Follow-ups from yesterday

More on Suzanne Celensu

OK, the real news on Suzanne is not that she was wearing vines in a beauty pageant -- it was that she's a third generation beauty queen. You can read the story; her mom and her grandmother were both beauty pageant winners, but in the picture, I'd say her aunt (in light blue) is the real gem.

Family photo

Regarding Suzanne in the group picture and in the solo below; that outfit with the too-short blouse, flat tummy, small waist, and tight jeans gets me every time.

Appealing outfit

------

More on Zito:

She says, in part:

"The simple thing – a straight-out carbon tax – would be the most honest way to deal with it. It has as much chance of flying as a lead balloon, especially since Republicans have settled on an ideology that says we have no responsibility to pay for anything and Democrats have one that says a seemingly infinite supply of the very rich is waiting to be soaked."

I disagree with what she says about ideology: I see it more that the Republicans have settled on an ideology that says if you can pay for it, fine; if you can't, you shouldn't want something you can't pay for. Democrats, on the other hand, are trying to pay for too much for too many well-meaning programs, but without a robust industrial base to generate profits for taxes, we don't have the money to pay for it, and she's right -- there isn't an infinite supply of rich people with inheritances to get the money from.

Meet in the middle? We all have a stake in the success of future generations. Everyone should have to pay something toward reducing America's carbon energy dependence. I just need to figure out how much everyone should pay. It does seem true that the more wealthy you are, the more carbon you need to maintain a lifestyle,
so a carbon tax shouldn't be regressive; but the downside may be that a higher percentage of energy in a lower-rung (income wise) family goes for basic needs that aren't optional. So how to balance this out... ? Still working on that.

Bonus! Follow-up on Heidi Klum, who's about as big as it's possible to get in this pregnancy process. I think it's OK to have a little fun with Heidi, who likes to have fun, and who is so beyond-reasonable beautiful that it's nice she can look closer to normal when she's pregnant (however, that black dress at the Emmys was NOT close to normal).