Ukraine, Crimea, Moldava etc

Not much for me to say and unfortunately that is the case for most Americans. Very little of the world history class the average American took in high school and/or college spent much time with Eastern and far Eastern Europe. Most of our history started with Greece and focused on Western culture. Many other parts of the world were glossed over. Yet so many of us have our opinion. Time we may want to take a cue from other parts of the world before we make definitive statements. Sometimes real leaders spend more time listening than speaking. And to all our right wing brethren this is not a sign of weakness.

We always talk about the importance of having energy independence here in the U.S.. I bet right now Ukraine maybe wishing for a bit of energy independence themselves right now. That is one of the few things I feel a bit of understanding or knowledge about the situation. And one reason we need as a global community; a better balance of energy production. Some wars are preventable when there is a more balance of resources. It is not socialism to balance trade and help others grow. Hoarding and greed are contributors to war.

A quick thought as Eastern Europe fast becomes are next educational task for our current leadership.

And I wonder what was really said in the Vatican today. Or better yet how did Obama feel or his thoughts after his meeting with the Pope.

Anyway spring is taking its time arriving for the Northeast. I hope things change quickly for them.


And I hope to actually put together a post about progressives, modern populists, and.... . Had some ideas the other day. Hopefully I can drag them back out of the recesses of my mind.


Take care

Another quick thought

Are we too proud as a country or people to use common sense?


And I am using proud in a negative sense. There are so many practical solutions to many issues in our country yet we seem to trip all over ourselves and put our selves first instead of just using common sense. I hate being derogatory, but sometimes it just has to be said.

And yes you are right I saw something that frustrated the heck out of me today.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Some quick thoughts

I am not sure what to make of the Illinois primary. How much did it tell us? Their Govenor's race might be interesting, but it doesn't seem to be anything more than traditional Dem v establishment type Rep. I saw a headline that says it will be a populist fight. I don't see any true inklings of populist thinking in either party's nominee.

One headline spoke of a GOP nominee for Congress blamed LGBT activity for horrible weather. Not sure about the district, but might need to watch that race.

I know this was discussed in the 2012 presidential election about is a business person the right person to run a government. I am not saying they aren't, but running a business doesn't mean success in managing many competing interests. Most successful business people have to concentrate on the bottom line and in most cases that means earning income or sales. There is nothing in running a government that matches up. What, you want to raise taxes so you can earn money. Republicans want lower taxes or so they say. All kidding aside outside of managing a budget there are not many similarities.

Overall though a business person probably should have other credentials to go along with their business success before being considered for office. They could be board members of a charity or non profit hospital so they have a more well rounded perspective. Something to consider instead of just saying I can bring results to office like I did for my business.



And now for basketball. First I am ticked off at this billion dollar bracket challenge. The app isn't working and since we don't have a home computer I can't get on the general website. A bit frustrating right now.

And for the NBA. I made my prediction the Pacers will win the East, but some of their lack of production from their bench is starting to worry me. We will see.

And for the West it is really crazy. There are four teams competing for the last three spots and for each of those teams they are missing one player that could make either of those teams a top four team in the league. The playoffs in the West can be really good all three rounds. Miami probably wouldn't pass the second round in the West, but could still win the whole thing from the East because they won't be all played out.

Just some random thoughts as we head into spring.

Setting up the scorecard

First of all, Spring is right around the corner and I am sure many of you are more than ready.

Primary season has technically started with the Texas election and as I thought not much learned. We knew the Republicans would all be sitting on each other's laps on the far right side of the couch. One thing we might get in Texas is an interesting Governor's race. Unfortunately it will be very partisan. Both sides, no matter what they say, will only be giving lip service to moderates and centrists.

The Florida special election was a big deal with the press and I read a few articles talking if this was a harbinger of things to come in November. My opinion is no on two levels. First I don't think one election affects the whole country. It was close. And a Libertarian candidate got 4% of the vote. Now historically a libertarian vote would pull from conservatives, but right now I am not sure. Probably still generally conservative, we will see. And this brings me to my second point and I misspoke my no. For my second point I think it will be the same in November. For all the talk about "throwing the bums out" the Libertarian only got 4% of the vote. How can we give less than 20% approval to Congress's rating and yet there is no increase in support for another party or independent candidate. Even though the two major party candidates weren't in Congress they still come from the same Dem. or Rep. blood that has always been there. Some polls even state that about 1/2 the country call themselves independent or have no party affiliation especially among younger voters we only get 4% for the alternative. So my point as always until we change that number we cannot expect anything better.

So November, I am afraid will still be the same in this one respect. Not that I want it that way, I just fear this awful truth. So people of the US please prove me wrong. Otherwise I don't see our Congress doing anything for the middle class anytime soon.

Illinois is next week, D.C. is April 1st, then things really get going in May and June. At that point we will see if the tea party is beginning to continue their surge. And unless something really starts changing we won't know till November if any true change has garnered any momentum.

For now we have March Madness to enthrall us. Good luck to your school and Hook 'em Horns.

Have a fun filled St Patrick's day weekend and be safe.

A quick comment on education.

To me you can tell when an educational system is successful is when people are able to overcome their fears and prejudices to make decisions that benefit themself and the whole of society.

A potentially interesting stat.

I saw a headline that says there were 20% fewer voters in the Texas primary than in 2010. Hard to say if that trend will be the same ongoing, but I have to think establishment Republicans might be in trouble. They need some moderates to vote and historically the far right is more active.

I have been warning people the tea party isn't going away and don't look at Cornyn winning in Texas as a victory trend for mainstream Reps. He is pretty close to teaparty ideas and there wasn't a viable contender running against him. The real battles are coming and Texas size turnouts won't help some incumbents. People rebuke me about the tea party and I hope I am wrong, but I fear I maybe saying I told you so to some friends.

Bodes well though if I could ever get some traction for people believing we need a new conservative party that supports the middle class.


And someone learn CPR, the Mavs just about killed me last night. They need to develop some mental toughness and fast or our Mavs' fans dream of doing well as a sleeper team is only going to be a dream.


And speaking of basketball the three wildest and emotional weekends in sports is just around the corner. March madness here we come. Is Florida really the favorite? And are we headed for many wild upsets again this year? The countdown to bracket mania has begun.

Texas primary tomorrow

Not much to say about the vote tomorrow. As you probably know this won't be the first big test of tea party vs establishment Republicans. Most candidates are trying to flaunt how conservative they are now. You have candidates walking around carrying guns in their ads, they each have their own little niche issue to show us how conservative they can be. One candidate for agriculture commissioner says he will stop illegal immigration and then his TV spot focuses in on one strand of barb wire. Yep just one lowly strand of barb wire, but he speaks adamantly about stopping illegal immigration. The only real reason to watch is to see how far to the right Texas might be headed. There are a few Republicans trying to run as the practical choice, but even the tone of their ads are heavy conservative.

There is a bit of mud slinging in a couple of races trying to discredit someone's conservative credentials, but overall they are spending more time trying to out do each other.

The democratic.side is pretty quiet at the state level. Around the state there maybe some local contests, but overall you see much more noise coming from the Republican primary.

And of course it is always a heavy advantage to be an incumbent in a local race unless you just really screw up and here in Dallas even major screw ups don't seem to hurt you too much. We find out tomorrow.




It has been a full winter this year for everyone. I hope it ends now. I think everyone is ready for spring and spring break

Throwing stones

The great thing about being independent is you can throw stones at both sides. And even though it is Sunday here goes. (I'll probably pay for this later lol)

Someone please tell the President it doesn't do you any good to wag your finger making threats at people playing in their own backyard. It was bad enough Putin looked better than you coming out of Syria, but making threats you can't even begin to back up in Ukraine is so helpful to your international credibility.(and ours, please think before you speak next time.)

And now we have the possibility that foreign companies have our elected officials lying for them. Sen Coker(R) in Tennessee better hope VW comes through with more production quick or boy you have to think what kind of crap can our elected officials put upon us without any consequences. If the Republicans want to get rid of the UAW and other unions it might help if you actually produce some decent paying jobs.... well like about four years ago.