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Random ramblings (or A little knowledge is dangerous)

There is no one thing at the top of my noodle, so here are some random ramblings about things I should probably know more about than I do.

  • I keep vacillating about privatizing the state liquor stores. PA is one of the few (maybe two?) states that operates this way. The prices are high. The selection is minimal, though for someone like me whose buying consists of one box/cube of margaritas every month, I don't notice it as much (well, I have noticed that my usual brand has been MIA the last two times). And the service I have received at my local store is rather lacking. For those reasons, I have supported privatization for years. Yet now that it seems as if we are getting closer, I can't help but think that a year or two after the state gets the initial windfall from selling off the licenses (which you just know will be spent ASAP), PA will be in really bad shape. Won't the state be missing that revenue that comes for all the sales? I don't think the sales tax will be enough.
  • I wish I better understood the debt ceiling conundrum. From what little I know, the issue seems akin to people who spend more money than they have rather than cut back, but I am sure it is not that simplistic. What is worse is that I am not as concerned about this as I probably should be. I know so many people who live above their means, so why not the government?! (For the record, sometimes I do worry about where the US is going to be in a few years. I don't think the future is so bright for generations ahead, but hopefully I am wrong.)
  • Litter still bugs the crap out of me. I just don't understand what goes through the minds of people who see fit to dump their empty chip bag or McD's cup on the ground. One of these days I am going to confront someone about this. I just hope you don't see me on the news because I finally decided I could no longer take it. :-)
  • After spending a couple of days with my three nephews, ages 1, 3, and 5, I am happy to say I felt no yearnings to have another baby. Nope, the oven is off and is going to stay that way as far as I can tell. (I do, however, love those guys to pieces and wish they lived closer.)
  • How about them Buccos? For years I have been hoping for the team to break .500. Aim high, I know. But I really think this is going to be that year. I am not ready to get excited about the possibility of playoffs just yet, but I can be happy that the Jolly Roger is being raised with regularity. 
  • And on that note, I will end on a request to be kind. Try to preform a random act of kindness. You may be surprised at how much better you will feel about doing something nice for someone else.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
In my mind, the debt ceiling issue is really as simple as you think. Countries like China are going to stop lending us money and we can't continue to print money and expect the dollar to be worth anything so unless we TRULY start to cut spending (and put the kibosh on new plans like Obamacare)our economy will continue to be in shambles. By the way, how could anyone be against a balanced budget amendment? Seriously?
July 26, 2011 at 10:23 PM
Facie said…
Anonymous: I do agree that we have to cut spending. But where do you start? Personally, I am anti-war, and I have been against every one, other than maybe Afghanistan right after 9/11. I also think that b/c the US is not the super power/great place it once was, we have to stop or at least drastically reduce our humanitarian spending overseas. Many social programs here can be tinkered with, starting with welfare and unemployment. And as I have said here before, I don't know all the details about the healthcare, but I do think it is way too much $$.

I hate to think about dropping value of our dollar, but I fear that is coming. As I said on another blog, we as a society in general are so materialistic. We want what we want, when we want it. No wonder the government is run the way it is.
July 27, 2011 at 4:16 PM
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