10/29/12

Science Indeed Is The Key To Growth.

Neal F. Lane makes a good case for the importance of science and technology in fueling our economic engine in his NY Times op-ed column, Science Is The Key To Growth. As Mr. Lane puts it, "it is astonishing that Mr. Romney talks about economic growth while planning deep cuts in investment in science, technology and education. They are among the discretionary items for which spending could be cut 22 percent or more under the Republican budget plan, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities." Astonishing indeed.

He also points out that "According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the plan, which Mr. Romney has endorsed, could cut overall nondefense science, engineering, biomedical and technology research by a quarter over the next decade, and energy research by two-thirds."
 
For a man who touts himself as a smart business man, Romney sure looks stupid when it comes to science and technology. Science and technology made this country. Science and technology created the jobs that made the American dream possible. Science and technology gave us the semiconductor devices which put the information age in every one's hands.
 
If we needed a reason to sit Romney in a corner with a dunce cap it is his Luddite view of scientists and engineers in our society. I guess he may even consider them another segment that is irrelevant. It is obvious that this man became a billionaire not because of the use of technology but because of his abuse of technology. 
 
I don't know how November 6th will play out. I do know that I dread the thought of a Romney presidency. We sorely need Barak Hussein Obama for another four years. 

 

Tigers Purr Away The Series

The Detroit Kittens were eaten up by the San Francisco Giants, puting an end to my career as a prognostigator. No problem! The pay was lousy.

Looking forward to MLB reruns of the 2012 baseball season. Sure beats the hell out of football. Speaking of football- on the other hand let's not. Lets talk about Chief Wahoo - on the other hand , lets not. How about baseball forecasts for 2013? There will be baseball in 2013.

My name is Tony Rugare, and I don't approve of this message.

10/25/12

For What It's Worth

The Giants beat the crap out of the Tigers last night 8-2. The sports experts have all sort of takes on this unexpected outcome. Not surprisingly, most comments have a lot to do with the Tigers' Verlander and the Giants' Sandoval - the big bust and the big bomber. Not one sportswriter has come up with the real culprit behind the Tigers ineptness. It wasn't Verlander's fault. The guy was a victim; a victim of the New York Yankees. The damn Yankees doomed the Tigers when they caved in during the ALCS and dropped four straight games to Detroit. New York knew they didn't have a shot to get into the series, so they deliberately embarrassed themselves. The strategy? Make it so easy for the Tigers in mid October that they would be as as rusty as a Model A in late October. Sour grapes on the part of the Yankees but it's working so far.

The other factor behind the Tigers loss last night was the Giants. Yes the Giants had something to do with the Tigers loss. Not so much their bats and pitching - their looks. The Giants are the scariest looking team in all of baseball. They make Al Qaeda look like a bunch of altar boys. I wouldn't want to meet Angel Pavan in a dark alley. That Pence guy looks like he would like to use his bat to bash a few heads. And those beards - enough said. It was almost like watching a bunch of hoodlums playing a Little League team; one exception - that Posey guy looks almost normal. I don't blame the Tigers for running for cover.

So where do we go from here? Beats the shit out of me. Damn Yankees!

10/22/12

Polling Poles

I've already voted, so current polls have no bearing and my choice for POTUS. Even so, they do have a bearing on my mental health. Obama or Romney is a shoo-in depending on which poll suits Blitzer. Obama by a whisker. Romney closing the gap. I'm convinced that none of these political polls are reliable. Before taking the bridge over poll results, I decided to consult with poles that I trust.


  • The Pole who lives next door said that the outcome of the election will depend on which candidate visits Poland in the next few days.
  • The Telephone Pole showsObama supporters are leading the race in collect calls and Romney supporters are leading the race in robo calls.
  • The Dance Pole unequivocally has Democrats  outspending Republicans for lap dances.
  • The Ski Pole indicates that the United States will be on a slippery slope no matter the outcome. Romney might have the edge because of his Utah ties and CEO experience.
  • The Fishing Pole has Romney ahead hands down. He's still fishing for an identity.
  • The Flag Pole has Obama overwhelmingly ahead He's earned his stripes in the past four years.

  • A major disappointment was the Totem Pole. The Totem Pole people said in no uncertain terms that they would not touch the election with a ten foot pole. It has something to do with Native Amricans wanting to be poltically correct.


10/18/12

Go Tigers???

. The Yankees have joined my list of favorite teams who stunk up the joint. In my defense, the blog post in which I predicted that the Yankees would go all the way contained a typographical error. I misspelled 'Yankees'. I really meant to type 'T-i-g-e-r-s'. That being the case, I'll be rooting for the Tigers to go all the way. As a precaution. I'm not specifying what 'all the way' is. Also since I've shown that I am a notorious speller, I cannot guarantee that I spelled Tigers correctly. The spell checker that I use came up with 'C-a-r-d-i-n-a-l-s' and 'G-i-a-n-t-s' as possibly being the correct spelling. It will take me at least a week to get the spelling straightened out but I'm sure I will come up with a winner. Damn Yankees!

Rest In Peace Endeavour

 The headlines say, "Endeavour finally reaches permanent LA museum home". Its journey to the museum at the California Science Center has been described as “a logistical headache that delayed its arrival to its museum resting place by about 17 hours” . The key words are “resting place”. The journey was more like a funeral procession. The retirement of Endeavour is a step backwards in our exploration of space. Asking our astronauts to hitch a ride on a Russian space ship is embarrassing. Next thing you know they will be riding in the back seat of a Chinese space vehicle. Yes, we sent Curiosity to Mars but it’s not the same as an American space vehicle carrying American astronauts into outer space. Private corporations are supposed to pick up the slack. I’m sure that will happen only if the price is right ( will they outsource the work?). Until then we must rest on our laurels. We’ve been doing a lot of that lately. Rest in peace Endeavour.

10/14/12

Bronx Bombers Bombing Out

On October 5, 2012, in a fit of nostalgia I picked the Yankees to go all the way in October ( Damn Yankees). Here we are on October 14, 2012, and the Yankees are sucking hind tit to the Detroit Tigers - down 2 games to none. In retrospect, I should not be surprised. It has nothing to do with the Bronx Bombers imitating strike out kings. It has nothing to do with bad officiating. It has nothing to do with Derek Jeter breaking his ankle. It has a lot to do with my ability to pick a winner. I'm afraid that I may have cursed the Yankees. Sure, it's a best of seven series. All they have to do is beat Verlander twice, put some cork in their bats and pay off the umpires. No, they're done - you can stick a fork in them.

I'm through as a prognosticator. I might pick Obama to win the election. I'm pulling for him - I'm just afraid I will curse his chances if I go all out and proclaim him the winner in November. No, no! No politicking until after November 6.

Hell, just one more for the road. The Cardinals will win the National League pennant and the Yankees will beat their ass in the Series. If that works, I might get back to blogging about politics.
Damn Yankees!

10/9/12

Turning The Pages

Reading a good mystery book is an experience in restraint. As the plot thickens and the author teases with red herrings, the pages are flipped with abandon. The temptation to turn the pages to the final few in order to determine whether or not the “butler did it” is overwhelming. When the final page does arrive, the emotions are far ranging - from disappointment to elation,

Living life is not unlike reading a mystery book. Surprises abound and anxiety rules the day. Life can be perplexing, challenging and frustrating. Life is reluctant to reveal its mysteries. There is always the temptation to turn the pages to the final page. Some succumb to that temptation and leave behind more questions for others than they care to have and a hurt that never heals. Others prefer to read every word of life’s story and turn the pages slowly. When the final page is reached the meaning of life is revealed. Life was not a mystery story after all, it was an adventure.



 



 

10/5/12

Damn Yankees!

Thank God for baseball’s playoffs. If all we had to look forward to this month were presidential debates, campaign speeches and the fate of Big Bird it would be grounds for finding a quiet padded cell somewhere. Not that baseball can’t drive you up the wall. The failure of your favorite team to achieve post season honors however, is not a reason for taking the bridge. Which brings me to the Cleveland Indians? On the other hand, I don’t want to go there. Words cannot express my disappointment with their performance. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m adopting my boyhood team as my favorite to go all the way in October. Yes, I’m going to root for the damn Yankees.






Pop's favorite Yankee-Joe DiMaggio

Rooting for the Yankees shouldn’t be too difficult. I did it for many years. My father was a rabid Yankee fan. I don’t think he ever had a baseball in his hands. I suspect that names like DiMaggio, Rizzuto, and Berra on the Yankee roster had a lot to do with his loyalty. I can still remember the radios on the front porches in our neighborhood tuned in to Yankee games vividly described by Mel Allen and his inimitable, “How a-bout that?!" Yes, damn it, I can root for the Yankees again. I don’t care for Alex Rodriguez but I have the utmost respect for Derek Jeter. There is always C.C. Sabathia to root for - a product of the Cleveland Indians. I can do it - if I can tune out the obnoxious fans.

Obnoxious Yankee fans could be the deal breaker. The last I heard, Rudy Giuliani was still wearing a Yankee hat. How the hell can I root for something he roots for? Damn Yankees, why don’t they take his seasons tickets away from him on the grounds that he doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground? I may have a hole in my head, but regardless of Giuliani, I’m going to root for the Yankees to get in the Series. I’m also going to root for Obama to kick ass in the next debate.

Damn Yankees! Don’t let me down. Not being able to pick a winner will raise havoc with my self esteem. As for you Obama, you have a job to finish before you go back to Chicago and root for the White Sox. Just do it!

10/3/12

The Great Debate

To watch or not to watch. That is the question and I do not have an answer yet. The hours are dwindling by to a precious few and soon I must step up to the bar and decide whether or not to watch the Obama-Romney debate tonight. Methinks that as long as I'm going to the bar , I'll order a few stiff drinks to help me make my decision. Watching the Yankees clinch the AFL Eastern Division title is an attractive alternative to the debate. Watching the Indians play in an empty stadium is not an attractive alternative - it will take a "lost Weekend" worth of drinks to make me watch them - I'd probably think they were going to the playoffs.

 I've listened to Obama and Romney so much in the past few months that I don't see why I should waste my time watching them tonight. I'm just about convinced that I should watch the Yankees. By the way, I've adopted the Yankees as my favorite to win the the Series. The nice thing about that is, if they don't, I won't really give a shit - damn Yankees.

I don't know why I'm having this great debate. After all, the High Primal will make the final decision and she could care less about baseball. I also forgot to mention that I've already voted by mail. Hope Obama doesn't fuck up.

10/2/12

Don't Answer It

Earlier this year, I brought my phone service into the twenty-first century and added Caller ID. Little did I know what a life saver it would be during a presidential election campaign. It may be my imagination but it seems that calls requesting political donations or calls purporting to be some kind of a survey are far more frequent and numerous in this campaign than in past campaigns. Could it be because of SCOTUS opening up the flood gates with its ruling that corporations are people? Whatever the reason, Alexander Bell’s contraption keeps chirping away seeking my ear from mid-afternoon into early evening. If it weren’t for the Caller ID feature on my phone, I wouldn’t have time to eat a decent meal or enjoy a quiet evening. Not exactly a good way to lose weight or stay awake.

I keep getting calls from Washington, D.C., I suspect its Barak inviting me to dinner or seeking my views on national affairs. So far I’ve ignored the calls and passed them on to my answering machine. He must be pissed, he never leaves a message. Caller ID identifies calls from places I’ve never heard of, like Big Bend, WI. I Googled Big Bend and found that it is a metropolis of 1290 people evenly divided between males and females. No information about sexual orientation. What surprised me is that the median income is about $68,000. One of these days I’m going to answer a call from Big Bend just to find out what an affluent cheese maker sounds like.

Then there’s Napoleon, Ohio. It turns out that it’s a small town in Northwest Ohio with a much lower median income than Big Bend. I probably should answer some of the calls from Napoleon before its funds dry up and it meets its Waterloo.

The private number calls present a challenge. I choose to ignore them and let my answering machine do the talking. In almost every case the private number machine doing the calling does not want to interact with my answering machine doing the answering - very snobbish. Still it makes sense. Since it is a private number, it does not want to share it with me, it just wants to intrude on my privacy.

I forgot to mention that if I’m watching TV and the phone rings, the Caller ID information flashes on the TV screen. I don’t even have to get off my ass to check my phone. How did I ever get along without such a feature? I understand that new phones have audio Caller ID. I have mixed feelings about that. During a political campaign there are so many calls that a phone constantly announcing who is calling would drive me up a wall. They should leave well enough alone (have you ever wondered who “well enough” is and why everyone picks on him?).

If Congress ever decides to do some legislating, it should come up with a law regulating political phone calls. Making them illegal would suit me fine.


On the bright side of things its down to 35 days before we select the savior of our country. After that, my Caller ID will receive a much needed rest.