Well….an interesting day today..well…not interesting but more than just sitting here and doing nothing…went over to K’s for some outdoor and pool time and had fun….got scorched and then decided that it was not time to stop….so, it’s going to be a long night and I’m going to feel like crap tomorrow…but at this point, I really don’t care…I’ll do anything to drive back the boredom…yeah, I know, that is going to have to be addressed at some point…at the end of the summer? Not now, anyway….
When did everything become pork?
Well….saw a headline in Car and Driver this morning that triggered a flash in this old brain. The title was ‘when did roads become pork?” And, in my fevered brain, that immediately became “when did everything become pork” in our society? There was a time that I can still remember where we were proud of new roads, schools, and other parts of our shared, communal infrastructure and people understood the value to our society of these kinds of projects. Now it seems that any necessary project to keep us even with the rest of the world is met by the excess tax crowd with loud cries of pork, pork, pork, and the projects are deferred by scared politicians who only think as far ahead as their next election. When did we lose our guts to take on the hard projects? And, when did the idea that we are all in this together go away?
Have we become so simplistic in our capacity for thought that slogans are the new thinking? This country became great by big politicians and big citizens who could see past that next election, that could see past the day that their kids grew up and were no longer in school, that could see that the ideal of America IS that we are all in this together and could put their selfishness aside and see that there are limited resources but didn’t mind paying their fair share of the tax burden when it is necessary for the country to go forward. Progress for the whole of the country cannot be left to the private sector whose very existence is based on the “I’ve got mine” premise….as a country we need to stop wasting time and energy on bitching and start doing again….geez….
July 5th
Okay..I promise today that there will be some topical stuff…not just the everyday workings of and old guys mind…I wonder if the lack of topical stuff is related the the holiday weekend? Have not been watching any news of the past few days and it has been quite relaxing not knowing what is going on in the outside world but that just shrinks my world even more and it’s getting a little constricting. that could be a topic for later in the day…how my world used to be this big, wide-open place where there were possibilities and challenges everyday and now it isn’t..it’s more like enduring it again and that is just not a lot of fun.
Nothing but the routine for today as far as I know…K did say something about having a little bash at her place but I’m not holding my breath. Have to start figuring out more things to do…more later…
July 4th
Well… that was quite a boring Saturday…although the soccer matches were fun to watch…my prediction, after watching Germany take apart Argentina, is that Germany goes all the way to the cup. There are no other teams left that looked even half as good as they did…I’ll even put a couple of bucks on it if you want…you decide. No plans for the day…didn’t go out to watch the fireworks last night…sitting here and sipping a martini had a lot more attraction than riding my bike in the dark….and by the time the fireworks would go…it was the third martini going down so it wouldn’t have been a good idea. I CAN think straight sometimes…
As you can tell from the lack of outraged posts, I’m having some success with controlling my anger…never really did have that much of a problem but I still feel like crap when I’m always ready to blow about everything. So maybe I’ll try humor instead…there are enough angry people writing out there so maybe that will make it easier….it will surely be easier on me. So maybe more later since I really don’t have anything else to do today….
July 3rd
Well…don’t remember a lot about last night but I think there was a race on..no sleeping pill and don’t feel too bad today..have already been out on the bike since I wanted to get done before the Argentina Germany match. Not a lot else to say right now…think I’ll take it easy today but might go out later to see the fireworks. More later…
World Cup Update
Well…an interesting day at the World Cup today with probably the best matches I’ve seen so far…the Netherlands defeated Brazil…yep, you read that right…Brazil is gone in a 2-1 loss. While most people were picking Brazil to win it all, in the matches I watched, they were inconsistent and I never really saw the flair that they are known for…they looked like a beatable team and in the end they were.
The second match of the day, Uruguay and Ghana, was really entertaining with a wide open back and forth that went through overtime and into PK’s when one of the Ghanian players missed a PK on the last play of the match in overtime and then Uruguay won it in the shootout. Ghana played really well and I could see how they could beat us last week….I feel sorry for the player who missed the PK that would have won it for them but that is the game and how it works sometimes….
Looking forward to what I think will be the best match of the cup, when Germany and Argentina go at it Sat morning at 9:30….can’t wait to see that one!
July 2nd
Well…out for a while last night and I feel a little crappy today…no, a lot crappy..I do need to get groceries and take care of G’s house today so I’ll have to get going soon…would like to just hit the couch and veg but can’t but I guess that’s my own fault..can take a nap later when soccer is on so that is something to look forward to…I’ll have to come back later and complete this…more later…
Hmmm…I’m back after doing everything that I mentioned earlier including re-ducttaping the car at G’s…even got back to see Brazil get beaten in the World Cup…congrats Netherlands…feeling quite a bit better now and I’m going to take the rest of the day off…just like I do every day it seems…if there is anything that gets me going later, I’ll come back and do another one…
I’m not surprised…
Well…as promised, I have to comment on the op-ed by Nolan Finley in the Detroit News today, in which he asserts that Obama is directing a “War on Business” since he wants to revise how corporations are taxed and regulated, and how trade is conducted. And the only evidence this guy presents is a “report” that was cooked up by some group called the Business Roundtable as a response to the imagined slight they felt when they met with Obama and he didn’t roll over and give them everything they wanted a la the Bushies. He then goes on to cite 5 areas that the righties and their business cronies are so concerned about: taxes (go figure), financial regulation, trade, energy, and healthcare. I think I’ll respond in that same format; paraphrasing his words and then giving my response.
Taxes. His take..we should cut corporate taxes so they will invest more here since we have a higher corporate tax rate than other countries. Mine…you have got to be kidding me….we may have a tax rate that is higher but look at the actual taxes paid and you see a different story since the repubs built in so many loopholes that only a company with a really stupid accounting firm pays their full tax bill. Disingenious Nolan.
Financial Regulation. His take…we re-regulate the financial industry since it will cost companies 5-6 billion dollars and maybe 120K jobs. Mine…ha, ha, ha, ha….again, and you have got to be kidding me! Not regulate the guys that cost the economy 8 million jobs and trillions of dollars? Just because it may cost them some money and we may lose some financial industry parasites? Take a look at Canada and what has happened there since they were NOT taken in by the calls for deregulation of their financial industry….much less losses in both jobs and money. Read a little about your neighbors across the river, Nolan.
Trade. His…we need more agreements like Nafta or we will lose jobs to our competitors. Mine….I can’t even laugh about this anymore. Nafta started the wholesale loss of jobs in this country and now he wants more of the same? Just so his business buddies can ship more jobs to low wage countries like China who then use currency and tariff manipulation to ensure we can’t sell to them?
Energy and environment. His take…limits on carbon emissions that are proposed will send business elsewhere. Mine…these are proposed regulations that are in the talking stages but the same thing was said when the first smog regulations were put into place for cars and when the first CAFE standards for fuel mileage were imposed. That worked out pretty well…for both business and regular people.
Health care. His take (or I should say business’s take) is that the new regs will cause uncertainty and change. Mine…I sure hope so..try being a 56 year old who needs to buy health insurance…you can’t unless you want to pay 1,200 to 2,000 dollars a month.
He then finishes with the Republican talking point that we need to do something about the deficit; well, where the hell were you, Nolan, when your repub buddies were taking the surplus Bush was given and then starting two wars you didn’t pay for using accounting tricks and then rewarding the rich for being rich with those massive tax cuts that did nothing for the economy? If you are so concerned about deficits, then you will support letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Do you even realize that what your are proposing (cutting spending during a recession/depression) was tried in the 30′s? Didn’t work then.
You seem to think that we all need to do what rep Joe Barton did last week: apologize to business and ask “pretty please” will you let us help you make obscene profits while telling the American middle class to go to hell. Geez….
July 1st
Well…I know I’m a little late with this one but I had some stuff to get done…don’t feel as bad as I should today…had a fun night out with Tom and won at pool again…started to watch Avatar last night when I got home and had to finish it this morning..one of the reasons I’m late. Don’t know what all the excitement was about the movie…certainly not an oscar nominee to my mind but neither was the Hurt Locker, the movie that won best picture…I can’t remember a recent winner that really made you say “that was a movie!”
Don’t have a lot to do today but there is outrage coming about a columnist for the Detroit News who says that Obama should lay off business and go back to the policies of the Bushies….yep, you heard it right…I’ll be back after working out and running some errands to take that one on…more later….
June 30th
Well…another early morning and my brain is still pretty foggy so I think his one will be short…not a lot to do today but since it is Wednesday, it’s out for pool in Ada later and maybe a haircut this morning. We’ll see…
As I said, not a lot to say this morning….I’ll be back after coffee with a clearer head and something to say…will probably post the rest of the novel if you’ve been waiting for it and I think I’m going to write a new one in real time starting this weekend so check back for that one…or not, if there is anything going on and I have something else to do. I don’t want you to think that this is all I have to do…well, it almost is, but I still have my delusions and I’m going to keep them for a while…I like them. More later…