Well…this is going to be a short one…have fallen off the cliff again and I am having trouble just writing this little bit…the car broke again yesterday and I am so broke that I am going to have to beg off the friends Christmas dinner with G since I can’t afford the 50 bucks or so the food would cost….it feels like my life is a black hole that is slowly consuming itself…so, I won’t make the promise of coming back later…
Monthly Archives: December 2011
December 10th
Well…another night of boredom but I think it was okay…I survived it, after all, and I’m back to do this for a while…it was a pretty good day yesterday…made turkey soup from the carcass of the t-day turkey and it came out a little strange…the orange juice that I used to brine it really came out in the soup so it has a kind of citrus taste that I didn’t expect…but it is still good and I have 3 containers in the freezer. Looks like another day of no riding and I am not looking forward to it…oh, well…not much to do today…might have a couple with K later but I haven’t heard from her so it may be another day of staying in…saves cash so I guess I shouldn’t complain…okay, going to go watch W.C. Fields in “The Bank Dick” and veg….more later…
More Republican shenanigans here in Michigan…
Well…I really shouldn’t be surprised at the behavior of the repubs here in Michigan but then they do something that just whacks me in the side of the head and makes me realize that the pit where they get their shenanigans has no bottom. Let’s back up a little for some context…as soon as the repubs gained control of Michigan, they passed one of the most undemocratic laws ever seen here…the so-called “emergency manager” law that would take the governing of some cities and townships that are in fiscal distress out of the hands of the elected officials and hand it to an appointed “czar” that could then fire anyone they want, abrogate union contracts, and run the city as they see fit, not as the people of that region want. Again, more of the hypocrisy that oozes from every pore of the repubs across the country, where they cry about the left trying to kill democracy and then try to nullify elections by the phony cry of voter fraud and this type of law. When the outraged citizens of Michigan decided that they didn’t vote for the type of nonsense included in this law, they did what they always do, getting a petition drive started to put the measure on the ballot in 2012. What was the repubs response to this perfectly proper use of citizens power? When it began to look like the signatures would be easily collected, the repubs again tried to game the system and silence the voice of the people by rescinding the law and replacing it with another so the petitions would be invalid. This is the type of nonsense you get from these folks…they don’t give a damn what the people of Michigan want, just what their ideology driven masters want…the total destruction of unions and the middle class….geez….
December 9th
Well….another night of the normal stuff but the Wings won so that made it a little better….I am running late today and just looked outside to see that there is snow on the car which just depresses the heck out of me…I know it’s December in Michigan but it doesn’t make it any easier…oh, well…looks like no bike ride today but that may be okay…the wind yesterday was just brutal and I am sore everywhere….not much to do today….and I really mean it this time…I will go out for coffee but that’s about it…and I will be back here for a couple since I don’t have anything else to do….more later…
Nolan, Nolan, Nolan….
Well…if you had any doubt that the attacks from the right on the middle class and poor are a coordinated message, let’s look at the latest nonsense from ole Nolan Finley in today’s Detroit News…yeah, I know, like shooting fish in a barrel but hey, I need and easy one once in a while and ole Nolan has obliged today. His screed in today’s paper center on this contention that people on unemployment don’t work hard enough looking for a job so they should be forced to “volunteer” their time to do various jobs that are now being done by unionized labor…can you see a theme here? Just reference ole Newt’s comments that we should eliminate unionized janitor’s jobs and have poor kids do them. So, Nolan, it’s not stressful enough to be unemployed in this market, now you want to take time away from the job searches that people need to perform to get new jobs and lock them into the declining spiral of minimum wage “volunteer” jobs until they lose their houses, cars and and hope for retirement? I just hope you lose your job at some point, you hack, and then we’ll find a volunteer job for you cleaning sewers since you seem quite familiar with them….geez….
Where are the jobs governor Snyder? Where is the jobs plan republicans?…still not one jobs bill in over a year of your control of the House….
December 8th
Well…another night and no cocktails for 5 in a row…not having all of those calories is a good thing and I feel quite good so far toiay….it was another bore of a night last night with no Wings but today will be different so I have something to look forward to….no dreams to report either so this one is going to be really boring for you, too. I did get a ride in yesterday which put me over 2700 miles for the year and there even may be more coming later in the week or weekend…..and I guess I am appreciating every extra day that I get…and I did feel so much better after the ride…oh, well…not much to do today…that’s not really true…I have to do the grocery run, make a nice lunch of roast pork, and then out for HH with K and V…it will be nice to get out of here and talk to some humans for a change…and there is a Wings game tonight so it will be quite a full day for a change….I will have more later that will be better but those damn politicians aren’t helping….
Newt’s “ideas”….
Well…this one is going to be a place holder until I get my workout in and then decide whether or not to ride the bike…the topic is going to be Newt’s “ideas” and the premise that all ideas are good ones…quantity does not equal quality…
Okay, this one formed in my head quickly and then dissipated just as quickly…so I may have to change topics later today…or I may just add to this one…one thing I did want to talk about was the whole idea of getting rid of jobs that adults need to feed their families (think unionized janitors) and have those jobs given to poor kids to “help them learn how to work”…and one of the things I see wrong with this crazy proposal is the fact that it has been republican policies that have turned the entry level jobs that kids used to do to get acclimated to the workforce into dead end jobs for adults while their cronies in business have shipped the good jobs overseas. So, now he proposes to take another, supposedly stable set of jobs and make them so they won’t pay enough to live on, turning them into fast food-like jobs? Newt, take your crazy ideas an go back to your lobbying and sucking money out of the economy…and I want everyone to remember this: that Newt paid the largest fine in the history of congress to settle ethics violations and that is why he “retired” from the House…just ahead of expulsion. Geez…
December 7th
Well…another night, another Wings loss and that depresses me some…but it is a long season and they will come back out of this slump….but the rest of the night was a bore as always and I was watching the clock just waiting to go to bed…but the problem with that is that you get up the next morning and it starts all over again. Sounds like a Pink Floyd lyric….but, it is another day and I will have to make the most of it…I did get some cleaning done yesterday and that will continue today, too….there are spiders to be removed and food to be cooked so that is something to look forward to. It is supposed to be 35 today so I may be able to get out for a ride, too, but that’s what they said about yesterday and it never got over 32….not much to do today….going to just do the normal routine and then come back here and try to get a few of these out….and I may even have something relevant to say….or maybe not, who knows?
Just noodling…
Well…it as been a long day of nothing really…maybe why it felt so long..at least I did get some cleaning done including getting the cobwebs off the road bike and finally putting the papers out to recycle. It looks like a long stretch of not seeing anyone this week and it’s not getting any easier….oh, well….and it is a no cocktail night for the next three to rest the liver and cut down on the calories…I’m still feeling quite guilty about not riding the bike everyday and that is compounding this malaise I feel…I guess I could feel good about getting four of these out today but then the guilt of not saying anything erases that completely….so, maybe I should just stop here and wait to see if there is any lucidity in my future…
The direction I think “Occupy” should take….
Well…this little thought popped into my head the other day when I was thinking about the next phase of the “Occupy” protests and what they should look like. First, though, I think the best tactic that should be immediately employed is to declare victory and go home…the tent cities and other encampments have served the purpose of changing the national debate to include the huge disparity in income and opportunity that exists in this country, but I think the continuation of this tactic may alienate parts of the public that “Occupy” is trying to help, and in the world of faster and faster change, I think the movement has to change and grow to eliminate the avenues of attack that have been used against it. The establishment has made it clear that it will use their private armies to suppress any dissent that does not come from the right, so let’s put together some organization that directly deals with this suppression…constantly changing tactics will keep them off stride and directly address criticisms that come from friendly quarters. Tent cities have served their purpose, but let’s move on to the part that is keeping the right up at night…converting this energy into political change that will break the grip of the tiny minority of the right that run our lives…let’s get going…