Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

We just PRETEND we don't like socialism here. Another example of the power of persuasion is in the fact that most Americans act like "socialism" is something one scrapes off the bottom of ones shoe, when the reality is that ALL of us, including mega-corporations, benefit every day from SOCIALISM in AMERICA. Anybody drive on one of them dang FEDERAL highways today? Buy any bread, milk, sugar, or gasoline today? Speaking of gas - as in fuel for our vehicles - guess why we pay a whole bunch less than our European friends do (you know, the ones in SOCIALIZED countries?!) - we pay less because our TAX dollars go to Exxon, Shell, et al in the form of subsidies and/or tax breaks - millions to these billion dollar corporations. The price of gasoline is NOT dictated by "the free market" by any stretch of the imagination. LINK: BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SUBSIDIES TO OIL. A common response to a mention of socialism is "Socialism forces  FILL IN THE BLANK  on you....

  The theme song for this episode is "Gone Daddy Gone" by Violent Femmes.     First on our list - Feeding Tube. Gone Daddy Gone.   Next on our list - that distinctive Atom Tan. Gone Daddy Gone .   And the best is last - Julie and I met with Dr. Bott on Monday January 6th and she delivered the happy news that the PET scan I was given on December 28th showed the following:     As in "no evidence" of cancer lurking in my throat or any other part of my body - the scanned me from top to toe.   Gone Daddy Gone.     Well then - hot day-yum. All that fun in the radiation booth and the three doses of chemo and the retching and the weight loss and the fear and the crying and the prayers, white light, positive vibes, cards, emails, texts, and (yes even the) threats - PAID OFF!   My strength is coming back -   Working with my Body Blade:   Playing w...

Julie and I got married on New Years Eve and in 2013, after hearing some customers at our shop RAVE about their stay (thanks Bruce & Beth) at the JW Marriott - I decided to book us a room along with dinner reservations at the 616 restaurant located in the hotel.   You check in here - I love the curved walls. If you want to be at the JW on NYE, I suggest you make reservations early. When I reserved the room a couple months in advance I was told the "river side" of the hotel was full. So I asked for a room as high up as possible on the downtown side. Julie and I were very pleasantly surprised when we found out our room - 1704 - was a CORNER room with a spectacular river view as well as a peek at downtown out of the smaller widows in the corner. (Someone must have cancelled and we were bumped up - maybe an advantage to having a Marriott Reward Card?)   This was the layout for our room on the 17th floor. They provide very, very comfortable beds....