4 more days

Note to Anderson Cooper: If I was doing the NYE show with Kathy Griffin, instead of you, I think she'd try to goose me too. The old school definition of this is to have ass pinched. Newer definition moves the pinching about 180 degrees.

Today's listen in is Miles Davis- Shhhh Peaceful.  It's nearly 17 minutes, but it's worth it. That period of Miles' evolution was pretty kick ass.

Jay Cutler? I think the Titans have your table ready. I haven't seen your table in Chicago recently. Speaking of football, can you name an NFL owner who;
1. Doesn't know Mitt Romney?
2. Isn't an asshole?

I really like Gala apples. I am trying to eat one each day because of their obvious benefits. Most of my fruit servings come from Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Did you know that Jim Beam had grandsons named Booker and Baker? Both believed in making Bourbons with a very high alcohol content.

Upon crafting a budget deal that nobody seemed to care for, the "mulligan" theory is alive and well. Apparently, lawmakers are getting hosed back home for approving a bill that is not kind to veterans. So, when they get back, looks like they will tear this one up and amend it right that wrong. ANd that is a wrong. Will the same folks also right the wrong of not extending unemployment benefits to the other group of deserving Americans- those who cannot find work? Of course, when your approval rating according to your consituents is below 13%, you can probably get hosed for breathing.125 million

So, the other day during the "American Dream" post, one of the current conditions described was that perhaps 25 million people are un or under employed or are so frustrated in a vain search for a good job, they've given up looking. Do we know the full impact and breadth of the unofficial American economy? It's simply inconceivable that people would give up when employment of some kind will give them the financial flexibility they currently lack access to. Even if it's moving illegal drugs, guns, furniture that fell off the back of the truck, the sex industry (in all its forms), fencing stolen goods, gambling, local consulting,  pursuant to any of the aforementioned or many other areas. There are hundreds of ways to "skin the cat" and we should never underestimate the entrepreneurial spirit of people in need. Does it occur to 53% ( or the makers or job creators, as they like to call themselves) who complain about the 47% (takers) those who  they feel are lazy and permanently live from government subsistence programs are augmenting that assistance with activities that are not quite on the up and up? When they talk about "personal responsibility" do they ever mention the underground economy? They talk about the people who are permanently unemployed as potentially 20% of the work ready population in this country. Well, say that that figure is 20% of 125 million people. Bingo, there's the 25 million. The question is, when are our business, civic, education and government leaders going to convene and figure out where the jobs are, what it takes to train someone to have one and what impact that has upon our country. Don't look now--- it's THAT important. I am trying to factor in every possible manner in which people can find jobs. Not from the bullshit platitude angle that we've grown accustomed to, but from the real angle. We keep throwing money at problems and therefore, when the money doesn't buy the solution, we have a "spending" problem. There's a way to boil this down so that we can propose solutions that can be explained in less than 1,364 pages.

Maybe that just doesn't exist. I would love to offer some thoughts. Even in the most complex of conditions, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

President Obama threw "Bubba" Clinton a huge sobriquet last year by pronouncing him the Chief Officer for Explaining Things. I think that's what people are crying out for- a simple explanation of a problem and an equally simple remedy. People want to cut through the bullshit.

This is just a segment of my drivel. I still want to talk about music, sports, policy, entertainment, food and social justice. But elections are coming and they really have consequences. We all need to be better educated about the process. Because at the end of any day you want to point to, we're the ones who have to live with the result of what we're not involved in. And that ain't right. However, you can just say, 'my life is too full to listen to this jerk pontificate' and you won't read anything I say. I'm hoping andbetting you won't do that.