Linx

Yet another hiatus...I was trying to catch up on sleep (failed), made soup for company potluck (didn't win), and get the OC budget in order (more or less done).  And here we are...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2014/01/31/walmarts-manufacturing-dream-is-just-a-dream/

I note this because the author is correct; for a wide range of items, the cost-differential is too great for the US consumer, who, despite claims to the contrary, has never been interested in US-made products if they are too expensive.  Alas, alack.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/01/30/brendan_gibbons_sexual_assault_why_do_colleges_fail_to_investigate_athletes.html

Um, because they don't WANT to...  I mean, I am NOT trying to be pro-rape here, but it would take a hell of a lot of balls to go after the football team -- which at most schools brings in bank, wins games, generates interest, etc.  This is not a good thing, of course, but the entrenched interests in the powers that be have their reasons to look the other way...like, if you started busting some football players now, a lot of football players will not want to come to the place later.  Then of course, guilt means liability and lawsuits, which costs money...

Snow

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/01/right_to_work_laws_are_wrong_f.html#incart_river

I get a kick out of stuff like this...I mean, free riders are fine for heatlh care, but not the labor market...

Oddest thing happened today...I tried to pull in the driveway, and I fishtailed (I suspect the new tires, which is better than my crappy driving) the incorrect way, so I had to dig/cardboard myself out.  I didn't have a lot of room back there before a ditch, so I had to really burn rubber, but eventually I was able to get up the driveway.  I've quite a bit of trouble getting up the thing this year, and I cannot seem to figure out why.  This has been the worst of it...not that I feel the need to invest in plowing services or the sort.

The funny -- or not -- part about is that the snow is STILL coming down; I mean, we are at seven hours since I awoke, and I bet it snowed as much before that.  OF course, we are bothered by global warming, so this is just a blip....

Bound

So, everybody ready for the Buckeyes in the NIT?  Ok, not yet, anyways, but...man, they have looked crappy, and yesterday was the worst.  It's funny, though, that no one is pointing fingers at Thad Matta yet; I mean, he put the team together, and for all of its defensive intensity...well, they have no inside presence, they don't penetrate well, they don't shoot FTs well...which only leaves jump shots, and if they don't fall... it is tough to win with zero, as we used to say in the soccer-watching days.  Yes, eventually it will get worked out, but...in some ways, Duke has a similar problem, in reverse; they can score on anyone, and vice-versa; they just can't stop anyone.  Jabari Parker is awesome, but he is only one man; when they had two or three guys, or a Laettner/Plumlee who could do something, it was ok; now, well, hang on to your jock straps.

I am reading Conrad's Nostromo and while it is interesting...not that interesting.  I can't get into it, which as I noted to a friend, is odd, because I've read some of his other works, and they are quite awesome to me, and I devoured them.  Nostromo isn't quite so; it's the tale of a revolution in a mythical South American country, but...it is getting there only slowly, and I guess I do not like the pacing.

Links

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/12/22254801-new-report-says-millions-of-women-at-risk-of-falling-into-poverty-economic-ruin?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=7

I get a kick out of this one...for one thing, there is no mention of the men...and another, this is one of Obama's key constituencies...and it seems like all they can do is make shitty decisions (as evinced by election results)...and so we entrust the future of the country to them.  Oi.

http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/the-problem-with-bad-voucher-schools-aren%E2%80%99t-a-problem

As a conservative, I completely and totally agree with this.  Charter and private schools receiving vouchers really must be operating at a higher standard than anyone else...so much at stake, such as the kids, and, of course, someone else's money.  The issue is of course that some private schools are bad, much like a public school. Course, you really can't close a bad public school....which is why they hate the private schools, as the example may prove contagious.

Speaking of...
http://www.cleveland.com/parma/index.ssf/2014/01/parmas_st_francis_de_sales_ele.html#incart_river_default#incart_m-rpt-2

I get a kick out of these things...all the hand-wringing...first of all, the numbers are pretty eye-popping; that's a shitload of money when things are going well, and when they are not...the other thing, of course, is that I wonder what the people who complained about it would do to solve the problem.  You never hear anything about that; as with everyone else, it's all about spending other peoples' money, and there is only the perception of a limitless supply...

Films

So, I spent each of the three previous nites catching up on some films.

Sunday I watched "42nd Street."  It is on the National Historic Film Registry, so...yes, I figure I should educate myself.  Yes, it was a musical, and pretty gay, but it wasn't awful; the dialogue worked with some pithiness, and I could see how some of the numbers would catch on in Depression America.

Monday was "Skyfall." I sort of liked it; cool action scenes, the Bond throwbacks were awesome, but...Jesus, aren't there any real villains to manufacture anymore?  There has to be some aspect of megalomania that they haven't yet dreamed up.

Yesterday was a favorite of mine I hadn't seen in a while -- "Johnny Guitar."  Yes, a Western...sort of an all-star cast -- Crawford, Hayden, Ward Bond, Borgnine, Carradine, and a few others...  It is an odd film, because in some ways, it really isn't a Western, and the female leads really drive the plot in a way not seen in most films of the genre.  On the other hand, it is a story of one person standing up to the community for what is right and just, so it is the vein as "High Noon."  I think I like the film because it is so...well, hard to place.

On to some other news...Nyjer Morgan?  Nyjer Morgan?  Well, at least the Tribe has a manager; the Browns situation is getting funnier all the time.

Arise

http://www.forbes.com/sites/harrybinswanger/2014/01/07/president-obama-stop-damning-the-achievers-for-their-virtues/

I get a kick out of the articles, mainly because...let's face it, the American people voted twice for Hope and Change, so you really deserve what you get, and if they want to be poor and stupid...well, there you go.  It is depressing, but so is life. 

So, the Tribe wants to sign Masterson to a long-term deal...odd.  I mean, he's really only had two good years out of five, and yes, Mickey Calloway has worked wonders, but...really?  To be sure, someone has to make 30 starts, and it could be him.

Someone NOT making starts will be A-Rod, and while I do not exactly tremble with sympathy for him, he is correct in that he is getting dicked.  But as the general impression is that it couldn't happen to a nicer person...

Hunkering

You know, it is really fucking cold out there; being outside is a bitch, the furnace is running at levels not seen since Monica was mucking about here, the windows are icy...the Patriotmobile is holding up, thank God.  I guess we are all as well, but...I don't want to hear any more crap about global warming, that is for damn sure.

College football is now over for eight months...now on to college hoops, which I sort of enjoy more, mainly because for most of them, this IS it, and there is a sense of finality, whereas with college football, one gets the feeling it is just a corruption-ridden practice for any given Sunday...which it is, and I am fine with that, but as with anything else, be honest about it.

First the Tribe offers Frenchie a minor league contract...next I read that they thinking of inviting Bobby Abreu (now) to spring training...it's bad enough they are running Giambi out there, but to corner the market on crappy, walk-averse outfielders...well, maybe they can pitch, too.

Cold

You know, I prolly should really and actually blog more, like I keep saying I will do...between New Year's, Season One of The Wire, and doing some Xmas reading...well, one tends to forget or have nothing to say...alas.

I guess no one should be surprised by the OSU loss, given the porous nature of the defense.  It really looked like they were going to get blown out, but they rallied, and then the atrocious turnovers... well, the funny thing is, this may be a high point, as OSU may lose Braxton, and is losing four starters on the offensive line.  Ouch.  The Big Ten and its bowl weakness is another issue; thank God they had two wins on New Year's Day, otherwise Jim Delaney would have something to explain. 

My driveway is pretty crappy; I can't remember the last time I had so much trouble getting up it.  Some of it is the fact the driveway needs to be redone, and some of it is the deep snow... to say nothing of the fact that I do tend to drive in the wrong spot.  I've managed to "fix" it now by driving up and down it a few times, but now that another band of snow is coming...well, status quo antebellum.