global crisis?

Is it really possible that the biggest political story of the coming U.S. presidential race is the Euro crisis and its global consequences - a story that few of us are probably closely following . . . ?

my main man . . .

no . . . no . . . no . . . and no . . .

A piece (Republican Gridlock Holds Consumers Hostage) from The Star-Ledger Editorial Page that hits the nail squarely on the head.

Republicans aggressively fought the appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and came away with a big scalp: Warren herself, the architect of the new agency, stepped down as nominee and returned to Massachusetts to run for the U.S. Senate. With any luck, voters there will send her back to Washington to continue challenging those who would shield banks and big business at the expense of the American consumer.

You’d think, having ousted Warren, the Republicans would get down to the people’s business. Think again. Now, the Party of No is refusing to confirm President Obama’s new nominee, Richard Cordray, unless the agency is restructured — that is, essentially gutted of its powers to protect consumers. This has nothing to do with Cordray’s credentials — he’s the highly regarded former state attorney general of Ohio — and everything to do with the political gridlock that has enraged voters and engendered cynicism with government. And it lays waste to the lessons that were supposedly learned after the collapse of the mortgage industry and housing market in 2008, when consumer ignorance combined with banking’s predatory practices to create a disaster.

they are liars . . .

When Republicans (or anyone else) make a claim that they know to be untrue that is a lie . . .

After President Obama unveiled his jobs and deficit reduction plans, he took to the road to draw a contrast between himself and the Republican politicians who want to end his political career. Obama's proposes to spend money now on hiring people and cutting taxes temporarily to spur further job growth, and pay for it in just over a year, in large part by raising taxes on wealthy Americans.

The Republican vision -- phasing out safety net programs like Medicare in order to maintain low tax rates on the same group of affluent people -- is far less popular. So in their own tried and true way, Republicans recast Obama's plan for "shared sacrifice" as "the largest tax increase in history."

What a difference! But also untrue.

Beethoven redux . . .

This is really kind of big and cool news . . .

A movement of a Beethoven string quartet, lost in 1799, is to be given its premiere in Manchester on Thursday, after its discovery and reconstruction by Barry Cooper, professor of music at the University of Manchester.

The premiere will be given by the Quatuor Danel at a seminar open to the public at the University of Manchester.

Here is a bit of Beethoven (since we're not in Manchester today) . . .

paying for water . . .

Maybe we Texans didn't pray hard enough - seems our governor thought prayer rather than budget was the only answer worth pursuing . . . At our home, we also didn't budget for the drought but we also didn't rely solely on prayer - we used our "rainy day" nickels and dimes and kept water on our trees - our 16+ pines, oaks, maples, magnolias and lemon tree are still alive. Only the maple shows stress but that predates this year's drought. Houston on the whole has not fared so well. The drought continues to be devastating . . .

Tree casualty projections across the eight-county Houston area run as high as 66 million by the nonprofit Trees for Houston. The city will be removing only those on city public land.

"Droughts are like a Category 3 hurricane that moves very, very, very slow," said Tom Combs, vice president of the Texas region for DRC Emergency Services, the Mobile, Ala.-based company that would get the work if the spending is approved Wednesday. DRC is the city's disaster debris contractor. Combs said he does not know how many trees the company removed in the wake of Ike, only that DRC carted away 5 million cubic yards of debris, some from public land, some from private.

trickling with will durst & morning joe . . .

Okay, so we tried trickle down for a while . . . is it maybe time to try trickle up?

This past year hasn’t brought much good news about our economy. The nation’s unemployment rate is still at 9.1%, going down only half a percentage point since 2010. The USDA reports that 50 million Americans continue to struggle to put enough food on the table each day. And locally it doesn’t look much better – California’s unemployment hovers around 12%. Here in San Francisco, the list of families waiting to get into shelters is at it’s highest point since November 2009.

Class warfare! An oldie but a goodie, and about as unexpected as finding green grapes in a fruit salad. Why is it always a war with these guys? The culture war, war on Christmas, then they accuse Democrats of being emotionally unequipped to go to war. Well, which is it?

When taxes are raised on the rich, oh sure – that’s class warfare. But when libraries are closed and national parks left to rot so rich people can have more money, that’s trickle-down economics. What Barack should do is rename his efforts to balance the playing field with trickle-up economics. That would at least confuse them (not that they need more confusion) – “You know what, you’re right! It is a class war you started it and your side winning.”

The Republicans are especially upset about a proposal called the Warren Buffet rule, which calls for billionaires to pay taxes at the same rate as their secretaries. The GOP puts more faith in the Jimmy Buffet rule which holds that anybody who worries about coming up with next month’s rent money next should start drinking margaritas until they pass out.

What is it with the rich? How much money do they need? How many cars can you drive? How many imported Beluga caviar cream cheese canapés can you consume at a single cocktail party?

climate change and looking for vacation spots . . .

Greenland may soon be as green as its name - a holiday place for all the folks treading water in southeast Texas . . . but, oh wait, maybe the melt is slowing down or maybe we got the facts wrong . . .

red and saucey . . .

I am a graduate of Odessa High School and today is the celebration of my graduating class' 50th reunion. After much consideration, I have chosen not to go. Mostly because I knew so few people and of the very small cadre of friends, one is dead and another evidently terminally ill. During my school years, from Antelope, Texas for 1st grade to OHS for 12th grade, I did not attend the same school two years in a row. For me, it was hard to make lasting friendships. It is really from the army that I first met people that became important enough to me that I I continue to think and worry about some of them now (some 40+ years later). Not so for more than perhaps 3-4 people I knew in high school (Permian and Odessa combined) - I attended Odessa High for my sophomore year, Permian High for my junior year (its first year of existence) and back to OHS for my senior year. So, auspicious day or not, I have chosen to be somewhere else doing something else.

I am making tomato sauce to enhance my home-grown eggplants. I enjoy making red sauce (for pasta, eggplant dishes, veggie patties, a whole range of things) more than I can adequately explain. It is one of my favorite routines in the kitchen.

It's Mahatma Gandhi.
It's the top!
It's Napoleon Brandy.
It's the purple light
Of a summer night in Spain,
It's the National Gallery
It's Garbo's salary,
It's cellophane.
It's so sublime.

Or, to paraphrase Kid Sheleen, "it's just swell, the way I figured it would be . . . oh, it is just fine."

product placement without recompense . . .

A joy of living in Houston is not the wet weather, no longer the wonderful commute times, and not the beautiful beaches. All of this is more or less acceptable (less more than 'more' oft times). What is a terrific joy is our local brew! If I were a beer drinker, which I am, I would drink Saint Arnold brown ale which I do. I am a most happy camper with my fingers wrapped around a beautiful, deep copper brown ale of extraordinary taste!