Linx

Got my first Christmas card today...  I guess this is ok, as it is Advent and there is snow on the ground, but... well, it seems soon?  I also hate winter, and this doesn't exactly help.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/costs-confederacy-special-report-180970731/
Interesting.  Not surprising.  Of course, if I were, say, a GOPer, I would go out and say that as we are the party of small government, we should practice what we preach, and stop funding them... if the UDC and their ilk would like to take over...  the problem, of course, is that then you would indeed have a whitewash of every stripe (ok, just the white one) and it would make fake news seem...quaint.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-gm-should-pay-us-taxpayers-back-for-bailout/ar-BBQcy2K?li=BBnb7Kz
This could be me, but...yes?  It does seem fair to say that they have violated a social contract, and that this money was given so they could grow their business and invest in communities, and if they choose not to.... give us the money back?  To me, this is the sort of politicking Trump can do; much like in 2016 when he could say that the system was rigged for guys like him, and he could stop it... here is the point where he could say that he is trying to build up manufacturing, union work, etc... and they go out and flip the rug out from under the American worker.  It is the sort of thing he could easily do, cost little politically, and... nada.   Oi.

Surprises

Well, that was... unexpected? I don't know, even I thought OSU would get slaughtered, but... nope. Impressive.  For all the crap Urban Meyer has pulled this year, you have to give him credit for the win.  Now, I don't think OSU really has a path to the tournament, at least not without help, but...at least they didn't whimper away.

Another thing that surprised me -- at least at first -- was Josh Donaldson going to the Braves for 1/$23.  It's a lot, especially if you aren't sure he is healthy enough to play all the tine.  But, if he is... you've got a sweet deal, and if not, you're only throwing away a year's worth of cash.  And, the player gets more cash to make up for lack of career certainty.  Still, if he can't play....

I started watching "Turn" on DVD --  I saw it at the library while looking for something else, and grabbed it... so far it is good...

I went to Kmart today to get some stuff for the giving tree gifts at church... it's interesting.  Most of the Wal-Marts I have been to -- and all of them around here -- are pretty much shitholes, but every time I go to our local Kmart.. well, they're usually in pretty good shape.  Today, it was immaculate.  (Not having crowds might be the issue, but...) Things were pretty easy to find and the people were...friendly?  I mean, they didn't seem to be like the Wal-Mart worker, if you get my drift.  I realize Eddie Lampert has run Sears, and Kmart, into the ground, and that is sad, but sometimes I wonder if the wrong chain isn't going out of business...

Bemusement

So, here I am, Thanksgiving Eve, feeling fat, and with the prospect of MORE food to go.  Oi. I did hit the gym hard today, and will do so tomorrow AM, but of course the idea is to NOT eat... and now is not the time for that sort of thing.  Alas, alack.  The slight uptick in warmer weather might encourage me to sneak a walk in, or something, just to burn a few hundred calories...

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/08/24/why-success-for-women-candidates-the-2018-midterms-might-turn-more-male-voters-away-from-the-democratic-party/
Interesting?  I don't know; I mean, I there will be a limit as to how far you can push this... some women - pro-lifers, Evangelicals, etc., just won't go "D," and similarly some just won't go "R," no matter what.  Pushing independents into one camp... maybe?  I think the 2018 midterm was one election, as was the 2016 one.  So, if this continues for 2020, I will be impressed.  Policy-wise; I am not sure you will ever have a "pro-male" agenda...even if you did, I think it would be blocked by courts, and unless you overturned that...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/14/18088930/mississippi-election-2018-cindy-hyde-smith-midterms
On the one hand, yes, I can see how in Mississippi, this is an issue.  Mind you, as it was traditionally Democrats who made hangings part of policy, I haven't exactly seen anything like an apology from them, but I digress.  On the other hand... for one thing, Jesus, I've said for years now that we need public hangings for any number of things, such as priests who molest kids and, say, the Bishops who harbored them.  Is someone going to go around and say that I am anti-Catholic?  (It would be as funny as hell, to be sure.)  More seriously -- and maybe I have read a bit too much Orwell for my own good, but I think this is what he calls the weaponization of language... sometimes, of course, a phrase is just a phrase, and now... well, again, given the source of this, the irony is a bit much...

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2018/11/the-many-important-people-who-vouched-for-wife-beater-and-former-judge-lance-mason.html
This could be me, but... shouldn't these people have been smarter?  (Yes, I know they are Democrats, so no, they couldn't have been, but...)  I mean, if I was, say, a Senate GOPer, I would immediately announce a program against domestic violence, and then subpoena each and every one of them and ask them what the hell they were thinking.  I can imagine that the answers would be, well, troll-central, but that would be the point. Hell, you could even bring Keith Ellison and his ilk into this, too...

There is of course another issue here...namely, for the past two years or so, Democrats have pretty much every day accused GOPers of being anti-woman, sexist, etc... now, I am not syaing of course that this isn't completely false -- there are some not  fine people out there  - but now, of course, we have Democrats killing women and a whole cohort of them suddenly caught defending the guy who did it, and the company/press line is now... well, they aren't responsible, which is mostly true, but...if the guy had been Lance Smith, and not some Democrap functionary, would he have gotten the slap on the wrist?  Of course not... So, again... if you are that stupid that you aren't aware of the track record of a domestic abuser, can we afford to have you in public office?  Of course not...

Progress of a sort

So, I was mucking around on youtube yesterday, and I came across "Verbena Tragica," which is on the National Film Registry... now, it is in Spanish, but I decided -- with the help of a wikipedia page and a translator -- that I could figure it out... and I did.  I mean, the plot was pretty simple, but it wasn't too bad -- I mean, I sort of liked it, all in all.  I then decided to muck around some more, and came up with "He Who Gets Slapped," a 1924 silent film with quite the cast -- Cheney, Gilbert, Shearer.  I liked it (at least I could read the subtitles!) though the plot was a little odd... anyways, this gets me to 687 on the list.  Obviously, I need to play around on youtube to try and round off that list...

Off work today, so I was... well, I went to the gym.  Did some reading.  Did some cleaning.  Played around on line and went through some stuff (Mattie has a lot of paperwork to do, and online paperwork is still paperwork), and... well, I don't know... I mean, it's nice and all, and I do need to decompress and handle petty crap.  On the other hand...  I feel like I should be doing more shit, like working out (gotta burn those calories) or something grander.  I realizs in a few days this will all be naught due to the other crap, but...

Sadness envelops me

Had OC duty yesterday, and it was a zoo.  Mind you, a good zoo; we closed on time, the crazies were benevolent, and the usual scammers were able to put in their place.  We had record crowds last week, and I heard some of the people were...charming.  Aside from the inabilty to supply free turkeys -- it's been a decade since we have, at least -- it was...fine? 

The downside was after...as we all know, I love going to those ethnic fests, so I went up Broadway to the Czech Holiday Fest at their cultural center... It was... not good?  No parking (ok...) and the food line was...a hot mess, so I got takeout for Mom and I (to be a good son).  When I got home...it was stone cold. My Mom called and...that's how they send it out!  We were...incredulous, to put it mildly.  Plus, it wasn't that good (after we heated it), which to me was... odd?  I mean, most of the time, you go to these things, and it is pretty good, as it may not be the old ladies doing the cooking, if you get my drift, but...their influences are there.

http://thefederalist.com/2018/11/16/the-bishops-in-their-labyrinth/
Much as I sometimes wonder what the hell has happened to my GOP, I often wonder what the hell is going on with the Church... I mean, we can say the liberals ruined it, and that is always true, but I think that everyone is at fault here.  I know I am not being completely literal when I say the solution is to hang people, but...

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/11/disgraced-former-judge-lance-mason-accused-of-fatally-stabbing-estranged-wife-in-shaker-heights-sources-say.html?fbclid=IwAR2CQJ2YUmDCQ5v15CpR2NMuW67UwbQWGZuMHWT7vDSKzGzqSAz60rSS_x4
I don't ever want to hear about Democrats being the party of women again.  In the meantime, I can only imagine how the PD is going to ask Frank Jackson about this one...  because...

https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/11/cleveland_councilman_ken_johns.html#comments
I realize this is a Democratic town, but...maybe this explains why their circulation is dropping, too...

Moves

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/duped-tricked-and-snookered-oil-analysts-say-trump-fooled-saudis-into-tanking-crude-prices/ar-BBPJq5j?li=BBnb7Kz

I was surprised by this; one, I rarely expect the media to say anything nice about the President at all.  Two... as I told my coworkers, the genius of the President is that he might not even know that he had done this... :)  Could he have?  Maybe.  I mean, low gas prices are good (a shame we couldn't use this in, say, a recent election) and especially now no one is going to complain if the Saudis are bleeding cash.  Just, for all of the POTUS'... impetuousness, this seems like a long play.  Course, if no one expects him to be able to pull this, it is far easier for him to do so.

https://sports.yahoo.com/indians-send-inf-gonzalez-pirates-5-player-swap-212519550--mlb.html

So, this happened, and I am like...hmmm?  I don't know.  To me, it seems like this is a precursor to another trade, as it seems incomplete.  Ok, Gonzalez is blocked and he is ok; a bit yippy defensively at times, not much power, prolly not a second-tier SS, so you move him and some live arms for... a less ready utility infielder and a guy who hits like an AAAA player (for now)?  Ok, maybe... I realize utility infielders are like ROOGYs, everywhere, so we could use the new guy, or find one, and plug him in, and we have five years to toy with Luplow.  But, corner OFs are also...well, easy to find.  Melky, for instance, was obviously stretched in RF and had a slow/late start, but he was.... serviceable, if not more so, after a while, and he was....free?  Anyways, I am not sure they would trade Kluber -- ok, they are dumb enough to do it, but that doesn't mean they will -- but I can see Carrasco being dangled...

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/11/9/18075390/election-2018-midterms-white-women-voters

As a feminist, I am shocked and appalled by this attempt to silence the voices of women...

I have to admit, seeing what is going on in the statehouse... it's like people just now remembered that they were actually Republicans...who knew???

Gripes!!

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/12/18088990/john-mccain-republicans-house-midterms-health-care

I don't know...maybe it did?  I mean, NOT doing it pissed off the right, and trying to do it poorly (and failing) pissed off the left.  I think had something been done... for one thing, you could have ran on it, and two, it would have made the donor class more willing to shell out dough... to say nothing of the fact that the people who vote would have had a reason to do so.  But now...

I also got a kick out of Jim Renacci's comments on Facebook...this could be me, but if you don't actually campaign, and lose by six... when every other GOP candidate wins... well, I think it should be said that YOU left everyone else on the battlefield.  Oi.

So, I made pho yesterday, and it was... ok?  Not too bad, maybe not as spicy as it could have been, but it was pretty good.  mainly I felt special for making it.

Is it me, or is it way too soon for it to be cold and snowy?  I mean, I know with all that global warming...

Curmudgeon-dom

You know, there were a couple of remarkable things that happened today... one, they arrested those people who supposedly (for now!) committed the Pike County massacre (very smart, trying to hide in Alaska)... I think I had two thoughts here, which were:
1) They'll never find the culprints
2) For all the talk of drug cartels... the perpetrators were close to home

I guess I thought #1 because people there are tight knit and don't talk, and #2 because... well, it seemed like it was... personal?  Anyways, if they did it, they should fry, because, as I like to say... well, the death penalty, if used properly, is a good thing.

The other remarkable thing -- in the shitshow category -- is that the First Lady wants changes to the President's cabinet.  This seems a little...ridiculous?  I mean, not to denigrate the policy chops of the First Lady, but this is not HRC, or even Michelle Obama here; I mean, really, she doesn't have a public role, and that is MORE than acceptable, but... it also means you really shouldn't be poking about the WH staff, especially, in, say important positions?

https://harpers.org/archive/2018/11/rebirth-of-a-nation/
I don't disagree with this, but something tells me this would NOT have ran in 2010, and, much like the Democrats who said nothing about Bill Clinton but cannot stop kvetching about Donald Trump, shitty person... well, it is more than a little rich.

http://ahousedividedapd.com/2018/11/11/maybe-the-anti-federalists-were-right/
Um....yeah?  I think they were actually right about quite a number of things, such as... well, the reaching power of the central (federal) government.  I realize my bias is toward a smaller government at the top, but..I think quite clearly the Anti-Federalists realized that the new government could have too much power over the states; to be sure, state stuff is less important now, but that wasn't always the case, and if we have some real GOPers...

On to another gripe...  I've been watching the J! Teen Tournament (it is one of my favorite times of the year) but one thing that has struck me was how often people play not to win.  To be sure, it knocked one girl out of the SemiFinals tonight by playing to win, but... this could be me, but having a lead into Final J!, getting it right, and then getting passed up... and then having to wait to see if the other people playing in the other games had the same thought as you... well, I just couldn't (and can't now) do it.  I guess it is the smart play, but...

Caught up

So, after a busy day yesterday... today I did not much.  Ok, that is not quite true... I cuaght up on some stuff, answered some of the backlogged emails, handled some social justice stuff, cleaned the house... I mean, the little things that we put off.  Rah.  And I might just figure out the Xmas shopping tonight...

I also went to town on Empire of Cotton, which looks at the role of the cotton economy is the world over time, especially in the UK and the US. I realize many would be bored by it, but it is quite fascinating...  we do tend to forget the slaves and the plantations were just one part of a large chain, all interconnected through contracts and mortgages.  Ok, I think I knew it, but in the back of my mind, and not up front, as we should...

I;ve been hitting the gym hard the past couple of days; I feel myself fatter, for one, and with the holidays coming up, now is as good a time as any to get a little extra workout work in...

The sadness

So, PQ was last nite...we came in second.  We were behind, tied it, but missed in the tiebreaker.  It was especially painful because I missed a question -- hard -- by one word.  Completely unacceptable, and it will be a long time before this one stops hurting.

Tuesday was bad, politically, but expected... the House will not be fun, no matter what the President says.  While it was a good thing to pick up some Senate seats and maybe win the governors' races in FL and GA (I think we won, but this is just a ploy to cheat)... well, some of this -- a lot of it -- is self-inflicted, and there is no getting around that.  Lindsay Graham was on one of the pundit shows, pointing out the problems were with suburban women, but... I think a stint away from Twitter would be the ideal solution....  I also don't see getting rid of Sessions; for one thing, he was the first of the Trump supporters... it adds another layer of shit to the show...  the other, of course, is that the President is running around acting like he is guilty of something...

http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/cara-data-gives-first-friday-club-of-cleveland-a-snapshot-of-catholics-in-america/
Interesting... I sort of wish I had been around to hear this...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18053582/midterm-election-results-florida-governor-ron-desantis-winner
This video is priceless... parent of the year!  Actually, it is pretty funny...

Falling back

On the one hand, it was a little odd for things to get dark so quickly today...on the other hand... well, last nite was a little cold, but beautiful.  And today... well, it was dry.  I mean, all of the cold hard rain of the last four days... well, I was even feeling a little down about it.

I really haven't done much today, save for catching up on some reading; it was funny, yesterday I cleaned the bathrooms and did a shload of paperwork, and now...well, cleaning off the bookshelf is a good thing, I should imagine.

I am a little surprised we didn't offer a qualifying offer to Brantley; I mean, there is the danger of him taking it and then getting hurt (which I consider to be likely), but to me I didn't see that as being likely, and we would have improved our draft position.  As for Miller and Allen...we'll miss them, but they are also NOT the same relievers they were a few years ago.  I was less surprised by the non-qualifying offers there, but...

This could be me, but the Tribe may be listening to offers on Kluber and all, but unless these thingsa are most incredible...I guess this is me, but maybe they were saying that they were willing to wheel and deal, and that could be the signal, not trading away your ace...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/28/18032438/trump-death-penalty-pittsburgh-shooting

Dare I say I like the guy...more?

Make it Not Rain

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2018/10/29/duke-kentucky-recruiting-freshmen-mike-krzyzewski-john-calipari

Ummm...yeah?  I don't know, for all of the talk of how Duke is superior to Kentucky and all...this sort of seems like a copout.  Teams can win without doing this; Villanova, for instance, has done it twice,and I don't seem to recall any one-and-dones there.

In other college news, I am...bemused, I guess, by the DJ Durkin thing at Maryland.  I would say how stupid can you be, but...well, people can be plenty stupid, let me tell you.  But, the thing that amuses me most is how it compares to OSU... the scenarios aren't quite the same, but in Columbus, the University seemed to want to fire him, the BoT said no, and Urban got a three-week vacation. Here...the BoT said don't fire him, but the President did so anyways.  Now, to be sure, there was a lot MORE blowback from the press on the Maryland scandal; I would argue that most people in OSU-ville didn't want him fired (conduct unbecoming or not)... but in Columbus everyone decided to swallow their objections while in College Park it was too much.  Interesting (but not surprising).

I also noted some schaudenfreude on the right-wing sites that ABC is probably not renewing "The Connors" sans Roseanne. I think...um, ok?  I am not sure there are any good outcomes here; they sort of had to fire her, since she was over the line. On the other hand, I also think a lot of people (deplorable or not) watched the show because of her, and ABC had to know this.  If they had let her stay... I dunno, how much sensitivity training and such could she have (and do any good)?  Maybe they should have sent her back, but I don't really think anyone thought it was an option.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenlopez/2018/11/02/the-demise-of-filmstruck-and-the-plight-of-the-classic-film/#60b7b768246b
For the record, I never used it... this could be me, but... I think this is a market function more than anything; there is a cable channel for classic films (TCM) and that just might be enough, or too mch, even.  I think she is right (and as a silent film fan) it is a shame that people aren't interested in cinematographic history, but I can also see it, because...well, lots of films nowadays are pretty good and cool and fun to watch; older films are different, no CGI, innuendo, etc. 

Checking in

Well, things have been a thrill-a-minute here, and with my early bedtime scotched... well, I figured I would check in with my loyal readers.

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/24/17994708/midterm-elections-2018-me-too-kavanaugh-republicans
This story amuses me... I mean, one of the issues with the Sherrod Brown thing is that there is evidence; she filed a police report.  Now, that's not something people just do... so either she lied and should face punishment, or he lied and should face punishment... but you really can't just write it off to empty words.  Ok, you can if you're a Democrat, but...

One nice thing that happened today was I took all of the baby food my parish collected -- 1200 items or so -- and took it to the OC.  Sort of funny, I forgot it was delivery day, and instead of being able to do a couple of things in undisturbed peace, it was Grand Central Station there... this was fine, but I had to go elsewhere to do crap duties.. it did sort of amuse me. Then it was off to another meeting, and then to work... where I caught up on stuff I had been leaving hanging while doing other projects.  Oi.  It was busy even if I didn't exactly clean off the inbox, if you get my drift.

I was sad to see that Dr. Z of si.com died... I don't really follow it now, but I loved his columns; good stuff about the history of the game, line play, hell...he even picked the Browns over the Saints in that win with the tipped pass...  I think I liked the polymath part of his work...he wrote about everything, and even that which I didn't like I always found interesting...