Just gonna cheat…

Well…I know…it is cheating to just write another one of these to just get to my goal without having anything to say…but, it is not as easy as it looks to come up with two of these every day. And, I still feel like crap for some reason so that is also an excuse…there was some nonsense out of the repubs today about the one year anniversary of OBL being killed and Obama using it in a speech…okay…this is not what I wanted to do so I’m going to stop here…and Man U is behind but still playing so I think I’ll go do that instead…

These may just be filler….

Well…as you know, I’m running behind for the month and I’m not sure why….so, you know what that is going to mean, that I’m going to have to write a couple that are basically just filler or random thoughts…one thing that I find really interesting out on the trail is how strong the shoots of willow trees are…there are places along the trail where shoots have pushed up through three inches of asphalt like it’s not even there….it was a pretty nice ride but now my back is starting to hurt just adding to the pains that I have from fixing the brakes this morning…91 bucks just in parts but it was necessary to make the car safe again….I did bruise and cut my hand trying to get the rotor off and pulled something in my shoulder trying to get the bolts out of the caliper bracket…so, I’m going to hurt the rest of the day…and I will be back for one more to get to 60….

April 30th

Well…it was a long day yesterday and I feel a little under the weather today….and I lost at pool so that doesn’t help….I do need to do three of these today to get caught up but I have no idea what the topics will be….even for this one…I do know that Man U is playing this aft and I do need to get the brakes fixed on the car since I decided to replace the rotors, too, and spent 90 bucks for parts…but it is raining so that will have to wait…other than that, not much to do today…need to recover…so, that’s what I’m going to do right now…more ice water and couch….

April 29th

Well…it was another day yesterday and after it was done, there was not much to say for it….so I won’t…okay, just a little…I did get some cleaning done and my bathroom thanks me so that was something….it was kind of a bore, though, but today is shaping up to be better…if I can get back on the bike, that is….it has been a couple of days of no riding and I can feel it already…but, my legs do feel better so I guess that is okay….and it is pool day out with Tom this aft so that will be a welcome diversion….I do have to work on the car tomorrow…need another set of front brakes but that’s no big deal…I think it’s probably the 10th set since I’ve had it and I can change them out in less than an hour for 20 bucks or so….okay…I’m done for now…need to read the online papers and have another cup of coffee….

Just a couple of things…

Well…I did have a couple of comments to make and wanted to make them before I forget so here goes…there was an interesting article in the WAPO today that makes the clear and evident point that the dysfunction in Washington today is the repubs fault and the false equivalence that the right tries to make that the left is just as responsible is laid to rest by a clear argument…one that I have made here more than a year ago…but it is nice when your ideas get confirmed by other writers….you should go there and read it…I think they even do a better job that I have…the next thing I wanted to say is about the dustup that Paul Ryan had with the Catholic bishops and others in the Catholic church when he claimed that his proposed draconian cuts to the social safety net fit with Catholic teachings…at least the way he sees it….but the bishops landed on him with two feet and in no uncertain terms told him he was dead wrong…that giving tax cuts to the rich and corporations and paying for them by cutting every program that doesn’t benefit the rich is not what the Bible teaches…but, as the overly self assure repubs do, ole Paul kept up his attacks saying that he was a better judge of the teachings of the church on social justice than the bishops are….what a huge load of hubris from this idiot….geez….

April 28th

Well….this one is going to be short since the papers and coffee are waiting…just had a toasted bagel with cream cheese and that is just right to get the day started….had a busy day yesterday with lots of running around…lunch with T was too much fun, as always, and then I went out to meet up with C for a couple…I am feeling significantly better today even with cocktails last night…but the coffee is getting cold and I need to read the papers…back later for more…

Okay, it’s been a day and I thought I’d come back for a few minutes…I did have weird dreams last night that included a hotel that was infested with mice and many other pests and a manager that didn’t want to deal with them…not much else came out of that one but I thought it was funny….I have gotten things done around here and even got out to run some errands but I am running out of steam so I think I’ll take the rest of the day off and just veg…I may do a political one later but that would mean reading the paper again and I’ve already stacked them….

Eric Cantor’s math….

Well….read an interesting article in the post this morning about the small business tax cut that ole Eric is pushing as a way to create jobs and there is some math that I’d like to point out that makes the proposal just way too crazy to be taken seriously….the cost to the deficit of the cut would be almost 40 billion dollars a year…yep, that’s billion with a b….and it would create around 100K jobs in total…or even maybe up to 180K but I like to err on the low side….so, let’s divide the 40 billion by 100,000…and the math says that each one of these jobs would cost $400,000 dollars…so if each job costs $400K in avoided taxes, and the real cost to the small businesses is around $100K including pay and healthcare etc., that means that each business that adds even one job will make a profit of almost $300K per job added (and $300K into the owners pocket and another transfer of wealth to the 1%)….just another case of business welfare that the repubs are so fond of while tearing down the safety net for individuals. When are we, as a country, going to say enough of this nonsense? Geez…

April 27th

Well…it was a long day yesterday and the glimmers of feeling better have vanished this morning as I fall back into the no energy state that I’ve been in for the past week…..it didn’t help that there was no sleep last night but I’m sure that’s not all of it….I do have some things to do today and I’m not sure how that is going to go…lunch with T and then out to Cascade for a few minutes an then out with C for a couple…I’m already looking forward to having all of it done and getting back here this evening…more later…

I told you so….about Europe….

Well..in an eye opening set of events that have happened over the past quarter have proven Keynes and me right on the failure of the austerity programs in Europe to lead to economic growth. I do want to say “I told you so” just because Keynes predicted that cutting spending during a recession would lead to lower growth, but also because the repubs here in the US are advocating exactly the same policies here…which will lead to exactly the same results that we now see in Europe…that the economies like Spain and England, who have made some of the largest cuts, are falling back into the first double dip recession in 40 years. New predictions that I read somewhere today (it may have been in the Guardian or the Post) put the predictions of European growth with the austerity programs in place at -.3% to flat or no growth in comparison to the US’s predicted growth of 1.8 to 2.9%. This just shows the the general Keynesian rule of running deficits while in a recession or a slow growth period is absolutely necessary to jump start the economy and these can be paid for when the economy gets to sustainable growth. I just wish the repubs would open their econ 101 textbooks and read a little…if they can read, that is…geez….

More Republican nonsense here in Michigan…

Well….I’ve started to feel a little better so I thought I’d get at one that I have been thinking about for a few days…since the takeover of our government by the repubs here, the preponderance of laws that have been enacted by the legislature have been for immediate effect, which takes a 2/3 majority in the House…but, the repubs that are running things aren’t even taking the votes, they are just assuming that they have the votes for immediate effect but they don’t…the counts done by many news organizations along with the dem minority show that, in over 90% of the cases, they didn’t have the votes but put the laws in effect anyway. Now, lawsuits filed by the dems are being considered by the appeals courts here and the repubs are howling that it is activist judges that are usurping their authority. Authority for what, to break the law? The Michigan Constitution is clear on this point and the repubs are violating the constitution….but, what do you expect? These guys wrap themselves in the constitution until it becomes inconvenient and puts a brake on their radical, right-wing agenda…what happened to true conservatives that put tradition and the rule of law ahead of party and personal gain? This is what we have to look forward to if the repubs take the White House….geez….