Various Thoughts...

Our transit infrastructure is woefully inadequate compared with most developed countries, yet House Speaker John Boehner is quick to dismiss a reporter's question about adequate Amtrak funding as "stupid".  He does this while rushing to lay the blame on one engineer's error before all the facts come out as to the cause of the fatal Philadelphia train derailment.   The afternoon after the crash, the Republican House actually cut funding for Amtrak.   Do Republicans really expect big business to come in and update infrastructure without government investment and reasonable profit?   The GOP is clearly tone deaf on this one, to say the least.

The Iraq War threatens to turn the 2016 Presidential election upside down.   Hilary Clinton has at least admitted her mistake in supporting an invasion that came back ruin her 2008 prospects. She still has to be more forthcoming in dealing head on with the Iraq consequences embodied in ISIS.   The money may still be leaning toward Jeb Bush on the Republican side, but I still find it shocking how unprepared he was to consistently answer the inevitable question over whether he would have taken the same action his brother did in 2003 based on faulty intelligence.   On foreign policy, Republicans need to get over their fear of the Dick Cheney unrepentent right wing and come to grips with perhaps our biggest mistake in a century.

It seems like the Patriots Deflategate saga has already taken a break from public awareness for now.   Haters outside New England are gonna hate no matter what, but as a Pats and Tom Brady fan I still have to admit that it does sound like Brady at least had some inside knowledge of the tampering.   That said, does this warrant a stiffer penalty than one to another NFL player caught on video knocking out his wife in an elevator?    Also, is there any doubt that the Patriots played a great season with or without Deflategate?

The death of B.B. King reminds us of how iconic a musician can be even without big hits on the radio.   It also reminds people like me who deal with type II diabetes about the need to take this condition seriously.

They said pollen allergies would be severe this year, and they were right!   When my car stops showing all the yellow stuff I hope my eyes will stop tearing up uncontrollably.