On the other hand, being a fine humanitarian, let me welcome Ilene, Ashok, and Steve to my readership. I am rapidly approaching the circulation of the JP Gazette. Onward.
I still am unable to come up with a coherent and cohesive unraveling of what we experienced in Cuba. I do continue to have "flashbacks" of things that left me either amazed, bewildered, or both. Here are a few more:
--The old cars were spectacular especially the restored ones. There are no new
cars except rentals. Cubans who own cars only have old ones and there are no
dealerships. No ladas from Russia either. Since the environment is way down on
list of priorities, it is no surprise that these old cars belch smoke and pollute
the air.
--The Prado is kind of like the mall on Comm. Ave. in Boston. A street bisected by
a pedestrian mall with benches.
--The Malecon is very special. It is kind of like Storrow Drive with too many cars
and runs right next to the Atlantic. It runs all along the water for miles
encircling the city and full of fishermen (no, did not see any fisherwomen) who
seem not to catch anything. And then with a great imagination, you can see the
end of Duval Street in Key West with the buoy marking the Southernmost point
in the U.S. So enticing.
--The Hotel National was the symbolic roost of Batista, all sorts of celebs, and
a casino. It overlooks the Malecon and the Atlantic. The grounds are beautiful
and the lobby has been meticulously restored. Not sure about the rooms.
--In the central park, there is a special area where men (again, did not see any
women) debate baseball--and not just Cuban baseball but Estados Unidos beisball
which they are very up on.
--There is much more.
My government at work: Medicare sent me an email reminding me that I was due for a wellness check up which is totally reimbursed. It remains beyond my comprehension why Obamacare did not just piggyback onto Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA. In any case, I love my Medicare even though I still don't understand the donut business.
As a reminder for all of you, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is older than me and much sicker. Imagine Ric Santorum or even Romney getting a shot at a Supreme Court seat--it boggles the mind. Santorum has been more and more out of control since his recent victories. Jon Stewart absolutely thrashed him last night. Now Barbara Berns is scared of Santorum because she believes much of America will vote for him. I am more afraid of Romney believing (atypical for me) he is a bigger threat to Obama. All of them, to a bigger or smaller extent, all appeal to the baser instincts of people. UGH.
When I go to synagogue and quietly/silently pray, I have the following sacrilegious thought--Eric Cantor could also be in a synagogue praying for the Israelis to attack Iran. He has had a great week urging Obama to go after Iranians sand bashing his budget as well. Joe Lieberman is in that boat too--both indebted deeply to the alte kakers in AIPAC. Yet there I am in the House of the Lord thinking these evil thoughts. I wish I could say shame on me but I am thinking shame on them.
Then there are these two semi-related items: The Susan Komen people backed down in the face of a semi-populist uprising and an infusion of dollars to Planned Parenthood. And that right wing VP hit the bricks. No wonder she could not even win the Governorship in Georgia. Good for Bloomberg also. The related piece is the Archiocese feeling it was not ok to force them to cover contraception in insurance policies for their employees. These are the same folks that brought us the sexual abuse of children by priests. So be careful of what they want. Obama forges some sort of compromise and of course gets killed for it by the right. I suggest that the Archdiocesan programs (charities/hospitals) only hire people who agree with them philosophically about contraception. Then we will see what they do for staff.
Finally, the Globe had an article focusing on a former member of the Brookline
School Committee. It was an article about coyotes and her more or less accurate quote was: "sending my dogs out in the yard is like capital punishment". What can a person say except dogs are not people. Hello, anyone home?
SPORTS TALK
Oh my, 3 drops by Welker, Branch, and Hernandez. And the Gronk was severely injured and lied to us all for 2 weeks. Some of you smarties are gonna say you knew how bad he was hurt but that is beside the point. Belichik lies when it is convenient and this was a biggy. Brady was mediocre for half the game (first and fourth quarters). And they still could have won.
Tim Thomas is a right wing (in a political not hockey sense) asshole and now he is starting to play like a mediocre asshole. They play the Rangers tonight and need him to play a big game.
The Celtics continue to look old and Rondo continues to either play superbly or look totally disinterested. Meanwhile they continue to have injuries.
And to repeat one of my own self invented mantras: I don't care about Spring training. Talk to me about baseball on or after 7/4.
Happy V day to all of you readers and especially to Anna, Jessica, Barbara, Lilli, Oliver, and Steffen.
Sayonara.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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