Monday, November 1, 2010

Civility, Sexy or is it Sexual?

I like blogs that have only a few followers. There are readers who never sign-up to follow and I know this because I get e.mail from a few myself.

When I find one with sincere and clear writing I feel as though I have found a jewel in the barnyard. These people call out into the unknown trying to communicate, to tell a story of a life.

Sometimes the blog just started. Sometimes they've been blogging for years. When I look at the comments, often there are not any or if any very few.

What motivates someone to write a blog on which no one comments?
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The great consuming drama of the mid-term U.S. elections will end tomorrow when the polls close in Hawaii. I'm ready for this to end.

I watched the rally on the Mall in Washington DC on C-Span Saturday. It was put on by a couple of comedians and called "The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear". I'm sure some of you attended. Some friends of mine did and they had pictures. It seemed to be an almost perfect day; no rain, wind or snow and bright sunshine. One person described it as a typical toss the Frisbee to the dog family day outside in the fall.
One thing I noticed as the camera showed those gathered were the smiles. People were smiling, talking to those nearby, laughing and hugging. People walked about with signs: Free Hugs!

Boy those signs were great too. There was a slideshow on a website of over 300 pictures of signs from the Rally. The signs were not angry or putting down anyone. The words were spelled right. Someone professed to being a person who sends grammatically correct text messages. The faces were not all white. There were a lot of brown people. The crowd looked like the America I see every day near my home.

A musician sang "Peace Train" and I almost cried. Tony Bennett sang "America the Beautiful" and I did cry. I am a Liberal and a Democrat. I am a patriot. If you cannot get your mind around that concept then you need to reconsider. Maybe we need to have a reasonable conversation where we both listen.

My favorite sign was the one that said: Civil is Sexy!
This past week it was reported that the University of Louisville had offered two season tickets for home basketball games to each of our state House and Senate members. This has been done for many years and they are offered at the usual price. A lot of the elected legislators appreciate the opportunity and buy tickets every year.

This year all people purchasing season tickets at the new YUM Arena are required to pay an additional "premium" of $1000 per ticket to underwrite the wonderful, fabulous, and modern luxury arena. This year the legislators were surprised at this additional cost. To help the President of the University, Dr. James R. Ramsey offered to pay this premium from funds in the U of L Foundation.

All this was reported in the local paper.

The Letters to the Editors were so hot I had to handle the folded paper that morning with padded gloves.

The next day it was announced that every single legislator had turned done the courtesy of Dr. Ramsey's offer. Although the legislators had not been able to get a budget passed this past session and had to do so in a sixty day special session, their good sense was demonstrated by turning down the offer!

One of the Letters to the Editor suggested they pay the premium with the extra pay they got for the special session!