Playing Poker With Tom Friedman

Tom Friedman is chock full of advice on how to curb Putin and save America and the world. One key - a better energy policy for America. With that set-up, let me steal his punchline:

Obama should summon the congressional leadership to Camp David and put his own plan on the table: Offer the Republicans the Keystone XL pipeline, expanded oil drilling and fracking (but only at the highest environmental standards) and, in return, demand a revenue-neutral carbon tax, a national renewable portfolio standard that would require every utility in America to gradually introduce more renewable power, and a national California-level home building code for energy efficiency. I would also toss in incentives for expanding the share of nuclear power in our energy mix.

So Obama should give the Republicans today what they will be winning at the ballot box in this election cycle or the next, in exchange for ideas that are DOA. That would require leadership skill and political talent Obama has yet to demonstrate. That said, it would also require a level of Republican stupidity that is well within their range.

Let me add - respected Republicans such as Greg Mankiw have proposed a revenue-neutral carbon tax. I love the concept, but my suspicion is that "revenue neutral" is a phrase which masks a lot of heartache and complexity. Let me reach back to 2007 for this excerpt from Prof. Mankiw:

Yet this natural aversion to carbon taxes can be overcome if the revenue from the tax is used to reduce other taxes. By itself, a carbon tax would raise the tax burden on anyone who drives a car or uses electricity produced with fossil fuels, which means just about everybody. Some might fear this would be particularly hard on the poor and middle class.

But Gilbert Metcalf, a professor of economics at Tufts, has shown how revenue from a carbon tax could be used to reduce payroll taxes in a way that would leave the distribution of total tax burden approximately unchanged. He proposes a tax of $15 per metric ton of carbon dioxide, together with a rebate of the federal payroll tax on the first $3,660 of earnings for each worker.

Retirees who drive or heat their homes will see their taxes go up but won't benefit from a cut in the payroll tax, so I suspect the AARP will look for a different type of revenue neutrality.

BONUS STRAY PUZZLE: I recall reading that the carbon footprint of Sunbelters running their air conditioners is much less that that of New Englanders and Northerners heating their homes. A carbon tax which increased that price differential would presumably prompt even more migration to the Sunbelt and the South. Would the transplants bring their Socialist views with them? Or would Blue Staters who truly fear guns and bitter-clingers stay North and leave it to the adventurous to migrate? Time will tell!

Comments

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

carbon taxes would be an attack on freedom of choice, to a degree beyond evaluation. No way, no how and never... in that order.

[narciso]

Well Volodya fear the Skydragon, imposes a flat tax , any lesson there;

http://20committee.com/2014/05/05/russias-soft-power-and-the-great-patriotic-war/

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

BTW-- thanks to QE/Federal $17 Debt, we already have a huge carbon tax in the form of $100, Barrel WTI and $4/gal gas.

[Danube on iPad]

Can't we have some Birther stuff instead?

[narciso]

Everything they suggest is opposite world, you would think now that volodya is ramping up, boost our military,, yet we're slashing it, expand our domestic oil production, not hamper it,

[narciso]

This exercise in the Crimea, resembles somewhat Yugoslavs support of the Greek guerillas re the post war regime

[Jeff Dobbs]

"Obama should summon the congressional leadership to Camp David and put his own plane on the table: Offer the Republicans the Keystone XL pipeline to stop taking vacations and fundraising trips using AF1 because he really, really belives in global climate warming disruption change."

[Extraneus]

What would be the tangible benefits of a carbon tax?

[narciso]

the first time I heard about these carbon taxes, was in an old James Burke piece 'After the Warming' which predicted the great climataapacolyse, droughts, floods, 'mass hysteria, human sacrifice, and the like,

[Marlene]

hit @11:18...he has a fund raising trip to Silicon Valley tomorrow. On Friday,he will visit a Walmart store in Mountain View. It pains me to say this,but it will be all over the news anyway,the daughter will be at that event. She called last night and said,I'm on my way to California. I had to bite my tongue,but I'm afraid I raised my voice and said,did you volunteer to go?! She said this is important! Walmart has set a goal of its stores being powered by 100% renewable resources.
Parenting tip: if you take your ten year old to DC on a trip and she says she's going work there when she grows up,take it seriously! :)

[Thomas Collins]

Yes, a new tax would be made revenue neutral by the politicians reducing other taxes and keeping them reduced. And that stripper you are forking over thousands to in the champagne room is going to date you for real outside the club after getting to know you better in future champagne rooms. Delusions manifest themselves in a variety of ways.

[Extraneus]

When you think about who the strippers are in this instance, well... Maybe I shouldn't go there.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Why even bother with all this gobbledegook...carbon taxes, windmills, solar panels,....
Global climate change is all the fault of 2 guys in America!

http://weaselzippers.us/185227-harry-reid-claims-the-koch-brothers-are-causing-global-warming/

That is it.
The Koch brothers cause GLOBAL climate change.
An obscure nobody uploading crappy videos is the cause of trouble in the Middle East.

It is all so simple.

[lyle]

The day Flathead moves out of his house and into a tent in the woods will be the day I listen to any shit coming out of his mouth.

[Dave (in MA)]

TC, you're too cynical. You have to believe this is just like how the Mass. excise tax on your DeSoto is going away just as soon as we save Europe from the Hun, and the Dukakoid Mass income tax hike is only for 18 months, just to get us through the 1989 budget woes.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

What would be the tangible benefits of a carbon tax?

Now there's a question!

*common sense alert!!*
*common sense alert!!*

[Thomas Collins]

I should clarify, Extraneus, that I don't mean to demean strippers by implying that they have the same morals as politicians.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Flathead house? it's a manse, ... it may even be as big as OL's Potomac house :)

[Thomas Collins]

Ah, memories, Dave (in MA). The "temporary" Dukakis surtax.

[Jim Eagle]

Iggy,

Saw this item about drugged up poachers stealing the burl out of the redwoods in NoCal. Have you run into this?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2622071/Drug-addicted-poachers-hacking-hunks-ancient-California-redwoods-sell-valuable-wood.html

[narciso]

yes, this is going poorly;

http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-liveblog-day-79-mariupol-city-council-building-back-in-separatist-hands/

[Dave (in MA)]

http://www.qando.net/?p=16702#comments The Cat in the Hat(™ CH) is still in love.

[AliceH]

If I reduce my fossil fuels, can I have my (renewable energy!) wood stove back?*

*I don't actually have a wood stove.

[narciso]

Did he write that from Clooney's pool at Lake Como?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Clooney's Como compound has a pool?

[Rick B]

"What would be the tangible benefits of a carbon tax?"

Much lighter wallets and purses.

[Danube on iPad]

Go to Janet's Weasel Zippers link. Tell me whether Harry Reid has simply gone mad.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Wonderful link Dave.

I just called my Senators (both Dems) & asked them to stop Harry Reid attacking American citizens. I asked if Senator Reid could do that to me. "Janet is un-American & causing global climate change!"

I didn't even go into the issue of climate...but just the fact that it seemed wrong for a Senator to attack citizens.

[narciso]

From Parade in 2011:

I lost track of time, but by 2 a.m. or so — when I was hammered and was reasonably certain that others were, too — we had become raucous. Out of nowhere, Clooney jumps out of his chair and starts climbing a fence that overlooks the lake below. From the top, fully clothed, he counted, One… two… and jumped. I heard three just before hit the water. Within seconds, he was challenging our masculinity. Okay, guys, let’s see your stuff. One other guest was next up and jumped. Hell, I thought, I have an early morning plane and I don’t want wet clothes. So… what choice did I have? I stripped down to my skivvies, climbed that darn fence…. And whoa, it seemed like I was 30 feet above the water. One… two… I was in the water by three. It was very dark, a little cold, but terrific. So we kept jumping.

[Extraneus]

Why don't other senators just say "Harry Reid is a disgrace - to the Senate, to the country, and to himself"? Is there some sort of gentleman's rule that prevents them from calling him out?

[Frau Schnauze voll]

Janet, personal destruction got the democrats where they are today. Pres.Preezy again attacked individuals by name and *all* Republicans in general. He should eat his lying words about civility.

[matt]

Cloony has a pool and a pond (Lake Como). The pond's good for you, Carl.

Al Gore is wondering how he can game the carbon neutral tax as we speak.

And today they are calling it climate disruption. Snow's too deep to shovel? Climate disruption, I say!!

[narciso]

Now for those who were at lunch, 'I apologize unreservedly'

[Comanche Voter]

A deal from Tom Friedman? What could possibly go wrong with that? Well a deal from Tom Friedman is like a "deal" from the huckster playing three card monte with walnut shells on a Manhattan street corner.

Only a rube would take it.

[Frau Schnauze voll]

Re: rse's mention of local and global reminds me of Soros and the goal of HIS Open Society. Local people would get to vote on the color of the library. The elites would control the content of the library and the direction of the country/world.

I say it's spinach and I say to hell with it."

[lyle]

can I have my (renewable energy!) wood stove back?*

Nope. You can't have that either, peasant.

[Rick B]

"Tell me whether Harry Reid has simply gone mad."

Nope. "Koch" is just Pavlov's bell or Skinner's button. Progs may not know why they're drooling or pecking and Reid doesn't know when they'll finally stop completely due to lack of meat and corn any more than BOzo knows when the watermelons will stop responding to Climate [insert new trigger] or NYT subscribers will stop responding to dreck like Piketty's discovery of the power of compound interest.

I'm not suggesting the tactic will be successful but Reid really doesn't have much else to work with and the Planarian demographic in the American electorate does not seem to be shrinking very quickly.

[Captain Hate]

Flathead lives in some alternative universe where the JEF actually negotiates with Repubs. Or does any work.,

[pagar]

" On Friday,he will visit a Walmart store in Mountain View"

But wait, I thought Walmart was on the not approved list because they didn't want to pay the $26 per hour wages or something/

[Captain Hate]

The only reason anybody in DC puts up with Reid is that he bottles up popular legislation in the Senate so that it doesn't pass and the JEF has to veto it (and make the donk Sentors commit to politically dangerous alternatives) and he keeps mentioning the Koch brothers to distract from the utter failure of prog policies. None of the donks like the vicious little prick; if the Repubs don't screw up November, he'll be quickly marginalized.

[narciso]

Reid reminds me of the collaborator with the Strigoi, Eldritch Palmer, in Del Toro's vampire trilogy,

[fdcol63]

Monica now says her life sucks.

But isn't that because SHE sucked?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Last thread:

bgates sighting @ Outhouse.

Posted by: Captain Hate | May 07, 2014 at 09:42 AM

Not only that I just saw a Gourds sighting at Althouse.

She links their rendition of O Holy Night - apparently Meade is a fan.

[Marlene]

pagar @ 1: 29...a person could make $26/hr and still not be able to afford a seat at one of the fundraisers in Silicon Valley (32k per person). I'll be curious to see if the SEIU protests in front of the Walmart he's visiting. Would they have the guts?

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

That underwear jumpin' Gergen story is great, narciso. David is thrilled to get to hang out with the cool kids.

[GMax]

The WAPO takes all the wind out of the Democrat fundraising sails. Yes the WAPO tells them that the fat lady is on verse two! Here:

Republicans are strong favorites to retake the Senate majority this fall, according to The Post’s new Election Lab model. According to the model, which was built for The Post by political scientist and Monkey Cage blog author John Sides, Republicans have an 82 percent chance of claiming the six seats they need to move back into the majority. Of the two Republican seats seen as potential pickups for Democrats, neither look promising. Republicans have a 94.37 percent chance of holding onto the open Georgia seat and upwards of a 97 percent chance of keeping the Kentucky seat. On the other hand, there are currently eight Democratic-held seats where the Election Lab gives Republicans a better than 50 percent chance of winning.

[Beasts of England]

Well, heck - who isn't excited about a new form of taxation! Whoop, whoop! What could go wrong?

[James D.]

Why don't other senators just say "Harry Reid is a disgrace - to the Senate, to the country, and to himself"? Is there some sort of gentleman's rule that prevents them from calling him out?

Because Harry Reid is One of Them. And protecting their own - no matter how distasteful some of Reid's colleagues may find it - is job one.

[henry]

Right James D. Besides, they are too busy condemning Cruz.

[Clarice Feldman]

Reid is nuts. So is Pelosi. I never can remember this country in the hands of a more ridiculous political class.

OH we love it in DC when there are new taxes--all that kaching from people rushing for loopholes and exemptions and all the tax revenues pouring in for us to play with.

[MaxB]

I think global warming was a good thing.
I don't know what caused it.
It seems to have stopped.

[GMax]

I believe the Senate has a rule which forbids Senators to speak ill of their fellow Senators from the well of the Senate. Not sure it applies elsewhere, but perhaps it does. Probably your answer, and if reports are accurate more than a few Democrat Senators would gladly wring his neck before the Republicans could even lay hands on him.

[James D.]

It's quiet this afternoon...too quiet.

[Miss Marple]

James D., I have been gone buying flowers and to the grocery store.

Just got caught up!

[Marlene]

Ha! Howie Carr's poll question today..."is Harry Reid of sane mind?"

[Old Lurker]

My Potomac house?

Be nice NK, be nice.

It is true that coming back from our trip to perform (write the checks) all the usual spring time chores on the Potomac house (think $7,500 for mulch alone and extend the endless annual list from that start) just so we can close it in time to spend the summer on Nantucket does make me think that my wife's idea of escaping MD for good makes sense. (Though I will not tell her that. Yet. And when I do, it will be my idea of course.) Plus tax day this year was painful and that makes her even more right I think.

I tie the idea to our trip because just last week I was happily resting in a nice room in The Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, fully connected by their WiFi to all of my devices and hence all of my "affairs", able to look at the security cameras on my properties, and it occurred to me that our room was just fine for sleeping, lounging and bathroom, and if I just had the adjacent room for a study, small kitchen and dining area...why would I need a house in Potomac at all? It would be cheaper; the maids are included; the bartender makes a killer G&T; and the tax rate is to die for...

But I ramble.

:-)

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

OL-- is feeling that tax planning urge :)

Wonderful to have you back. BTW-- where did Friedman's wife get her big bucks?

[Old Lurker]

Why, from Daddy's real estate, of course, NK.

At least I think so.

[GMax]

4 French Economists put the lumber to Piketty. You can read the whole paper through a link at the Corner, but here is the meat of the debunking:

First, the author’s result is based on the rise of only one of the components of capital, namely housing capital,and due to housing prices. In fact, housing prices have risen faster than rent and income in many countries.It is worth noting that “productive” capital, excluding housing, has only risen weakly relative to income over the last few decades. Over the longer run, the “productive” capital/income ratio has not increased at all.

Second, rent, not housing prices, should matter for the dynamics of wealth inequality, because rent represents both the actual income of housing capital for landlords and the dwelling costs saved by “owner-occupiers” (people living in their own houses). Logically, to properly measure capital, the value of housing capital must be corrected by measuring it on actual rental price, and not housing prices.

Third, when we apply this change, we find that the capital/income ratio is actually stable or only mildly higher in the countries analyzed (France, the US, the UK, and Canada) except for Germany where it rose. These conclusions are exactly opposite to those found by Thomas Piketty. However, this does not mean that housing prices do not contribute to other forms of inequality. When housing prices rise, owners of the housing capital hold a higher value that can be transformed into consumption. It is also more difficult for young adults to become homeowners. Housing incomes of owners however do not necessarily increase which casts serious doubt on Piketty’s conclusion of a potential explosive dynamics of inequality based on these trends.

[GMax]

May I be the first to say "WHOOPS" so much for rock star economist( Marxist)

[Jeff Dobbs]

OL - how was your cell service? mrs hit and run was told by Verizon there should be no problems over there . . . but she almost never had service while there.

[Jeff Dobbs]

OL:
Why, from Daddy's real estate, of course, NK.

Kaaaayyyyyrrrrrooooooo!

[GMax]

And about that website. No it still does not function on the backend. A pretty portal nothing more:

During a hearing on Capitol Hill today, insurance companies unanimously said that the Obamacare website is still not fixed.

“One final question for all the panelists: Is the website fixed?,” asks Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) to the insurance company representatives.

Out of the six people sitting on the panel, not one said the website is fixed.

The participants included: Frank Coyne, the Vice President of Operations of Blue cross Blue shield. Mark Pratt, the Senior Vice President of State Affairs from America’s Health Insurance Plans. Paul Wingle, the Executive Director of Individual Business and Public Exchange Operations and Strategy of Aetna. Brian Evanko, President, Individual Segment at Cigna. J. Darren Rodgers, the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Health Care Service Corporation. Finally, Dennis Matheis who is the President of Central Region and Exchange Strategy at Wellpoint, Inc.

Somedays the incompetence exceeds the lying. This seems to be one of those days.

[Miss Marple]

Old Lurker,

Good grief? $7500 for mulch alone? How big is your property? I spend $700 for mulch, delivered in a semi dump truck, and another $500 to get my son's Landscape workers to spread it on a weekend when they are off their regular work. They also do trimming and weeding.

I have 1/3 acre with 8 large flower beds in the back yard, assorted shrubs and trees including specimen trees.

Either you have a BIG property on the Potomac or things are WAY more expensive in Maryland than here!

Move to Indiana! I bet you could live like a king here, plus you could be close to all sorts of amenities and medical centers and activities. And no one BOTHERS you here!

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Alleged pederasy sez "all the ladiez votes iz ourz... no independent female thinking allowed." link below. What do our JOM ladies think of that? http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/reid-affiliated-super-pac-female-gop-candidate-backwards_791097.html

[GMax]

Or Move to Amarillo... No scratch that...

[Old Lurker]

Verizon told us the same thing, Hit, but we never did get it. We used our phones via the WiFi and that worked fine for texting YL so we did not miss it. But I had wasted a bunch of time with Verizon before the trip that I would like to get back.

But whatever they have there works for the locals since I think you are not allowed to walk on the sidewalks unless you are talking on a cell phone, bonus points if you are using two at the same time. That was striking I thought.

[Jeff Dobbs]

George Strait likes Amarillo.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

OL-- any more observations of Hong Kong, I've never been, I'd love to go.

[Old Lurker]

Safe to assume our prices in MD are crazy high, MM, but we do use a bunch of it, sadly.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

."is Harry Reid of sane mind?"

Maybe I'll call my Senators again & ask them that.
Start making all the Dems feel like Reid's insanity is starting to tarnish THEM.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Tarnish them ?-- 1. Reid is being the fool because the Senate Dems want him to be that, and 2. they don't care how they look to the rest of us, they just want their lame base to show up in November.

[Old Lurker]

NK, truthfully, I was prepared to really like it but did not. Too many people; too loud; too many cell phones; too difficult to walk a straight line in the crowds; too cluttered; too much smog; some nice buildings but trashed at street level with the clutter; and pretty thin in the "institutions of great cities" like museums and galleries etc. Obviously a LOT of commerce happening, but this grumpy old guy has, shall we say, enjoyed other world class cities a lot more and for less money.

Maybe when the jet lag is gone I will feel better about it. But at the moment I thought it was not what I had expected and boy it is no fun spending 26 hours to get there and then to get back.

That said, we were there to support YL and to play with the baby and that part was all worth it.

[Stephanie]

Happy birthday, JimmyK!

Happy jobbing, Rich!

I usually use about 40 bags of mulch and get it when HD puts it on sale in the spring. It was 5 bags for $10 a few weeks ago. Mulch in the front and on the top side of the back yard and pine straw every where else - which is why I kept a few really large pine trees in the back. :)

Been planting and mulching all week. Plus the hubs is leveling the area for the new paver patio and rebuilding the steps off the deck. The agreement is he does all the prep work and I lay the pavers. We might be done by July... when I want to start the dry river bed and bridge to go over it. Maybe repurpose the pond liner we took out and redo as a fountain at the bottom of the river bed. Not sure on the pond liner yet. Such a pain in the azz to keep a pond going. Decisions, decisions.

The cushion for the swing is almost done plus I need to spray paint the swing frame, the window treatments for two of the bedrooms are almost done, the comforter just needs to have the seam finished on one side and the window treatments for the dining room are about to begin. Plus painting the dining room at the end of the summer.

Whew!

[DrJ]

Mulch? We use compost, and there's no lack of that here.

[Miss Marple]

Stephanie, let me give you a piece of advice.

I have EIGHT large perennial and rose beds in my back yard. I loved gardening. There were all put in when I was in my 30's and 40's, when I did all the work myself.

I am now 65. I have arthritis, a bad knee, and an iffy hip. I cannot go out and spend 6 hours on my knees weeding, nor can I spend hours digging and dividing, pruning, spraying, and fertilizing.

I just called a landscape designer to do a consulting job to get my beds redesigned and under control. Plants are going to have to be taken out, or moved, or whatever. I just can't do it any more, and it is supremely depressing to look at a garden going to pot and not be able to fix it.

Do not bite off more than you can chew when you are older.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Looks like pattonboggs has cleared the decks to sell itself. they pay $15M to Chevron and withdraws from the Equador fraud litigation. Now Chevron can focus on and nail that Donziger fraud. Are there still debtor prisons? http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-07/patton-boggs-withdraws-from-ecuador-case-to-settle-suit.html

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

MissM-- of the 8 rose bushes we planted last spring to start a bed, 7 survived the winter. I am pleasantly surprised.

[Danube on iPad]

Happy birthday, Jimmyk. Make it a great day.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Ol-- thanks for the report. I have a soft spot for HK; it was a port of call on my father's merchant marine ship route (Niarcos owned.) My father sported a broken nose he got in HK; my godfather (a shipmate) when he got enough Cutty Sark and Ouzo in him would start to tell the story, it involved his ship's crew, some Brit Royal Marines, the HK constabulary, and some 'ladies'. That's all I got before my prudish dad would shut down my godfather.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Do not bite off more than you can chew when you are older.

Okay...that's now my excuse for my simple yard. I purposefully planned it that way. I might be 55 but my yard is set up for when I'm 80. Just thinkin' ahead!

[glasater]

Janet-

You inspired me to send an email to rocket scientist Patty Murray telling her I don't appreciate Harry Reid trashing US citizens on the floor of the Senate and that saying such things makes him look like he needs to be in a mental institution.

[Miss Marple]

NK,

Roses are tougher than people think. Good on having 7 survive.

I have a LOT of roses, hybrid teas, climbers, old roses, English roses, Knockouts.

I have a William Baffin climber that is huge, planted around a pillar (made from a beam from the family farm) topped with the old bell that was used for calling people to dinner.

That rose has survived 25 below with no loss of canes at all. I have to thin it every couple of years because it grows like crazy.

The English roses are on their own roots (thee are the David Austins) so they survived but died back to about 6 inches above the soil line, but they will come back.

My Hybrid teas survived as well, which I am glad since one of them is the coral Barbara Bush, which I have had in that same place for years. Dieback was back to 6 inches, so I am glad we had the snow cover for insulation.

I also have the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. Those also are tough and survived.

There are lots of mail order companies which sell old varieties, which I recommend.

Also have the yellow Texas rose my grandmother brought back to Indiana from the ranch they had for a few years in Texas. It is tough, but only blooms in the spring.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Quelle surprise... Big Gov, Big Biz and BigGovIns conspire to dump employees into ExchangeCare, and have us taxpayers pay for it all... quelle surprise: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/07/hold-onto-your-health-care.html#url=/articles/2014/05/07/hold-onto-your-health-care.html

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Thanks again to all for the birthday wishes. I am now lounging on the beach in W Palm sipping on a beverage. Welcome back, OL.

The funniest thing in that NYT climate change sky-is-falling front page piece today was the claim that "Alaska in particular is hard hit." Ok, they try to support that with vague assertions, but there are no benefits for Alaska getting a bit warmer?

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Excellent, glasater! The person that answered at Sen. Tim Kaine's office sounded sympathetic.
I asked if the Kochs had done something illegal...she didn't know.
I asked if a Senator could do that to me or her...she didn't think so. She thought maybe I could charge them with slander if they did.
I asked her why didn't Kaine, Warner, & Reid all get together (all being Dems) & write a law against whatever was making Reid so mad...they are the guys that write laws. She didn't know why.

[Old Lurker]

Somebody skipped stats class. A headline in a story linked at Drudge: "Women who never sunbathe during the summer are twice as likely to die than those who sunbathe everyday, a major study has shown."

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Collapse of the Blue hell model continues apace. The Ct. Dems are turning on their allies the hospitals and colleges. The teachers and government union thugs want to have their pensions paid, so the Dems (same thing) are telling the nonprofits, pay up sucka!: http://ctmirror.org/house-speaker-make-ct-colleges-and-hospitals-pay-property-taxes/

[pagar]

Happy Birthday Jimmyk. Enjoy the beach.

[Jeff Dobbs]

OL:
"Women who never sunbathe during the summer are twice as likely to die than those who sunbathe everyday, a major study has shown."

My research indicates that women who sunbathe nude are no more likely to die than those who either don't sunbathe or do so using swim suits.

[centralcal]

I can second everything MM said about gardening. Loved it immensely and spent as much free time as possible on it. But, first a knee went, then came the back aches and a few years later the RA (icky arthritis), etc. Now I mainly do minor pruning, deadheading and some modest weeding. Luckily, as I was getting older I moved into a small home with a very small yard and never went at it full bore, or I too would be looking to remove a lot of stuff. Lucky for me my S-I-L does my weekly yard work and periodic heavy pruning of trees, etc.

Gardening was more than a hobby, once, it was a passion. No more. Alas.

[Old Lurker]

My friend sent me an email that claimed "that women who are slightly overweight live longer than men who mention it."

[lyle]

George Strait likes Amarillo

...by mornin'

[Jim Eagle]

Don't have to mulch. Use stones. Too damn hot to grow anything but bougainvilla, ginger, sea grasses and fruit trees. But we do have over 50 palm trees, some palmetto and nice border of oleander trees.

As a result, no deer to worry about but the occassional Armadillo and stray Bobcat.

[lyle]

My friend sent me an email that claimed "that women who are slightly overweight live longer than men who mention it."

LOL, er, OL!

[Marlene]

ccal,we have downsized to the condo and the cabin,but our house in northern Maine had a huge yard.(double lot) The house was an estate sale and the elderly gentleman who owned it was in a nursing home. His wife had passed away and when we bought the house,the backyard was a jungle. The daughter was told by the neighborhood kids that the owner's wife had passed away while tending her garden.(urban myth,ha) After one too many bee stings,we hacked everything to the ground and made a huge lawn in the backyard.It is so much work to maintain a garden and lawn,especially when everything is covered in snow half the year!

[Jim Miller]

Miss Marple - You may enjoy reading a brief essay that George Orwell -- yes, that George Orwell -- wrote about the joy of planting roses and trees.

[GMax]

George Strait lives in San Antonio...

[Miss Marple]

Thank you, Jim Miller.

Several years ago the electric company (REMC) needed to cut down several trees on my fence line. As compensation, they took me to a wholesale nursery and let me pick six trees to plant.

I picked a flowering crab, a spruce, a crabapple, a magnolia, and a flowering pear.

The last I took was a dawn redwood.

Long after I am gone, it will tower over the back yard. I can see it in my mind, even if I depart this mortal coil in the next few years. It makes me happy.

[lyle]

George Strait lives in San Antonio...

So he CAN be in Amarillo by mornin', then.