Yeah it probably wasn't a good idea to leave the henhouse in the hands of the foxes (to use another analogy). It is no surprise that they would divide up the hens amongst themselves.
I contacted my congressman/woman. It also comes as no surprise that they (one of each of the two major parties) are each blaming the other party for the problem. Both of them do agree however that the bonuses are just Wrong! They have different ideas on just how to fix the problem. The gist of the comments back to me was 'I didn't do it, it was their fault', which is not helpful at all. If ever a situation of bi partisanship should be, this would be, I believe. I can see that it is going to be almost impossible to do away with politics as usual. Both parties are resisting with all their might. At least both parties agree that the bonuses were just plain wrong. That is a small beginning.
I try to keep my attitude positive. I want to also keep my blogs positive. This is a difficult thing for a cynic to do. I believe the fact that I received a response from my congressmen to be a positive sign. It is positive also that both parties agree about the wrongness of the situation. Rather than rant about the 'politics as usual' theme I am going to end this post now.
Don't get me started!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Banks, banking and Insurance companies.
The head of AIG was justifying those bonuses the other day. I read what he had to say (or at least what was reported). He would not have released them but they were 'contractual'. It was important to pay the 'brightest and the best' and not allow the government to 'arbitrarily' change contracts.
I have been noticing as well that the spin doctors are hard at work. In fact the stements made by the head of AIG were probably the work of spin doctors. They are hoping that we the citizens of the USA won't notice that our taxpayers money was used to pay these bonuses. That the 'brightest and best' got the financial institutions in the mess that they are in, and still think they deserve a bonus! Somehow we are supposed to accept business as usual even though it cost people a lot of money. Aarp has estimates of how many dollars of peoples retirement funds have shrunk in the last year. 2.8 trillion dollars just gone! And still we are not supposed to notice that or the 18.4 billion dollars paid out in bonuses? We are supposed to just accept that?!
No! We should be outraged! We should write our congressmen...maybe even call them on the phone and tell them just how outraged we are. We should but will we? Most likely we will not. If it appears that people are accepting this travisty it is because we feel that we cannot make a difference. Our anger and dismay can only lead to depression. After all lobbyists are spending millions to get their point across, and we don't have millions to spend, especially since the above mentioned losses.
Is there a chance that we can make a difference? I believe so. It is going to take a lot of work. It is going to take many letters and emails to our congressmen in both houses. It is going to take supporting Mr Obama, even if we didn't vote for him. History will prove whether or not he was right. Still, he is the only game in town. This game is one that we all have a stake in. We need to be involved!
So let's email or write our congressmen and tell them just how outraged we are! Now!
I have been noticing as well that the spin doctors are hard at work. In fact the stements made by the head of AIG were probably the work of spin doctors. They are hoping that we the citizens of the USA won't notice that our taxpayers money was used to pay these bonuses. That the 'brightest and best' got the financial institutions in the mess that they are in, and still think they deserve a bonus! Somehow we are supposed to accept business as usual even though it cost people a lot of money. Aarp has estimates of how many dollars of peoples retirement funds have shrunk in the last year. 2.8 trillion dollars just gone! And still we are not supposed to notice that or the 18.4 billion dollars paid out in bonuses? We are supposed to just accept that?!
No! We should be outraged! We should write our congressmen...maybe even call them on the phone and tell them just how outraged we are. We should but will we? Most likely we will not. If it appears that people are accepting this travisty it is because we feel that we cannot make a difference. Our anger and dismay can only lead to depression. After all lobbyists are spending millions to get their point across, and we don't have millions to spend, especially since the above mentioned losses.
Is there a chance that we can make a difference? I believe so. It is going to take a lot of work. It is going to take many letters and emails to our congressmen in both houses. It is going to take supporting Mr Obama, even if we didn't vote for him. History will prove whether or not he was right. Still, he is the only game in town. This game is one that we all have a stake in. We need to be involved!
So let's email or write our congressmen and tell them just how outraged we are! Now!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Eating Right
I told Lori I was going to blog about eating right. Her comment? 'Like you know anything about eating right!' I have no idea where she would get the idea that I don't know how to eat right. I recognize right eating whenever I see it. Do I do it? No, I like food that tastes good as well as being good for you.
As an aside...Does is seem to anyone else that right eaters are often left- leaners? Are people that are leaner all eating right? Are they eating right, or just eating wrong differently? If eating right is a function of leaning left, shouldn't eating right be called eating left? In fact just how much of eating right is politically oriented rather than health oriented? Does politics have any healthy impact on what we eat? At least so far, eating right is not related to the banking industry. I feel that this is a good thing. If eating right was related to the banking industry some CEO would still be getting his 25 million dollar bonus, whether or not he led us to healthy eating or not.
OK that was reaching.
I do have some reservations about the government being in charge of deciding what is healthy eating. Healthy eating should not be in the hands of an entity that changes as often as the government changes. It also should not be determined by special interest groups. PETA is one special interest group that would like to be in charge of deciding just what healthy eating is. I am sure the beef industry would like to be as well, not to mention the pork producers, the chicken factories, and the vegens.
I think that conflicting information would be dispensed by the conflicting organizations. All of them have their own particualar agenda to promote. They will promote that agenda whether or not it leads to healthy eating. So how is one supposed to make sense of all the information? Or mis-information?
I guess I will start by not eating as often at the fast food places. So I will be just having coffee at McDonald's from now on. Sigh, no more sausage biscuits with honey. Today we had a healthy lunch. Shrimp and salad with asparagus. The shrimp was not deep fryed either! That was healthy! Obviously the aspargus was not grown here in Michigan, but the Mexican farmers have to make money as well. It is important to take credit whenever I eat right. I will not mention those times I ate wrong. It is also important here to mention that Pizza is one of the major food groups. Chocolate is as well, according to Lori. She knows what eating right is all about. BTW she does not agree with me about Pizza. Sigh. I guess that statement could have stood alone at 'she does not agree with me'. It's fun discussing things with her though.
On the side again...still trying to figure out the politics of eating right. If Rlush Limbaugh is the poster child of right leaners, why isn't he leaner? Or are only left leaners leaner? Is it possible to be a skinny conservative? Man I have a lot of questions about this whole subject. No answers, though. I'll leave those up to someone wiser and less cynical than me.
As an aside...Does is seem to anyone else that right eaters are often left- leaners? Are people that are leaner all eating right? Are they eating right, or just eating wrong differently? If eating right is a function of leaning left, shouldn't eating right be called eating left? In fact just how much of eating right is politically oriented rather than health oriented? Does politics have any healthy impact on what we eat? At least so far, eating right is not related to the banking industry. I feel that this is a good thing. If eating right was related to the banking industry some CEO would still be getting his 25 million dollar bonus, whether or not he led us to healthy eating or not.
OK that was reaching.
I do have some reservations about the government being in charge of deciding what is healthy eating. Healthy eating should not be in the hands of an entity that changes as often as the government changes. It also should not be determined by special interest groups. PETA is one special interest group that would like to be in charge of deciding just what healthy eating is. I am sure the beef industry would like to be as well, not to mention the pork producers, the chicken factories, and the vegens.
I think that conflicting information would be dispensed by the conflicting organizations. All of them have their own particualar agenda to promote. They will promote that agenda whether or not it leads to healthy eating. So how is one supposed to make sense of all the information? Or mis-information?
I guess I will start by not eating as often at the fast food places. So I will be just having coffee at McDonald's from now on. Sigh, no more sausage biscuits with honey. Today we had a healthy lunch. Shrimp and salad with asparagus. The shrimp was not deep fryed either! That was healthy! Obviously the aspargus was not grown here in Michigan, but the Mexican farmers have to make money as well. It is important to take credit whenever I eat right. I will not mention those times I ate wrong. It is also important here to mention that Pizza is one of the major food groups. Chocolate is as well, according to Lori. She knows what eating right is all about. BTW she does not agree with me about Pizza. Sigh. I guess that statement could have stood alone at 'she does not agree with me'. It's fun discussing things with her though.
On the side again...still trying to figure out the politics of eating right. If Rlush Limbaugh is the poster child of right leaners, why isn't he leaner? Or are only left leaners leaner? Is it possible to be a skinny conservative? Man I have a lot of questions about this whole subject. No answers, though. I'll leave those up to someone wiser and less cynical than me.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Daylight Savings?
Grrrr! That is how I feel about daylight savings time. Grrrrr! It is something to be dealt with, like going to the dentist. It is not at all pleasant. It does not give anymore time. A day is still 24 hours, just like always. It is a burden foisted upon us all by a few business men who can make more money from the longer(?) daylight hours. Ironically, the golf courses people were quite happy to sacrifice the drive in movie people on their alter of bigger profits.
That is all in the past though. DST is here with us. We have to bear the cost of longer dark hours in the morning. School is still is session. Children now once again have to get to school in the dark. Drivers will have a more difficult time seeing them in the dark. The roads this time of year here in the Midwest, are in better condition than in the winter, and drivers will be driving faster. So the danger to school children is real. It is not real enough so that the danger is considered however. We have to have time to Golf! Grrrr! The danger was real even when DST didn't start until April. It is worse now that 'the powers that be' have decided that DST should begin in March!
Tonight we will lose an hour of sleep. Or miss the events that are scheduled for Sunday morning,one. I firmly believe that hour of sleep is missed by our bodies for the whole summer. We need that sleep. There is no way to make up for it until the time changes back again, in November(!). That is a long time to be deficient on sleep. Logic would indicate that there would be a loss of production because of the need for more sleep. I guess it is OK though, it must be. 'The powers tha be' have said so. It must be so...
I predict that in the not too far future 'the powers that be' will decide that the benefits(?) of DST are so great that DST will be put in place all year around. This happened after WWII in Michigan. The Michigan legislature adopted DST all year effectively moving Michigan from the Central Time Zone into the Eastern Time Zone. When DST was adopted nationwide Michigan had to obey...and the citizens of Michigan are on double DST. When the nation goes to year around DST. Michigan will be on triple DST, or three hours (approximately, because the time zones were artificial designations so the railroads could figure out schedules) ahead of the time if told by the sun.
But why stop there. If Daylight Savings(?) Time is a such a good thing why not go on Quadruple DST? Why not move the clocks ahead 5 hours? The benefits would be five-fold wouldn't they? In fact, maybe we should just get up at sundown and go to work and then our evenings would be all daylight. There would be plenty of time to golf, or have backyard picnics, or what ever it is that people do with the daylight saved. It would not be necessary to sleep at all, would it, we could just take a nap after work. We could designate that 6 AM (for example) was 6 PM. We would then save all the daylight! I am sure that would be a good thing.
Wouldn't it?
That is all in the past though. DST is here with us. We have to bear the cost of longer dark hours in the morning. School is still is session. Children now once again have to get to school in the dark. Drivers will have a more difficult time seeing them in the dark. The roads this time of year here in the Midwest, are in better condition than in the winter, and drivers will be driving faster. So the danger to school children is real. It is not real enough so that the danger is considered however. We have to have time to Golf! Grrrr! The danger was real even when DST didn't start until April. It is worse now that 'the powers that be' have decided that DST should begin in March!
Tonight we will lose an hour of sleep. Or miss the events that are scheduled for Sunday morning,one. I firmly believe that hour of sleep is missed by our bodies for the whole summer. We need that sleep. There is no way to make up for it until the time changes back again, in November(!). That is a long time to be deficient on sleep. Logic would indicate that there would be a loss of production because of the need for more sleep. I guess it is OK though, it must be. 'The powers tha be' have said so. It must be so...
I predict that in the not too far future 'the powers that be' will decide that the benefits(?) of DST are so great that DST will be put in place all year around. This happened after WWII in Michigan. The Michigan legislature adopted DST all year effectively moving Michigan from the Central Time Zone into the Eastern Time Zone. When DST was adopted nationwide Michigan had to obey...and the citizens of Michigan are on double DST. When the nation goes to year around DST. Michigan will be on triple DST, or three hours (approximately, because the time zones were artificial designations so the railroads could figure out schedules) ahead of the time if told by the sun.
But why stop there. If Daylight Savings(?) Time is a such a good thing why not go on Quadruple DST? Why not move the clocks ahead 5 hours? The benefits would be five-fold wouldn't they? In fact, maybe we should just get up at sundown and go to work and then our evenings would be all daylight. There would be plenty of time to golf, or have backyard picnics, or what ever it is that people do with the daylight saved. It would not be necessary to sleep at all, would it, we could just take a nap after work. We could designate that 6 AM (for example) was 6 PM. We would then save all the daylight! I am sure that would be a good thing.
Wouldn't it?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Spring! Maybe?
I heard a Redwing Black Bird this morning! That is a for sure sign of spring! Also here on our little lake the Weeping Willows have begun to turn that yellowish orange they do in the spring. So it is obvious that Spring is on it's way! Hurray! Hurrah! and Hallelujah!
On the other hand...and there is almost always the other hand, it was -2 degrees F this morning with a windchill of about 15 below. This is not a good sign. (For some reason, I have been typing sigh this morning instead of sign, Freudian slip?) Also, our little lake is making ice like crazy. I can hear the lake rumbling as it makes ice right now. Spring is on it's way, but it will be some time before it arrives. Redwing blackbirds not withstanding.
It would seem like there should be some spring weather at the end of Winter. There is always winter weather at the end of Autumn. Michigan for some reason cools down better than it warms up. That is one reason that Lori and I head for Tennessee every spring for a week. We get some of the Michigan chill out of our bones early that way.
I was sure happy to hear that Redwing Blackbird this morning though. What a positive sign!
On the other hand...and there is almost always the other hand, it was -2 degrees F this morning with a windchill of about 15 below. This is not a good sign. (For some reason, I have been typing sigh this morning instead of sign, Freudian slip?) Also, our little lake is making ice like crazy. I can hear the lake rumbling as it makes ice right now. Spring is on it's way, but it will be some time before it arrives. Redwing blackbirds not withstanding.
It would seem like there should be some spring weather at the end of Winter. There is always winter weather at the end of Autumn. Michigan for some reason cools down better than it warms up. That is one reason that Lori and I head for Tennessee every spring for a week. We get some of the Michigan chill out of our bones early that way.
I was sure happy to hear that Redwing Blackbird this morning though. What a positive sign!
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