Lazy Sundays ... random thoughts

Snow, cold weather, Christmas tree with lights atwinkle, hot chocolate, good movies, staying in your pjs all day long ... these things have converged to give me a lazy Sunday.

Yes, I'll probably have to go out and shovel the driveway at some point, but considering that we're still expected to get some snow until around 5 p.m., it might be better to wait until tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, some random thoughts.

* I like Roberta de Boer's column on the budgeting survey Toledo City Council approved this week.

"Market research tells us what consumers want.

A political visionary reveals to us something about ourselves, about hopes we never knew we had. A political visionary gets us excited about traveling to a destination we have longed to visit, even though we never realized it existed.

In theory, anyway, I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to have some inkling about the vision of political leaders before we elect them."

* Area birders are out and about to do the annual Christmas Bird Count. I'm hoping the Snowy Owl is still about so he can be counted. I haven't seen him lately, but I have seen quite a few people driving up and down the streets looking for him.

* The Blade doesn't get it - again. They take exception to the President's description of a Portuguese language program as a 'wasteful project' that reflects the irresponsibility of Congressional spending. What the editors don't understand is that it IS a wasteful project because it's not something the federal government should be funding. Education is supposed to be a state issue, but the Congress, and even this President, seem to have forgotten that.

So when Congress spends federal monies to fund pork projects, it is a 'wasteful project,' even if it just happens to be tied to 'educational' purposes. We'd all be much better off if all the monies the feds spent on education was allowed to stay in the states in the first place.

But then there was this: "The amount of the earmark was a mere trifle in a multi-billion dollar bill." Yes, the age-old, "it's only" as an excuse for frivolous or unnecessary spending. Perhaps they should have gone back to read their first paragraph in which they include this quote about the bill: "nearly $10 billion over budget and filled with more than 2,000 earmarks." The problem, as this bill clearly shows, is that eventually, those "it's only's" add up to significant amounts - even for the federal government.

* It's currently 27 degrees, but it feels like 15...winds are gusting up to 20 mph and all my north and east windows are frozen over making it impossible to see outside. Time to see if there's a good movie on TV. Enjoy your day!