oblong

A summary of the history of Dearborn voting in primaries and it shows how kooky the arab american vote can be.... also note the lack of women in the photo.

You can’t murder people w/o retaliation. Stupid Biden.

I tipped him. Not mad at him but the venue should advertise that their small place with horrible acoustics will be overtaken by John Denver and Johnny Cash songs for a few hours. It’s not on a stage. They just moved some tables around, so there’s less places to sit. 2/3 of the people can’t even see him because of the layout. It’s a brewery with a long narrow space. Nobody was really paying attention. Sorry but when it’s so loud you can’t hear the person across from you then it’s not good service. I mean a guy could be in there using a clear blower to clean the floors and “he’s working” is not a valid excuse. I have another place with vinyl night where people bring their records. That’s fun because you can still carry on a conversation

But I thought he unconditionally wants war and to murder Palestinians

A few weeks ago I told my boss while in a call “I have to go tomorrow to Flint to pick up Alex for a doctor appointment”. “eh… I don’t care. Whatever comes up can wait” obviously he cares about Alex… just meant I didn’t have to tell him or give the impression I was asking. Just do what you gotta do. The work will and always does get done.

My wife now has people entering her department that could be our kids. She definitely sees a change. But she also noticed a change from those about 10-15 years younger than her that began about 10 years ago. Just a general "don't care" attitude. Do the bare minimum. But she also has a service attitude which is admirable but also makes her susceptible to being taken advantage of. She works for a large hospital. Many branches in the area. It's corporate. But she'll say things like "I don't want to take time off because my co workers will be busy" or "I saw an extra patient on the schedule that I wasn't assigned because they needed therapy and the person who should have done it went home". I get that attitude in a more entreprenuerial environment wher eyou have actual ownership. But she's just a number to them. It's a balancing act for sure. I have to remind her that this isn't church or school where we volunteer time to make sure the events run well and the kids/church/community get what they need. It's a business. The hospital can and should hire more staff, pay them better, etc. to make sure patients get their care. I work for a large company that treats us well, like adults, I never ever got harassed for needing time off or whatever. For them I don't mind going the extra mile or whatever. They treat us like family and I am grateful.

In particular in MI you have the Karamano situation and split of the GOP. Will those nutjobs fall in line when Hoekstra is confirmed as the real head of the state party, if he's not been already?

I jumped out of my couch as soon as I saw him take off... Might have watched this 35 times since. The only comparable thing I can think of in recent memory is when JD came off the DL and pinch hit against Chris Sale, and first pitch HR to CF. This goal only took a few seconds but it felt like 20 minutes. It was slightly off screen but you hear Ken, then you see it's a breakaway, then you see it's Kane, then realizes it's Chicago, then you say "No way, can't happen can it?" Then it happens. Gotta say I think Chicago fans had a good day. It's not like their team is going anywhere. They got to celebrate Chelios, say hello again to Kane, and see him do something remarkable. No harm done for them, even if it's against Detroit.

I don't think uncommitted will matter too much in November. I do think the arab american vote will have a decent shift or non vote though. A lot of them are ambivalent. Many of them are in line with the evangelicals when it comes to social issues and they can be brainwashed enough to think Biden is fighting Israel's war so that will get them to the polls. Biden's biggest concern if he has one is just apathy by people thinking he's got it in the bag and it's a replay of 2016 again. But that's a concern for Trump too, not because they think he's got it in the bag but either they just don't care about it anymore or they think it's rigged against them so they won't bother.

Everyone's a libertarian until they need something. Libertarians are democrats who own guns and republicans who smoke pot. I have several books that go into deep thinking and frankly looking back it's just not sustainable. It's a haven for those discontented with both parties. Most claim to be economic conservatives and social liberals.

I was 15, he might have cursed, and I might have **** my pants.

I did. Our community center had it set up in the gym. It was over kill as by Friday, after a week, I was only voter #550. Lots of folks telling you where to go, etc. More workers than voters. But I get it. It's a dry run for November and is good practice for them to sort out the kinks. I was asked if I wanted a ballot in English or Arabic. I was thinking about the reaction of others who would be asked that, as if they were asked if they were a child molestor. I liked having the option of going whenever I could over a period of time. But voting is easy for me as my polling location is 1/2 mile away anyway, and I'm at the rec center 4-5 times a week already. It's almost criminal how easy it is for me when I see pictures of other locations. There's 3 polling locations within a mile radius of my house. When people like to make it harder to vote... that tells you all you need to know.

I got yelled at by Al Kaline in a camp because I caught my balls wrong. I guess it was like how Rickey Henderson would do it. The ball would fall into my glove as my glove was a few inches to the left of my face and I would have my hand right there ready to throw. I played LF for 4 years in HS and the sun would set to my right as I am facing the plate so when I would use my hand to block it that was the best way to do it. I played on that same field for probably 10 years so it was a solid habit. I never dropped a ball, I had a cannon for an arm if I must brag. I never changed. I liked being able to see the ball the entire time

I wouldn’t mind that because the people don’t vote for them and have no way of getting them out. They do with politicians. I would even end term limits for presidents since it seemed like a reaction to one person and we shouldn’t make laws or amendments on that. 30 years is a nice round number and fits with traditional pension plans, etc and has limited application. I was in my first weeks of college when Clarence Thomas got on the court. I’m 50 now. That’s enough. We would have 12 more years to go before it comes up with Roberts and Alito.

I like watching live music. I will go see anybody anytime. I wish I had more opportunities and friends interested in that. It’s different if you go to a place when a stage and it’s a normal occurrence that someone is there. In my situation above it’s a small brewery. They basically move tables and a guy sets up. Just wasn’t in the mood for it. Unnecessarily loud and the acoustics in there are bad already. I’m crabby but old man. Last year I reconnected with an old best friend. Went to a tiger game on like a Monday night. After went into bookies. It’s 10pm on Monday night with hardly anybody in there. We are at the bar trying to eat and talk. The music was too loud. When you can’t hear the person 10 inches from you….

It will be hard because so many of the GOP policies are “weird”. I use that word because I saw a tweet recently summing it up that way and I think it fits. Just take the Alabama IVF decision as an example. It’s extreme to normal people but it’s the logical extension of their position on abortion. How many are trying to walk it back after being exposed for endorsing similar laws in the past? I think a national law codifying Roe and hopefully closing the book on that issue is a necessary first step. But Roe has been the heart and soul of GOO politics since the late 70s when Falwell started the moral majority. It’s been proven time and again there’s no place for Romney style economi conservative policies with a blind eye toward the firebrand social issues. a path forward could emerge via a split of the Democratic Party with folks like Manchin butting heads with the progressives.

People base term limit opposition on anecdotal evidence. Yes there are a handful who just stay in on name. But that’s up to the electorate to handle. The Michigan GOP is a good example of that.

The 68 election was close and hard to analyze because of Wallace who won 5 southern states and in 3 of them Humphrey got more votes than Nixon. And you had Vietnam.

If Harris had come out and said she didn’t want to serve in 2025 I suspect a good chance Biden would have announced he’s not running and thrown it open to the likes of Newsom and Gretchen. Then you have kind of a scenario after a two term POTUS where the VP is not running, 2008 and 2016. I really think Harris on the ticket complicated things. That kind of situation is almost like running against an incumbent.

I think Trump winning will have a serious threat to global affairs. Russia will steamroll Ukraine and go after Poland and given his talk about NATO…. We won’t step up. Our allies might. Then it’s a mess. Taiwan will be in danger too.

In general I’m going to believe the woman because historically they have gotten the short end of these situations both in terms of lack of Justice and overall shaming and questioning. So if that means a douchebag like Bauer is unfairly accused… so be it. I’m fine with him being allegedly falsely accused if it means other women are rightfully believed and feel courage coming forward when it happens to them. I’m sure there’s millions of women out there saying “yeah it sucks when you are unfairly judged on something. welcome to the club. My rapist got off because I had a black bra on.”

Potential 2024 MI senate matchup.

I was thinking about small government crap when I read Florida wants to ban social media for kids 16 and under.

Someone on twitter said, to the effect, The Dog caught the car, doesn't like the taste of the bumper, and is trying to break free. Abortion is the classic case of having a binary and ironclad belief in something not being sustainable. The logic of the Catholic Church for example is sound... but to a fault. Saying you are against abortion in all cases because it's a life can be honorable in a vaccum but it then leads to these kinds of rulings and if someone truly believes that it is taking a life and that life begins at conception... then how can you argue any other way? That's the logical extension. But the realitiy many pro lifers can't admit to is that it begins somewhere in between conception and birth but they insist on drawing a line. But a GOP pro choice candidate, of any kind, is a non starter at the national level.

I listened to a little bit of sports talk radio during the Lions playoff run and immediately was reminded why I quit. I don't know much about football so I was trying to get a feel for things, between this site and the radio. Then I quickly realized I know more than the callers. It adds no value to my understanding of any sport. That's why this site is so good. and why a site like Twitter can still exist and give me something if I stay on top of who I read and don't read.