Republicans don't listen to those elitist experts either!!

Then: It’s the Economy, Stupid!
Now: It’s the Economists Who Are Stupid.*

Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, now endorsing Obama) has some good points to make on the subject of HRC’s push for the “gas tax holiday.” Economists have been advising her that it’s a bad idea and will make things even worse in the long run. Her response, "I'm not going to put my lot in with economists,” is disturbing. He writes:

"In case you’ve missed it, we now have a president who doesn’t care what most economists think. George W. Bush doesn’t even care what scientists think. He rejects all experts who disagree with his politics. This has led to some extraordinarily stupid policies.

I’m not saying HRC is George Bush. And I'm not suggesting economists have all the answers. But when economists tell a president or a presidential candidate that his or her idea is dumb – and when all respectable economists around America agree that it’s a dumb idea – it’s probably wise for the president or presidential candidate to listen."

It’s also disturbing that both she and Bill have spoken out against gas tax elimination in the past. She is on record as supporting the gas tax back in 2000 when she was running for Senate, and publicly stated:

“[…] one of my fundamental disagreements during this campaign with my opponent was when he called for the repeal of the gas tax. Now, the gas tax is one of those few taxes that New York actually gets more money from Washington than we send. And we are totally reliant on it to do things like finishing I-86 in the Southern Tier, or the fast-ferry harbor works up in Rochester, as well as the work we need to do here in the city. So you can count on me to support infrastructure, […]”

Here’s Bill Clinton at a press conference in 2000 explaining that a gas tax holiday would not pass the savings on to the consumer:

Q. Mr. President, in light of the fact that OPEC has decided to increase production, do you see it as a mistake for the Senate to proceed with a bill that would suspend the gas tax? […]

A. […] the problem I have with it, apart from what it might do to the Highway Trust Fund and the spending obligations that have already been incurred by the acts of Congress, the budgets, is that I'm not sure that the savings would be passed along to the consumers in addition to that.[…]

So... voted for the war... would nuke Iran... recently turned pro-gun... thinks McCain would be a better choice for President than Obama... has been caught on tape completely fabricating stories about her "experience"... wants a gas tax break instead of infrastructure support and jobs, pro-free trade (in spite of lies claiming the opposite)... doing her best to take down the Democratic party...

{groan}

Tags: Clinton - Hillary - Obama - Tax

*(derived from something I saw in a comment out there in blogworld…)

These week in the venues - Favorites playing

Just catching up here with a quick post on our shows this week. Thursday was The South Austin Jug Band at Shady Grove. It was a free show, and we managed to get some decent seats this time (hard to do at Shady these days). I took this video that features Brian Beken (fiddle), Matt Mefford (bass) and Dennis Ludiker (mandolin). The one little spot in there where it sounds muffled is where a butt eclipses the microphone, but it's not a total eclipse and doesn't last long. I don't know the name of this song. Dennis, on the far end there, just won the Texas State Fiddle Championship. James Hyland (kind of the band leader but not in this video clip) announced it by saying that when you win something in Texas, you get a belt buckle. Brian is also an outstanding player on fiddle, mando and guitar too. I am amazed at how many great players there are around here. The Jug Band is still evolving with new vibes mixed with the old.

Dennis will be playing at Mandolin Mayhem at Threadgill's next Sunday with Sarah Jarosz and Kym Warner of The Greencards (who are playing there on Friday) and I'm sure there will be guests too, so we're looking forward to that.

Saturday night it was Del Castillo at Antone's, (pictured are guitarist brothers Rick and Mark del Castillo) and I don't think I've ever seen the band having such fun on stage. It was a fantastic show, and I'm so glad we went, even with the 5 hours of standing on concrete that is included in an Antone's show (the music takes the pain away). All the regular fans/friends were there at stage-side so it was nice to see everybody. Same thing for Shady Grove. We see friends everywhere we go.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Guamania

Guam has their Democratic caucus today. They've got 8 pledged delegates with a half-vote each (so 8 people, 4 votes) and 5 super-delegates. What's up with that? More supers than regulars? And they get to vote in a primary but not in the general election? That gives me a headache.

Tags:  Guam

Furbaby Friday - Cat rodeo

Henry and Jax are moving over this week for a guest star on the catblog. No, I didn't snag this on Cute Overload. This unbelievable cutester was one of the stars of last Saturday's Eeyore's Birthday Party.
Here she is with her owner (but you have to ask who owns who... right?), and when she wasn't on his shoulders or looking cute in a tree, she would walk on a leash -- surrounded by dogs of all sizes.

I think she takes the prize for the cutest furbaby at the party.

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Grace and kittens - Cats - Catblogging

The Tank of Gas and Cup of Coffee Show

A local news station in N. Carolina got wonderfully snarky in documenting Hillary's gas station photo op, and provided video:

But Clinton faced her toughest challenge yet at a gas station in Indiana, where she squared off against a coffee machine. The cup of joe proved elusive, and the senator from New York threw in the towel.

After admitting she hadn't used a gas pump in years, Clinton asked the store manager to help her pour the cup of coffee she wanted.

Hope she's more skillful with a gun than with that coffee machine!!

But seriously, this gas station photo op deserves the derision. [AP Read about it here] She rides into the gas station in a large pickup truck, followed by a Secret Service motorcade (including SIX Suburbans and two squad cars) and a green SUV containing the media. The behemoth truck gets $63 in gas, and the cameras roll. This is the person claiming Obama is all show and no substance? Give me a break. This is a case of a Democrat luring Democratic followers down the Republican ideological path.

Clinton is aligning herself with McCain's views on the gas tax holiday reduction. Her new ad says she wants to use big oil's windfall profits to suspend gas taxes. That's no solution. It's not even a bandage. Obama is not in favor of it, and if you are wondering how on earth anyone could oppose it, watch this video. He's making a lot of sense. He suggests that without the added tax, demand for gas could go up and actually end up raising the price. That's why it's no solution.

He has also produced a campaign video with a similar (but shorter) message,  read the content below.

I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.

I'm here to tell you the truth. We could suspend the gas tax for 6 months, but that’s not going to bring down gas prices long-term. You’re gonna save about 25, 30 dollars…or half a tank of gas. That’s typical of how Washington works. There’s a problem, everybody’s upset about gas prices – let’s find some short-term, quick-fix, that we can say we did something even though, even though we’re not really doing anything.

We cannot deliver on a better energy policy unless we change how business is done in Washington We've got to to the oil companies and look at their price-gouging. We’ve got to start using less oil and that means raising fuel efficiency standards on cars and developing alternative fuels.

That’s the real honest answer to how we’re going to solve this problem. That’s what you need from a president, someone who’s going to tell you the truth.

Tags: Clinton - Hillary - Obama - Tax

Criscoteque

 

I've got a stack of Grandma's old cookbooks and cooking pamphlets here... she collected them but didn't really use them much. Runs in the family, I guess.

This one is put out by Proctor & Gambles' CRISCO, and all the recipes in it contain Crisco. It's from 1959, and instead of being full of hideous food photos with bad color, it's all done in very trendy, modern illustrations. Stereotypes galore. Here's the cover, where the cook, which is, of course, the wife and mother, serves up chicken, cake and Crisco to her suited-up husband, son, daughter, dog, and the cat is missing because it's off misbehaving somewhere.

See... cats are portrayed as thieves and predators in this booklet. Here's the family cat stealing a cookie. Nobody is very concerned that the cat might be ingesting chocolate.

Here is an evil cat ready to pounce this poor defenseless child and that delicious Crisco doughnut. Get in mah belly!!!

Your cat wants dogs. Here, the cat is ready to pounce these hot dogs, which have been battered and fried in Crisco.

This is a picture of "Groom's Cake" and it states it "will serve bachelor friends in style. Also an excellent standard fruitcake." In 1959, all bachelor parties served fruitcakes. I think they made them very large so that strippers could emerge from the center, all covered in waxed fruit.

And finally, here it is. A date with the family (see the video at the bottom). The wife has taken off the apron and put on her pearl necklace. I'm not sure what's for dinner there, some kind of mystery meat fritters arranged like Stonehenge and served with a bowl of Cheese Sauce (also made with Crisco, because cheese needs extra fats added for flavor). None of these families need to worry about dealing with yucky vegetables, because none are ever served. They are only cooked down and made into meat sauce.

Here is the hilarious 10 minute MST3K short, "A Date With Your Family." Enjoy!!

Wanna watch?

I've been noticing a real upsurge in one particular topic in my Spam folder, and that is watches. Now, I realize that most people want to lose weight, get rich and have 3 inches added to their penis, but what's with the watches? Do people really want those or are they harder to get rid of these days? Aren't most people just using their phones as a timepiece? The new pocketwatch.

For the love of Willie

Willie Nelson is turning 75 on the 30th! There's a lot of Willie on the local media now, since he's a local guy. He's certainly one of the most popular people on the planet. Author Joe Nick Patoski has just released a book called "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life," and he tells a few stories on this public radio piece. Willie has a few to tell himself. Listen to the streaming audio on this page. Good stuff.

If you love Willie and are interested in more good streams, local radio KGSR is throwing an on-air party on Wednesday night. More information at this link (and click here for Listen Live links). Program starts at 6pm, live music featuring some of the best local music starts at 8pm Central.

Featured live: Willie's daughter Paula Nelson, Patty Griffin, Bob Schneider, Alejandro Escovedo, Ray Benson, Ruthie Foster, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Fastball, Jimmy LaFave, The South Austin Jug Band, Future Clouds & Radar, Ian McLagan, The Resentments, The Band Of Heathens, Charlie Sexton, Bobby Whitlock & Coco Carmel, Carolyn Wonderland, Joe Ely, Kelly Willis and many more.

I work for his daughter Paula, which has a coolness factor in itself, of course. She's a sweet and pretty woman with a sultry honky-tonk voice and a great band. That doesn't mean I know Willie though. I haven't met him (can't count getting an autograph from the stage... that's not a meeting), would like to someday. I saw him play for the first time way back in the early 60s when he wore the standard suit and had a flat top haircut. Things sure have changed since then, a lot of it because of Willie.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music - Willie Nelson

Damn you all to hell

Part 2 of our Saturday included attending Master Pancake's live riffing of Planet of the Apes. Pretty good stuff. This is a comedy group who used to call themselves Mister Sinus Theater, then got sued by Mystery Science Theater to stop using that very similar name, especially since they were doing something very similar. it went on for years (don't know who won) but Mister Sinus broke up and reformed as Master Pancake. I have no idea where they got that name.

Sinus (now Pancake) has a different approach to their choice of movies to roast. They tend to pick stuff that lots of people are already familiar with, and sometimes they riff movies I actually think are pretty good -- or were good when they were released and are suffering merely from being dated (and aren't we all from time to time?), rather than the REALLY BAD ones that were MSTed. I do miss that show.

Eeyore has a happy day

What a great Saturday! There was rain the night before, but beautiful (although a little bit muggy) weather for Eeyore's Birthday Party. We love this event. It's very non-corporate and homegrown. The beer and food is all local (good beer!!). There is some live music but the main focus of it is "bring your own". Wear a costume, or something really festive. Make it weird. Make it creative. Bring a drum, noisemaker, of just something to bang on. It can be a cowbell, tambourine, pots & pans, sticks, trash can, even a propane tank. The drum circle (and the party) goes from 11AM to sundown, and you can stay in the drum circle for hours without realizing it. There is something in our human DNA that makes community drumming and/or dancing seem like a good thing to do.

Really cute dogs, children, and even a cat, all in costumes, a really enthusiastic photographer going all out for the best shots, a few women in painted-on shirts, a photo of us (the Blueberrys), and lots of "get yer hippie-pagan-heathen-bacchanalian-faery-nymph on", but still remaining a great kid's event. A few samples below:

I also took some video of the drum circle:
...and here's a link to more of a Fairy Princess version of that. Link: Eeyore's Birthday Party website

Double Bible babble

What do these two have in common? They both frequently misquote a Bible passage.

Jules Winnfield, a character in Pulp Fiction played by Samuel L. Jackson, before delivering his doom upon your ass, recites a form of the following passage, which says is from Ezekiel 25:17:

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Actually, Ezekiel 25:17 resembles part of the last sentence or two of that bit, but the rest is fabrication. Sounds convincing, though.

Nancy Pelosi seems to be fond of reciting this passage, which she says is in the Bible (in the Old Testament):

To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children's children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature.

Trouble is, nobody so far has found that in the Bible. Not in any version.

Tags: bible - Pelosi - Pulp Fiction

Arbor Day

Have you hugged a tree today?

Arbor Day was established in 1872, and is all about the planting and preserving of trees. The date for Arbor Day varies by state, and you can look up your state at the Arbor Day links below. Texans love their trees. They are precious. SHADE is a precious commodity in this hot, sunny place. True enough, plenty of trees are lost for development, but in some cases if there is a really large and beloved tree, they will attempt to move it rather than cut it down. The pics below represent a common site. Your tree is more important than your fence, so people regularly make adjustments like this for their trees.

ArborDay.org
Arbor-Day.net

Furbaby Friday - Jax's apartment

"A Natural Obsession" - cats and boxes.

You can't see me... you see nothing... there is nobody in here.

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at House Panthers on Sunday - Cats - Catblogging