On Politics
In today’s polarized political atmosphere, I imagine one’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction with government is highly correlated with one’s political party and the party in power. Here’s a recent Gallup poll about Americans satisfaction with government.
Some like to complain about spending by the Department of Defense (DoD). As with any government agency, the DoD is subject to inefficiency. However, as it continues to trim its budget, the lawmakers inflate DoD spending by appropriating for equipment that the DoD doesn’t want. Here’s an interesting article.
In a response to what I wrote in last week’s OITS about Gov. Christie’s (R-NJ) situation, I appreciate this comment from Cayman (@Drinks Well With Others): “As much as I like the guy, the Governor cannot claim the buck stops here on the one hand and then play this off as someone else’s doing on the other. Not when these geniuses were hand-picked by him, he can’t.”
Politicians love pointing the finger elsewhere, thus one reason why I enjoyed this column about accountability by columnist Ruth Marcus.
The warped nature of political philosophy continues to creep into daily life as the other day I heard a radio ad for Conservative Tours dot com. Sounds like the perfect tour for someone needing to be told what they want to hear.
On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Inclement weather prevents liar from getting to work
Report: Lake ice grows safer to venture out on with each beer consumed
Hundreds feared dead in Coors Light Party Train crash
Sports media unsure how to fit Super Bowl coverage into two weeks
Beauty industry announces new initiative to make women self-conscious about their palms
Interesting Reads
Columnist David Ignatius on Benghazi
For the investors, here’s an interesting chart about the performance of different assets
Deaths and antibody resistance
Leadership and infrastructure
An interview by Forbes with the writer of the Evolution Basics series (I love the Forbes title)
On Potpourri
The curtain closed on the successful run of Time: The Musical. After the regimented nature of the previous acts, it seems my wide-open closing requirement surprised some readers – so the producer will be receiving a medical evaluation. I hope to unveil the next musical right here in the OITS: Vol. 209.
Except for a few minor notes, our home did well with the buyer’s inspector, thus things continue to progress in a positive direction. Meanwhile, it’s time for the bitter cold to get out-of-town!
Sorry, but because of time demands, Saturday Morning Cartoons continues its hiatus until further notice.
From the Who-Cares file, is anyone surprised about the trouble finding Justin Bieber? Why are Jon and Kate Gosselin still in the news?
Here are your weekend celebrations
- (Fri) Beer Can Appreciation Day, Compliment Day, Peanut Butter Day, Eskimo Pie Day, Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day, Speak Up and Succeed Day
- (Sat) Irish Coffee Day, Seed Swap day, Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day
- (Sun) Peanut Brittle Day, Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement, Australia Day, India Day
Let’s use a dose of my high school days to send everyone into the weekend. It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, so cheers to The Stampeders from Canada with Sweet City Woman. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
I really enjoyed your Time: The Musical series. I’m sad to see it end. That was a lot of fun, Frank. Wishing you good health for your medical eval. That’s a lovely version of that song!
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Amy,
Thanks for the kind words about Time: The Musical. At one time, I considered seeing how far I could keep it going, but then I decided to just do another series. I wanted to end it December, but the timing didn’t work. On the other hand, 2014 will bring a new series that should take the entire year! … and the plan is to announced it right here next week!
Oh … the producer is getting the medical eval … not me!
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Crap! I gotta be nice to people on Friday?
What’s the world coming to, I ask.
Congress has a long history of keeping military projects alive to keep jobs in their districts.
It would be nice if those facilities could be turned to making things that are actually needed.
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Guap,
Think of the plus side because you can wash away your frustrations with Beer Can Appreciation Day!
Absolutely true about Congress. Not only a long history of that, but probably also a long future.
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Who are Jon and Kate Gosselin anyway?
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Debra,
Yes!!!! But not knowing shows there is hope for the world because these two had their own reality show on television.
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Frank, since The Boss is not going to be at The Grind tomorrow, I will make sure that my colleague, Godsend, is aware that Friday is Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day. Thanks for the heads up.
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Lame,
Wonderful! Hope you greet Godsend with that voice to set the tone of the day … and also to get that priceless look of confusion!
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Frank, after enduring working with me close to five years, most of my antics roll off Godsend – a woman whose threshold for the ridiculous is comparable to a bottomless pit.
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LOL … but let me know how the days goes as a prospector.
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Love the vid share … it is great guitar playing, specially the bass…..
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Bulldog,
My wife knows I perk up when that song comes on the radio. Was it a hit in South Africa?
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I think it did well… maybe not top of the pops but definitely on the charts…
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Good to know that it mad it there! Amazing how music traveled the globe without the internet.
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The palm beauty treatment can only be a matter of time…..
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GFB,
… and now we know that time is closer than we think.
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Must hand it to them!
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But one working for the beauty industry shouldn’t bite the hand.
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You might get the finger
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Great, not I have to be self-conscious when I have a palm reading. Does it ever end?
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TBM,
Nope … we have to be self-conscious about everything, thus a reason to go to the pub!
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Thanks for your Interesting Reads, especially the one by David Ignatius which explains why Republicans should accept the bi-partisan committee report on Benghazi. The Forbes link, however, on Evolution Basics didn’t open – thanks if you can send me a copy.
Also sorry to be among those who “thrive on regimentation” (must be due to marching band) with the result of not following the producer’s directions for the last installment of “Time: The Musical.”
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Tim,
Thanks for letting me know about the link, which I fixed … .and will send it to you. Meanwhile, and as you know, David Ignatius may be the foremost columnist about US foreign policy.
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So if I compliment my beer can in a grizzled prospector voice, I can knock out 3-in-1? Fabulous!!
I’ll have to work up the good humor though, because the article about the DoD spending got my blood boiling! When will we have the option to NOT elect a bunch of bow-legged crooks??
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Twixt,
Going for the 3-in-1 is a wonderful idea … plus, the DoD article gave you reason to have a beer!
In terms of politics, unfortunately, the system has a way of breeding … although I say Vote them out … all of them … and then again and again … after 3-4 cycles of that, they may get the idea … then again, i did say may.
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In politics, as with many other parts of life, what people say and what they do are very different. I respect people who do what they say.
That’s an old song. Nice dressers. The guy with the double-necked guitar had his sounding like a banjo. I can’t get mine to do that.
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Jim,
That video is definitely a fashion throwback! To me, politicians are lower than lawyers … then again, many of them are lawyers. Throw them all out!
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To be replaced by… ??
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The next batch to vote out asap
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Since this is Compliment Friday, there is absolutely no way I can speak of politics, at any level. Thank heaven’s for the synchronicity of beer can crushing I mean Appreciation day. 😀
Watched, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, yesterday, and wept by the last 10 minutes. And the beat goes on….
Love that song, Frank! Hope you have a stellar weekend, and congratulations on real estate works. (I’m behind… had no idea.) xo
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Victoria,
Agree … Compliment Friday and politics don’t mix. Meanwhile, I leaked it out about our upcoming sale and move not all that long ago … and I don’t dwell on it … but it is the main reason why I haven’t been visiting as much.
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No worries on visiting, Frank. I hope the sale and move is a positive and voluntary one, that’s all. My thoughts are with you and Mrs. Frank, on all it entails. Moving is always a big job! Have a great weekend, my friend!
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Both the sale and the move are voluntary, simply put … we are ready for life in a condo …. thus less outside maintenance. Fortunately, we have much time to prepare for the move. Then again, we will run out of time if we don’t take advantage of the time we have.
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Gotchya! Good deal; I’m with you entirely on condo life, as a matter of fact, it’s my next move as well… a little further south, my body insists. Thanks for letting me know, Frank. Appreciate it much. And again, congratulations!
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Our winter is abnormally cold, so way-further south sounds great at this moment! Condo living will be new to us, but we’re trusting our instincts.
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“Why are Jon and Kate Gosselin still in the news?”—Ha, that might be the best question of the day. As for making women self-conscious about their palms, might as well. We’re made to feel self-conscious over every other body part, why not the palms, too? Well, maybe not the uvula. I don’t think we’re self-conscious of that. Yet.
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Carrie,
No kidding about the Gosselins. Meanwhile, people self conscious about their uvula is a question on Yahoo Answers! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110618181113AAfpTbD
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Unbelievable. Who would’ve thought?
Only you could find such a thing, Frank. And that’s a compliment. 🙂
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Thanks to Google!
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Are you originally from Canada Frank or do you have family in Canada?
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Catherine,
Nope … I’m not originally from Canada nor do I have family there. Just curious, what gave you that impression?
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Well, as a Canadian, it is preached to us that American’s do not know very much about us. Yet, you seem to, with music, provinces, etc. Maybe because you live close to the border but I am more apt to believe you are quite intelligent (not that other Americans are not).
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I would agree with the preached perspective. For me, a) I like geography, b) appreciate culture, c) have been to more provinces than not, d) realize that more is Canadian than people think, and e) I’ve also learned through blogging. Can I name Canadian leaders? No, … well, not without Google.
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I’m sure you could name our Prime Minister, if not it is Stephen Harper (no need to Google).
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Ah ha … now that you mention it, the name clicks … but I couldn’t have got it on my own.
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Great sound to approach the weekend with, Frank. Have a good one. 🙂
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Sylvia,
Thanks and same to you. How’s the music venture going?
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It’s not going to happen now. I must write a post about it.
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😦
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Glad the inspection went well, Frank. And I enjoyed Cayman’s comment about Christie. Yeah, hard to have it both ways! And sorry to hear more snow is coming. My mom said this morning, she has no memory of a worse winter in Lexington.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
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It’s been cold, but not blizzard like – thus (to me) the winters of 1976-77 and 77-78 were worse.
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Was happy to be part of Time the Musical.
Thanks for giving me a few passes along the way. 😉
LOL on the Who-cares files. Today my younger sis sent me a pic of my 15 year old niece. She went to a friend’s party yesterday. She wore a JB t-shirt. SMH.
Good to hear that things went well with the buyer’s inspection. Hope all continues to go well too.
Have a nice weekend 🙂
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RoSy,
All the Bieber news is driving my wife up the wall. I recall one headline that he was embarrassed, but I say he’s soaking up the attention and could care less. Meanwhile, more shoveling today!
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Frank, I love your potpourri listing. There’s a gem in there every. Time! Does that fulfill the mission for today?
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Elyse,
Well thank you … and yes, mission fulfilled … and next week the new musical will be embedded in that section.
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Beauty industry announces new initiative to make women self-conscious about their palms. I wouldn’t be shocked. LOL! The interesting reads section does indeed appear to be interesting! Thank you. And enjoy your weekend, if you don’t have too much work to do. I think just enjoy it no matter what you’re up to. 🙂
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Debra,
Many thanks. It could be a stay in weekend … after all, we just got more snow, so I will be shoveling soon .. and … woo hoo … we are heading to double digits below zero in a few days … and this is so not Cincinnati.
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Great song again …. Something new to me!!!! AGAIN!
Also sad that the musical is all done now – I’m sure that you will come up with something new very soon for us to get our heads around.
I know that you always have very busy weekends, so I wish a pleasant and calm week.
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Funky video, Frank! Glad everything is going well with the move and hope you have a warm weekend!
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Hood,
Quite the fashion statement, too! Warm this weekend??? Well, the day started with 2-3 inches of snow, a bit more on Sunday, then temps drop with Tuesday at Wednesday back to frigid. Could have double digits below zero one night. Ouch!!!!! This is so unusual for us! :~
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Oh, brrrrr!
We started the weekend at about 12 and made it to 65 degrees! (Today, 70, and then back to the winter temps). I can’t complain.
Wear three pairs of socks, long johns, gloves, a hat and coat and don’t go outside unless you have to, Frank!
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No question …. as I will stay in as much as possible on Tuesday and Wednesday!
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Frank’s post here contains links to two outstanding opinion columns which I hope his many followers didn’t miss:
Ruth Marcus, on accountability.
and,
David Ignatius, on Benghazi.
Well done, Frank.
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Jim,
Because I know you do a better-than-most job of keeping informed, your praise is extra special. Ignatius may be the best columnist when it comes to foreign policy … and doesn’t tend to be (at least to me) a blind partisan.
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What a great surprise, finding little ole me in your post. It made my evening, truly did, and thank you for it. I had a lively . . disagreement with my son over the whole Christie spectacle. He’s the next gen Alex Keaton, so you can imagine.
I won’t start playing favorites when it comes to politics until Vera Farmiga decides to run for something. Nah, she’s too honest.
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Cayman,
As soon as I saw your comment last week, I had it in my mind to use it … so thank you! Sounds like your soon is a blind partisan – so I’ll leave it at that. Thanks for disclosing your appreciation for Vera Farmiga.
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He’s getting ever more well rounded with time, but I still have work to do.
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That a way … keep working at it!
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Hi, Frank – I am late with catching up but here goes:
Ok. So, women have to look perfect until they die, and NOW we have to worry about our palms? *Sigh* Well, guess that’s what gloves are for. Except for in your neck of the woods!!
I agree about the statement re: Christie.
Glad everything is going well with your house. I hate moving…so hopefully it’ll be a better fit/nicer place than before. Cheers! D
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Deb,
Catching up seem like a futile effort, so good luck! … and thanks.
We haven’t moved in 27 years, but at least it’s not a rushed move. Meanwhile, all still seems to be on schedule.
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