Saturday Thinking, October 16th

I'm just saying.... I have to admit that I am a little worried about some of the candidates being supported by the Tea Party this election cycle. I know, I know, I was quick to call for all incumbents to get voted out - "Clean out Washington and start from scratch!" -But some of these candidates are beginning to scare me a bit. For example, Paladino in New York has demonstrated a real lack of self control, a bad temper and has made some pretty ugly bigoted remarks lately. Do we really want that in office, as a Governor, for 4 years? I think the Tea Party (and the rest of us) may have been in a little to much of a rush to throw out the old crowd. All I am saying is: "Let's start vetting these guys a little better...."

There is something about politicians that just drives me mad –and I mean all politicians. They just can not seem to answer a direct question. It is just like going to a car dealer and asking the selling price for a car. You think you have agreed on a price, and suddenly you find a whole lot of added items and expense being added. Why, oh why can’t we just get a plain, straight answer? I listened to the debates from California and Delaware –and they had me banging my head on the wall, I found myself screaming at the television demanding a direct answer from these jerks. One of the things that drives voters run-out-in-the-yard-and-chew-bark-from-the-trees crazy is the constant tap dancing from candidates from all parties when they face a question they don’t want to answer. Just tell me! Do you want higher taxes? Do you think government should be bigger or smaller? What sort of foreign policy do you want? Do you believe partisanship or bipartisanship is more effective? Are you generally a liberal, a conservative, a moderate, or something else? Tell me, tell me, tell me…… You should tell me what you believe, and I should decide if that matches my beliefs to a reasonable degree. If it does, I should vote for you. If it doesn’t, I shouldn’t. And we should both be happy with the result. Transparency doesn’t start once a politician is elected. It ought to start the day he or she decides to run. Tell me your honest philosophy and trust that I am smart enough to decide if I like it or not - no dancing around, no shading the truth, no hiding behind semantics. If politicians want to stop being viewed like shady car dealers, they need to stop acting like them. Tell me the truth from day one, and there is a better chance we’ll both be happy on day two.

My first apartment as an independent “adult” was in San Francisco back in the ‘ole 70’s (no cracks…) and I really loved “the city”. That was a long time ago and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since those days. I have lived in several other cities and visited other countries. San Francisco just does not hold the same charm for me any longer. One thing I remember clearly though was the bad condition of her streets. Everywhere you went, there was severe pot holing or detours while they filled in the holes. I lost a muffler on a steel plate the city had put down on 6th Street one night to cover some of that work. Those memories came back today when I spotted an article about how in San Francisco, cyclists, drivers and pedestrians have grown accustomed to complaining about - and navigating around - routes in disrepair. And the city is trying to play catch-up with limited funds. On a scale of 0 to 100, the city's average "pavement condition index" is 64 - a score indicating that a street needs treatment to ensure that its deterioration doesn't feed on itself and accelerate. That's only one point above needing grinding and new paving. Hey, Mayor Newsom, here’s a suggestion: it’s way past time to fix those streets and fill those potholes. If you don’t have the asphalt, try putting some potting mix in them and let the citizens plant victory gardens or something….

Today is Oscar Wilde's Birthday (born in 1854)... and in 1978 Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla elected supreme pontiff-John Paul II

A 26-year-old Washington state man managed to escaped from a Department of Corrections car while handcuffed. The Daily News of Longview reports that Eric Mitchell Lair was arrested Oct. 1 on a felony warrant. He was handcuffed behind his back, but still was able to open the door of the car that was taking him to Cowlitz County jail and run off. Officers from several agencies searched the area but couldn't find him, and a judge issued a warrant Thursday for his arrest on suspicion of first-degree escape. They also want him to be charged with stealing the handcuffs. Police say the handcuffs are valued at $29, and stealing them would constitute third-degree theft. Great police work...




Live Long and Prosper....