Sunday Morning Coming Down

Yesterday was a good day.  I finished work in time to go to Hialeah Park to watch Did I Zoom run.  I've watched this horse many times from his first race and then on the Minnesota and Iowa and now back to South Florida.  He finally won a race.  Many owners want their horses to be race horses, the attrition is great.  Good breeding is no guarantee, it helps but it seems there's always something and that can keep a horse from even getting to a race.  The expenses of owning a horse in training can range from $1800 to $3000 a month, so the pressure to run and make enough money to cover expenses can be intense.  The economics of the sport almost guarantee failure for all but the few that are fortunate enough to have a horse good enough to win stakes races.  If it wasn't fun and a form of entertainment that is unique it would have been extinct like the dinosaurs long ago. Don't bet a lot to win a little, but do go to the races.

We as a country have put ourselves in a position where the issue of leadership is being confused with being able to assign blame, avoid responsibility, and continue to be able to raise money to continue in political office and avoid having to actually have to vote in a manner that relates governing. President Obama has some leadership issues.  John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have similar leadership issue on the Republican side of the aisle, as do Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  This does not excuse the 535 that are elected to represent the other 307,000,000 of us.  If the median family income ranges from about $40,000 in Mississippi to about $66,000 in Maryland and the poverty level for a family of four is $23,000 and 200% of poverty for a family of four is $46,000 nationwide there are lots of people that are struggling to meet their financial obligations. I get it.  I'm willing to say that there is too much money being spent on keeping this ...

The CW is that there will be a deal on taxes, spending, and entitlements.  If there is going to be a deal both sides will need to contribute something to the deal.  One part of a deal would be to structure increases in social security payments in a manner that would favor lower income recipients more than upper income folks.  Medicare taxes which will need to increase if we are to avoid a default on this program and it would be helpful if the taxes were more progressive, rather than the 2.9% of wages.  Everybody would be wise to address this issue sooner rather than later.  I'm of the opinion that there are not enough rich folks to pay the bills we are all running up for services we want. If that means that more than just the top 2% pay more, receive less, and wasteful programs are cut, let's get on with it.  

Picking up  Lisvey at school yesterday was usual for her but something very different for me.  The routine questions about school, dinner, grades, homework, the weekend, since it was Friday were not quite as routine.  I've taught school as a sub over the past few years and have experienced lock downs and evacuation drills and walking my class to art, music, lunch, and to the bus at the end of the day.  Honestly, I worried when I gave kids permission to go to the bathroom and they had to actually leave the classroom was relieved if there was bathroom in the classroom so they did not have to go down the hall. I was always told by family members in the profession, that if nothing else, it was vital to think about safety before anything else.  Sometimes even that doesn't work out.

I've lived in Florida for my entire adult life.  Florida is a right to work state and I doubt that will change.  The State of Michigan is considering legislation that will make it a right to work state.  This will reduce the power of unions in the state and it will make it easier for the state to compete for new jobs.  Wages in right to work states are lower.  The race to lower costs a la Walmart continues.  Maybe it will increase the number of jobs available for people who need jobs.  The availability of jobs in America is important and the people in Michigan need to remember that the jobs at lower wages may go to Alabama, Tennessee, or Mississippi. Not only are we competing with the world, we are competing for jobs within the United States and a job is a good thing to have.

The Learning Channel has had  program some programs about the morbidly obese.  These folks get so big that they eventually become homebound and in extreme cases bedbound.  Hoarders is a similar view into some very extreme behavior and the show American Pickers has some similarities but there are some exceptions when the "stuff" is organized. My overarching question(s) is how does this happen?  Do people actually decide that it is too difficult to get up and get out of bed one day and from there things spin out of control?  Obviously the folks that eat too much, get no exercise, ... and eventually have their meals delivered to them have some psychological problems beyond just their diets.  Similarly people who buy lots of stuff find it difficult and then impossible to take out the garbage have some issues. When too much becomes not enough, there is going to be some rough sledding.

Hunting Deutsch, executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity resigned abruptly after disclosures that he collected unemployment benefits while traveling in Europe.  Deutsch refused to answer questions saying frankly it's a personal matter.  The former executive director collected benefits for 91 weeks from 2009-2011(some of which) when he was traveling in Europe with his wife.  He did  however say, "I'm fortunate enough where I've worked for very successful companies for a very long period of time and luckly sold all my bank stocks- most of them at the right time, at the right price and quite frankly did not have to work.  So my wife and I took some time off and travelled a great deal. The Florida Senate President said it was the right thing to do and Governor accepted the resignation effective effective December 9, 2012.  According to the Miami Herald, his salary at the Department of Economic Opportunity was $140,000 annually. B...

I'm good with NIU coming to the Orange Bowl.  I hope a lot of their fans are good with coming to Miami as well.  FSU fans will have yet another possibilty to visit Miami and the stadium known this year as Sunlife Stadium. The Orange Bowl Committee does a lot of things to get visitors to come to Miami during the holidays and fill hotel rooms before winter season really gets going.  Somebodys got to do it, we will need tourist dollars to pay for our new baseball stadium and every little bit helps. Two really good college teams, Penn State, and Ohio State will be spending the holidays up north.  The University of Miami will also be laying low this year.  Sanctions or the potential of sanctions from the NCAA have had an adverse impact on the bowl situation this year.  Regrettable but this may be the new normal as the NCAA sifts through what is becoming just another merky part of our sports culture.