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….

July 12th

Well…I was right…you should have bet on Spain…but the match was not a lot of fun to watch. We did go out to the Mex place to watch it….and were the only English speaking people in the place…had loads of fun with K but feel like crap again today. I’m trying to get moving for coffee but not having a lot of luck at the moment….maybe a shower will help but I’m not holding my breath…more later…

July 11th

Well…the boating was fun and I am really sunburned and sore from the beating you take in a boat going 70 across Lake Michigan. Going to have to take the day off of riding even; I feel so beat up that everything hurts and that makes it hard to walk. So, today looks like taking it easy until the stiffness goes away…I hope later today but you know how that works…the real pain takes about a day to come so Monday is going to be the bad one. But what the hell..it was worth it to be out and having fun again…lake Michigan was as warm as I can remember it and the lack of waves made the boat ride at least a little easier.

I do have something to say later about the habit the repubs have about just making stuff up that goes all the way back to ole GW and is alive and well with Jan Brewer of Arizona….more later….

Oh, forgot to talk about the rest of the day…it looks like out to watch the World Cup final with K later…my predictions have not been too accurate but I think it’s going to be the Netherlands that wins it…so bet on Spain…

July 10th

Well…it’s early morning here and I.m trying to get the cobwebs out of my head to get ready for the day…you’ll be happy to hear that this is not going to be another day of boredom…have plans to get out on Lake Michigan this morning to hang out with some friends on boats. The same boat we almost flipped two years ago that resulted in a gash of 5 inches in my head, 15 stitches and a bill of 2 grand to fix it….nope, not concerned that it will happen again. It will be nice to be out and about reliving the fun that was a regular occurrence back then….

There may be a post later on important topics but I may be too sunburned to want to do that so check back about 6 or so…probably more likely that it will be Sunday…

Is Frank Beckmann an idiot or just a cynical Repub shill?

Well….yay…it’s outrage day again here in the world of the sane. Reading the Detroit News this morning, I ran across a piece of tripe from the columnist Frank Beckmann, whose premise is that the Obama administration is crazy since they have chosen to enforce the federal right to control immigration policy by challenging the Arizona law on immigration. His posit is that since the federal government is not living up to what the people of Arizona want on immigration enforcement, it is their right to make their own laws regarding it. What’s next Frank, if they don’t like some trade laws or the Chinese manipulation of their currency, are you proposing that Arizona send a delegation to talk to the Chinese or make laws that would better fit the thoughts of the residents? Or, if they decide we should get out of Afghanistan, then they can bring home any Arizona Reserve or National Guard unit that they see fit?

Frank also goes on to say that since the Obama administration has decided to not enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have approved medical marijuana, their stand on the Arizona immigration law is invalid…no, Frank, it’s not inconsistent or invalid, it’s the feds recognizing that this is a medical issue that affects individuals in those states, not a federal policy one and has the compassion to see the difference. They federal government has always had to the right to chose where to apply resources in the application of the law.

He concludes that Obama’s administration is bowing to political pressure and is not prosecuting people that should be under current laws…all I have to say is: Where were you , Frank, when the Bushies were illegally wiretapping the entire country and torturing in the name of America; breaking too many laws and treaties to count….cheerleading as usual. So now, I guess your column means you would support prosecution of Bush, Cheney, and all of their cronies? No. I didn’t think so…..Geez…..

July 9th

Well…it is shaping up to be a fun weekend for a change…going out with friends tonight for a while and then out on the boats for the first time in a couple of years tomorrow. But, before that, the mundane intrudes again and I have to get groceries this morning and do the physical stuff that kinda keeps this old body in reasonable shape. so, on that note, have to get going to avoid the blue-hair brigade that clogs the aisles…more later…I promise…and it will be quite a bit more lucid than yesterday’s posts…some days it just doesn’t work…

Look down

Well…I did finish one of the placekeepers, but it is down on July 6th since that is when I started it….so if you want to see it….just look down a few…

The title is : Why isn’t this important?

What you never want to be….