Well…a fun day out shooting pool but can’t say it’s out in Ada anymore since the Victory club closed….went to a new place out in Cascade that was a little louder but fun….ran into a bartender that I know from years back and that was a little weird…some of the regulars from the V were there, too, which was another weird coincidence. I did win at pool even giving away 4 games and the tab was not bad….so it looks like we will be back there next week. Do feel a little crappy today but I think it’s more from not eating enough yesterday than anything else….not much to do today…might meet up with T later and that will be fun…but it’s a shorty or a drive by since she is so busy….other than that it looks like a veg day today…I will get to some topics later….gas prices are going to be one of them…they went up 40 cents a gallon yesterday and the speculators are having a field day….more later…
Hope is fading….
Well…a disheartening new twist has started to become evident in the job market over the past few days…if you haven’t heard, many companies have now made it policy to not hire anyone that is unemployed no matter what the reason for that person’s unemployment. It feels like someone just kicked me in the gut and the small glimmers of hope that the job market was improving have now been taken away….what are they thinking? I’m at a loss for words…and if you know me, that doesn’t happen very often….to quote Neil Young “the punches came fast and hard”…..
One thing that came into my head lately and that doesn’t have anything to do with the jobs thing…I guess it’s okay to protest if your are people that fox news supports…like the tea party, but anyone else that they don’t agree with are “cowards and thugs” when they protest for their own rights. I don’t know what is happening in this country…I think we’ve lost our sense of shared purpose..why can’t we progressive stand up for our rights? Why can’t we stand up to protect the gains that the working class has made over the past 80 years? Now, I understand there are abuses in some states by greedy workers that work scams to go on disability and double dip pensions, the majority of these public workers took less money to work in the public sector and should be appreciated for it.
February 22nd
Well…I did go out last night to a new place with G and it was one of these throwback lounges that I remember from my youth…updated with Keno so it was kind of fun…with the ice that was still on the roads…the old wreck was almost shaken apart and I felt bad for it….made it home, though, it was all good. Our Tuesday spot for pool just closed so Tom and I have to find a new place today…not too happy about that but that’s life, I guess. I did get my state taxes done yesterday so that will be some money coming in in a few weeks…might be able to make it through May now if things fall right but it would be better to find a job and get moving forward. Not much to do today…normal Tuesday stuff and resumes….and a few more posts that I will have for you today…there are topics that I have been thinking about that may come out today…who knows? More later….
Make no mistake, this is war…
Well….just did my state taxes and that put me in a kind of crappy mood, but I really don’t mind paying taxes to keep the society running…and this comes from an unemployed guy who is quickly going broke…so what is the excuse for the richies to not want to pay theirs? But, that’s not what this one is about….I just need to make sure you understand that the attacks on organized labor by the repubs is war, it is an attack on all of us that have tried to drag ourselves up out of poverty and have found that the only way you can stand against the moneyed interests in the US is to organize. I have some questions to ask those non-union folks who are so adamant that the unions have become greedy and unresponsive to the needs of todays economy…do you like your 40 hour workweek? Do you like your employer paid health insurance? Do you like your vacations? Do you like your pension or 401K match? Well…all of these are a result of the unions standing up for all of the workers here in the US…not just their members. All you right wing union bashers out there, do you think your companies would just give you these things out of the goodness of their hearts? If you do…you are even more delusional than you sound in the message boards. Make no mistake….emboldened by the billionaires who bought this last election for the repubs, these same repubs have been told to wage war on labor and the middle class…it’s a take no prisoners game in which all of us need to decide what side we’re on….billionaires or your neighbors and friends..geez…
February 21st
Well…did the world end yesterday? I made the mistake of listening to the weather and it appeared for a while that we were all going to die a slow, cold death. Then, I looked out at the car this morning and it’s covered with 4 inches or so of snow…another snow storm…not the winter snowpocalypse that was predicted. At least we are getting toward March and this stuff will be over soon. It was a normal sunday…no SF since K is in Florida and I didn’t really do a whole lot…the Wings won in a shootout and the Woods brothers won Daytona which was pretty cool; they were a huge team when I was growing up and the gold number 21 on the side of the car brought back some good memories. Other than that….pretty much a veg day and that was okay. Not much to do today….have to keep working on the resume so I can find some kind of work pretty soon….there should be topics for later…the Protests in Madison chould be one…and one thing struck me…they interviewed a 20 year old tea party supporter…how can that be? Are all of our youth getting that stupid that they buy into that fake organization bankrolled by the Koch brothers? I fear for this country when the ideas of 20 year olds have ossified to those of a pissed off 50 year old white guy…geez…more later…
February 20th
Well…have my schedule a little backwards this morning…had my coffee and read the newspaper already…that’s why I’m late and it might be fun to see if the caffeine affects how and how much I write. Had a normal Saturday yesterday and had fun out at GR Brewing Co. with K and V for a couple…..then back here to watch the rest of the race but I am getting even more bored with nascar than last year…maybe the 500 today will be better but this whole 2 car draft thing is pretty annoying…I think it’s time to lose the restrictor plates and let them race…they were running at 215 in 1985 and aren’t speeds supposed to go up? And, don’t get me started on the car they are running now…are they trying to ruin the sport? Okay, driving off on a tangent there….get it? DRIVING off on a tangent….ha, ha,….I crack myself up sometimes. Not much to do today…of course, I have the race and the Wings game at the same time so there will be some flipping involved…no, I don’t have a dvr….I might have some topics for later today or maybe just another musing day…I guess I’m supposed to be cringing and stockpiling food for the winter storm we are supposed to get but…c’mon, this is Michigan in feb….what do you expect? More later….
Saturday morning musings….
Well….I have been going off on political topics all week and some of the posts have been a little screedish so I thought I’d change it up a bit for today and just let some thoughts flow out….and I will want to claim the invention of screedish…a brand new word…you’ve heard it here first, folks. But, on to other things…a thought hit me after lunch with T yesterday that I feel even more lonely after I meet up with people and go out….when I thought back to some of the recent outings, it appears to be pretty constant and I don’t know why. Hmmmmm…doesn’t really mean anything I guess…this was kind of triggered by hearing “Southern Cross” by CSN on Pandora this morning….maybe because it’s about love, loss, and bad choices that can stay with you throughout your life. Who Knows?
I have been struggling with getting the new novel going…I have the story kind of set but don’t have the big, grabber ending yet and it is getting frustrating….but I’ll figured this stuff out before and I know I will again….okay, “Wouldn’t it be nice” by the Beach Boys just came on…..just a great love song…it’s one of those days where my emotions are all over the map…do men have hormonal problems when they age? Sure seems like it….maybe I’ll have to change the station to Led Zeppelin….okay….someone at Pandora is reading my mind right now…”I can’t tell you why” by the Eagles just came on….do I have to put on the tin foil hat now? If they do it again, I’ll need to do something…
It’s 10:28 and this weird calmness just came over this place….and me…..it’s like the air is thicker and everything is muffled and slower….waiting for the next song…..okay, the Moody blues just came on so I can take the hat off….maybe that’s what they’re waiting for….yep, you know I’m a little nuts so you shouldn’t be surprised about this one..I do need to come up for air occasionally….I’ll probably do another one of these later since this one didn’t help….
February 19th
Well…running late for some reason and even I don’t know what it is….did have some weird dreams about people stealing flowers out of my backyard and there were dogs involved…yep, pretty weird….was a pretty good day yesterday with lunch with T and the a good Red Wings game later…we won again so that it 4 in a row, can’t wait for sunday’s game…I was a little concerned for a while when they weren’t playing well….a bit of good news came last evening…Steely Dan is touring again this year and I think I’ll write to their site and suggest they come to GR so I won’t have to travel across the state or to Chicago to see them. Now, I’ll just have to find someone to go with since G used to be my concert partner and that just won’t happen anymore. Not much to do today…meeting up with K for a couple at 1 to see her off before she goes to Florida….then back here to watch races if there are any…..I will have some topics for later since there is such an uproar here about the gov’s budget plans…more later…
Wisconsin tries to kill the unions…
Well…if you needed another example of the repubs concerted efforts to kill organized labor, look no farther than Wisconsin, where the repub governor and legislature are trying to take the collective bargaining rights away from all public employees, and you know who’s next..any other union that tries to keep it’s members in the middle class. This is being done on the pretext that they have a 137 million dollar budget deficit and something has to be done. but the only pertinent fact here is that, until they gave away a matching tax break to business, the state was running a surplus…just another example of these repub thieves trumping up crises that don’t exist to attack the middle class. I sense the beginning of a revolt here…where the repub plans are finally being exposed and getting the coverage that was lacking before the election…at least I hope so…the pie here in the US is big enough for everyone if the repubs would stop thinking they deserve it all….
Michigan, it’s a scam….
Well…I have a couple of predictions on the new budget proposals that have been put forth by the “CEO of Michigan”, and the idea that to keep our state solvent, we all need to “share the sacrifice” in lessening of services, higher taxes on individuals, and lowered expectations. Of course, the right wing press and the Chamber have come out salivating that one of their own is now governor and the proposals reflect their input…my question is: where was the people’s input? When did these folks talk to anyone but business? The answer is, they didn’t because they just don’t give a damn about you and me. This is just another example of the “long con” that the repubs are working on the people of Michigan and the rest of the US that purports to have the best interests of the people in mind, but any thought of the middle class is just a smoke screen to allow business to steal the rest of the country that they and their rich buddies don’t already own. For example, as I said yesterday, the proposed budget here in Michigan gives business a 1.8 billion tax break while raising taxes on individuals that same amount, another huge transfer of wealth from the workers to the rich, but that’s not the worst part of it. The new budget and the governor also say that they are going to phase out tax credits to retain and lure businesses to Michigan. But you and I both know that is a lie….the first time a business bitches about losing these credits, the repubs are going to fall all over themselves trying to give them more, more, more; so business taxes will continue to fall to zero while we’ll all pay for it. The repubs do nothing but lie, lie, lie, why would anyone believe them now?
This is an organized scam where business and the repubs have mapped it all out over a few year span…play on the patriotism of the people of Michigan to get them to buy into the “shared sacrifice” and then pay off business with larger and larger tax breaks and higher and higher profits so these repub legislators will have their next jobs assured after term limits force them to stop stealing from the people here….geez…