GOOD NEWS AND BEER.

I'm headed once more to the Northern California Spine Institute and will be off-blog for awhile. But, before I go, I've always known that good news is invigorating and puts one in a happier frame of mind. So, double good news I read, is that beer is good for me. It actually strengthens bones. The barley and hops are a good source of the mineral silicon. (Never heard of it.) The type of silicon in beer is orthosilicic acid, which is an easy way for bones to absorb it. Yay!  Drink more beer. Well, not too much. For a woman, anyway, maybe one a day if I could actually get that much down. Maybe I'll turn into a fatty.

I saw this funny bit of doggerel on-line and couldn't resist putting out for laughs.



The Dr. Seuss mimic is humorous, but I find his gold plated seat belts in his private plane pretty off-putting. Surely there are better uses for wealth than that.

In FDR's day, the president was limited to transportation that cost no more than $750. I wonder how a new president would deal with a limit on his transportation funds?
Ciao.

NOT ALL TAXES ARE BAD.

California is considering a 5% severance tax on oil extraction from California to provide  billions of dollars for education. I can hear the hue and cry, NO MORE TAXES.  Not all taxes are bad. The oil industry pays less than 1% severance taxes to California, but Alaska get's 50%. Wyoming gets 45.4 %, and N.D. a state that is booming right now, gets 5%. Texas get's 66% in three different taxes, value of oil as it comes from the ground, a clean-up tax and a "regulatory" tax.Thirty-four states get oil severance taxes.

I see something wrong with this ballot measure.  California needs to charge 15% because we have heavier environmental safety formulas for gas. We are providing our neighbors with cleaner air at our expense. And, we watch the oil company profits soar into the billions each year as they laugh their way to the bank.  And, we watch Federal subsidies on oil. I call it theft of our tax monies levied to get friendly senators and representatives to keep it going.

Charging a 15% severance rate, could be applied to lower state taxes at the pump by 5%, for our gas.  Put 5% towards strengthening education, and 5% toward transportation.
Whether you use it or not, public transportation benefits everyone. It connects people to jobs, and community services. It reduces pollution and eases congestion. It helps create local jobs and strengthens the economy. Studies have proven that to be true. Our future has to be infrastructure that takes an investment and commitment from our local officials as we move away from gas guzzling cars, especially in cities.  We need it.

Education has gotten so expensive that kids without job prospects, start life with student debt. Core classes are not always available, meaning it takes longer to fulfill requirements..  Elementary education has suffered draconian cuts year in and year out and deserves a boost.  We penalize the very thing that will energize our society and make us a leading state again. Lets put California  back on the map.
Tax the right industries, those that pollute and damage, and reward those that enhance our society. Isn't that a good idea?

THREE GORGES

I thought I’d return to  China 2006 with my guests gone for a week. I’m remembering the wonderful buffet breakfasts on our cruise ship. Everything you can imagine. Cold cuts for German tourists, bangors for the English, sushi for the Japanese, bacon and eggs that American’s prefer, and so on.

Chinese tourists eat congee. Wanning Determan, the Chinese wife of Judge Dean Determan, was born in China. She teaches us about typical Chinese breakfast. The average Chinese household  eats congee which is a gruel similar to cream of wheat only made from several grains,  absent wheat or oats or rice. It was kind of bland and sticky and I’m the only one who will try it. The blandness is offset by the condiments of hot spicy pickles, or salty vinegar pickles,  made from an assortment of Chinese vegetables,  and then adding a small piece of dried fish. It wasn’t exactly tasty to my Western palate, but obviously nourishing; the pickles were good.

Also on the trip was Tedd and Audrey Determan. They were a fun foursome and have a fascinating family history. When Poland was overtaken by Nazi Germany and Communist Russia in 1939, word spread quickly through the land. When the boys grandmother got the news, she quickly took Tedd, who was only two years old, (Dean was not home at the moment,) and she broke both of his little fingers with a hammer and then reported to the Priest what she had done to prove that he was a true heir to the Polish throne. “I had heard the story and barely remembered the incident and didn’t give it much thought,  except when my fingers bother me,” explained Tedd, ” until I visited my old village in Poland. A priest knelt and kissed my hands when he realized he was in the presence of the true prince. But, our family had no desire, nor inclination to make any such claims. Besides, Dean is older than me and is the first heir, he just didn’t get the painful “proof” that I did.”
After breakfast, we learned basic Tai Chi and watched a demonstration of acupuncture, and one procedure where  a suction cup is used,  and scrapings of the skin on the affected part is done. The suction cup treatment looked kind of painful and it left a huge red welt on the volunteer’s  back, but he insisted  it felt good. The discussion about Chinese medicine and healing reminded me that in town one day, a healer merely touched Michele Maurer and  told her she had neck problems, which Michele declared was true. The healer spread some oil on her neck and Michele said it felt great and practically everyone on the tour bought some of the oil. (Not me.)

As we cruise the main Yangtze Gorge, we come across a  partially flooded village that has a sign reading 156, the height of the backed up water just reaching  156 meters.

Our guide tells us we will off-load to a sampan for a view of a tributary gorge, one of three that will be flooded by the dam.

This  sampan is much more to our liking than the big ship just lumbering along.
A Chinese man perches in a rudimentary rock dwelling with his camera hoping the boat will stop and allow him to take our picture which he will develop and try to sell to us down the line.  Our boat does not stop.

This group has a portable radio and they sing for us, hoping we will toss them a few coins. Our boat does not stop, but everyone here scrambles to make a living. The Chinese government has not exactly found occupations for all of those displaced by the flooding gorges, we are told. Promises, promises.

The boatman wears rain gear made of a mat of rushes of some type.

Our tour members enjoyed trying on the rain gear and attempting to paddle  the boat up the gorge from a standing position.
Tomorrow, the controversial dam.

NOT RECOMMENDED

I got these pictures from an email. Now, tell me, would you drive your family over this OMIGOD bridge?

I think Jim and I should haul one of these behind the motor home in case we have a fight. I can send him to the "doghouse" for the night.

I'm glad Jim is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. Hey, when you are in a fix, just fix it yourself.

Do you think the Highway Patrol would stop this load as unsafe? How did that guy get on top of that load of papers anyway?

When I look at these, I wonder what happens if the cow decides to move. It doesn't look like it's tied down, nor comfortable.
 
 If the sheep bolts....? There are two of them. That guy has to be strong.

This is what used to happen here before we had OSHA. (Occupational safety laws.)

Gotta get that refrigerator home somehow.

Can't we get one more person on?  Of course, I'm poking fun, but, its truly innovative how these people from poorer countries manage to make the most of their resources. Not safe, nor recommended, but admirable even so. Especially the loads the Chinese manage on bikes. Incredible.

Load hauling at its most economical.

THE $5,000 BURGER

Yesterday, we took a day off. We did the laundry, grocery shopping-getting ready to move to Death Valley in a couple days where we probably won't have a signal much of the time. I'm really amazed at how many things there are to do in this city, many of them free. I could easily stay here for 6 months and try and see it all.
This week, for instance, is a party at the Piranha called Ties And Suspenders. Show off your cocktail dress, guys can come in un-tucked button downs, and dance the night away.  Smoke free.

Another nearby venue is Black Book Night at the Vanity. The guy who can talk the most girls into coming to the club can win $5,000. $20 for girls, $40 for men. Hmmm. A different form of gambling. There are over 100 shows like these, many free and constantly changing. Plus sports events and special one time events and lectures for those more serious minded.

Vegas has a destination beer bar, Aces and Ales. They regularly carry 35 selections of craft beers. They just had their winter beer festival with such offerings as Stones Dogfish, Bourbon Barrel IRS, Smoked Chipotle Porter, Double Bastard Strong Ale, with a line-up of the best brewers from Deschutes and Sierra Nevada to name two of my favorites. We had our own beer tasting that night at a birthday, beer tasting party for my son who brews his own beer. In fact, he received the biggest birthday card I've ever seen.

And the food in Vegas. Flashing billboards beckon everywhere for cheap eats, great steaks, shrimp, and  lobster combos. Burgers and frys;  magnificent buffets and deserts. All that stuff but, Jim's on a diet so we are resisting the call.
On the other hand, Vegas has those over indulgent places that kind of fascinate, but make you say, Eeew.  A burger for $5,000 for instance. Fleur, at Mandalay Bay, offers the FluerBurger50000-Kobe beef, foie gras and black truffles. Oh, and a bottle of Petrus which makes up a goodly part of the sum. And, Serendipity's $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae. But, still, a step down from the $6,000 "combo meal" offered at Carl's Jr. at the Palms in 2006. Which was a six-dollar burger served with a bottle of Bordeaux. Such excess, is decadent and makes you a little sick when you  think what that money can do for good causes.

The shows here, the big production numbers such as Cher, Garth Brooks and some lesser knowns, number 69 for this month.

For those who love Magicians and Hypnotists such as Criss Angel and David Copperfield, there are  29 different acts this month.

Galleries number 27. Most are permanent installations with Photography, Arts, Fine Art, Life and Times, Historic Film, Funk, Graffiti. Something for everyone.

And, there are 7 museums. Whatta place.  For us, to stay at A Thousand Trails in a motor home, (our membership costs us $500 a year) we can spend two weeks here on our membership with no fees, take our time and see the things we want to. To spend this much time in a cheapie hotel would be a minimum of $600. Such a deal. We will return in February for another free two weeks.

They have great bus transportation here. Sleek, new buses. We see city trucks using biofuels. Everybody can enjoy this great place economically.