Well…feel kind of crappy today but it was the last night of cocktails so tomorrow should be better….didn’t do much except football yesterday and the winter classic which Pittsburgh lost…that made me happy. But, the whole day was wipeout for the big ten and I kind of expected it so I wasn’t surprised. Gonna keep this one short for now….have to start taking car of the kitties this morning and I’m going to piggyback that with going out to get the paper….it looks really cold outside and it snowed last night…I kind of envy T being in the nice, warm, Bahamas…
Okay…I’m back for a minute…did get to T’s and all three cats came out to see me which is quite unusual…and I do feel a little better after two cups of coffee, but still not great…not a lot to do today..no SF since K is in Chicago but, and I hate to admit this, I am looking forward to watching the Lions play today…see…I told you earlier that they were sucking me back in again….to have them have a chance to win after the last few years is just a weird feeling…oh, there is a Wings game later, too and I may go out to watch part of it…I do have another topic that I want to share today…part of one of my continuing threads..but, I’m not going to telegraph it…so come on back later….
Well…starting with the Wings losing in Ot last night…and the routs of Michigan and State, it was a bad couple of days for Michigan sports….I guess the Big Ten isn’t as good as it looked during the regular season…but we might get one good thing out of it…that Rich Rod will probably be gone from Michigan and we can start over again…after all, he’s had three years to put together some kind of a defense and just hasn’t done it….I can say I won’t miss him…..
I think the Wings have been going quite good lately so I guess I shouldn’t bitch…especially with the four guys that are now out with injuries….and it is cool to see some of the youngsters get a chance to play…I think that Mursak kid is going to be fun to watch…he’s as fast as Helm and I’d like to see the two of them just run away from the defensemen. To still be in first in the West with the bad stretch we’ve had is a good thing..last year, we were in 9th or something at this point in the season so I do feel good about making the playoffs….and everyone will be back for them so I’ll match us up against anyone…starting to get excited already…
Maybe another one later but I don’t think so….have “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” cued up on Netfliux instant and the Rose Bowl going…
Well….just a short one for right now…waiting for the coffee to get done and waiting for Manchester United to get moving…a pretty low key night last night…just hung out here and had a couple of cocktails while watching hockey….didn’t even make it to midnight since I was really bored and wanted to just crash out…did sleep okay but need the coffee for some reason…so, I’m going to go get a cup and read the papers…more later…
Okay…I’m back and quite surprised…I know I read it somewhere that the times and post were going subscription today but no notice on the sites so I am a little happy about that….T is leaving for the Bahamas today and I will miss talking to her daily but this vacation will be great for her…and I get to take care of her house and kitties while she is gone…man, it’s only 9 am and I have everything done…well…didn’t really have anything to do but football today…and it will be kind of a pain because Michigan and State are on at the same time….not going to cook anything special today since I now have to start trying to maintain my weight better…not a resolution because I don’t do those but I have to pay attention…nothing new, really…might make a burger on the grill since I haven’t had my quota of beef…who knows? I’ll be back later…maybe some sports?
Doesn’t it feel like Sunday? Oh, one last thing…it’s 1/1/11….cool…
Well…this might be the last one for the day or it might not be…there were some things I thought of out on the bike but I forgot them already….yep, you heard it right…out on the bike…in shorts…on December 31st..yay! I haven’t felt that good in a while…getting back in the saddle, working the shifters, and throwing the bike around with a huge grin on my face was just right…it was a nice way to put a coda on the end of the year. I can’t believe how fast my lungs have lost their fitness…no problem with the legs but it was hard to breath at times…I know, I’m 57 but that shouldn’t matter…and it doesn’t in my head. I think this is the muddiest I’ve been coming back…I’m going to have to take the bike over the the car wash to get it clean next week since the cold weather is coming back starting tomorrow and I don’t think I’ll get it out again until March or so.
So, I may be coming back later for more…I’ll try not to be maudlin and do the same crap as every commentator…but, you never know, I might….go, have fun, and Happy New Year!
Well..just had this thought come to me while I was reading some of the online papers this morning but I’m not going to finish it now…just a little teaser to get you to come back…yep, not fair I know, but the idea is not fully formed yet. Here’s the question or premise…Doesn’t the right’s and tea party’s new found reverence for an unchanging constitution look like a fundamentalist religion to anyone else?
This one is not forming up as I hoped but I going to take a swing at it anyway…as it is quite well know,n most of the tea partiers; and most of the people that identify themselves as religious conservatives have beliefs that interpret the bible as literally the word of god…with no interpretation necessary or wanted. Things like the age of the earth being being around 6,00 years, that evolution is not possible because it contradicts the story of Adam and Eve…and many other stories are taken as fact by this group. I see the same type of blind faith being constructed in their interpretation of the constitution as being absolute and only taken in the context of the time it was written; not in the context of the present and a guideline for the society..purposely written vaguely to allow for growth. The question I have is “do they like to not have to think?” The true believers think all of the answers are in the bible and they never change or need to change since they are the word of god. No thinking necessary to apply the bible…just do what it says and everything will be okay. Now, the tea partiers are doing the same about the constitution…genuflecting to the document in every action they take with an unhealthy propensity to ignore the nuance of life and the varying interpretations that come with it…and to force their interpretation of in on the rest of us…just like they do about religion. I think this is a troubling development for our society…zealots of any kind lead to repression of those who don’t think like them…geez….
Well..it’s 5:50 and I’m up early again but he sleep was okay so I’ll take it…had a nice day yesterday with lunch with T…lots of good conversation and laughs…made me smile a lot. The rest of the day was kind of a bore but that is the measure of my days lately…it is already 48 degrees but there is a thunderstorm heading straight for west Michigan from the southeast so I may have to wait for the aft to ride my bike…I am determined to get out on it today for one last ride for the year and if I go I’ll be in shorts…need to give the girls at the coffee shop something to talk about next week…I do have things to do today….not much but some things…groceries this morning, then over to G’s to pick up my slow cooker, then over to the west side for supplies….going to open the sunroof if it’s not raining….I may have one of those year-end summary things for later this aft but everyone does that so I may just do the opposite….but what’s the opposite of a summary?…way too much thinking for 6 am …more later…
Oh, I did make it to 60 with this one…yay? One last thing..it’s a sad day for me since it is the last day that I will be able to get the Times and Post without paying an exorbitant fee for the priviledge….I know, as Heinlein used to say “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”……
Well…have been thinking about some things for a while but I don’t think any of them warrant a post of their own…or maybe they do, I don’t know…we’ll see as I go along. One of the things I’ve bitched about over the past few months is that the repubs, with their actions on taxes, financial regulation, and healthcare appear to be putting their own political interests ahead of those of you and me and the rest of the country. I have to admit that I’ve fallen into the same trap talking about the new repub administration here in Michigan…wanting it to fail to highlight the fact that the repubs have no new ideas…that they’ve never seen a tax cut they didn’t like and no matter that almost all economists think that this nonsense has helped put the nation in the financial bind it’s in.
What I am going to do is to wait and give governor Snyder and his team a chance…I don’t care who it is that gets our great state moving again; but it needs to get moving again….there needs to be good jobs for everyone who wants one…there needs to be good roads and great cities where the quality of life increases daily and people can stop worrying….
But, what I will continue to do is point out daily when the scale tips too far toward business and tax cuts at the expense of workers trying to raise families and live a good life….I hope it doesn’t have to happen much…
Well…another night of crappy sleep and it is starting to get really old…just like me I guess…but that goes unsaid…or is supposed to…I am a little excited this morning since it is a lunch day with T and it will give me something to do other than coffee and working out…I did get three out yesterday and I only need three more to get to 60 for the month..it has just been too slow of a news cycle for the last couple of weeks and I haven’t felt that creative…not much to do today…I may get a haircut this morning after coffee but I’m not sure…it was finally yesterday that I finished up the rib roast from last sat and I am looking forward to other food..will probably not do that for another year….I hope it does get into the 40′s today, if it does, I’m going to take the bike out to take a look and see if the trails are melted off yet….for sure tomorrow since it’s supposed to be almost 50….you bored yet? Yep, I am so I’ll stop…more later…
Well…I just have to comment on the column done by one of my favorite idiots that write for the Detroit News, Manny lopez…in his column today, he takes Governor Granholm to task for a puff piece that was done to “revise history” as Manny puts it. He goes on and on about how big of a failure the Granholm administration was and that it is the height of hubris for her to try to put a positive spin on what I agree has been a terrible 8 years here. But, I think he is serious when he finds fault with this type thing when he was one of the biggest cheerleaders of the failed Bush presidency, and then completely agrees with the revising of history that the repubs have made an art form…as evidenced by the new Bush memoir that again plays fast and loose with the facts. Now, what is it Manny? Are you a faith based person or do you belong to those of us that believe that facts are facts; and no amount of spin changes them?
This egregious changing of facts is now reaching a fever pitch with the repubs, led by commentators like Manny and abetted by politicians like Haley Barbour who, last week, said that the civil rights struggle in his home state of Mississippi was “not that bad” and that local governments of the time prevented discrimination….anyone with even a little knowledge knows that that is just not true. it took the federal government to break down the institutional racism that was the south of the time. Nice try Haley…
But, these are just miniscule attempts by small politicians compared to the wholesale attempts to re-write the reasons for the civil war that are taking place in Virginia and other southern states to closely match the new repub talking point of “states rights” and remove the continuation of slavery as the real reason for the war. So, Manny…if you are going to bitch about revising history…take your own party to task first…they are the experts at it after all. Geez…
Well…if you’ve read any of these, you’ve see the well documented hypocrisy that runs through the repubs in the federal government on almost any issue, freedom, equality, taxes…you name it and they have been hypocrites…I think it’s in their DNA and that bad batch of DNA and it’s resultant hypocrisy has now made it’s way into our state of Michigan. Following politics here over the last 8 years, you have undoubtedly seen the consistent repub opposition to raising taxes of any kind..even when the budget deficit hit almost 2 billion dollars..even to mention that it would be fiscally responsible to do so always came with a loud cry from the repubs that socialism was taking over the state and comrade Granholm was leading the charge.
But now, when the repub governor elect mentions that there would have to be tax increases along with spending cuts to balance the budget, the repubs are praising him as a pragmatic leader who is making the hard choices to get the state moving again. If these choices are so good now, where were the repubs when the very same things were proposed last year and the year before? If there is one thing I can’t stand it’s politicians who put their party ahead of the citizens of our state…and stand there with a smile as the hypocrisy drips from them…but I think most of them are too dumb to see it…or just don’t care…