Well…another night, another Wings loss and I am getting concerned that we are going to go out in the first round of the playoffs this year….the one plus of last night’s game was the new tv….even when it’s not in HD, the game looked really cool and I am getting the adjustments on the tv right so the picture really looks great…I could follow the puck and see the numbers on the sweaters for the first time in a long time and that was pretty cool….I am running late today but you know that is normal for the weekend….got a text from T that made me laugh yesterday….she was sitting on the ground in Atlanta (on a plane in first class), and at 10 in the morning was drinking a Mimosa on the way to her vacation in Costa Rica….I did have some dreams last night but they didn’t seem important, just a jumbled mess of bad plumbing and people I didn’t know…not much to do today…I do have to clean and I already have laundry going so that is a good start….got the tire liners on the bike yesterday and can’t wait to see if they affect the ride at all…it will be nice to be able to stop thinking about flats all the time….and the walking back pushing the bike is no fun…I do have one on more shenanigans going on here in Michigan for later so come on back…you’ll like it…
Oh, forgot to say happy birthday to Eric Clapton…67 years old this week…
Well…just another short one on the arguments that happened on the ACA in the Supreme Court and the fact that I think that people are missing the point of the whole thing….I can understand why some on the right don’t want to be “forced” to buy healthcare under the new law…but, how many of them are already forced to by the fear that a health problem will bankrupt them? What’s the difference between the two? How many of them have ever canceled their insurance in the name of freedom? You can probably count them on one hand. But, this whole argument has never been about healthcare to me….it is whether or not we we still have a social contract where we work for the common good of the society and where, sometimes, in that society we have to make compromises that will benefit the whole while placing a small burden on each of us as individuals. That is what the individual mandate is…a small burden for the majority of us that will help the 50 million people who can’t afford the peace of mind that comes with being insured….but, those on the right, including the debate audience that when asked about an uninsured person needing care to save his life and chorus sung out “let him die” are actively tearing down the social contract that has served this nation so well over the past 200 plus years….what kind of a country will we have left when those on the right get what they want…back to the days of “I’ve got mine, everyone else can go to hell” that prevailed in the early 20th century….I’m glad I’m getting older and won’t be around to see it if the right wins…geez…
Well….it’s been a morning of complete vegiosity and tv and I’m not proud of it…but things like that happen sometimes…I did have one observation that I did want to share…and it is kind of weird but fits my skewed view of the world and maybe yours, too….when I was watching the new flatscreen last night, one thing struck me as being somewhat incongruous….while watching the old tv, the box itself has some depth and made it easy to suspend disbelief when the picture had depth in it, too…but, with the new one…and it’s 2 inches of depth…I find it weirder to allow my brain to think that the 3-d effect is allowable…there just isn’t enough depth there…yep, I know, you’ve probably never thought of that…and you’ve never had a problem with it…but that is what makes me so strange…I just look at things differently…and I don’t really want to change…
It is the first Wings game on the new tv tonight…I hope I’m not disappointed…
Well…it was a day yesterday but I didn’t do much with the cold and wind….I did get the tire liners for the bike and put the one in the back tire…will probably put the front one in this weekend and then I can stop thinking about getting a flat every time I’m out on the bike….I do feel a little excited with the Mega getting up to 560 million dollars and the cash value getting over 350 million…10 bucks to dream for the day is a pretty good deal….it was a cocktail night last night so I am feeling a little fuzzy this morning and I think I’ll stop here….T leaves for Costa Rica today and I am going to miss the many daily texts and the laughing….but I’ll live through it…more later…
Well…don’t know how long this one is going to be but I did want to comment on the supreme court and the ACA…aka Obamacare and the arguments that have been going on this week….one of the things that strikes me is how the conservatives have strayed from the traditional role of the court; deciding on whether a law is constitutional or not…with the questions that have come back from Alito et al…I can see the worst kind of judicial activism at work…where they are trying to set policy and write law when that is not their job, and I can see the ignorance of the roles of the three branches government that these conservative justices are showing. It is not their job to look at policy and implementation of laws and the effect of those policies, but that is what those on the right on the court have been doing during the arguments, usurping the traditional role of the legislative branch to write laws and placing themselves as equals to that lawmaking. We can see from the decisions that this court has made in Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, and now the ACA that the conservative justices feel they are only there to further the right-wing conservative agenda…ignoring precedent that reaches back to the founding of this nation for crass political advantage….now that we have seen this worst kind of judicial activism, it should make you realize that the court needs to be reformed…and the only way to do that is to re-elect Obama and hope that just one of the conservatives leaves the court so a justice who has respect for the law can replace him…geez…
Well…it was an interesting day yesterday with finally getting the new tv….a 42 inch plasma that just overwhelms my living room but is still pretty cool to have….at least it doesn’t turn green like the old one…and I turned the tv off for the first time last night in months…the old one would really turn green in the morning if I shut it off…so I didn’t. Now I need to figure out how to get the old one that weighs about 80 pounds out to the trash…can you even put them in the trash? Don’t want to put mercury into the environment if I can help it….slept okay last night but no dreams to speak of and again, it was a no cocktail night so I feel pretty good today…but, T leaves for vacation and I’ll miss her like crazy…oh, said that yesterday, didn’t I? I do need to make the grocery run today and get back on the bike after three days off and my tire inserts should be here today so I can ride all summer without any flats…..I will be back for a long one later….
Well…if you didn’t think that there was something wrong with America and how the rewards of the economy are shared across all of it’s citizens…all you have to do is look at the recent study done by the University of California that revealed that in 2010 93% of all income growth went to the top 1% of earners…yep, you read it…the top 1% took away virtually all of the income growth while the other 99% of us were left to feed on the scraps that these folks have not figured out how to steal yet….I’ll come back for more later..but right now I need to read something else so I don’t fall into the pit of despair that these kind of numbers normally induce…geez…
Well…it was an okay day but the second in a row I didn’t ride the bike with the wind gusting and it being so cold…I did lose at pool and didn’t win the Mega so I am a little disappointed…but the next drawing on Friday is going to be almost 470 million so I am getting into that one with 10 bucks….no dreams to speak of last night so I won’t…..today is new tv day and my anxiety level is rising quickly as I debate with myself whether I should spend the money or save it in case the car dies or some other emergency happens…but the hockey playoffs are going to start and it would be so cool to see it on a 42 inch plasma…..so I guess I’ll agonize all morning, work out, and then make my decision….not much else to do today…i am going to get out on the bike today and hope I don’t have another flat before I get my tire liners tomorrow….I will be back later for more since it is getting to the end of the month and I do need to make the goals…more later…oh, one last concern about the tv…it may not fit in my car….
Well….someone needs to do something pretty soon or I am going to run completely out of things to write about….just haven’t been able to work up the outrage necessary to do these things justice lately….I could comment on the concerted effort on the part of police and prosecutors to cover their asses by smearing Trayvon Martin but the effort is so transparently self-serving that I can’t take it seriously….or I could comment on the open mike gaffe that Obama made a few days back talking to Medvedev where he said he’d have more flexibility to get things done after the election…and ole Mitt jumped on it as the president promising to give away our security if he’s reelected….I see it a little differently…Obama was just telling the truth of the political situation here in the US in front of the election…and truth is something that ole Mitt doesn’t even have a passing acquaintance with and can’t stand when he sees it….hmmmm…what else? That’s enough for now…I’m taking off out of here in a few to go shoot pool with Tom so it will be a while before I come back to add to this one….or I may do that sports one I talked about…
Well…it was a relatively nice day yesterday with having a great lunch with T and then out to have a couple with G later in the day…and it was a no cocktail night so I feel quite good this morning with the Wings just crushing Columbus and playing like they are almost ready for the playoffs….T is leaving for vacation in Costa Rica Friday and I am going to miss her like crazy…and I hope her back is better before then so she can take advantage of the ocean…I am already moving around and getting things done since I have a lot to do today…I skipped the bike ride yesterday since I didn’t want to have to get the thermasuit out again…I hope today will be warmer so I can get the ride in before I head out to shoot pool with Tom….I have decided on a new tv…a 42 inch plasma that is on sale for under 400 bucks…and I am going to go out and buy it tomorrow..so there will be lots of watching over the next week…maybe that will keep me from the crushing boredom….I hope the tv is not too big for this place….more later…
One thing I did forget….with the Wings win last night, they are in the playoffs for the 21st straight year…a truly remarkable accomplishment…maybe I’ll do one on the Wings later…