Oh Yeah!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope everyone takes the time to actually think about what they are thankful about...My List

Lori!
Robert!
Christine!
Tales!
(and all the in-laws and out laws there in)
Everyone with whom I have ever played music!
Everyone with whom I am ever Going to play music!
My Brothers and my Sister!
(And all those in-laws and out laws)
My Country!
And finally being Retired!
This list is incomplete...but I don't want to get completely maudlin here. The older I get the more things I have that I am thankful for!

Facebook

Well, kicking and screaming, I have joined the 21st Century! I have joined Facebook! I have always considered that to be a 'kid' thing, and I am no longer a 'kid', by any stretch of the imagination.

But, a friend took some video of Lori and I playing music at a benefit last Saturday. She posted it on her Facebook account. (Incidentally, she does not qualify as a 'kid' either.) I wanted to see the video, so I tried to access her Facebook account. It was a no-go. You have to belong to Facebook in order to access accounts there. So, now I have my own Facebook account. It has no 'Face' on it because I have not uploaded a picture. So I guess I have a 'faceless' Facebook account. I have already a whole bunch of 'friends'. Surprisingly, there are lots of people my age that have Facebook accounts. Most of them have 'faces' on the account as well.

I may upload a picture or two to my account...I would prefer to use Lori's picture, she is by far more attractive than am I. Or I am, whatever... Lori would not be pleased should I do that. She is even more shy that I am, about personal photographs.

I have to admit that I have already used this account advantageously. I have located a nephew, whose email address I had forgotten. He has accepted me as a friend as well. Contacting him will be easy now. I had tried so called free people directories in the past. Those would tell methe email address provided that I paid them some money. For example, 9.95/month, way too expensive for what I would receive. Facebook accounts are free, and I had the information at hand almost immediately.

Now as long as no one steal my identity, I will be doing real good! See even old dogs can learn new tricks!

sarah palin

Well, here in mid Michigan we are about to be treated with a visit from Sarah Palin. She is arriving in Grand Rapids MI this afternoon, for a book signing at Barnes and Noble. People have been standing in line since yesterday evening to get a wristband so they can get in to see Ms Palin, as if she were a Rock star.

I find that amazing...but then I find the fact that there even is a Sarah Palin amazing. What amazes me even more is that anyone takes her seriously! Yeah, I know she was the GOP's choice for VP candidate. We all know just how important the VP is. If she had been elected VP, she would not even be in the news at all. If the VP is in the news it is usually a joking reference. Ms Palin is probably better off media-wise by not winning the election!

Or at least she was until she published her 'book'. I use the quotes because said item is only 5 chapters long, so it hardly can be considered a book IMNSHO. Now once again she is in the limelight. The news media will have a field day! I am sure the reviews are going to be mostly bad. I cannot say whether or not the book is bad. I have not read it. I am not driving to GR to stand in line for the privilege of standing in another line to get an autograph. I will check it out of the local library when it becomes available.

There is no such thing as bad publicity. Ms Palin has once again put herself in the forefront of the news. She is again in front of the cameras doing her thing 'Ya Betcha!' She is really good at her act. She has it down pat. She is the every woman that is being ostracized by the 'big guys' in New York. She is appealing to the 'little person', the ones that the aforementioned have no regard for. She does do that well. She is show business at it's finest. She should be a movie star, I think, and not a politician. Well, alright, a TV star then, if a movie star is too important.

Should anyone take her seriously? No more than Barbary Striesband should be taken seriously, or any of the Hollywood ilk. Ms Palin has not ever accomplished anything. She got elected Governor of Alaska...but she didn't complete her term. She did not accomplish being Governor. She was nominated VP candidate by the GOP...she did not get elected. She lost, in other words. Losing is also not accomplishing. She wrote 5 chapters, and called it a book. I do not think that is an accomplishment either. Ms Palin's only accomplishment is to put herself in the limelight, to keep herself in the news, and to give Tina Fey comedic fodder. She should not be taken seriously at all.

She's all show...and no go...

Food For Thought!?

Young people are so Militant!
But yeah, I am so tired of this
PC world! So maybe this is the
way to be, rather than being So
Darn Polite! It's My Country Too!
So shouldn't I have the same
considerations? You're Darn Right,
I should!

Edmund Fitzgerald

Remembering....

More, Later....

Well, the House passed the Health Care Reform legislation. That does not mean that Americans will soon have reformed Health Care. The House and Senate bills have to be made the same and then both houses have to pass the (new) bill, and President Obama has to sign the bill. So there are a lot of steps before this is really a done deal. Of course if it passes all of the above, and gets to be law, then the bureau-crats get to make the 'Rules' and determine just how the law will work. So what was passed by the House, may not be anything like the law, still! It is possible at this point that the Judicial Branch of the Government may also be involved, sooner or later. Or maybe I am just being cynical. My thoughts are that it is Not a Done Deal as yet, nor anytime soon.

But maybe now Congress and the President can start thinking about other problems that are ongoing in this country now. The Economy, or lack thereof, is surely a concern that should be considered at length and soon. Joblessness is at 10+%. More and more jobs are being sent out of this country. I read in a blog of an University, a state University, has outsourced it's Help desk to a foreign country. (Georgia, if I remember correctly, but I may be wrong...) It seems to be impossible to get anyone from any company's Help desk whose primary language is American English. While that is a major frustration, it is also an indication of jobs lost in America. If the consumers don't have jobs, they won't buy. If no buying is done, the economy slumps. If the economy slumps, more companies send jobs overseas, in a never ending cycle. So our government needs to see if there is something it can do to help the Economy...Perhaps the government cannot help. Still our government should be Trying to help...

Then there are the various 'military actions' ongoing across the world. Very little is mentioned in the news, or anywhere else, about the cost of such 'actions'. The cost can be measured in both lives and dollars. These events are too expensive, and not needed. The people of the countries involved are not happy that we are 'helping', even if the leaders of those countries do enjoy the monies we are providing. Supposedly, we are making the world 'safe for Democracy'. Those countries will never have 'Democracy', no matter how it may be defined. We should bring the troops home, and keep our monies in America. I am sure there are businesses that make their entire profit from War...but still, we need to look after America first. We are Not Big Brother to the world, nor should be even try to be. Has there ever been a 'military action' that made a real difference? I think not!

It is time that the government, our government, moves on from Health Care Reform and directs it's attention to some of the other problems we are facing today. I titled this Blog More, later, but I really hope we don't have to wait much longer for More...

Michigan and It's Budget

Well, only a few months after the budget was supposed to be decided here in Michigan. Our Governor and our Legislature, finally got around to passing this fiscal year's budget! Hurray! For some reason here in Good Ol' Michigan, our legislature cannot ever even begin work on the budget unless it is passed the time it should be in place. I guess that is a tradition here! It is a tradition that should be abandoned! It should be replaced with a new tradition of getting the budget work done on time! My feelings at this time are that we should vote out the whole legislature and the Governor and replace them. If That legislature is still not doing the job they were elected to do, start over again. If I had performed as poorly at a job, I would most likely have been fired! Deservedly! I believe that our legislature should also be held accountable. They should get the job done or get out!

Somehow, whenever it comes time to balance the budget, naturally, cuts in programs must be made. Always the cuts seem to come in our K-12 education...in our schools. Here in MI there are programs that are 'earmarked', that cannot be cut for any reason. Are we surprised that one of those programs is the wages of the legislature and the Governor, along with all the trappings that come with those offices? For example, the monies needed to run their offices, and so on. In fact, if the legislature here in Mi does not vote to Not accept the raises, it happens automatically. Never has there been such a vote that passed both houses! They are riding the gravy train, while hamstringing our education system! Not a good job performance at all, instead it is a criminal job performance!

We in MI have term limits. That was supposed to make the legislature more respondent to the people. The idea was to destroy the 'Ol' Boy' network and get some fresh thinking in our government. It has not worked. So maybe our term limits are too long. Let's vote them All out, Democrats and Republicans alike, and begin again! It is time![[

Our Congress and Our Health Care

Does is seem strange that our congress, both houses, is having so much trouble coming up with a health plan for us, US? Shouldn't it be a simple task? I believe that it should! Shouldn't we Americans all get the same Health Care that they, Congress, get? Why Not? Are our Congress men and women not American citizens the same as we are? They better be. Are they any better than we? I think not! So do they deserve Universal Health Care, and that is what they are getting, any more than we regular Citizens? Not to my way of thinking! Of course, equity would be also achieved if they had to deal with the same Health Care that we do every day! I'll bet that would go over really Big with them! Yeah, I can see that scenario. Actually, neither scenario is ever going to happen...but I believe that one of them, in particular, should!