Raise the Fuel Taxes

Gas prices continue to go up---over $4.08 a gallon as I write this. And the monthly payments on pickups and SUVs keep decreasing---no interest for 60 months, $6,000 rebates, "employee pricing".......Anybody else out there think this is a disconnect? And note the small print on these adds---none of the "deals" apply to hybrids!!!! The fuel efficient varieties are full boat, baby!!!!
Our government says we can alleviate gas prices by drilling in places like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. But the current administration doesn't exactly deserve kudos or respect in terms of their record on the environment or climate change. Let's face it, the "senior administrators" are ex-oil men. The candidates recommend gas tax holidays or windfall taxes on big oil.
How about something that might work? Let's eliminate the taxes on diesel. This will give truckers a break and help stabilize the costs of food and other goods that depend on trucking to get to America's consumers. We can increase the gas tax on regular fuel to offset this revenue loss and also to subsidize the cost of truly fuel efficient and alternative fuel technologies.
Check out the Honda website http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/frequently-asked-questions/. That fuel cell car in the tv ads is available in a few counties in Southern California at a lease cost of $600.00 a month. That's more than the lease on a Hummer, a Mercedes S class, or a Cadillac STS!!!! We should be begging to lease the fuel cell car all over the country and getting the infrastructure built to support fuel cell technology. But the vast majority of Americans can't afford that kind of lease price. One would think GM, Ford, or Chrysler could build a fuel cell car that might fit an average family's budget if some of the development costs were subsidized.
According to Jonathan Rauch's article in the July/August Atlantic(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors), the Chevy Volt will sell for "maybe north of $35,000." But an F-150 Ford or a Chevy Silverado at 10mpg can be had for about $20,000!! If we really are serious about conserving fossil fuels and getting their prices back in line, we need the Volt to sell for the same price as a Malibu.
So let's bite the short-term bullet and pay an inceased gas tax which can be used by car companies to develop alternative fuel vehicles without passing the high development costs on to consumers and keeping the sticker prices of these vehicles in line with what the average family can afford. The other benefit of this would be to help make American companies competitive and hopefully increase job opportunities in the automotive sector, which has been among the hardest hit in the economy. Or maybe America isn't as good as our competitors in this segment of the global economy?

Return of the Lost

So after 12 days adrift, Skippy is home. As best as I can reconstruct the story from her yowlings, after the Pirate Dogs had made her walk the plank she was able to find refuge in a neighboring tree across the alley. Since the pirates maintained control of the yard, she decided to bide her time and attempt to return later, under cover of darkness.

But her plans were foiled by the emergence of AndromeClee, the shadowy nemesis who has haunted Skip's life since her arrival. With Skip gone, AndromeClee began to enjoy her freedom. She made a grand entrance onto the stage of outdoor life, sunning herself, stalking the grackles who sang their siren songs from the trees and rooftops whenever a feathered one ventured onto terra firma. So rather than endure a confrontation with her enemy, this high energy newly freed spirit, Skip waited in the alley and bided her time.

Came the night and the new dangers it presented. People in the alley, emptying lawn mower bags and dumping garbage. Her own yard unwelcoming, SkippyKee looked for alternative shelter. She knew that there were neighbors who had felines and sometimes left food out for them. She had sampled these victuals on her other forays about the neighborhood. So she scaled a fence across the alley in search of sustenance. Instead she found a furious terrier objecting to her presence. Barely escaping by scrambling up a woodpile near a metal fence, she found herself in a yard with dishes of cat food and water free and welcoming. She helped herself to the feast. Bushes throughout the yard provided shelter from the overwhelming sun of the high plains. She dozed and lost track of the fleeting minutes and hours.

Waking in the darkness, she decided to return home. But the metal fence had no surfaces where she could gain purchase with her nails. There were no trees near the edifice to assist her. She was trapped in someone else's fortress! Days passed without any opportunity to escape. A human had at one point startled her but Skip was unable to get through the gate before it slammed shut. Then, a fateful evening---hiding in the bushes, Skip tried to settle down. But her comfort was shattered by the pelting of water on the foliage. Terrified, she bolted for an open door. Unfortunately, it was a garage. The human closed the door, trapping her amid the spoils of years of human acquisition. Fortunately, the human had seen the posters for the lost cat and called the number. After some negotiation to make the newcomers prove their identity, SkippyKee entered the carrier, comforted and made confident by its familiar odors. And she was carried home.

Her first interaction with those who had made her walk the plank and embark on such misadventures was chasing and pummeling. Three Pirate Dogs pursuing a small cat down the corridor, threatening her should she tell the story. This was followed by some whimpering and whining as the claws on those double paws made contact with various body parts of those canines more efficiently and with far greater destructive power than Errol Flynn at his most swashbuckley best. As for AndromeClee, her moment in the sun is gone---she is back under the bed, hoping the Pirate Dogs succeed with her next plan..................

MISSING

Skippy Kee is missing. She never came home Thursday. Being good parents, we posted her picture and info on community sites, hung pictures and contact info on all the nearby dumpsters, and notified the local animal control people and veterinarians.

Then it hit me. I was grilling a couple of burgers on the deck when I espied the Pirate Dogs lurking by the back gate. A closer inspection revealed a long and narrow board concealed near where it could be perched on the stockade fence and the storage shed--a PLANK!!!!! Shades of the "Black Pearl".

I immediately confronted the Captain of this crew. And in true pirate fashion she obfuscated and prevaricated, giving me no information whatesover--just growling, barking, and finally, silence with an innocent and coy expression on her face. But deep down, though it may never be proved, I know the truth. Witness the similarity of expression between the Captain of the Pirate Dogs on the left and Capt. Jack Sparrow on the right.



Can there be any doubt?????

Driving 580 Miles for a Burger

All right, so even in "Nuevo Mehico" gasoline is approaching $4.00 a gallon. Who cares?? Not the 3 Pirate Dogs!!!!!!! They convinced their dad, mom, and auntie to load them into the vehicle and trek about halfway across the 5th largest state for a HAMBURGER. Not just any hamburger but a green chile cheeseburger from the Owl Cafe, home of arguably the best burgers in the WORLD!!!

We used to live about 100 miles from the Owl so a quick run up the Interstate was nothing. To taste the green chile cheese fries, enjoy a cold Bud, and eat a couple of those burgers was so satisfying. And to be able to just do it on a moment's notice was wonderful. Now we live half a state away----yesterday was a 580 mile round trip---si, a little planning is required. But it's the trip as well as the culinary orgasm.

Leave the flat plain of "West Texas" to encounter the foothills of one of the few mountain ranges that run east-west (the Capitans). Be alert and ready with the brakes. Off to the right a herd of pronghorn antelope graze. A few miles further and there are some of the largest longhorn cattle not yet in the feedlot. As the sign for the Roswell UFO Crash site (no trespassing, call some limo company) approaches, a paisano runs across the road with "is that a snake or a lizard?" in its beak. A few miles later another roadrunner crosses, this one still searching for its meal.

Cross the mountains. The pass is only 6900 feet on this route. But the land has changed. Scruffy trees, maybe oaks, shelter a few head of cattle. The highway allows a view of hawks from above as it proceeds in switchbacks up the mountain. Then there is the first sighting of the Tularosa Basin stretching for miles north-south and to the west we spy the the next mountains to cross.

The land has morphed into black lava flows as the car ascends into the Malpais. One more hill----and the high desert reveals itself--the "Jornada del Muerto." A fitting name for the land that was scarred by the Trinity blast in 1945. There's the turn for Stallion Gate.

It's been a long ride but that sign means the Rio Grande, El Camino Real, and the Owl are only about half an hour away. Another hill and the river valley, almost obscenely green against the adobe colored sand and mountains beyond, appears. Cross the Rio, muddy, fairly high (the dams upstream must be open). There's the sign with the nocturnal bird, our destination.

Of course the pirates can't go in, not a seeing eye dog among them, but there's a shady parking place. The humans gorge themselves on the wonderful fare. The pirates get a hamburger of their own for their patience. A quick turn on the leash for relief and renewal and it's time for the trek east.

Thoughts on Vice as in Presidents

So I am fascinated with Hilarious offering the 2nd job to the front runner. Obama's campaign dumped the senior policy adviser who called Hillary a "monster." The Obamaniacs prefer a clean campaign. Hillary is not a monster, she's worse--more like a predator-alien calculator whose sole ambition is to not follow her husband into the White House but to try to show up the job he did---witness her stance on NAFTA!!!!

Then we have Geraldine Ferraro, the poster girl of feminine affirmative action, saying Obama got where he is because of affirmative action!!!!!! She's a Clinton campaign staff senior member!!!! And she's not only still there, the campaign has nothing to say about her remarks. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black---sorry, that might be too racist for this campaign.

So the solution is obvious. John McCain should anoint Condoleeza Rice as his vice-president. Then the Republicans can have it all---the POW who favors torture (support for W's veto of the anti-torture bill) and one up on the Dems---a black woman who will be president when Mac kicks it late in the first term/early in his second!!!!

Where are the talking heads on this one?????????

Supergroups

I love music. Growing up in the 60's & 70's allowed for so many diverse listening experiences in popular music. I'll state right up front that Stairway to Heaven is definitely NOT the greatest rock and roll song of all time. It's not even Led Zeppelin's best song. I think Dazed and Confused or Babe I'm Gonna Leave You from the first album are better.

Buffalo Springfield gets my vote as the seminal group of the late '60's. Their music has influences still heard today, e.g., The Eagles. Joe Walsh, playing with The James Gang, covered Bluebird and took credit on the liner notes for playing all "10,000 guitars" himself--a "one up" on the original liner notes on the number of guitar sounds/styles from the original. So many of the "supergroup" performers of the early '70's owe a debt to this band. It's members read like a Hall of Fame: Steve Stills, Neil Young, Jim Messina, Richie Furay. This group gave us great music in many of its permutations over the succeeding years--Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Loggins and Messina, Poco. My choice for seminal group of the 60's----only one "big hit"--For What It's Worth but a wealth of great music.

Super Tuesday Primary aftermath

Some thoughts on the aftermath of the Super Tuesday primary---My brother is a "main-stream" Democrat, read Hillary supporter. We had an email exchange and I thought it appropriate to post some of my comments here. I have been and remain a Bill Richardson fan but since he has quit, I did not want my vote to help Not-so-Hilarious Clinton in any way so I supported Obama in my state's Democratic caucus. Here's why:
28 years of Bush-Clinton does not sound at all good. Neither has excelled at anything but divisiveness, partisanship, and a severe lack of vision for the country and its people. W's record speaks for itself. His father was out of touch. Bubba Clinton was a bubba---where's the latest Monica?? Are we proud of his administration---Somalia, a couple of genocides, failed Hillaricare, the failure to see the threat of Al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism??? Could Obama do worse????? Look at the group around Hilarious---same as the ones who screwed up with her husband. Time for a change----if we elect her we might as well amend the constitution to allow for dynasties and the divine right of kings. It's been 40 years since 1968---Chicago, Vietnam, loss of personal liberty. What's changed in Washington???? NOTHING. This is the opportunity for a radical change; otherwise we'll suffer another 40 years of regression as the world's leader. We are getting hammered and continuing on the same path is ludicrous. In terms of Clintonistas---been there, done that, didn't work then, why do it again??
Obama MAY screw up like Carter but I'm sure Hilarious would.