All posts by James DeVol

May 9th

Well…it was an unusual day yesterday but I made some cash so that is a good thing…and I got back on the bike for a nice ride so I don’t feel as guilty as I should for pigging out when I got back form pool with Tom…we tried a new place…or I should say an old place, one that I haven’t been in in 40 years or so, the Alto bar, and it was okay….have not heard from T hardly at all over the past few days and I’m not sure what is going on…if our friendship is ending, it would be nice to know….and to then start to move on to other things….I do feel okay today since I was good when I got home and that is something to be proud of….slept like crap again but I think that comes with the territory nowadays….not much to do today…it was a busy one yesterday and I am looking forward to getting back to the old routine and cooking something….and getting a second one out today…sorry about being so distracted and lazy but I am going to do better….more later…

May 8th

Well…it was a long and wasted day yesterday…okay, that’s just the guilt talking since it rained all day and I didn’t get out on the bike so I feel so lumpy and out of sorts….I did get some necessary things done around here so that helps a little…but it looks like another survival day around here….need to get the papers out to recycle and put the trash out but the bin is full and I really don’t want to be one of those people that overflows the trash onto the ground….I think I’ll do my penance for the lazy day yesterday by doubling up on the workout and going 30 on the bike…so that will take up a good portion of the day after I have coffee and papers….and a bagel with cream cheese….I will be back later for more…there has to be something going on in the world….more later….

Another reason to send ole Mitt back where he came from….

Well…have been reading a few of the online papers this morning and a theme has emerged…one that I have taken on a couple of times before in regard to Michigan but this time it is on a national scale…and deals with the cluelessness of the rich in this country and of the Romney family in particular. As you know, one of my favorite sayings about the rich is that “they were born on third base but think they hit a triple to get there”…and that applies here to one of ole Mitt’s sons, Tagg, who has shown this same blindness to the advantages of being born rich in this country, and can’t figure out why everyone isn’t rich. The particular delusion of this young man centers on the establishment of a private equity fund that was started with one of Mitt’s primary fundraisers, and guess who one of the first “investors” was? His mom, of course, followed by over 60 of his father’s buddies and cronies who “invested” almost 250 million dollars in this fund…this, with Tagg having absolutely no experience in finance but, to hear ole Tagg explain it, it was because of his “excellent strategies” not because his father is Mitt and was planning on running for president in 2012. Delusions, delusions, delusions….and the crony capitalism we will see with a Romney presidency…look how well that worked out under ole GW. Haven’t we had enough of this nonsense? Haven’t we had enough of people getting a free ride in life because of their connections? I can pretty much bet that you and I couldn’t raise 250 million dollars from 60 or so of our friends….geez….

May 7th

Well…it was an okay day yesterday with finally getting out to have a couple with K and V but that was about it….pretty much a lazy day and I didn’t accomplish anything so I am going to try to do better today….I do have some things to do today and with the look of the radar, it may be a no bike day since the rain has already started…..I do need to make coffee here in a minute since I did have a couple of cocktails last night and with the normal, crappy sleep, I’m kind of worn out right now…and there were no dreams but traffic jams at the Beltline and 28th and I really have no idea what any of that means…I did get caught up yesterday and I will do my best to keep up so you will see another one today…but, I’m not going out to get the papers so I’ll have to be inspired by the online ones…something that rarely happens…more later…

What are they thinking?

Well…just a short one about what is happening in Indiana with the repubs and the fact that the tea partiers are primarying Senator Dick Lugar and it looks like he is going to lose. The shame about this is that the TP is using one of his strengths, the fact that he will reach across the aisle and work with the dems, against him, and with the idiots that are the TP, they are going to throw one of the most accomplished senators out for a moron that has never accomplished anything. I probably shouldn’t be concerned about this since, if Lugar loses, the dem candidate will probably win what was a secure seat for the repubs. This just shows you the trajectory that the repub party is on…that unless you are just as unreasonable and stupid as the TP, you have no place there….that if you really want to make a better America, you have no place there….I can see the collapse of the repubs coming…and with the TP pulling the strings, it can’t come too soon…geez…

May 6th

Well….it was another day of nothing yesterday and I am trying to not feel guilty about it…it was nice to talk to T via text all day but I was feeling like crap most of the day and I think I have discovered why….way too few calories Friday…at least that is my story and I am going to stick to it….so, I tried to eat more yesterday and I feel better today…so far, that is….but we’ll see as the day goes on….I am going to make some stuffed pork chops for lunch and I have gotten creative with the stuffing using a box of stove top that I found in the cupboard…we’ll see how that comes out….I’m in the middle of watching last week’s “Mad Men” so I’m going back to that….more later…

Okay…it’s later and I have gotten lunch and the bike ride in and feel okay while I wait here for the storms to come in and to hear from K to see if we are meeting up for a cocktail….okay…just heard from her and are meeting up in a half hour…so that will give me something to do…I probably won’t be back for another one but, you never know….oh, just had an idea for a new one…

May 5th

Well….as you can see, I’m running really late today since I wanted to get to the coffee and papers first…and the Arsenal/Norwich match that just ended was a good one….and I’m sitting here waiting to see if the the rain that is over the lake comes onshore…it’s a little too cool to go out and get soaked on the bike…I did sleep okay last night but again, no dreams to speak of and I was up quite early so that will kind of set what kind of a day this is going to be…I do need to clean the kitchen and do a few other things today but I am not really looking forward to it…I really kind of hope it rains so I’ll have an excuse to be lazy…there are races on this aft and it is Kentucky Derby day…should have gotten the ingredients for mint juleps….oh, well…don’t really need the calories….I will try to come back later for another one…especially if it rains….

Just some nonsense…

Well…there really is nothing going on in politics that I want to comment on right now except the nonsense that is going on with the repubs…and I know what your question is going to be: “it’s all nonsense with the repubs so what is different now?”….on a scale of 1 to 10 this one would just be a three or so but here it is…the big deal that is going on is concerned with where the hotel rooms are for the Michigan delegation to the repub convention…since this delegation has been given a block of rooms that are near Romney’s, the speculation has arisen that our governor, Rick Snyder, is going to be the vice president pick. It’s as I told you, there is just not much going on in politics so the news outlets have to pick up on this stuff….but, they are wrong…Snyder is nowhere near conservative enough for the repub electorate to stomach…you read it here first…Snyder will not be the VP pick for the repubs….what a slow news day….geez….

One last thing…and something I have been talking about for a while….that because of the austerity measures that were forced on the country by the repubs, we have seen job growth come to a standstill with the report that is out today…Keynes is proven right again and if I were Obama, I’d be attacking the repubs on just this issue…and using Europe as the bad example not to follow while their jobs growth is even worse with the extreme austerity they have practiced…

May 4th

Well…it was a day yesterday…finally up to the temps that we had in March and the bike ride was way more fun with it hot…and I won at pool so that was good….but I think I may have had the tv up way too loud when I got home so I’ll probably get a letter from the office here…oh, well…I do feel a little crappy today but not as bad as I should so that is a plus but I still can’t really think yet so I think I’ll head back to the couch…it’s just too early….

Okay…got the bike ride in and ate lunch and I feel somewhat better but not 100% yet….so this one is going to continue to be short…there were geese alerts on the trail today with the little ones hatching but no attacks…so that is one thing to be happy about…and the ride was fun so that’s another….okay…going back to the couch and to read the papers so I’ll have a topic for later….

Hold the victory laps here in Michigan….

Well…there has been a new theme that has surfaced in the repub talking points here in Michigan that is audacious to say the least, or just another incidence of the repubs taking credit for the recovery that they had no hand in. You decide. This latest theme or story, tries to tell the narrative that it is only the repub policies of cutting taxes for business, and raising them for everyone else that is responsible for the nascent recovery here in Michigan and that we should continue these policies or we will fall back into recession. I can’t even name how many ways this is wrong, but I’ll give a couple a try. First, it’s never been proven and it has never been documented that one job was ever created by tax cuts for business….especially in an environment where corporate cash on hand and profits are at the highest level in history…so, they won’t invest with a billion dollars on hand but they will if they have 1.25 billion on hand? the whole story is demand, demand, demand….and if middle class wages continue to fall, demand will fall along with it. Second, most of the job growth here in Michigan has been in and related to the recovery of the auto industry that the repubs vehemently opposed and still do….so now, they take credit that their policies resulted in this recovery? Just another instance where the repubs will do or say anything; counting on the electorate to have no memory at all of history or the truth. I guess it’s up to me to remind people….geez…