest of the story is here:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3638759.html

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 10:22 PM

Hey, what other thread other than Jesse Ventura's could start out talking about him to talking about one nasty-assed fish?

Like I said earlier, I like Jesse..

But I hate carp..

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Neighmond
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:59 PM

I see-sorry for the premature jumping down of throats.

Chaz

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:24 PM

Alternative food sources? Don't ask me, Bobertz brought up the carp.........................

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 06:54 PM

I've heard that in Eastern Europe, particularly the Czech Republic, carp is considered a delicacy and is often served for Christmas dinner.

I've also heard that in order to properly prepare carp you've got to keep it alive in clean water for several days after you catch it. This is supposed to allow the yucky stuff to work its way out of the carp's system. Supposedly the bad taste is due to the kind of stuff the carp eats.

In Jimmy Carter's autobiography, he reports eating possum a lot when he was a kid. Similar technique: keep them alive several days and feed them nothing but sweet potatoes. Even then, it wasn't good.

But what's this got to do with Jesse and food stamps?

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 04:41 PM

Probably served with kraut you could mask the flavor!!! And it wernt no pond boy....it wuzza CRICK!!! And that Crick flows inta the Tuscarawas River which hits on over to the Muskingum which flows into the Ohio at Marietta and that of course runs on down to your Mississippi......Seems my Golden Bass shoulda' been the cleaner of the two.......

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 04:11 PM

Mebbe I et carp that come from the clear, flowing waters of the Mighty Mississippi, the Father of Waters, instead of from some dinky ol' farm pond, too.

Actually, carp are very close relatives of koi, the fish raised in Japan and elsewhere for food and pleasure. Also, I read a while back (and no, I don't remember where) that carp aren't native to the US, but were imported in the 19th century by German immigrants.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 01:49 PM

Well Rap......I wasn't going to tell this, but based on your comments...........

I was maybe 6 years old and my Dad took me down to the crick (that's creek to most of you) to go fishing. He really didn't like to fish himself, he was just being a Dad. So there, with my bamboo pole and fat green line, I manage to land a bigass carp. One of my Dad's friends was a black guy, Jim Trueman, and Jim called them "Golden Bass" with smile on his face. I was so excited and the Ol' Man hated to say it was just a carp, so he tells me it's a Golden Bass.

We take the sucker home and my Mom takes it to her Mom (my grandmother), an old country woman who had served up many a carp in her younger years. Even she was agin' it, but she cleaned it, removing the mudline and all, and fried that sucker up! Man oh man, I was really excited. I had told everyone I saw that day that I was having Golden Bass for supper!!! I couldn't help but notice that every adult I told got a laugh out of it.

My excitement as supper approached was at a peak......until I got a whiff of frying carp. It didn't just stink, it STANK!!! Still, it was my fish and I was anxious to eat my catch. Geeziz.........talk about awful!!!! To this day, although I am a huge shellfish eater, I rarely eat any kind of fish. I blame this on the Golden Bass. Also, even though my grandfather took me out fishing often, I never enjoyed it at all. Again, this is the fault of the Golden Bass.

If you have eaten a carp that tastes good, there are three possibiliies: 1)Some nice soul has substituted something else. 2)Your taste buds are completely missing and you can't tell the difference between horseradish, Limberger, and Habanero. 3)You are well and truly sick, fucked up beyond belief!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 01:21 PM

Bobert, iffen you ain't et carp fish, you sure have missed some good eatin'! Catch 'em, clean 'em, filler 'em, corn meal 'em, and fry 'em. Better'n wild catfish in some ways....

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 11:59 AM

Thanks for the explanation, Bobert. Do you have any studies to cite? Just wondering 'cause I see a lot of middle-class folks who are really obese and it seems to me someone poor may not get enough of anything to stay obese? I know what you say about mac and cheese, but I also remember the days when my kids and I ate a lot of it and none of us had any problems with weight. You know it has always been the better off who suffered from gout, etc. from obesity.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 11:11 AM

Kat:

No, I ain't saying that "only" poor folks suffer from obesity. The governemnt says the 2 out of 5 adults fall in that category. Well, it may be 1 in 3? I can't remeber. But it's high.

I was just making an observation that an unusual higher percentage of poor folk suffer from it. Foods that contain higher levels of fat, carbohydrates and sugars are cheaper than fooods that contain higher levels of proteins, antioxidents and natural sugars (fresh fruits).

Mac 'n cheeze is cheap. Mac 'n cheeze is a staple in poor folks diets. When I was in social work and would *hit* the area church food closets for my clients these types of foods went the fastest. Cheapand filling.... but very unheathy.

It also has something to do with eductaion and most poor folks came from familys of poor folks who passe down the pooe diets to their kids.

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: mmm1a
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:47 AM

I don't think they were talking about cake mixes, more likely candy bars, twinkies and such. And pop, By the way even if they did ban buying cake mixes there is a way to make a cake, its a pretty radical way of doing things but who knows might just catch on, its called making it from scratch.
                               mmm

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:45 AM

Guest, I didn't imply that the USDA does or should regulate who gets food stamps or how they are used. I only pointed out that the USDA seems to have a definition of "junk food." I imagine any state legislative committee that set out to write its own definition would start by reading the USDA's definition.

Next, they would listen to a whole slew of lobbyists telling them how to modify that definition. Let's see, in Minnesota, we have General Mills, Pillsbury, Land o' Lakes, Hormel--so I suppose we are in for a long drawn-out battle over the definition. Don't hold your breath until it gets decided.

By the way, I just heard that Jesse will have a talk show on MSNBC.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:46 AM

Jim, the decision of what is an allowable food/purchase is, in this instance, a state's decision, and isn't dictated by the feds.

Frankly, the solutions to poverty in the US have long been available, and lies in the way the US government supports poor military families. Free vocational education, cash subsidies, subsidized food, clothing, and household goods centers (the PX), government daycare centers, and low cost housing.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:19 AM

Oh--and we absolutely should forbid poor people from eating like everyone around them in this society. Take away their pretzels, and for God sake, don't let them buy a Duncan Hines cake mix to bake for the kid's birthday. Poor children don't deserve a birthday cake.

That is what this sort of bureaucratic ruling says. Plays very well over the water cooler to smug, self-righteous types, as some of the responses here show. I'd like to see how the people who think this is a good idea would react if we started to snoop into their grocery purchases and told them they couldn't have what they wanted because they are bad for making those choices.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:16 AM

How does anyone decide what is junk food and what is not? Are you going to allow corn flakes but not frosted flakes? What about pancake syrup? Ice cream?
Are you going to allow whole wheat bread but not white bread? Brown rice but not white rice? Where does the governor stand on butter vs. margarine?

Trying to define junk food will be as bad as trying to define folk music.

Still, if the USDA statistics given above are genuine, it implies the USDA must have SOME criteria for judging. But the vagueness of the result "20 to 40 percent" implies that there's a lot of wiggle room in their definition. How are you going to reduce your criteria to a simple rule that grocery store managers and clerks can apply consistently?

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:13 AM

The obesity problem isn't due to food, it is due to lack of exercise. Probably the biggest misconception about obesity is rooted in the belief that obese people eat too much. They don't. The problem is with the amount of calories consumed vs. the amount of calories burned by exercise. People don't reduce the amount of calories consumed to fit the amount burned, and the result is weight gain.

Yes Rustic Rebel, I am on the board of my local whole foods coop. The state claimed that they could put more people on food stamps, if they didn't allow current recipients to buy organic food. They made this decision without any study, or providing any statistical information to back it up. It was just another draconian, spit on the poor bureaucratic ruling. We believe the real reason for the change was because mega chain grocers complaining to the MN Dept of Health, that they were losing food stamp business to the whole foods stores and coops, especially in urban areas.

It's really the same old shit. Poor people are poor because of bad choices and bad character, so we should punish them, shame them, and humiliate them at every opportunity. And in tough times, we starve them to death. More for you and me that way.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 11:52 PM

Bobert! Are you suggesting that only poor people are obese?! That's quite a claim, my friend! Do you think it is the poor who frequent the fast food joints?

People have enough of a stigma using food stamps. If they are foolish with them and run out of food, they will have to deal with it until their next allotment. We don't need to police the grocery-buying habits of the poorest of our country...talk about big brother and his baby bush in our faces...sheesh! And, yes, I've been there and fed a family on them, so there is experience. Had the govt. supplements Amergin talks of, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 11:07 PM

Well, Spawzer, one day I will have to tell you about my carp (crap) story. You are probably the onliest person on the entire planet that would appreciate it.

Okay, twist ol' bobert's arm, will ya? Ouch! Okay, uncle...
\
So I was like 16 or 14, heck I don't know and I was fishing down at Lake Barcroft for cat fish as the sunwas going down. Had me a dough ball at the end of a 6 pound test line and well, nuthin was bitin' all night and 'round about an hour after it got black as night because it was black as night...Strange how that happens... And me and my buddies figured that we'd just reel our lines in and beat feet so I went to reel mine in and it was stuck... You know, like a sick fish... Man, ahte them stick fish. When you do get 'em in, which ain't too often, they taste real bad. Real bad. So I thought I had me a stick fish but at least I was able to reel on it with the drag set up high. Well, I must have reeled that stcick fish fir about 15 minutes when it came to life! Now, stcik fish ain't 'sposed to come to life. That's why they're stcik fish. Right? Now, all my buddies are yellin' all kinds of advice like other dump-ass 16 or 14 year old boys will do that don't know a danged thing about catching nuthing but colds and a few speedoing tickets... Now, I reckon it's time to tell you that I ain't never seen no carp in my life. Bass, crappie, blue gill, yeah, but no ugly butt carp.... sO there I was reeling and playing this stick fish for waht seems like all night and finally we wear each other out and I got the danged thing right up to the bank of the lake and Jim Clark shines a flashlight down into that stick fishes face and it's one of them carps. Man, Iz here to say that if you ain't never seen no carp and you just reeled one in on a 6 pound test line for the last hour and Jim Clark shined a flashlight into its face that that one experience would make most 16 or 14 years old boys quit fishing fo the rest of their lives. Man, that is one nasty looking thing in the dark with just a flashlight... So, like what was I gonna do. Here I had this ugly thing right there and had two choices. I could reach down and grab the nasty thing by its bottom lip and drag him on shore or I could just cut the line? Hmmmmmm? Pass the knife, thank you.... Yuck. Grosses me out to this very day...

But... I still like Jesse.

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 10:48 PM

Carp is actually far worse than crap Bobertz.......Well, maybe not..........Come to think of it, I think the words are synonamous.....or at least a lot alike.............Maybe you were right in the first place.................

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 10:35 PM

Ever wonder why there is such obesity in America's poor? It don't come from eatin' heathy, that's fir sure. Comes from eating the carp that these folk can afford....

Awww, nevermind, don't even get my sorry butt started. This is about Jesse...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 10:29 PM

Please tell me that isn't true about the organic food. I have not heard that one. I realize that organics are more expensive but does that mean the poor should not be allowed to eat healthy if they choose. That is really sad in my book.
Peace. Rustic

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 10:10 PM

Everything...

Opps, it wasn't my turn to answer...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:58 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Neighmond - PM
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 08:35 PM

Pardon my ignorance.

What in the everloving hell has any of this got to do with folk music and folk traditions?

Chaz

Poverty. Government actions. Politics. Hunger. About 50 other things.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:57 PM

Well, GUEST, Mean-asota ain't got the market capture on meaness. Maryland's new governor, Enrich, or whatever his name is, decided that best way to balance the budget was to put slot machines in every gas station, laundry mat, convience store ,resturant, elementary school, every phone booth, hospital emergency room, church, public bathroon and even at the Food Stamp office. Now, one studt after another has shown that gambling v. taxes is very regressive. Rich folk don't play slot machines. But the folks who ain't got nuthin, do. Typical Republican idea. Then they wanta try to legislate deeply personal things such as sex between consentling adults or a woman's right to chooze? Hmmmmm?

Nevermind...

I liked Jesse. No, I didn't agree with everything he stood for but no one ever accused him of being a mean and spitfull person unless they were either in the wrestling ring or were part of the media that jumped on him....

Hey, lots of folks would take him in a NY minute over the bum they have...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: mmm1a
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:46 PM

I agree with you about being able to get tolit paper.
         mmm

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST,amergin
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:25 PM

when I was growing up we were hardly ever on foodstamps...our food (when we could get it) came from the food bank that meant alot of government pet food, alot of government cheese...alot of dry milk...and corn meal

when we couldn't get it we basically lived on corn meal mush with baby formula....

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:22 PM

Weeellll, a long time ago when we were on food stamps, "ready to eat" food was not allowed. That would include candy,soda, "Deli" food, etc. About 3 yrs ago I was still working in a market Deli and food stamps were dis allowed for all Deli food if ready to eat.............not a problem for me, but I do think things like bath and laundry soap should be allowed. Not Pet Food, though.

How about toilet paper? Just use your hand?

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: mmm1a
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 08:36 PM

Sorry to disagree with you but..Yes i do think that there ae things that you should not be able to buy with foodstamps . Candy, pop are a at the top of the list. I am on foodstamps, and I see too many people buying junk food then something healthy. I think that they should take off pop and candy and let you buy soap and shampoo and laundry soap. And by the way I buy mainly meat and fresh fruit with mine. And no I don't buy prime rib or t-bones. I am on foodstamps because I lost my job, but as soon as I get another job I will be off them, thats how it is suppose to work not be on them till your kids are grown. I know too many people like that.
                   mmm

Subject: RE: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: Neighmond
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 08:35 PM

Pardon my ignorance.

What in the everloving hell has any of this got to do with folk music and folk traditions?

Chaz

Subject: BS: Nostalgic for Gov Jesse
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Feb 03 - 06:47 PM

The new Republican Minnesota governor is about as draconian as they come (we've had some fairly good Republican governors over the years).

We knew his true colors long before he ran for the office, as he has been a state GOP legislator/party leader/hack for a number of years now.

But this one has to take the cake. He wants to forbid food stamp recipients from being able to buy snack and junk foods with their food stamps. Mind, under Jesse, they decided to no longer allow food stamp recipients to purchase organic foods with their food stamps.

Just when I think Republicans can't get any meaner, they prove me wrong.

Oh, and BTW, before some of you come in saying that they bloody well shouldn't be allowed to eat pretzels and buy box cake mixes, the same report about this "compassionate conservative" idea, also explained that, according to USDA statistics on the program, food stamp recipients spend 20 to 40 percent LESS than non-food stamp recipients do on junk and snack foods.