Sunday Morning Coming Down

Two weeks in a row the Hurricanes have pulled one out.  This week's victim was North Carolina State.  The game was back and forth but this week there was no need for overtime.  Morris to Dorsett was the key.  Morris's Numbers were out of this world.  He set an ACC record with 566 passing yards and five TDs.  Dorsett was the reciever for a 62 yard completion with 19 seconds remaining. As a long time Canes fan the last two games have been remarkably like the Canes of old.  Even if they got behind in a game I always felt there was a good chance that they would come back and win. I know that North Carolina State is not FSU.  A win is a win and a heart stopping victory that is entertaining beyond belief should make the fans come back with a vengeance.  Although the team is young they are learning fast and have some composure that has been lacking. And what can I say about the West Virginia University Mountaineers.  This team i...

There are a few different points of view regarding the lockout of the NFL referees.  The owners think "their" game is bulletproof.  Maybe it is to most, but to some there are issues that make this lockout troublesome. In the catechism of sports the refs or umpires are best if they are not involved in the outcome of the game.  I thought that was what replays were all about.  Get the call right rather than having the judgement of the referees affect the outcome of the game. The MNF game showing one ref signaling touchdown and the other one indicating incomplete pass will go down as an iconic moment in NFL history.  The Seahawks victorious and the Packers crushed. A pass caught by two players at the same time goes to the offense according to the rules, I think it's possible that the locked out officials might have a similar call. I think it is ironic that the governor of Wisconsin called for an end to lockout and an end to replacement refs.  This is ...

Political correctness does matter in you are a candidate for the presidency.  This is a given and there probably should be rules that are agreed upon so that how much money you make and how much in taxes you pay does not become a political issue. There are more than enough rich people serving in high political office but that should not ban them  from from serving in office.  They more than anyone else should probably be restricted using their wealth to buy political office or more influence than is healthy. Reasonable people would probably agree with me.  Others might have issues with limitations on what is ultimately political speech.  Wealth and political speech are not the same.  The Supreme Court and the tax code not withstanding may have decided that wealth and political speech are the same but many others know different.  Current office holders complain about how much time they need to spend raising money to run for office.  These sam...

I'm definitely not part of the one percent but I am getting much closer to being part of the newest group in this country.  Next year I will be old enough to start receiving social security benefits.  I'll be 62 years old.  God willing and if the river don't rise too much I will continue to work at a job that doesn't pay much but $300-$400 a month will pay the cable bill and the electric bill and maybe for a stop at the gas station.  At least I won't need to use my savings as quickly as I might by continuing to work.  If possible I think I will wait a while to receive social security benefits.  My friends think I should take the money and run.  I have some time to think about that question, and while mostly retired I like the idea of working so I don't have to worry about retiring completely. I've worked in the public sector a long time and saw many people without jobs through no fault of their own.  I've worked with welfare mothers wh...

The weather seems a little cooler, but afternoon showers and rainy mornings have not left yet.  Mike Renieri used to comment on skunk smell on the Palmetto Expressway as being a tell that cooler weather is not far away.  I notice the days being shorter and it takes longer for it to get hot.  90 degrees by noon, but that is an improvement over August mornings when it seems to be hot 24/7. And gracefully this year there has been only only one hurricane drill for Issac.  Wet, wet, wet.

I wish the horse race for the presidency would be over.  I'm not an undecided voter.  Things are not hunky dory but they are getting better job wise for some and I'm not waking up in the middle off the night to see which brokerage house had gone out of business and who might be next.  Former President Clinton said it best when he said that neither he nor any of the predecesors could have done better than President Obama given the situation he faced.

This is not going to make me any liberal friends.  Chicago teachers should go back to work, now and they should have not even taken even a symbolic day off.  The symbolism of teachers on strike takes away much of the sympathy people have for teachers. Things are already difficult.  Public employees are under attack everywhere and striking in the face of the difficulties makes them about as popular as some of the rich folks they want to pay for stuff.  Unfortunately rich folks can send their kids to private schools and this further weakens public sympathy for a hard working, educated, and necessary group of folks. I'm not Sam Gompers, but this kind of behavior is similar to the behavior of congress where it is always my way or the highway.  Parents and the kids who need public schools are not well served by teacher's unions and the leadership of these groups need to understand this. Incidentally, the teacher's union leadership in South Florida, has been a...

I'm not a parliamentary expert but this is clear we need to establish a methodology where the majority can govern and a minority of one senator is unable to sabotage the currant process.  Holds by senators can mess up filling appointed positions.  In practice sixty votes are needed to move anything through the Congress.  A majority used to be 50% plus one.  This is discouraging and obstructionism is fostered. This is no way to run a railroad and certainly not the way to govern the United States of America. A parliamentary system would establish a governing majority.  Those opposed can still bitch and complain but they don't have a veto over doing the country's business.  There can still be regular elections but the running for office stops and the business of actually working on lawmaking and handling stuff can actually take place. In the U.S. we seem to be getting the worst of both worlds.  Campaigns never end, elected officials are a...

The Democrats Convention started last night.  This will be the last convention I watch.  By the end of the evening I'd think I've seen enough.  It might fire up the base and for once I think the Dems should get some votes from people who serve in the military.  This is a long time coming for the party of McGovern, who served in the military.  This country has some difficult issues to deal with and we need more than laundry lists of things. 

Many people receive food assistance from the government.  Some receive cash assistance as well.  I'm positive most people would like to have a job and regular income so that they can pay rent, go to the grocery store, buy gas or pay for a trip on the bus. Even people with jobs and regular incomes feel the pressure these days.  People with extraordinary incomes and capital behind them can cut back without really cutting back on much.  Maybe they just don't grow their assets as much as they used to.  Maybe that's because deferring gratification is easier if you are not on the margin.  At the end of the month or the week, the rent needs to be paid, the light bill, bus fare, and maybe quarters for laundry.  This means different things at different rungs on the economic ladder.  As with most things we have selective memories, but if you have a family and need to scramble for a place to stay, food to eat, and a way to pay for it all, things can ge...

This is a good day to reflect on the value of labor.  It's true that hard work never killed anybody as my Mom used to say, but hard work can be difficult.  We take for granted many of the modern conveniences we have these days and it makes national news when they are interrupted. Flip a switch and the lights come on.  Almost always, they come on and when they don't we are almost crazy after a few hours without electricity.  When will the crews be here to restore power?  We are all dependent on the crews that do this work.  The people that do this work are skilled, but they work in the hot sun, or other conditions like ice storms and we take their labor for granted almost always.  Very few people grow their own food.  Let's skip back a few hundred years and almost everyone had to grow what they ate.  If they were lucky, they had something to sell after the harvest or the picking season.  This too is hard work. Yes capital is necessa...