iReport Finally Picked Up By CNN - Update

UPDATE:

I got a call Saturday afternoon from CNN, who finally saw an iReport of mine that they liked and wanted to use on CNN.com. The question was, would you sell a prized possession due to hard economic times? The answer for me was no, not the Brooklyn Dodgers autographed baseball. Besides the fact that its not mine to sell (it's my mother's), I consider it a priceless family heirloom and would never sell it.

It's been a while since CNN picked up one of my iReports. So far, I'm disappointed in the number of views (no longer - see update) but this should pick up with the new visibility (it has).

Final tally as of 5:30PM 3/2/03 is 8,081 views which is about where I expect it to level off.

Read all about it here:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-221357

Oven "Fried" Chicken

Great news for those of you out there who made a New Years resolution to try to be more like me. From time to time I will post some of my best recipes (cooking suggestions may be a better description).

Installment #1 was my Red Beans & Rice.

And now, Oven "Fried" Chicken, which I made last week, with the assistance of my colleague Ian S., for the families at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. Sort of like a home-made Shake n Bake.

OVEN "FRIED" CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• Chicken parts (with or without skin, your choice)
• Bread crumbs
• Corn meal
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Optional seasonings: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix 3 parts breadcrumbs with 1 part cornmeal in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, paprika, and other seasonings as you like. The amounts will depend on how many chicken parts you are cooking. It is not an exact science.
Thoroughly mix the breadcrumb/cornmeal/seasoning mixture. Wet the chicken pieces under a running faucet and place them, a few at a time, in the mixture. Make sure each piece is completely covered with the mixture and place on a large cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Check for doneness before removing. You may also want to raise the temperature for a few minutes at the end to brown the chicken pieces. Just remember to take them out before you burn them.
That's it - a simple way to make very delicious chicken.

The Bong Hit Heard Round The World

So, Michael Phelps did a bong hit. His real crime was being dumb enough to let someone photograph him doing it.

Luckily, thanks to the Super Bowl, the economic crisis, and the Octuplet Lady, this non-story has been for the most part below-the-fold, but still, talking heads are pontificating about Mr. Phelps having made a "mistake", and whether or not we should forgive him (as if any of us had that power).

Let's take this opportunity, however, not to debate whether or or not Michael Phelps made a mistake, but the fact that our prisons are filled with non gold medal winners who made the same "mistake". Let's take a re-look at our idiotic drug laws, and their draconian penalties, and the inconsistent way they are dished out to the haves vs. the have-nots. It goes like this: the "haves" get to apologize, go into re-hab, and get their records expunged, while the "have-nots" get thrown directly into the slammer, Do Not Pass Go.

So, as long as we are so forgiving of Michael Phelps and his mistake, I propose that every Governor issue an immediate unconditional pardon to any non-violent marijuana user (that almost sounds redundant) now doing time for possession, and that President Obama do the same thing for those who are doing time under Federal law.

Of course, Michael Phelps should not go to jail for doing a bong hit.

But neither should anyone else who makes this "mistake".