Football Spelling Review

Football spelling review: The ball is loose! They’re going to lose! Is that your beer? No, it’s Lou’s.

Space Race

It’s hard to believe that I’m saying this, but I would rather go to space on an Amazon rocket or a Tesla rocket than a NASA rocket.

The Heckler

The heckler at Biden’s speech gave us a sobering look at the MAGA Republican mindset.

- No sense of service or community

- No helpful ideas

- No willingness to work toward a common goal

- No sense of decency or respect

Instead, it’s all about antics, bluster, disruption, and intimidation.

“Hey, look at me! I brought a megaphone so I can heckle a 79 year old man with a speech impediment! Aren’t I special? I deserve to be in charge of everything!”

Student Loan Forgiveness

Most industrialized countries provide free healthcare and free education up to a four year degree. The expense is offset by the benefit having a healthy, well-trained, well-educated work force. In the Information Age, education is more critical than ever.

The US provides neither of these benefits.

Manufacturing jobs have systematically been sent offshore. The better paying jobs require an education.

The price of an education has increased more rapidly than median wages or the cost of living. Many working families cannot afford to pay for their children’s education, especially given that they also need to pay for healthcare out of pocket.

People need an education to get ahead, so they take out loans.

At the behest of lenders, Congress has enacted laws that force the repayment of those loans regardless of financial hardship.

Student loans are immune to bankruptcy. You still have to pay back the loan, even if you get sick and lose your job and have huge medical expenses.

Complicating the situations is the rise of for-profit businesses that offer educational services. At the primary and secondary level, these businesses are called Charter Schools. Charter Schools are businesses with a CEO. Profit, not education, is their primary objective.

There are for-profit companies providing education at the university level as well. Some use the word University in their name.

For profit companies fulfill their mission by attracting students and collecting tuition. Providing an education to the students is a secondary objective.

These companies do a lot of marketing to attract students. Enrolling paying students is their number one objective.

Some of these institutions were exposed as scams and shut down. The value of the education that students received was negligible, but their loan debt remains very real. Students have to pay back the loans whether or not their “education” resulted in them getting them a job.

These are some of the reasons why student loan forgiveness is an important issue.

I don’t relish having my tax dollars go to paying off someone else’s loans, but it’s necessary for the country to make a course correction.

When former students are no longer burdened with debt, they have more disposable income to contribute to the economy.

I would like to see the US provide more education and healthcare opportunities for all students without forcing people to run up crippling amounts of debt simply to compete in the job market. It’s better to set up a working program than to bail out a broken system.

The Sewers

Consider the former president’s behavior, the demagoguery, the endless lying, the befriending of dictators, the public humiliation of generals, the reckless mishandling of classified information, the child separation policy, the retaliation against whistle blowers, downplaying a deadly virus because he feared that it would impact his chances for reelection, coercing a foreign ally to investigate a political rival, pardoning convicted felons because they were his associates, the refusal to honor subpoenas, the instigation of the January 6 attack, and so much more.

Then consider the political courage of Liz Cheney, a staunch conservative who, while her party remained faithful to their once and future leader, stood up and publicly said enough is enough, we can’t have a person like that running the country again, and here are the reasons why.

Finally, consider that a majority of registered GOP voters oppose Cheney and her dedication to the rule of law while throwing their full, enthusiastic support behind the former guy despite all of his moral, ethical, and legal transgressions. The contrast shows how deep into the sewers Donald Trump has dragged the Republican Party.

A Mob Awakened

I have no idea what a woke mob is. Is it the opposite of a sleeping mob? The barking dog woke the mob. The mob awoke, and now it’s been awakened. Note that the mob woke up, but it isn’t “woke”. That usage makes no sense.

Floating

I want to float float float

In a boat boat boat

On a moat moat moat

Around a castle

I want to float float float

On a moat moat moat

Because boating on the ocean

Is a hassle

Thank you, Kansas

Thank you, Kansas, for protecting women’s rights against right wing extremism.

Biden Beats Covid

When Biden got Covid, he stayed home and killed a terrorist.

When Trump got Covid, he went to the hospital and nearly killed Chris Christie.

New York Minute 187 - From Bad To Worse

New York Minute 187 - From Bad To Worse

The other day, I crossed Park Avenue at 79th Street in the most upscale of upscale neighborhoods. A tall, middle aged, African American man was standing on the corner. From the way that he looked at me, I sensed that he was going to ask for money. He held a single business card in one hand, but I didn’t look at it. I looked at his face.

“I don’t mean no harm,” the man said as he took a step toward me. My immediate thought was that this was a horrible way to start a conversation.

“I know you’re busy,” the man continued as I walked past him. I never give money to panhandlers, so I didn’t slow down. “I just got out of prison today.”

By this time, I was already past the guy. The best strategy in most cases is to keep walking and say nothing, but when someone is persistent, it helps to do something that they don’t expect.

“That’s great news!” I said as I turned to look back at the guy. “It’s your lucky day!”

I continued walking. The panhandler said nothing more to me. A few paces later, I heard another man’s voice coming from behind me. “What was he selling?”

“Oh, he wasn’t selling anything,” I said before looking to see who I was talking to. “He’s probably just asking for money.”

A well dressed, middle-aged white guy with gray hair walked beside me with his small gray dog. It seemed that we were all heading toward the park.

“He had something in his hand,” the well-dressed man remarked. He looked vaguely familiar. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but as I think back on it, he looked a bit like Geoffrey Epstein. They could have been brothers.

“It’s probably just a prop for his scam,” I said.

As we walked, we chatted for a moment about the increase in vagrancy over the past decade. The guy asked if I’d heard about a violent mugging that had occurred outside of a nearby restaurant a few nights earlier. I said that I hadn’t heard about the mugging, but I was familiar with the restaurant. A gang of three men took a man’s wallet after beating him in the head.

I remarked that I had hoped that the new mayor would help turn things around given his background as a police officer, but I added that things didn’t seem to be getting any better.

“Oh, he won’t do anything,” Epstein Junior remarked with disdain in his voice. “All of his supporters are Black and brown. They don’t want law and order. They want to turn this into a Black and brown city.”

I didn’t acknowledge the comment, verbally or otherwise. What do you say to something like that? I didn’t feel like expending energy to argue with a racist jerk.

The guy ranted a bit longer. I didn’t even look at him. Thankfully, our paths diverged, and I didn’t have to listen to his racist spew anymore.