Tag Archives: Michigan

No politics right now…

Well…I don’t know if you are getting as tired of me talking about politics as I am but, in case you are, I think I’ll change it up some and talk about sports for a while…I’ll probably come back later with some political ramblings but I don’t know if I can muster up any outrage today. I’ll try, but no promises…

On to sports….I am excited about the Wings and Canadiens game tonight as I am whenever we play an original six team…and they are on a tear with a record comparable to ours so it should be fun….in interviews in the Detroit papers today, the guys even seem pretty geeked up about it….this is one that I’ll have the gear on for…might even go out for while to share a little of it. Then, we have the “Big Chill” at the big house tomorrow where Michigan and Michigan Sate play an outdoor hockey game that will set the record for attendance by almost 30K…I WILL be watching that one on TV…V even got tickets for it but I’m not sure I’d want to sit in the cold for 2 1/2 hours…I like the couch better and having my own private bathroom….and beer. I’ll be rooting for Michigan….

Hmmmm…what else? I could talk about soccer but I drive enough people away with my normal stuff that I can’t take the chance of losing more of you….Baseball? Not that interested right now….Racing? Nope….nothing happening there but the BTCC….and if I have to explain what that is, you’re not interested enough in racing to keep reading…so I’ll stop here…more later…

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…

Well…I have to thank the Who for the title of this one…and I hope I don’t get sued…but it fits the new political landscape here in Michigan so well that I just had to use it. This idea was spurred by the headlines in the Michigan newspapers since the Tuesday election that are trumpeting that governor-elect Snyder is bringing in “top aides’ from the Engler administration to run his transition to governor. You have got to be kidding me…we threw those idiots out 8 years ago after they screwed up Michigan so badly that we still haven’t climbed out of the mess.

These are the same folks that tried to kill public education here just because they hated the teachers unions with such blinding rage that they didn’t give a damn about the collateral damage they were doing to our children. A legacy that we still see today with decaying schools and huge class sizes that are necessary along with the wide-spread layoffs of teachers to balance the budgets of tax limited school systems. And now, Snyder has already said that one of his first priorities is to cut taxes even more for businesses that already have the highest retained profits in the history of the world. Does that sound like they are overtaxed? When did it become necessary to bribe companies with tax cuts or they’ll take their ball and go home?

Now…this isn’t my last word on the subject….and I’ll give these new guys exactly the two years that was given to Obama…if unemployment isn’t down to 5 % or less by 2012, these guys should be sent back to their country clubs and out of our lives.

Just a little sports…

Well….that was about as good an opening game that we could expect from the Red Wings…they dominated every facet of the game hand we even got to see the second fight of Pavel Datsuyk’s career…I laughed so damn hard when that happened that I couldn’t catch my breath. It was good to see Mike Modano get his first goal as a Wing, and Hank and Pavel both got one along with Frantzen which made it a 4-0 shootout. Jimmy Howard looked good in goal but it was bad to lose Ericsson with back pain…I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see Maltby for the last game before he retires and I hope the Wings set aside a game night to honor his contributions since the early 90′s. Another game tonight but the damn dish folks haven’t settled the contract with Fox yet….so I won’t be able to see it without going out. Might be the time to try out the new bar over here….

Now, let’s get to the big game of the day..our own intrastate rivalry here in Michigan…Michigan versus Michigan State in college football…two teams, both 5-0, and more than a little hatred between them…I’m already in my gear and waiting…will probably take a nap before it since I almost overdid it last night and the energy level is s little low. Maybe make some coffee? I am rooting for Michigan as always…you know my rooting hierarchy…I will root for State whenever they are not playing Michigan…but, this year, I think it’s going to be State since they have a much more balanced team…Michigan’s defense has been suspect all year but we can hope they will improve today, can’t we? so, Go Blue!!!

September 18th

Yep…I know, I’m late this morning…the damn DSL has been off and on all morning since it is raining here and I am starting to get really frustrated with the service…I think I’ll check on getting cable internet this week since the DSL is normally so slow I can’t watch instant movies on netflix anymore either. But, that’s for another time I guess. No plans for the weekend so far but G may be available later and want to hang out so that could be something…and, we have Michigan football at noon so I’ll have to get some things done here pretty quickly so I can watch uninterrupted. Going to try a pork loin in the slow cooker today but I’m trying to do it with just what is currently in the place and kind of winging it on the spices. I know I’m going to coat it with some Jamaican jerk spices that I got the last time in Chicago and probably use some chicken stock, lime juice, and garlic…going to keep it simple and kind of fresh tasting..I’ll let you know later how it came out…well, not until after 6 since it takes about 8 hours to cook.

Not much else going on this weekend…looks like no bike ride today since there is rain all the way back to Iowa on the radar…but I think I’ll kind of miss it since the liver was rested last night and the coffee from this morning has me amped up and ready to go…maybe later…

GO BLUE!!
Oh, I am looking forward the the State and ND game which will give me something to do later…

More labor bashing from the right…

“haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words, and most of them are lies…” Was listening to Pink Floyd on the bike ride and this line struck up a thought that connected with the concerted push by the right here in Michigan to destroy the unions abetted by their propaganda paper for west Michigan “the Grand Rapids Press”. For the past couple of weeks, the Press has been running a series whose purpose is to push the repubs continued attack on the unions; now cloaked in the right to work flag. The theme of the series is that if Michigan didn’t have unions, there would be many more auto jobs and the state would be more competitive in the race for new manufacturing plants that have generally been won by the low wage southern states. Their star example is the new Kia plant in Georgia and everyone they interviewed kept to the right’s line that the only reason it was built in Georgia instead of Michigan was Georgia’s right to work status.

Well…in the fine print, they mention what I think is the key, and it isn’t the right to work laws….it IS the fact that Georgia built Kia a $410 million, yep, that’s a $410 million dollar manufacturing plant and handed them the keys…and, while this plant was being built, all of the repub southern legislators were screaming socialism when the Obama administration was helping the unionized, American manufacturers survive. Why do the Republicans want the US worker to win the race to the bottom? Why aren’t they rejoicing that the unions are protecting the middle class with wages high enough so they can buy a house, a new car, put their kids through college, and save a little for their retirement? Again, I think it’s the unholy alliance of the repubs and business, now including even foreign manufacturers whose goal it is to accelerate the redistribution of wealth up the the rich…with the American worker paying the price. Geez….

Go Blue!

Well…it’s been a long time coming but the day is here for the real college football to start with Michigan taking on UConn. We also have the State game at noon along with Notre Dame and Purdue. So, it should be a fun day…not a Sunday Funday, but a fun day nonetheless. Whew…any time I have to use words like nonetheless I cringe a little..but just a little since it fits so well. I am a little concerned that we are going to have another season like last year…I don’t know if I can take 3 losing seasons in a row and I can’t remember that happening since I have bee a fan. Could they turn into the Detroit Lions of college football? I shudder (literally) when I have those thoughts. At least we have hockey starting in three weeks if this goes bad. Or, State, since they are both Michigan teams, I have to root for them, too, and there is a little connection for me to that school since my daughter graduated from State a few years back.

Any other sports? Well, there is the Nationwide race from Atlanta under the lights for later if I make it that far…guess I’ll just have to pace today and stay to the one beer and hour limit…which is a good idea anyway and saves me money.

Promise me Ving and Rick….

Well…short lunch, huh? Hasn’t it been nice to not hear political commercials since the primary is over? But, as you and I both know, it’s just the lull before the storm and we will be inudated before long. That is why I want to make this proposal to both candidates…let’s stop the attack ads and replace them with policy ones that will tell us what you are going to do to get our state moving again, to get more good paying jobs, and to get both sides of the political spectrum talking to one another again instead of shouting at each other. I think it was a good sign when Rick Snyder (a Republican) said he would personally reach across the aisle to the Dems to solve the problems of the state…but Rick, if you start talking tax cuts as your foundation for your economic policy, I will urge everyone to stop listening to you since the Bush tax cuts did not help spur growth, they were actually a drag on the economy and don’t work resulting in 40% of the structural deficit that we now face. And, Ving, I see your attack ads have already started and I am disappointed that you haven’t tried to build on the economic successes of the Dems over the last two years…you have the thriving auto companies, the reform in health care, and re regulation of the financial companies to talk about…let’s hear how you are going to fix our economy; not that Rick sent jobs overseas. Let’s commit ourselves to reasonableness and show the country what adults can do when they act like adults. One last comment…the tea party lost out to the moderates here…is there hope at last?

Michigan’s texting law again…

Well…I just can’t let this one go…you all know about the new law in Michigan that makes texting while driving a primary offense…that means that the police can stop anyone they “suspect” of sending or reading texts, or reading e-mail while driving. While this sounds like a good idea to some folks given some highly publicized accidents that have happened while the drivers were texting, let’s look at exactly what that means. What are the actions that would make you a suspect? Basically, anything that you do in the car now makes you liable to be pulled over. I have an MP-3 player that is attached to the stereo in my car that any officer can say looks like a phone if I’m looking at it to change the music. What if I’m looking at maps that I need to get where I’m going…how can they see in my car to see that it is a map and not a phone…and what about the smartphones that many people use instead of maps? What about the handheld gps systems that can be mistaken for a phone? What about ford’s Sync system that can provide e-mails to be read in the car? Which, under this law is illegal. I’d be selling my Ford right away.

That said, I do believe that when you are in the car, you should be driving; not talking on the phone, eating, reading, or putting on makeup.

Where are the Repubs who are howling that the healthcare bill is a direct attack on their freedoms when this bill is so much more of a direct attack on the fourth amendment and the guarantee of protection from unreasonable search and seizures?

And, let’s think of the primary driving force behind this bill; the insurance companies who have spent millions lobbying for it’s passage. The reason for this is, as the police write tickets for this offense, guess who gets to raise the rates of people that have been ticketed? Given the history of police departments abusing the powers granted to them by vague laws, do we expect any different here? Geez….