Temporary Miracles? HAPPY 2013 to all!

For hockey fans in Houston it was a very good start.
The Aeros played well, after an initially sluggish first period, to win over OKC by 2. Hackett, often grumbled about because he was seen as having 'an attitude', must have made New Year's Resolution to be more flexible, react faster and in general keep his eyes on the puck when it counts.

Larsson, Hackett

And we salute that! Don't we?
The young contingent (Zucker, Granlund, Medvec, Larsson, etal) proved their value, and some of the more 'veteran', even though still under 25, players seemingly caught fire from them.

Coach Torchettis' patience is starting to pay off, his 'system' seems to have been absorbed by the guys and - voila - the team is raking in more wins.
The Absence of the NHL with its demands on shipping up players to warm their benches spur of the moment, is palpable as in improved competion..all AHL teams seem stuffed with so much talent! 
AHL teams still need to ship up players from the lower levels who may or not be adequate as replacements for injured players. They, do however, really work hard BECAUSE they too want to move up!
In any case it IS more fun to watch hockey right now.
Do we really miss the overpriced NHL games?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-labor-talks-expected-resume-100833081--nhl.html

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We also DID survive the first day of the New Year with, IMHO, simply a band aid solution fro the economy! The 'lemmings' have been coerced to avoid a 'fall from the cliff', at least for now.
http://news.yahoo.com/congress-oks-cliff-deal-signaling-future-fights-080422547--finance.html

Will this, not exactly 'Superglued', saver-patch hold for the next 4 years?
Some hope so, I don't, really. Maybe, barely, until the next president 'inherits the wind', and I don't really mean wind power subsidies ;-)!


Who said that being elected turns one into a sage immediately?

Maybe it is past time to limit how often a politician can seek re-election!
Some have been, and still are, serving (and that begs the question whom they truly serve???) decades for 'us'. They've settled into a life of plushness, security with excellent benefits and the, ah yes, so neat feeling of being in power and inviolate.

http://termlimits.org/

Now I can accept two terms. The first year is adjustment, the next are - maybe - actually active, the last will be spent in running for re-election.
And if re-elected, the first year of the second term will have to be spent appeasing and empowering those that helped the re-election! FINALLY the full next years can be productively given to governing.
And that is it.

No more 'dying in harness' on the job at the venerable ages when fossilisation sets in, when past achievements (however minute) take on the looks of
permanency! When they feel entitled to being kow-towed to and placed on pedestals!
When they think they are invincible and never wrong!

Of course, it is so comfortable up there, with good pay, great benefits and all the security of being protected. And even afterwards, the 'pensions' are nothing to be sneezed at. Although...some seem a bit paltry as gleaned from the article cited below:

 "For example, according to the Congressional Research Service, 290 members of congress who had retired under the Civil Service Retirement System as of October 2006 receive an average annual pension of $60,972. Not bad, but five-figure annuity is chump change compared with what some civil servants make each year. One California fire chief collects $436,691 a year -- a combination of his padded pension and school consulting income, while a former Congressman convicted of embezzlement collected $100,000 a year."
Read more at
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/09/01/8-Outrageously-Cushy-Government-Pensions.aspx#rzkZyhwwGrYfzIbF.99

So how does the controversial 'Joe, the Plumber's' life compare?  LOL!
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_the_Plumber
Again, nothing is quite as it seems at first glance :-)!

Having - I hope - giving my chers readers plenty to discuss with the above quotes, DO enjoy a good 2013, whatever it may bring including rain, snow and other things Mother Nature will throw at us!

Such as meteor showers

January 3, 2013 in the wee hours before dawn
When we say January 3, we mean in the wee hours before dawn, in northerly latitudes all around the globe. Face the general direction of north-northeast, but take in as wide an expanse of sky as possible. Watch from about 2 a.m. until dawn.
And annular solar eclipse on May 10, 2013!