Well…it was good to see the Blackhawks win the cup last night but I think the parade is going to screw up my going to the free blues fest in Millennium Park since the route goes right by it….maybe it will be fun to see it but probably not. I’m sure we can find something else to do until the parade is over. Getting ready to go out for coffee…more later…
All posts by James DeVol
Go Blackhawks….
Well…that last one had a full days worth of outrage, don’t you think? So I’ll turn to a little sports to lighten the mood somewhat. Just wanted to say that I’m glad the NHL has tonight’s game on NBC so more people can watch…including me. I’m still going to root for the Blackhawks to win…and part of that is that I want Marion Hossa to get his name on the cup…it would just be too much to get to the finals in three successive years, with three different teams and to lose in them all. So, go ‘Hawks….
I was right about Obama’s speech…
Well….it only took two days for the righties to start attacking Obama for his speech in K’zoo Monday. I don’t want to gloat (well…yes I do) but I called that Monday while the speech was going on. Okay, I’ll be back after lunch to finish this…yep, just a teaser…you go to lunch, too, and there will something waiting for you if you’re not too motivated on hump day. More later…
Okay…I’m back….and I’m going call this idiot out from the Detroit News…Manny Lopez, in his column in the News Tuesday, made a huge point of the fact that the Kalamazoo Promise scholarships are funded by private donors and that Obama didn’t kiss their butts enough in his speech. His premise was that there is no need for any government involvement in higher education since “see, private funding works in K’zoo” but what he fails to admit or realize is the fact that it has been the gutting of government programs that help the middle and lower class afford college by the Repubs that made private funding necessary. Yeah, I agree it would be great if some of his repub buddies, for example the trader at Goldman that made a BILLION dollars in compensation, would give some back.
But, there is an underlying flaw in that logic that we all should be aware of, and that is that if it is private money, there can be strings attached to it that could advance the repubs agenda. What if a student that accepted the scholarship would be required to attend a specified and well-recognized conservative school that would do the same thing the righties are so scared of on the left; that is “indoctinate” them in the ideas that would perpetuate another class of leaders that won’t give a damn about the middle class.
Doesn’t anyone see that private funding would be just another instance where the lower and middle class will then have to go to the rich with their hands out and beg for a college education?
I’m sure they will say that that kind of stuff doesn’t happen in the private sector, that the market will decide and support the “right” ideas…well…all I have to say about their blind allegiance to the market and to the goodwill of the rich is to look back at Enron, BP, Goldman, AIG…and the list goes on and on.
We should not bet the future of the education of our children on the fleeting goodwill of people who are so insulated from the struggles of normal folk…
Manny…this is not about Obama’s agenda or your feared socialist takeover of the US..this night was about celebrating the fact that these kids had done something special, so special that the President of the United States saw the need to recognize that fact, and for you to politicize what is a wonderful part of America is the kind of cynicism and division we do not need right now…geez…
June 9th
Well…taking it easy today since I’m getting ready to travel tomorrow and don’t want to be hungover going to Chicago. I know, it’s not like I’m going to Europe or anything and the way I drive it only takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there from GR…but I’m trying to cut back on the booze for a while to avoid all those empty calories. More later….
I’m astounded…
I have to comment on the latest attack on Obama from the righties…their latest “HUH” moment came a few days ago when the President was touring the gulf coast to get a first-hand picture of the damage from the oil spill. Do you know what the latest criticism is?…wait for it……that he was wearing “fancy clothes” while he was being filmed by the many news organizations that were there. “Fancy clothes?”…what is he supposed to wear? Torn sweats and a Bubba Gump Shrimp t-shirt? You have got to be kidding me….why is there anyone still paying attention to Fox News? Geez….
A little sports…
Well…it was a little encouraging to see England struggle in a World Cup prelude soccer match with some South African all-stars and only score 3 goals. I had hoped to see a little weakness that would possibly give us a chance Saturday and it did occur. I guess the coach was so disgusted he didn’t even go into the locker room at the half to talk to them. Now, I’m not usually one to celebrate others’ failures, but I have to grasp any straw possible that the US may not be as embarrassed as I anticipate. Remember, this is soccer that has a different set of rules for us fans than other sports….much more rabid than we are all used to…well, if you exclude college football.
On hockey, GO Blackhawks!!! (I know, I’m a Wings fan but this is a midwest team that hasn’t won the cup since ’61).I had to explain to one of the youngsters during Sunday Funday how I can root for the Hawks…it goes like this: The Hawks are in our conference for one, second, I have to root against any east coast team especially when it has Ville Leino who dogged it in Detroit and got himself traded…now he’s a superstar in Philly? I know, I shouldn’t hold that against him since he wasn’t getting playing time in Detroit. but, as Babcock says…you earn playing time by working your butt off….and Ville just didn’t have any fire. Maybe more later….
June 8th
Well…had an almost normal night last night, since it was Monday, out with G for a few beers and then back here to watch the Obama’s speech from K-zoo…the wireless was down but got that running this morning so I can get back online. Not a lot to say right now but I will give a heads up that I’m going to touch on how aggrieved religious folks seem these days….I don’t understand why it is so important for them that other ideas be stifled…why do they feel so threatened?
That might be the topic today but who knows? Haven’t read the papers yet and there may be something else that will arouse my ire or nothing…you’ll just have to come back to see..you know the regular schedule..work out, bike, then write…more later…
I’m going to predict….
Well…I have to predict the reaction of the righties to Obama’s speech tonight in K’zoo….he is indoctrinating our children into socialism, big government and subservience to the UN…I’ll bet a dollar on that..any takers?
Okay, here’s some outrage…
This is just a place holder for now until I get back from coffee…but I will touch on the fact that the Bushies have admitted torture and no one is prosecuting them for it. This one really pisses me off….more later…but not until I get the workout and a bike ride in…probably about 1 Eastern time….so, come on back…I know your work is boring at times (as I am) and I’ll bet you don’t have a window to stare out of…
Okay…looks like I’m having lunch with T again so the entry won’t be until 3 or so….come on back…
Back from a nice Lunch with T which tempers my outrage somewhat…but I still have enough of it from the happenings here in Gr last week. As you probably know, ole GW was here to speak to some organization or other and he reiterated his comments from many other occasions that he did. in fact, order the waterboarding of terror suspects and he glibly said that if he had the power, he would do it again to keep us safe. Sitting in the armchair on stage, with the smarmy little grin on his face, he admitted that he would commit a felony again, and again, and again. Doesn’t anyone see anything wrong with that? When they are locking up people for possession of marijuana for years, you have the one person who is supposed to uphold the Constitution saying he would repeatedly break the law, and admitting he had, being able to roam the country free and not being held accountable. I fault the Obama administration for making the political calculation that prosecuting the criminals would be unpopular; but that is not what the justice system is about. It is about the ideal of equal protection under the law and that there is no one that is above the law. But the Bushies never really cared about the law except when it was used to increase their power.
Doesn’t anyone remember that we hung Japanese interrogators after World War Two for doing exactly what Bush and his ilk approved….no wonder there is no respect for the US in the world anymore…geez…
June 7th
well..there was Sunday Funday yesterday out to Logan’s with K, V, and C,….had fun but no winnings at Keno. It was nice to get out after being home here for 5 days…man, I have to start finding things to do. It is weird that one of my sons is going through the same thing right now. I am getting excited about going to Chicago thurs and it looks like the weather is going to be good for Thurs and Fri but storms on Sat, but that’s okay since I’ve decided to come back Sat after the game. The funny thing is that when I talked to my daughter yesterday, she had already figured out that I couldn’t stay Sat night….but I look at it as giving them some time to have to themselves after having me there for two nights…and there are things I need to take care of here that I can only let go for a couple of days. And, you know how it is, I sleep really badly here…being in a strange bed just aggravates that problem. When I used to travel for work, I never really adjusted to the new sounds and had to use earplugs to sleep at all.
Doesn’t look like there will be much to do this week until I leave but I do have to check out the wreck to make sure it will make it…yeah, it’s really old and I may be able to get it to 300K miles before the body falls off.
I promise I’ll have some topical stuff later after I read the newspapers this morning…after all, the outrage is still bubbling under the skin and I need to get some of it out…not all, since I find that it powers me at times…more later