Contentment

I don't want to pay myself on the back, but... I was able to literally empty the emai bl Inbox today, catch up on reading all the articles I have saved and bookmarked, and get some forms and paperwork done.  It's truly been a blessed day, which is why yet again my plan of early to bed is gone.  Alas.

One thing that floored me during yesterday's game: Shane Bieber was cruising, but in the 7th, the announcing team immediately began looking for a reliever with a 90-pitch count and a third time through the order... I was like, WTF?  I mean, I get it, but... to me, when a guy is cruising and his stuff is flowing, that is the time to let him pitch more; I can;t imagine that 110 or so in those conditions are worse than 90 when you are in the stretch, have baserunners, etc.  I mean, I had no problem pulling him once he got tired and put men on, but...

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-12/blue-collar-workers-and-trump-have-reason-to-celebrate?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180912&utm_campaign=sharetheview
This could be me, but... I would think that one of the reasons the economy is doing well is that... many of these blue-collar jobs are located in flyover country, where the economy has not done well and people are dealing opoids and whatnot.  Now, not that the man is waving the magic wand, but the President has made it a point to promote manufacturing and blue-collar work; most of this, I think, is base pandering, but...putting men to work in blue-collar jobs gets them off the dole... It also, in many cases, supports families, and, more importantly, these people spend money; even if it just the basics, you are still spending more than people, say, on food stamps.  And, with all this happening in Trump County, most of the press is missing it, but I don't think that the stats lie...

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-12/ben-carson-and-hud-get-ready-to-take-on-the-nimbys?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180912&utm_campaign=sharetheview
Imagine that, people putting up  MORE housing makes it cheaper.  I am not immune to the racial demographic overtones here, but -- call me crazy -- the issue is not that the housing is segregated, I think, but that we have not enough housing so that only wealthier people can afford it, many of whom (thanx, Obama!) are white.  So, building more housing -- even in places where it would possibly promote segregation -- would reduce rents and allow people to spend more on other things... like accumulating capital themselves and becoming... middle class? Who knew?

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/09/school-day-parents/569401/

I think a slightly better approach would be to extend the school day... this could be me, and yes, the teachers would gripe, but I think you would have MORE support for education if teachers taught more (justifying their salaries) and if this coincidentally solved peoples' child care issues.  And, of course, the kids would learn more, God forbid we do that!