Well…have been doing a total veg day but it’s coming up on decision time whether or not to go out today…have not heard from K yet and I’ll have to take off by 4:30 to get downtown by 5…no it’s not that far but I have no fuel in the wreck…I have decided that if I can’t park within a couple of blocks, I’m just going to turn around and come home….just can’t justify paying 7 bucks to park for an hour…yeah, I know, this one is not what you were expecting but there just have been no topics that have me outraged…or even mildly upset and I just didn’t want to fake it….I will have a topic for tomorrow since I do have a few things that I am thinking about….
All posts by James DeVol
April 2nd
Well….a kind of fun night last night but just vegged and had a couple of cocktails…slept okay but I am getting frustrated that there haven’t been any dreams that I can remember lately…..didn’t get up until almost 7…..so, I feel okay today and it was nice to not have to run the car to get the ice off before going out to get the papers. Got some salmon for only 4 bucks a pound this morning so I’ll have to look for recipes so I can have some of that tomorrow. Not much to do today…probably drinks with K this aft and maybe out to Peppino’s downtown to hang out for a friends birthday and watch part of the final four. That’s about it…the coffee just stopped sputtering so I’m going to go read the papers and take a break…more later…
Maybe not….
Well….I have been thinking about my idea of proposing solutions to Michigan’s problems and it’s much harder than just bitching…so I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to get something that makes sense….one thing I would like to see is a progressive income tax here…one thing that the repubs don’t want you to know is the fact that even with tax rates that were twice what they are now, we had huge periods of growth and job creation…along with balanced budgets. During that time, the interstate road system was built, good schools were everywhere, and there were possibilities that we could be better. Where are we now? Tax rates are lower than they have been in 50 years and there is still no job creation…so when the repubs say they want more of the same, my jaw drops with the stupidity of that stance.
Okay…I promised, so I’ll change tack here….I heard a news show on MSNBC today and I just about lost my lunch…these people were bitching that ceo’s are being hurt by the recession, too…with the admonition that we shouldn’t pick on them since they were taking a hit along with the rest of us….yep, I couldn’t believe it either….these poor guys are only making 800 times what their workers make…down from 900 times….I’m going to cry a tear for them and their hard times…geez…
One last thing….there may be a budding revolt going on in the repub ranks here in Michigan over the draconian cuts in school funding while giving all that money to business in the form of tax cuts….yay…
April 1st
Well…another night, more boredom and it is starting to become numbing….but I’ll live through it I guess. I did get a bike ride in yesterday and no geese attacks so that was a plus…the swans seem to be nesting in the pond by the e-way since they were there again yesterday….and the redtailed hawk that was along the trail is back again…that made me smile a little when it took off and crossed in front of me. I’ve decided that getting back into riding slowly and building up my fitness is no fun so it’s back to going as hard as I can as far as I can….and that means I hurt like crazy this morning but it also feels good in a weird sort of way. Not much to do today…have to go grocery shopping this morning so I’ll have some food to cook but that is about it….I do need to try to find some different things to do…..and I think I may try to propose solutions to Michigan’s problems rather than just bitch about the repubs….that may be refreshing for both you and me…..and it might help use other parts of the brain that are getting really rusty…more later….
Why do the repubs love taking away rights?
Well….it has struck me, thinking over the last couple of weeks, that the only thing the repubs are good at is taking away peoples rights or preventing classes they don’t like in gaining the rights that the rest of us enjoy. I know I’ve talked about this before, but this same old silliness has taken over the repubs like never before….let’s take away the rights of people to bargain, let’s take away the rights of people to be let alone (i.e. the Patriot Act), and let’s prevent gays from having the rights they deserve. My larger question here is what does this nonsense have to do with creating jobs and helping repair the middle class that has been destroyed over the past 30 years? The quick answer is nothing…but that’s what the repubs do, talk, promise, and lie, then give more to the rich. Their latest trick to silence their critics? They are now using the Freedom of Information Act to go on fishing expeditions to try to find innocuous e-mails that can be twisted in their latest smear campaign…and are they asking for those of the right-leaners…of course not…I’ve told you before these folks are just a bunch of thugs and this is just another example that they will stop at nothing to destroy anyone that does not agree with them.
Okay…are you getting tired of me bitching about this? Yeah, I am too…but you can see how difficult this is to keep fresh….I am going to keep trying, and trying, and trying….
March 31st
Well….yeah, I know, I didn’t come back to finish up the last one….just didn’t have anything come to me that would add to it, and I went for a ride on the bike instead. It was pretty cold but I did see lots of wildlife….a red tailed hawk and a pair of huge swans that were in the retention pond by the e-way. Other than the ride…didn’t do much yesterday but kind of veg and cook. Just been really worn out lately…hope today will be better but who knows? Not much to do today….can’t even get motivated to get ready to go out for coffee…but I’m going to try in a few minutes so I’ll end here…more later…
Okay, I’m back for a minute after coffee and working out and I feel a lot better…but that’s only physically, I’m still having trouble getting the cobwebs out of my head and that is making it tough to come up with meaningful topics…oh, well….the car is still running great so I think I can now stop thinking about parking it on hills and the dreaded silence when I turn the key…that is such a sinking feeling when that happens….did I share with you the latest adventure with geese on the bike? I don’t remember and I don’t feel like going back through these posts to see…so I’ll share again. When I was taking the bike to pick up the car after it was fixed, I cut through the church parking lot behind my place and another damn goose attacked me…I’m not kidding…this thing was almost 30 feet away and just came at me like a heat seeking missile….whacked me on the head and shoulder and almost knocked me off the bike….almost think I should carry a weapon of some sort….just more weirdness to add to the rest of it in my life…
Here’s the real problem…
Well….if you were here yesterday, you read my post on the fact that G.E. didn’t pay any income taxes on the over 5 billion dollars of profit they made in the US, or on the 15.1 billion dollars they made worldwide last year. But, that’s not the real problem here…well, it is but what happened after that news was announced shows the isidiousness of corporate control of almost everything in our country. Did you see any of this news on NBC? Nope, not a peep, and guess why…NBC is owned by G.E. Their excuse was that it was just not newsworthy enough to put on the nightly news; while we had their newsreader going on about the new words that were being added to the Oxford dictionary? This type of behavior really points to the fact that corporations are out of control here in the US and that needs to be changed. I’ll be back to add to this one later but lunch is ready and I don’t want to overcook the chicken…
March 30th
Well…a pretty nice day yesterday but I don’t remember who won at pool…I think it was Tom but I’m not sure…the car started for a whole day and I think it may be fixed so that takes a load off…okay, I feel pretty crappy right now…it just hit me so it must be a calorie deficit from yesterday…only had a burger for lunch and that was it….not more than 800 cals or so for the day and that’s not enough. So, I’m making a whole chicken today and am going to make up for yesterday by eating a ton today…going to be out on the bike, too, so I should feel better in the aft. Not much to do today….going to take it kind of easy until the Wings game later and just get some resumes out…..I’m sure I’ll have topics for later….
Forget the b.s on corporate taxation….
Well…to hear the repubs talk, the reason there are no jobs being created here in the US is the “fact” that corporate taxes are too high and this taxation is driving companies overseas. Really? they are still saying this after the news that came out about G.E. yesterday? In case you didn’t hear, one of our largest corporations, General Electric, paid no taxes last year…yep, you’ve got it, the company that is being held up as the shining example of success here figured out a way to not pay any taxes…but more than that they figured out how to steal 3.2 billion dollars of your and my money in the form of a tax refund…and that figures to a negative 60% tax rate. Where is your overtaxation now repubs? The second fact that these tax cutters don’t want you to know is that over 60% of American corporations paid little or no taxes last year. When was the last time you or I paid little or no taxes? These guys should be ashamed of taking advantage of the infrastructure that you and I pay for to make obscene profits and then twisting the knife by taking food out of the mouths of our poor. How many people could be fed with the 3.2 billion dollars that G.E. didn’t deserve? Geez….
I just love this…
Well…this is going to be a shorty since it is just a short thought on my part…it came from a quote from our gov Rick Snyder that I read in the papers a couple of days ago, when asked if he is concerned that his approval ratings and the polling on his agenda is moving steadily downward, this moron (or republican…today the terms are pretty much interchangeable) said that the only thing that counted was the result of the election that put he and his repub co-conspirators into office….he just doesn’t care that 66 percent of the people of Michigan do not like or want the direction he has taken with raising taxes on individuals and giving more tax breaks to business, along with the undemocratic laws that have been passed by his legislature that will allow him to remove elected officials and replace them with his cronies. I think the people are finally waking up to the shenanigans of this new crop of repubs and their anti middle class agenda once it was revealed for what it is…stealing more from the working class to give to the richest…governor, you are supposed to govern for all of the people of Michigan…not just your country club buddies…geez…