Well…watched a great program on the History Channel over the weekend about Thomas Jefferson and one of the things that struck me was his thoughts that one of the great dangers to the republic in his times ( and I feel current times) was inequality in the society. He was concerned about the concentration of political and economic power in the few, relating it to the structure in England where wealth and power were expectations of the elites; and not earned by any effort of that class.
I see the same thing happening in our society right now, where the watchword of the rich and powerful is “I’ve got mine, the hell with everyone else” and is distilled in the fight to keep tax cuts for the rich all the while telling the rest of the country they have to tighten their belts, that they have to sacrifice because the rich deserve the rest of us borrowing $700 billion dollars to give to them. I marvel at the sense of entitlement that has developed with these folks exemplified by the Koch brothers who are bankrolling the Tea Party, and who revolt at paying their fair share of taxes but have no problem spending hundreds of millions of dollars to extend their privilege while trying to destroy what is left of the social safety net for the rest of us. I’m tired of hearing millionaires whining that they are not rich, that the expenses of their lifestyles make it impossible for them to pay one more dime in taxes, that they would have to give up one of the summer houses and send their children on one less European vacation, and they would have to keep the Mercedes for an extra year. I see this new royalty and their sense of entitlement as a repugnant distortion of the American dream that is much more dangerous than any terrorist threat could be..geez…
Well…this is just a short one that I had to comment on, from the news this morning coming out of the republican party in Montana…their party platform, in direct conflict with their lies that they are for personal freedom and against government interference, proposes that homosexuality and homosexual acts be made illegal again, not only in Montana but across the US. This is all a part of their hidden agenda to impose Christian Sharia law here in the US…well…maybe that is a little bit of hyperbole but if you think they are for individual freedom…you have to realize it is only individual freedom that they agree with, and they will sit as the arbiters of what that freedom will look like. I, for one, don’t believe that the majority of the country wants to return to the bad old days when a large part of our population have their lives criminalized and controlled as second-class citizens….and if you listen to these republicans, they want to extend this restriction of rights to all those who don’t agree with them. Geez….
Well…it’s my daughter’s birthday today so I’ll have to remember to text her at some point this morning…but also have to remember that it is an hour earlier in Chicago so I think I’ll wait a while…geez…why do the teams I follow have to give me a damn heart attack every time I watch them? Michigan State went down to the last play in overtime (yeah, I know, if they win it’s always on the last play in overtime) but it was kind of neat to see a trick play win it…I like to see creativity from these coaches and taking some risks.
Not much to do today…are you getting tired of me saying that? I’ll try to use some new phrases and see how that works out…I could say that I have lots to do compared to nothing…or I could just lie and say I have the busiest day in my life…do you even care? Sometimes I don’t even care….might have a short Sunday Funday out to Vinnie’s to watch part of the Lions game but why watch when you can predict what is going to happen…the Eagles will take the first series and move the length of the field for a touchdown…then, the Lions will go three and out or throw an interception that will be returned for a touchdown…making it at least 14-0 in the first quarter. Then, it goes downhill from there….
I’m still irritated about having two flats on the bike in two days…and it is a pain to have it sitting here with no back tire when I wanted to take a ride today..oh, well…
Well…got on the bike today and the damn back tire was flat again…but that’s not what I want to talk about. It was an okay Michigan win this aft but with the ease that UMass moved the ball, I still have huge concerns about Michigan’s defense when they get into the Big Ten schedule. I don’t know if they can just ride the offense and expect them to match the opponents score for score and then get just those few more points. I think my hair went brown and then back to grey watching the last couple of minutes; just like ND last week. At least they got some more of the offense going this week so it didn’t have to be the Denard show all the time. I guess I’ll still have to hold my breath when they play Bowling Green next week. This just isn’t the type of Michigan team that I am used to….
Yep…I know, I’m late this morning…the damn DSL has been off and on all morning since it is raining here and I am starting to get really frustrated with the service…I think I’ll check on getting cable internet this week since the DSL is normally so slow I can’t watch instant movies on netflix anymore either. But, that’s for another time I guess. No plans for the weekend so far but G may be available later and want to hang out so that could be something…and, we have Michigan football at noon so I’ll have to get some things done here pretty quickly so I can watch uninterrupted. Going to try a pork loin in the slow cooker today but I’m trying to do it with just what is currently in the place and kind of winging it on the spices. I know I’m going to coat it with some Jamaican jerk spices that I got the last time in Chicago and probably use some chicken stock, lime juice, and garlic…going to keep it simple and kind of fresh tasting..I’ll let you know later how it came out…well, not until after 6 since it takes about 8 hours to cook.
Not much else going on this weekend…looks like no bike ride today since there is rain all the way back to Iowa on the radar…but I think I’ll kind of miss it since the liver was rested last night and the coffee from this morning has me amped up and ready to go…maybe later…
GO BLUE!!
Oh, I am looking forward the the State and ND game which will give me something to do later…
Well…It’s been a kind of weird day with one occurence that I feel I had to share…had a flat tire on the bike today that was kind of exhilarating…it was on the fastest downhill on my route and damn near flipped me into the weeds when it went. I’m glad I wear my running shoes to ride the bike…it was a long 4 1/2 mile walk back but taking it slow allowed me to just look around and enjoy the trail and the day. The flat did one more thing..It reminded me that I do like living where I do…even in this small apartment. The bike shop is less than a block away and it took all of 5 minutes to get the tire fixed including travel time there.
It’s becoming a nice little community out here with the movie theater and the new bar that is opening in a couple of weeks…and even the clientele at the coffee shop is taking on a more eclectic flavor that reminds me of the ones I’ve been in in Chicago…well…that may be stretching it a little but there is more activity happening every day and I kind of like it…
Well…if you’ve read any of these of the past few months..you’ve seen that I have proposed a new political party that is based on reasonableness; that I feel that one of the problems in our political life is the lack of reason and civil discourse in what passes for political discussion. If you’ve seen “The Daily Show” over the past week or so, Jon Stewart has taken up the banner of reasonableness going so far as to schedule a rally on the national mall for the 30th of October to bring together the reasonable people that are left in this country…however few they are. Now, I don’t mind that there are others that feel the need to restore reasonableness to America, but dammit..I want credit for my ideas!
I wonder if I should sue? Not really…I just find it funny that I have been ahead of the curve twice now and having my ideas stolen by famous people is kind of flattering. But I’m putting you guys on notice, that means you, Olbermann, that I’m not doing this for free….oh, I guess I am…damn…
Well…after the victories of the tea party candidates on Tuesday, it’s official, the Republican party is now the party of the know nothings with no place left for the moderates that are necessary for the country’s political life to function. I have never seen a slate of less qualified people than then ones the tea party is proffering as the “saviors” of the country. I blame John McCain for unleashing this plague on America with his elevation of the chief idiot Sarah Palin; who would have been laughed off the stage when I started to follow politics or would have been the mainstay of the John Birch society…the far-right loonies whose policies look like they have been resurrected in the guise of the new populism on the right.
Don’t believe the pundits that have proposed the false equivalency that the left has made the same type of lurch toward extremism…do you see anyone on the left carrying signs that advocate the overthrow of the government? It’s that increasingly crazy right turn that makes the moderate policies of the Obama Administration look like they fall way to the left of the spectrum…but these policies have many aspects of repub ideas from just a few years ago and are centrist in nature.
We used to want our politicians to be smarter than us but with the rise of the tea party, ideology has trumped intelligence as the litmus test for inclusion…geez…
Well…out for a little while last night with K and C and had a lot of fun…had a little argument about the scientific method and the conflict between science and faith (yeah, we do talk about more than hockey) and I guess I went off a little…but I’ve been so good lately about politics and religion that I think I had one coming. I am getting back to resting the liver starting today and it will probably last until Monday, or at that’s the hope. Not a lot to do today…need to get back on the bike and work out, then clean a little…the kitchen needs some work that I have been putting off so that will be a goal…more later…
Well…yeah, I know, I’m late…have just had unexpected things come up all morning and now at 1:30 I’m finally able to sit down for a minute…so this isn’t the topic for the afternoon, since my head is really empty right now…going to go back through the papers later and try to get some ideas but I don’t know if that is going to work either. I’m trying….