Thinking Out Loud: Baltimore Shrinks, Obama's Legacy Grows, and Sir Paul is Older

Baltimore City Still Shrinking:

According to USAToday, population estimates for July 2011 were released by the U. S. Census and it is no surprise that Baltimore lost more people between 2010 and 2011.  According to the Census, Baltimore's population fell from 620,961 to 619,493.

Why should we expect anything different on that account?  Our city government does not have any sustained plan to attract people to our city.  What is surprising though is that Baltimore, along with Detroit, are the only two cities with populations over 500,000 to lose people.  Everyone else gained residents. 

Mayor Rawlings-Blake has a goal of bringing 10,000 families to Baltimore City by 2020.  I doubt she is going to even come close as it stands now.  And, now we've lost more people, doesn't she really have to bring 10,000+ families now to make up for those we've lost?

Obama's Place in History Cemented:

Like him or not, with the ruling that the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") is constitutional, President Obama now has his place in history cemented among modern chief executives.  He will be viewed as a transformative president, in line with FDR, LBJ, and Reagan.

Despite how many may feel about "Obamacare" now, I am feel confident that in five or ten years, Americans will never want to go back to the bad old days when health care was viewed as a privilege and not a right.

Sir Paul Turns 70:

"...Starr once described McCartney as "pleasantly insincere..."

Sir Paul McCartney was born 70 years ago on June 18, 1942.  

McCartney is certainly one of greatest popular music song writers ever and perhaps the de facto greatest, as far as record sales go.

I was always a John Lennon fan. When we were kids playing "The Beatles" in our backyards, I was always John. I viewed McCartney the way Ringo did, but that opinion came mostly from the media and reading John Lennon biographies. I have never met Paul, so how could I possibly know what he is like beyond his great music and some interviews I've read and seen? I finally did read a McCartney biography and my opinion changed a lot. I view McCartney as the spokesman for his generation of musicians, now that Lennon is gone and Bob Dylan doesn't talk much. Along with Dylan and the Stones, McCartney is the last survivor of significance from the Second Wave of Rock and Roll.

I've said it before and I stand by it now, in 100 years, if a person is humming along to a Beatles song on an elevator, it will most likely be a McCartney penned song.

Happy Birthday, Sir Paul.