Well…I am really depressed this morning since the Wings lost again last night and they are almost out of the playoffs…oh, well…it is only sports after all….other than that, it was an okay day yesterday with having a couple with G and getting a nice ride in….I do feel a little crappy with the cocktails last night but I may survive it…we’ll see. Burned some sugar that leaked out of the foil I was cooking ribs in and this place stinks quite badly…hope it’s going to be warm enough to open the windows today and air this place out. Not much to do today…..I need to heal up for a while this morning and it looks like it is going to be sunny so a 20 miler should be in order….I will get back to the politics today and get a couple out…I hope…
Okay…I know I’ve not been as prolific as usual but I don’t know the reason yet…I wonder if it might be that I’ve stopped talking politics to anyone for my own mental health or maybe the distraction of the Wings games? I think I do need to take this more seriously…or not, who knows? As you can tell…I’m all over the place today…I did get the car cleaned and a workout in already so that’s an accomplishment isn’t it? I still feel like I’m just idling in my life…I wonder when I’ll run out of gas? I will get to another one today after I get the bike ride in…but I have to have lunch first so that’s what I’ll do now…
Well…I’m in the middle of watching a movie and I just remembered that I promised some thoughts on the nullification strategies that the repubs are using on Obama, the same as they did with Clinton…using the birther controversy to match the Whitewater inquest to try to make sure that there are always distractions that take peoples minds away from what is really important. Doesn’t anyone else see this as un-American? The right goes on and on about supporting the commander in chief in wartime when one of theirs in in power, but when it’s not, all you hear is picking, sniping, and second guessing by these hypocrites. Contrary to what the right thinks, politics is not war…not a battle to be won at the cost of our very Americanness…..Yeah, I know, that not a real word but it is a good descriptor…America used to be the place where people of all political stripes could come together for the good of the nation, not just of their party and we all know it is the repubs that have ruined it. Let’s start holding them accountable…..geez…
Well…it was a busy day yesterday with lunch with T and the out to have a few with C….needless to say, I feel a little crappy today…nope, let’s make that more than a little crappy…let’s make it medium to medium high crappy….and I know part of it is not eating…but you know that’s been a problem for me for a long time….but, I’m not going to complain about that right now since I did stop and get food to cook today….I’ve had a netflix movie sitting on the counter for a couple of days now and you’d think I would have enough time to watch it but I haven’t….maybe today but who knows? Not much to do today…should have a couple with G later and then holding my breath waiting to see which Wings team comes out to play today….and, since I do feel crappy, I’ll end here…more later…
Well…wanted to get at this one before the day gets busy…it deals with a fear I have about how the news of bin Laden’s death will be exploited by the fear-based community (repubs and the security-military complex) to place further restrictions on American citizens and continue the undermining of the constitution and our individual rights. Now, I realize that bin Laden had pretty much been marginalized by the manhunt for him, left to communicate by human couriers to the world outside his complex, and that there were still terrorist attacks attributed to his metastitizing organization going on around the world; dangers that may or may not get worse with the killing. But, we already see the security-military complex taking advantage of the purported higher risk by asking for more money to increase police patrols and surveillance on the general public in the oft chance there may be reprisals. When is this going to stop? When are we, as a country going to say “enough” that we can take a little danger if it means that the government won’t be reading our e-mails, tapping our phones, and watching us with cameras everywhere we go. One of the things that the security organizations do not want you to know is the experience of England, where there is a camera on every corner and every move of their citizens is watched…with all of that watching, not one terrorist attack has been prevented by seeing the perpetrators ahead of time…at best, it may be a tool for hindsight but it is not preventative…and isn’t that what the increasing intrusion in our lives was sold as? I think the death of bin Laden should be the trigger for a real dialogue on what kind of society we want to be…a free one or the one of George Orwell from “1984”….we can’t be both….
Well…Monday was Tuesday yesterday and it was fun out playing pool…quite weird games, though where only two of the eight balls went into the right pocket at the right time….still fun, though and I was a good boy when I got home…no cocktails, just water, so I feel okay this morning. It was quite a bore after I got home…another of those nights where you just can’t wait to go to sleep to get the day over. Not much to do today…lunch with T, then maybe have a couple with C later….going to be good again after I see C and take it easy to give the liver a rest and cut down on the calories….not sure what the weather is going to be like but I do need to get out on the bike…all of the pain is going away and I have over 200 miles in already…need to pick up the pace if I’m going to get to 3K this summer but I really don’t have anything else to do…more later…
Well..I know I commented on the death of bin Laden in the earlier post but I have a few more thoughts that I would like to share….some of them kind of personal….in that terrible week in 2001, so many punches hit that when I look back, I wonder how I got through it as well as I did….on the day of the attacks, my beloved mother-in-law died heaping shock upon shock…and only a week later, the job that I had held for 28years was eliminated and I was out of work for the first time in my adult life. If you’ve read this at all, you know it was initially intended as a chronicle of the life of an “overqualified and unemployed” old guy looking for work in the worst economy in the past century….and that as really the focus for the first few months…oh, getting off track here.
When I thought about bin Laden’s death this morning out for coffee, my mind goes to the changes for the worse in our society that came from the overreaction of our government to the threat…the warrantless wiretapping, taking your shoes off at the airport, getting groped by strangers as a price for flying…how do we go back from this restriction on our freedom? After all, we did this to ourselves and, as Ezra Klein said this morning ” we can undo this if we have the will”, that was a paraphrase…not a quote…and I hope we start undoing these as soon as possible…
Well…woke up this morning to the good news that Bin Laden was killed yesterday…..it’s about time that this thug was brought to justice…but, since the body was quickly buried at sea, we are going to have Trump, Palin, and the rest of the right wing idiots saying it is a lie and the news is faked to get Obama’s poll numbers up. Can’t wait to hear the repubs twist themselves into knots to give the credit to ole GW…..
Had a good day yesterday but the Wings lost another one so it took a little out of it….had a few with the twins and V later in the day but that followed up over 20 miles on the bike in the morning and worked up a sweat for the first time really….felt quite good but I am sore today….didn’t sleep well at all last night getting to bed really late and then up quite early…no cocktails so I feel okay but I know I’m going to need a nap since today is Tuesday on Monday and I’m going out to shoot pool this aft….other than that, not much to do today….more and more resumes and I hope another long bike ride…I will get to more topics today since I feel my head is clearing…more later….
Well…as you have already seen too many times, running late again this morning because I read the paper and had my coffee first instead of doing this….but I’m here now and I need t get this finished so I can get out on the bike before 9….it’s already 62 degrees so I’m going out in a t-shirt this morning…couldn’t go yesterday with the 40 mph gusts…it’s just no fun to pedal as hard as you can and stand still. Took the day off yesterday from doing anything…other than vacuuming the couch and turning the cushions so I’m ready to get some stuff done today…and the bike ride will be caffeine fueled and I hope will make up for being lazy yesterday. I am a little disappointed with the Wings losing the first game but it was a fluke goal so what can you do? May be going out to watch part of it with K today so I need to find the gear and get it ready…other than that, not much to do today…I do have some thoughts on the neutralization of Obama that the repubs are trying; the same old playbook they used with Clinton and I’m getting tired of the lack of respect….more later…
Well….stayed up late to watch the Wings game and had a couple of cocktails so I’m feeling crappy and running late….and, while the body has come alive, the brain is still waiting to start so this one is going to be short…I did have an okay day yesterday but didn’t really do much…and today doesn’t look much different….probably going to just hit the couch for a while and have some ice water until I feel better….more later…
Okay, I’m back..and feeling significantly better…I did try to take the bike out but with the gusts getting up to 40, it was just a little too much…it was so windy I coasted the half mile back from where I gave up…and that is flat ground…kind of like having a motor on the thing. Not much to do today..for some reason, the Fox Soccer Channel is no longer blocked so I’m just going to watch a few matches today and just veg out….I have been making progress around here in keeping it cleaner so that will be a part of the day I’m sure….have a stack of newspapers that have to go too since they kind of unnerve me sitting in my peripheral vision as they do….more later….oh, didn’t go out to get the papers today so there may not be another topic….I did get over 60 for the month after all…
Well….there have been things happening here in Michigan that I think need some comments since it appears that there is a theme that is running through them. Hey…didn’t bury the lead…oh, yep I did…damn….okay, let’s get to it…starting with the passing of the Snyder budget proposal that barely squeeked by the repub controlled House that will eliminate taxes for 86% of businesses here…yeah, you read it right 86% of business will pay no taxes under Snyder’s plan…that means you and I will be building the roads, paying for the schools, police and fire protection that business will then be able to use for free….sounds a lot like the welfare that the repubs always say is ruining this country when it goes to individuals, but I guess it’s just peachy when it goes to the rich and business. Doesn’t it take away businesses incentive to work hard when they can just freeload on the backs of the people? If you remember, this is just what the repubs said about people getting unemployment benefits earlier in the year. Aren’t you tired of this nonsense yet?
Another thing we should remember is that the repubs were voted into office largely on the argument of the “government takeover” of healthcare and their incessant yammering that this was creeping socialism but what Snyder is doing here in Michigan is right out of the central planning of the old Soviet Union…where he and his cronies now have the power to remove elected officials an take over any entity that doesn’t toe their line. Where is the repub outcry over this egregious central government takeover?
The third thing that happened lately is the imposition of the new young driver rules that take away a parents right to control that part of their children’s behavior…inserting the state in between that relationship and not allowing a parent to set the rules for behavior….for instance, the new 10 pm curfew for new drivers…what if they work after 10? What if they have a family outing? It’s just another example of the repubs talking individual freedom and then imposing the power of the state whenever they have the chance…..