Yeah, I know, I’m late this morning…feel kind of crappy and had a lot to do..it is grocery day after all and taking care of G’s and T’s while they are gone takes some time. I am a little disappointed that only three people remembered it was my birthday yesterday but I had fun out with K for drinks….but now I guess I can ignore everyone else. Not a lot to do today but I need to get on the bike in a minute so I’ll end here…I do have some comments for later so check back….
Videotaping police illegal?
Well…had to comment on this piece from the USA Today….they have a point-counterpoint type of editorial every day where the paper takes one side of an issue, and a guest columnist takes another. The topic of the day was that a man was charged with a felony for video taping an officer that had stopped him for reckless driving. That, in itself, is disturbing, but the defense that the union of police officers uses to justify the charge is even more disturbing since they seem to want to place police officers on a different plane when it comes to their rights versus the rights of those they interact with. They argue that videotape needs a context for it to be reliable for evidence against police officers; using it to hold officers accountable for their actions but doesn’t when it is being used as evidence against the public. And, they go on to argue, that no one except a police office can interpret what is on the tape….well..tell that to Rodney King and the myriad of other who have been abused by the police…I think they are just angry that they will be held accountable for their actions and can’t place themselves above the law anymore….geez….
July 15th
Well…it’s here…so I thought I’d get off a short one before I get the morning routine going…no grand gestures for this year…last year I rode 56 miles to mark the 56th birthday but I really have nothing to prove any more…so today is going to be kind of low-key…maybe take in a movie or not…I will probably just do a completely veg day….I have to go out for coffee and newpapers but the rest of the day is pretty much open…I will be adding some posts as the day goes on so come on back to see if anyone remembers the day….
July 14th part two…
Well….Tommy Castro was much better this year; so much more engaged than last year…it was pretty cool to see him walk through the crowd playing his guitar….and it was so loud, my ears are ringing even though I had earplugs in…a marker of a good night. Ran into my brother who is turning 70 tomorrow..yep we were born on the same day 13 years apart…but that is not the weirdest part…I have two sons that were born on the same day 4 years apart…kind of looking forward to tomorrow but it is weird to be turning 57 frickin’ years old….what can I do to mark the day? Any suggestions?…well, that includes booze that is….no more later…
Oh, one last thing…ran into the republican that is running for Vern Ehlers seat in the House….I am not proud of going off on her..but damn….the repubs have ruined this country and should I just bite my tongue? Yeah….there are times I should….you know how I’m trying to be a better person? Big setback tonight….oh, well….
July 14th
Well….it may be shaping up to be a day of outrage so stay tuned….but, first, it looks like it may be a fun day today…Tommy Castro is playing at Blues tonight and since he is one of my favorites, I’m probably going to go down and brave the crowds and the heat to hang out for maybe one set…he was disappointing in his set list last year…playing some of his most obscure stuff versus the great hits that he has. But, I’ll give it a try if I can find parking that is not too far away….Not too much else going on except for T’s cats and the regular stuff….I am getting disappointed with almost everything right now so there will not be much humor…just can’t laugh when things are so weird…
a little hope and then this…
Well..you saw yesterday that there was a little hope that the repubs would start to do the right thing when it comes to the ordinary American….that they would start to put the middle class first instead of the richest 2 percent of the country….well…nevermind. The latest outrage comes form Kyl and his ilk; the unapologetic idiots that are so far against fairness in the economy that they are holding up benefits for the long-term unemployed to make sure they can continue the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Now, their logic for this move is that any new spending must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the economy so to not add to the deficit; 12 billion dollars to benefit people that are in danger of losing their entire life….but they are willing to extend the Bush tax cuts (almost a trillion dollars added to the deficit) because their logic says that tax cuts don’t have to be paid for in any way…they are different after all.
And the latest polls suggest that people are just going stupid…the majority trust the Dems to handle the economy but the majority are also going to vote for the repubs who have “spread the wealth” upward….have reached into yours and my wallet and handed it to people to help them buy their caviar and get the fourth house on the lake. Aren’t you tired of this yet? It’s starting to get to the point where this is not my country anymore….I’m happy that I’m getting a year older tomorrow and won’t have to see these heartless shills steal what is left of what was a great country much longer…geez…
Never thought I’d thank a Republican…..
Well…it’s kind of a strange state of affairs when I would even consider thanking a republican for anything except for being an easy target for these posts…but, today, I find myself amazed and confused by the actions of Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe; both Republican senators from the northeast who have gone against their party to support the overhaul of the financial system. As expected, the tea party idiots are apoplectic and vow to defeat both of them in the next election.
So, the tea partiers want there to be a system rigged in favor of the guys that caused the meltdown that has taken their jobs? All in the name of “states rights” since they feel the federal government doesn’t have the authority to regulate any part of the economy. So, for what they see as principle, they are ready to let the financial thieves steal more and more of the country?
Thank you Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe for doing what is right instead of what is right for your careers….
July 13th
Well…it was a late night last night…didn’t get out to hang with G until almost 9 and didn’t get back here until almost 11:30…much later than normal but G had a soccer game and that pushed it back a ways. Don’t feel too bad today even though I should…don’t have a lot to do today except take care of T’s cats and of course, work out and get a ride in. I do need to clean this place up since I just haven’t been motivated for some reason…I did get out yesterday to the vegetable stand and got some real tomatos so I am looking forward to just slicing one of those later….I know…you’re bored but that is the life of an unemployed old guy…I’ll try to be more exciting at some point and write a couple of these that are more topical…don’t feel much outrage at this point but that can change like the weather…more later…
July 12 part two…
Well…survived the morning and the afternoon so far and do feel quite a bit better after eating pizza…I just get tired of cooking about once a month and have to have food that is bad for me…the question is, when can you stop caring about that kind of stuff? It does get old over time keeping track in your head of all of the calories you take in. I wonder if anyone else does that or is it just that I’ve had a weight problem my whole life? I’m sure you don’t care….
It looks like I’ll have some stuff to do this week…out with G tonight then with C tomorrow…Tommy Castro at Blues on the Mall Wed night…going to skip Ada this week…then Thurs, it’s my b-day and I guess K and I are going to Bonefish Grill for appetizers and martinis…that might be fun….more later….well…probably not but you never know…
I am a little disappointed that I didn’t hear from T before she left for vacation….
The Michigan Insurance industry wins again….
Well…Michigan residents got another slap in the face from the Michigan supreme court last week when they ruled that insurance companies can use credit scoring to help set rates for the insurance they sell here. I know they have statistics that show that people with higher credit scores cost them less in claims and thus should pay less…but I’m sure that if they looked at height, hair color, or weight, there would be a correlation there, too. I probably should correct something I said earlier, too…it’s not that those with higher credit scores will pay less…no,no,no…it’s that those with lower scores now will pay more…the rates will never go down for anyone.
If you are not from Michigan, you wouldn’t know that the insurance industry here has basically bought and paid for the decisions in the Supreme court since we have elected judges, along with buying the repub controlled senate to get whatever they need in the form of rate hikes and sweetheart laws. This last one hits just when another article in the paper this morning noted that credit scores in general have taken the largest downturn since they were invented due to the severity of the recession. So, through no fault of their own, and in no relation to the risk that the insurance companies have to bear, millions of Americans will now have their insurance costs raised just to give more profit to these companies.
When are we going to wake up and stop this kind of thing? When are the repubs going to start siding with the people over their business cronies? Geez….