I’m one of those people who like to list things, and I have lists in my head and all over the place. I’m always thinking of my next knitting project, the next new skill to acquire and new cultures to learn about. My brain is constantly ON and running on high-speed. This blog will give me a medium to jot down my thoughts at any given moment, perhaps have some interactive discussion with other bloggers, and to kind of burn off some of the bio-fuel I have stockpiled.
My girlfriend of 3 + years has been in China for a month and is coming back this Saturday, and I was thinking- how would I sum up 1 month’s worth of activity in the area and in the US while she’s been halfway across the country? The economy, or at least the stock market, which was going up before she left, has now kind of stagnated. They announced that jobless claims for June has gone down, the first decrease since January. The approval rating for president Obama has also gone down, probably in relation to the difficulty of his position- in his first weeks as president, he has had to deal with crisis after crisis, from a national epidemic (swine flu or h1n1), having his nominees for cabinet and other positions constantly be found guilty of tax evasion, and a dwindling budget.
In the month she’s been gone, we’ve had 2 x the normal amount of rain, which is creating optimal conditions for mosquito and other critters’ larvae, and when it warms up, these things will be hatching like crazy. Which is supposed to be pretty soon. By the way, the news said that removing any stagnant water around you house will help curb this. This June has been unusually cool, in the 50’s and 60’s with rain and clouds manifesting themselves almost daily. On Tuesday, June 16th, a hailstorm struck parts of Bergen County in New Jersey, where we used to live not 5 months ago. The news showed footage of their reporter in flip flops, capris, and what looked like half a foot of ….. snow? in Washington Township, the town right next to Ridgewood, where we used to live. They had a hailstorm that brought about a half inch of precipitation that stayed put the ground for 18 + hours until it warmed up enough for the hail to melt.
The New York state senate has gone to hell, apparently the Dems decided that there were 31 dems and 31 republics and there’s no way they can pass any kind of bill so they boycotted senate meetings. So now some important deadlines are coming up and where is the Senate? I think this economy has shown us in a better light, just how stupid and trivial our elected officials are. The dreaded “doomsday” of New York City has come, with fare hikes of 10% along all MTA lines, LIRR, and MetroNorth, with even more fare hikes expected to happen in late June.The New York City council announced it’s budget 2 weeks early, and while it was contemplating cuts to library service, it decided to keep them open 6 days a week. However, this victory was bittersweet because other things did have to be cut and this fall there will be less funding for crossing guards and teacher’s assistants.
Yesterday this comical act of theft was all over the NYC news: A man dressed in his dead mother’s clothes and, impersonating her, continued to get her social security checks. Over time, he’d received over 50,000 from this scam. Local reaction was pretty funny- a lot of people were impressed with his creativity. Apparently what eventually tipped authorities off were his big hands. Here’s a quote, probably not word-for-word but close: “It’s not likely for a 70-year old woman to have hands that can grip a basketball.”
Iran is now experiencing a huge conflict between its citizens and the government; the citizens are protesting the injustices of the government and the voilence. They are firewalling sites like facebook, twitter, and other blogs to keep outside news out and inside news in. They are not allowing any photos to be taken on the street, and the penalty is death if you’re caught. Some photos and video footage has leaked out and these show police/military units being voilent towards university students. This incident is very similar to the world-famous Tiananmen Square incident in China 1989. There is a lot of concern about these events because the government is not taking into account its citizens, and it may be rendering itself obsolete. If this happens, there will be chaos in Iran. I just read The Kite Runner and it’s an incredible book that talks about Afghanistan in times of peace when its monarchy was still up and running, and the time after this government was overthrown, with an invasion from Russia, then an overthrowing of this government to a new reign of chaos and fear, the Taliban. I am really hoping Iran has a better outcome; the events of Tiananmen Square and Afghanistan should be a lesson for all governmental systems but unfortunately right now it seems like history is about to repeat itself.
Now I’m going to go knit myself some fingerless gloves. Until next time,
C
