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Here are a few more ideas to make the winter days more fun... I googled these images, which were some of the more artistic cakes I found online. If you want to find them, google the name in parenthesis with the words "heart cake"; they should come up. There are no recipes! Just people wanting to sell you a cake... The rest of the cakes out there are the usual chocolate decadent-looking Valentine slabs you see around; these are the unique cakes. You can see a lot of love went into them.
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"Angel Food" Cake
Angel Food is a very light white cake, made from mostly egg whites, I think. It's very sponge-like. Usually these are dressed with a fruit juice creamy-drip frosting. I love the addition of strawberries here! The little marshmallows brighten it up.Y
"German Cake"
Chocolate with Lemon Frosting, Raspberry Filling
Chocolate with Lemon Frosting, Raspberry Filling
This is really a pretty cake - not a lot of frosting, which must mean the cake is super-rich. White vanilla frosting on top, with a lemon frizz drizzle and raspberries - this cake must be killer-delish! Y
"Strawberry Heart Cake"
This looks like a sweet cake, something fun for kids,
a nice way to express love.
a nice way to express love.
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Purple "Engagement Cake"
What could this cake possibly be like?! How is the frosting made? I imagine it to be a crisp, blueberry crackle frosting, with a really super-moist blueberry chocolate something, like thick fudge pudding inside! If this were my engagement cake, I'd want a Cinderella coach figurine on top, with Cinderella and the Prince kissing. And I'd want a few live, red and white roses around it.
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"Chocolate Fudge" Cake with Strawberries
This is a beautiful cake. I like how the chocolate fudge is dressed with whipped cream, as opposed to frosting. The addition of fruit to a cake always enhances cake eating.Y
While we are making our Valentines and eating our cakes, I hope we will all say some prayers for the well-being of our country and hopefully, the end of the war. Our own country is in great need, Valentine!
I have been praying for Barack and our Senate this week. I love how he makes intentional efforts to speak to people's hearts. I'm proud he did his best to stand his ground with the Senate - what do they think we are supposed to do? How are our children supposed to go with less? I hope tomorrow brings a break-through that works more in our country's favor. What are we supposed to do, Eat Cake?!
Then LET US EAT CAKE!! Here are a few stats I downloaded today...
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This federal stimulus money will last our country a total of about two years - then it will be gone. In the meantime...
Senate Moves Forward on Stimulus, Now $838 Billion
Stimulus Survives Senate Test, Vote Possible Tuesday
By JONATHAN KARL and Z. BYRON WOLF
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2009
The Senate voted 61-36 today to close debate and move forward with a gargantuan stimulus package meant to kick-start the moribund economy with $838 billion in one-time spending and tax credits. Sen. Kennedy arrives on Capitol Hill to support President Obama's stimulus plan.
The bill could pass Tuesday, but cleared a key procedural hurdle today with help from three Republicans and ailing Democrat Ted Kennedy, who voted for the first time this year.
Kennedy, D-Mass., who suffers from brain cancer, returned to the Capitol for the first time since he had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a mild seizure just after President Obama's inauguration last month.
"I returned to the Senate today to do all I can to support our president and his plan to get our country back on track. We face a historic crisis and must act quickly, boldly and responsibly to enable our economy to begin growing again in Massachusetts and across America," Kennedy said in a paper statement.
Democrats will need the senior senator from Massachusetts again Tuesday, when there is another 60-votes-needed motion, and they will have to be able to break the Republican filibuster after the bill is reconciled with what passed the House.
Those votes could come later this week, depending on how the conference goes -- and whether the Republicans who supported the bill today still support it after Democrats change it in conference later this week.
The bill won't pass the Senate until Tuesday, but Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News that House, Senate and White House negotiators already began meeting today, starting discussion on how to resolve the differences between the bills passed by the House and Senate.
The early discussions are a recognition the clock is running out on Obama's President's Day deadline, and this will be a long and difficult negotiation.
The conference committee will be a small one, likely to include only the leadership and the chairman of the key committees.
(AP Photos/ABC Graphic )
President Barack Obama and both houses of Congress face tricky negotiations to produce a unified version of a stimulus bill. In the main image above, the American flag flies at the U.S. Capitol, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009.
For the Democrats, it will be Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus of Montana, Appropriations Committee chairman Dan Inouye of Alaska, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank and House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey.
The Republican troika that crafted the compromise -- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- won't be there, but their presence will be felt. If the bill changes much, Democrats will lose their support and, therefore, will not be able to pass it in the Senate.
"I feel very strongly that the House simply cannot reinsert the wasteful expenditures that don't create jobs and do nothing to help turn the economy around," Collins told ABC News today. "If the conference report diverges greatly, then I would not be able to support it."
House Democrats (and many of their Senate brethren) argue that these cuts are an especially bad idea, because this money would work directly to create or save jobs. Without the money, the argument goes, state governments will be forced to layoff more workers and make cuts that undo much of the impact of the stimulus bill.
Collins has rejected these arguments, pointing out there's still a lot of money in here for the states.
"The states are going to receive more than $200 billion as a result of our compromise, $200 billion," Collins told ABC News. "That is all new funding. It is new money for the states. So the states are going to receive much needed assistance from our bill, but there is a limit to how much the states can spend wisely in a short period of time."
Iraq War Results & Statistics at January 29, 2009
4,236 US Soldiers Killed, 31,004 Seriously Wounded
By Deborah White, About.com
Feb 2 2009
For your quick reading, I've listed key statistics about the Iraq War, taken primarily from data analyzed by various think tanks, including The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, and from mainstream media sources. Data is presented as of January 29, 2009, except as indicated.
U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ
Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $800 billion of US taxpayers' funds spent or approved for spending through mid-2009.
U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion in 2008
U.S. Spending per Second - $5,000 in 2008 (per Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on May 5, 2008)
Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion
Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion
Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or supportable" - $3.2 billion
Number of major U.S. bases in Iraq - 75 (The Nation/New York Times)
TROOPS IN IRAQ
Iraqi Troops Trained and Able to Function Independent of U.S. Forces - 6,000 as of May 2007 (per NBC's "Meet the Press" on May 20, 2007)
Troops in Iraq - Total 147,000, including 142,000 from the US, 4,100 from the UK, and 900 from all other nations
U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,236 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army
Non-U.S. Troop Casualties - Total 315, with 178 from the UK
US Troops Wounded - 31,004, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)
US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home
US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 68 total, at least 36 by enemy fire
IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ
Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.
Journalists killed - 136, 92 by murder and 44 by acts of war
Journalists killed by US Forces - 14
Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 8,887
Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000.
Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000
Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 557
Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 306, including 57 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 89 status unknown.
Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14
Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70
Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000
QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS
Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 - 2,255,000
Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 2.1 million to 2.25 million
Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50%
Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000
Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000
Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 10.9 in May 2007
Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007
Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24
Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%
Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%
RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)
Iraqis "strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%
Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%
Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation - 67%
Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%
YSenate Moves Forward on Stimulus, Now $838 Billion
Stimulus Survives Senate Test, Vote Possible Tuesday
By JONATHAN KARL and Z. BYRON WOLF
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2009
The Senate voted 61-36 today to close debate and move forward with a gargantuan stimulus package meant to kick-start the moribund economy with $838 billion in one-time spending and tax credits. Sen. Kennedy arrives on Capitol Hill to support President Obama's stimulus plan.
The bill could pass Tuesday, but cleared a key procedural hurdle today with help from three Republicans and ailing Democrat Ted Kennedy, who voted for the first time this year.
Kennedy, D-Mass., who suffers from brain cancer, returned to the Capitol for the first time since he had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a mild seizure just after President Obama's inauguration last month.
"I returned to the Senate today to do all I can to support our president and his plan to get our country back on track. We face a historic crisis and must act quickly, boldly and responsibly to enable our economy to begin growing again in Massachusetts and across America," Kennedy said in a paper statement.
Democrats will need the senior senator from Massachusetts again Tuesday, when there is another 60-votes-needed motion, and they will have to be able to break the Republican filibuster after the bill is reconciled with what passed the House.
Those votes could come later this week, depending on how the conference goes -- and whether the Republicans who supported the bill today still support it after Democrats change it in conference later this week.
The bill won't pass the Senate until Tuesday, but Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News that House, Senate and White House negotiators already began meeting today, starting discussion on how to resolve the differences between the bills passed by the House and Senate.
The early discussions are a recognition the clock is running out on Obama's President's Day deadline, and this will be a long and difficult negotiation.
The conference committee will be a small one, likely to include only the leadership and the chairman of the key committees.
(AP Photos/ABC Graphic )President Barack Obama and both houses of Congress face tricky negotiations to produce a unified version of a stimulus bill. In the main image above, the American flag flies at the U.S. Capitol, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009.
For the Democrats, it will be Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus of Montana, Appropriations Committee chairman Dan Inouye of Alaska, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank and House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey.
The Republican troika that crafted the compromise -- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- won't be there, but their presence will be felt. If the bill changes much, Democrats will lose their support and, therefore, will not be able to pass it in the Senate.
"I feel very strongly that the House simply cannot reinsert the wasteful expenditures that don't create jobs and do nothing to help turn the economy around," Collins told ABC News today. "If the conference report diverges greatly, then I would not be able to support it."
House Democrats will fight hard to restore the two biggest cuts in the plan made by the moderates:
$40 billion reduction in the so-called Fiscal Stability Fund for the states;
$16 billion in school construction that was eliminated.
$40 billion reduction in the so-called Fiscal Stability Fund for the states;
$16 billion in school construction that was eliminated.
House Democrats (and many of their Senate brethren) argue that these cuts are an especially bad idea, because this money would work directly to create or save jobs. Without the money, the argument goes, state governments will be forced to layoff more workers and make cuts that undo much of the impact of the stimulus bill.
Collins has rejected these arguments, pointing out there's still a lot of money in here for the states.
"The states are going to receive more than $200 billion as a result of our compromise, $200 billion," Collins told ABC News. "That is all new funding. It is new money for the states. So the states are going to receive much needed assistance from our bill, but there is a limit to how much the states can spend wisely in a short period of time."
Y
Iraq War Results & Statistics at January 29, 2009
4,236 US Soldiers Killed, 31,004 Seriously Wounded
By Deborah White, About.com
Feb 2 2009
For your quick reading, I've listed key statistics about the Iraq War, taken primarily from data analyzed by various think tanks, including The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, and from mainstream media sources. Data is presented as of January 29, 2009, except as indicated.
U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ
Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $800 billion of US taxpayers' funds spent or approved for spending through mid-2009.
U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion in 2008
U.S. Spending per Second - $5,000 in 2008 (per Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on May 5, 2008)
Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion
Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion
Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or supportable" - $3.2 billion
Number of major U.S. bases in Iraq - 75 (The Nation/New York Times)
TROOPS IN IRAQ
Iraqi Troops Trained and Able to Function Independent of U.S. Forces - 6,000 as of May 2007 (per NBC's "Meet the Press" on May 20, 2007)
Troops in Iraq - Total 147,000, including 142,000 from the US, 4,100 from the UK, and 900 from all other nations
U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,236 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army
Non-U.S. Troop Casualties - Total 315, with 178 from the UK
US Troops Wounded - 31,004, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)
US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home
US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 68 total, at least 36 by enemy fire
IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ
Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.
Journalists killed - 136, 92 by murder and 44 by acts of war
Journalists killed by US Forces - 14
Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 8,887
Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000.
Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000
Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 557
Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 306, including 57 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 89 status unknown.
Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14
Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70
Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000
QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS
Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 - 2,255,000
Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 2.1 million to 2.25 million
Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50%
Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000
Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000
Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 10.9 in May 2007
Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007
Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24
Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%
Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%
RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)
Iraqis "strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%
Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%
Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation - 67%
Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%
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