Linx

Another longish week, another longish weekend, but here I am... for better or worse.  I feel like I am putting on weight... not sleeping well, not exercising enough, odd blood sugar trends mean I eat more crap... all of these are not good.  Speaking of not good... I guess I am a little surprised that Hill got pulled; to me, after a game when everyone had their pen taxed, getting EVERY out of a starter, especially one pitching well, is just what the MD ordered.  In the meantime, Kenley Jansen is becoming our generation's Armando Benitez.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/president-trump-theory-politics/573568/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=2018-10-22T12%3A35%3A57
I think this is largely true, but the Dems make it easy for this happen... just saying, the Democratic party is a bit more left than it was 20 or 30 years ago, and that is fine, but if you are not into that...

http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/how-does-the-art-world-live-with-itself.html
I bet the money helps...

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-23/will-the-polls-work-this-year
I go both ways on this... on the one hand, I find it hard to believe the GOP isn't going to get its ass kicked; on the other, I also think that there are plenty of people who are fine, if not enthused by Trump and they're not exactly picked up by the polling.  We saw it in 2016 and  I think it is still an issue here, but... they are concentrated in states where the GOP has other advantages, if you get the drift.

https://popula.com/2018/09/04/what-it-is-like-to-celebrate-mass/
This was pretty interesting, and the last part... Popes turning in people for molesting kids, to the executioners?  Awesome!

Catching up

Busy weekend and Monday, not much time to blog, so here we are now... I did like the OSU game, not... ok, I really don't care, but... as I told some of the boys, the Purdue game and the inability to score inside the 20 is the main reason for playing (if not starting) Martell; it's obvious that Meyer doesn't quite know what to do (maybe he is confused) with this offense since it is so unbalanced... 

I was also amused by the idea of firing Hue Jackson... for one, if you don't fire a guy when he is 0-16, you fire him when he wins a game?  Ok, more seriously... this could be me, but what exactly did anyone expect from the Browns?  They could be 4-2-1, and no one would be saying anything.  They're starting a rookie QB, and from what I have read (not watched a down!), they still have holes... it would seem there are more reasons for firing Urban Liar than Hue but that is me...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/banks-golden-deposits-are-heading-out-the-door/ar-BBOKbUC?li=BBnbfcN
I don't know...offer higher rates?  I think, for a while, that savers and their ilk have been punished by low rates, say on CDs and such, and while I don't think we need to go back to 1979, I think it is high time that people get rewarded for putting aside a nest egg...

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/15/17978156/hillary-clinton-monica-lewinsky-interview-bill-clinton-sexual-misconduct-metoo

Isn't this sort of...wrong?  I mean, I think most people would agree that Bill and Monica were consenting adults; the issue is that he, or Hillary, has never really been questioned about Broderick, or Paula Jones, or any of the other woman who claimed that Bill accosted them....

Links

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/that-painting-of-trump-having-a-diet-coke-with-abraham-lincoln-is-now-hanging-in-the-white-house/ar-BBOotrb?li=BBnb7Kz

I need this, for many, many reasons.  And, I drink Diet Coke like a fiend, so... even better!

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/17/trump-instinct-climate-change-910004

This, as you can imagine, amused the hell out of me... all we need is a bit of creation science, and.... well, that's all I can say about that.

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/13/17971340/the-senate-represents-states-not-people-constitution-kavanaugh-supreme-court

This amused me -- not as much as say, instinct-based comments -- but close enough.  Part of the problem here is that Democrats have done so much to erase the boundaries -- or limits, better yet -- the Fonders put in the document in the first place so as to keep the states free to do things... I mean, post-1865, we became a nation and not a collection of states, but the idea that the states are just poorly-drawn administrative boundaries...well, that's fairly new, and it was designed by Democrats to achieve their political agenda.  This is fine and good, but that which you can do to others can be done to you, and now that it is... well, this is funny, to put it mildly.

Our Lady of Perpetual Amusement

Things are....busy.  Rah.  We survive.  I have to admit, though, it was...poetic, if you will, to see Osuma of the Astros take one like...Sherrod Brown's first wife?  All of Keith Ellison's ex-girlfriends?  Somedays, the jokes write themselves...

So, today in the lunchroom, one of the coworkers and I were discussing that:
1) It's too hard to recycle -- even people who want to recycle can't figure out what goes where anymore.
2)  The "Green Fence" of China isn't helping, but it really wasn't particularly profitable to recycle most stuff before it went into place. 
3) To really make recycling work, you still need a lot of people to go in and physically sort the stuff -- and people are the most expensive part.

My coworker (a lefty type, of course!) and I came up with the same conclusion...someone like Greenpeace or a similar organization should open up their own recycling/sorting centers (for the greater good, which amused me).  Yes, it would be costly, but they have the money... They could also put them in "jobs deserts," if you will, where you could hire those who need jobs -- we know how those progressives are about the poor, minority, dispossessed, etc.  You'd also solve our waste crisis.  I'm not saying they will, of course, but even in a place like Cleveland, a recycling center... I don't know, 30 or 40 people?  The scrap metal place by the OC has ten people working there just for metal, so... not that these would be the best jobs, but they would be...something.

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/10/17960060/pope-francis-abortion-hit-man-vatican
This could be me, but when the headline reads "Pope actually spouts Catholic doctrine," you sort of have a problem here....

Three links

It is sort of funny...the last two nights, I've noticed, I really didn't have anything to do... no meetings, no stuff to plan for; I was able to catch up on articles to read, paperwork, the episodes of "Endeavour" I needed to catch up on... now I can blog.  It is sort of nice, in all honesty...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/1491/302445/

I thought this was interesting...I need to check the books out, like I need more to read... More seriously, though, it does raise points...I've always read about the large cities of Meso-America and wondered about places like Cahokia; all of these cities needed people to plant crops and feed them...where did they come from and live?

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/10/11/17962146/bullpenning-starting-pitcher-protagonist-cost

I found this one to be interesting as well...it seems to me that the way we train pitchers is casing this as well; people don't learn as many pitches as they used to, and maybe that is fine, but now, once a guy learns someone else's repertoire, you can see the third-time-through-the-order penalty really go up...  learning a few pitches that look alike, to me, would help reduce this, because then you can not necessarily fool, but make hitters swing at something that isn't quite what they want, and that's how you get harmless contact.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/11/trump-prison-reform-892163
This to me is yet another example of how the President is affecting himself with the constant shit show... if you think about it, GOPers -- especially this one -- run into trouble with their bases by doing this, but President Trump can stress -- of all people, perhaps, -- that this is a business-friendly thing in that it lowers costs, saves prisons for criminals, frees up resources for a wall, etc...  and, if they can peel off some support from the monolithic black vote....

A whimper and a bang

Well, this weekend was Polish Festival weekend, and I survived...barely.  I ended up working nearly all day Friday, ALL day Saturday, and ALL day Sunday.  Oi.  I have a burn mark of unknown origin on my right arm and skipped the gym Monday.... but other than that, I am fine (to say nothing of God's grace).  I think the thing went well -- we had two busy days, and, much like the crew of the Titanic, we were at it to the bitter end. 

Much like the Tribe, not!  Ok, maybe...this could be me, but I think we all knew the Astros were a better team, and with the shambles of the bullpen... it was a little short of criminal to pull Carrasco in game two, but I am not really sure Francona could have done much of anything else. I did like the stuff in the Athletic about the team not being prepared/the Astros having scouted us better.... this could be me, but, if someone suspected that to be the case....don't you try to adjust?  Teams make halftime adjustments in other sports; couldn't someone have spent Sunday trying to figure a new approach?  Oi.

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/glenville-high-school-football-given-2018-postseason-ban-3-year-probation-for-violations/95-602413116

My sister sent me this this morning, and she was surprised...  Aside from my comment that maybe, with all the Stouffer's commercials, there should have been enough cash lying around to pay someone to follow the rules...  I remembered this:
http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/3642404523583602773/it-cant-happen-again-how-cleveland-metropolitan-school-district-athletic-director-plans-to-avoid-another-ohsaa-probation/

This could be me, but they had to have known that something (or someone) was on the prowl, and.... again, this could be me, but using ineligible players is a tad more serious than not fielding teams.  Much like Urban Meyer should know at least what not to do...

The other thing that is surprising to me is that...well, no one (i.e., the coach) is complaining.  I mean, none of the usual stuff about the kids or how they are disadvantaged and all that stuff (some of which is true, but...); nor (yet) is there any racism claims.  My own sneaking suspicion is that quite frankly much more egregious behavior was going on (not including this!! https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2018/07/he_was_ted_ginns_cousin_and_i.html) and that maybe, just maybe, someone had the good sense to take one for team lest the axe truly fall...

Messaging

So, the Tribe's postseason roster is out, and it is Rajai and Yandy...the lack of a MINF is interesting, not that we really need one, I guess, because if Lindor goes down... anyways, Allen and/or Davis/or Guyer will be the defensive OF replacemnets, which is...well, I would feel better about it save for the high-porosity bullpen, because you don't want them hitting late with the game on the line.  I am not particularly optimistic, for a number or reasons, but that is nothing new...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rand-pauls-wife-pens-letter-to-booker-following-protests-threats-against-husband/ar-BBNTZta?li=BBnb7Kz

There is a simple and obvious solution...GOPers need to start doing this right back...

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/02/trump-kavanaugh-drinking-863144
One of my coworkers and I were discussing this... she pointed out (and she is a NotTrump GOPer!) that this shouldn't be surprising, a rich Irish kid who likes to drink too much.  I was glad she said it and not I, though I of course would have added something about not keeping it in their pants.  More seriously... I made the comment that this administration is like the cartoons, where Foghorn Leghorn or Wile E. Coyote always steps on the rake...  no matter they do (Trump!), it always gets done wrong... I mean, picking a SC justice shouldn't be that hard, and I know our President isn't really one for propriety...someone should have sussed this out and found someone who was... more of a prude?

The new NAFTA/tariff thing is another point.  We put some provisions that open the Canadian dairy market to our goods... ok, this is a good thing, especially in competitive states -- MN, WI, NH; hell, even in OH and PA, farmers raise cows.  You'd think someone woudl be out there trying to get this message out, but even if they were, it would Kavanaugh, so... oi.

Linx

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/kavanaugh-republicans/571477/

Well, aren't they?  Ok, they are, and that's fine, sort of....but what I think GOPers do object to -- but have trouble stating even semi-coherently -- is that Democrats created the standard of "morals don't matter in a President" and "accusers must be besmirched at every opportunity" and now are changing the rules when it is politically convenient for them.  (Not that I blame them.) Again, if we had any brains, someone would be asking every Democrat -- especially those on say, the Judiciary Committee, exactly when and how did they come to this position when, say, two decades ago, they didn't feel that way.

https://www.cleveland.com/expo/news/erry-2018/10/ef02acccf92394/catholic-priest-sex-scandal-wi.html#incart_river_index

Well, this is...something?  I mean, I always applauded -- in its own way -- the guys in Cleveland who came up with the idea of sending this to the papal nuncio to bury it.  On the other hand, well, let's face it:  Bishop Perez certainly wasn't here for this, most of the guys are dead, and, in its own way, he gets to crap on his predecessors, boosting himself.  Genius!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/%E2%80%98the-trauma-for-a-man%E2%80%99-male-fury-and-fear-rises-in-gop-in-defense-of-kavanaugh/ar-BBNOMjh?li=BBnb7Kz

I don't necessarily disagree here...if I had a daughter who had suffered, I would be appalled...but if I had a son who was falsely accused...well, I think the same feelings would apply.  For all the complaining about the Mike Pence rule...