This Just In...

Views of the news and other stuff

From...Mixed Grill..

Several things on my mind this morning...

Watched the NH primaries last night, and like most I was quite taken back by Hillary's win. Like most everyone else, I had read the polls......moral of the story....those guys (pollsters)  don't know their ass from a hole in the ground much of the time. Worse yet, not only do folks like me follow them, so does the media, and they spend far too much time talking about polls and believing in them. The problem with poll taking during the NH primaries is that there wasnt enough time between the Iowa caucuses and the NH event for pollsters to get an accurate reading of the populace....Maybe from now on we will simply rely on the results of the ballots, and hopefully the media will deal more with the issues.....

Also watched Joe Gibbs announce his retirement. And watched it with a tinge of sadness. For those who are not football fans, he was the coach of the Washington Redskins. Although I was a jock in my younger days, I have found over the past few years that much of sports, especially the pros, has been taken over by spoiled brats, greedy owners, and dishonest coaches. Joe Gibbs was the exception. He added class and integrity in an area which was badly lacking. He will be missed.

Finally, if you live in the DC area, you keep your eyes open for black Suburban vans....the vehicle of choice of the Secret Service. This morning coming into work, I was almost run off the 14th Street Bridge by one of these wagons, cutting in and out of traffic, flashing blue and red lights (no siren) obviously in a hurry for some TOO DAMN VERY IMPORTANT PERSON! It is quite a sight to see when a Presidential caravan is making its way down Independence Avenue....the motorcade itself consists of umpteen motorcycle cops, a half dozen of the black Suburbans, an Ambulance, a half dozen metro cop cars, and of course 2 limos.....and they travel at about 60 miles an hour, with black suited guys armed with submachine guns at the ready leaning out the windows and riding the running boards. That nobody has been killed by these raving maniacs is an absolute miracle. But the time will come when on of these motorcade vehicles looses control and runs up on to a sidewalk depositing tourists in its wake.....its ridiculous.

posted by: JustMe63 at 14:03 | link | comments (2) |

From....Caucuses Shmocuses...

Ya know, the more you think about it, the way we go about electing our President is absolutely ridiculous. It has to be the laughing stock of the rest of the world. The nonsense starts tonight with the Iowa caucuses.

Now I love traditions, but isn't it time for the whole caucus/ primary system to go take a hike? Take tonights crap...here we have one of the smallest states in the Union, less than 3 million population, totally unrepresentative of the rest of the country, and only somewhere between 6-10% of the population actually votes in the caucuses--that is a grand total of less than 300,000 people. Then figure in the millions of dollars spent by the candidates to attract those voters--some estimates are as high as $100 million. And the ad nauseum news coverage that goes along with it all...enough already. And these great Iowans have a huge say in who will be our leader....and I am not sure I really like that.

Then we are off to New Hampshire---Live Free or Die! A state even smaller than Iowa, and more ad nauseum news. And with all the rest of the states so quick to have primaries, we could have the nominations all sewn up, with a pretty good idea of who the next President is going to be, before Valentines Day for god sake...a good nine months before the actual election.

Yep, we are a great Democracy.....but god help any other country who goes to such ridiculous extremes to elect their leaders......please don't follow our example! And I am pretty sure that Washington, Madison, Jefferson and others must be turning in their graves when they see what we are doing these days.

posted by: JustMe63 at 22:17 | link | comments (7) |

From...The New Year...

Here we are, 2008....and I wonder what the new year will bring. I am not one for making new years resolutions. I used to do that, but found that I never could stick to them anyway so why bother. But I do think about what lies ahead for the year. Will I keep my health? Will the grandkids be ok? Will my son marry his millionaire girlfriend, who is 7 years older than he--- talk about an on again off again relationship. And I worry as to whether she is treating him as her boy toy. I would hate to see him hurt, but on the other hand he is the master of his fate, right? Will my daughter be able to have another year of being able to treat her depression? My mom turns 88 this year, is still as active as ever, but I do know that she won't be here all that much longer (her doc says she will live to be 120, so maybe I am dead wrong) and I really do need to get up and see her this summer. All these thoughts run through my mind.

And how was your holiday? Christmas was quiet, but fun. And we had a blast of a New Years party...a mystery dinner set in the roaring 20's. What a hoot....and everyone had a ball. If you have never tried one, do....had 20 at the house, a "murder" was committed, and then everyone set out to solve it. All came in roaring 20's costumes--I wore a black shirt, black pants, black striped vest, white tie, and a black fedora hat.... looked like Capone himself!

 I made a great chicken in wine dish, served over rice with a salad, and it was absolutely delicious. It was the first time I had made that recipe, and I worried like hell about it...I usually try out a recipe first before making it for entertaining, but just didnt have time this go round. It was great though and everyone raved about it!

Now I am back to work...first time since before Christmas. Lots to do, tons of emails and voice mails to deal with ....

And to all of you, Happy New Year. May 2008 find all your wishes coming true!

posted by: JustMe63 at 16:12 | link | comments (1) |

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