Well…must have had a bug yesterday because I feel better today even after being out shooting pool yesterday and having a couple of cocktails last night….as I said, I did win again at pool but Tom gave me 4 out of the 7 games so I really can’t feel that good about it…but the weather is holding so I feel great about that..I did read that the first 5 days of Feb are normally the coldest days of the year but it’s going to be almost 40 again today so there will be a bike ride…maybe I should start counting down to the first of March when I consider winter to be over…if all winters were like this one, I could take it just fine…not much to do today…have the coffee and papers waiting so I’ll do that first…and then I’m not sure..I’ll try to get back later for another one…
All posts by James DeVol
Okay…I was lazy today…
Well…I don’t know why I felt so rotten all day but that feeling took away my ability to come up with a topic that I felt strongly about so I didn’t….I did go out and shoot pool (and won another week) and now I’m waiting for 7 pm to come so I can have a cocktail…I was going to apologize for not getting a second one out today but I am ahead for the month so I don’t think I’m going to…it was nice day to ride the bike today…okay….this one is not what I wanted to do so I’m not going to finish it…I will be back tomorrow to try it again…
February 3rd
Well…it was a night last night and I had fun out with K for a couple…and then it was a cocktail night so I feel a little crappy today…but the Wing won so that helps…a little….nope, not feeling it so I’m going back to the couch for a while to have some more water…
Okay…starting to feel human again after lunch and a bike ride…still not 100% but I feel so much better than this morning…still think I have a bug of some kind since I am just so tired even though I slept okay last night…I was a little happy that the Wings won again last night but these west coast games are just killing me…not much to do today..I am getting ready to go out and shoot pool with Tom in a couple of minutes so I should start getting ready…I may be back for more later but I’m not sure…it will probably be later, though…
A good article on foreign policy…
Well…it has been really quite comical seeing the repub candidates try to one-up each other on the toughness of their proposed foreign policy…to hear them talk there will be no nuance or discussion with either our friends or enemies and under the repubs foreign policy will be reduced to one mantra “shoot first and ask questions later”. But, the reasons why are so varied and include the rise of other powers in the world both economically and militarily. I did read an article in the Washington Post today by Fareed Zakaria that does a much better job than I can in explaining these changes…here’s the link….http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-post-american-world-demands-a-new-approach-from-the-us/2012/02/01/gIQAba5ziQ_story.html?hpid=z3
Let’s burst one republican talking point….
Well…this is going to be a short one while I wait for the laundry to finish so I can get out on the bike before lunch….there was an interesting little article about a poll taken over the past week that asked small business owners what their largest impediment to growth and adding jobs was…and, guess what? It wasn’t the old repub screed about too much regulation…in fact a majority of those polled felt that good regulation helps level the playing field for them…something I have been saying since I started this thing almost two years ago…but, the surprise of the poll was that, by a large majority, these small business owners said that lack of demand was the biggest barrier to them growing their companies…and where do we get demand? By increases in the disposable income of consumers that is driven by sharing the stellar growth in productivity that big business has hoarded for the top 1%….and more stimulus from the government….so, the next time you hear a repub cry about too much regulation in the economy…just shout “nonsense” at them and let’s call out these “truths” that are anything but…geez…
February 2nd
Well…another night of no cocktails and I feel okay today…I did get a bunch of things done yesterday so I feel good about that and it was good to see G for a few minutes last night….didn’t sleep too well again but I guess I’ll just have to get used to it…I did get a bike ride in yesterday and they cleared the ice off the trail that I crashed on last week so that made my day…it looks like another good one today and I am looking forward to getting out again…might have pool with Tom today or HH with K so I will have something to do later no matter what happens…and the Wings play again tonight so the night is taken care of, too….not much to do today..oh, already talked about that…but not about having to get groceries and then the normal stuff….I will be back for later….I hope….
This just occured to me…
Well…it has been a weird synthesis that has happened over the day today with reading a bunch of articles the were seemingly unrelated, but then a light came on and an idea slowly came to me about the controversy where union members don’t have any say when their dues are used for political donations and the repubs howling about it and trying to write laws to eliminate this use of those dues. Then it came to me…what is the difference between unions using their dues to support political candidates they like and corporations cutting peoples pay and then taking the money they save and giving it to their candidates? I’ve never heard a repub bitch about corporate giving or proposing any laws that would restrict it…and I’ve never heard of any corporation asking their employees to vote on what candidates or causes are supported….so, again, the hypocrites on the right have it wrong..but they are so used to having it both ways that they can’t see their hypocrisy…or better yet, they won’t see it because they don’t believe in truth…geez…
More Mitt nonsense…
Well…it was an interesting little sound bite that came out of the morning news shows with ole Mitt when he came out and said “I’m not concerned about the poor…they have their safety nets”…I can’t believe how wrong this is on so many levels, especially when his party has made it’s their life’s work to end the safety net as we know it with their opposition to unemployment benefits and their efforts to gut medicaid, medicare, and social security. He then went on to say that his concern is for the middle class and making sure it is strong…yeah, right, Mitt…you were really concerned at Bain when you reaped millions of dollars in profits personally by hacking up companies and stealing the assets while leaving the employees holding the bag…something that you are still profiting from to this day and it is just a lie that you give a damn about anyone but your isolated buddies in the 1% that live in their gated enclaves with their legacy admissions to the best colleges and their lives of privilege. If that sounds like “envy’ you are wrong…it is anger at the self-perpetuating nonsense pushed by the repubs that won’t allow people like me to work anymore…that just because of my age there is no place for me when I have the education and the skills the repubs are always saying the workforce lacks…so, Mitt, take your Freudian slip and go back to your 10 houses and leave the rest of us alone….geez…
February 1st
Well…another month gone by and I’m still idling, looking for work with my hope for ever finding work again slipping away as the days pass….but I won’t let it get me down…there is still life to live even thought it’s not the one I ever expected…and it was a no cocktail night last night so I feel okay today…still trying to sleep and might have to go back to the OTC sleeping pills for a while…I think part of the soreness that I have been feeling lately is from all of the tossing and turning that I do at night…the sheets were twisted into a rope after last night….the Wings did win last night but I didn’t see the third…it was just time to hit the sack when it started but that is the problem with west coast swings….the next two are 10 pm games and that is just way too late to see the whole thing…not much to do today…have to run a bunch of errands and then back her for more of the same…there should be politics for later so come on back….
Oh, it might be warm enough today to get back on the bike….I hope the 50 plus weather has melted the snow off the trails…I guess I’ll find out later this morning…
I’ve already made the goal…
Well…just looked at the count for the month and realized that I’ve already made my goal of two per day for the month…but, I thought I’d do another one just for the hell of it..don’t know if I have very much to say but I’m going to say it anyway…I did get the papers out for recycling as I said I would but that is about it…I think I’m going to stay on this topic for a while…that the intelligence and memory of the people in the US must be questioned when polls come out that put Romney and Obama almost even in the general election….I can still remember the Bush years…the unfunded wars we were lied into, the erosion of our civil liberties, the shredding of the constitution, the continued concentration of wealth in the top 1% while the rest of the country struggles….let’s say it again…all of the problems we have now are a direct result of repub policies and they are promising more of the same if elected…they are planning to gut social security and medicare while giving tax breaks to the rich that will give them an AVERAGE of $146,000 cut while raising them on everyone else. No society can survive when one percent of the country controls everything….
I have one question to ask…why can’t ceo’s take only half of their outrageous pay and give pay raises to the people that work for them? This one move would put billions if not trillions of dollars into the hands of people who would spend it, increasing demand across the entire economy and putting people back to work….just saying….