It's pretty nice to get to the south for a couple of weeks and shake off the winter chill. But the healthy soup & salad I ordered for lunch has messed me up tonight, so now I'm hoping not the nauseous by the time I have to show up for work tomorrow morning.
Gonna have to skip the State of the Union tonight, because it will only increase the nausea level. It's difficult for me to know enough of what's actually been going on that I can immediately know when the pres is spinning or outright lying.
Folks of the opposite political philosophy from mine used to say that about our previous pres. Problem is, those folks have to be delusional to think W was lying. I had my own issues with W, but they never stemmed from a delusion about his motivation in fighting the war on terror. My problems with either president have always been policy related.
W frustrated me on Immigration, Medicare Prescription Drugs, No Child Left Behind. Iraq made me uneasy, but I always believed he was pursuing that course solely because he saw it as a necessary step in protecting our country from terrorism.
I can't spend an hour listening to the liberal messiah tells us everything's going to be great if we just get rich people to pony up, and get conservatives to stop bucking his healthcare program. He'll never find a reasonable explanation linking improvement of the lives of the middle class to soaking the rich with high taxes. The math will never add up to support his message that he can transfer an extra 5-10 percent from earners to the non-productive and somehow magically achieve that utopian society his marxist/socialist friends have been working to institute in America for generations.
I would enjoy tuning in to hear Mitch afterward, though. Mitch's plain-spoken midwestern common sense will be a refreshing contrast to the president's lofty, vague and misleading rhetoric.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sports Fix
OK, I can't prove anything, but my Super Bowl picks were both right. I did share them verbally with a couple folks, but admitted at the time that I wasn't at all confident in the picks. Turns out both games were very close, and the teams on their way to Indianapolis could very easily have been the other two.
I don't have a pick for the Super Bowl itself just yet. Brady/Manning for the second time could be fun. It's just too bad that Indy is about to get invaded by huge crowds representing the rudest and least civil cities in the world, New York and Boston. That's my opinion based on personal experience, anyway.
The Colts fan in me will be rooting for Peyton's little brother to knock off the evil Patriots. But I have lots of respect for Brady, and know better than to take him lightly.
It was sad to see that JoePa passed this weekend. When he lost his job over the Sandusky molestation scandal, my first thought was, "this will kill him". Unfortunately it seems I was right. The shortness of time between his dismissal and passing was stunning. I feel very sorry for him and his family. Although I was never really a Penn State fan, I always believed Joe to be a man of integrity. That judgement is affected little by the Sandusky mess.
Joe absolutely should have made certain that the proper authorities were brought in when the molestation reports first came in. Instead, he chose to keep it "in-house", and trusted his colleagues within the University to handle the case properly. The fact that they chose not to do so isn't specifically Joe's fault, but I do believe he made a huge mistake by not insisting that law enforcement outside of the University be informed. They should have been made aware of the report, and the chips allowed to fall where they may.
The likely emotionally compromised Penn State basketball team weren't able to overcome the Hoosiers today, who had just completed a dismal 3-game losing streak. I'm enjoying the Hoosiers this season for the first time in years, as bringing Cody Zeller on board has actually made them interesting again. I find it amazing the dramatic impact they realized through the addition of that one freshman to the roster.
The Hoosiers are still ranked for the time being, and will most likely get an NCAA tournament bid this year. They're probably a year or two away from joining the elites again, but there's plenty of room for optimism. I'm not completely sold on Tom Crean's coaching ability just yet; I just get the impression he's more about motivation and energy than stressing fundamental basketball. But his progress is indeniable, and I'm optimistic he'll bring the Hoosiers back to their legacy position as one of the top basketball programs in the nation.
The Butler Bulldogs don't have anybody to take the place of their stars who helped them get to back-to-back national final games. Heyward, Mack, and Howard are all gone, and there's nobody on the sqad who can take over their scoring and leadership. My impression of this year's team is that it's a great bunch of team contributors, but nobody on the team can take over a game like Heyward, Mack, and Howard could.
Maybe Stevens has a great recruit or two waiting in the wings to come in and have the impact on next year's Bulldogs that Cody has had this year on the Hoosiers.
Even the Pacers are getting more interesting this year. They didn't tinker too much with last year's roster, but the small pieces they added have fit in wonderfully. The Pacers aren't going to make the Finals this year, but they do seem destined to a pretty nice run through this shortened season.
I don't have a pick for the Super Bowl itself just yet. Brady/Manning for the second time could be fun. It's just too bad that Indy is about to get invaded by huge crowds representing the rudest and least civil cities in the world, New York and Boston. That's my opinion based on personal experience, anyway.
The Colts fan in me will be rooting for Peyton's little brother to knock off the evil Patriots. But I have lots of respect for Brady, and know better than to take him lightly.
It was sad to see that JoePa passed this weekend. When he lost his job over the Sandusky molestation scandal, my first thought was, "this will kill him". Unfortunately it seems I was right. The shortness of time between his dismissal and passing was stunning. I feel very sorry for him and his family. Although I was never really a Penn State fan, I always believed Joe to be a man of integrity. That judgement is affected little by the Sandusky mess.
Joe absolutely should have made certain that the proper authorities were brought in when the molestation reports first came in. Instead, he chose to keep it "in-house", and trusted his colleagues within the University to handle the case properly. The fact that they chose not to do so isn't specifically Joe's fault, but I do believe he made a huge mistake by not insisting that law enforcement outside of the University be informed. They should have been made aware of the report, and the chips allowed to fall where they may.
The likely emotionally compromised Penn State basketball team weren't able to overcome the Hoosiers today, who had just completed a dismal 3-game losing streak. I'm enjoying the Hoosiers this season for the first time in years, as bringing Cody Zeller on board has actually made them interesting again. I find it amazing the dramatic impact they realized through the addition of that one freshman to the roster.
The Hoosiers are still ranked for the time being, and will most likely get an NCAA tournament bid this year. They're probably a year or two away from joining the elites again, but there's plenty of room for optimism. I'm not completely sold on Tom Crean's coaching ability just yet; I just get the impression he's more about motivation and energy than stressing fundamental basketball. But his progress is indeniable, and I'm optimistic he'll bring the Hoosiers back to their legacy position as one of the top basketball programs in the nation.
The Butler Bulldogs don't have anybody to take the place of their stars who helped them get to back-to-back national final games. Heyward, Mack, and Howard are all gone, and there's nobody on the sqad who can take over their scoring and leadership. My impression of this year's team is that it's a great bunch of team contributors, but nobody on the team can take over a game like Heyward, Mack, and Howard could.
Maybe Stevens has a great recruit or two waiting in the wings to come in and have the impact on next year's Bulldogs that Cody has had this year on the Hoosiers.
Even the Pacers are getting more interesting this year. They didn't tinker too much with last year's roster, but the small pieces they added have fit in wonderfully. The Pacers aren't going to make the Finals this year, but they do seem destined to a pretty nice run through this shortened season.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Predictable Republicans
Ronald Reagan was an aberration. He was the first Presidential candidate I paid any attention to in my younger days. I remember being in college when Jimmy Carter was elected. I was old enough to vote, but didn't. I remember lots of professors and politically-oriented students were celebrating his victory. I knew nothing about his politics, and probably cared less.
Until I graduated and found out just how dismal things were in the outside world. It's fair to say that today we're repeating Jimmy Carter's term in almost all respects with Barack Obama. So I voted for Ronald Reagan in my first visit to the voting booth in a Presidential election.
My life got much better during the Reagan years, and that's when I abandoned my father's Democrat party to become a Republican.
Each election since then has followed a pattern. George H. W. Bush, then Bob Dole, then George W. Bush, then John McCain, and now Mitt Romney all have the same elements in common. They're all squishy moderates, and were all foisted on Conservative Republicans by the party elite.
Now it's Mitt Romney's turn. The constant media drumbeat is the same for Romney as it was for the Bushes, Dole, and McCain. He's the only candidate that is electable because he's moderate. Independents won't vote for another rock-ribbed conservative in the mode of Reagan. Everybody else in the field is too extreme or too zany.
As someone who actually pays attention, I'm somewhat demoralized by the success of the party elites in ramming another squish down our throats. Once again, by the time the primary gets around to Indiana in May, Mitt will already have been anointed. In fact, the elites anointed him a long time ago.
Even though I much prefer Rick Santorum. I even find Newt a bit more attractive than Mitt. I even like Michelle, who got drummed out of Iowa. Rick and Newt are all I have left in the race, and they're hanging on by their fingernails.
So once again, the election will come down to the media incessantly hammering all of us with the message that the race is between the heartless Republican Wall Street millionaire against the caring man of the people. At least Mitt's better looking than Dole and McCain, which in our image-obsessed society matters more than pretty much everything else and might get him more votes from women. Just maybe they'll put him over the top just like they did Bill Clinton twice in a row.
So nobody's talking about the most important issues of our time, except Newt now and then. Nobody's even proposing a reasonable fix to our crisis-level problems. We're saddled with the radical socialist Obama or the mushy moderate Romney, neither of whom will lead the country out of our fiscal and national security crises.
The best we can say is that at least Mitt won't be as bad a president as Obama.
That's not saying much.
Until I graduated and found out just how dismal things were in the outside world. It's fair to say that today we're repeating Jimmy Carter's term in almost all respects with Barack Obama. So I voted for Ronald Reagan in my first visit to the voting booth in a Presidential election.
My life got much better during the Reagan years, and that's when I abandoned my father's Democrat party to become a Republican.
Each election since then has followed a pattern. George H. W. Bush, then Bob Dole, then George W. Bush, then John McCain, and now Mitt Romney all have the same elements in common. They're all squishy moderates, and were all foisted on Conservative Republicans by the party elite.
Now it's Mitt Romney's turn. The constant media drumbeat is the same for Romney as it was for the Bushes, Dole, and McCain. He's the only candidate that is electable because he's moderate. Independents won't vote for another rock-ribbed conservative in the mode of Reagan. Everybody else in the field is too extreme or too zany.
As someone who actually pays attention, I'm somewhat demoralized by the success of the party elites in ramming another squish down our throats. Once again, by the time the primary gets around to Indiana in May, Mitt will already have been anointed. In fact, the elites anointed him a long time ago.
Even though I much prefer Rick Santorum. I even find Newt a bit more attractive than Mitt. I even like Michelle, who got drummed out of Iowa. Rick and Newt are all I have left in the race, and they're hanging on by their fingernails.
So once again, the election will come down to the media incessantly hammering all of us with the message that the race is between the heartless Republican Wall Street millionaire against the caring man of the people. At least Mitt's better looking than Dole and McCain, which in our image-obsessed society matters more than pretty much everything else and might get him more votes from women. Just maybe they'll put him over the top just like they did Bill Clinton twice in a row.
So nobody's talking about the most important issues of our time, except Newt now and then. Nobody's even proposing a reasonable fix to our crisis-level problems. We're saddled with the radical socialist Obama or the mushy moderate Romney, neither of whom will lead the country out of our fiscal and national security crises.
The best we can say is that at least Mitt won't be as bad a president as Obama.
That's not saying much.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Ch-Ch-Changes
It's making me feel old, looking at the trends and attitudes of the next generation.
This summer, after several weeks working mostly fulltime with a single client, I began to notice just how radically things have changed. I worked with lots of folks at this client and began to get to know them on a personal level.
One day it dawned on me that a distinct minority of the folks on our project team were part of a traditional nuclear family. Nearly all of the women fell into one of two categories; they were either single parents, or they were living with a man who is not their husband. Most of them have children, and may or may not have had the children with a husband.
The realization hit me sort of hard, and made me sad. These people don't have the security of a promised lifelong relationship. Most of them have to know that their boy or girlfriend might pack up and move out at a moment's notice without consequence, yet they continue to tolerate the uncommitted relationship. I wonder why?
One of the women is raising her boyfriend's kids. She's like an unpaid nanny and housekeeper and provider of certain other services for her boyfriend. Why would she tolerate such a situation?
Another woman has been living with the same guy for almost a decade. She said they talk about getting married, but just never got around to it. They're a married couple in all other respects, including owning a home together. They also have no children, nor any plans in that respect. She acknowledged getting some grief from her parents about the situation, but doesn't let that concern her.
In our own family, the next generation is very different from ours. By the time our generation was the age our children have reached today, most of us were long married and already had multiple children. Our next generation has very few married 20-somethings, and even fewer children. They're all focused on establishing themselves in a career and/or holding out for Mr./Ms. Right.
What's happened to us? The marital promises no longer hold meaning for our next generation. Sexual mores have been completely abandoned. Children are not valued or sought after. God holds little interest for them.
I don't think it's just me being a narrow-minded old guy when I so firmly believe that we've raised a generation that's purposely missing out on what life is about. I wish I could find a way to fix it, but how do you convince an entier generation to consider a change in attitude?
This summer, after several weeks working mostly fulltime with a single client, I began to notice just how radically things have changed. I worked with lots of folks at this client and began to get to know them on a personal level.
One day it dawned on me that a distinct minority of the folks on our project team were part of a traditional nuclear family. Nearly all of the women fell into one of two categories; they were either single parents, or they were living with a man who is not their husband. Most of them have children, and may or may not have had the children with a husband.
The realization hit me sort of hard, and made me sad. These people don't have the security of a promised lifelong relationship. Most of them have to know that their boy or girlfriend might pack up and move out at a moment's notice without consequence, yet they continue to tolerate the uncommitted relationship. I wonder why?
One of the women is raising her boyfriend's kids. She's like an unpaid nanny and housekeeper and provider of certain other services for her boyfriend. Why would she tolerate such a situation?
Another woman has been living with the same guy for almost a decade. She said they talk about getting married, but just never got around to it. They're a married couple in all other respects, including owning a home together. They also have no children, nor any plans in that respect. She acknowledged getting some grief from her parents about the situation, but doesn't let that concern her.
In our own family, the next generation is very different from ours. By the time our generation was the age our children have reached today, most of us were long married and already had multiple children. Our next generation has very few married 20-somethings, and even fewer children. They're all focused on establishing themselves in a career and/or holding out for Mr./Ms. Right.
What's happened to us? The marital promises no longer hold meaning for our next generation. Sexual mores have been completely abandoned. Children are not valued or sought after. God holds little interest for them.
I don't think it's just me being a narrow-minded old guy when I so firmly believe that we've raised a generation that's purposely missing out on what life is about. I wish I could find a way to fix it, but how do you convince an entier generation to consider a change in attitude?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)