Category: Politics

  • ODDS and ENDS: Times Square Casino, ANDOR, Tottenham, and UK Prime Minister

    (A Certain Point of View)

    As a New Yorker who stayed here during the Pandemic, I watched the City empty out, especially in Midtown. Though things are getting closer to being how they were before, there are still neighborhoods in Manhattan that have not economically recovered. Office buildings are sitting semi-empty, and ideas have been kicked around for the past two years about changing these spaces into apartments as there is a housing crisis in NYC. (Though I just read that landlords are warehousing 60,000 rent stabilized units that they refuse to rent.) But the idea that seems to be picking up steam is a casino in Times Square, because, clearly, there are not enough tourist there. Or the old Times Square hookers are looking to make a comeback. If this were to happen, I know two things will come true; One, no self-respecting New Yorker will be setting foot in Times Square (not that we ever did), and Two, the Disney-ifcation of Times Square is officially over.

    I have noticed that when my friends recommend a new great show, they always add the qualifier – get through the first three episodes. I have heard this more times than I care to count, and sadly Andor on Disney+ is following the same pattern. I think it is the reason they released the first three episodes when the show debuted. That having been said, I am truly enjoying Andor. This is the Star Wars for grown-ups who grew up with Star Wars, and now know that not all issues are light and dark. This is a universe that thrives in gray. Diego Luna is great as Cassian Andor, which is not surprising as Luna is an amazing actor. (Check out him in Y tu mama tambien if you haven’t already.) As the show has progressed, I have found myself more interested in the B-plot; Mon Mothma forging and leading the rebellion. It helps that Genevieve O’Reilly has the ability to play the smartest person in the room who is hiding the fact that she is the smartest person in the room. Not to mention that there is this whole subtext of the difficulty a woman faces trying to lead an ideological and physical movement. It seems the patriarchy needs to be fought all over the galaxy as well.

    Okay, I’m going to lay off the Tottenham stuff. It’s not because they lost to Man United, and Ronaldo walked out the end of the game like a little whiney bitch. No, it’s not that. The team has taken up a great deal of my mental space, and I think I need to narrow it down to a more compact form. That’s not to say that I won’t be writing about the World Cup in November, or any of the Champions League stuff… It just might be a little more truncated.

    My opinion: Ozzy for UK Prime Minister.

    (Speaking of Ozzy. The life blood of any blog is engagement. So please, make sure to like this blog, or share it, leave a comment, and if possible, follow it. And for doing that, I will remind you that Randy Rhoads was one of the greatest guitarists of all time!)

  • I’m a Beta Tester

    I mentioned a while ago about the Biden/Harris Student Loan Forgiveness stuff, and how I feel about it. If you didn’t read that post, (don’t blame you – it wasn’t my best) I am for the program, while also admitting fully that this Forgiveness doesn’t address any of the underlining issues of the unaffordability of college. For me, I view this as a first step to correcting those issues, and I know full well that there are people who will not agree with me on this. Some disagree so much that they are trying to sue the Biden/Harris Administration over this program

    This Saturday, I received an email from StudentAid.gov informing me that I had been selected to be a Beta Tester for the application process. I wouldn’t say that I felt honored to receive this email, because something in my gut told me that everyone got this email. Or, just about everyone got this email. Either way, I filled out the form on Sunday morning, submitted and received a confirmation email in less than two minutes.

    Now I wait and see.

    Yet, I’ll believe it when it happens. As mentioned above, I know that several states are suing this program, and from what I read, most likely will fail in stopping the forgiveness, but will delay the roll out. (For the party that is overwhelmingly Pro-Christian values, I find it odd that they always go out of their way to stop any form of forgiveness – debt, wrongful imprisonment, drug convictions) I know, also, that StudentAid.gov has lead me to believe that I qualify for the program. I even checked Nelnet again, and they told me that my loan starts with the correct letter code, so that my loan qualifies.

    But I still don’t believe it.

    I know it has to do with feeling like I was taken advantage of when I went to college. I had a strange and winding path to university education. When I graduated high school, I went to college right away, but after two years I dropped out. My parents told me that if I stay in school, they would pay for it, but if I left and wanted to go back, I was on my own. And they held to that. I was out of school for four years, and then I decided that I wanted to go back, which meant that the financial burden was on my shoulders. AND, I was going back to school to be a theatre major, so I really knew what I was getting myself into. So, I never felt like the loan took advantage of me; that was my responsibility.

    It was the cost of tuition.

    My father went to a state public university in 1964, and he paid $20 a quarter for a full load of classes. In 2001, I was paying $2,000 a semester for a full load of classes at my state public university. (And I remember thinking that two grand was an affordable amount to pay.) If you adjust for inflation, then the $20 my Dad payed in 1964, would have cost $141 in 2001. (Today, it’s $191.) And that has always been my question; How did the cost of a college education go from $20 to $2,000, when it should have cost me a little over $141?

    I have never received or read a straight, logical answer of why. Some claim that inflation, some say it’s the government cutting support, some say it’s competition between schools, other say that colleges have become more like resorts that schools, others say that colleges are overloaded with administrators and executives.

    I had a sociologist professor tell us that the reason school became so expensive is because capitalist doctrine invade universities. She said that in the old days, universities put education, and student quality first, and as long as the institution broke even, no one cared. Then, she said, after the late 60’s when students protested on campuses, universities started bringing in private sector CEO to run their schools, with the idea that these CEO’s would bring order, and efficiency. What we got was college education turned into another American capitalist industry. The new generation of university leaders wanted to make money, so they raised tuitions, and accepted just about everybody who wanted to go to college. These leaders couldn’t get bonuses and stocks, but they could get huge salaries, as long as that endowment kept growing.

    Is that the truth? I don’t know because I have never seen anything verify that theory. But, I never seen or heard anything yet explain how we go to this complete unaffordability of a college education. I’m open to suggestions.

    For now, I will gladly accept my loan being forgiven, but like I said earlier, I’ll believe it when I see it.

    (I see you over there. Don’t be ashamed of your curiosity – embrace it! The easiest way to do that would be giving a like, a share, or a comment to this blog. Even following it will release a great amount of exuberance in you. Trust me!)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Statement, It’s a Con, Weather, Honesty, and Connection

    (Riding on any wave, that is the luck you crave)

    Tottenham isn’t playing this weekend, so I have nothing to say about them this week. Oh, I will have something to say, but not at this time.

    What if I told you that no one knows anything? That knowledge, true knowledge, is unattainable. If all of that is true, then do you think that real estate seminar really has secrets to share with you? It’s a con.

    Sweater weather means I also need warmer socks.

    Friends don’t let friends become Alex Jones-types.

    Somedays, it’s hard to get the thoughts organized enough to share them. But what I do know is that Elastica was an underrated band.

    (Remember to like, share and comment. Not just on this blog, but in life, too.)

  • ODDS and ENDS: The Queen, and Tottenham Updates

    (Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!)

    I don’ think there is any way to avoid this story, which is that Queen Elizabeth has died. And I don’t think the story should be avoided. In a world history sense, a head of state has died, will be mourned and buried, and a new head of state will be put in place, through a very long and old ceremony. A Ceremony that doesn’t happen very often. The Queen was of the World War II generation, though just barely, and as of such knew and participated in a world of empires and colonies. For that reason, I understand why there are people out there who have no intention of mourning her. (I am not surprised that Irish Twitter is behaving in that way.) For me, as an American, I have found the British Monarchy odd and fascinating. I fully believe, as all good Americans should, that there is no need for a monarchy, and cannot understand why a nation keeps a family in ceremonial power though they serve no functioning constitutional purpose. (I guess that makes me a pragmatic America.) Yet, as an American, I understand that there wouldn’t have been a US if not for a UK and that monarchy. But at the end of the day, I can’t shake the acknowledgment that the Queen was someone’s wife, and someone’s mother, and grandmother, and great grandmother.

    Yes, Tottenham Hotspur has yet to lose a match, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain about the team. On Wednesday, Spurs kicked off their Champions League campaign against Marseille, and I noted earlier that I know absolutely nothing about Marseille other than they are from France. But I was able to easily watch the match live on Paramount+ while my kid was running around the playground. (You hear that Peacock?!?! Take a lesson from Paramount+ and learn how to stream matches live!) What I saw was Tottenham starting off shaky again, but holding it together, again. Thank god for the Richarlison pick up from Everton during the off-season, as he was the only player showing some life out there. I apricate the win, but I’m beginning to get nervous for Son. For the past couple of seasons Kane/Son was an unstoppable team on the pitch: If Kane wasn’t scoring then it was Son, and vice versa. Hell, Son was tied with Salah last season for the Golden Boot in the Premier League. But, thus far, Son has had seven appearances and 0 goals. I was looking forward to this Saturday when Tottenham played against Man City, to see if Conte was going to make more of an effort to get Son involved, but with the Queen’s passing, all matches this weekend have been postponed. Just going to have to wait another week and wonder.

    (Yo! I see you! And if you want to help me out, then take a moment to like this blog, or share it, or leave me a comment about how Dejan Kulusevski is the real difference maker this season for Spurs. All would be apricated.)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Student Loans, Champions League, and This Site

    (I haven’t done the tag line thing in awhile…)

    I am sure you all know this; if you have a Federally backed student loan, the government is forgiving $10,000 of it, and up to $20,000 if you received a Pell Grant. This does personally affect me, as I have student loans, and when I was in college, I received Pell Grants. (Full disclosure: I did refinance and consolidate my loans fifteen years ago, so I’m in a limbo right now because I’m not sure the action I took so long ago now disqualifies me from the forgiveness. I’m still waiting to hear from the DOE as to what the status of my loans are.) What I do want to talk about is the debate about this action taken by Biden. Conservatives have an emotional response to it (It’s not FAIR!) while Liberals seem to be mucking up their response – veering between emotional (The right thing to do) and logical (It will help people economically) which makes the progressive message not very clear and easy to explain. The one argument I find funny is the Conservative accusation that Biden is just doing this to please his base, which Democrats dance around. Personally, I think that Biden should just lean into it and say, “Yes, I am doing this for my base.” Republicans have been cutting wealthy peoples taxes for years, and the only reason they do it is to make their donors happy, and no one is surprised by it. Biden has sort of said it, claiming that he’s fulfilling his campaign promise. But, really, I just want to see a Democrat put it like this, “You vote for us, you get your loan forgiven. You vote for them, you get nothing.” At the end of the day, that is politics. No one votes for a party to only help the other side. People vote for a party because they will get something first, and then hopefully the rest of the country next.

    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is COMING! Which means I will be writing about Tottenham matches even more! And the Spurs play Nottingham Forrest this weekend in the Premier League, which I am expecting Tottenham to win. No offense to Nottingham.

    So, I paid the money and have my own site now, and no longer am I under the yoke of Word Press. I really haven’t had a chance to try out all the bells and whistles that I now have access to being that I am a paid site. Most likely, I’ll start working on some updates after Labor Day, when the kid is back in school. The one thing I have noticed is that my page views are WAY UP! While my blog views are exactly the same. Not sure if this means anything, but my gut tells me that my site is being poked by bots. The four of you who continue to come by and read this blog, again, I thank you for your dedication. I am looking into monetizing this site. Not sure how to do that, nor am I sure how I’m going to spend the $0.15 cents I will make annually. But, I think some changes might be coming.

    (Yo! Please take a moment to give tis post a like, or a share. No comments though. Seriously, I don’t know if I can handle to contact.)