Well…didn’t go out to the coffee shop this morning but have been reading the news online and a few things fell into place that have been marinating in my head for a while. I know you’ve heard over the past few months how the repubs have been holding up any spending bills to help the unemployed and states that are in financial peril since they have an impact on the federal deficit. But what they aren’t telling you and I is that red states (those that are controlled by and vote for these same repubs) are the ones that most egregiously feed at the federal trough; taking back well more in federal taxes than they send to Washington. One of the worst of these states is the one who gave us the small government idiot Sarah Palin and gets $1.84 for every dollar in taxes they send but on top of that, Alaska got almost 3 times more in stimulus money than the average state; almost $3,200 for each and every resident. Now, I have a great idea for the repubs, make a pledge that, to help eliminate the deficit in the next year, your state will not take more in federal funding than you put in and I challenge the tea partiers to do the same..oh, but I get it, it’s okay to take from the feds when it benefits you but not if it benefits the country as a whole. More hypocrisy to pile on the heaps they have already shoveled…geez…
back again…
Well.. I did go out to the beach today and got a little color but I am a little disappointed with myself since my patience ran out in the car and I was a little agressive with the idiots that don’t understand that the left lane belongs to me…or to anyone who wants to pass..not someone that wants to go 62 and become a rolling roadblock so there is s a line of cars a mile long following them. Those are the people who should get a ticket…don’t make me pass you on the right because you are trying to make everyone adhere to your weird sense of speed…90 will not kill you..try it some time it is quite fun, really. Oh, out at the beach, why the heck is it that people that weigh 350 pounds think we want to see the fat rolls in all their glory? I know, I’m not the best looking guy and I’ve had a weight problem my whole life but damn, a tiny little bikini on a 350 pound woman is just not right….
Geez….that’s quite a bit if bitching and it’s not really appropriate since my day has really been a good one…just got back from drinks with K and I’m in a pretty good mood…but I do feel that I have a responsibility to those of you that spend their time reading this stuff…and thank you for that…I will try to give you some real topics tomorrow if I don’t feel like crap….which is a real possibility since I started drinking at 3 and don’t feel like stopping…but I will because I do need to make some food…a sandwich is just not enough.. for a whole day…even though I didn’t work out or ride today…more later….
August 20th
Well…a kind of boring night but I feel okay…well,,,kinda…did have a couple of mans last night so I so have that sluggish feeling that comes with it…have to do some grocery shopping again this morning to get beer and food to take over to K’s tomorrow…might go out to the beach again today since it’s going to be 87 degrees and I don’t know how many more of these days we have left this summer. Other than that, not a lot to do… I think the night races at Bristol are tonight and tomorrow so that will give me something to look forward to….more later…
Okay….that was a little harsh..
Yeah….I know and I agree..that little screed about Erik Prince was getting near the top if it was not over it…but this guy made millions by his connections that aren’t available to the regular folks and it irritates the heck out of me when these guys want tax cuts for the wealthy but they don’t have any problems using our tax money for their private schemes. Don’t get me wrong, I like some rich people…I’ve even wanted to be one and tried as hard as I could to achieve richness but it wasn’t to be. But, even with that said, I am still going to call them as I see them and continue to call out people that think their opinions are worth more than yours or mine just because they are wealthy. That’s not what this country was built on but it appears the direction it is going, and that troubles me as it should you….maybe more later…
Good riddance, Erik Prince..
Well…read this little nugget when I was out at the coffee shop this morning…that Erik Prince, the dark lord of Blackwater, is moving himself and his company to Abu Dhabi, his reasons being the pesky investigations into the gun-running, murder, and other acts of malfeasence that his company has been known for since its inception. Waa, Waa,waa…geez, aren’t you tired of these privileged repubs whining and crying when they are forced to follow the same rules as the rest of us? It’s endemic to these folks that they see themselves as different than the rest of us, and by extension, that the rules don’t apply. Ole GW and Cheney are the poster boys for this type of behavior but they are rivaled by Vitter and the rest of the repub elite. So, I say to Erik Prince (and I wish I could say it to the rest of the repubs) good riddance; watch what happens when you break the law there…you’re going to find yourself in the slammer without the protection of your repub buddies.
Just another example of the rich being “born on third base” and thinking they hit a triple…geez…
August 19th
Well…long day yesterday with the lunch with T and then out to Ada for pool, then a couple of mans here…should feel a lot worse than I do…I did win at pool which makes it two weeks in a row but Tom gave me three games so I’m not going to crow too much. did go ut yesterday and bought one of those little flash drives…crap…I’m just repeating myself from yesterday’s post. Let’s try something new….not much to do today… going to meet up with C later for a couple of beers probably but that is about it other than the normal routine…need to find a new pork loin recipe since they’re on sale this week for 1.59 a pound….have to go out and move my car since they are painting lines on the lot here today…yeah, I know pretty frickin boring…but I will be back later with new stuff….
Bait and switch…again…
Well…a couple of things are on my mind this morning…the first is the realization that the repubs are manufacturing a bunch of news to deflect coverage from the fact that they have no solutions to any of our problems…except the same old tired mantra of tax cuts for the rich and less regulation for business. Have you once in the last 6 months heard a real policy plan from them? What are they going to do about unemployment? What would they do to end the war in Afghanistan? What would they do to make healthcare more affordable and available if they repeal what was done by Obama? I know I haven’t heard a thing and they are using Fox news to create fake stories like the mosque controversy so that the major news organizations think they have to cover it like it is real. There have been a string of those types of fake stories like the “anchor babies” and the death panels that take our eye off the ball and allow the repubs to control the news cycle. And, we’re to blame for it…so let’s start paying attention.
The second thing is what we are seeing with the supreme courts decision that corporations can donate to political campaigns…just yesterday, we saw Fox news donate a million bucks to get Republican governors elected…doesn’t anyone else see anything wrong with this? Come on Congress…kill this loophole before the US becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of big business….geez…
August 18th
Well…we’ll see if the block is still in my head today…I think it is but I’m going to keep trying…have a pretty busy day today with lunch with T and then out to Ada for pool….have to go to Best Buy, too, to get one of the little flash drives so I can get some more music from Tom…8 gigs for 20 bucks…I can remember when my whole hard drive was 40 meg and thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Yeah, you know I’m old….I remember when I was in college and the first electronic calculator was invented and it replaced the slide rules that we were using…never did get the hang of the slide rule…but that is another story for another time, or never…who knows….I may have another one of these later since there is an idea percolating….
I just don’t know…
Well…still quite blocked but needed to see if I could write anything at all…maybe that will get me started… I think I have to apologize for the false start on the last one, usually, when I get going it just flows out of me…yeah, I can hear you now…just like crap. It’s been that way since I started this thing in April and I can’t figure it out…but, that’s just one of the things that I can’t figure out…do you guys have that problem? At 57 you’re supposed to be sure of yourself and have everything figured out but as time goes on I feel less and less sure of things…maybe it’s that change thing I promised to write about way back in April.
You know how change works for me? It’s like I see changes as discrete events and automatically think and label my life as pre and post event….like I was traveling along one line and then whack; the event puts me on another path that I have no clue about how to deal with it….well…that’s not really true..it just looks different in some way and it takes me a while to start living that life without thinking about it…I don’t know if I’m being clear, if it’s the block or I’m just tilted off the normal 45 degrees skewed. But that is just a clinical description…the feelings that go with it are what I think is the key…but who knows? As I said…I just don’t know…
The fight is on for the soul of America…the real one…
Well…this one starts with just one simple question: What kind of a country do we want to be? I think we need to answer this question; to step back from the daily grind and our personal prejudices and, for a change, try to think of what is good for the country and not just our party or ourselves. This one just isn’t working…sometimes the writing process fails and I’m left here staring at this damn computer; erasing everything and starting over and that has happened three times already…maybe this isn’t one I can get my head around…
Going to try again… what I was getting at before was to ask some questions that would help define what kind of country we want and what kind of citizens we want to be…
Do we want to really live what the constitution says or do we want to use it as a political prop to be trotted out and used to bludgeon people over the head? Do you believe that all citizens have equal rights or don’t you? Do you believe that the constitution guarantees freedom of religion or don’t you? Do you want our leaders to continue to spew hatred and division or do you want them to try to be adults and tackle the problems that face this country? Do You believe that 45 million people should be able to afford basic healthcare or are they on their own? Okay…this isn’t really what I wanted to say….I am just blocked today…maybe I’ll just let it rest for a while and go on to other topics….