Well…the day didn’t work out as I expected yesterday…G didn’t feel well so I stayed home last night and just took it easy…got started pretty early today…got the slow cooker started at 6 am since I was up and bored…I may be going out to watch the Wings game later on but who knows? Not much else to do today…I might get a couple of posts out today but I’m not sure about it…I am just so disappointed with the political life in the US that I can’t muster up the energy to comment much right now…
The F1 race from Singapore is coming on tv in a few minutes so I’m gong to get a cup of coffee, read a little more online, and then settle in to watch the race….but the problem with F1 is that there is very little real racing or passing that goes on so it lends itself to doing other things while you just listen. I do want to take the bike out later this morning to burn of some of the caffeine but we’re getting to that time of the year where you have to wait for the temp to come up some…not going to wear gloves yet…more later…
This is going to be short and just a question…if tax cuts for the rich work so well as a stimulus, why did the worst recession since the great depression happen while the tax cuts were in force? Or do they only work when you keep piling money up on the rich? I’ve never heard why the cuts didn’t work from the repubs…keep asking that question….and I will, too…geez…
Well..just a short thought and warning to the independents that are thought to be leaning toward the Republicans this fall…they always try to legislate to their base. An example is their concerted effort to keep gay people in this country second class citizens by the various laws that restrict their freedom to marry whomever they want. With their slavish devotion the the far right of their party, there is no way that they will soften this stance in their legislative agenda; no matter what they say to the media. Independents, it has been shown by every poll that you do not want less regulation of business but that is just what you’ll get if you vote for the repubs this fall…don’t be misled by the propaganda that these folks spew everyday….they are not the reasonable adults they would have you think…and I will challenge you to give the Dems more of a chance to get this country moving again; after all, you gave the Bushies 8 years to run the economy into the ditch using the same policies that they now propose to salvage it…you are smarter than this….I hope.
Well…the latest attack in the war on labor by the repubs is another made up problem; that government workers make more than those in comparable jobs in the private sector. Why do you think that is? It’s not because government workers have seen their wages leap over the past few years, but because of the concerted repub and business attack on the middle class has suppressed and even lowered the wages of the average worker. It is again a case of extortion that has been perpetrated on the worker…take these concessions or we will move your jobs offshore; all the while corporate profits are at their highest in history. And now, the repubs are using the fruits of their propaganda campaign to demonize government and attack the one place they and their business cronies haven’t been able to control.
When are we going to realize that a fully functioning middle class with rising wages that match their rising productivity is why businesses have these huge profits….and in a consumer driven economy, hurting the consumer/worker at every turn is no way to ensure the growth needed for the country to be successful. But, these guys don’t care…their ideology will not allow them to do anything but favor business to keep the money rolling in…and getting re-elected. Geez….
Well…kind of a fun night last night…started out with HH with K but then since G was bored, she came out to hang for awhile, too, and we got to keep the shot glasses that we had our deer tequila in. Later, the Wings won their game against the Hawks and I was mistaken since Hank, Pavel, and Nick played when I thought they were going to be held out. I had to get into the chips and dip which are basically pure fat and I felt really guilty, along with being just so puffy from all of the salt that I’ll have to drink about 20 glasses of water to get rid of it all.
I have things to do today! There is F1 qualifying at 10, then the Michigan game, then a party out a K’s ( a different K) later on in the evening with G so it’s going to be fun…and there is a Top Gear marathon on BBC that will fill in the holes all day….and tomorrow, it’s Art Prize with G and K then the Wings game at 5 so I’m going to need some rest Monday…more later…
Well…have been looking forward to this day all summer…the first televised Red Wings preseason game. Have the gear on already and I’m waiting to hear from K to see what time we are meeting up for HH…I have planned for C and D to come over after that to watch the game with chips and dip…oh, already said that this morning, didn’t I? Can’t wait to see some of the new kids play since some of the veterans are being held out to give them a chance to see what they can do and we should see huge amounts of energy with their jobs on the line.
I know the game won’t be as good as Sunday’s when we have Ken and Mickey doing it but that is okay; I want to see what the Hawks will look like after all the changes in the offseason and they are the champs, after all. So, Let’s Go Red Wings!!
Well…another night of really crappy sleep had me up watching “Three’s Company” re-runs at 3:30 this morning waiting for the storms to come…I can’t believe it’s 80 degrees at 7 am, in the end of September but I’m not going to complain when all of us who live in Michigan know what’s ahead if us…I hope the predictions are right, that the winter will be drier and warmer than normal and the old Mazda will get through one more. Did go out for a while last night to OT and had a couple of beers with C and D…but took it easy so I feel pretty good even with being up and down all night. Need to get out to the coffee shop early today since the F1 practice is on at 9:30 instead of the normal 8 am and with the rain coming, I won’t be able to ride until later in the aft. Or maybe just take the day off since I have HH with K later and then might have C coming over to watch the Wings game since he doesn’t get the NHL Network. have to pick up the traditional chips and dip just in case that happens. So, a little bit to do today and I really should get doing it….more later….
Well…I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with a catchy title for this one and just couldn’t do it…probably shouldn’t do it owing to the seriousness of this one. If you don’t know, Chris Hitchens is a noted author, thinker and atheist whose recent book “God is not Great” was on the Times bestseller list for many weeks last year, and, who is fighting esophageal cancer with an uncertain prognosis. In an article in the Post this morning, the question was raised whether Mr. Hitchens would turn to faith now that he is facing death and his answer was a resounding no; that the sickness of religion and it’s power is based in fear..fear of the higher power and the unknown. Some of the religious who commented on the Hitchens post even went so far as to say that god gave him the cancer as punishment for his atheism. What kind of a petty, little prick of a god do these people worship? One that is so insecure that if even one person doesn’t bow to him, he smites them with disease?
I hope more people start to see what a waste of time and how stunting religion is to human growth and will join those of us that want to continue the move into the age of reason, where invisible men in the sky don’t rule over us and give us excuses for treating those who aren’t like us with contempt…..geez….
Well…a weird day yesterday…the computer took a dump in the afternoon and I was lucky to have my home grown IT department available…and it was good to see my son and just talk for a couple of hours….and then a long phone conversation with G reminded me of other times and made me smile a little. Crappy sleep last night, though, up at 4:30 again this morning and I feel fortunate that I don’t have to go to work today…gonna run out of steam around noon. Not much else to do today…want to finish the last book from the bag o books that T gave me to read so I can get another one…that has been helping me pass the time and it is good to see other peoples style…may even steal some if it really grabs me…
I just don’t like the summer being gone…looking out my slider, I can see the yellows, reds, and browns of fall starting to dominate the view and the trails are starting to be covered by the falling leaves. I’m not going use these changes as a metaphor for life and the passage of time related to my own aging….that’s just too cute and I’m certainly not cute….I do have a couple of topics for later today…one is on Christopher Hitchens if I can make sense of the jumble in my head…and the big target…the repubs “Pledge to America” or contract ON America and the middle class…
Well…listening to the repubs talk and block the repeal of DADT (don’t ask, don’t tell) all I can do is look back to the late 40’s when this same party (and to be honest, some of the Dems) said exactly the same things about the integration of the armed forces….and it is so funny to the absurd when you just substitute gays for African Americans in the comments from that time. Do the repubs even know that history exists? You wouldn’t think so with how they are treating this issue…an issue of civil rights where they always come out on the wrong side. Their primary argument goes to the idea of unit cohesiveness, readiness, and willingness to fight, and they just KNOW that allowing gays to serve openly will ruin the army….tell that to the Israelis, the Brits, Germans, and many other armies in the world. Tell that idea to the folks who have come up against the Israelis in any war they’ve fought. By keeping this policy, we align and compare ourselves to some of the most repressive countries in the world…where gays are still routinely murdered for being who they are…countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and countless others where the idea of civil rights has never taken hold.
It’s all just political BS where the repubs can energize their base by supporting this misguided policy; just a part of their larger plan to keep gays and lesbians in their place just like they tried for African Americans in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, and deal another defeat to Obama. Are any of you tiring of these made up issues as I am? Let’s remember that the constitution (you repubs remember that document…the one you wave around all the time?) guarantees equal protection under the law…to everybody…geez….