Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday morning thoughts


Generally, while I'm here in Florida, I get on the computer once a day, if at all. Today, I went out with the skies threatening rain, but in shorts and T-shirt, while the rest of the household is trying to get organized.

I have been happy with some of the things Obama has accomplished and some of his approaches and policies. Not that he calls me and asks what I think, but then, I am a voting American, so that's what I think. Some of the Obama moves have not been pleasing to me. The worst so far was that I suddenly saw George W. Bush on my TV screen, again. Where the hell did he come from to haunt my happy hours? Why, it turns out Obama has resurrected him to help rescue Haiti. This is so idiotic on some many levels that I am speechless, so I write about it instead. My motto here would be to let sleeping bastards lie.

Here in Florida, a deputy sheriff has been shot to death in a face down with a guy with a gun. The man had shot four people earlier, killing two. Motive: "domestic dispute."

We have texted to 90999 to contribute to the Haiti relief effort. I know that hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent by or government in this effort, and since we're taxpayers, we will also give that way. It is our hope that our individual contribution will help make life easier for a couple of people in extreme distress.

I'm always disturbed, but never surprised any more, at the extreme stupid prejudices of many people in my generation , and even more particularly in the generation just before mine. That generation is dying out and let's hope, taking some of the worst unchristian attitudes with them.

There is a mentally retarded man sitting at the table next to me in Starbucks staring at me. I don't blame him. :)

3 comments:

Dashmann said...

Obama has done a couple really good things, one of them treating the rest of the world with respect, instead of the shoot first - ask questions later approach of the last administration. That one step has helped regain some of our lost respect as a nation.

Bin Laden told us he took down the towers because the US messes with the arab world.
So, in response, we took down Iraq,
further messing with the arab world.
Made a lot of sense, eh ??

I am disturbed by Obama's apparant willingness to chance invasion of the great lakes by the giant Asian carp.

Chicago politics are at work here, as it would be very costly to close those canals, forcing things to be shipped by other means, to and from that area.

If the threat is real that those carp would destroy or alter the fish population beyond rescue in the great lakes, and then the rivers and inland lakes, those canals need to be closed.

I guess the question is, what will cost more in the end ?

Bud said...

I agree with you, Dash, about the carp. I'm really surprised that there should be any doubt about this. The expense can't be very great for the government to try to stop it, and the benefits are obvious. On the other hand, whatever people put those awful things in our waterways will probably do it in one of the Great Lakes eventually, and that will be the end of it.

Dashmann said...

Again I defer to my much older and wiser lifetime buddy and say you may be right, that the carp will eventually get in whether or not we close the canals, so I should stop carping about the subject.

Which may put O'Bammer ( as JFK would have pronounced it ) squarely into a two horned dilemma.

On one side, if he closes the canals, he risks losing a lot of support from his Illinois cronies, but he might delay entry of the carp into the great lakes until after the 2012 election, thereby keeping support in the rest of the area states.

On the other side, if the canals are left open, he retains his home state support, but risks losing the greater area, depending how fast the carp get in and the damage they do before that election.

Since he doesn't have to worry about 2016, looks like flying carp could be everywhere in the great lakes by then. Term limits, a decidedly anti-democracy invention bites us another way.