minor rant follows:

There’s been much public hysteria and hand-wringing these past weeks as, if you believe what you hear, the country creeps ever closer, and perhaps has fallen into, the precipice separating a democratic and a socialist country. To the naysayers, our government forced its will upon us and stripped us of our moral rights and freedoms to choose as we wish. We are creeping towards the hobnobbed boot-heel of dictatorial oppression, and it’s only a matter of time before our children will learn to obey the Fatherland with open palm salutes.

Give me a break.

I’ve been fortunate to be professionally associated with prisons, child protective services, K-12 and higher education, and government-based medical services. Here’s a newsflash, kids: the federal government is deeply involved in those institutions with regulations and massive funding, and it happens for a very good reason:

State and local governments do a piss-poor job of taking care of the people trapped in their communities’ lowest economic strata. Even if they have the inclination, they don’t have the money. And local government is all about the money.

The result is a measurable portion of our neighbors, who we barely acknowledge exist, are surviving day-to-day by making tough decisions on when to eat and where to sleep, and God forbid if any of them get sick.

It amazes me that everyone in this country, the greatest in the history of history, does not feel a moral imperative to reach out and pull these folks up out of the mud. Many people do help but others who claim to hold the high religious and/or political ground are the same people who intellectually and inexcusably choose to be blind and deaf to the suffering of their flocks around them.

Is Health Care Reform a perfect law? No such thing exists.

Is it better than what we had? Yes.

After all, if taking care our neighbors is not a “higher good”, then what is?

Let’s move onto some unresolved problems now: ending two foreign wars and bringing our kids home.

end minor rant

And maybe being buried away and forgotten is the best place for those secrets…even when you’re alive…

The first day of Spring! And I can focus on losing 15 pounds of winter fat (no excuses; I know better).

I saddled up Kash on Wednesday to drop him off at the Local Bike Shop for the annual tune-up. I could do it myself but (a) our small-town LBS’s need all the financial support they can get, and (b) I’ve got zero mechanical skills. The family knows by now to go to The Bride when it’s time to assemble anything more complicated than a spork.

So I’m breezing along down Koontz towards the Bike Habitat and the front tire goes flat. Guess who doesn’t have his tire-changing gear? It was a nice walk home.

This afternoon, Dollar and I are cruising down Fifth Street and the left pedal comes apart (WTH). The Bride is in Reno. Dropped off Dollar at the Bike Smith and it was a nice walk home.

I got an old Giant with flat tires in the garage that was bought years ago for commuting. Does it break the curse or do bad things happen in threes? I’ll let you know.

[Edit: I got a few miles in on the Giant on Monday (3/22/10). It’s a nice ride but there’s no way to look cool on it.]

In the entry below this one, I said life had gotten rather boring. Danielle and Gar changed that tonight.

Today is Danielle’s birthday. At the celebratory party, Danielle and Gar told their four parents that we’ll be first-time grandparents later this year.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s the President of the United States in 2042:

[Edit: Nobody pointed out that, constitutionally speaking, this kid cannot be President in 2042 (35 years old minimum), so let’s go with 2052, instead. Or how about Emperor of the World. That works, too.]

As odd as it may sound, this blog has loyal readers and both of them are patient folks, waiting eagerly for a post of any kind. But the blog has fallen by the wayside, yet again. I suspect it’s because I’ve gotten used to expressing my life in 140 characters (Twitter) and that my life has become so dull that I’m hard-pressed to use the full 140 characters to describe it, much less create blog posts.

This last weekend was the exception. Aunt Lily got me and The Bride down to Arizona for a little Cactus League spring training. The cherries, whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate fudge on top was the quality time with her hubby Mike, her sons Chris and Dave, and the newest member of the family, Dave’s fiancé Marissa. They’re all really nice folks with good manners and quality grooming. (DNA tests are needed to confirm I’m related to them.)

There was also lots of baseball which is my idea of heaven.

Friday was the A’s and the Brewers. A’s won.

Saturday was the A’s and the Angels. A’s won.

Sunday it rained and we missed out on Cubs and Dodgers (darn it).

Monday was the Cubs and A’s. No one kept score. (*cough* Cubs *cough*)

Dave and Chris, both of whom are highly respected professionals in their particular vocations. It’s true. The fact they’re also intelligent, handsome and funny again makes me wonder about the gene pool thing.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Lily, and The Bride. Notice how none of them are melting away in the rain. (Somehow I didn’t get a good picture of cousin-to-be Marissa. Maybe she’s a ninja.)

Here’s my good friend Hall of Fame Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins (who is obviously thinking “restraining order”).

You can’t see it there but he signed my hat. Oh, look. Here’s a picture for my adoring fans (both of them).

If you’re bored, there’s more pictures over at Flickr. Have fun.