Well…. a little bit more fun last night with taking it much easier…I did win at pool again but I know I can’t keep shooting well and Tom won’t keep giving me games forever….have not been sleeping well so I have to try something here in the near future…can’t keep going on every day being exhausted…but, I’ll figure something out…always do….at least the weather is better and I can almost see over the snow piles and it should get much better here in the next couple of days..it is treacherous out there trying to walk with the snow melt freezing when I go…have bunches of new muscles that hurt with the slipping and sliding…still want to get the bike out tomorrow and at least get a little muddy…will probably wear shorts, too, but it is a pain that the trails are not melting at all and I’ll have to use the streets….not much to do today….I’m not going to bore you with describing the same thing you’ve heard for the last year….so, if there is something new, I’ll pass that on…more later….
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Oh really, Chuck?
Well…had to get this one out while I’m still seething abut it…I hope you’ve read about and have the same outrage that I have about comments made by senator Chuck Grassley yesterday about the bonuses that GM is paying out to it’s hourly and salaried workers…they are going to pay out about 400 million dollars since the company is profitable again after the trip through bankruptcy. Ole Chuck is bitching about the fact that they have only paid back about half of what they owe to the US gov’t and feels that there should be no bonuses paid until all of the loans are paid back. Oh, really Chuck? Where the hell were you when the big banks that were bailed out by the TARP program were paying out 20 times more than that in bonuses before the TARP loans were paid back? Not a fricking peep from you, Chuck, because those bonuses went to the rich and connected and just shows your underlying hatred of the middle class and the workers of this country.
Why isn’t this inconvenient fact being reported in the media? I guess it’s now our job to hold these hypocrites accountable….geez…
One last inconvenient fact….the three top guys in the banking industry got more than 400 million dollars in bonuses….that’s three guys, folks…and old Chuck is pissed because 76 thousand workers are going to share 400 million…but, as you know, he was one of the ones on the right who wanted the auto companies to just fail and go away because they have unionized workers…no matter that they are American workers in the middle class..or is it because they are middle class…
February 15th
Well…up late last night for no reason other than “Top Gear” was new and I wanted to see it….but that didn’t mean I slept in…no matter what time I crash at night it’s always up at the same time…between 6 and 6:12….no dreams either and that means the sleep was quite crappy. Oh, well…didn’t do a lot yesterday..no G so it was a night off for me…still feel kind of crappy and that is with being a good boy…have to take a while to figure that one out. Got everything done I wanted to yesterday but that only took until noon so the boredom came back quite strongly in the aft….need to get started on the next novel just to think I’m accomplishing something and I may get tot hat today…it’s not well fleshed out yet but I do have the kernel of an idea that might be a good one…won’t know until I get into it….not much to do today….might have lunch with T but haven’t heard from her so maybe not….going to take it easy out in Ada today if it happens…just not feeling well enough to do more….more later…
I’ve had lunch….
Well…I’ve had lunch and have been watching Man U play but it’s halftime and I thought I’d get a few more ideas down. Have been looking for the Chuck Krauthammer article from a couple of days ago but have had no luck….so I can’t comment on that idiot…I really don’t know what else to talk about……oh, there is one thing, why aren’t companies that are sitting on all that cash looking for ways to expand into new markets? If I remember my college econ….the way to maximize profit is to get into new markets first or to create new markets that no one else has recognized yet. It doesn’t take much work to just sit on your hands until all of the excess capacity in your business is taken up by the recovery, but it does take smarts, vision, and guts to go out and lead the market by making a bet on what you think is going to be the next big thing. That means building new plants, hiring new talent, and opening the checkbook to grow your business. I think it’s one of the things that is currently missing in our economy; no one is willing to take any risk since the ceo’s stand to lose if their ideas aren’t successful. But that’s the problem…the ceo’s get exorbitantly rewarded for caution so why would they do anything different? There is plenty of talent just sitting on the sidelines waiting for that vision but it won’t be there forever….geez…
This one’s a mish mash…
Well…I’ve got a bunch of things running around in my head today and they are stating to itch so I thought I’d get a few down here in what I call a mish mash of ideas and thoughts. First, I am really surprised at the industry of revising history that has arisen around ole GW….the latest idea that is being floated is that Mubarek leaving in Egypt can be attributed to GW’s policy of freedom and democracy for the Arab world. I am stunned by the gall of these folks, what’s next, are they going to take credit for the snow melting here in Michigan? For the record, the Egyptian uprising was not, and I’ll repeat, was not a result of anything that GW or his cronies did…I think it was set back by their inept and simplistic foreign policy and can only be the result of the Egyptian people saying enough and having the social media tools that allowed them to move faster than the Egyptian government could. No cigar for GW….
Next…you should be appalled at the focus of the cuts in government that are coming from the repub house…as always, these are going after the poorest and least powerful with these cuts…where is there proposed cut to the subsidies for the oil industry that total almost 20 billion dollars a year? What about the subsidies for the factory farms out there and the one for ethanol? They cry and cry about letting the market control this stuff but when it comes to doing whats right, money talks and you and I get screwed. People need to wise up to these lies…and I don’t mind cutting wasteful spending, but let’s not cut early childhood education and subsidies for college students while the rich keep getting theirs….they are setting us up for long term failure as a nation where only the rich will be able to afford the education we need to compete….okay, that was only two topics…don’t think that qualifies as a mish mash…I will have a couple more later….have to have lunch first…
February 14th
Well…a pretty much total veg day yesterday after the newspapers…just couldn’t get motivated to do anything…I did get out for a while since it was so warm and that was nice…it looks like the winter thaw is coming this week and I am going to get out on the bike Thursday since it is going to be around 50….just need the melt to happen before that so I can get on the trails…not anywhere near enough room to ride on the roads with the big snow piles out there. Need to wash the car this week, too so I can see out of the windows again…got reminded by T this morning that it is Valentines’s day today and I don’t know how I feel about it…it would be nice to have someone to go out to a nice dinner with…and the rest of it but it’s been so long since I’ve dated that I may have forgotten how it’s done. Oh, well….not much to do today…have to go out for supplies and the normal stuff of course….and the daily grind of resumes, resumes, resumes….but I am getting behind in my posts so I’ll try to do three today…including this one of course…more later…
February 13th
Well….had a fun day yesterday…hung out with some of the old group at Logan’s and laughed a lot then came home to watch the race….fell asleep during it but that was okay..it looks like racing with the new car changes that nascar has done over the winter is going to be even crappier than last year…oh, well…there is always the Wings. Not much to do today…no SF since K is going to riverdance tonight but there is a Wings game this aft so I think it’s going to be a lay low day even though I don’t feel that bad….more later…I have to have my coffee and read the paper…I will be back later for another one…I hope…
Okay..waiting for the Wings to get to the last perlod and I still feel like crap this time of the day…it’s warm enough to go out on the bike if the trails were clear today an I am a little antsy to get out again…and I may take it out this week on the streets if it keeps getting warmer. No political stuff today I don’t think….finally watched the entire documentary “Supersize Me” about the guy who only ate McDonald’s food for an entire month and the effects it had on his body….not pretty….okay, worn out again and I’m heading to the couch to watch the rest of the game….still have that damn bug and I will be really thankful when it is finally over…I’ll look at the paper and see if there is anything for a topic…
Enjoy the insurance I paid for….
Well….was just sitting here thinking after I paid my taxes this week and a thought came to me…and it is one that should anger everyone like me that is unemployed and struggling to keep their life together. Since employers get tax credits for supplying health insurance to their employees, you and I are buying health insurance with our tax dollars for those who are still employed, even though we can’t afford to buy our own…now, how sick is that system? According to a study that I read in the Post, if we stopped this subsidy right now and applied the cost to universal coverage, we could cover everyone in the entire US….that’s all I have to say right now…just wanted to share that little bit of the bizzaro world we live in…geez…
Februaruy 12th
Well…running late this morning for no reason other than I have been watching the documentary “the Cove” on my roku about the dolphin slaughter in Japan that won the oscar last year….not quite done yet but I needed to make coffee and get my newspapers. Had a fun day yesterday…did meet up with K for HH and she was the one who wanted me to watch the cove so we could talk about it the next time we meet up. The Wings looked good last night and finally played like they can and having a couple of cocktails watching them was fun…feel okay this morning so I must not have gone overboard…meeting up with C this aft to have a couple and it is nice to have some plans for a change. So, on that note, I’m going to get a cup of coffee and watch the rest of the movie before I tackle the papers…more later….oh, one last thing….it’s already almost 30 degrees already…yay!
I need to talk a little about Egypt…
Well…how can you not be proud of the human beings who rose up and took control of their own destiny in Egypt? I have been watching this story unfold and have been humbled by the dignity of the protesters that said enough; enough of being treated like children who were not mature enough to set their own course and run their own country. I am a little disappointed by the lag in our government’s response to the events there, but I also understand that diplomacy is usually deliberate and works in small increments.
But, things have changed….events move much faster these days and we need to adjust our foreign policy to be able to keep up…and I am tired of hedging our bets when people are trying to become free…it is one thing that we need to support anywhere that the flower starts to burst through the ground….let’s stop basing our actions on fear and and the belief that we are the only ones that know what freedom means…..
To the people of Egypt…Well Done!