I have to remark on Matt Treanors little collision with LaPorta during last nights game. I was at dinner and I'd run into some friends and we were talking about whether it was worth driving to Olathe to see Brody Buster so I only had one eye on the TV, but I still very nearly stood up and yelled "And he's down!". Thank god I didn't.
And so it goes:
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The phoenix may arise yet again
Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose books include "Late Edition: A Love Story" and "When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams."
(CNN) -- There went July, for those of you keeping score at home.And as another summer in the only life you'll ever lead makes its turn into the backstretch, perhaps we might pause for just a moment to reflect upon a glorious part of the American summer landscape that is no longer with us:
Thunderbirds.
Ford Thunderbirds.
It's not just that they don't make 'em like that anymore.
They don't make 'em. Period.
Born in 1955, the Thunderbird was instantly such a sensation that it seemed as if it would roll down America's highways forever. The first generation of Thunderbirds -- the ones manufactured in 1955, 1956 and 1957, and referred to as "Little Birds" by those who are devoted to T-Bird legend and history -- was a sharp, low-slung two-seater that was freedom and wanderlust incarnate. It was no wonder that in the movie "American Graffiti," the elusive blonde who represented summer dreams that always seem somehow just beyond reach drove one of the earliest Thunderbirds. Any other car would have seemed wrong.
The next generation of Thunderbirds -- the ones built in 1958, 1959 and 1960, and known as "Square Birds" -- are, to many of us, not just the most beautiful T-Birds ever, but the most beautiful cars. The very name -- Thunderbird -- felt ideal for the nation's post-World War II self-image: confident and powerful and a little cocky, unworried about what was around the next bend, strong enough to roll over any obstacles that might arise. There were songs written about the allure of T-Birds -- the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun" is the most famous -- but the T-Bird song that is most evocative in its poignancy was an album track by Bob Seger.
Called "Makin' Thunderbirds," the song celebrates the feeling of working on an industrial assembly line that is producing something special. In his lyrics, Seger paints a portrait of an America clear-eyed and optimistic and trusting in its ability to find its own way; he was singing about working on the line, but he was singing about the country, too: "We were young and proud, we were makin' Thunderbirds."
Somehow, it got away. Ford decided to try to improve on the Square Bird; the cars got longer and heavier and more luxurious, and for a while they were still recognizably T-Birds. But then, by the early 1980s, Ford did the seemingly impossible: It made the Thunderbird ordinary. The car that looked like no other became the car that looked like every other.
"That was awful," Elizabeth Werth told me the other morning. She and her husband Bill live in northern Illinois, and are members of Thunderbird clubs both locally and nationally. (Elizabeth is a past regional director of the Classic Thunderbird Club International.)
When the Thunderbirds became little more than family sedans, she said, "You couldn't even tell, when you were driving down the road, if that car that was coming toward you was a Thunderbird. Our neighbor across the street had one. I looked at it and thought, 'What? That's a Thunderbird? Why?' "
Bill Werth owns a restored '55 Little Bird, painted in the original Thunderbird Blue. "When I drive it, people pull up next to it and start taking pictures with their cell phones," he said. Elizabeth confirmed this: "People see it, and it's thumbs up, smiles, waves, cameras being pulled out, people hanging out the window of their cars to get a better look."
Ford fooled around with the design of Thunderbird for a while, then, in 1997, shut down the brand. It came back early in this century for a few years, but then was dropped again in 2005. There are currently no Thunderbirds being made.
Which seems a shame in a cookie-cutter universe of mundane cars that look like so many rounded-off shoeboxes. Car designers are always looking for the next great style concept, but Ford had it a long time ago -- that gorgeous Square Bird from 1958, 1959 and 1960 -- and threw it away in the name of progress.
I've had a theory that I have been trying out on people for years. What if Ford were to take the chassis underpinnings and engine used in today's autos, complete with all the now-necessary fuel-efficiency and safety standards, and drop the old Square Bird body on top of it? A Square Bird body constructed of modern materials, brand-new and ready to hit the highway? Why couldn't that be done? In a world of bland and dull transportation options, people might snap it up. It would make them happy just to look at it as they climbed behind the wheel every morning.
The idea is nuts, I have often been told. Couldn't be done. Unrealistic.
But then, last week, I spoke with someone who said that it could, in fact, be accomplished -- and might be a fine idea.
And he was speaking from inside the headquarters of the Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Michigan.
"It's not nuts at all," said Bob Kreipke, Ford's official corporate historian. "The engineers and designers could come up with a way to make it work. I'd probably buy one myself, because it would be different from everything else that is out there on the road."
Kreipke said that in his opinion, the Thunderbird may be dormant, but not buried: "That is such a great brand. As far as I'm concerned, that brand is far from meeting its death. That's a real powerful nameplate."
In "Fun, Fun, Fun," of course, the Beach Boys sang that "Daddy took the T-Bird away." In real life, it was Ford that took the T-Bird away.
But what Ford taketh away, Ford can giveth.
Just the way it was: perfect.
Summer and Thunderbirds.
Sounds like a song.
-The only thing I would have to add to this article would be a request. Please don't make a new Thunderbird the boring ass cruisers they were in the early 2000's. They were cool looking, they were a great idea, but that sluggish sloppy riding boat they made out of it was no fun to drive at all. Take a good car platform and put it on that. A nice re-design wouldn't hurt either. -coyote ed.
And so it goes:
Saturday, July 30, 2011
hgf
i didn't forget i was busy looking at horrible houses.
but now let's look at this...
but now let's look at this...
if you need more hgf than that there's something wrong with you!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
hither thither and yon
Today will be a day of extremes I can tell.
It starts with another visit to the chiropractor. He got me well on the way to recovery with the last adjustment, but we're not quite there, so another attempt in an hour.
Then off to work for a little bit and then I go pick up my ex and we're off to a cocktail party to honor his involvement in a local AIDS charity event. Then dinner I think, if he's not too adamant about going home after. In any case I will eat.
But during all this it will be 100 degrees. Doesn't THAT sound like fun.
Still no movement in the real estate market for me, but it's apparently a waiting game. Hate it.
Still no movement in the debt ceiling negotiations, but apparently someone needs to get spanked. Hate it.
Still no movement on the final details of the estate. Hate it.
Oh! There's a young man at the grocery who comes in all the time and keeps staring at me in the most seductive way, and yesterday made a rather cute but clumsy attempt to engage me in conversation. He's very handsome.
Do NOT hate that.
And so it goes:
It starts with another visit to the chiropractor. He got me well on the way to recovery with the last adjustment, but we're not quite there, so another attempt in an hour.
Then off to work for a little bit and then I go pick up my ex and we're off to a cocktail party to honor his involvement in a local AIDS charity event. Then dinner I think, if he's not too adamant about going home after. In any case I will eat.
But during all this it will be 100 degrees. Doesn't THAT sound like fun.
Still no movement in the real estate market for me, but it's apparently a waiting game. Hate it.
Still no movement in the debt ceiling negotiations, but apparently someone needs to get spanked. Hate it.
Still no movement on the final details of the estate. Hate it.
Oh! There's a young man at the grocery who comes in all the time and keeps staring at me in the most seductive way, and yesterday made a rather cute but clumsy attempt to engage me in conversation. He's very handsome.
Do NOT hate that.
And so it goes:
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Quelle Fromage
We're broke! George Bush took all our money and gave it to his "friends," which is, of course, the only way he can get any... buy them.
But in the process he ruined a country. So we get, as usual, to live with the results.
I can't imagine what the third great depression will look like, but I think we'll soon find out, and the ostriches who continue to support the GOP will stick their heads in the sand and blame Obama and the Dems. Quelle suprise!
So here I am running headlong into the twilight years and I can count on nothing. No security social or otherwise. No health care, no safety net other than what I myself can provide. I'm one of the lucky ones, I can keep working, I can buy stuff with my money, I can escape to another country if necessary. Most are trapped.
Make no mistake we the people didn't do this. We were duped, we played by the rules, and we got screwed. Maybe it's time to change the rules. We can do that you know. It is after all our game in the end.
Donna Brazile on her CNN blog muses about what we've done and where were headed.
It ain't good.
in 2000 and wrote "Cooking With Grease." (CNN) -- My fellow Americans: In a matter of weeks you have become studied on the issues of budgets and deficits. You've also formed opinions on these issues, and these opinions are reflected in poll after poll. Isn't it strange that Congress has yet to listen?
Recently, I reviewed a poll completed in late May for the Pew Charitable Trust. They found that a majority of Americans believes the government is "generally helping the wrong people." This discontent stems in part from the perception that the government helps those who need it least -- the rich rather than the middle class or the working poor.
A majority of citizens, 54%, think their government helps the rich economically "a great deal." Much smaller percentages of the public say the same about "the poor, 16%; "the middle class," 7%; or "people like you." Anyone.
Because of a loophole, hedge fund managers are likely to pay a lower rate of taxes than their secretaries. Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men, has spoken out about the injustice of the fact that his tax rate was less than the cleaning lady's. Both parties agree that reform of the tax code is necessary, but one thing should be clear: As it stands, the tax system disproportionately benefits the wealthiest Americans. Passing a debt deal that exclusively cuts programs that benefit middle- and lower-income Americans will only exacerbate this difference.
Another fact that has been largely ignored in this debate is the origin of all this debt. We are, after all, raising the debt limit to pay for things we've already bought or purchased.
Let's take an earnest look at who broke the bank. This week, Ezra Klein, in The Washington Post, reported that the cost of policies that began under George W. Bush top out at more than $5 trillion -- this includes long-term and recurring spending from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, decreases in revenue like the Bush tax cuts, as well as additions to the structural deficit like the Medicare prescription drug plan. The cost of policies beginning under President Obama top out at $1.44 trillion, and these policies are largely one-off, short term, or non-recurring spending -- like the stimulus package.
Americans are worried about whether their shot at the American dream is slipping away. We are at the point where we worry most about achieving economic stability rather than getting rich. We are in agreement the government gives the rich better breaks than anyone else in our country.
Let's take a moment to think of the working poor, those among us who live not just from paycheck to paycheck, but who go hungry at the end of every month before their Social Security, veterans or unemployment benefits checks arrive. By the way: My dad is a retired janitor who relies on his Social Security and veteran benefits each month.
That's exactly what more than 60 leaders of Christian denominations and religious organizations did this last week, when they joined in an open letter called a "Circle of Protection," which urged President Obama to protect the poor.
Their statement read, "As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. ... Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are historic and defining moral choices.
They told the president: "As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up -- how it treats those Jesus called 'the least of these.' (Matthew 25:45).
"They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard."
It wasn't only the Christian community that signed the "Circle of Protection" letter. In addition to the 60 leaders of Christian faiths, several heads of development agencies plus leaders of other faiths signed on. Over 5,000 clergy signed the original document and 30,000 average citizens have signed it online since its publication.
It is the working poor who will be hurt first, and hardest, if we default on our debt. Millions of Americans live on less than $1,000 a month. They depend on their Social Security or veterans checks to pay their rent. Come August 2, they may find themselves in danger of eviction if they don't pay up -- because the U.S. Congress refused to pay our own bills.
Republican leaders must understand that we can't make the least among us, who have the least, bear all of the burden. Not while the top 1% continue to benefit disproportionately, allowing them to capture 20% of the nation's earned income.
We know tough days are ahead. Americans have demanded, after the crash of 2008, that government live within its means. But, we never meant that our grandmothers and grandfathers, our war veterans, each of whom sacrificed all their lives to enable you and me to come down through the years, should pay the debt.
Are we to ask them to sacrifice what little they have, while some in Congress vehemently defend tax benefits for the wealthiest Americans?
For over two years now, most of the Republicans in Congress have listened to their party's donors and not to their constituents who live on Main Street. It's important that Americans make their voices heard before it's too late.
May Congress vote on and pass a balanced approach to reducing our nation's debt and obligations.
And so it goes:
But in the process he ruined a country. So we get, as usual, to live with the results.
I can't imagine what the third great depression will look like, but I think we'll soon find out, and the ostriches who continue to support the GOP will stick their heads in the sand and blame Obama and the Dems. Quelle suprise!
So here I am running headlong into the twilight years and I can count on nothing. No security social or otherwise. No health care, no safety net other than what I myself can provide. I'm one of the lucky ones, I can keep working, I can buy stuff with my money, I can escape to another country if necessary. Most are trapped.
Make no mistake we the people didn't do this. We were duped, we played by the rules, and we got screwed. Maybe it's time to change the rules. We can do that you know. It is after all our game in the end.
Donna Brazile on her CNN blog muses about what we've done and where were headed.
It ain't good.
in 2000 and wrote "Cooking With Grease." (CNN) -- My fellow Americans: In a matter of weeks you have become studied on the issues of budgets and deficits. You've also formed opinions on these issues, and these opinions are reflected in poll after poll. Isn't it strange that Congress has yet to listen?
Recently, I reviewed a poll completed in late May for the Pew Charitable Trust. They found that a majority of Americans believes the government is "generally helping the wrong people." This discontent stems in part from the perception that the government helps those who need it least -- the rich rather than the middle class or the working poor.
A majority of citizens, 54%, think their government helps the rich economically "a great deal." Much smaller percentages of the public say the same about "the poor, 16%; "the middle class," 7%; or "people like you." Anyone.
Because of a loophole, hedge fund managers are likely to pay a lower rate of taxes than their secretaries. Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men, has spoken out about the injustice of the fact that his tax rate was less than the cleaning lady's. Both parties agree that reform of the tax code is necessary, but one thing should be clear: As it stands, the tax system disproportionately benefits the wealthiest Americans. Passing a debt deal that exclusively cuts programs that benefit middle- and lower-income Americans will only exacerbate this difference.
Because of a loophole, hedge fund managers are likely to pay a lower rate of taxes than their secretaries.
--Donna Brazile
--Donna Brazile
Let's take an earnest look at who broke the bank. This week, Ezra Klein, in The Washington Post, reported that the cost of policies that began under George W. Bush top out at more than $5 trillion -- this includes long-term and recurring spending from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, decreases in revenue like the Bush tax cuts, as well as additions to the structural deficit like the Medicare prescription drug plan. The cost of policies beginning under President Obama top out at $1.44 trillion, and these policies are largely one-off, short term, or non-recurring spending -- like the stimulus package.
Americans are worried about whether their shot at the American dream is slipping away. We are at the point where we worry most about achieving economic stability rather than getting rich. We are in agreement the government gives the rich better breaks than anyone else in our country.
Let's take a moment to think of the working poor, those among us who live not just from paycheck to paycheck, but who go hungry at the end of every month before their Social Security, veterans or unemployment benefits checks arrive. By the way: My dad is a retired janitor who relies on his Social Security and veteran benefits each month.
That's exactly what more than 60 leaders of Christian denominations and religious organizations did this last week, when they joined in an open letter called a "Circle of Protection," which urged President Obama to protect the poor.
Their statement read, "As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. ... Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are historic and defining moral choices.
They told the president: "As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up -- how it treats those Jesus called 'the least of these.' (Matthew 25:45).
"They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard."
It wasn't only the Christian community that signed the "Circle of Protection" letter. In addition to the 60 leaders of Christian faiths, several heads of development agencies plus leaders of other faiths signed on. Over 5,000 clergy signed the original document and 30,000 average citizens have signed it online since its publication.
It is the working poor who will be hurt first, and hardest, if we default on our debt. Millions of Americans live on less than $1,000 a month. They depend on their Social Security or veterans checks to pay their rent. Come August 2, they may find themselves in danger of eviction if they don't pay up -- because the U.S. Congress refused to pay our own bills.
Republican leaders must understand that we can't make the least among us, who have the least, bear all of the burden. Not while the top 1% continue to benefit disproportionately, allowing them to capture 20% of the nation's earned income.
We know tough days are ahead. Americans have demanded, after the crash of 2008, that government live within its means. But, we never meant that our grandmothers and grandfathers, our war veterans, each of whom sacrificed all their lives to enable you and me to come down through the years, should pay the debt.
Are we to ask them to sacrifice what little they have, while some in Congress vehemently defend tax benefits for the wealthiest Americans?
For over two years now, most of the Republicans in Congress have listened to their party's donors and not to their constituents who live on Main Street. It's important that Americans make their voices heard before it's too late.
May Congress vote on and pass a balanced approach to reducing our nation's debt and obligations.
And so it goes:
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Fomenting a revolution
In true modern day GOP style Kevin Yoder had a town hall meting last weekend. And then cancelled it at the last minute because "Democrats had invaded"
Is this what we've come to? Have we allowed our government to be hijacked by extremists?
If that's the case they've won. The terrorists who attacked us on September 11 have accomplished their goal, they've divided and conquered.
Those of us who are old enough to remember the twilight zone episode entitled "The monsters are due on Maple Street" should readily see that all they had to do was take away a few of our modern conveniences, like civil liberty and the ability to pursue happiness, and we turn on each other.
That's what Yoder represents. The worst of us.
I don't pray, but I ask the universe every day to look favorably on us once again. To forgive us our multitudinous sins against our fellow man and show us that we should be a nation that stands together, not as separate economic entities, but as a strong and united nation that knows that the only way to survive is to stand strong and look out for each other.
That isn't what we're doing and I hope we can reverse course and save ourselves. because if we don't we're doomed.
Kevin Yoder (R-KS) refuses to admit DEMOCRATS to his town hall
Congressman Kevin Yoder Hides from Constituents
Yoder Cancels Secret Town Hall Meeting
Overland Park, KS -- This morning, at the Mills Farm Clubhouse in Overland Park Kansas, Congressman Kevin Yoder cancelled a hastily arranged town-hall meeting to discuss his recent vote for the “Cut, Cap & Balance” bill. Over 40 constituents of Yoder’s were denied entry into the meeting with staff citing a lack of ‘pre-registration.’ After constituents, elected officials and members of the media waited for over an hour in the heat, members of Yoder’s Congressional staff turned people away and said the meeting was cancelled.
In response to Congressman Yoder’s actions this morning, Kansas Democratic Party Executive Director Kenny Johnston released the following statement:
“Mr. Yoder can run but he can’t hide. His vote this week was political grandstanding at its worst. If I’d voted to pay for handouts to the rich by eliminating Medicare, stood up for the Tea Party instead of common-sense Kansans and put our economy at risk while slashing Social Security, I’d probably run away, too.
“Kevin Yoder needs to act like a Congressman. He needs to stand before his constituents and explain his extreme voting record. His votes for big oil and the wealthy few and against Medicare and Social Security have left everyday Kansans wondering, ‘When is this guy gonna stand up for us?’
“There was a 90 year old woman in the crowd today who came to hear from her Congressional Representative about his votes on important issues. She braved the heat to be there. Unfortunately, Congressman Yoder wasn’t brave enough to listen.”-democraticunderground.com
And so it goes:
Is this what we've come to? Have we allowed our government to be hijacked by extremists?
If that's the case they've won. The terrorists who attacked us on September 11 have accomplished their goal, they've divided and conquered.
Those of us who are old enough to remember the twilight zone episode entitled "The monsters are due on Maple Street" should readily see that all they had to do was take away a few of our modern conveniences, like civil liberty and the ability to pursue happiness, and we turn on each other.
That's what Yoder represents. The worst of us.
I don't pray, but I ask the universe every day to look favorably on us once again. To forgive us our multitudinous sins against our fellow man and show us that we should be a nation that stands together, not as separate economic entities, but as a strong and united nation that knows that the only way to survive is to stand strong and look out for each other.
That isn't what we're doing and I hope we can reverse course and save ourselves. because if we don't we're doomed.
Kevin Yoder (R-KS) refuses to admit DEMOCRATS to his town hall
Congressman Kevin Yoder Hides from Constituents
Yoder Cancels Secret Town Hall Meeting
Overland Park, KS -- This morning, at the Mills Farm Clubhouse in Overland Park Kansas, Congressman Kevin Yoder cancelled a hastily arranged town-hall meeting to discuss his recent vote for the “Cut, Cap & Balance” bill. Over 40 constituents of Yoder’s were denied entry into the meeting with staff citing a lack of ‘pre-registration.’ After constituents, elected officials and members of the media waited for over an hour in the heat, members of Yoder’s Congressional staff turned people away and said the meeting was cancelled.
In response to Congressman Yoder’s actions this morning, Kansas Democratic Party Executive Director Kenny Johnston released the following statement:
“Mr. Yoder can run but he can’t hide. His vote this week was political grandstanding at its worst. If I’d voted to pay for handouts to the rich by eliminating Medicare, stood up for the Tea Party instead of common-sense Kansans and put our economy at risk while slashing Social Security, I’d probably run away, too.
“Kevin Yoder needs to act like a Congressman. He needs to stand before his constituents and explain his extreme voting record. His votes for big oil and the wealthy few and against Medicare and Social Security have left everyday Kansans wondering, ‘When is this guy gonna stand up for us?’
“There was a 90 year old woman in the crowd today who came to hear from her Congressional Representative about his votes on important issues. She braved the heat to be there. Unfortunately, Congressman Yoder wasn’t brave enough to listen.”-democraticunderground.com
And so it goes:
Monday, July 25, 2011
Bankers are Whores!
A new friend recently said that to me when we were discussing the purchase of a house.However, I have to take exception to that remark. On behalf of whores everywhere I have to say that i have known more than a couple of whores who had more integrity than bankers of my recent acquaintance.
Last week I found a house. Actually I'd found it a few weeks ago I was just waiting for my father's estate to settle so I could pay for it on the spot. Well, banker's had other ideas. They kept lowering the price! They lowered it 5k, and then another 5k and then 10k, and finally when it got really low I sort of panicked.
I emailed my broker and told him we had to get busy and make an offer. There was a reasonable time frame since the estate is scheduled to settle in about three weeks, so i thought "What the hell, make an offer get the terms worked out and set a closing date for the end of august. That way I can get the inspections done and paint before I move in."
Wrong!
I told my broker, " Agree to the terms they've set forth on the listing sheet, and give them the earnest money deposit they require."
Now i think that's pretty reasonable to approach a seller with the intent to agree to what they ask without asking much in return. I agreed to buy their house for the price they were asking ( I know, but it was a really good price) and I agreed to take it on their terms. That apparently wasn't enough.
They countered with an offer to sell me the house if I'd pay them an earnest deposit twice what they'd originally asked. They countered with a closing date seven days from last Friday. They also said that for every day i delayed the closing after July 29, I had to pay them $100. They also refused to give me more than 7 days to do the inspections.
Now, man and boy I've seen injustice, hatred, guile, hail, plague, and pestilence. But this was a new one on me.
I realize they're hiding something and they think I'm so stupid that I don't know that an 80 year old house would probably need a new septic tank. And knowing this I had intended to have the tank inspected, and also planned to replace it.(Not an inexpensive proposition I might add)
But these fools are trying to ram this house down my throat and want me to ask them to give me a little spankin' while they're at it. I doubt they're cute enough.
After stewing over their completely unreasonable demands all weekend I called my broker this morning and told him to withdraw the offer.
Let's let that bastard sit on that tomorrow morning when he comes in to discover that the house he thought he was unloading on Friday is back on his books.
I've also discovered during this process that there is another house every fifty feet.
Fuck him.
And so it goes:
Last week I found a house. Actually I'd found it a few weeks ago I was just waiting for my father's estate to settle so I could pay for it on the spot. Well, banker's had other ideas. They kept lowering the price! They lowered it 5k, and then another 5k and then 10k, and finally when it got really low I sort of panicked.
I emailed my broker and told him we had to get busy and make an offer. There was a reasonable time frame since the estate is scheduled to settle in about three weeks, so i thought "What the hell, make an offer get the terms worked out and set a closing date for the end of august. That way I can get the inspections done and paint before I move in."
Wrong!
I told my broker, " Agree to the terms they've set forth on the listing sheet, and give them the earnest money deposit they require."
Now i think that's pretty reasonable to approach a seller with the intent to agree to what they ask without asking much in return. I agreed to buy their house for the price they were asking ( I know, but it was a really good price) and I agreed to take it on their terms. That apparently wasn't enough.
They countered with an offer to sell me the house if I'd pay them an earnest deposit twice what they'd originally asked. They countered with a closing date seven days from last Friday. They also said that for every day i delayed the closing after July 29, I had to pay them $100. They also refused to give me more than 7 days to do the inspections.
Now, man and boy I've seen injustice, hatred, guile, hail, plague, and pestilence. But this was a new one on me.
I realize they're hiding something and they think I'm so stupid that I don't know that an 80 year old house would probably need a new septic tank. And knowing this I had intended to have the tank inspected, and also planned to replace it.(Not an inexpensive proposition I might add)
But these fools are trying to ram this house down my throat and want me to ask them to give me a little spankin' while they're at it. I doubt they're cute enough.
After stewing over their completely unreasonable demands all weekend I called my broker this morning and told him to withdraw the offer.
Let's let that bastard sit on that tomorrow morning when he comes in to discover that the house he thought he was unloading on Friday is back on his books.
I've also discovered during this process that there is another house every fifty feet.
Fuck him.
And so it goes:
Saturday, July 23, 2011
I don't know why fortune smiles on some and let's the rest go free
LONDON (AP) - Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home, police said. She was 27.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Everything is NOT a business
Today we are in "I told you so!" mode. I have said for a long time that the infection of big business in our lives has extended far beyond its proper application.
Everything is NOT a business, and this week that Koch Brothers pawn son of a bitch Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, admitted to it publicly.
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker conceded that he made a mistake last February in the way he limited collective bargaining power that led to weeks of massive protests in Madison. However, he still defends his policies and believes that ending collective bargaining was somehow a cost-saving measure to the state.
Nationwide, Walker was criticized for trying to end state worker rights. He was also heavily criticized for his bullying tactics that did not allow any debate on the issue, but rather forced the law through.”The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it,” Walker told Reuters at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City.
“I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done,” he said.
Walker continues to argue that his extreme policies helped prevent layoffs for state workers, even though restricting collective bargaining has not saved one cent. The political fallout from the controversy is still being felt. Six Republican senators who supported the measure will be forced to defend their seats during a recall election in August. Three Democratic senators are also up for recall. Democrats vow to recall Walker in January after he has served one year in office and will be eligible for recall according to state law.
If Democrats gain just three of the seats at stake in the special summer elections, they will take control of the upper house and have some control at preventing Walker’s draconian slashing measures. But, Republicans will still control the Assembly.
“If the Republican candidates are outspent two to one, it’s pretty difficult,” Walker said of the recall effort.
“Conversely, if things end up being relatively even and the message gets out,” the party will have a better chance of prevailing, he said. Walker said he did not plan to campaign in the contested districts.
Last November, a large majority of states fell to Republican governors who promised to provide jobs to the nation’s long suffering unemployed. However, they have failed to deliver and their approval ratings are plummeting. Walker believes that his poll numbers will improve when voters see improvement in the economy.
But, while Washington fights over the ridiculous debt ceiling and each state is trying to ban abortion and other morality clauses, the unemployment rate stays stagnant. Sorry, Scott but your numbers aren’t going to improve any time soon. Slashing spending throughout the country DOES NOT help jobs.
Everything is NOT a business folks! Does anyone remember when hospitals ran with a board of directors and were controlled without corporate interference? They seemed to get along fine for centuries! And health care was way better for the individual patient.
Remember when live theatres were controlled by learning institutions and not the whims of politicians who want to politicize any and every message? They seemed to be able to exist for centuries too. Wake up folks business is an infection and we need a huge tube of salve.
People are slowly, and I hope permanently waking up to the fact that the current trend of the GOP to eliminate benefits of any kind, lower wages, eliminate social security, medicare and any entitlements is not an accident. They've been planning this a long long time. The fools who blilndly go out and vote a party line without doing any of their own due diligence get what they deserve.
The problem is we all have to pay the price. And we all have to spend years fighting to regain the same protections our ancestors gave their lives for and we gave up without a thought until it was too late.
I also agree with this douchebag. His message of divisiveness, mixed with a heavy dose of ignorance and hate, are unconscionable, as his existence, but his contention that a civil war over civil rights is coming, mirrors my own.
"We can harken back to our American revolution. The Declaration of Independence has a long list of sayings that the colonists were lobbying King George III about, but King George III just kept coming back with more and more taxes, he didn’t listen. So they said, well, you know what, it’s our right to alter or dissolve the government. And that’s what we’re doing, we’re declaring independence. We’re not there yet but I tell you what if we don’t start voting different and telling people how to vote and if pastors don’t repent and teach people how to vote Christianly, then we’re heading to toward a real civil war I’m afraid." - Randy Thomasson, head of the hate group Save California.
I have long said that people who hate can only be conquered one way...force.
No one seems to listen.
Hopefully I'll get to be an old old man and see them prove me wrong, but I don't see that right now.
And so it goes:
Everything is NOT a business, and this week that Koch Brothers pawn son of a bitch Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, admitted to it publicly.
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker conceded that he made a mistake last February in the way he limited collective bargaining power that led to weeks of massive protests in Madison. However, he still defends his policies and believes that ending collective bargaining was somehow a cost-saving measure to the state.
Nationwide, Walker was criticized for trying to end state worker rights. He was also heavily criticized for his bullying tactics that did not allow any debate on the issue, but rather forced the law through.”The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it,” Walker told Reuters at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City.
“I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done,” he said.
Walker continues to argue that his extreme policies helped prevent layoffs for state workers, even though restricting collective bargaining has not saved one cent. The political fallout from the controversy is still being felt. Six Republican senators who supported the measure will be forced to defend their seats during a recall election in August. Three Democratic senators are also up for recall. Democrats vow to recall Walker in January after he has served one year in office and will be eligible for recall according to state law.
If Democrats gain just three of the seats at stake in the special summer elections, they will take control of the upper house and have some control at preventing Walker’s draconian slashing measures. But, Republicans will still control the Assembly.
“If the Republican candidates are outspent two to one, it’s pretty difficult,” Walker said of the recall effort.
“Conversely, if things end up being relatively even and the message gets out,” the party will have a better chance of prevailing, he said. Walker said he did not plan to campaign in the contested districts.
Last November, a large majority of states fell to Republican governors who promised to provide jobs to the nation’s long suffering unemployed. However, they have failed to deliver and their approval ratings are plummeting. Walker believes that his poll numbers will improve when voters see improvement in the economy.
But, while Washington fights over the ridiculous debt ceiling and each state is trying to ban abortion and other morality clauses, the unemployment rate stays stagnant. Sorry, Scott but your numbers aren’t going to improve any time soon. Slashing spending throughout the country DOES NOT help jobs.
Everything is NOT a business folks! Does anyone remember when hospitals ran with a board of directors and were controlled without corporate interference? They seemed to get along fine for centuries! And health care was way better for the individual patient.
Remember when live theatres were controlled by learning institutions and not the whims of politicians who want to politicize any and every message? They seemed to be able to exist for centuries too. Wake up folks business is an infection and we need a huge tube of salve.
People are slowly, and I hope permanently waking up to the fact that the current trend of the GOP to eliminate benefits of any kind, lower wages, eliminate social security, medicare and any entitlements is not an accident. They've been planning this a long long time. The fools who blilndly go out and vote a party line without doing any of their own due diligence get what they deserve.
The problem is we all have to pay the price. And we all have to spend years fighting to regain the same protections our ancestors gave their lives for and we gave up without a thought until it was too late.
I also agree with this douchebag. His message of divisiveness, mixed with a heavy dose of ignorance and hate, are unconscionable, as his existence, but his contention that a civil war over civil rights is coming, mirrors my own.
"We can harken back to our American revolution. The Declaration of Independence has a long list of sayings that the colonists were lobbying King George III about, but King George III just kept coming back with more and more taxes, he didn’t listen. So they said, well, you know what, it’s our right to alter or dissolve the government. And that’s what we’re doing, we’re declaring independence. We’re not there yet but I tell you what if we don’t start voting different and telling people how to vote and if pastors don’t repent and teach people how to vote Christianly, then we’re heading to toward a real civil war I’m afraid." - Randy Thomasson, head of the hate group Save California.
I have long said that people who hate can only be conquered one way...force.
No one seems to listen.
Hopefully I'll get to be an old old man and see them prove me wrong, but I don't see that right now.
And so it goes:
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Dishonesty begins at home.
I'm sure that in the past I've mentioned my unfortunate yet long running experience with a couple who...shall we say , are less than honest with themselves.
He's gay.
They cloak themselves in religion, and strive to be Rob and Laura Petrie, yet he's still gay.
They have children and grandchildren and preach their God's love, yet he's still gay.
They deny anything is amiss, and put forth a strong and united front to the world, and he's still gay.
So discovering that Michelle Bachman is a migraine suffering nag is no surprise to me,
So let's look at the latest episode on da nile:
From a 2006 Star Tribune article about the then-Congresswoman-elect's "haute" style:
He's gay.
They cloak themselves in religion, and strive to be Rob and Laura Petrie, yet he's still gay.
They have children and grandchildren and preach their God's love, yet he's still gay.
They deny anything is amiss, and put forth a strong and united front to the world, and he's still gay.
So discovering that Michelle Bachman is a migraine suffering nag is no surprise to me,
So let's look at the latest episode on da nile:
Marcus Bachmann Acts as Michele's Sometime Stylist
From a 2006 Star Tribune article about the then-Congresswoman-elect's "haute" style:Shopping help comes from another quarter, as well. Before Vice President Dick Cheney's visit this past summer, Bachmann's husband, Marcus, hit the stores -- "he's got a good sense of style" -- and came home with "a sleek, simple hourglass dress with a yoke collar in winter white." He even bought a matching coat and shoes. "I just slipped it on."
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
That certain age
Getting older sucks. Yesterday I bent over to put a box of potting supplies on a lower shelf and that was it for my back. So now I am waiting for time and the chiropractor to resolve it. Not to sound sexist but women do not have the upper body strength to adjust my back. So there'll be yet another attempt tomorrow. Until then the xanax party is on baby!
Read this morning about the total surrender to the GOP debt ceiling demands. I'll try to post the article later, haven't exactly figured out cut and paste on the phone yet, besides...i'm high.
And so it goes:
Read this morning about the total surrender to the GOP debt ceiling demands. I'll try to post the article later, haven't exactly figured out cut and paste on the phone yet, besides...i'm high.
And so it goes:
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wonders never cease
Ok, talk about the perfect weekend.
Friday I cooked for the gang of 6, and if I do say so myself it turned out pretty well. (since they applauded after they ate i guess it must have been good.) Then Saturday I went on a date with my first love.
I find it amazing that two people can sit down after 32 years and start talking like they last saw each other yesterday.
It's rumored we'll do it again soon. I hope so.
There was also time in the pool, and not as much sleep as I'd like but it was worth it.
In unfortunate news I see there are even more people who didn't learn about the constitution in school.
By BRUCE SCHREINER
updated 7/17/2011 11:14:09 PM ET
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that communities have a right to ban Islamic mosques.
Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the former Godfather's Pizza CEO said protests and legal challenges to a planned mosque in Tennessee city are an example of local residents pushing back.
Cain said his view doesn't amount to religious discrimination because he says Muslims are trying to inject Shariah law into the U.S.
Shariah is a set of core principles that most Muslims recognize and a series of rulings from religious scholars. It covers many areas of life and different sects have different versions and interpretations of the code.
Asked if his view could lead any community to stand up in opposition to a proposed mosque, Cain replied, "They could say that." He pointed to opposition to the planned mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as an example.
"Let's go back to the fundamental issue that the people are basically saying that they are objecting to," Cain said. "They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That's the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes.
"The people in the community know best. And I happen to side with the people in the community."
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Cain's comments were denounced as "unconstitutional and un-American" by a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It's clear that Herman Cain has decided that he will score political points every time he bashes the Muslim community or its constitutional rights," council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a phone interview.
Cain previously stirred controversy by saying that he would not want a Muslim bent on killing Americans in his administration.
Campaigning in Murfreesboro last week, Cain sided with mosque opponents.
Other political news of note
Fallback plan gains momentum in debt talks
With time running short in U.S. debt talks, Republican and Democratic senators sought on Sunday to craft a plan that could avert an unprecedented government default while making modest cuts in the deficit.
US debt stalemate invokes language of Armageddon
Tea Party debt plan takes center stage
Perry's credentials: As conservative as they come
Cain: Communities have right to ban mosques
"I happen to also know that it's not just about a religious mosque," he said Sunday. "There are other things going on based upon talking to the people closest to the problem. It's not a mosque for religious purposes. This is what the people are objecting to."
Hooper called the remarks "utter nonsense," saying Cain "seems to have hitched his wagon to the most extreme anti-Muslim bigots out there." He called on Republican leaders to repudiate Cain's comments.
"Each time you have someone who is regarded as a mainstream political leader expressing these kind of hate-filled views, it just fans the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry nationwide," he said. "And it gives legitimacy to intolerance and hatred. And he, of all people, should realize this, being African-American."
In Murfreesboro, the future new mosque has been the subject of protests and counter-protests in the city about 35 miles southeast of Nashville.
Opponents have used the hearings to argue that the mosque is part of a plot to expand Islamic extremism in the U.S.
Imam Ossama Bahloul, the religious leader of the congregation, issued a statement Sunday lamenting Cain's statements.
"It is sad to hear these words coming from a GOP presidential candidate, who is not only supposed to believe in but should also uphold the US constitution," Bahloul said. "Mr. Cain is encouraged to educate himself about the first amendment and learn more about our peaceful and productive Muslim community in Murfreesboro."
Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Cain's comments "demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.S. Constitution."
"And it's baffling that a man with designs on becoming the leader of this nation would so callously alienate over 3 million of its citizens," Fotopulos said.
And in good news there are people in the world who know that love is love, and they embrace it in all its forms.
And so it goes:
Friday I cooked for the gang of 6, and if I do say so myself it turned out pretty well. (since they applauded after they ate i guess it must have been good.) Then Saturday I went on a date with my first love.
I find it amazing that two people can sit down after 32 years and start talking like they last saw each other yesterday.
It's rumored we'll do it again soon. I hope so.
There was also time in the pool, and not as much sleep as I'd like but it was worth it.
In unfortunate news I see there are even more people who didn't learn about the constitution in school.
By BRUCE SCHREINER
updated 7/17/2011 11:14:09 PM ET
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that communities have a right to ban Islamic mosques.
Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the former Godfather's Pizza CEO said protests and legal challenges to a planned mosque in Tennessee city are an example of local residents pushing back.
Cain said his view doesn't amount to religious discrimination because he says Muslims are trying to inject Shariah law into the U.S.
Shariah is a set of core principles that most Muslims recognize and a series of rulings from religious scholars. It covers many areas of life and different sects have different versions and interpretations of the code.
Asked if his view could lead any community to stand up in opposition to a proposed mosque, Cain replied, "They could say that." He pointed to opposition to the planned mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as an example.
"Let's go back to the fundamental issue that the people are basically saying that they are objecting to," Cain said. "They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That's the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes.
"The people in the community know best. And I happen to side with the people in the community."
Advertise | AdChoices
Cain's comments were denounced as "unconstitutional and un-American" by a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It's clear that Herman Cain has decided that he will score political points every time he bashes the Muslim community or its constitutional rights," council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a phone interview.
Cain previously stirred controversy by saying that he would not want a Muslim bent on killing Americans in his administration.
Campaigning in Murfreesboro last week, Cain sided with mosque opponents.
Other political news of note
Fallback plan gains momentum in debt talks
With time running short in U.S. debt talks, Republican and Democratic senators sought on Sunday to craft a plan that could avert an unprecedented government default while making modest cuts in the deficit.
US debt stalemate invokes language of Armageddon
Tea Party debt plan takes center stage
Perry's credentials: As conservative as they come
Cain: Communities have right to ban mosques
"I happen to also know that it's not just about a religious mosque," he said Sunday. "There are other things going on based upon talking to the people closest to the problem. It's not a mosque for religious purposes. This is what the people are objecting to."
Hooper called the remarks "utter nonsense," saying Cain "seems to have hitched his wagon to the most extreme anti-Muslim bigots out there." He called on Republican leaders to repudiate Cain's comments.
"Each time you have someone who is regarded as a mainstream political leader expressing these kind of hate-filled views, it just fans the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry nationwide," he said. "And it gives legitimacy to intolerance and hatred. And he, of all people, should realize this, being African-American."
In Murfreesboro, the future new mosque has been the subject of protests and counter-protests in the city about 35 miles southeast of Nashville.
Opponents have used the hearings to argue that the mosque is part of a plot to expand Islamic extremism in the U.S.
Imam Ossama Bahloul, the religious leader of the congregation, issued a statement Sunday lamenting Cain's statements.
"It is sad to hear these words coming from a GOP presidential candidate, who is not only supposed to believe in but should also uphold the US constitution," Bahloul said. "Mr. Cain is encouraged to educate himself about the first amendment and learn more about our peaceful and productive Muslim community in Murfreesboro."
Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Cain's comments "demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.S. Constitution."
"And it's baffling that a man with designs on becoming the leader of this nation would so callously alienate over 3 million of its citizens," Fotopulos said.
And in good news there are people in the world who know that love is love, and they embrace it in all its forms.
And so it goes:
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Republic of South California
Hehe, hawhaw, waaaaahhahahahaha!
I know I shouldn't laugh because anything is possible, but as usual; some fiscally and socially conservative nutjob in Cali has come up with s new way to completely waste money they desperately need.
Secede.
So, let me see if I understand Jeff Stone's plan. Take 13 of California's most conservative contiguous counties, pardon the alliteration, and make them into their own state.
Sounds like a cheap way to fix a leaky faucet doesn't it? Let's look at the CNN story cause I can't believe my fucking eyes.
Riverside, California (CNN) -- A conservative county supervisor in Southern California wants to form the 51st state by seceding the region from California, saying the state's problems require "radical" solutions.
"Listen, I knew I'd be criticized. I learned in my tenure of being a politician for 19 years, sometimes you have to do radical things to get people's attention," Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone said on CNN Thursday.
"We have hit a nerve with citizens who are just fed up with business as usual in the state," Stone said. "I'm talking about a secession plan from the state of California."
This week, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors gave the OK to Stone to hold a summit of California's local leaders to discuss remedies for the state's long list of woes -- including secession.
But the county board stopped short of endorsing Stone's secessionist plan by insisting no taxpayer money be used for the conference.
Stone has come up with a name for the new state: South California. It would be composed of 13 largely Republican counties, most of which are inland along the Nevada and Arizona state lines. The plan would exclude Los Angeles County, but would include Orange and San Diego Counties, both on the coast.
Stone has a long list of grievances against the state and its legislators: high taxes and fees, inability to reform welfare programs, high unemployment and excessive regulations.
"What the state has done is they've been balancing their budgets on the backs of our local coffers. They've been stealing our sales tax, property tax," Stone said. "The bottom line for me and my constituents is jobs. We are sending jobs out of the state of California by the train load."
Riverside County is among the hardest hit communities by the recession and mortgage meltdown, leaving many communities pockmarked with vacant homes, Stone said.
"We are the foreclosure capital of the world," Stone asserted. "We have some areas of the county that have 25% unemployment. The average in Riverside County is about 15%."
Stone's plan seems a long shot, one analyst said. There have been at least 27 efforts for secession within parts of California since the 1800s, and none has been successful.
Robert Melsh, a political science instructor at Mount San Jacinto College in San Jacinto, California, which is in Riverside County, said Stone's plan stunned him, largely because of the high cost of putting a secessionist plan before voters. He called it a "scare tactic."
"Insanity," Melsh said. "I mean this is major surgery where we need a Band-Aid.
"It takes millions of dollars to get the signatures necessary to put up an initiative," Melsh added.
Melsh also raised the question of getting a 51st state's government up and running.
"Where is he going to put the capitol? Disneyland?" Melsh said.
Stone, a pharmacist and owner of an innovative compounding pharmacy, said he drew the lines for a new state by picking 13 counties that were contiguous and fiscally conservative or moderate.
I know I shouldn't laugh because anything is possible, but as usual; some fiscally and socially conservative nutjob in Cali has come up with s new way to completely waste money they desperately need.
Secede.
So, let me see if I understand Jeff Stone's plan. Take 13 of California's most conservative contiguous counties, pardon the alliteration, and make them into their own state.
Sounds like a cheap way to fix a leaky faucet doesn't it? Let's look at the CNN story cause I can't believe my fucking eyes.
Riverside, California (CNN) -- A conservative county supervisor in Southern California wants to form the 51st state by seceding the region from California, saying the state's problems require "radical" solutions.
"Listen, I knew I'd be criticized. I learned in my tenure of being a politician for 19 years, sometimes you have to do radical things to get people's attention," Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone said on CNN Thursday.
"We have hit a nerve with citizens who are just fed up with business as usual in the state," Stone said. "I'm talking about a secession plan from the state of California."
This week, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors gave the OK to Stone to hold a summit of California's local leaders to discuss remedies for the state's long list of woes -- including secession.
But the county board stopped short of endorsing Stone's secessionist plan by insisting no taxpayer money be used for the conference.
Stone has come up with a name for the new state: South California. It would be composed of 13 largely Republican counties, most of which are inland along the Nevada and Arizona state lines. The plan would exclude Los Angeles County, but would include Orange and San Diego Counties, both on the coast.
Stone has a long list of grievances against the state and its legislators: high taxes and fees, inability to reform welfare programs, high unemployment and excessive regulations.
"What the state has done is they've been balancing their budgets on the backs of our local coffers. They've been stealing our sales tax, property tax," Stone said. "The bottom line for me and my constituents is jobs. We are sending jobs out of the state of California by the train load."
Riverside County is among the hardest hit communities by the recession and mortgage meltdown, leaving many communities pockmarked with vacant homes, Stone said.
"We are the foreclosure capital of the world," Stone asserted. "We have some areas of the county that have 25% unemployment. The average in Riverside County is about 15%."
Stone's plan seems a long shot, one analyst said. There have been at least 27 efforts for secession within parts of California since the 1800s, and none has been successful.
Robert Melsh, a political science instructor at Mount San Jacinto College in San Jacinto, California, which is in Riverside County, said Stone's plan stunned him, largely because of the high cost of putting a secessionist plan before voters. He called it a "scare tactic."
"Insanity," Melsh said. "I mean this is major surgery where we need a Band-Aid.
"It takes millions of dollars to get the signatures necessary to put up an initiative," Melsh added.
Melsh also raised the question of getting a 51st state's government up and running.
"Where is he going to put the capitol? Disneyland?" Melsh said.
Stone, a pharmacist and owner of an innovative compounding pharmacy, said he drew the lines for a new state by picking 13 counties that were contiguous and fiscally conservative or moderate.
A date for the summit of local leaders has yet to be scheduled, he said.
And in case you think I'm just picking on some poor dummy from southern California take a look at the latest effort at propagnada from Fox News.
And in case you think I'm just picking on some poor dummy from southern California take a look at the latest effort at propagnada from Fox News.
Which makes me want to run away all the more.
And so it goes:
learning to live with disappoitnment
One would think that after these many centuries I have lived that I wouldn't be a stranger to disappointment, and technically I'm not.
Most of the people I've known in my life have managed to accomplish the feat of disappointing me. Today wasn't a particularly momentous day in the disappointment category, but it provided food for thought.
Perhaps it's the full moon, perhaps it's just that I'm tired and when I'm tired I see trouble where none exists. But I do have cause to reflect on a conversation I had with a friend over a decade ago. During that conversation he said, " Sean, it's time for me to stand still, but I think it's time for you to start moving."
And move I did. I went back to school, I continued on to grad school, and then I met E. Thinking I was on the road to settling down, I moved to a place I really didn't want to live to be with him and shortly thereafter found out it was a mistake. Since then I've been scattered, I've been quite literally at sixes and sevens almost all the time.
Everything I've tried has either been temporary or has passed once it's time had gone. Now I think it might be time for moving on again.
I'm about to be in a position to do so. There are things I want to see, places I want to go, and things I want to do. Do I do that? Do I just forsake material goods and take off? Do I take the risk of looking at the world and seeing if there's a different place in it for me? Maybe.
There's no reason I can think of to stay here. There's no career move to make, no particular person to be here for. No responsibilities that a little cash can't stave off.
The universe is conspiring against me in the house buying department., the employment situation doesn't seem to get better it gets worse. And interpersonal relationships...well, let's just call them the leading source of disappointment.
This time next month I could be anywhere else, literally anywhere. The full moon isn't helping the situation any. Neither is the news that a co-worker who never smoked a day in her life is about to die from lung cancer.
It's just too short, and sitting here waiting for something to happen...well it's not enough.
And so it goes:
Most of the people I've known in my life have managed to accomplish the feat of disappointing me. Today wasn't a particularly momentous day in the disappointment category, but it provided food for thought.
Perhaps it's the full moon, perhaps it's just that I'm tired and when I'm tired I see trouble where none exists. But I do have cause to reflect on a conversation I had with a friend over a decade ago. During that conversation he said, " Sean, it's time for me to stand still, but I think it's time for you to start moving."
And move I did. I went back to school, I continued on to grad school, and then I met E. Thinking I was on the road to settling down, I moved to a place I really didn't want to live to be with him and shortly thereafter found out it was a mistake. Since then I've been scattered, I've been quite literally at sixes and sevens almost all the time.
Everything I've tried has either been temporary or has passed once it's time had gone. Now I think it might be time for moving on again.
I'm about to be in a position to do so. There are things I want to see, places I want to go, and things I want to do. Do I do that? Do I just forsake material goods and take off? Do I take the risk of looking at the world and seeing if there's a different place in it for me? Maybe.
There's no reason I can think of to stay here. There's no career move to make, no particular person to be here for. No responsibilities that a little cash can't stave off.
The universe is conspiring against me in the house buying department., the employment situation doesn't seem to get better it gets worse. And interpersonal relationships...well, let's just call them the leading source of disappointment.
This time next month I could be anywhere else, literally anywhere. The full moon isn't helping the situation any. Neither is the news that a co-worker who never smoked a day in her life is about to die from lung cancer.
It's just too short, and sitting here waiting for something to happen...well it's not enough.
And so it goes:
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
who it is?
The universe has an amazing amount to say about what we get and what we don't get.
The key, I've been told is acceptance.
Accept that you're gonna get the best version of what you're after and learn to want what you have, and you'll be happier.
The trouble with that line of reasoning is that we American's are taught from an early age to aspire. Therefore we're rarely satisfied with what we get.
So the lesson is to see the intelligence of providence. We can't know what's coming nor can we control it.
But isn' that the fun part, seeing how it turns out?
And so it goes:
The key, I've been told is acceptance.
Accept that you're gonna get the best version of what you're after and learn to want what you have, and you'll be happier.
The trouble with that line of reasoning is that we American's are taught from an early age to aspire. Therefore we're rarely satisfied with what we get.
So the lesson is to see the intelligence of providence. We can't know what's coming nor can we control it.
But isn' that the fun part, seeing how it turns out?
And so it goes:
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The power of fear
It amazes me that the Republican party has managed to hornswaggle most Americans into believing that they're the party of the common man. I suppose common men secretly want to think of themselves as movers and shakers, and I suppose being a serf to one kinda-sorta qualifies, but the truth is...no.
The common man has been duped. Mostly by fear and greed. Controlled by their fears, people will do just about what they're told, almost all the time.
And the machinations surrounding the debt ceiling are proving to be no exception.
Today I learned that there is a new medicare payment advisory board. There is already a medicare payment advisory board, BUT, congress is not in any way bound to pay any attention at all to their recommendations, and they don't.
The difference? This board has teeth, and unless congress votes to stop their recommendations, they'll take effect.
That's what really has them pissed off.
Via NPR.org-
One thing both Democrats and Republicans agree on is that they can't solve the deficit problem without slowing the growth of the massive Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.
But here's an irony. Republicans and a growing number of Democrats also seem to agree that they don't like the one aspect of last year's Affordable Care Act that actually would effectively reduce Medicare spending.
It's called the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB for short.
Republicans hate it. A lot.
"I believe it is a rationing board that is going to ration care for our seniors," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) at a news conference last month.
Added Rep.Diane Black (R-TN) at that same event, "a board that is appointed people that are going to make decisions about what kind of care is going to be given to the patients will destroy the very core of what has made our medical system the best in the world."
Democrats don't use such hyperbole, but more than half a dozen have signed on as cosponsors of a bill that would repeal the board. And many more, particularly Democrats in the House, never supported creating the board in the first place.
What the law actually calls for is a board of 15 health experts, to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Their task is to make recommendations for ways to reduce Medicare payments without cutting benefits or increasing costs to Medicare beneficiaries.
That's not much different from an existing panel of expert Medicare advisers, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC. Except for one thing. Congress is free to ignore MedPAC's recommendations. And it does, routinely.
That won't be the case with the new IPAB. Its recommendations will take effect unless both houses of Congress override them with a two-thirds vote. Republicans – and more than a few Democrats – find that excessive.
"Even if the Congress could muster up, both the House and the Senate, a two-thirds vote, which is virtually impossible, but in the remote possibility that we could; we would have to find cuts somewhere else other than what they recommended in the Medicare program, said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus.
But backers of the new board say it's likely to do a better job deciding how to pay doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers than Congress itself does.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who's one of the new board's biggest backers, says now, the biggest winners are inevitably those with the most effective lobbyists.
"The Congress often doesn't know how to say no and the Congress has a practice of never saying no, and so costs go up," he said at a recent Finance Committee hearing.
Rather, says Rockefeller, it would be better not only to insulate Congress from all those lobbyists, but to get people with more expertise on deciding how medical providers should be paid. "You want to have the Gail Wilenskys...and the Bruce Vladecks," he said, referring to former heads of the agency that runs Medicare. "People who have broad health care policy experience making those decisions."
But there's a problem. Both Wilensky and Vladeck – the former a Republican and the latter a Democrat — think the IPAB is a bad idea.
Wilensky, who oversaw Medicare for the first President Bush, says she's sympathetic to Congress's desire to insulate itself from the lobbying onslaught. But she worries that the board is limited to looking only at payments to health providers, which she says "could fundamentally alter the incentives involved in physicians and providers participating in Medicare."
In other words, it could end up driving Medicare payments so low that providers will simply leave the program, or else go bankrupt if they can't.
Vladeck, meanwhile, who headed Medicare under President Clinton, has a different problem with the board. He worries that eventually the lobbyists who are now so influential with members of Congress will become equally influential with the unelected members of the board.
"In the short term, it might theoretically work," he said. But the history with other independent regulatory agencies, like the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Board is that over time "the regulated industries tend to capture them; and they tend to do more to protect the regulated industries than they do to protect consumers."
But not every outside expert thinks the board is a bad idea. Princeton health economist
Uwe Reinhardt said Germany has a similar independent group that writes all the nation's health care regulations. And he and a group of colleagues who saw it in action a few years ago were amazed at how efficient it is.
"Go to Germany, study it, and you will find that this really works. It's civilized," he said.
But two days of hearings that begin today with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the House Budget Committee will likely show that those from both parties doubt such a board will work here in the U.S.
So here we go, following the money around in circles until someone finally caves, like we all know they're going to. Pandering to the fears of the common man, not their strengths with which we could actually build this nation up.
And so it goes:
The common man has been duped. Mostly by fear and greed. Controlled by their fears, people will do just about what they're told, almost all the time.
And the machinations surrounding the debt ceiling are proving to be no exception.
Today I learned that there is a new medicare payment advisory board. There is already a medicare payment advisory board, BUT, congress is not in any way bound to pay any attention at all to their recommendations, and they don't.
The difference? This board has teeth, and unless congress votes to stop their recommendations, they'll take effect.
That's what really has them pissed off.
Via NPR.org-
One thing both Democrats and Republicans agree on is that they can't solve the deficit problem without slowing the growth of the massive Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.
But here's an irony. Republicans and a growing number of Democrats also seem to agree that they don't like the one aspect of last year's Affordable Care Act that actually would effectively reduce Medicare spending.
It's called the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB for short.
Republicans hate it. A lot.
"I believe it is a rationing board that is going to ration care for our seniors," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) at a news conference last month.
Added Rep.Diane Black (R-TN) at that same event, "a board that is appointed people that are going to make decisions about what kind of care is going to be given to the patients will destroy the very core of what has made our medical system the best in the world."
Democrats don't use such hyperbole, but more than half a dozen have signed on as cosponsors of a bill that would repeal the board. And many more, particularly Democrats in the House, never supported creating the board in the first place.
What the law actually calls for is a board of 15 health experts, to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Their task is to make recommendations for ways to reduce Medicare payments without cutting benefits or increasing costs to Medicare beneficiaries.
That's not much different from an existing panel of expert Medicare advisers, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC. Except for one thing. Congress is free to ignore MedPAC's recommendations. And it does, routinely.
That won't be the case with the new IPAB. Its recommendations will take effect unless both houses of Congress override them with a two-thirds vote. Republicans – and more than a few Democrats – find that excessive.
"Even if the Congress could muster up, both the House and the Senate, a two-thirds vote, which is virtually impossible, but in the remote possibility that we could; we would have to find cuts somewhere else other than what they recommended in the Medicare program, said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus.
But backers of the new board say it's likely to do a better job deciding how to pay doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers than Congress itself does.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who's one of the new board's biggest backers, says now, the biggest winners are inevitably those with the most effective lobbyists.
"The Congress often doesn't know how to say no and the Congress has a practice of never saying no, and so costs go up," he said at a recent Finance Committee hearing.
Rather, says Rockefeller, it would be better not only to insulate Congress from all those lobbyists, but to get people with more expertise on deciding how medical providers should be paid. "You want to have the Gail Wilenskys...and the Bruce Vladecks," he said, referring to former heads of the agency that runs Medicare. "People who have broad health care policy experience making those decisions."
But there's a problem. Both Wilensky and Vladeck – the former a Republican and the latter a Democrat — think the IPAB is a bad idea.
Wilensky, who oversaw Medicare for the first President Bush, says she's sympathetic to Congress's desire to insulate itself from the lobbying onslaught. But she worries that the board is limited to looking only at payments to health providers, which she says "could fundamentally alter the incentives involved in physicians and providers participating in Medicare."
In other words, it could end up driving Medicare payments so low that providers will simply leave the program, or else go bankrupt if they can't.
Vladeck, meanwhile, who headed Medicare under President Clinton, has a different problem with the board. He worries that eventually the lobbyists who are now so influential with members of Congress will become equally influential with the unelected members of the board.
"In the short term, it might theoretically work," he said. But the history with other independent regulatory agencies, like the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Board is that over time "the regulated industries tend to capture them; and they tend to do more to protect the regulated industries than they do to protect consumers."
But not every outside expert thinks the board is a bad idea. Princeton health economist
Uwe Reinhardt said Germany has a similar independent group that writes all the nation's health care regulations. And he and a group of colleagues who saw it in action a few years ago were amazed at how efficient it is.
"Go to Germany, study it, and you will find that this really works. It's civilized," he said.
But two days of hearings that begin today with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the House Budget Committee will likely show that those from both parties doubt such a board will work here in the U.S.
So here we go, following the money around in circles until someone finally caves, like we all know they're going to. Pandering to the fears of the common man, not their strengths with which we could actually build this nation up.
And so it goes:
Monday, July 11, 2011
Now why would that be? (read again with slight cockney accent and dripping with sarcasm)
Cnn finds it amazing that one of the hardest hit groups in the "economic downturn" were black.
(Put post title here) How could you not know that this is the exact thing that would happen with the economic exploitation that was perpetrated on the citizenry during the Bush administration?
I too looked at houses during the real estate boom. I chose one that I thought would be a good investment, though the owner seemed by his terms and demands to be...well a bit of a dick. i made my offer in good faith and proceeded to apply for a mortgage.
Then I got a set of paperwork from the ubiquitous Counrtywide. I sat down and began to read this little missive they'd sent. Very shortly thereafter I started running across terms like ARM, and "after (such and such) amount of time payments may be adjusted, blalh blah blah. I called my broker.
"Is this an adjustable rate mortgage?" Yes, she replied, that's what will work best for you on this property."
"Oh really? Well, I thank you for your time and effort, but I think I'll pass on your kind offer to sell me into indentured servitude to Countrywide."
But this buying a house thing is an extremely emotional decision and a lot of people don't think it through rationally when making it. Such is apparently the case with Deborah Goldring, subject of the CNN article I read yesterday.
Now, in her defense she made all the right choices, she played by all the rules, she did what she was told. And she got screwed anyway. After her husband got sick and they found themselves destitute after using all their savings to pay for his care, she then found herself widowed, and facing foreclosure on a house she'd been in nearly 30 years.
I have to wonder if this would have happened of she'd been white.
I think the most wrenching moment of reading that article was not when she talked of losing her husband, nor of being forced to ask her daughter for $100 to pay a bill. No it was when she lamented the loss of her checkbook.
Here's a basic tool we all use daily and most definitely take for granted, and she no longer has one.
This woman is 58 years old, she has no more chances in this country to recover from the economic ruin that was forced on her by greed.
And what do we do? Those of us fortunate souls who were lucky enough to be born white? We don't even have to be smart, just white, and we get mostly whatever we want. Deborah? She gets what most black people in this country get...bupkus.
Our elected representatives sit on their hands and spend our money and their time wrangling over tax cuts for the rich, and all the while trying their damndest to take more of what little we have left.
For our part we give them control of our civil liberties, our freedoms, and certainly our future.
We might think the Deborah Goldrings of this world are few and far between, but when they come for us there'll be no one left to stop them. And make no mistake, they ARE coming.
Now why would that be?
And so it goes:
(Put post title here) How could you not know that this is the exact thing that would happen with the economic exploitation that was perpetrated on the citizenry during the Bush administration?
I too looked at houses during the real estate boom. I chose one that I thought would be a good investment, though the owner seemed by his terms and demands to be...well a bit of a dick. i made my offer in good faith and proceeded to apply for a mortgage.
Then I got a set of paperwork from the ubiquitous Counrtywide. I sat down and began to read this little missive they'd sent. Very shortly thereafter I started running across terms like ARM, and "after (such and such) amount of time payments may be adjusted, blalh blah blah. I called my broker.
"Is this an adjustable rate mortgage?" Yes, she replied, that's what will work best for you on this property."
"Oh really? Well, I thank you for your time and effort, but I think I'll pass on your kind offer to sell me into indentured servitude to Countrywide."
But this buying a house thing is an extremely emotional decision and a lot of people don't think it through rationally when making it. Such is apparently the case with Deborah Goldring, subject of the CNN article I read yesterday.
Now, in her defense she made all the right choices, she played by all the rules, she did what she was told. And she got screwed anyway. After her husband got sick and they found themselves destitute after using all their savings to pay for his care, she then found herself widowed, and facing foreclosure on a house she'd been in nearly 30 years.
I have to wonder if this would have happened of she'd been white.
I think the most wrenching moment of reading that article was not when she talked of losing her husband, nor of being forced to ask her daughter for $100 to pay a bill. No it was when she lamented the loss of her checkbook.
Here's a basic tool we all use daily and most definitely take for granted, and she no longer has one.
This woman is 58 years old, she has no more chances in this country to recover from the economic ruin that was forced on her by greed.
And what do we do? Those of us fortunate souls who were lucky enough to be born white? We don't even have to be smart, just white, and we get mostly whatever we want. Deborah? She gets what most black people in this country get...bupkus.
Our elected representatives sit on their hands and spend our money and their time wrangling over tax cuts for the rich, and all the while trying their damndest to take more of what little we have left.
For our part we give them control of our civil liberties, our freedoms, and certainly our future.
We might think the Deborah Goldrings of this world are few and far between, but when they come for us there'll be no one left to stop them. And make no mistake, they ARE coming.
Now why would that be?
And so it goes:
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Does knowing make any difference
I know I'm obsessive, I am frequently like a dog with a bone when I get ahold of a subject. But in some instances I think it's healthy, not all mind you, but some.
Today's obsession is the new house. I made an offer, which hasn't been replied to I might add, and Now I'm planning what to do when I get it. It's gonna be cool.
This is dependent of course on outside forces. Said forces must agree to the offer or make a counter I will accept and as yet have made no action at all. Which is making me a little more than crazy.
Who said, "All good things come to those who wait." I alternately embrace and despise them.
Casey Anthony pulled an OJ yesterday I see. Unlike him I bet she sells the story to Lifetime movies and makes a fortune which her white trash Florida trailer park friends and family will help her spend right quick I'm certain. Then she'll start the talk show circuit. I wonder what they'll call her reality show? "If I killed my kid." perhaps.
But back to me, which is what's it really is about anyway. So far there's a small orchard of fruit trees, a kitchen garden, a wo car garage with a studio, a hot tub and a pool. There will never be billiards, simply no room. Alas...
And so it goes:
Today's obsession is the new house. I made an offer, which hasn't been replied to I might add, and Now I'm planning what to do when I get it. It's gonna be cool.
This is dependent of course on outside forces. Said forces must agree to the offer or make a counter I will accept and as yet have made no action at all. Which is making me a little more than crazy.
Who said, "All good things come to those who wait." I alternately embrace and despise them.
Casey Anthony pulled an OJ yesterday I see. Unlike him I bet she sells the story to Lifetime movies and makes a fortune which her white trash Florida trailer park friends and family will help her spend right quick I'm certain. Then she'll start the talk show circuit. I wonder what they'll call her reality show? "If I killed my kid." perhaps.
But back to me, which is what's it really is about anyway. So far there's a small orchard of fruit trees, a kitchen garden, a wo car garage with a studio, a hot tub and a pool. There will never be billiards, simply no room. Alas...
And so it goes:
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Independence
A horse, a swimming pool, a nap, some barbecue, gin, and finally lemon pie and fireworks.
That's it, that's the entire day in a nutshell. I plan to keep the big bad world at arms length for at least one day.
Tomorrow I should hear about my offer on house number one. Haven't finished my research on house number two, besides a really cool place in the middle nowhere New Mexico has shown itself and I'm awaiting pictures. It may require an investigative trip.
I can handle two houses, three may be more than is realistic.
Had my faith in humanity restored last night. After work I had about three hours to kill and decided to get 20 miles in on my bike. Finished my ride, turned into the parking lot and started laughing. Five cars in the lot, the rustiest, most dilapidated, 198-something chevy s-10 just had to park right next to me. So, I loaded the bike and took off for dinner. Still had about 40 minutes so I took my time, I drove through some residential areas and checked out the houses for sale, and got to the restaurant at 6:55, dinner was at 7. perfect.
Now, I seldom look in the back of the car in summer. It's full of crap. Saddles, bikes, cowboy hats bike helmets, this year it's got 200 lbs of clay. Just a mess don't want to see it. But yesterday I did I turned around and looked as I parked my car. There was the bike the helmet, the saddle, all the aforementioned crap. But missing one vital ingredient.
The front wheel to my bike.
I'd taken it off and leaned it up against the side of the car and never thought about it again. So I went inside found my friend waiting, thankfully he hadn't ordered anything, and said "Let's go I left my bike wheel at the park we gotta go check if it's there." We jumped in my car and careened through the streets. I came flying around the last corner before the entrance to the park to be greeted by a train. I looked at my friend, "This is the universe trying to teach me about patience...DAMMIT!!!
After what seemed an interminable wait I took off and as I turned into the lot I saw there was a car in the space I had occupied, and the hoopty was gone.
But my wheel was standing against the fence.
As I said last night when I got down on my knees and expressed my gratitude for not having to replace a $300 bike wheel, "Thank you whoever you are!"
Nice end to a nice day, looking for another, and another, and more after that.
Have a safe and happy independence day.
And so it goes:
That's it, that's the entire day in a nutshell. I plan to keep the big bad world at arms length for at least one day.
Tomorrow I should hear about my offer on house number one. Haven't finished my research on house number two, besides a really cool place in the middle nowhere New Mexico has shown itself and I'm awaiting pictures. It may require an investigative trip.
I can handle two houses, three may be more than is realistic.
Had my faith in humanity restored last night. After work I had about three hours to kill and decided to get 20 miles in on my bike. Finished my ride, turned into the parking lot and started laughing. Five cars in the lot, the rustiest, most dilapidated, 198-something chevy s-10 just had to park right next to me. So, I loaded the bike and took off for dinner. Still had about 40 minutes so I took my time, I drove through some residential areas and checked out the houses for sale, and got to the restaurant at 6:55, dinner was at 7. perfect.
Now, I seldom look in the back of the car in summer. It's full of crap. Saddles, bikes, cowboy hats bike helmets, this year it's got 200 lbs of clay. Just a mess don't want to see it. But yesterday I did I turned around and looked as I parked my car. There was the bike the helmet, the saddle, all the aforementioned crap. But missing one vital ingredient.
The front wheel to my bike.
I'd taken it off and leaned it up against the side of the car and never thought about it again. So I went inside found my friend waiting, thankfully he hadn't ordered anything, and said "Let's go I left my bike wheel at the park we gotta go check if it's there." We jumped in my car and careened through the streets. I came flying around the last corner before the entrance to the park to be greeted by a train. I looked at my friend, "This is the universe trying to teach me about patience...DAMMIT!!!
After what seemed an interminable wait I took off and as I turned into the lot I saw there was a car in the space I had occupied, and the hoopty was gone.
But my wheel was standing against the fence.
As I said last night when I got down on my knees and expressed my gratitude for not having to replace a $300 bike wheel, "Thank you whoever you are!"
Nice end to a nice day, looking for another, and another, and more after that.
Have a safe and happy independence day.
And so it goes:
Friday, July 1, 2011
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