Thoughts for the Day, November 11, 2024: Love a Veteran Today

Veterans Day

Orchid of the Day: All the current veterans and their families.  All the families of veterans who are no longer with us. All the families who lost a family member who was in active military service.  I am forever grateful for your service to the country.

I have said this before, and I will say this again and again until it happens.  Veterans, those who lost their life serving in the military, and all immediate members of the veteran’s family should have the same health benefits as the members of congress or Medicare, whichever is better.  In addition, VA Hospitals should be dedicated to serving veterans who obtained life altering injuries (physical or mental) while serving in the military. The VA Hospitals should be staffed by top specialists in their field and should serve as teaching hospitals for future healthcare professionals who want to serve in VA Hospitals.

For normal healthcare services, veterans would receive their healthcare at the same places any member of congress or Medicare beneficiary would receive their healthcare. 

If we really wanted to honor our veterans, this is how we should do it.

Big Time College Sports Is Not What it Used to Be

The Genie is out of the bottle, and it is not going back in.

Over the weekend, I watched a previous downtrodden Indiana Hoosier team beat Michigan to improve the Hoosiers’ record to 10-0.  The Hoosiers had over 24 new members of their team who came via the transfer portal after naming of a new coach following last year’s disappointing season.

The Michigan men’s basketball team has only three members on their roster this year that were on their roster last year. New head coach Dusty May said he was not rebuilding the program, he was going to win immediately by using the transfer portal to build a competitive team. Michigan’s starting line-up is made up entirely of experienced players who transferred in from other schools.  One of whom was a starter for Ohio State.

News articles are indicating that U of M is trying to entice Belleville High School quarterback, Bryce Underwood, by offering him double the $5 million that LSU allegedly offered Underwood.  Underwood has signed a commitment to play for LSU, however, it is not binding. Michigan is trying to get Underwood to back out of his commitment to LSU. 

I have concluded that Michigan’s National Championship Team of 2023 is the last of a breed in football and basketball.  The core of Michigan’s football team were players that were recruited out of high school and who developed within the program.  In the new environment in which instant success is possible, the old way of building a program by developing players as freshman and sophomores so they can be starters as juniors and seniors will not be tolerated by the fan base.  Furthermore, the freshman and sophomores, including their parents and friends, will not be tolerant of sitting on the bench when there are other teams that are willing to guarantee them NIL money to transfer to a new school. 

Major college sports have become a new form of free agency. 

Post Election After a Weekend to Think About It

Since my last post on Thursday, I have had many conversations with myself, Leah, and many friends about the election. I have also read many articles analyzing how Trump won and how Harris lost.  I was overwhelmed with my thoughts. There are a few I want to share.

From Dan Rather’s post on Friday:  Here are two thoughts that really jumped out at me.

1. The economy is, was, and always will be the most important issue for American voters. We live in a hyper-capitalist society, and everyone wants to get ahead. Standing still is considered losing. So when a University of Chicago poll shows 9 out of 10 people are worried about the price of groceries, the incumbent should be very concerned. It is almost impossible to get 9 out of 10 people to agree on anything. People will always vote with their pocketbooks, not with their hearts. Harris needed hearts. 

2. This time, it wasn’t just concealed racism, but sexism hiding within pre-election polls. Harris’ losses among Black and Latino voters were mostly among men, not women.

In an interview with Newsweek, Danielle Vinson, a political science professor at Furman University, said, “There is a small but significant portion of our country who cannot quite wrap their minds around the idea of a woman being president. They are fine with women senators or governors, but they pause at thinking a woman can handle national security and foreign affairs. Trump played that up in his comments frequently.”

This idea gains support from the fact that in several states, female Senate candidates outperformed Harris, including right here in Michigan where Democrat Elizabeth Slotkin defeated Republican Mike Rogers, who was endorsed by Trump.

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in response to my Question of the Day: What Now? I received this from a person who has more experience with life and is much wiser than I could ever hope to be.

Now what? Believe the next President’s comments and promises he made during the campaign and the crowds that wholeheartedly cheered him on. Remember he said he intends to be a dictator on day 1 and many of his followers applauded enthusiastically. Understand that this election has shown the world who the majority of us truly are. Know that the fear, distrust and acrimony perpetrated daily has taken its toll on so many people who had hopes and dreams for their lives. Accept that hate and discrimination divides but does not conquer without consequences. Steel yourself against the potential coming storms. Be aware of unknown and unexpected changes that will impact daily life. Control the sources where you get your information from (when possible). Remember, “I’m your retribution.”

Embrace your loved ones and show kindness at every opportunity. Cherish friendships. I would love to live in a country that values all of its people unfortunately, it’s a dream that has turned into a nightmare. I am a Christian; therefore, I believe in truth. I pray for the nation and those who would attempt to destroy what we know (and take for granted) as Democracy. I pray for myself to remember to whom I belong, Christ Jesus, so that I will not succumb to fear. I must remember that no matter who is in control in this world, GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE!  This is my Quote of the Day.

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Also, from Dan Rather’s post. Arash Azizi, an Iranian Canadian columnist for The Atlantic, wrote something that should give us hope.

“The essence of America has always been the battle over its essence. No one election has ever determined its complete or permanent nature, and that is as true now as it was in 1860 and 1876. If today’s America is the America of Donald Trump, it is also the America of those who would stand up to him.” 

I will also add, If the America in 2008 was the America of Barack Obama and his supporters, it was also the America of those who stood against him. 

As I said in my post on Thursday November 7, 2024, we have always been a divided country.  We will always be a divided country. Sometimes the gap is narrow and sometimes the gap is wide.  Sometimes the gap is narrowing, sometimes the gap is widening.  For some we are going forward, for some we are going backward. 

Our Democracy is dependent upon us accepting the ebb and flow of the size of the divide.  Our democracy is dependent upon us accepting that sometimes our thinking is in the minority and sometimes it is in the majority. Neither makes it right or wrong.

Quote of the Day: See above.

Orchid of the Day: Veterans and their families. See above.

Onion of the Day: To the idiot or idiots who sent text messages to black college students telling them to collect their belongings and be prepared to be picked up in a white fan so they could start picking cotton. At first, I thought this was a hoax, but it has been confirmed by many news outlets and is being investigated by the FBI. 

Question of the Day: How can the Lions win an away game to the 6-3 Houston Texans when Lions’ QB Jared Goff threw five interceptions, and the Lions were trailing by 16 points at halftime? Twenty-four hours later and I still cannot believe the Lions won this game on a last second 52-yard field goal by Jake Bates.

Video of the Day: In Memory of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank on November 10, 1975.  The late great Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot – Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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