Five Ten Dome Shoes

I've written about my walking to recover from a pinched Sciatic nerve in early July 2012 which has left the front of my right leg numb from above the knee to the ankle and both legs with balance problems.

Well, the walking has its ups and downs, both the road itself which is now 8-9 miles round trip to town and back and the walking where I get sore muscles or shin splints some days.

All in all though I've worn a pair of 5-10 Dome shoes since January and now have over 600 miles on them to date, and they're due to be retired for their great service and saved for occasional days.

The shoes haven't worn out except the sole, especially with my moderate underpronation abnormally wearing the outside of the heals and toes faster. What's amazing is the shoes are still together, the insides not worn through the lining and the inner sole still intact.

So except for a thin outer sole now, and while they're looking less than stellar, they're still working good. They've seen six months of all sorts of weather and a variety of walking on shoulders, pavement, trails, etc. with no rips or tears or worn threads.

Thanks 5-10 for a great shoe, and yes, I'm buying a new pair soon, and maybe the mid-height model too for winter days. Walking or hiking, it pays to keep your feet happy and healthy.

A Thought about Abortion

With all the efforts to ban abortions at the state level by the many republican domainated state legislatures and governor's office, and all the noise from Planned Parenthood of America (PPA) and other abortion rights group, I have a suggestion.

First, though, I'm against all the bans on abortions and believe Roe vs Wade was the right decision for women. And I favor a federal law guarranteeing women's rights to the information, facilities, providers, services and proceedures and prohibiting any state from denying, restricting or prohibiting such rights.

But here's a thought about what happened recently in Texas which is trying to ban all abortion clinics and more so abortions after 20 weeks. Why not remove abortion proceedures from all the women's clinics except the few which can comply with the law for the proceedure.

Why not volunteer to remove the proceedure and keep the clinics open for all the other services? Why not then focus abortion proceedures on the few clincs which can comply? And then why not just bide your time until such time as the rules can be changed or better repealed?

And then you can focus the challenge on the 20-week ban than the restrictions on clincs which provide the abortion proceedures. This will keep the clinics open for all those women who need them and you can then focus their rights and needs for an abortion to those few clinics.

Yeah, it's not a good solution but it's better than closing all the clinics for the few abortions the clinics provide versus the other services. And you can live to fight the legal war against the anti-choice folks in the courts, legislatures and elections.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and sideways to move forward. This would be one of those times. Keep all the clinics open and provide abortions where you can comply with the law. It also saves the PPA and funding for women's reproductive health services.

Just a thought to the PPA.

Really

How many times do we have to watch and hear the President's statement on the verdict of the George Zimmerman trial and the status of black youths in America?

Yeah, it's a problem we need to solve but even Eugene Robinson has it right when he said the President may not be the best person to talk about it as he so hated by the right wing politicians and media.

But what I don't get is why are all the guests on the news shows black? Don't liberal and progressive whites matter to the discussion or is it covert reverse racism our view doesn't count or matter?

Really Senator Reid

Senate majority leader Harry Reid "negotiated" a deal over the filibuster with the Republicans. The democrats get some cabinet and other administration nominees voted on the Senate floor and the Republicans promise not to block those nominees but not any future nominees outside of two ones replacing the old ones.

Any bets this deal lasts as far as minority leader Mitch McConnell walks out of the room to join the Republican caucaus to laugh and say, "Well, we pulled one off again with the idiot.", because that's the deal, nothing to stop the Republicans in the future from doing they stupid shit shutting down the Senate.

I'll bet in a few months the promise by McConnell is forgotten and it's back to business as usual in the Senate, nothing, except more filibuster over everything the democrats propose. The Democrats got a bag of candy and the Republicans still own the store.

Why

Why do men want to ban abortion? It's not about religion. It's not about personhood. It's not about procreation. No, it's none of those things. That's just the rhetoric they use to pass laws banning abortion.

The real reason they want to ban abortion is simple. Men have no fucking idea why a woman would consider an abortion. They will never have the experience of being in a life situation being pregnant and realizing the abortion is a realistic option and likely a choice they must make.

They're simply too stupid to understand. Without understanding anything, let alone about women's reproductive health issues and choices, you don't have compassion. Without compassion, you don't don't have and can give help and support.

In short, they're too stupid to know how stupid they are about abortion. So they make up and recite rhetoric to cover their stupidity.

What if

What if Trayvon Martin had been carrying a gun, and when George Zimmerman approached and confronted him after targeting and stalking him, Trayvon had took out his gun and when George took out his, Trayvon shot George.

How would the Sanford police handled the investigaion and the chief prosecutor handled the case? What charge would they have brought against Trayvon, or consider it self defense as George Zimmerman alluded and the jury agreed?

Would Trayvon have been treated the same as George by the police and the prosecutor's office? If race wasn't a factor as some suggest, and if Trayvon had a gun and shot and killed George, would the end be the same?

Or would race be the factor and Trayvon treated as many young black men are treated by law enforcement and the judicial system? Wasn't race really the case in the trial of George Zimmerman because they would have seen Trayvon differently if he was on trial for the same crime as George?

Just a thought if you think race wasn't a factor, consider what if...

Time for Change

It's time Senate majority leader Harry Reid changed the rules of the Senate to prohibit any type of proceedural or filibuster block of any nominee for administrative or judicial positions put forth by the President. Give the nominees their due through the process and an up or down vote before the whole Senate.

Nothing less will work. It's the right of the majority and the not the right of the minority to impose a 60 vote rule for everything in the Senate. I personally would go farther than Senator Reid wants to do, such as prohibiting filibusters on closure votes and prohibiting hold on anything by any Senator unless it's put the a simple majority vote.

I'd keep filibusters for bills but require the senator stand and talk on the Senate floor to explain why they oppose this bill and reduce the number to over ride a filibuster to 55-57 votes, enough to make both side think, the minority to judge if they really want a filibuster and the majority to find the votes to over ride it.

The people see and know the Senate isn't working because the minority is controlling everything and the majority isn't doing anything to stop them from shutting down the Senate or more so making it meaningless.

I don't think Senator Reid should offer compromises until he has the necessary 60 vote over ride of a filibuster because we've seen what that does, it's waters down a bill to almost nothing or opens it all sorts of corruption as we saw with the Affordable Care Act.

It's time the Senate become the Senate again. And to Senator Reid, the people are watching and waiting. They're tired of the last 4+ years of do nothing Senate and Congress, so it's time for change for the people, not just politics and political gamesmanship.

Catepillars

Why do catepillars try to cross the road? I walk 7-9 miles 3-4 days a week to get fit since I pinched my Sciatic nerve a year ago. And invariably on my walks I see catepillars trying to cross the rural road. It's always in the same places on the walk and always a few are starting out across the road.

If I put them back in the grass or bushes on the shoulder they turn around and go back to the road. If I put them on the other side of the road, they turn around and go back to the road. And invariably I find dead catepillars on the road from the heat or tires.

So why do catepillars cross the road if it's not to get to the other side?

Justice Denied

You can not target and stalk someone, confront them, provoke a fight with an unarmed person, and then claim self-defense when you shoot and kill them. The law is one thing but the facts and truth are another.

Whatever Trayvon did doesn't take away what George Zimmerman did to initiate and finish what he set out to do, which despite the evidence of reasonable doubt, is obvious to anyone with a modicum of common sense.

And nothing of what George Zimmerman did was justified in the eyes of the law and more so in hearts and minds of people. The law isn't always just or fair, and justice doesn't alway win, as we saw in the verdict of George Zimmerman.

NBC Sports

Update (7/6/13).-- I learned that they broadcast the live Formula-One race on another NBC channel, namely CNBC channel instead of the NBC Sports channel. CNBC is one of NBC's market and business news, infomercial, etc. channels. So they don't suck as much, but they surely don't advertise this fact very much. I only learned about it a 10 second promotion during the live qualifying show.

Original Post (6/30/13).--To put it simply, you suck. You are so enamored with the Tour de France bike race you totally ignored airing the live coverage of the British Formula One Grand Prix, and when the show for the Tour de France was scheduled to end and then transfer to the auto race, you didn't change.

On top of that on the NBC Sport report just before it was scheduled to be air (tape delay) you gave a bried summry and winner of the race. Like clue people in? Beside the fact fans can get the live stream (which I did) from Formula One to know the results but wanted to watch the pre-race show and the race.

But no, we get the stupid Tour de France you could air on the regular NBC channels instead of the NBC sports channel. Is this what we get for the Tour de France, ignoring live broadcasts of the Formula One races in Europe?

And we were told you would do a first class job of Formula One, better than Speed Channel. Well, you're not doing any better, and today, you really suck at it. Don't expect a cheery thank you for any explanations or apologies.

A Fork Please

Well, at the halfway mark int the season, the Mariners are 35 wins and 47 loses after losing 2 of 3 games to the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. They had and have flashes of good games, even an occasional comeback win, but they usually find a way to lose.

This was evident again in the series with the Cubs, winning one in extra innings before losing two, one giving up a two-run homerun and the second with errors allowing runs.

They can't make the excuses some of the better players have been or are on the disabled, that's normal to have these. But the reality is that they're simply not playing even up to they own normal standards.

This is part because while veterans are good to have on a team,  but they need to be productive, and the ones they have aren't even playing at their career level.

And that in part is the problem with the team. It's full of older players playing ok but not good and lots of young players not playing consistently. On top of that there's isn't much in the triple-A team Tacoma Rainiers there to bring up who are better than who they already have.

What hurts the team as a whole is that their fielding, which was second in baseball last year, is barely in the top 10 this year, and the pitching, which was good last year, is worse too. This is due to 2 of the 5 in the pitching rotation being at the end of their career and showing it.

And we don't have to think about the hitting, it's consistently in the bottom 10 and usually the bottom 5 for baseball. Not the American league, mind you, but of all 30 teams. There isn't one player over .300 in the lineup and several near or below .200.

So what we're hearing is what we've heard for 4+ years now about lots of hope, promise, potential, etc. but nothing real let alone consequential. And nothing of a real improvement. Add to that they don't have any real potential trade-worthy players outside of the few they want to keep for the future.

For the fans, it's just more of the same stuff we've heard from the management of the organization, trying to do good on the cheap but not really interested in building a pennant winning season. And the future looks the same for the next few years.

So exactly why did we build a world class baseball-only stadium? To finish near or at the bottom of the division every year?

For this year, like the last few years at the halfway mark, you can stick a fork in them. They're done.