MUSINGS FROM TONY'S KEYBOARD

On Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T07:35:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, February2^nd, 6:00 am. I stirred in my bed after a restless night. For some reason or other, all I could think of during the night was that the morning would bring some important news. It could not have anything to do with the Republican presidential primaries. Florida capitulated to the Republican establishment yesterday. It was much too early in the month for any important Cleveland Indians news unless the Dolans decided to have some mercy on the fans and sell the team. I did dream that banks raised their interest rates on savings to double digits. No sooner had they raised the rates the dream turned into a nightmare. The banks failed and the FDIC funds somehow or other ended up in Pakistan. I awoke with a start , glanced at the clock - 6:15 am. I had to get some sleep but now I was tormented with thoughts of what the day had in store for me. I popped a Tylenol Night Time and tried to get a little more sleep. I read somewhere that a good night’s sleep was important and I wasn’t about to try and disprove it.

Suddenly the alarm clock shrieked 7:30 and the sun came crashing through the blinds. I awoke with a start, turned off the f--king clock and rolled over in bed. The blazing sun pleaded with me to get up. Dutifully I finally got out of bed, not realizing that I was getting out on the wrong side. I carefully planted my feet on the floor and slowly raised my weary body. When I managed to get my eyes completely opened, I could not help but stare at the wall. There was no mistaking about what was on the wall. My shadow filled the wall. Oh shit, six more weeks of winter! Back to bed, maybe tomorrow morning will bring better news. I can use the sleep.

The Man Has Flipped

2012-01-30T23:18:00.000-05:00

Has Newt Gingrich flipped? The relentless beating that Gingrich has been taking from Romney in Florida has apparently caused the real Newt Gingrich to surface. This is especially true when it comes to religion. The man has been quoted as saying, “I will make religious liberty your right, to go with God with no government interference.” This in response to his church's position that religious freedom has been compromised because of the government's new regulation requiring employers to cover birth control in their health policies. The man is a professional Catholic and professional Catholics toe the line when their Bishop speaks.

Go with God with no government interference. Sounds like something an Ayatollah would say. Whose God shares in this freedom? Are honor killings in the name of God free from government interference? How about polygamy? If my God wills that I satiate my sexual appetite with multiple wives, am I free to do so.

Because the government requires that birth control be covered in employer's health care policies does not mean that a couple can't screw their heads off without a condom or birth control pills. If they intend to populate the world with cute Catholic babies it is still their privelege to do so. The position of the Catholic Church in opposing this regulation and attacking the administration is untenable.

As a converted Catholic, Gingrich has demonstrated that his church's support in his quest for the presidency warrants his publicly kowtowing to every decree it issues. If he had any guts he would bring his confessors to task for allowing pedophiles to sit in that confessional. The man has flipped. That's not surprising since he was a nut to begin with.

Its too bad that he has flipped. Obama would have made mince meat out of him. Obama will probably have to contend with Romney and his inexhaustible war chest. Lets hope that Romney continues to play the role of a stand up comedian thus making a vulnerable ass of himself.

Gun Control Was AWOL!

2012-01-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

It has been almost a week since President Barack Obama's State of The Union (SOTU) address. Obama's speech has been reviewed, dissected, praised, vilified and whatever else political writers do. I can't avoid getting my two cents worth in, fully realizing that's about what my musing about the SOTU address would command on the open market.

First of all the evening of the address was remarkable for the ovation paid to one member of the House of Representatives - Gabrielle Giffords. To say that the tribute was deserved does not do enough tribute to this wonderful, brave public servant.

Second of all, I will not comment about the pros and cons of what the President proposed in his address. These are better left to others who are students of the political scene. I will comment about what was left out of the President's SOTU address.

With the ovation to Gifford's still resonating in the House Chambers, there was no mention of gun control. Here was a woman barely able to stand up and barely able to clap because of a gun shot wound to the head a year ago and not one mention of what is to be done about the lack of effective gun control in this country.

The lack of bipartisanship action in Washington has been duly chronicled. On the evening of SOTU, Congress and the President did demonstrate that bipartisanship is not dead. It did so in paying tribute to Gabrielle Giffords. It did so in completely ignoring the flaw on our society which brought down the public service of Gabrielle Giffords. It did so in deciding that the events in Tuscon, Arizona a year ago did not deserve their attention.

The National Rifle Association owns both the Republican and Democrat parties when it comes to giving us effective gun control legislation. It is a crime that our representatives have been bought. Gun Control is AWOL and the blood of victims of sloppy gun laws is on the hands of those who can do something about it but are scared stiff it will cost them votes.

There is not a vocal politician who does not support the Second Amendment. I also support the Second Amendment but my interpretation leaves a lot of room for effective gun control. Mankind and assassins have been joined at the hip for centuries. Gun control will not eliminate assassins but it will make their work more difficult.

Much Ado About Money

2012-01-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

I could care less whether a presidential candidate is a zillionaire, a billionaire , a millionaire or none of the above. Too much ado is made of tax return disclosure, consulting fees and lobbying fees. As long as a candidate's income has been honestly earned, it is a non-issue when it comes to earning my vote. As difficult as it may be to ascertain, a candidate's character and intelligence far outweigh his tax rate or whether he is a consultant or lobbyist. Lets face it, more often not, we are going to be choosing among wealthy candidates.. A poor man's chance of running for president is next to nil unless he is beholden to a billionaire or was born in a log cabin.

The Role of Hypocrisy

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Paul Krugman’s blog recently had an interesting post about the role that hypocrisy plays in today’s politics, George Washington Was A Hypocrite . Krugman argues that “ somehow the notion has entered our politics that supporting a cause that isn’t in your personal financial interest makes you a hypocrite”. The post makes for interesting reading and in my case aroused some musing about the role of hypocrisy in our society.

If one accepts that hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform, he can immediately envision the role of hypocrisy in our society. The freedoms that we cherish have long been battered by the hypocritical nature of man.

The hypocrisy of the Crusades, the Inquisition, the persecution of the Puritans, the Holocaust, the horror of 9/11, the questioning of the electability of an individual to the office of President of the United States based on his religion or lack thereof, all make the freedom of worship something to not only be treasured but also to be revered and defended.

If one accepts that the freedom of worship is a freedom to be cherished and defended, he finds himself putting the freedom of worship in conflict with the freedom from fear. To defend, more often than not , implies resorting to violent action, the very thing the freedom from fear seeks to protect us from. In the name of freedom we would retaliate with behavior which generates fear and a destruction of security.

As if to allay an individual’s fears, the argument is made that the right to bear arms is a deterrent against violence generated in society or more importantly on the world stage. The ultimate weapon to preserve freedom is WAR. With God at our side, we resort to killing one another. Hypocrisy takes us full circle.

Then there is the freedom from want which our hypocrisy has seen fit to apply to a limited few. How else can you explain famines and sub human living conditions in so many parts of the world. Hypocrisy screams out that charity begins at home. The problem is that the needs at home are insatiable and only crumbs are left to satiate the wants of others. Still our hypocritical nature would have us believe that half a loaf is better than none.

One can question if in an idealistic society where freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear reign untethered , should be the Utopia we are seeking. Would it be too stagnate? Is some hypocrisy necessary to spice it up? I submit that without the freedom of hypocrisy the other freedoms would wither away. Without a challenge to the norm we become overly complacent.

If the latter is incomprehensible, I must resort to the freedom which I have saved until last, the freedom of speech and expression. The freedom of speech gives me the right to express an opinion, view , belief or fantasy as the case may be. As long as I do not seek acceptance of my views there is no hypocrisy involved. If some prior views are in contradiction with those expressed here, hypocrisy is involved. As long as we think, there are plenty of opportunities for hypocrisy. Putting those thoughts to print is not hypocritical.

(Playing the role of philosopher is much more difficult than I anticipated but a lot more fun than I anticipated and I'm not being hypocritical.)
　

Newt Inching Towards Another Marriage

2012-01-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

Newt Gingrich won the heart of South Carolina. Will Florida give him an open primary? Florida has not been heard from but it is widely accepted that its heart belongs to Romney. Still, all is fair in love and war and Newt has a habit of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. They say that Florida is more typical of the rest of the country than South Carolina and whomever she goes to bed with will be the Republican candidate best suited to screw the country . Newt will continue to crucify the media, bad mouth Obama and demean Romney in between book signings. He may not win the heart of Florida but he will carry on a torrid campaign which will present Clandestine, I mean Callista, a real challenge to keep her coiffure from unraveling. More power to Newt, he is just what Obama needs to get fired up.

On January 20th

2012-01-20T01:01:00.000-05:00

YES YOU CAN!

On January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America.

On January 20th,2009, the Republican Party began Campaign 2012 with the express purpose of making Barack H. Obama a one term President.

On January 20th, 2009, the executive branch of government was taken hostage by Campaign 2012.

On January 20th, 2009, the legislative branch of the United States government went AWOL.

On January 20th, 2009, the judicial branch of the United States government resolved to find a way to give "wealthy persons" (aka Corporations) the right to use unlimited funds to buy elections.

On this day, January 20, 2012, we find ourselves 291 days from the end of Campaign 2012 and 366 days from the inauguration of the President of the United States.

On January 20, 2013, Barack H. Obama will again be sworn in as President of the United States.

Ed Note: The bold print is fact. The italics are strictly musings.

We Become What We Think

2012-01-14T11:31:00.000-05:00

This morning like most mornings idle thoughts crawl through my mind. The problem with idle thoughts is that they rarely lead anywhere since turning a thought into constructive action is laborious. Wasn't it Buddha who said, "What we think, we become". That in itself is scary but it does lead me to conclude that idle thoughts can only lead to idleness. Which brings to mind another saying of Buddha : To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

Obviously my idle thoughts have betrayed my ego. Where once I was diligent, I must now conclude that I'm foolish. I may be foolish but I'm not a fool. A fool would not have learned anything from his idle thoughts. This morning I learned a little or as Buddha said, "Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful". For that I am thankful.

There is one more idle thought that I can't resist sharing. Was Buddha the original tweeter?

How foolish can one get? Stay tuned.

About Assassination

2012-01-13T05:00:00.001-05:00

A nuclear scientist is assassinated in Iran. Another nation is suspected of the dirty work. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, that assassination has been resorted to in international disputes.

The Iranian leaders may be bastards but is murdering Iranian citizens like so many pigeons at a shooting gallery the way to punish them? Does any nation have the right to use assassination as a tool to right a wrong or to get their way in a dispute?

Assassination has been with us since Cain offed Abel. It is a tool of religious zealots, drug dealers, political hacks, racketeers, the mentally deranged and for that matter anyone who feels their honor has been besmirched . No matter whose hands wields the instrument of death it is done so in the belief that the end justifies the means.

Society frowns upon the taking of a life and has laws which make the offense of taking a life punishable by incarceration and even death. Justice unfortunately is not always evenly applied but at the very least assassination and its first cousin, murder is frowned upon, discouraged and condemned.

Not so when the perpetrator is the covert agent of a sovereign nation. Assassinating the citizen of another sovereign nation in order to right a perceived wrong appears to be tolerated by society. It only becomes of concern when the event takes on political consequences too great to be ignored. If the answer of the offended party is to unleash its instruments of war thenthe price of society’s initial indifference is thousands and thousands of lives lost.

Assassination is a dangerous game. Those who play the game may think the end justifies the means but in the long run the end may very well be their end and that of those allied with them.

The moral of this story is, watch your ass if your partner is an advocate of assassination.

Front Row Seat

2012-01-07T11:12:00.006-05:00

The other night as I sat in my living room enjoying a glass of wine and watching TV, I couldn't help but muse about the miraculous ability of modern day communications to transport world events into our homes in a vivid and almost real time basis . Here I was in afront row seat watching footage of Syrian citizens being viciously abused by other Syrian citizens dressed in military apparel ( I hesitate to call the latter soldiers). Coming to grips with witnessing horror while relaxing in a comfortable living room provides much food for thought.

As I sipped my wine, I had a pang of guilt. Fellow humans being brutalized while I casually watched -it was incongrous. For a minute I likened myself to a spectator in the Coliseum watching gladiators mangle each other. I don't mean to imply that witnessing news clips of protests, beatings and wars should be avoided. On the contrary, we should watch and absorb the full meaning of what is going on with the intent of taking some kind of action to deal with man's inhumanity to man. I'm afraid, however, that there is more of a chance of becoming so used to having a war or revolution in our living rooms, that we liken the chronicling of the events to a Hollywood blockbuster - when the "movie" is over its time to go back to life as usual.

Fortunately there are those who use their front row seats as an opportunity to get involved in the politics of our country to make sure some Syrian is not watching men in military apparel maiming American citizens. To those I raise my glass in thanks.

Rose colored glasses might help

2012-01-03T22:54:00.005-05:00

January 3rd and my blogging is essentially brain dead. Not a post ready to pop out of my keyboard. This in spite of the wild Iowa cacous - hell I can't even spell it - it's caucus. I'll be going to bed not knowing anything more about the winner than I did this morning. I do know who the loser will be - me! No matter who goes on to win the GOP nomination for president, I'll be shaking in my boots over the possibility that some pseudo evangelist may actually lead this country to hell.

Not even the mess in the Mideast has gotten a rise out of me so far. No sooner than we end a war in Iraq, the know it alls have us going to war with Iran. Its getting so the only way we can provide jobs is to beat the drums of war. Why someone even predicted that election 2012 will be an all out war! At the rate we are going we'll make the Prussians look like pikers. By the way what exactly is a piker? When I'm through rambling I'll run it through Google. When will war become something to be feared?

As I type this out I'm listening to oldies on the radio. Right now some one is belting out, " some enchanted evening you may meet a stranger". Is that an omen? Did Huntsman win Iowa?

Usually about this time I start yearning for the start of baseball Spring training. I still do, except it will be with a little suspicion. Just finished reading "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis. Great reading - it lays bare many of the ills in the sport. As a result I'll be looking at what goes on this year with a jaundiced eye. That really should not be a problem since most everything else these days warrants a jaundiced eye. I did make an appointment with my opthamologist for later this month. Maybe he'll have a solution for all of the ills that are bothering me . Rose colored glasses?

( Just for the record my opthamologist isn't Rand Paul).

( Again for the record a piker is one who gambles or speculates with small amounts of money. 2. : one who does things in a small way; also : tightwad, cheapskate. No way that a Prussian would ever fit that bill.)

ed note: This post has enough cliches to qualify for the "Fun With Cliches" blog.

Try to behave yourself 2012

2012-01-01T09:01:00.003-05:00

So it's 2012. All I can read in the papers and on the Internet are poetic words about what a new year brings to us. I welcome the new year like I welcome all years. I've been around long enough, however, to dismiss all those glowing words about the promises of a new year. 2012 is what we will make of it and that will hardly be any different than what we made of the past new years. We will clumsily battle our way through the year making all the mistakes we have learned to make. The one lesson that we may have learned is to roll with the punches. The punches will certainly be there but there is hope that they will glance off our bodies as we muddle through the year. We will frustratingly challenge 2012 it to live up to its promises and at the same time look forward to 2013 and all its hopes for wonderful things to happen.

XMAS Packed Away- Welcome 2012

2011-12-28T05:38:00.003-05:00

Call me Grinch, call me Scrooge but once we are past December 25 I have to put Xmas in a box. I would like to emphasize that it is Xmas I put in a box, not Christmas. I will do my best to milk the Christmas spirit for all that it is worth in spite of what is going on in this country of ours and the world.

Considering the mayhem and atrocities being inflicted on fellow human beings, I have to wonder if this is God's plan for population control. The population of the world seems to be growing exponentially but imagine what the growth would be if we stopped killing each other.

I see that the NRA has snared another presidential wannabe, put him in a hunter's outfit complete with the NRA logo and a weapon. Reports are that Santorum bagged a few birds. No word on the sexual orientation of the birds. I'm sure Rick Santorum was hoping to bag a few gay quails. At least he did not shoot a fellow hunter in the ass ala Cheney.

Back to Xmas. It has been packed away for another year. Wish there was some way to pack away the mandatory New Years celebration. Actually I don't wish that. As the years pile on, I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the coming of yet another year. So HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. Be happy all through 2012 and don't be in a hurry to welcome 2013. As the song goes " and the years dwindle down to a precious few".

GOP Wives Advertise Values

2011-12-23T17:02:00.003-05:00

The story trailer on Wolf Blitzer’s ’Situation Room’ was unmistakable - GOP Wives Advertise Values. What has Campaign 2012 come to? Have the Republican candidates put their wives out on the street? If so, how in the world will advertising their values help their bedmates? If Clarissa Gingrich had any values she would not have Gingrich as a moniker. And about that Perry woman - she is really scary. Anyone who can claim that Rick Perry is God’s favorite son sure has her values screwed up. I have to give Rick Santorum’s wife credit for not advertising herself. I’m sure its not because the Santorums do not have values. They have all kinds of values - just ask Rick and he will list them ad infinitum. It might be that one of his values is to keep his wife off the street advertising their values. A wife’s place is in the kitchen. I have never seen Ron Paul’s wife. Does he have a wife? He may have given up on her when she gave birth to Rand. Huntsman’s wife? I suspect that she’s a closet Democrat and out of respect for Jon would prefer to remain in the closet. That leaves Mrs. Romney. Yes, lets leave Mrs. Romney. She couldn’t sell a value if she was giving it away.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Michelle Bachman’s wife. Bachman’s wife? Yeah, some ass told me that was her fantasy but she’s afraid the public would not buy it as a value.

Blitizer's take on the subject? Sorry, I missed the whole report.

Ed Note: on 12/28 on the SituationRoom I saw Blitzer interviewing Anne Romney. My comment in the above post was not fair to her. She is quite good at selling her husband's values, as misguided as they may be.

We Interrupt The Holiday Season

2011-12-20T06:15:00.003-05:00

We interrupt the Holiday Season or more properly the Christmas Season with all sorts of breaking news which could make that gentleman with the white beard unhitch his reindeer, fire his elves and hunker down in the North Pole for at least another twelve months.

There is enough breaking news clogging the networks to spawn at least a dozen posts per day. I'm not that ambitious a blogger so I'll confine myself to one post with enough tidbits to insure a few sleepless nights.

For starters I could join the chorus and declare that the world is well rid of Kim Jong-il. I might even second that Senate warrior, John McCain and condemn Kim to a warm corner of Hell. The problem is I know little about Kim except for what I read in the papers and hear on TV and lately the media has been a bit unreliable in how it puts together stories. I'm told he was a bad person. I have to wonder how a bad person survived so long but then I might conclude that bad persons have a knack for survival. It takes armed intervention to get them out of power. Think Saddam Hussein. While thinking about Saddam, try not to think about the bad person or persons positioning themselves to pursue their ambitions in the new Iraq. Will the ruler of North Korea start a nuclear war? Will the new ruler of Iraq cave to Iran? Will Iraq, Iran and bad man Assad's Syria declare war on Israel to get rid of weapons of mass destruction? Will the United States retaliate by bombing the shit out of the whole Mideast? Where in hell are we going to get our oil? Russia? This is terrible and that SOB Kim Jong II started it all.

If the threat of a nuclear holocaust wasn't bad enough we have breaking news out of Washington that Boehner and his band of thieves are about to steal - check that - are about to shut down the government because a bunch of hoodlums in Indian head dress insist that helping American citizens is not the American way. Why they call themselves The Tea Party is a mystery to me. I'm not a fancier of tea but I always thought a tea party was a gentile affair. Boehner says that he is merely looking after my interests. He's a nosy sort. He would be interested to know that the threat of Medicare reducing doctor payments by 27% has already caused two doctors to tell me to go see a veterinarian. Do vets prescribe sleeping pills?

The worst news of the day was that the probability is high that we will not have a White Christmas. That's real bad news if you are in the snow plowing business. If the latest weather reports hold out we are bound to be hit with a mini recession by New Years Day. Landscapers will be laying off all the illegal aliens they hired to man their cute little trucks with the snow plow in front. Ford will have to shut down its F-150 truck production. If only Bing Crosby was around to sing "Let It Snow" - that would save the day.

All this bad news is very depressing. Unless I stop writing about breaking news I know that I will have a blue Christmas. So to hell with you Kim Jong-il, the hell with the Mideast and the hell with the cheap politicians in Washington. Most of all, let it snow. let it snow - only a couple of inches should do it. The best breaking news will be that all had a Merry Christmas in spite of all the assholes in the world trying to make our days on earth miserable.

The United States a theocracy?

2011-12-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

I read in the CNN Politics blog that when asked about the role of religion in American Society, Mitt Romney responded, "I know there are some people who would like to make this nation a secular nation, who want to take God out of everything that exists in this country. They try to say it‘s unconstitutional." To prove his point Romney pointed to the Declaration of Independence, saying the document "points out that it's God who gave us those rights in the first place."

I have a problem with Mr. Romney’s response. He said that “some people would like to make this nation a secular nation”. I don’t know what nation Romney lives in but it is not the nation I live in. The United States of America is now and always has been a secular nation. There are some people that would like to transform this nation into a theocracy.

He also confused the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution. He seems to confuse a lot of things these days. I imagine it is very difficult to keep track of facts when you are a candidate for office.

The Declaration of Independence does state , “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I would submit that the Declaration of Independence in using the word ‘their Creator’ left a lot of room for the definition of Creator. Nowhere in the Declaration does it say or imply that by declaring independence from a tyrannical king the thirteen colonies would now substitute allegiance to God.

It seems to me that Mitt Romney is ready to sell his soul if it will get him the votes to tuck the G.O.P. presidential nomination in his trophy case.

'Tis The Season

2011-12-12T22:01:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas! If you want to take it as a religious greeting, that's your choice. If you want to take it as an expression of a joyous season, bless you. If you prefer Happy Holidays it is your privilege to shout to one and all Happy Holidays but please do not deny me the privilege to wish one and all a Merry Christmas. I would at the same time remind you that Happy Holidays leaves a lot to question. I know that that it is a generic form of expressing a greeting for Christmas or Hanukkah. Does it also include President's Day, The Fourth of July, Labor Day? Happy Holidays is too generic. Pardon the expression but let's call a spade a spade. If December 25 is a cause for celebration, the greeting of choice should be Merry Christmas . You are free not to be merry this time of year if the word Christmas offends you but do not be offended if I am merry. If you wish me a Happy Hanukkah, I will do my best to be happy during the festival of lights. In the meantime I'm going to try like hell to have a Merry Christmas. Please join me in being merry. I could care less whether you are a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, an Agnostic or an Atheist or non of the above, 'Tis the season.

An open letter to MLB

2011-12-09T11:03:00.002-05:00

Dear MLB:

Congratulations on the conclusion of your Winter Meetings. The news coming out of your meetings was notable in that all of your team owners and general managers came out of the meetings apparently sober, well rested and ready to go to Spring Training. Hold on, there was a more newsworthy item. My God, you finally implemented a dress code.

A dress code! Finally you came to grips with the variety of uniforms adorning our boys of summer, long pants, knee high pants, unbuttoned shirts. More importantly MLB addressed the embarrassment caused by out of shape managers squeezing into a baseball uniform which hardly covers their pot belly. Not so MLB, you chickened out. After rereading the press releases, I discovered that the dress code only concerned the media.

Holy cow! Skirts, dresses or shorts cut more than three or four inches above the knee will be deemed to be in violation of the dress code. Does that mean that Bob Costa will have to get a whole new wardrobe? Visible undergarments are prohibited. Why was this necessary. I don’t recall ever seeing a reporter’s undergarment except in the men’s room. How about your code which bans ripped jeans, visible sheer clothing, one-shouldered and strapless shirts or exposed bare midriffs. That smells a bit like you are going after a specific branch of the media - females. Shame on you. The whole code is a cop out. The media doesn’t dress any worse than the fans in the stands. Everyone knows that fashionable dress at sporting events is a no-no.

Lets address the bare midriffs part of the code. It is much too general. There is nothing wrong with a bare midriff except on an obese person. Which brings me to what prompted this letter in the first place.

Why the hell do you allow baseball managers to wear a player type uniform. As far as I know baseball is the only sport where the manager or coach wears a uniform. Those guys are never going to get in the game! I’d much rather see a blond reporter with a bare midriff interviewing a player than an obese manager with his tummy hanging over his uniform belt walking out to the mound to get his pitcher. Think back to Connie Mack. He did a pretty good job of managing in civilian clothes. Tommy La Sorda did a good job but he looked sloppy in doing it.

Is it true that some of your players have insulted female reporters sporting short shorts and as a result law suits have been threatened? Is this dress code all about you covering your ass or the asses of your ballplayers? By the way, they should always cover their ass in the presence of a lady except in their bedroom.

MLB, your dress code stinks. Stop picking on females.

Sincerely,

A disgruntled fan

Bring Back The Smoke Filled Rooms

2011-12-06T17:41:00.002-05:00

Gingrich Surges Ahead In Iowa! Why the hell should this mean anything to me? I have exactly zilch in common with the good citizens of Iowa. Unfortunately the Iowa primary will be a factor in the Republican presidential nomination. I could say the same about New Hampshire - I hardly speak their languge but they insist on speaking for me. I yearn for the days of the smoke filled rooms. They were far more democratic than the sham of caucuses and primaries. The nomination is all about politics and politicians should pick their nominee. Sorry Tea Party but I can't wait for the party to be over.

The Best Man

2011-12-05T17:48:00.003-05:00

In the movie "The Best Man" (1964), two contenders for a presidential nomination seek the support of a dying ex-president and in the process knock themselves out of the race. A dark horse emerges as the nominee.

Fast forward to 2011. Two contenders for the Republican presidential nomination emerge as front runners. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are trying to get as many endorsements as they can. Even Donald Trump's endorsement is a prize. How low can the Republican Party sink. Donald Trump is a modern day P.T. Barnum, a snake oil salesman. He has a reputation which would make Herman Cain look like a saint. In a sane political scene no candidate would touch him with a ten foot poll.

If I were a Republican , I'd be rooting for a dark horse in the race. His name is Jon Huntsman. This quote alone endeared Huntsman to me. In reference to courting the favor of Donald Trump he said, "I'm not going to kiss his ring or any other part of his anatomy".

The three ring circus a.k.a. the Republican presidential nomination race has showcased a bunch of clowns with one exception, Jon Huntsman. He's by far the most presidential - take that, Mitt and Newt. He comes the closest to gaining my endorsement and he does not have to kiss my ass. In all fairness, I must also give Ron Paul a gold star for telling Trump what he can do with his endorsement.

Watch your asses Romney and Gingrich. You too Obama.

Keep Your Pants On Revisited

2011-12-02T10:25:00.000-05:00

The high primal weighed in on my last post in which I questioned why women politicians are rarely if ever caught in sex scandals. According to Marge, once males get into a position of power, they feel that they should have power over everything, including women. A woman, however, has a difficult time gaining power and will be careful not to do anything which might cost her that power.

Keep Your Pants On

2011-12-01T23:13:00.003-05:00

The cliche` politicians would like to avoid like the plague is 'caught with his pants down'. The exploits of Herman Cain have been making headlines lately. Gary Hart played hanky panky on his fishing boat and got caught. John Edwards bit the dust last year. And then there is Bill Clinton who was literally caught with his pants down. Just an hour or so ago I was shocked to learn that Bill Richardson is under investigation for possibly violating campaign finance laws. It seems that he used money donated to him to hush up some bimbo claiming sexual harassment.. Bill Richardson sexually harassing someone? I refuse to believe it. Then again, I guess that politics stresses individuals out and sex is good therapy.

That being said, why haven't we heard more about the sexual exploits of our female politicians. Is it because the woman are smart enough to know that you can't get screwed if you don't take your pants down? There have been rumors about Palin but so far they are strictly rumors. It's not fair that the men are grabbing all the headlines.

A word to the wise, don't sh#t where you work.

ed note: My apologies to Newt for ignoring his sexual exploits. On the other hand, no apology is necessary. It is my policy to ignore Mr. Grinch.

In Defense of Herman Cain

2011-11-30T10:53:00.003-05:00

To label Herman Cain as an unsuitable presidential candidate because of alleged sexual harassment and a 13 year affair is not fair ( does a 13 year affair qualify as a bigamy? Not if it's casual.)

I don't buy into holding our wannabe presidents to the highest of moral standards. Of course, once one of them achieves the office they are free to compromise their high morals by involving us in unjust wars, ruining the economy of the country and setting us up to be screwed by powerful lobbyists and corporations. Even an occasional blow job now and then is not grounds for impeachment.

Herman Cain may very well go down the drain but it should be because of his lack of expertise on policy matters not because of his lack of expertise on sexual matters. Long before sex reared its ugly head in Cain's campaign, I had decided that he was not someone worthy being POTUS. The man is nothing but a high powered Madison Ave type. He never came to grips with the fact that slogans are not a substitute for knowledge on policy issues. My slogan for his candidacy is "nein-nein-nein". As for his sexual prowess - if that's what turns you on, have fun man, but don't forget, hell hath no fury as a scorned woman.

Breaking News .......

2011-11-28T09:05:00.002-05:00

The high primal critiqued my last post. According to Marge, it was comparable to scratching yourself where there is no itch. OUCH!!!

In Search of a Post

2011-11-28T08:48:00.004-05:00

According to my morning paper, today is Cyber Monday. Gee, another shopping holiday. My inbox is full of all sorts of deals that I can get with the click of a mouse. For some reason I'm not impressed. It seems that in order to get the deal I have to have a user name, a password and oh yes, a credit card number. That last requirement is a deal breaker. I've got news for all these retail terrorists. No matter how hard they try, I'm not going for their "spend until you drop" holidays. Bah, humbug or whatever the expression is!

(My blogging mind has been a blank lately, but that may be normal for my mind. Irregardless, I decided to milk commercial XMAS for all that I can. All the other news - child molesters, NBA basketball, Arab unrest, Bill Clinton praises for GOP candidates, the unstable economy, War,War, and more War is beyond my comprehension which means I can't write about something I do not comprehend or even want to comprehend. Stay tuned or tune me out, the worse is yet to come. I'm going to take an aspirin, go back to bed and dream of better times. I'm sure I'll feel better in a couple of hours - all ready to resume some senseless blogging. Ho, ho ho! Have I got a deal for you.)

Black Friday on Thanksgiving Day?

2011-11-24T08:23:00.000-05:00

Lugged in 3.5 lbs of newspaper this morning so that I could get .5lbs of news. Guess I should be thankful that I still have a newspaper to pick up. More importantly, I should be thankful that I can walk outdoors to pick it up.

Black Friday can wait and wait and wait! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Chipping Away At Secular Government

2011-11-22T14:41:00.000-05:00

A report published by CNN Politico states that 'religious lobbying in Washington, D.C., has risen to the heavens, climbing almost fivefold in the last 40 years, a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows.'

Politico went on to say, "There were fewer than 40 organizations involved in religious lobbying and advocacy in 1970 – today, there are more than 200 groups, according to Pew. In just the Washington area alone, these groups employ at least 1,000 people, and spend around $390 million a year in an effort to influence public policy."

'An effort to influence public policy', could these be code words for an effort to blur the lines separating church and state. Is an effort to influence public policy by religious groups another way to chip away at our secular government.

A five fold increase in religious lobbying in the last 40 years could only have come about because of a high return on investment. I wonder if it ties in with an increasingly divided country. I wonder if it has anything to do with a stalemated Congress. I wonder if we are drifting towards the beginnings of a theocracy. A theocracy? Unthinkable! Not when we proclaim " one nation, undivided under God". Not when we swear to tell the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Not when our currency shouts out "In God We Trust". Not when we pause in the seventh inning of a ballgame to to bellow out, "God bless America".

I believe in the Freedom of Religion and respect the rights of individuals or groups to worship the God or Gods of their choice. I don't want to see these individuals lobbying or threatening my representatives in pursuit of religious goals. I abhor the progress the National Rifle Association has had in almost becoming the fourth branch of government as it strives to put a gun in every home. I would dread to see a fifth branch of government spring up from religious lobbying.

In the midst of Campaign 2008, my high primal thinker spouse said, "Theocracy eventually destroys democracy; we should remember this in this country as Campaign 2008 proceeds." The same but more emphatically can be said for Campaign 2012.

KEEP RELIGION IN PLACES of WORSHIP, NOT IN CONGRESS.

Lord Gingrich Has A Plan For The Poor

2011-11-19T23:21:00.003-05:00

CNN's Poltical Ticker reported that in a speech last Friday at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Newt Gingrich said that laws preventing child labor are 'truly stupid'. He was quoted as saying, "It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in child laws which are truly stupid," Saying to people you shouldn't go to work before you're 14, 16. You're totally poor, you're in a school that's failing with a teacher that's failing."

It seems that Gingrich would have poor children doing the work of janitors in schools. Putting the little ones to work would allow them to learn good work ethics and pave the way for success later in life.

In my opinion, a ten year old poor student spending time scrubbing floors in a school while a ten year old rich student spends his time working on school assignments would be at a distinct disadvantage in the race to success. Charles Dickens, if he were alive, would have material for a book using Newt's vision for poor students. I guess that book has already been written.

What Lord Gingrich did not address is that child labor laws were designed to stop the abuse of poor children by rich capitalists. They became necessary because child labor was preventing many from achieving the 'American Dream'. I remember my early school days when a large percentage of children never got past the eighth grade. Parents sent them to work.Sometimes children need to be protected from parents as well as rich capitalists.

My father worked in a textile mill at the age of fifteen. He learned enough about child labor to make sure that his children got a good education. I suppose Lord Gingrich would argue that in reality, my father working as a child laborer became successful in later life as evidenced by his children going to college.

By the way what happens to those janitors who lose their job because a ten year old is doing a half ass job as a custodian for a lot less money?

What next from this crop of wannabe presidents? Grrrrrr!!!!

Toys I Remember

2011-11-18T04:23:00.005-05:00

Watching tree leaves accumulate on the lawn during a blustery fall morning reminded me of fall leaves making their way into a salt sack and finding another life as a football in my youth. The Depression years were very innovative when it came to toys. A few examples:

- Salt sack packed with dried leaves - a.k.a. football

- Coffee can dented from being kicked - a.k.a. soccer ball

- Electric tape wrapped around a ball - a.k.a. recycled baseball

- Orange crate on a 2x4 with skate wheels on either end - a.k.a. scooter

- Bushel basket sans bottom, attached to a telephone pole - a.k.a. basketball court

- Marbles - still around but much more expensive

- Pocket knife & tree stump - games of skill like mumbledy-peg, “baseball”

- Broom stick - a.k.a. baseball bat

- Clothes pin, inner tube cut into bands, scrap lumber - a.k.a. rubber band gun

- Clothes line - a.k.a. jump rope

Hold everything! I think I wrote about most of these toys before. Sure enough, there it is in the archives - “Games I remember”, 8/25/2010. Oops - most of what’s in this post was covered over a year ago. Well, at leastl give me credit for using a different title. At the rate I’m going, I may find myself “accidentally” recycling a few other posts. I'll bet that some of those Campaign 2008 posts will come in handy as Campaign 2012 revs up. Everyone is promising to turn the country into Utopia, just like they did four years ago.

Actually I shouldn't be so defensive about this post. It does prove that history repeats itself and more importantly it proves that even though the hair is whiter and the teeth sparser, the memory cells are in good shape. Now what was it I was trying to prove with all these words. A few more keystrokes and it will come to me. QWERTY? That's not it. Maybe it will come to me next time I sit down to write a post. Right now I need to find some salt sacks to get rid of those leaves on my lawn. What in hell will I do with all those footballs? Maybe I could create a blog to market them.

Enhanced Bull

2011-11-14T05:40:00.014-05:00

I sometimes inflict torture upon myself as I did Saturday night. In a depressed mood, I decided to watch the CBS - News Journal Republican debate.

The only thing that stuck with me after the debate was over was the discussion on torture. Only Paul and Huntsman were quite clear that interrogation techniques such as " water boarding " ARE TORTURE. The others appeared to be more comfortable with something called "enhanced interrogation techniques", suggesting that the latter are not torture.

Torture is defined as the act of inflicting excruciating pain. Enhance means to intensify something or raise it to a higher degree. It appears that if an individual is subjected to interrogation where techniques are used to get him to reveal information or confess to a crime, he is being tortured only if he suffers excruciating pain. If he toughs it out and spits in the face of his torturers - sorry, interrogators, then he is only experiencing enhanced interrogation. The catch is that enhanced interrogation can be enhanced to a point where it inflicts excruciating pain. At that point the poor SOB is being tortured.

The point of all this is not to inflict pain on the reader. If it is confusing so are the attempts to justify torture as an acceptable form of interrogation . Our presidential hopefuls should call a spade for a spade. Water boarding is torture, period. A President that excuses forms of torture by calling them "enhanced interrogation" is nothing but a Philadelphia lawyer and is bound to inflict excruciating pain on the country.

I'm not sure that I will watch another Republican presidential debate. The crap coming from their mouths is intensifying to the point that listening to their bull is pure torture.

Nostradamus Visits My Blog

2011-11-11T09:16:00.007-05:00

I had a dream! In that dream Nostradamus made these predictions:

Sometime in the near future college football will retreat to being a game played by students in good academic standing as an extracurricular affair. The NFL will have to look elsewhere to stock its teams.
Herman Cain's wife will file for divorce claiming gross sexual negligence.
Governor Perry does not remember why, but he recommends the elimination of the State of Texas.
Romney will drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Romney will oppose Obama for the Democrat presidential nomination.
Obama will decide to run as an Independent.
The super committee will turn in its final report on reducing the deficit highlighted by a recommendation that tosses the ball to Congress to do its job.
Congress will fumble the ball and Obama will declare a state of emergency, cancelling all elections until the deficit is manageable.
The last I recall of my dream was that The United Kingdom had come to the rescue of its former colony and sent Prince William here to reign as Regent. Prince William's son will be born here, making him an American citizen. In 35 years, Prince George will run for President and become the first English president. President George's first executive order will be to declare an American monarchy with English as the official language.

College Football Problems Trump Academics

2011-11-10T06:25:00.002-05:00

Football is by far America's most popular sport. Whether it be high school teams, college teams or NFL teams, fans live and die by the successes or failures of their team. The coaches are as revered as a deity. Newspapers somehow find the newsprint to maintain a sports section not subject to shrinking news. Football stories find their way to the front page while "Rome burns". What does this get us? Football scandal!

In every college football scandal there is a coach who became larger than the institution. When that happens, bad things are bound to happen.

Tatoogate at Ohio State University earns Coach Tressel a pass into early retirement. The University of Southern California using "professionals" posing as college athletes earns Coach Carroll a lucrative trip to a NFL head coach position. And now Penn State raises the bar on scandals by being caught in a sex scandal which has earned their legendary head coach , Joe Paterno, the retirement he never sought.

The sooner college sports programs become a part of the academic experience, and only that, the better. Sports scholarships should have academic qualifications attached to them. Athletes should be enrolled in meaningful academic programs. If the NFL needs a source of players, let them organize a farm system Ala MLB.

Help Wanted - Must Have Engineering Degree

2011-11-07T11:20:00.003-05:00

“In Japan, 20% of all degrees are in engineering. In the United States that figure is 6%.” - a startling Tweet by Fareed Zakaria. These figures are further evidence of the decline of the United States. Our education system is failing us. Our education system is not providing the incentives for students to excel in something besides running apps on an iPhone. As Fareed Zakaria has pointed out “education is the engine of mobility”. Our engine is sputtering. If we do not fix it soon we will only be able to coast downhill. Without engineers and scientists, we cannot sustain a vigorous economy.

I do not mean to imply that excelling in math and science should be our only goals. Hell, a nation of illiterates would be more of a catastrophe than a nation of luddites. Still, as the expression goes, without innovations we will be sucking hind tit. If we suck hind tit, we as a nation will be undernourished.

How does the system get fixed? I think my granddaughter hit the nail on the head when she said, “Why is it that so few American students graduate high school without even a basic knowledge of calculus as compared to the rest of the developed world? Is it because we are less intelligent when compared to the rest of the world? Or is it because we have decided that educating our children to be competitive in an international world is too hard?”

Most people want the best for their children. Unfortunately, too many feel that making life easier for them is the key. Why not try making life challenging for them. Perhaps a few will decide to be an engineer.

Pass The Benadryl

2011-11-05T08:44:00.006-04:00

An itch is a bitch when there’s a glitch in the cure cooked up by a witch with some crap from a ditch.

An itch will get worse with a pitch by the rich that their taxes should be zilch.

An itch for a fight may get you a stitch.

An itch without Benadryl is like a wagon without a hitch.

And then there are blog posts which are grounds for a lynch!

Get Rid of the Canadians - Geese That Is!

2011-11-02T11:47:00.007-04:00

Walking along the trail by the golf course this morning, I was amazed at the number of Canadian Geese that have flown into Ohio to play golf at the Aberdeen Country Club. I'm sure that the club operators are more frustrated than amazed as they zip around the course trying to collect their green fees.

It seems to me that the problem of Canadian Geese illegally crossing our northern border has been largely ignored by our politicians. Too much time is spent on devising methods to keep out illegals from Mexico rather than illegals from Canada. At least the Mexicans are willing to do all those jobs we hate while the all that the Canadians (Geese) do is shit all over our golf courses.

Actually the solution to keeping out the Canadian Geese is simple and anyone of the Republican candidates is welcome to use it in the next debate. My preference is Perry but Cain will do if if the sexual harassment he's accused of wasn't a goose.

Right off the bat I must reveal that I initially offered the solution to Obama but he respectfully reminded me that he was much too busy to deal with a bird like me to say nothing about birds from Canada.

To get rid of the Canadian Geese problem all we have to do is to establish a no fly zone over The Great Lakes. Before we do this we must not forget to get UN approval because inevitably NATO must be asked to conduct some bombing missions over golf courses. The Federal government need not get directly involved beyond a nice speech at the UN.

The down side of this plan is that after ninety days there will be more hazards than desirable on our golf courses to say nothing of the tremendous cleanup of geese carcasses. To make matters worse the golf course operators will still be out of green fees.

All is not lost. The geese will be gone . The golf course operators can request assistance from China which China will be glad to give in exchange for a monopoly on providing golf carts.

The more I think about my solution, the more I feel I should find another form of exercise. As I've mentioned before , walking can be dangerous for your mental health.

God is a free agent

2011-10-29T11:04:00.002-04:00

Game 6 of the 2011 World Series has already been designated as one of the most exciting in the annals of World Series games. Baseball sportswriters have something to write about all winter long. I'm going to write a little about Game 6 and this years World Series. I know that Texas was only one strike away from winning Game 6 and the Series. So why didn't they? Josh Hamilton did his part with a home run. Of course he has been quick to say that on his way to the plate God talked to him (I wonder if God had a batting hemet on). God interrupted his busy schedule to tell Hamilton that he was going to hit a home run. Hamilton was careful to say that God did not tell him that Texas would win the game. As I watched Hamilton approach the plate I thought he was talking to himself, trying to get himself psyched up. I didn't realize that he and God were having a conversation. If I had I would have checked to see if either of them had a Twitter account so that I could join the conversation. Hamilton got his home run to put Texas ahead but Texas lost the game in the 10th. What went wrong?

Ron Washington , the Rangers' Manager had the answer. Washington has been quoted as saying, “The Lord just didn’t want this game to end in six". I would hate to think that the Lord didn't know that there are nine innings in a game and neither him nor the Baseball Commissioner had any authority to end the game in six. I'm sure that Washington was misquoted and meant that the Lord did not want the Series to end in six.

I bring this all up to make my own point as to why the Texas Rangers did not get their World Champions rings. Mistakenly, key personnel like Washington and Hamilton thought that the Lord and/or God were on their roster. Wrong! God told me in no uncertain terms that he is a free agent too busy looking for ways to save the World from itself.

Enough about baseball until Spring Training. By then God should have made a shambles out of the Superbowl.

To have or to have not, that is the question.

2011-10-27T16:14:00.001-04:00

Lately the term class warfare has surfaced in political discussions. Republicans especially get up on their hind legs and spout out a negative spin on the term. They would have us believe that class warfare is like the plague and should be avoided at all costs. They angrily proclaim that class warfare is a tool of the liberals. The solution according to the righteous right is the capitulation of the middle class. The chosen few they say, will trickle down enough favors to insure the survival of some semblance of a middle class. The middle class they say should work their butts off to insure that the chosen few have the resources to part with those favors.

I submit that the class warfare that we witness in a democracy is nothing more than classes being at odds with each other. It has been thus for ages. For one class to quietly submit to the wishes of another is not called for in our society. For one class to call for a redress of their grievances is a right granted by the founders of our Republic. Class warfare is only to be feared when one class uses any overwhelming power that it has gathered , to beat another class into submission.

I further submit that we will always have classes. We will unfortunately always have the "haves" and the "have nots". It is the responsibility of government to attempt to blur the lines between classes. It is the responsibility of government to give the "have nots" a realistic chance of becoming "haves". Failing to do so, only gives root to violence.

Let us have our class warfare until injustices are eliminated. Let us have our "Occupy Wall Street", "Occupy Cleveland" until government responds to the needs of society. To do less would only give credence to what some believe - only the chosen few are fit to govern. The middle class has a right to be heard even at the risk of their actions being labeled as class warfare.

The Morning After

2011-10-25T10:30:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I published a blog post highly critical of Time Warner. God only knows how many times I was tempted to use the delete button on the post. A little voice within me kept saying that my rage had gotten the best of me. Another voice kept reminding me that I had a valid gripe and publishing the post was one way to maintain some self respect. A third voice interrupted and said I should thank God for giving me an idea for this post. If God did that for me I'm in lots of trouble.

God only knows? Voices speaking to me? You would think I was running for President. I don't want to mention names but Rick Perry and his spouse have a private line to God or so they would have us believe . Hold it, that voice is tormenting me again. I didn't want to mention names but I did. Now that other voice is coming in loud and clear. It's reminding me that the Perry's special relationship with God has already been dealt with in the media.

Exactly what are these voices that choose to use my mind as a forum for debate? Beats the hell out of me. I know it's not God or the Devil. They are much too busy communicating with people who have a larger ego than mine or a more creative imagination. If it's not the aforementioned perhaps it is what we refer to as a conscience.

( I thought I'd use aforementioned just to lend some class to the post. I'm not quite sure what it refers to either, but it sounds good. Besides the Devil made me do it.)

I suspect that all of these voices are something called conscience. I can understand the confusion of the Perry's when it comes to getting messages from God. The fools have a conscience that is telling them to get the hell out of the presidential race. They in turn rationalize that it is only God testing their faith and God is really telling them that the country needs them. That's why they came up with the flat tax. The joke is on them. It was the Devil's doing and they will soon be retiring to that ranch of theirs which uses the "N" word in its name.

Heck, God anticipated the problem of individuals claiming to communicate with God and decided to give us all a conscience. The problem faced by most of us (especially the Perrys) is that we don't listen to our conscience.

At this point a disclaimer is in order. I know next to nothing about the inner workings of communicating with God. I do know something about my conscience. I do feel better about yesterday's post. This post has taken my mind off of it which does not say much about my mind. My conscience tells me to call Time Warner as soon as possible and cancel some of my current services before I'm forced to have my Social Security check direct deposited to my Time Warner account.

There you have it , my morning after blues. I have solved nothing and probably confused a lot of things but my conscience is clear and the delete button on my keyboard is off limits.

Occupy Time Warner

2011-10-24T05:47:00.007-04:00

As long as the 99 percenters are busy occupying streets, parks and cities all over the country, it is appropriate that they consider occupying Time Warner. Just as Wall Street is a symbol of the 1 percenters , Time Warner is a symbol of all that is wrong in the world of cable and Internet service, both of which are no longer luxuries but are a vital part of our everyday life I suppose we could do without cable if push came to shove but our entertainment would take a big hit. Consider also that our office holders and candidates for office could slip one over on us if we could not see their body language. ( At this point I have found that I have gone overboard on cliches. this post may have been more suited for Fun With Cliches. ) Cliches notwithstanding, I continue to have a bone to pick with the Time Warners of this world.

Why am I taking the drastic action of resorting to the blogosphere? I just received my monthly invoice and there in bold print, right beside "amount due" was "Time Warner Extra"! Why should such a friendly notice produce a rant and rave post? Here are five reasons per "Time Warner Extra":

The monthly rate for Basic Services will increase 15%
The monthly rate for Standard Service, which includes Basic , will increase 6%
The Digital Variety package will increase 119%
The monthly converter rate will increase 12%
Basic Internet service will increase 23%

Translation :

We are not interested in providing Basic Service, so if that is all you want, be prepared for hefty increases.
We screwed up on our original Digital Variety package rate - it was too much of a bargain.
We have a gold mine in renting out converters. There is never too much of a good thing. They will never notice the price hike.
People depend on Internet service- they will pay through the nose.

What do I want?

Protection against gauging by cable companies. We did it with credit cards , why not cable.
I probably have paid for two converters by now. I don't rent a phone , why do I have to rent a converter box. Better yet why do I need it. Protection against highway robbery would be nice.
With government action, Internet service should be free or at best at a nominal fee.

What will I get? The shaft. The lobbyists will make sure that that cable companies are left to their outrageous pricing practises. In the long run I will pay for services I do not need for the sake of receiving services that I do need. I guess that's what makes the wheels of capitalism work.

Sorry for the cliches, but the way our cable services and Internet service are provided is trite. The excuses for their pricing are overused. The whole industry is a cliche.

END of RANT!

When I'm President

2011-10-19T10:42:00.002-04:00

I wasn't feeling well last night so I decided to watch the Republican debate from Las Vegas. What's the connection? None - when one is not feeling well , all kinds of weird choices are made.

Two hours later I felt much worse. What was originally a toothache developed into a pain in the ass. Watching these presidential hopefuls debate was like watching a bar room drunken discussion except these guys, and lady, were sober.

It also became obvious to me that these "debaters" were a bit confused. They evidently think that the President of the United States has dictatorial powers. Repeatedly I heard words like, " When I'm President I will repeal Obamacare", " When I'm President I will simplify the tax code with my 9-9-9 plan", "When I'm President I will build a wall to keep out all illegals". They might as well have said, "When I'm President I will dissolve Congress, dismiss the Supreme Court, get myself a fancy uniform with lots of medals and rule the United States of America". Why can't they settle for, "If elected President I will work with Congress to implement my programs". I know the answer to that - it's all about politics and appealing to voters. How naive can I be!

Before going any further this disclaimer must be made. Running for Dictator of the United States is not confined to Republicans. Remember "Yes We Can"? It sounded awful good but Congress had other plans - "Not tonight, I've got a headache!" Barack Obama found out that ideas are nice but implementing them is another thing. His motto more accurately should have been, " Yes We Will Try" but that would never have passed Madison Avenue muster.

One more thing about running for President of The United States. Since when is having business CEO experience a plus. CEO's have essentially dictatorial powers. Makes one wonder, do these clowns think we are fools who do not recognize the limitations of Presidential powers?

Baseball At Its Worst

2011-10-18T06:53:00.002-04:00

Champagne Celebration

I look forward to the baseball playoffs and World Series. The games are exciting and unpredictable. The managing goes beyond expectations. All is first class until inevitably a league division champion emerges , followed a pennant winner, followed by a World Champion. Each of these championships demand the mandatory champagne showers in the locker room. The problem with baseball champions is that all of a sudden they become juvenile bush leaguers. How so? What else can you call the celebrations in the locker room with the required dousing of players with cheap - I hope - champagne. What kind of a message does this send to our youth? A better question is why does the Commissioners Office allow such sophomoric exhibitions with alcohol? One of these days some millionaire's eyes will be seriously injured. Maybe that's why swimming goggles as alcohol-related celebratory protective eyewear are prevalent at modern day celebrations. In the meantime , I'll ignore the celebrating part of the game but I will drink a toast to the champion. I promise not to spill a drop.

Teaching Revisited

2011-10-13T14:46:00.001-04:00

Picked up the above image from my son's Facebook page. A picture is worth a thousand words. Wish I had it when I wrote the following months ago.

The noblest profession of them all and perhaps the most maligned is teaching! As we celebrate the landing of the first man on he moon, kudos go to the engineers, scientists and astronauts who made it possible. Let us not forget that somewhere in the background of every engineer, scientist and astronaut there was a teacher who planted the seeds which later matured into a harvest of entrepreneurship and scientific accomplishments.

Somewhere in the background of a Pulitzer prize winner was a teacher who introduced the writer to the magic of good literature.

Somewhere in the background of Academy Award winners was a teacher who ignited the spark propelling them to venture before an audience.

Let us not forget the impact of the ultimate teachers --- Aristotle, Jesus Christ, Mohamed and Buddha. Their teachings have formed the foundation of our civilization.

Teachers give of themselves to others so that others can have a chance of enjoying productive lives. I am proud to have a daughter, son, sister, niece, sister-in law and grand nephews who made teaching an important part of their lives.

The next time someone gripes about teacher's pay and how easy they have it, they might do well to reflect on what life would be like without having someone to teach us to read, write and think.

Of course there are bad teachers. I'm tempted to say that behind every bad doctor, engineer, writer , lawyer was a bad teacher. That would not be fair. Suffice to say that being bad at what one does is not restricted to teachers.

If everyone was good at what they did , we would not need anyone to lead the way. I don't have any statistics to support this, but I daresay there are many more good teachers than bad teachers. How else would I be typing this on a gadget called a computer?

Much Too Scary!

2011-10-11T20:55:00.006-04:00

The high primal and I sometimes engage in a debate over what's worth watching on TV. There was no debate tonight. In fact by a unanimous vote we decided not to watch the New Hampshire presidential debate. The deciding factor was that the people debating were much too scary for an elderly couple. It's not even Halloween yet and these clowns are up to the old Conservative tricks. We'll read all about it tomorrow morning. Hope Obama watches - he might pick up some ammo to use in the debates next year .

Speaking of Obama, he and his team must be doing something right lately. Their performance on job creation is not so hot but how about the job they are doing on going after the baddies. First bin Laden bit the dust, then al Awlaki and now they may have Ahmadinejad where they want him. The a-hole thinks he's a mafioso and ordered a hit on the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. Hasn't been proven in a court of law ( the al Awlaki hit indicated this is a superflous step), but it sure looks good right now. This whole thing about assassinations is very,very scary. Almost as scary as the Republican presidential candidates. Watch your ass Obama!

What did we decide to watch on TV? The ALCS game number 3 of course. Watching Detroit and Texas play is exciting and scary at the same time. The pre-game show had a segment which really makes you want to root for the Tigers. With tears in his eyes, Jim Leyland paid tribute to the Detroit fans especially the unemployed ones (there is no truth to the rumor that Rick Perry offered to move those fans to Texas which has all kinds of minimum pay jobs available for them).

How about Leyland's comment about the postponed Sunday game 2 - Around here if someone buys an umbrella they close the schools.

In spite of Leyland's tears , the Tigers are off to bad start. It's only the fourth inning but Texas has the lead. There would be nothing scarier than Texas winning the World Series. Well, Rick Perry becoming President would really scare the shit out of me.

HOLD THE PRESSES!!! Curiosity got the best me - tried to find the debate on TV but it is AWOL. Whoever said that the Republican debate was being televised tonight? Me? I was wrong again. That's been happening a lot lately - really scary!

Tigers have taken the lead. That's not scary.

Columbus Gets No Respect These Days

2011-10-10T12:39:00.005-04:00

Christoforo Colombo

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue! In honor of this historic trip, we choose to observe Columbus Day today. This is a bit traumatic for me, since in my youth we always observed Columbus Day on October 12th. It used to be an important holiday complete with a parade followed by a speech at monument erected in his honor. For some reason or other the Christopher Columbus monument was in East Utica. It may have had something to with East Utica being heavily populated by Italian Americans. Columbus got a lot of respect in those days. After all he was credited with discovering America. Now it seems some Viking preceded him and Columbus was an also ran. Columbus still gets some respect as a navigator and so far a pseudo holiday is still named after him. About the only business shut down today is the U. S. mail. That's not surprising, rumor has it that the USPS will be celebrating a lot of mail holidays. All is not lost as far as celebrating Columbus Day is concerned. The high primal has a celebration all planned. We're off to Macy's for the Columbus Day sale! Thanks Chris, for nothing.

( Worth a read - Whatever Happened To Columbus Day?)

Spanish ballots and a 64-cent poll tax: Ay, caramba!

2011-10-08T11:41:00.025-04:00

Papeletas Bilingues

He recibido voto per correo de hoy. Translation - I received my absentee ballot in the mail today.

Bowing to the wisdom of the Justice Department, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections promised to have bilingual ballots for this fall's general election at 71 precincts with large Latino populations. I was surprised to learn that I live in a precinct with a large Latino population. Maybe it's because everyone around me speaks English -- at least some version of it.

The damn ballot is confusing and expensive enough. When it comes to filling in the oval, do you do it in English or Spanish? How do I know that the Spanish version of the ballot is an accurate translation of the English version? For that matter, is the English version an accurate translation of the Spanish? Does it matter? Estoy muy cofundido. I like to read every word before I vote. I've already spent an hour trying to comprehend the Spanish. I'm sure my Latino fellow voters would recommend that I learn to speak and write Spanish.

Then there is the cost of mailing an absentee ballot -- 64 cents in postage is required. Smells like a poll tax. I wonder what the Justice Department has to say about that. Let's see, I could drive to my designated polling place -- a four-mile round trip at 30 miles per gallon. Assuming $3.40 per gallon gas , I could drive to vote for 45 cents, a savings of 19 cents. That's more than I'll earn on my savings account next month.

But what if the lines are long? Could my bladder take the stress? Better to pay the poll tax and use the absentee ballot.

Before completing my ballot, I'm going to look for the place where you can make comments. I would like to propose that we give up the territory of Puerto Rico, thus eliminating the problem of its citizens not understanding our English ballots. Failing that, I would suggest that Latinos learn to speak and write English. My father did, and he voted!

Ohio Votes to Hold Primary Yesterday!

2011-10-05T08:53:00.002-04:00

Breaking news! According to an unreliable source, the Republican presidential primaries are in chaos after Ohio announced it would hold its presidential primary yesterday! There is a rush to collect yesterday's ballots tomorrow from the landfill in order to determine who won Ohio's primary. Rumor has it that Republican absentee voters did not mail their ballots but stayed home in droves in the mistaken belief that an absentee voter is just that - absent. If yesterday's ballots are not retrieved tomorrow it will only prove that the primary was too late and will not have any effect on the outcome of Campaign 2012 which is rapidly becoming yesterday's news. Hopefully Sarah Palin will announce her candidacy in the far future so that chaos will turn into a Republican Winter of Discontent. When asked to comment, all that Obama could say was, "Yes, we will".

The killing of al-Awlaki

2011-10-01T11:09:00.046-04:00

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki on Friday in Yemen by American drones is being questioned as to its constitutionality. An American was killed without the benefit of a trial.

Al-Awlaki was an American by reason of birth on American soil. Is an American committed to Jihad really an American? One could make the argument that such a person is an American traitor and because of his responsibility in the taking of American lives and his admitted guilt thereof he convicted himself without the formality of a trial. I’m sure it is not quite that simple and the argument over the constitutionality of last Friday’s action will go on ad infinitum.

Before anyone is tempted to raise his voice in anger or shed any tears over the killing of an Anwar al-Awlaki , let them consider the loss of American lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, the loss of American lives on 9/11, the loss of lives at Fort Hood. Muslim extremists are dedicated to Jihad and the taking of American lives. They have loyalty only to a bloody version of their religion. They have no loyalty to a nation. If an American life is taken by our counter terrorism efforts as in the case of al-Awlaki, let's remember that it was the life of a practising Jihadist not a practising American.

Perhaps it would help if Washington formally clarifies what is meant by the War on Terror and to what extent we are prepared to go in order to protect our national security. Both the President and Congress need to formally approve such a declaration. Any war worth fighting warrants a Declaration of War.

Food For Thought From Twitter

2011-09-29T11:22:00.003-04:00

I found these tweets by @harryfinch in Twitter especially thought provoking:

Sometimes I wonder how long a year actually lasts.

Anyone looking for a sign eventually finds one.

Memo to Tea Party: the American Revolution was not a grassroots movement

My advice is to learn to mark the sun's progress, for only it knows when it is time for the first drink of the day.

He traveled exclusively by train, so when a destination could not be achieved by rail he was rewarded with the comfort of not having to go.

The demise of the book is no big deal, unless you regret the loss of beautiful objects.

If you want to understand America, consider the kitchen island.

Any American with half a brain considers himself an exile.

We are an entire country, a nation, sitting out a war. And it is our war.

The Indians Make the Playoffs (in 2012)

2011-09-28T06:28:00.003-04:00

Chief Wahoo likes this

My beloved Indians will not be in the play offs - no surprise but still a disappointment. That being the case, as far as I'm concerned the baseball season has been over since early September. Call me a poor loser but aren't most losers poor? Supposedly the post season presents an opportunity for fans like me to jump on someone else's band wagon.

I appreciate the gesture but I’m having a difficult time selecting a team to root for. Looking over the teams that will be vying for the honor of playing in the World Series I cannot help but feel that the post season also for all intents and purposes is over. The Phillies I undersatnd have already been fitted for rings. Regardless I’ll still watch the playoffs and the Series but it will be strictly for entertainment. I can’t envision any team making me rise from my recliner, pump my fist in the air and bellow out, “ Yea -------” (be my guest and fill in the blanks).

There are a couple of teams which may prompt some exuberance from me. I’m originally from New York State and the Yankees were our team. There have been occasions when nostalgia gets the best of my senses and I'm tempted to throw good judgment aside and root for the Yankees. Damn it all, I just can’t do it. It’s not so much the Yankee players as it is the rude, taunting fans that show up in Yankee Stadium. So once again I must revert to my adopted team’s battle cry - DAMN YANKEES!

I mentioned two teams. The other team is the Detroit Tigers. Why would I root for the Tigers? Very simple. I like their Manager, Jim Leyland. Leyland is Mr. Baseball as far as I’m concerned. I could develop some enthusiasm for the Tigers to go all the way but it may take a couple of drinks.

Getting back to the Indians not making the playoffs, it all boils down to this. If the Indians do not have a shot at the big prize, I really could care less about the chances of any other team. I’ll enjoy watching them play but I’ll leave the celebrating to their fans. Still it would be nice if Jim Leyland got another World Series ring. If that becomes a reality, I wonder if the rings being made for the Phillies will appear on E-Bay?

They say there is always next year but that’s wearing a little thin in Cleveland. If the Indians don’t come through in 2012 with at least a playoff appearance, this blogger may just become a Yankee fan. Ha,ha - don’t bet on it,it would take more drinks than are good for me. They say it's only a game but it would be nice to have a winner again. Go Tribe! ( I still feel that Chief Wahoo has cursed the Cleveland Indians - get rid of him!)

ed note: Detroit will be playing Philadelphia in the World Series. Jim Leyland will start smoking again and Detroit will be the World Champions. You can take that to the bank but don't expect any interest.

Afghanistan Needs Rudy

2011-09-26T06:21:00.002-04:00

The hit TV series “The Sopranos” ended over four years ago. I didn’t get to see the last episode but I understand Tony and his mob are alive and well. According to the New York Times, they are still operating and their activities can be viewed on the TV national news several days a week. It seems that Tony has moved his home turf to Afghanistan.

Tony has changed his name to Jalaluddin Haqqani and is the capo di capo of what has become known as the Haqqani Mafia, a ruthless crime family engaged in kidnapping, extortion, smuggling and even trucking ( Pauli Walnuts insisted on the trucking or he wouldn‘t move). Demanding protection money worked so well in New Jersey that Tony could not help but go after it from businesses building roads and schools with American reconstruction funds . Read all about it in “ Brutal Crime Clan Bedevils U.S. in Afghanistan.

Of course I have fantasized my take on the story a little ( maybe a lot) but the whole idea that a crime family is sticking it to the most powerful country in the world sounds like a something out of Hollywood. Fantastic as it may sound, I might also conclude that we have been successful at nation building in Afghanistan. When and if we leave, we will be leaving a crime organization which rivals anything we have in our democracy.

The Administration and the Pentagon are at their wits ends as to how to deal with the Haqqani Mafia. Have they ever thought about sending Rudy Giulianni there as a special envoy. He did one hell of a good job as a U.S. Attorney in whittling down the New York Mafia. I bet he would take the job if someone made him an offer he coudn't refuse. How does President Rudolph Giulianni ( like in President of Afghanistan) sound?

In the likely event that Giulianni turns down the opportunity to be a president ( at least of Afghanistan), the Administration has one sure fire solution to the Afghanistan mess. Get out as scheduled if not sooner!

Rick Perry Exposes Himself

2011-09-24T06:00:00.002-04:00

During last Thursday's Fox News Republican debate, Rick Perry exposed himself and was found wanting. Mitt Romney couldn’t help but smile and was quick to make it clear that Perry did not have what it takes to be President. Michelle Bachmann had a look which implied that she had seen better - debaters that is. Santorum’s relentless attack on Perry gave him little cover. All that Ron Paul could do was to look back to his days as a gynecologist. Apparently Perry’s performance has not discouraged his Tea Party supporters who say that they much prefer an earthy candidate than a prim one. When questioned about his performance, Perry could only mumble something about a wardrobe malfunction. Asked for an opinion, an Obama spokesman said he would not touch it with a ten foot pole.

Joined At The Hip Revisited

2011-09-22T07:11:00.003-04:00

In the midst of Campaign 2008 I wrote the post, Joined At The Hip, expressing concern over how the Jewish vote holds our politicians hostage. Four years later, as Campaign 2012 gets underway, the words in this post hardly need changing. The events going on at The United Nations over granting statehood to the Palestinians is proof of that.

Isn’t it about time we let The United Nations do its job. The world must decide the issue of statehood for the Palestinians, not a third party. Years of peace making efforts by the United States have been fruitless. I don’t think they ever had a chance. It’s unfortunate that in the process, Israel with it’s west bank settlements has created a situation making it impossible for any good faith negotiating. If The United Nations is not the place to settle this issue, I would question the need for an emasculated international organization.

Of course the United States will veto any resolution mandating a Palestinian state. When that happens I will refurbish my bike so that I can get around when Arab oil is no longer available( they too would like to hold us hostage). The rich need not worry. Tax reductions will give them that extra cash for an electric car providing China continues to supply those rare earth materials for batteries ( they too would like to hold us hostage).

Ah yes, that's class warfare and the Republicans would have us believe that class warfare is only a luxury the rich can afford.. So maybe Israel should be a good ally and settle for being a small country, make peace with the Palestinians and everyone can live happily ever after. That will be the day!

Arab Spring Republican Style

2011-09-21T11:00:00.002-04:00

In his speech to a joint session of Congress on September 8, President Obama reminded both parties, "The election is 14 months away." His message was that it is totally selfish for both parties to battle each other instead of joining together to fix the economy. Predictably the message fell on deaf Republican ears. There is no doubt that the Republicans will stop at nothing in their quest to remove Obama from the presidency. Is this the Republican version of “Arab Spring”? If so, it looks like we have 14 months of chaos ahead of us. Hopefully there will not be an “Arab Spring” American style in our future.

Save USPS

2011-09-16T18:17:00.007-04:00

It is inconceivable that we would abandon snail mail delivery or at the minimum castrate it. I acknowledge that I have contributed to the financial woes of the USPS by paying my bills on line (it is important to note that I receive them by snail mail) and using E-Mail rather than buying stamps, but at the same time I do not want the USPS to disappear. The possibility of its demise or a severe downgrade is unacceptable. Delivery of mail to our individual mail boxes I'm sure was guaranteed in the Bill of Rights ( exactly where I'm not sure but neither is the Tea Party with some of its outrageous claims about the Constitution). It is up to the stalwart characters in Congress to step up the bar, have a drink or two on me and come up with the money to preserve an American institution.

Technology has gone too far when it threatens us with the loss of first class mail delivery ( I'm not concerned about junk mail, after all it is junk). Our government owes us at least some reliable form of low tech mail service. I admit that is a tall order but Congress is up to it ( look at our tax code - better yet, don't look at it, just pay your taxes). Everything else in the country is moving at a snail's pace, so what's wrong with having snail mail even if it must be slowed down ( if that is possible). It will still be faster than the Pony Express.

I don't mean to malign the Pony Express. Had it not been for the Pony Express our flag would still only have a handful of stars on it.

The mail carrier has been an American hero for decades but lately his image has been tainted. He or she hardly ever smiles and sleet and snow does deter them. He or she no longer walks from house to house but drives a vehicle from box to box . When push comes to pull, they still get the job done and my bills arrive before their payment due date. We need snail mail! On the other hand if the bill is not in the mail I won't need to pay it. Oh yes, I know, I will be asked to go green and opt to receive it digitally. The hell with that. No snail mail, then I'm cancelling my Internet service unless Uncle Sam pays for it. Don't remind me - getting Washington involved with financing Internet service will start the mail delivery problems all over again except now some aliens in cyberspace will be involved. We can't afford that - save the USPS!

ed note: The high primal read this epic post and reminded me that a sentence should not end with a preposition. I retorted that it can. It's easy, I've done it a countless number of times. As Winston Churchill said when he received the same criticism, " It's my prerogative".

Forget About It!

2011-09-13T08:56:00.002-04:00

The art of procrastinating is fertile ground for cliches and jokes. The most familiar cliche about procrastination is, " never put off for tomorrow what you can do today". The cliche is relevant since I often start writing a post and then opt to leave it in draft form and follow Mark Twain's advice about never putting off for tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

Today I planned to write a post about the the Republican presidential hopefuls, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense not to touch it with a ten foot pole - at least not today. Maybe tomorrow , or better yet, the day after tomorrow if I can find a twenty foot pole. The stench is awful!

From the dust we shall rise again .....

2011-09-11T23:00:00.004-04:00

After a day of flag waving, speeches and poignant stories of 9-11-01 it is fitting to have some music to reflect on the past and wonder about the future. Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is the perfect choice. I'm listening to and watching the New York Philharmonic pay tribute to the victims of 9-11. When all is said and done, music is the perfect medium to stir up memories and at the same time the resolve to put those memories to constructive use. "All that has perished must rise again."

Bravo, Allan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic and thank you WVIZ!

Remembering Labor

2011-09-05T05:54:00.019-04:00

Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. How ironic that today’s celebration of Labor Day finds organized labor villified and under assault from the Republican Party and Tea Party movement. It is apparent that the right is dedicated to taking us back to the gilded age. As we celebrate Labor Day, we must also be mindful that the very workers who have contributed to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country have a painful problem - too many are unemployed and their prospects for employment have never been so dim since the Great Depression.

Musing about labor, its contributions and its problems, I could not help but to go back in years. I remember my immigrant father toiling away in a men’s garment factory. I remember my immigrant father embracing the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America as a lifeline to a decent wage and working condition. I remember my immigrant father working the polls on Election Day for the American Labor Party.

American Labor Party logo

Labor leaders and liberals organized the American Labor party in New York in 1936, primarily to support Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal and the men favoring it in national and local elections. It gathered strength in New York State and particularly in New York City and had considerable weight there in tipping the scales toward chosen Democratic or Republican candidates. Internal strife eventually led to its demise. Perhaps the day has come for a new “American Labor Party”.

One thing for sure, in spite of the depressed job market, labor must learn the lessons of the ’30’s and start a solidarity movement to regain its strengths and once again become a force in this country’s future.

I write this fully cognizant that I spent my working career in management. I even was part of a management team at an arbitration hearing seeking to end a nasty strike ( I'm sure that my father was rolling over in his grave). I recognize that labor must bear some guilt for its abuse of power but I respect the contributions of the labor movement to the growth of this country. More importantly, I am grateful for the labors of my father and my mother which gave me an opportunity for a better life than they had.

ed note: Two years ago I wrote a post about Labor Day . Sad to say nothing has changed in two years as far as the job outlook is concerned.

Obama, Obama! Where art thou?

2011-09-01T08:16:00.002-04:00

Obama has been accused of being just another cheap Chicago politician. Cheap shot? Maybe not. I'm far from being a political strategist but even I wondered why The President of the United States would stoop so low as to attempt to address a joint session of Congress at the same time that a bunch of Republican presidential wannabes were debating - correction, ranting. Worse of all this president backed down when the Orange Man who runs the House told him he was whistling Dixie to think that he could pull such a stunt. This is scary. The man we depend on to be strong when facing world leaders cannot stand up to a political hack from Ohio. The man we depend on to develop strategies to keep this nation powerful cannot even develop a strategy to address a joint session of Congress. Worse yet he agreed to a date WHEN RED BLOODED AMERICANS WILL BE WATCHING A NFL FOOTBALL GAME AS THEIR NATION CRUMBLES.

I like Obama or I should say , I like the Obama who campaigned in 2008. There is no doubt that the Bush administration left him a country in shambles. Yet he has not proven to be a strong leader. I'd say dump him if there were someone in the wings, Democrat or Republican, who could prove to be a stronger leader. The Republicans are a disaster and would do more to divide this country than to make it stronger. The Democrats? As long as Obama seeks a second term , we will not hear much about a Democrat capable of challenging him.

If Obama truly wants a second term he had better start acting like he has the balls for it. If not, get out now while there is still time for a Democrat to jump on the donkey and run. As for me, I will cross my fingers, remember to vote and hope for the best. Good luck Obama - may the wind be at your back or better yet, wake up and kick ass.

Libya Back In The News

2011-08-31T08:44:00.001-04:00

Irene was a mess but now is history. CNN has rediscovered Libya and found it is still making history. Libya is still the mess CNN left it in a few days ago. It is such a mess that the Obama administration is on the verge of receiving accolades for not becoming too embroiled in Libya's rage. It appears to me that the rebels may have driven out the Qaddafi forces but there will be no new Libya. No new Libya, unless the Islamists prevail. For some time Libya probably will once again be a nation of tribes. By the way Rick Perry envisions this for the United States, as he advocates the demise of central government and the rise of tribal states.

I hope our national debt does not take another hit in an attempt to build a nation. I don't like Ron Paul and his libertarian views but I have to agree with him on one point - get the hell out of the Mideast!

Irene Disappoints CNN

2011-08-28T10:57:00.001-04:00

Watched a little of CNN's coverage of hurricane Irene this morning. Had to turn it off when it became obvious, at least to me, that the anchors and reporters were somewhat disappointed that Irene thus far was falling short of the monster storm they had predicted. A lot of time was spent, in an apologetic manner, explaining that really out in mid-ocean it was a category 3 storm. I feel sorry for CNN - not really- but grateful that Irene shot her wad in mid-ocean before toying with NYC.

By the way CNN, what's going on in Libya?

Evacuations, Ejaculations, Executions

2011-08-27T14:27:00.006-04:00

As Hurricane Irene approached the east coast, the governors of the affected states rose to the occasion. One after another declared a state of emergency. Some went so far as to order mandatory evacuations. In the confusion surrounding the emergency, there was bound to be some misinterpretation of the well intentioned directives. At Joe The Bartenders place on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, cheers broke out as Joe informed his patrons that the Governor had ordered mandatory ejaculations until Irene diminished in strength. At last reports, Irene was holding her own as the semen flowed freely.

Not to be outdone , the witty Tea Party citizens of South Carolina misinterpreted evacuation by a mile. All the rest rooms in Myrtle Beach were busier than Macy's at Christmas time.

In NYC unprecedented evacuations have caused the sewer system to be overwhelmed!

A more lethal misinterpretation of evacuation orders occurred in Texas. Although Texas was not in the path of the storm, its brilliant governor decided that he should act also. In lieu of evacuations he ordered mandatory executions. At last reports, Texas had the lowest prison population in the country.

WELCOME HOME, JIM THOME

2011-08-25T23:34:00.001-04:00

Jim Thome is a Cleveland Indian again! A class guy is home. Thank you Minnesota Twins. Thank you Chris Antonetti and a special thanks to the Dolans.

'Taint Fair!

2011-08-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

Pitcher leaves game after 8/1/3 innings with the score 4-3 in his team’s favor and two men on base. Closer comes in and allows the two men to score. Bottom of the 9^TH with the score 4-5, player hits walk off 3 run home run. Home team wins! Closer gets the win. The starting pitcher gets condolences. ‘Taint fair!

A Lack of Credibility

2011-08-22T05:27:00.000-04:00

I was surprised to find that the phrase “blow smoke up one’s ass” actually originated with a procedure used to resuscitate drowning victims. A tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum in an attempt to resuscitate him. Not surprisingly, it was not effective and lost credibility. Politicians have never signed off on the lack of credibility of such a procedure and to this day insist on blowing smoke up our asses.

It's A Jungle Out There!

2011-08-21T10:57:00.001-04:00

A man was shot in the parking lot after a San Francisco 49’ers pre-season game last night. He apparently evoked someone’s anger by wearing a T-shirt which displayed some derogatory words about the 49’ers. It would appear the gun wielder was exercising his Second Amendment rights. If one carries a gun, it follows that he has a right to use it. I’m not quite sure what the authorities will do with him. Any fool knows it was self-defense and God knows we are fools for allowing a liberal interpretation of Second Amendment rights. Consider this. How dare anyone take advantage of the First Amendment by exercising his right to free speech in a manner that could anger a gun toting proponent of the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment? What a dilemma! There is a problem here, and it will best be solved by everyone going through their inventory of T-shirts and discarding all but the ones proclaiming the right to bear arms. Better yet, do not wear T-shirts with any message whatsoever. It’s a jungle out there - watch your ass! I hope no one takes offense to this post. If so, please delete it, not me! The high primal still needs me.

It Worked For Abe

2011-08-20T06:02:00.031-04:00

As Campaign 2012 begins to take form, the rhetoric heats up. Rick Perry calling Bernanke's actions almost treasonous is a good example, not to mention the gay bashing by Michele Bachmann. Political candidates would be well served if they heeded the words of Buddha, "Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world". Anyone who actually heeded these words would probably be considered a crummy politician in this day and age. Notwithstanding, he or she might make a great president. It worked for Abe.

Shedding Some Light On Republican Candidates

2011-08-18T06:57:00.000-04:00

- Pawlenty was light as a feather and blew away.

- Rick Perry’s lights are on but there is nobody home.

- Newt Gingrich looks like a deer in headlights.

- Romney would like to punch Perry’s lights out.

- Sarah Palin is having a tough time hogging the limelight.

- Will Michele Bachmann see the light and crawl back into her hole.

- Is it lights out for Herman Cain?

- Ron Paul sees light at the end of the tunnel.

- Huntsman is a lightweight.

- Rick Santorum hasn't seen the light of day and has been out to lunch for some time.

Congratulations Jim Thome

2011-08-17T16:25:00.017-04:00

He will always be an Indian to me!

Jim Thome hit home run #600 on 8/15/11. Whoever said that nice guys finish last. Cooperstown next. Congratulation also to the Twins for giving a 40 year old with a bad back a chance for baseball immortality.

Funny Pages

2011-08-16T08:08:00.001-04:00

Some Funny Pages Favorites

While watching an old or more accurately a vintage movie, one of the characters made reference to “the funny pages”. Instantly I had a flashback to the days when comic strips ruled the Sunday edition of a newspaper and we couldn't wait to get to the funny pages of The Utica Observer Dispatch. The funny pages consisted of an entire section of the paper and the comics were actually funny unlike many of today’s comic strips which are more like soap operas.

I remember “Betty Boop”, my first love. Betty Boop was the darling of the Depression days and was one hot babe with her short dresses, high heels, a garter belt and a cleavage which would not quit. She would put our modern day floozies to shame. She was about as X-rated as we were exposed to in those days. Most of all she was funny.

And then there was ‘Bringing up Father” which featured the comic adventures of Jiggs. This comic strip told the story of Irish-American Jiggs, a former bricklayer, and his wife Maggie, an ex-laundress, who achieved sudden wealth, supposedly by means of a lucky ticket in the Irish Sweepstakes. While the snobbish Maggie and beautiful daughter Nora would constantly try to "bring up" Father to his new social position (much like the TV show “Moving On Up” of later years), Jiggs could think of nothing finer than sitting down at Dinty Moore's restaurant to finish off several dishes of corned beef and cabbage, followed by a night out with the boys from the old neighborhood. The strip featured flying rolling-pins, smashed crockery, and broken vases, all aimed at Jiggs's skull. Ha, ha ha!

Rivaling Jiggs as a ne'er-do-well was Major Hoople of “Our Boarding House”. “Our Boarding House” was a long-running comic strip set in a boarding house run by the sensible Mrs. Hoople. It chronicled the humorous interactions of her grandiose, tall-tale-telling husband, Major Hoople, with the rooming-house denizens and his various friends and cronies. The Major featured what looked like a Turkish fez on his head but probably was what distinguished gents wore atop their heads while relaxing in the evening.

For pure he-haws, Lil Abner took the prize. Lil Abner and his Pappy and Mama were hillbillies who lived in Dogpatch. I guess if I carried the hillbilly stigma I wouldn’t have found the strip so funny. Speaking of strip, Daisy Mae as a sex-pot almost rivaled Betty Boop. Of all the characters in this comic strip, joe btfsplk was my favorite. There was a black cloud over his head wherever he went. If anything was going to happen it happened to joe. I imagine Barack Obama might have a special attachment for joe btfsplk.

Characters you could find in the neighborhood were very popular in the funny pages. Mutt and Jeff were comic-strip characters that the Laurel and Hardy series could very well have been based on. They were two working-class men -- drinking, gambling, and getting in hot water with their wives. Mutt was a tall, lanky man with a penchant for the ponies, while Jeff looked like the Monopoly man after a rough weekend.

As youngsters we could fantasize with “Freckles and His Friends” Freckles was a junior in high school. His exploits with the Shadyside High football team were followed closely. Much to my surprise I discovered that a Shadyside High School does exist in Ohio.

Of course there were other entertaining comic strips. Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Blondie all provided good entertainment for a Sunday morning.

The stripped down newspaper of today has little room for comic strips. Our local paper, The Plain Dealer, calls it comic pages DIVERSIONS. Probably because most of the strips are not funny. As I indicated earlier, it appears that more and more strips are devoted to personal and social issues. Blondie and Dagwood have survived and for that I’m grateful. Actually there are a lot of funny things in today’s paper. Not the comics, but the national news. Political news and maneuverings provide for a number of funny pages.

Reminiscing about funny pages also reminded of something else that was important to my upbringing. I got to enjoy the funny pages because no matter how austere the times were, my father made sure we had a newspaper in the house even though he didn‘t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. My parents were immigrants without the benefit of much formal education. Pop got to learn and read English through night school and a tour in the Army during World War I. My mother learned by reading the paper. How she managed this has always been a mystery to me. She learned to read a newspaper in the English language without the benefit of any schooling! Her favorite section? The obituaries.

Newspapers in our house served other need besides providing information. Wrapping garbage in newspapers was routine. The crummiest garbage was reserved for any stories about Republicans. Newspapers also followed me to school. They were excellent for wrapping my delicious pepper and egg sandwiches (much to the consternation of my sister). That’s right, sandwiches not sandwich.

In spite of computers, smart phones, tablets and whatever else in the Apple labs, I hope newspapers will continue to have an important place in our lives. They have certainly made my life better.

It's on the tip of my tongue

2011-08-12T06:34:00.000-04:00

I have the solution for the debt reduction crisis. I'd submit it to the so called Super Committee but there is one little problem. I can't get it out from the tip of my tongue. It's there - I can feel it struggling to get out into the open but the road signs are so confusing, it can't get past the tip of my tongue. I hope this little problem is not the tip of the iceberg. Dare I mention the "A" word? What the "A" word is escapes me at the moment. It's on the tip of my tongue. Now where was I? It's on the tip of my tongue and had something to do with the debt crisis. Actually I don't give a Tinker's dam about the debt crisis. Hold the presses! I remember, I remember! Get the hell out of the Mideast!

Updating A Messy Poem For Messy Times

2011-08-08T06:05:00.005-04:00

In January '09 I messed around with a poem thinking that the best way to deal with one's depression over the recession before it developed into agression was to relax and wax poetically about the economic mess. One mess deserves another.

Raised in the Great Depression
Retired before the crash of eighty seven
Lived to see the Great Recession

It is now two thousand eleven

The economy an abortion

Hope there's not an Armageddon

I'll settle for regression

Whoever said this would be heaven

Let's hope the economy turns around soon. I wouldn't want my poetry to get any messier. If it does, S&P will most certainly downgrade me. Next time I'll try Paxil.

Irish Twins

2011-08-05T11:32:00.002-04:00

What do you write about when when everything in the nation and world appears to be one big fat mess? Irish twins of course

While sitting in my dentist's reception room recently, I could not help overhearing a conversation a lady was having with the receptionist. Before accusing me of being nosey, I must add that the reception room is very small and the only way to ignore conversations is to wear ear plugs. In fact this particular room may well be in violation of patient privacy regulations. So while trying to ignore the conversation that was going on I overheard, " did you know that she has Irish twins?" What in hell could she be talking about. Did her friend adopt twins from Ireland? Why tag her friend's twin as Irish? Judging from the put down tone of her question , I surmised that there was more to "Irish twins" than a reference to twins. I couldn't wait to get home to research " Irish twins". My research took all of two minutes thanks to Google.

"Irish twins" is used to describe two children born to the same mother within twelve months of each other. What a disappointment! Why the Irish tag, it could happen to anyone. Just a bit more research revealed that that in the 1800's in the land of freedom and religious tolerance, the children of our forefathers concluded that such births could only only occur as a result of uneducated, poor Irish Catholic families' lack of birth control as well as as self control.

I still wonder about the Irish tag since there are many uneducated, poor Americans who have no self-control when it comes to sex. Make that Americans of all economic means who have no self-control. Obviously the term was originally meant as an insult which Americans of all economic means too frequently apply to fellow Americans who they deem as different.

In modern use, the term Irish twins is not intended as an insult, but rather a description of siblings born close to together. How nice! It still sounds like an insult. Was the Planned Parenthood Society formed to reduce the frequency of Irish twins?

Now that I have succeeded in taking my mind off everything that is really important for a few minutes, let me not be a coward. Time to get ahold of that self-control thing, turn on the TV set and watch the roller coaster ride called the economy. Better yet that old movie on TCM, "Cheaper By The Dozen", looks a hell of a lot better.
.

Obama To Throw His Support to Bachmann

2011-08-04T08:39:00.003-04:00

The following link to a satirical article which appeared in The Onion is almost too close to the truth but still worthy of a laugh midst the comedy that played out in Washington this week.

Obama: Debt Ceiling Deal Required Tough Concessions By Both Democrats And Democrats Alike: http://tinyurl.com/3hushrr

Obama had better start rooting for Michelle Bachmann to get the Republican/Tea Party presidential candidate nomination. It’s his best chance for another term.

Hope Springs Eternal For Obama

2011-08-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

It looks like I'll have a Social Security check on August 3 if I am to believe that The United States has averted default on its obligations. I don't completely understand the compromise reached by the White House and Congress or was it the White House and The Tea Party. If I were to attempt to put on paper what is being reported it would look like a camel and an extraordinarily ugly one at that. Not even Rembrandt could paint an appealing landscape of the deal reached. Sadly the Democrats at this point look like the Napoleonic armies retreating from Russia. Which makes me wonder, will this debt ceiling debacle turn out to be Barack Obama's Waterloo or better yet Vietnam? Will he pull a Lyndon Johnson and not run for another term? I do hope he runs. I hope he somehow pulls a rabbit out of a hat and makes a silk purse out of a sow's ear. As they say, hope springs eternal. The real Obama has not yet surfaced in Washington. Or has he.

Bless me Father for I have sinned again!

2011-07-30T11:34:00.014-04:00

Bless me Father for I have sinned. My last confession was six monrhs ago on my blog. This is my first in this cage.

You say you prefer to call it a confessional box, well that's OK with me.

The point I wanted to make is that I say I'm sorry frequently, but it does not seem to do much good. Whoever is listening to my cries of sorrow is ignoring me completely. Your box is my last resort. Unless you believe I'm sorry and grant me that thing called absolution I'll be in deep shit trouble. Right at the start I must tell you that I tried Absolut but only succeeded in getting stinking drunk. I'm willing to do some sort of penance if you push some of that absolution my way.

Why am I here?

Don't you read the sports pages?

The Indians got clobbered 12-0 last night by of all teams, the Royals. While that debacle was going on, my elected representatives were toying around with some sort of debt ceiling bill which guarantees that I will die a pauper. Everything that's important to me is going down a rat hole and I know it must be my fault.

Exactly what I've done to deserve the embarrassment of the Indians and their brand of baseball is beyond me but I know it's my fault. I'm sorry for their performance. I beg of you, anything you can do to assemble some pitchers, hitters and good glovemen for the team would be appreciated. How the hell you might be able to do that is a mystery to me. The fact that the owners are good Catholics might be a clue. Next time they are in this box, just threaten them with no absolution unless they part with some of their money to get some ballplayers. As a last resort , if indeed it's all my fault, I'm willing to switch my allegiance to teams in the Central Division, one team at a time, in order to even the playing field. If it turns out that the demise of the Indians is more the fault of the Chief Wahoo curse could you perform one of those exercise - scratch that- exorcism things?

I truly am sorry about the ineptness of the Indians.

As for the United States Congress, I can only say that my lack of activism is probably responsible for the collection of imbeciles who have messed up the country. Mia culpa, mia culpa! Pardone, pardone!

On second thought I take that back. This whole debt ceiling mess is not my fault anymore than it is yours. That being the case, I'm not confessing a thing. If indeed I did anything wrong, I'm keeping it a secret.

Confused by my attitude? No reason to be confused. What's going on in Washington is what is confusing. I don't understand the whole fucking mess. Sorry about that, I know that the word fuck does not belong in a confessional box, although I'm sure this is not the first time it has been used in this box. Someone took the time to scratch it on the wall.

I do remember using the words 'sexual intercourse' rather than fuck in a confessional back in my teenager days or was it layed.

No matter, back to the debt ceiling. If I don't understand the fucking mess it can't be my fault anymore than it's yours.

Now that you've listened to my confession, I'm sure that you have concluded that I should not even be here in this box. I'm sorry if I've bothered you. Just so it's not a complete waste of time for either of us why not join me for some Absolut after work. We can talk about that penance thing.

Too Qualified For The Job

2011-07-29T10:33:00.003-04:00

The Plain Dealer reported this morning that the Cuyahoga County Executive has stopped a former top aid to Jimmy Dimora from running ethics classes for County employees. Jimmy Dimora is a former County Commissioner who is awaiting trial on a bushel full of corruption charges. This action on the part of County officials is short sighted. Who better to lead an ethics class for those who play with taxpayer's money than a former aid to an official who was a master at lining his own pockets at the taxpayer's expense. Surely the aid must have learned something about ethics or more accurately the lack of ethics from his boss. County officials may have acted too hastily in dismissing Dimora's former top aid as an ethics instructor. It appears to me that he was well qualified. Or was he over qualified?

Liar, liar - your pants are on fire!

2011-07-27T05:28:00.000-04:00

Recently I sat at the keyboard and started to tap out a profound post. I found myself using the words “not too far from the truth” which unleashed a torrent of thoughts. I wondered, if something is not too far from the truth, does that mean a lie can be considered the truth if it suits one purpose. Is that what is called a white lie as opposed to a complete falsehood? Are falsehoods and the truth related?

Fortunately there is a wealth of information about truth and falsehoods. Some of it is true and some must be taken with a grain of salt. Most of what I have written is attributed to great men too numerous to list (not quite the truth, too lazy to list them is not too far from the truth). I have assembled these sayings to suit my purposes. Questioning these purposes will only invoke the response, “ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies”. Not that I would want to lie. I can but I prefer not to. I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates but lies make the world go around.

Consider this, a lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. A lie may have speed, but after putting on its shoes, the truth has endurance. This would lead one to conclude that the truth lives forever. Not necessarily. While a lie is speedily being spread throughout the world, it becomes the truth. Truth after all is obscure. Falsehood on the other hand is so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it. Loving the truth can be difficult, whereas embracing falsehoods is much more facile.

Ask yourself why peace in our world is so elusive. The answer is that peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a perfect purity of conscience. Lofty goals. Traits found in very few people. Peace will be elusive!

There are those who believe that it's essential to tell the truth at all times. This will reduce life's pain. Lying distorts reality, therefore; all forms of distorted thinking must be corrected. Who is to judge what is distorted thinking. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth even if it‘s a lie. The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. However, the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. Wow! Confused? Peace will be elusive!

It has also been said that a generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things, which renew humanity. I’ll bet your bottom dollar that humanity is still rusting away. Peace will be elusive!

At the onset I hoped I absolved myself of any attempts at plagiarism. Let me lay my cards on the table and not beat about the bush. If you find all this tough to swallow feel free to shout, “liar, liar, your pants are on fire”. Be advised, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

NFL Football In September Is A Shoe In

2011-07-22T10:41:00.000-04:00

At the onset I must admit that this post is not objective. I'm not a huge football fan. I'm only a little football fan. Having said that, I'm not exactly celebrating that that the NFL billionaire owners and the NFL millionaire players are a shoe in to get into their play pen in September and go through the antics of a sport referred to as football but more closely resembling mob violence. As an aside , since shoe in popped into my mind ( it didn't hurt) , I decided to research the origin of the cliche. Well, it's a fraud. The damn cliche is misspelled . The expression is more properly shoo in. What the hell the shoo means I'm not quite sure, so I'll settle for shoe. If the shoe fits wear it - football in September is a shoe in.

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer put it more succinctly: "Evidently, the lockout is close to ending. There will be football. It can't be helped."

Are you ready for some mayhem!

Duffer Days

2011-07-17T11:21:00.002-04:00

Absolutely no respect (early 50's)

While walking this morning and observing the golfers hacking away at golf balls I had a flashback to yesteryear when I dared to venture out on a golf course. I was undoubtedly one of the worse duffers who dared to intimidate a golf ball. My first set of golf clubs came straight out of a pawn shop. I purchased these relics shortly after my college graduation. My good friend Ernie and I decided that since we had been duly certified as professional men we should adopt that gentleman's game called golf. No lessons, just what we learned through observing other golfers. Needless to say we became the talk of the club house. Keep away from those duffers was the thread of the conversations. My friend Ernie went on to become a respectable golfer. I went on to become a feared golfer. Everyone was afraid I would invite myself to a golf match. The photo above gives you some idea of the respect I received. My golfing days ended abruptly. I woke up one morning - very, very early- and got ready to drive out to a golf course to meet some friends. It suddenly occurred to me that I was not looking forward to hacking away at a golf ball, losing a ton of balls, embarrassing myself and missing out on some needed sleep. I did not keep my golf date. I mentioned earlier that my first set of golf clubs came from a pawn shop. My last set of golf clubs ended up in the trash. I tried to sell my clubs but I was unceremoniously informed that no self respecting golfer would be seen dead with them. I must admit, I did have some fun playing golf. I've had more fun watching the golf tournaments on TV. Considering my reputation as a duffer, it is ironical that I now reside in a community surrounded by a golf course. So far I have not been asked to vacate the premises.

Making An Ass of Oneself

2011-07-13T05:58:00.000-04:00

On a recent shopping trip to a supermarket I approached the bakery department and found myself staring at a bun - not the special of the day but a bun peering out of hip hugger jeans. Bent over selecting some doughnuts was a middle aged lady, who had slinked into jeans at least one size too small. To make matters worse , the lady undoubtedly had chosen to be sans underpants. When she straightened up, I thought the bun or more properly ass would retreat to its home but obviously the jeans were more accurately two sizes too small. The ass was meant to be exhibited for all to see. The greatest shock came when she turned around. Holy cow, she had a face that would stop a clock. No wonder she walked around with her ass exposed, it was by far her best feature. Not only would her face stop a clock but it would scare a dog out of a butcher shop or at best was a face only a mother could love. I may be doing the poor woman an injustice but thrusting her ass in my face left me no alternative. She made an ass of herself but I'm grateful to her for this post.

As American as ____

2011-07-11T06:42:00.000-04:00

There was a time when there was nothing as American as apple pie. In this day of globalization and NAFTA that is not necessarily true.

The top three sources of imported apples and apple products for the United States are Chile, New Zealand and Canada. Chances are that the apple pie you are about to devour was made using imported apples.

If we can’t rely on apple pie as the all time American dessert, there is always baseball. Everyone knows that baseball is the favorite American pastime, unless you’re a dyed in the wool football fan. If you are, your opinion at this time does not count - there is something called a lockout that is going on which means there may not be any football this fall. On the other hand, football fans might argue that there is nothing more American than a lockout. Bad argument - a lockout is not to be confused with a strike. A strike is as American as apple pie - oops, we've already established that's questionable. A lockout however borders on fascism - which is hardly American. But I’m going around in circles. Lets get back to baseball.

Lets face it, the game is tainted and nothing tainted should be America's pastime. The game of baseball was supposed to be played by 9 players on each team. Now we have one league, which dares to call itself American, that allows 9 ½ on a team. The ½ player is called a designated hitter. The position is reserved for an elderly player who can no longer catch or throw a ball but can swing a bat. He is not a baseball player any longer , he is a bat player. This is almost as bad as imported apples in apple pie.

If the designated hitter is not enough to eat away the fabric of America’s favorite pastime, interleague play is on its way to completing the job. In the glory days of baseball, there was an American League champion or a pennant winner who played the pennant winner of the National League in The World Series. With interleague play it is possible to have a champion in a league, who earned the honor by defeating more teams in the other league. Not fair!

If I’m wrong I will be glad to eat humble pie which is better than eating crow. Of course all of my arguments melt away when one realizes that there is nothing more America than making money. In America money talks ( as long as the debt limit keeps rising). If the designated hitter brings in cash for the owners it must be OK. If interleague play makes the registers play “ Take Me Out To The Ballgame” it must be OK. Last but not least, if the apple pie is delicious, does anyone really care that the apples came from New Zealand- although that’s getting pretty close to China who by the way supplies the money which people invest in baseball teams.

When push comes to pull, trying to label something as American is spinning one's wheels. NASCAR? Why not?

( Having the designated hitter in baseball can be forgiven as long as Jim Thome and his aching back come through with home run number 600 in the near future. Go get it Thome and then give that weary back a long rest.)

　

Great Baseball Writing

2011-07-08T11:04:00.001-04:00

Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer beat writer for the Cleveland Indians, came up with a gem in writing about the game versus Toronto on 7/7. Just a few words vividly described the first eight innings of baseball.

"For eight innings Progressive Field sounded like a college library during spring break. It seemed as if the Indians had hung a do not disturb sign on the locker room door after taking two out of three from the Yankees. "

Long before the ninth inning , I had abandoned my beloved Indians. Wouldn't you know it, Hafner hit a game winning home run in the ninth. The college library became a stadium of roaring fans and I didn't get to enjoy the moment.

From Superpower To Banana Republic In One Easy Step

2011-07-05T16:34:00.001-04:00

In A New York Times article, Sam Dillon reports that " as budgets are trimmed, time in class is shortened". He goes on to write:

"After several years of state and local budget cuts, thousands of school districts across the nation are gutting summer-school programs, cramming classes into four-day weeks or lopping days off the school year, even though virtually everyone involved in education agrees that American students need more instruction time."

The article is all about the struggle to provide the education needed by our young people in order to survive in today' world. It is unthinkable that when push comes to shove, those who administer our schools and local budgets will make do with less bucks for education. What is worse is that parents will let them get away with shortchanging their offspring.

I'm convinced that strong public school education for all is what made this nation a superpower. If we make education a low priority for our tax dollars we will produce a generation incapable of coping with modern technology. We will be led rather than lead. Of course the rich will have no problem educating their darlings in a private school, thus ensuring that we evolve into a nation of aristocrats and serfs. How long will the serfs be content with their status in society?

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-04T05:49:00.006-04:00

The Fourth of July, a time for picnics, a time for fireworks, a time to remember that it is Independence Day, a time to remember the founding fathers who planted the seeds for a great nation. After the last hot dog comes off the grill and the last blast of a rocket is heard, it will be time to remember that tomorrow will come, and with it all the formidable problems facing this great nation. We will awaken to a Congress stalemated because of the political agenda of opposing political parties. We will awaken to a Republican Party determined to make Obama a one term President and the hell with the consequences. We will awaken to a Democrat Party which because of its wimpy leaders is playing into the hands of the Republicans. We will awaken to a Supreme Court which is determined to take us back to the days of Robber Barons. We will awaken to wars and unrest through out the world which are taxing our military strength and fiscal responsibilities. We will awaken to an economy which is eroding the American Dream. We will awaken to the strong possibility that this great nation will do the unthinkable and reneg on its debts. This nightmare needs to end. Will the real Barack Obama please step forth before it's too late. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Relief For Drought Stricken Texans

2011-07-03T06:14:00.003-04:00

Just in time for the 4th

Every red blooded American will celebrating Independence Day. Most celebrations will culminate with fireworks except in Texas where the drought has led to restrictions on fireworks displays. If the local authorities do not permit pyrotechnics, Texans do have an alternative. Thanks to American ingenuity and Trojan, they will be able to make their own fireworks and save $2 in the process. My research has not determined whether or not the pictured kits bear the Made-In-China label. If they do and were produced in some shoddy slave labor shop, July 4 may be the birth date of a slew of slanty eyed Texans.

Future Presidential Candidate Material?

2011-07-02T06:54:00.001-04:00

Enough to bring tears to her eyes

Picked this up in a social network conversation dealing with a picture of The Statue of Liberty:

"Is that that statue of liberty thing that everyone makes a big deal about? Looks like a real piece of shit if you ask me. But I'm not an art person."

The comment came from a recent college graduate! Makes one wonder how that's possible unless History is no longer taught in schools. In light of the recent gaffes by Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann, the individual commenting, although not an art person, is undoubtedly presidential candidate material . Enough to bring tears to one's eyes.

The high primal suggested that the comment was a "put on" and not representative of the person's knowledge. Hope she is right.

The Chief Is Angry

2011-06-27T11:14:00.016-04:00

Chief Wahoo must really be pissed. The Indians success early in the season ( What's With The Chief) made me foolishly predict that the Chief had removed his curse. It is now obvious ( month of June, W8-L16) that the Chief has cast a spell on the Cleveland Indians that they may never get out of. Can you blame the Chief. Indians management keeps playing a logo game . Sometimes they feature the Block C, sometimes the script I and sometimes the Chief. It's as though they are auditioning logos in preparation for retiring the Chief. I suspect that they would like to get rid of Chief Wahoo but are fearful of alienating fans. Alienating fans? The team's performance is taking care of that, not the idea of retiring the Chief. The Chief must go! Why can't the Dolans get that through their heads. Hold everything! I'm sure the Chief is angry about not being allowed to retire but lets not blame his curse for the poor performance. The Indians would look like a lousy team regardless of the logo on their uniforms. Still it's worth the gamble to retire the Chief and hope for the best. Oh, by the way, some hitters would help.

Breaking News - Chisenhall called up from Columbus. Finally, someone playing third base who can hit . Stay tuned.

Proud of My Roots!

2011-06-26T08:23:00.003-04:00

I was born, raised, educated and married in New York State. My children were born in New York State. I have never been so proud of my roots than I am right now. New York has truly brought us into the twenty-first century with its historic passage of a law that will give gays and lesbians the right to marry and all the legal protections and benefits that go with marriage. I now live in a state, Ohio, which I doubt will ever have the vision for legislation of that magnitude. This is the state of my grandchildren and great grandchildren. Hopefully they will one day change Ohio's vision. In the meantime, here's to you New York, proud to call you my home state.

Half A Loaf Is Better Than None

2011-06-22T17:03:00.000-04:00

Obama is expected to announce significant troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. Along with winding down the Afghan War, it looks like we may be winding down our penchant for nation building. As Fareed Zakaria on his Facebook page suggested, the killing of Osama bin Laden is a powerful argument for emphasizing counterterrorism in fighting terrorism over nation building. The foolishness of nation building brings to mind the cliche, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Afghanistan with its tribal society will never be the democracy envisioned by the Bush neocons and neither will Iraq (too bad Obama was sucked into the nation building farce after he took office).

A total pullback in Afghanistan by the end of this year would have been nice, but I must admit impractical. Half a loaf is better than none!

No good writer is a fast reader!

2011-06-22T06:47:00.002-04:00

One of the reasons for engaging in blogging is to hone one's writing skills. As I have learned, doing so can be a daunting task. I often ask myself 'what distinguishes a polished writer from a mediocre blogger'. At last, thanks to Twitter, I have discovered the secret of of writing elegant prose. A Tweet by @jackshafer ( writes 'Press Box' column for "Slate") got me to an essay by Joseph Epstein, a portion of which appears follows.

Heavy sentences: "Learning to write sound, interesting, sometimes elegant prose is the work of a lifetime. The only way I know to do it is to read a vast deal of the best writing available, prose and poetry, with keen attention, and find a way to make use of this reading in one’s own writing. The first step is to become a slow reader. No good writer is a fast reader, at least not of work with the standing of literature. Writers perforce read differently from everyone else. Most people ask three questions of what they read: (1) What is being said? (2) Does it interest me? (3) Is it well constructed? Writers also ask these questions, but two others along with them: (4) How did the author achieve the effects he has? And (5) What can I steal, properly camouflaged of course, from the best of what I am reading for my own writing? This can slow things down a good bit."

I pride myself on being a fast reader which in the world of good writing skills is apparently the door to mediocrity. There is some hope in that I do well as far as question (5) is concerned. One out of five is a hell of a lousy score and does not bode well for my writing.

I'm sure there are other points in the essay which would help my ego when it comes to writing but I read the essay so fast that I find it difficult to articulate any of the fine points . Hold everything , there was one gem which I believe will salvage my blogging career - " The only way to write is well, and how you do it is your own damn business".

Middle Class Be Warned

2011-06-20T11:35:00.001-04:00

Republican Platform For The Middle Class

Tony's Finch Diner Ordered Shutdown By Homeowners Association

2011-06-18T08:31:00.008-04:00

Unknown asses have succeeded in getting the f***ing F------s Homeowners Association to order Tony to get his Finch Diner the hell off of common property. The asses are suspected to be Tea Party activists who don‘t have the cagliones to do anything important in local politics. Not wanting to make waves, Tony has agreed to move his diner to safe ground. He has served notice however that he intends to report the abuse of Finches by the F------s Homeowners Association to the Audubon Society. Tony also suspects who the asses are and has called a meeting of all the Finches in the neighborhood to tweet about the anti-Finch terrorists. The guest twitter at the meeting will be the lead bird from Alfred Hitchcock “Birds” movie. It is rumored that this bird is an expert at pecking asses and will provide instructions on precision ass pecking for a group of Finches who have volunteered to form a special Finch Attack Force (FAF). In the meantime, Tony has engaged a contractor to remove the offending Finch feeder. Asked where the feeder was being moved to, Tony would not disclose the location and would only mumble: I’ll get rid of my last feeder when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

I'll hold my nose and vote for him

2011-06-16T16:49:00.000-04:00

A politician I am not. An economist I am not. I can add 1 and 1 and get 2 but I must admit, that does not make me a mathematician. Still I keep trying to add the facts as I see them in an attempt to make sense out of where we are heading.

Math can get quite complex when I try adding 4442 American lives lost during Operation Iraq Freedom to 1584 lives lost during Operation Enduring Freedom . I keep getting a figure of 14 trillion which is also equivalent to our national debt. Impossible? Not when you think about the billions of dollars we have poured into two wars. The investment was supposed to give us security and as a by product two stable nations, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our return on an investment of billions and over 6000 lives ( not to mention the thousands of maimed soldiers) is a national debt which is crippling our country and two fragile nations which will be forever tribal societies. I for one do not feel anymore secure today than I did on 9/11/01. If anything, today's economic mess and poltical shenanigans make me feel less secure.

I wonder if Bin Laden ever gloated over not only the 3000 lives lost on 9/11 but as an aftermath the economic chaos enveloping the United States and the 6000 lives lost fighting two fruitless wars to rid the world of terrorism.

President Obama at the moment is consumed by the upcoming 2012 presidential election. He likes to do the little things like going to Puerto Rico to fulfill a 2008 campaign promise. I hope he gets the balls to fulfill the promises that really mean something, like ending the wars and getting people back to work. Time is getting short - the approval bounce he got from the hit on Bin Laden is gone. He needs to take a deep breath and once again become the Obama of 2008. I’m not optimistic that he will. It probably would not be good politics, at least as far as his advisors are concerned. If it's business as usual it presents the dilemma of who should be elected in 2012 to lead this nation. Considering the choices at the moment, Obama is it. As my son recently put it: I'll hold my nose and vote for him. I sincerely hope that will not be necessary - just in case I'm shopping for some clothes pins.

Long May It Wave!

2011-06-14T08:35:00.004-04:00

As is often the case, when in need of a post, browsing through the morning newspaper does the trick. Yes indeed, this morning, there were all kinds of events and issues waiting for my deft analysis.

Of course in Ohio, sports dominates the news. I could write about LeBron James, the former Cleveland Cavalier, and his supposed swan dive (I am writing about basketball and not high diving) in the NBA finals. As a Miami Heat player he is taking a lot of heat. The problem is I could care less about LeBron, and basketball for that matter, in spite of the Governor who saw fit to make the Dallas Mavericks and their fans honorary Ohioans. Fortunately it is only for today.

Then there is the football scandal at Ohio State University. People are actually acting like the reputation of an institution of higher learning has been stained. Again I must take a bye. I always thought that OSU was a football factory masquerading as a university. I don't see why some football players selling memorabilia for tattoos is so bad. If they had attended their economics class they would have learned that getting into a hedge fund was more profitable.

I can't ignore Weiner and his sexting problems. On the other hand I can.

The Republican Presidential Candidate debate in New Hampshire? There is probably enough material there for at least ten posts. Big problem! I did not watch the debate or read about it this morning. The comic pages were much more informative.

The Indians June swoon would make for a good post but every time I start writing about these overachievers who have suddenly become underachievers, the tears start flowing. Damn Yankees!

There is something I am comfortable writing about. Today is Flag Day! I read this morning that Betsy Ross did not design the flag in spite of what my History teacher told me many,many years ago. I never believed it anyway. Red, white and blue? There are all kinds of poetic versions about the choice of these colors but really, the only plausible choice for the colors was the Union Jack. Uggh! Yes I could write a lot about Flag Day and the flag but after I spewed all the words out, only a few would be relevant. In spite of all of our problems, we can proudly point to Old Glory as the flag of the best nation in the world. Long may it wave!

Tony's Dove Feeder Has Moved

2011-06-10T16:47:00.006-04:00

The last meal

Tony's Finch Feeder - correction, Dove Feeder- proved to be an unintentional, overwhelming success among the Mourning Doves. Unfortunately the popularity of the feeder amongst the dove population far exceeded the available toilet facilities, Doves queuing up for dinner made liberal use of the lawn furniture. There was no way Tony was going to devote his days to cleaning up bird shit, so he called an emergency meeting of his Finch Diner Board. By a unanimous vote it was decided to move the finch feeder to an undisclosed location. Once this was done, the Twitter social network was set ablaze with tweets expressing anger about Tony's treatment of Doves. It now appears that a Mourning Dove Spring is in progress. At last reports the Interior Department has called for banning Tony and his board from all bird feeder activity. Tony vehemently has stated that he is in the bird feeder business to stay in spite of the damn doves. He also added that in a couple of weeks it will be Summer and that should take care of the Mourning Dove Spring.

How low can airlines fly

2011-06-09T17:01:00.011-04:00

Weinergate made the headlines this week but not for long. Not to be outdone, Delta Airlines stole the show by demonstrating just how low an American Corporation can get. Grabbing exorbitant baggage fees from servicemen returning from Afghanistan was Delta's way of showing their appreciation for their service. Caught with their flaps down, the recalcitrant airline officials now will allow servicemen to board with two extra bags free. Bullshit! Why can't they forget the fees altogether? Next time their lobbyists spend "baggage fee" money to lobby Congress for more subsidies, they should be run out of town on a rail. Why is that individuals are asked to sacrifice for the good of their country while Corporations are exempt? Globalization? Corporations are starting to resemble "The Man Without A Country".

Having said that, let me hasten to add that there are many Corporations that can properly be labeled "good citizens". One that shall go unnamed is the one that pays my pension. A few bucks ( and they are a few) can buy anyone.

Back to Weinergate. According to CNN he is not giving up the headlines. Wish he would resign and make room for the next Congressman to act like a sophomore. Boys will be boys. Some will even grow up to become President of The United States.

More Stimulus Money Gone Bad

2011-06-07T13:01:00.002-04:00

In my 6/2/11 post I confessed to the misuse of stimulus money concerning my finch feeder project. Further investigation has revealed that the fraudulent use of stimulus money was greater than reported.

Funds were also used to establish "an upscale Humming Bird Bar where Humming Birds could wet their whistle with Tony's special nectar ". Once the project was completed the high primal and I began our watch for hummingbirds. Not a bird was sighted. This in spite of the meticulous care taken to clean the feeder. In disgust, about a week ago, the diner/feeder was demolished, stimulus money be damned.

Thanks to dicklincoln.com

Lo and behold, this morning, a hummingbird was sighted at the sight of what was formerly Tony's Hummingbird Diner. The damn bird was having a great time satiating himself with nectar from the flowers which surrounded the former feeder.

When I reported this to the high primal , she asked if I was going to try a feeder again. My response. " Hell no! From now on, the only hummingbirds welcome in our yard are Free Range Hummingbirds."

As for the stimulus money, The Treasury Department can consider it money well spent to verify that birds prefer Mother Nature.

Architect - designed birdhouses

2011-06-05T11:50:00.002-04:00

Thanks to the coolcleveland blog my difficulties with birdfeeders may be at an end.

"Birdhouses get classy at For the Birds, a display of architect-designed birdhouses @ Cleveland Botanical Garden, held in collaboration w/ the American Institute of Architects (AIA Cleveland). Birdhouse styles range from “shingle/stick” to “prairie & beyond” to “modernism” to “post-war suburbia.” Birdhouses will be displayed throughout the Garden’s 10 acres."

First thing in the morning- make that midmorning - I'm off to the bank to see if some sub-prime mortgages are available for birdhouses. I've got "modernism" in mind. No old birds for me.

About Friends

2011-06-03T08:23:00.002-04:00

The bad news is that the cliché “ any friend of yours is a friend of mine” is in danger of losing its cliché status. The even worse news is that it has become the motto of the Facebook social network. If you have a Facebook page, you are besieged with ways to find and add friends. The easiest way of course is to make a friend out of someone who is your friend's friend - any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Not only do you get a new friend , you get a photo, bio and countless comments about things you would rather not know. Gossip finds its way into many comments which is perfectly acceptable. After all, what’s a little gossip among friends. Pre-Facebook, if you dared to consider anyone a friend because he or she was the friend of a friend and you later found out that the new friend was obnoxious, you were faced with the difficult choice of telling that new friend to go and pound salt. Not a problem with Facebook. With a click of the mouse you can unfriend any friend and that friend will never darken your door or better yet your screen again. In fact that friend will not even be told he or she has been unfriended. If you are unfriended and somehow find out, you can always rationalize that with friends like that , you don’t need a friend.

Stimulus Money Gone To the Birds

2011-06-02T10:57:00.004-04:00

President Obama will be in Toledo Friday hoping to garner a few votes by touting the success of the stimulus plan to save the domestic auto companies. Evidently there are those who say that this was money ill spent. It is not my intent to debate this issue. Since I drive a Toyota, anything I would have to to say would be tainted. On the other hand , I am familiar with stimulus money being ill spent.

On 3/28 I wrote a post, "Tony's Finch Diner Files for Clicheruptcy". in which I chronicled my problems with my finch feeder franchise. A fellow blogger took note of my problems and promised to contact his congressman to enlist his aid in getting some significant stimulus money to save Tony's Finch Diners.

To my surprise, the stimulus money did become available. After consulting my board, I embarked upon a major renovation of my finch feeder ( code for " I bought an expensive feeder").

Early in May, Tony's Finch Diner had a grand opening. Business was great and finches of all varieties flocked to the new feeder. Success was short lived. News of the diner spread to the bird population. Especially noted was the platform at the bottom of the feeder. Mourning Doves decided that the platform was put there for their use. Yes, the doves became regular customers. What was meant to be a finch feeder was now a dove feeder.

Tony's Dove Feeder

To add insult to injury, yesterday I received a letter from the Treasury Department. In no uncertain terms I was advised that I had misspent the stimulus money. It was meant for a finch feeder, not a dove feeder. There is no way I can pay back the money. I did offer to ship the feeder to The White House. I understand there is a dog named Bo there ( I assume he is still there - hasn't been in the news lately) who might be able to scare the doves away. I received another insulting letter calling me a fool to think the dog would scare the doves and not the finches. I responded that since the stimulus money spent on the car companies is still going to result in an 11 billion dollar loss for The Treasury, they could easily absorb my $29.95 loss.

Standing Room Only

The last I heard was that Obama was going to keep his distance from my yard when it comes to touting stimulus money successes.

But I Had Reservations