It isn’t about Pro-Life, but it is

A few days ago, I said I didn’t want to write anything about the Kavanaugh situation. Okay I changed my mind.

One of the reasons the so-called conservatives want to have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court is because he supports the Pro-life cause. I do not know him, so I do not know how supportive he is as an individual. There are other reasons the so-called conservatives want Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court and they are more nefarious. Okay in my opinion there are some reasons that are nefarious and since it is truly subjective on my part I am keeping those to myself.

The Pro-Life reasoning though has some heaping bits of hypocrisy in what happened in the hearing on Thursday. If you are truly Pro-life, you know it is the respect of life from conception to natural death. It is not just the support of unborn children. So, how come Professor Ford was not treated with respect or her situation treated with respect by certain members of the committee that supposedly support Pro- life causes?

Women should not be treated secondarily if you are truly pro-life. And issues of sexual assault should be just as important to any Pro-life person as protecting the life of an unborn child. Again, Pro-Life is dignity of life from conception to natural death for all.

Just a quick thought on a dreary Saturday afternoon here in North Texas.

Who should be in charge

If you want the free market to work, then all players need to have skin and benefit in the game. Currently the consumers and workers are losing both. This imbalance cannot be sustained without consequences. What those may be, no one knows, but eventually when the world is out of balance something will attempt to rectify it.

I prefer we keep our values and Constitution so hopefully we can put things back in balance through the means our forefathers created. Unfortunately, the large corporations have built up so much moneyed influence in Congress for their own greed this imbalance is growing out of control. Their greed is so predominant they think they can treat the workers and consumers as their serfs. We are to accept what they give us without question. Our input as a consumer is going by the wayside. We buy what they provide with no choice and ever rising prices and lessening quality and service with our opinions or are money as consumers having no value in the corporations’ eye. And as we all know, wages are stagnant for the middle and working class, while the income and wealth gap grows for the donor class.

Government when it tilts and represents one side over the other is failing in its purpose. Government, as per our Constitution and philosophy, is to create a balance where everyone has opportunity and no one is treated inferior. The current failure of our Congress to represent the whole of the country instead of just a few will come back to haunt all of us. The donor class will never see this, yet eventually the reality is the scales will want to balance. I hope we never run across a time where people try to overcompensate the scales in the other direction.

We must act together to hold our Congress responsible for the good of the whole country and not just the few before it is too late. I, for one, am tired of being treated like a serf so let’s work to resolve the imbalance before too many get to my feelings and they try to rebalance in unproductive ways.

So, to not answer the question, when someone thinks they are in charge, problems are inevitable.

Sometimes it just isn’t crazy enough

Okay so I am being a bit sarcastic, yet day to day living can get a bit monotonous.

Our President came out on the campaign trail talking about winning and people have jumped on the term winning to get back at him. Truth though is ugly, the only people that win are Mother Nature and Father Time. The best we can do is adapt. We can stay healthy and we can keep our planet healthy, but if we don’t we lose big time.

I am still trying to wrap my head around the President’s wall. He brought this back up saying the Republicans need to toughen up and fund this wall. I agree we need serious immigration overall. What that may look like I am not sure right now. And I have said this before many times, we do not need the largest graffiti board on this planet, especially paid for by us. Mexico and the US do not need this wall, nor the madness attached to it. Biggest waste of money you can imagine. We need not just immigration reform, but a complete overall. And I am referring to this in a positive way, where we actually sit down and determine how we want to approach our economy and how immigration can benefit us. Our current Congress is not up to the task.

And while I am on the topic of craziness, I am upset at all the people that ride scooters around. If I was younger I would probably love them. And even now, I would like to try them out. I do not think people realize how fast they are going in relation to where they are in traffic or wherever they are. I live in downtown and I have no idea what these riders are thinking. They are going full speed on sidewalks and I guess they do not realize the blind spots they are running up against with drivers. And how vulnerable they are if a car hits them. I walk to work and it is bad enough they are going full speed around corners and almost hit people walking. Or riding out into traffic, I saw one guy in a bike lane make a left in front of a car in the regular lane. The car had to slam on its brakes and the guy on the scooter either had no idea of what he did or didn’t care. Two seconds away from death and no reaction. They look cool, but the people riding them are working hard to win the Darwin Awards.

And while I am on the topic of being pissed, I just do not understand that corporations or companies are pushing for people to pay online for so many different services. I cannot buy into this idea. Sounds convenient, however since we are a business first culture I am worried who is responsible if you get ripped off or your information or money gets stolen from all these apps or pay by text or whatever. You know damn good and well it won’t be the business. Consumer be damned. This is ripe for the old phrase: buyer beware. I saw a parking lot advertise to pay by text. Seriously, you think they are going to be responsible for your information. Time we hold businesses responsible for what they want us to do.

For this post and in general overall the music video STOP MAKING SENSE seems appropriate. Great music, wonderful concert concept, and great title for the modern world though made in the 1980’s. Shoot Washington stopped making sense decades ago. It is a shame that Remains in Light and Speaking in Tongues do not get the main stream recognition they deserve. Talking Heads were a great band and these two albums were way underrated by the commercial world. Maybe I should take up drumming. Ha ha ha

Cheers everyone and Fall is upon us officially this weekend. Enjoy the good of cool weather. Still love summer, but hey a good clean crisp cool morning is a great moment. Yet through it all the Doors "Summer's Almost Gone" haunts my memories every time we make this seasonal transition. 

Don’t you wish there was a better national dialogue going on?

Not much to say today, it is becoming way too much of the same ole you know what. I do not want to even talk about the Kavanaugh crap. God only knows who is right. And apparently bad news on the national debt front, sheesh.

I didn’t get to see the game, but was keeping up with the score so I knew what was going on, but I cannot tell you if I thought the Cowboys made that much of a leap forward. It seems the defensive line was the real power in the game, yet I cannot say for sure. 6 quarterback sacks and a bunch of Eli Manning meme jokes on the internet seem to vouch for the defensive line being the MVP of the game. I do not know if anyone was publicly made MVP.

I am slowly finding that if the Cowboys aren’t playing I would prefer to watch a good College game over a Pro game.

I still think the Mavericks have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Cowboys, but that is another stretch to even believe that thought. I hope both do, but I am breathing.

I have an idea for another story, but I think I would prefer to actually put in play in real life. I will have to think about it. It is actually a short story thought akin to a side story I have in mind for one of the real novels I keep say I am working on. Boy, do I need help disciplining myself. Ha ha ha

Cheers all and have a great week.

A bit of Dallas flavor

Tex Mex food is a Dallas tradition and the restaurant that started it all celebrated their 100th anniversary today. It was at their downtown location and here is a quick snapshot.

They celebrated by offering $1 cheese enchilada plates. Needless to say the better half and I enjoyed this brief treat along with some cold cervazas and margaritas. I refuse to admit how many of those 100 years I have eaten at an El Fenix.  And no one I know is in these pictures, just part of the crowd that attended all day. The $1 plates were offered from 10-10. They opened a bit early today for the occasion. Part of the celebration included the unveiling of the name change of the street shown here to Miguel Martinez Way. We missed the mariachis, they played earlier in the day. In fact most of the celebration happened earlier, had to work unfortunately. Thought about calling in sick, oops did I say that out loud.  In line coming, eating,  and going we did see a few friends throughout the evening which is to be expected, long time Dallasites know and love our tex-mex. 

Cheers all!

So, you think the NBA is headed for disaster

Today I saw a story where Anthony Davis changed agents and according to the article he was changing to the same agent as Lebron James. I think it will have no affect on what the NBA looks like in three years.

And the NBA is changing for the better.

There are many new stars developing in the NBA and soon they are going to want to shape their own destiny like the Golden State Warriors did. There may be super teams in the future, but they will not have the impact that Lebron created when he developed the Heat into a super team.  And the amount of potential stars means more teams will be competitive as each tries to create their own super team.

We will still see headlines of who wants to play with who, yet it will be hard for too many star players to come together on one team. As the number of players that become stars grow, more and more they will want to be the number one option on the team hoping that other stars will join them. Players will become more selective on which teams they join or which players they gather around. Chasing rings and money will still be the goal so players will want situations that allows them to do both. And not every team will be able to pull together the resources for three max players, or if they do there will be no depth to the team. Other players will go to teams that give them the next best opportunity to play, make money and chase a championship. Not too many players will take huge salary hits hoping to be the bench for three stars since there will be so much more competition.

Once LeBron retires and the Golden State Warriors are ravaged by the luxury tax which will start happening in the next couple of years if not sooner the large number of new stars in the NBA will stay with their teams trying to create the best situation for themselves.

You may see Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving go to New York. You may see Anthony Davis or K. Leonard move to LA to play with LeBron for the last couple of years. Yet, overall the 76ers, the Celtics, Indy, the Bucks, Phoenix, the Kings, the Mavs, the Timberwolves (who could go either up or down), the Nuggets, Grizzlies, all have young players that will want to make their own name.

I see in three years that there will be 3-5 teams from each conference that will have a realistic chance of winning a championship. And this includes Jimmy and Kyrie going to New York and a super star joining LeBron in LA. They will be part of the mix, not the dominant team people might expect them to be. The next Golden State will develop like Golden State from within. And if there is another team created like the Heat where they agree to each other’s terms, it still won’t be as dominant or flashy as the Heat was with LeBron. The NBA has found quite a few new developing stars at exactly the right time for the Association to have a very successful start to the 2020’s. The NBA playoffs could have a few years where they are almost as exciting as March Madness. Nothing is as exciting as March Madness. The three most emotional weekends in sports. Yet, the NBA will have quite the fun to watch post March Madness and many teams will keep their fans on edge all the way through the conference finals up to the championship in June.

And today my Cowboys proved my post from a few days ago. 8-8 is still looking like the high side of potential for them this year. Makes me sad, but there is work to be done to be better.

Produce the pictures, Mr. President

If they exist, we need to see them. You might create many more supporters if you do. Might be a bit hilarious also.

There is no won’t produce them Mr. President. You either produce them or you cannot produce them. If you cannot, you have opened up something more dangerous than pandoras box by saying you have them.

Mr. President, sorry to say there may be some of your supporters that still believe you, but any chance of holding onto some semblance of respectability is lost if you cannot produce the pictures.

So, why did you even bring them up? You need to produce the pictures. The statement is so strange that not being able to back it up proves everything in print about you and your administration that has been released, written, and said this week. If you have them, produce them.

This is not my ultimatum, but one you created for yourself. And I know I am not the only person on the planet who wants to see them or is requesting you release them. Even Fox News has to be a bit curious and would love for you to produce them.

Do we force the issue and use a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act? What happens next?

Mr. President I do not want a Constitutional Crisis. You apparently do.

At the very least late-night television shows ought to be somewhat interesting tonight. Sheesh

Labor Day, Dallas Cowboys and other

Let’s start with one of the other comments: Are there more consequences to being in trouble with your wife or with the law? 

We celebrate Labor Day to honor all the people that work for a living or basically we are celebrating the backs that built this country. Millions upon millions of Americans have sweat, toiled, even died as this country grew. We went from the inhumane conditions of slavery to the almost as inhumane for the factory workers, railroad workers, miners etc.. of the late 1800’s to the unions of the early and mid-1900’s who made Labor Day possible. This is a celebration of a vanishing breed of humans, not because we do not have laborers, but because the donor class or one percenters are buying off Congress at breakneck pace to break the backs of the very people they need to build, sell, and consume the goods from which they make money. Or is it they no longer need the worker since their money is built solely on paper now with mergers, stock buy backs, and layoffs. They offshored the middle class for their benefit and in doing so, show no empathy for human livelihood.

Labor Day represents honor and job well done. Unfortunately, the very people that should be celebrated are at work, selling goods made in foreign countries the profits produced only benefit a very few people. And some Republicans wonder why Democratic socialism is becoming popular. The very people that destroyed the middle class will bring about their own end if they do not understand that we are connected, and we flourish together, or we fail together, you cannot exclude others and not expect consequences. (paraphrasing JFK) For what it matters, Happy Labor Day all.

And on a completely different somber note, I have no idea about my Dallas Cowboys this year. I usually make some prediction about their chances right before the season starts. This year I am not an optimistic fan. And they may do okay, they might be a wild card team, yet I dread they won’t even be close. It is a whole host of little things coming together that give me little optimism. I see Washington being better than last year, Philadelphia still the best in the East and no way are the Giants going to be as bad as last year.

Can the Cowboys overcome the injuries of preseason, the lack of a strong #1 receiver, the uncertainty of Travis Frederick’s condition, and defensive backs that still need work. Dak can do the job under the right circumstances. The right circumstances do not exist right now, and he may suffer more than just this year if things do not turn around quickly. He is a good quarterback, not a great one so overcoming adversity may be the lesson he learns this year. Hopefully I am wrong, and I mean hopefully because the best I see for the Cowboys is 8-8. My stomach hurts just typing this record, but we are relying on Mr. Elliot to have a phenomenal year and a defensive front (lineman and linebackers) to be able to stop the run and be excellent pass rushers at the pro bowl level across the board for us to surpass 8-8. The rest of the team would struggle to get to 8-8 if we had to rely on them as it currently stands. A .500 record is not what a fan wants to think about unless you are a Cleveland Browns fan and even they want better, yet some stars are going to have to align for the Cowboys to make the playoffs and .500 is the best they will do under what looks like we have, and the possibility of only winning 4 games is a scary reality.  So, I will not take credit for being correct at the end of the year since I am all over the board, unless they are exactly 8-8 because….ouch… that is what this team looks like as the season is about to begin.

And if you told me a year ago Jeff Sessions would be the only thing keeping the Constitution in place, I would have booked you on a comedy tour.

Maybe it is the clouds and rain all day, but this is one dreary post.