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Welcome to my blog! I ruminate on random thoughts rattling around in my brain. Subjects range from reality TV to current events and everything in between. Whether you agree with me or not, I welcome your comments. God gave you the ability to think for yourself, and this country was founded based on the right to have your own opinion. Who am I to question that? Hope you enjoy! And, if you like to shop on the internet, or have always wanted to try, please feel free to click on one of the banners on the left. Do admit I get a small commission for anything you buy through the links. Appreciate it if you do decide to buy something!

Monday, December 20, 2010

A Few Thoughts

Well, quite a few things going on in the news nowadays.  Thought I’d take a few minutes to touch on some of them.  Most end on positive notes, especially the last one.  Hope you enjoy:

  • After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Congress agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts.  Never really doubted they would for several reasons.  For starters, why would they make 97% of the taxpayers mad cuz they couldn’t agree on what to do on the other 3%?  Second, the 3% make the biggest contributions to the campaign coffers.  Are they really going to risk hacking them off?  Wouldn’t think so, especially since a lot of them are in that 3%.  At some point, taxes will have to go back up, but consumer confidence is so shaky that this is not the time;
  • Several things piqued my interest during this whole debate.  One is the Tea Party joined sides with the Dems and came out against the compromise.  Seems odd to me since most Dems talked about what loons the TP folks are back during the elections.  Guess they might not be as crazy as the Dems thought…for now, anyway.  Another is most Dems mad about the agreement aren’t really upset about the deal itself.  They are just mad it appears President Obama caved so easily.  A third thing is they decided to cut the Social Security tax taken out of your paycheck by 2%.  Don’t get me wrong.  Never disagree with getting more money in my paycheck.  But, does seem odd when both sides keep talking about how SS is going to be broke any day now.  Wonder which side will take credit/blame for it several years from now?;
  • Looks like North Korea has decided the world has not been paying enough attention to them.  They’ve been keeping things stirred up with South Korea here lately.  They really have a good thing going.  Any time NK decides they need some attention/money, they rattle their sabers a little.  The big players come with money in hand to buy NK off for a little while longer.  Then they quiet back down again.  Attila the Hun did the same thing to the Romans back in the day.  History really does repeat itself.  If only all wars could be fought that way;
  • Some exciting news on the battle against AIDS!  Doctors in Germany state they cured a man through a human stem cell transplant.  ‘Tis a great breakthrough and sounds exciting on the surface.  However, the doctors caution this was a one-in-a-billion thing.  The stem cells had a very rare mutation making them immune to HIV, and it’s not very likely this will happen again anytime soon.  Still, it shows we are making progress against the disease and there is some hope for ultimately defeating it in the future.  You can read more about the breakthrough in this article;
  • Glad to see LeBron and the Heat are coming around.  Think Mr. James has taken more grief than he’s deserved during this whole mess.  Outside of Cleveland, think most of the backlash has been over “The Decision” rather than his decision.  The old saying is “Winning cures everything.”  Now that the Heat are on a roll and LeBron went back to Cleveland without incident, the negative stuff has started going away.  Things will probably remain calm til the finals.  The media will be apoplectic whether the Heat win or lose.  Even more so if they get knocked out before the finals.  But, that’s what sells papers and advertising;    
  • Recently, someone burned down Birmingham’s city Christmas tree.  They removed the lights then started a fire with gasoline to separate the copper from the plastic.  Apparently Penguin and The Joker didn’t move far enough from the tree and set it on fire, too.  What has happened since is like something right out of Dr. Suess.  Within a week, someone has donated a new tree; a local company has donated security cameras along with monitoring; and, local citizens have been coming by with new decorations.  You can almost see the Grinch’s heart growing three sizes today.  With all the negative you hear about nowadays, it’s refreshing to see Christmas spirit still lives.

As always, thanks for reading my thoughts.  Hope each and every one of you has a great holiday season!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!