Just trying to survive.

Let's face the truth. The reason the economy doesn't get fixed is divided government. Republicans and Democrats don't work together. Cooperatively. There's stalemate. President Obama needs the support of Congress to get legislation through to fix the economy and to create more jobs. But Republicans control the House of Representatives. And they ain't gonna do anything that helps Democrat Obama. They don't want Obama to get re-elected in November. Therefore, Republicans see it as a political advantage if the economy continues to tank. They'll blame Obama for it all. Obama will blame a 'do-nothing' Congress. The real blame belongs on both sides of the political divide. Personally, I put most of the blame on Republicans. For not giving a damn about America and the common good. It's all about political gain/gamesmanship. Republicans see a sour economy as the only way to defeat Obama. It ain't Obama's fault. But if Republicans tell a lie often enough, increasing numbers of people will believe it ain't a lie. Especially when large segments of the public tend to be uninformed/misinformed. Holding opinions based largely on sound bites and ads and other political bullshit. Paid for by political action committees. Financed mostly by millionaires and billionaires expecting tax breaks and other political favors in return. And to hell with a bolstered economy that might help the destitute and the middle class. No redistribution of wealth. Thing is, even in a bad times, the rich find ways to get richer. They ain't hurtin'. Evidenced by record high profits for most major corporations. Yes, the rich know how to manipulate the political and economic systems -- for their personal gain. The poor and the middle class, meanwhile, are still trying to figure out how to manipulate against the rich manipulators. Because they have other priorities. Just trying to survive. --Jim Broede

I love sauerkraut.

I love to simmer sauerkraut. Like I did yesterday. For four hours. Yes, sauerkraut is best when one simmers the hell out of it. So that the smell of sauerkraut permeates the kitchen and the entire house. To me, it's almost like a perfume. I'd market it as a cologne. Essence of sauerkraut. Of course, my Italian true love disagrees. She detests the aroma of sauerkraut. Burns incense for a long, long time after I've cooked sauerkraut. To try to rid the house of what she'd call a stench. But last night, she was in Sardinia. As I dined on polish sausage and sauerkraut. Here in Minnesota. Next to my Italian true love, I love sauerkraut. --Jim Broede

A vengeful lot.

I've toyed with the baseball gods. Duped 'em. Intentonally. By making 'em think I wanted the Chicago Cubs to lose. Knowing full well that the baseball gods hardly ever grant my wishes. Instead, they give me just the opposite of what I really want. Lo and behold, the Cubs went on their first three-game winning streak of the season. The baseball gods thought that would make me unhappy. Well, the baseball gods discovered my manipulation. Now they are making the Cubs lose. In especially heart-breaking ways. By scores of 4-3 and 2-1. Games they should have won. The baseball gods are doing that to be vengeful. Because I fooled them. Which I was able to do. Because the baseball gods are stupid. The least smart of the gods. That's why they have been relegated to oversee baseball. And not more important matters. They are much inferior to the supreme, all-knowing god. Of course, this public revelation will infuriate the baseball gods. I expect that they will soon cast a horrendous spell on the Chicago Cubs. In an attempt to make my life miserable. Like I say, the baseball gods are a vengeful lot. --Jim Broede

Mere zombies.

I'm constantly creating a reality. And living it. One day at a time. I wake up in the morning. Not always quite knowing what sort of reality I'll have. Because I'm able to pick and choose. Different realities. Merely by giving it some thought. And by using my imagination. I can choose to live within myself. Or I can open the door. And invite in other people. Often, it depends on my mood. If I'm adventuresome, I let in others. Because then I can't always dictate the path. Because there's give and take. Compromise. Outside influences. Of course, I always allow in my Italian true love. That's automatic. She's always a part of my reality. Even when I'm alone. It'd be wrong to shut her out. If for no other reason than she's my true love. That's the only thing that I can't shut out. Love. It's the overwhelming force of my life. Makes my pulse beat. Makes me fully alive. There have been times in my life when I wasn't aware of love. Maybe I hadn't yet been born. I'm told I was born in 1935. But that's a lie. A deception. I wasn't conscious until I loved. Before then, I was a robot. Going through the motions of living. I suspect that I am living in a world populated mostly by robots. Rather than conscious beings. I can tell. That used to scare me. But not any more. Because it makes me more aware of reality. The real world. That people have choices. And they can choose to live life without ever being consciously alive. Mere zombies. --Jim Broede

True liberals.

Guess I'd rather live in a politically liberal-oriented world than a politically conservative-oriented world. That's just me. Of course, I can't always have my wish. Because the world is the world. And I'm bound to accept what is -- to some degree. I'm still able to escape. To create my own environs. My cocoon. Which allows me to more or less ignore what's happening outside my cocoon. In a sense, I create my own world. My little niche. That allows me to survive. I could have found a way to even live happily under the most despotic of regimes. By becoming sort of a hermit. Staying out of the mainstream. Hiding. Being inconspicuous. I am more or less like that now. Even in my immediate neighborhood. I've been around the place for 40 or 50 years. And I recently noted that I don't know many of my neighbors. Not even their names. But the same goes for my neighbors. They don't know me. Other than superficially. We go our separate ways. Live our separate lives. I'm not exactly complaining about that. Just accepting it as reality. Quite possibly a good reality. Especially when it comes to privacy. But still, I'm making an effort to get to know my neighbors. Better. Without them necessarily getting to know me. Better. I don't mind treding down a one-way street. Knowing people better than they know me. Maybe even knowing people better than they know themselves. That can be a plus. Makes people predictable. Actually, the people I like most are unpredictable. They have evolving minds. They aren't static. They are constantly becoming new beings. Emerging. Not afraid to travel beyond the horizon. Into new worlds. In other words, they ain't conservative. They are true liberals. --Jim Broede

My cup runneth over.

I pull for political outcomes pretty much the same way that I root for the Chicago Cubs. Knowing full well that rarely do outcomes go the way I want 'em to go. I'm attached and drawn to political and baseball losers. Used to be that I allowed myself to be disappointed. I lamented over losses. But I began to understand there was nothing I could do to change outcomes. I had to learn to live with life's so-called pitfalls. Setbacks. Because I wasn't god. Anyway, I've learned to take it all in stride. To control what I can control. My attitude. Which is to make the best of bad situations. And to focus on the good situations. Such as falling in love. With someone. And with life. Of course, I still complain. Over politics and Cubs baseball games and several other matters. Because complaining makes me feel good. Gives me great satisfaction. To be able to complain. Just for the hell of it. In the grand scheme of things, I know that life is good. Particularly, my life. I have been blessed. Maybe I have no valid reason to complain. About anything. Because I am alive. And conscious. And happy. Yes, my cup runneth over. Can't ask for much more than that. --Jim Broede

The real evil.

I'm not blaming any one individual for the bad economy. Because it's worldwide. Not only in America. But virtually everywhere. Every place. To blame Obama. Or Congress. That ain't sufficient. Maybe everybody is to blame. Because nobody seems to have the solution. All I know is that the poor and the middle class are suffering the most. As for the rich, even in bad times they have more than enough to get by. And thrive. Maybe that's the problem. The rich have an inordinate amount of the wealth. How about spreading it around? Maybe that will solve the problem. Or at least make conditions a little better for the poor and the middle class. I'm suggesting that's the right way to go. Especially in bad economic times. We gotta help each other. By making the 'haves' give more to the 'have-nots.' Seems like the right and moral thing to do. I'll bet that's the stance that religious philosophers such as Jesus would take. He'd call it the Christian thing to do. To share the world's resources. In a communal way. For the common good. Of course, this is an alien thought. Going contrary to the precepts of staunch capitalists. Sounds too much like evil socialism. But then, maybe the real evil is capitalism. Especially when capitalists become greedy and selfish. --Jim Broede