Deja vu all over again?

When I read about JPMorgan Chase's plan to buy two Gulfstream 650 planes and upgrade a luxury hangar for them to park in for about $138 million, I couldn't help but think about Ronald Reagan. Much to the delight of his fellow Republicans, he liked to talk about the "welfare queens" some of who allegedly used food stamps and then went outside the store and drove home in new Cadillacs. Now I need someone to explain to me the difference between those mythic ladies and these corporate cheeses who accept billions ($25 billion in this case) of dollars from taxpayers and then fly home in executive jets? Ever since Secy. Paulson opened up the All You Can Spend Buffet at the Treasury Department, these corporations have not only eaten their fill, they are now feasting on rich desserts. When will corporate diabetes kick in? It is obvious these people have no shame thus any sympathy I might have for my fellow travelers down life's path, will not be wasted on those whose genetic makeups don't even understand the words "fair", "share", "empathy", or "equality". Go to hell, you greedy bastards you.

BFF or wham bam thank you man?

As one whose life has seen a lot of closures recently, I have been pondering a lot of issues, including the nature of friendships. I found the following article which helped point my thoughts in a positive direction - toward that steady ground I seek.
This article by Valerie Reiss of Holistic Living includes a phrase so illuminating to me; "There's something about betrayal or abandonment in friendship that often feels harsher than that of a lover." That tells me I am not alone and also teaches me that all friends, no matter how fleeting, have influence and impact upon my life. It is then up to me to choose whether any insight gained be positive or negative.

Crashing back to earth...

It always happens when you elevate something or someone to a height almost impossible to achieve. I saw that with some of Hillary Clinton's supporters and I did it myself with the promising 3 year old colt, Mr. Fantasy. Readers of this blog know I touted him as the next big thing in horse racing. I was completely blown away by his first two starts as I watched him blow away his competition. What I ignored this past Saturday was not only the level of that competition, but the level and fitness of the horses he faced in the Grade III $250,000 Gotham Stakes, run at Aqueduct yesterday.
The race speaks for itself. What you can't see is that Mr. Fantasy was a late May foal and is not even 3 years old. While disappointing, he did not disgrace himself in his first start in a major graded stakes beating 3 of the 4 stakes winners entered in the race. If his jockey hadn't eased up on him, he would have finished second. The winner, I Want Revenge, had just come off two close losses in Grade 1 stakes to the Kentucky Derby favorite, Pioneer of the Nile, and lived up to his quality running a freak-type race himself winning off by over 8 in a fast time. Revenge and Fantasy will meet again in the Wood Memorial and I expect a much more competitive race this time as clearly Mr. Fantasy needed the Gotham to move him forward. I just have to deal with the fact that he is only human, er, I mean, equine.