Braised, Baked and By the Numbers

Some weekends are tougher to come up with something new to eat. This was one of those weekends. Initially, I considered cooking duck or rabbit but switched to roast beef and turkey wings. I cooked the roast beef because in general I deal with steaks or braised beef. Roasting a simple cut though is a time-honored method and the result is a very different flavor and texture. IT was very good along with homemade gravy. I'll share that another time. The other main dish was turkey drumettes glazed with honey and curry. Excellent! I hated leaving home to go to Channel Partners with that in the refrigerator. However, I noted that I have not shared many side dishes so today the recipes of the week are Braised Field Greens and Baked Potato. The field greens can be mustard, kale, collard or Swiss chard. The potatoes are best if they are russet. Simple recipes but very good eating. Enjoy!

By the Numbers

In an effort to change the tone regarding the success or failure of the stimulus money set aside for telecom, I decided to look at jobs forecasted by non-administrative sources. I believe we can all agree that the Obama administration would forecast over optimistic jobs numbers resulting from the expansion of broadband. Therefore, I reviewed a study released in January of this year by the Milken Institute, a self-described independent think tank. While I will review their research as it pertains to telecommunications, the entire report, Jobs for America is available.

According to the study, for every $1 billion investment in broadband, more than 19,000 jobs are created across all sectors. The ripple effect for related to those jobs follows a well tested three to one ration. Each dollar generates three dollars in economic activity and each job affects the either the maintenance or creation of three other jobs. Therefore, if we apply these numbers and expectations to the $7.2 billion allocated to expanding broadband in rural and underserved areas, 136,800 jobs will be created or saved with an economic impact on communities of over $21 billion.