Thursday, June 27, 2013

This 'n That

I watch the Food Channel a lot, probably more than I do any other one channel, and I not only have never seen Paula Deen, I had never even heard the name until this latest “news” broke. I can cite a couple dozen names of people who star on the Food Channel, but until now Paula Deen would not have been one of them. “Huge Food Channel star?”

Everyone is cheering about DOMA having been overturned, but actually only half of it has been. The remaining half is of lesser impact, but it would be well to get rid of the remaining part of the act that says that states do not need to recognize marriages performed in other states if that marriage would not be permitted in their own state.

We are about to lose one of the truly great men of the century in Nelson Mandela. He has made the world a better place in ways that very, very few men have done.

Since the first of the year we have been hearing about an “improving economy” and how consumer spending has been improving steadily. Now we find out that the economy grew at only a 1.8% annual rate in the first quarter, and that consumer spending was reduced by almost a full percentage point from its previous estimate. But not to worry, because the economy is picking up steam like crazy now. Yeah, right.

An economy that grows at 1.8% is actually shrinking, because the population is growing at 2%, not to mention the impact of inflation.

Obama says that he wants Putin to give Snowden back to us but is not going to do any “wheeling and dealing.” This is descending from comedy into farce. After we have been so nice to Russia, doing things like goading Georgia into picking a war with them over South Ossetia, admitting former Soviet nations into NATO and bringing NATO right up to Russian borders, this whole Syria deal And we think Putin wants to curry favor with us.

In typical Congressional weirdness, the immigration bill wending its way through Congress actually encourages hiring noncitizens. People who are amnestied under the bill will be ineligible for health care provisions under Obamacare, so employers will incur lower employment costs for them than for citizens, for whom they will either have to provide health care or pay a penalty. Do these clowns ever actually think about what they are doing?

The vet started our cat on a new medicine and said to let her know if Molly "started acting wierd." Um, she's a cat. How do I know if she's acting wierd? "Well," the vet says, "if she's licking herself or running around a lot." Are you serious? Have you ever had a cat? Or even seen one?

The problem with spellcheckers is that they will accept "manes" when you meant to type "names." Shit.

1 comment:

  1. bruce9:35 AM

    Starting with Nelson Mandela - spot on with that. And he did it with no rancor, bitterness or vengeful feelings. If he had any (and he'd be justified in that), he kept them to himself. A true and rare statesman indeed.

    Well, I've heard of Paula Deen, and seen a bit of her, despite not having cable. Whether or not she is actually racist, she should have known better to say these things.

    Yeah, DOMA part 2 is still there. And both sides are claiming victory in that part3 is overturned and the USSC "upheld part2". Well, they did not "uphold it" they didn't even address it at all, since it was not challenged. I'll bet it will be pretty soon.

    I don't believe any economist much anymore.. they make projections based on very little data, or a few months data and that's just not enough to show any kind of trend or anything useful. Heck, weather changes slower than that (at least in California). Don't get me started on Dr. Ivory Tower Krugman, I might provoke Jayhawk into apoplexy or something. Oh wait, he does that to himself, never mind...

    Mr. Obabma is really not in any position to make demands on anyone on a national stage. I'm sorry, but I think the US credibility has been damaged over the past decade or so and it will take a long time to recover.

    Another thing that has bugged me is that they call the USA the "sole remaining superpower" and the US president "the leader of the free world". Well, I think these are Cold War constructs that may not be truly valid anymore.

    Superpower? Perhaps yes, not as much economically as before maybe, but China could well be consifdered one now. Russia? maybe.. they certainly would like to be back on the level, and I think Putin is trying.

    "Leader of the free world"? um, no. One of many leaders of democratic nations, yes. Much of the world's governments are autocratic, but there is no central "leader of the unfree world". Obama doesn't have the gravitas to be such a leader, even if the US was in a moral position to be so.

    The immigration bill will likely be a joke just like ObamaCare. Hire aliens, hire part timeers, they cost less to business. The cash-strapped, broke, in-debt government can support and deal with the masses. No, those clowns don't think though the ramifications of what they are doing.

    Cats lick themselves a lot. And most of them run around, at least occasionally. Where did this vet come from, Mars?

    Spell check is not synonomous [sic] with grammar check.

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