Stuff I Can't Make Up

Yep, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction:

According to ABC News (and that a member of the LameStream Media would report this is in itself astounding), the Obama Administration gave more than half a billion bucks to an auto company, purportedly to create jobs. That it did--about 500 jobs were created. 5oo! Using my calculator, as usual, that works out to about $1 million per job. I guess one might ask why we didn't just give, say, $100,000 to each worker. We'd have come out ahead, much farther ahead. Oh, and those 500 jobs? They were "created" in Finland. The auto plant was manufacturing electric cars (oh, the hallowed "green jobs!"). Of course, that explains a lot.

Electric cars.... Those cars the government is foisting on us (like television sets, light bulbs, incessant school testing, and even, locally, no Big Macs), those electric cars...the Chevrolet reportedly sold just about 300 of its Volts in the US in July. Turning, again, to my trust calculator, that works out to about 10 a day, one for every 5 states. I'd say, even with the gov't freely handing out our money as rebates to buy electric cars, even with gov't pressure on the car companies to make them (note the sudden increase of television ads!), Americans don't want them. I know this American doesn't want one--ever! Wasn't this already said, "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people?"

With that in mind, why aren't our two US Senators, Stabenow and Levin, fighting this tooth-and-nail, at every step, loudly? And, Stabenow is up for re-election. Her opponent, will it be Pete Hoekstra?, should bombard us with this reminder. But, I suppose, who can be against "green?" It's like opposing the 0.08 blood alcohol level (about two beers or a glass of wine in two or three hours)--who can be against MADD and SADD or for drunk driving? It's not for drunk driving--it's for a little bit of common sense. It's like opposing anything (and I mean anything) the schools do--who can be against "the kids?" After all, "it's for the kids." But it's not "for the kids," or, rather, it often isn't. For instance, "the kids" wait in the dark around 6 AM for there buses each day; is that "for the kids?" Class sizes are back in the mid-30s range; is that "for the kids?" Go "green!"

That said, it's hard to root for MSU these days. I guess I'm old-fashioned, but why did the MSU coach wait for the Big Ten office to suspend the player who not only threw a punch in the open field, but also, in a pile up (he didn't think he'd be seen?) tried to unscrew the UM QB's head? And last year, he started a player who had been released from jail just a few days before.n I know, I know....

Apparently Moammar Khadafy was killed after being captured. Isn't that, if not murder, but capital punishment--without a trial? I'm not saying he didn't deserve exactly what he got, but where are the protesters, in the US and throughout the world? They hold candlelight vigils at the execution sites of murderers and rapists here. The whole world condemns the US for its "barbarity" and worse. I don't ask these people to change their minds. They have a good point. I just ask, as always, for some consistency and a little less hypocrisy.

But, maybe it's just another reason to bash the US. Maybe it's a case of envy. I think envy is a worse attribute than greed. The Wall Street Protesters, more than being against greed, are envious. They want what others have earned or at least have. Listen to that boob (which goes a lot toward seeing what college students are like today? "Everybody goes to college!") who ranted, the rich should pay his college bills because he wants them to. I spoke with someone last night who agreed, it looked reluctantly, that the protesters, if they were in the shoes of the wealthy, would be just like the wealthy. Of course they would. It's not about greed, but envy. And the rest of the world is envious of the US and Americans and our wealth. Instead of trying to emulate the US and Americans, say in matters of government freedom and economics (you know, getting rid of tyrannical and "greedy" dictators!), it's easier to just hate and criticize us.

How does Smokey Robinson, in all the songs he wrote, always manage to strike a chord in people's (OK, in my) emotions? Beats me, but he does. From reminiscing to facing today, from sad to elated...he's right there many more times than not. I even pick out days, from playing football at the ice rink on Chase Rd to selling hot dogs at Orr Arena to the basement at TD. How cool!

Shopping last weekend, I spent about $35 on groceries. I hadn't shopped in two weeks and I'm not shopping this weekend. With coupons and returnables, I save more than $145! Yep. Now granted, $20 was a coupon for filling a prescription there earlier (one that cost $4, a generic). Still, that's a lot of money. And, to add to the savings, it's the equivalent of income and there is no income tax on it--federal or state. I don't understand why people don't clip and use coupons. (Admittedly, I don't save that much with every trip. But with double coups, it's unusual for me not to save at least $50 each time.) It really takes maybe ten minutes to cut them from the Sun inserts. In fact, they become sort of a game or, at the least, a hobby.