The end of a season

Family Christmas -- my Dad's side -- last nite.  As always, a lot of fun, even if the party meant I was out late.. not that I am old, but I do have this cold that is NOT going away and with all of the sleepless nights coming up, I should probably dial things down a bit.  I intend to do so tonight, which means I will be up until two. 

I watched "My Fair Lady" today...getting me to 697.  It's a musical.  It's long.  I am not exactly sure why this one was a entry on the NFR, but there it is.  Rah.  I also walked during most of it -- the living room and its environs, as I am feeling the fatness, as we say in the Fun Run Bunch, and I figured one way to at least burn some calories and not sit around was to pace. I have done it before, lately, and as I am trying to burn through films and TV shows in this baseball offseason, I may keep it up.

Speaking of, one thing that impressed me was how the Reds were able to leverage a shitty pitcher with a "favorable" contract into a bunch of useful parts.  As the Tribe talks about trading a starter....well, if they do, the return had better be...well, substantial.

https://www.vox.com/2018/12/21/18151602/planned-parenthood-pregnant-employees-maternity-leave-fmla
I can imagine that a bunch of pregnant women running around would not exactly be a ringing endorsement of their "services."

https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/medicare-will-require-hospitals-to-post-all-prices-online?fbclid=IwAR0cAguJFEdSKZoPUc9oVF0wrb8rKTcjNzIFJcmjOdvVi_XMERZSn8fP5iA
I think this is a good thing... honestly, for all of the "intelligence" that went into Obamacare, you'd have thought that they would have included this in it.

Progress

So, I took advantage of the off day and watched "Hud" (696), a new entry to the NFR.  It was...good?  I mean, I did like it, a little slow, more of a family drama than a Western, but good enough.  Funny, one of the actors...recognized but could not place him, and then I figured it out... it was the little kid from "Shane," but all grown up.

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/12/how-about-you-just-admit-you-hate.html
This is pretty funny, and I have to give Rand Paul credit for going there... I have to admit, I think the departure from Syria is bad and that it costs us Mattis... well, to me, victory in Syria (so far) is indeed a key policy win for the President; bombing the shit out of them is a simple plan (one understood by 45) and it is easy so why stop it...keep bombing and have some troops there.  On the other hand, I think you, me, everyone forgets that the isolationist wing of the GOP is probably more supportive of Trump so the blowback is less... And, to some extent, Rand Paul is right; short of making the place the 51st state, there is very little we can do any more after all this time. Now, I think the idea of being the cop on the beat is fine enough, but...

I have to admit, the rumor that the Tribe is shopping Kluber to the Padres is...well, I really can't see anything that they have that we could use to make our team better....

Departures

Christmas Day, so....Merry Christmas, everyone!  Mine has so far been good; some books, some snacks, some other things...and some quality family time, what could be better?

So, one of my coworkers sent me a list of ALL the Tribe players from 2018 who are gone.  I was...well, check it out for yourself:
Brantley
Donaldson
Rajai Davis
Melky Cabrera
Chisenhall
Guyer
Gomes
Yonder Alonso
Yandy Diaz
Edwin!
Cody Allen
Andrew Miller

Ok...some of these guys we will NOT miss -- Alonso, Guyer, Rajai? I like Rajai, but he is not quite the player he was.  Guyer was good when healthy, which was rare...you could say that about Chisenhall.  Allen and Miller... I don't know, maybe?  They weren't quite the same last year, and if they rebound, good.. but if not, will we miss them?

Edwin I will miss, but I am not we will miss him. Gomes was an asset, so that is one.  Yandy I think will be fine but it's like Edwin, for a different reason.  That leaves Melky (I think he returns), Donaldson (we hardly knew ye) and Brantley... the last two, again, if they are healthy, but that is a HUGE risk.  (I didn't expect Donaldson to stick around, so no big loss, per se....)

So I guess my point is that yes, we will miss them, but I am not sure that ALL of them will be missed.  With the exception of Gomes, all of them have SOME issue that would make one say maybe not.  The best case (for us) is that all of them have declines and the front office looks brilliant.  But for how many will that be the case?  And, if the rotation stays intact...

Randoms

So, as I often do around the holidays, I have a cold. Oi.  It didn't stop me from last nite going out and having some fun -- a cookie party and a new job party for a friend, both in the PSRCH.  This morning I went out, hit the gym, and finished the shopping.  Rah.  The snow makes it feel like Christmas, but as for everything else... well, it is hard to feel so at times.

I am up to 694 on the new and updated NFR list -- I watched "Something Good, Negro Kiss" today.  Yes, it is just 28 seconds...

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/20/18146316/chick-fil-a-growth-controversy
I have to admit...did it ever occur that maybe, just maybe, it is because of the boycotts that people are going there?  The author sort of hints at it, but I just wonder if they are missing it (maybe intentionally?).

I got a kick a couple of days ago at work, as someone was complaining that they had to go to Mass today because you couldn't go on Sunday and hit Christmas Eve, and that would be doing it two days in a row.  As you can imagine, this did not compute.

Catching up

On the one hand, I apologize for not blogging earlier; on the other, this is the first time I've had a hunk of time to do this...on Saturday at 3:30 PM.  I have been...busy.  Not one thing, of course, but all little things -- shopping, meeting with friends, baking brownies for the church fest, company Xmas party, the usual.  Rah.  And, there is more busy-ness to come!  Oi?  Yay?  We survive.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-13/full-employment-proves-to-be-the-best-weapon-against-inequality

There was an article there, I think, as well, which discussed the increase in blue-collar incomes, and I think they are both right.  One, Trump's tax cut did, I think, boost a lot of blue-collar hiring (I certainly got that impression from work!) and as there are not enough people to do it, it means that people are not only going to get hired, but they are going to get paid more.  I would think that people in general spend money, especially after a day or week or work-work, so that in turn puts more money in other people's pockets, such as the service industry, and these people are going to spend as well...

https://www.outsideonline.com/2372881/dicks-sporting-goods-gun-sales

Um...yes?  I mean, piss off people in a certain way and they will respond.  The funny thing, to me, is that this is something liberals have used to their advantage; I mean, there always used to be Christian groups running around boycotting Disney for gay day, but no one paid attention...this of course is different, but I think now people, on the right, don't really trumpet this...they just stay away.

https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-18-144/

I have only seen four of these -- "The Informer" just a few weeks ago -- but I think I can add a bunch.  Let's just say that no one should be surprised that I have seen but four, and some of the more popular ones are those that I have missed.  This means I have seen 693 of the 750, so hitting 700 is now more doable. 

Tired but not enough

So, after a week that was... long, to put it mildly, and not very sleep-filled, here I am, now not able to sleep.  Oi.  So, we blog.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/reports-former-ole-miss-coach-hugh-freeze-hired-at-liberty/ar-BBQDd8m?li=BBnba9I
This seems a little...soon?  I mean, Liberty, for all its pretense of Christianity... well, I guess I would think there are other candidates out there with less baggage?  Not that I am against redemption, and Jesus certainly met with fallen women, but...  context?  OK, let's cut the crap, this is funny as hell, and who are we kidding.  But, the optics do, or at least should matter in these things...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/28/feature/the-confederacy-was-built-on-slavery-how-can-so-many-southern-whites-still-believe-otherwise/?utm_term=.c555bb5a9fd6&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
Um, ok?  I've always been a little torn by these people, sort of like Creationists.  On the one hand, what the hell do I care, and it is, well, not necessarily harmless, but more... benign.  But it really isn't, these people running around out there and spewing bs.  I can take the Southern heritage and pride and respecting the dead; hell, we still let the Wehrmacth honor their dead across Europe (like it or not).  But the accompanying crap is just....crap?

In a similar vein, I, like everyone else on the right-right, am a little bemused by the 41 love.  Not saying he didn't deserve it, but where was this when he was...alive and say, President?  Much like only now do people get around to saying that maybe Bill Clinton was a little predatory, this all seems a little late and a little short.

In other news, I've come to the conclusion that I really need to get chopping on the Xmas shopping...

Quick links

https://newrepublic.com/article/152290/battle-lines-civil-war-slavery

Interesting.... I rather liked Wood's Empire of Liberty and I would not mind reading the books he listed here...

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/04/avenatti-announces-that-he-will-not-run-for-president-in-2020-1043388
This could be me, but I think he would be better off running as a Democrat in Ohio, or at least the county, as obviously the Democrats here have no problem with this sort of thing...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/lets-talk-about-why-we-eat%e2%80%94and-dont-eat%e2%80%94at-chick-fil-a/ar-BBQs948?li=BBnb7Kw
Umm...sure?  I don't know; on the one hand, yes, I eat there, and I try to support places/causes/etc. that reflect my political and personal views.  On the other hand... well, at the end of the day, I am not sure we should care; for one, good is good.  For another... as I like to tell my progressive friends, what if someone went out and did this thing to you....would you like it? Generally, of course, they do not...

https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2018/12/boys-girls-clubs-of-cleveland-needs-help-locating-two-stolen-vans.html
As we all know, this isn't too far from church... I am appalled, but certainly not shocked, that this happened.  I don't know...the neighborhood is full of Hope and Changers, so...shouldn't you expect this?  I mean, I guess liability for a bus full of kids is through the roof, so I can see someone NOT paying replacement... but you have to look around...

Caught up

Off today, which was nice... I was able to catch up on some emails and other things, do some paperwork... took Mom to lunch to Pierogies of Cleveland (POC) in Richfield...it was just ok?  (It was a little disappointing, I expected more, perhaps?)  Mom thought it was too greasy but she is the grease Nazi.. I had cream corn pierogi -- which were awesome -- and chicken paprikash, which were ok... not much paprikash that I could taste, which to me is the reason why.  I picked some dessert ones to take home, so we will see...

I noted that Akron fired Terry Bowden.  Ok, he went 4-8 -- after winning last year -- so that I can see.  On the other hand... one, could anyone do any better?  Maybe, but maybe not; the MAC is a tough neighborhood (losing six in a row hurt, as did the Nebraska game, which could have been a W).  Two, given the cash issues at UA...well, maybe they should have waited?  The optics aren't good, paying a guy NOT to coach when you are bleeding cash elsewhere..

https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/index-of-essays
I was poking around the site -- trying find ways to see the films I have not yet seen -- and found these. It took a few days to read them all, but they were on the whole fairly interesting; to be sure, some of them addressed different points than others, but I always like the behind-the-scenes stuff, and this certainly qualified.

Interesting

Well, that was an...interesting trade?  I guess I don't see it, though if they had a jonesing to trade someone, Gomes is fine... rather than a starter.  As one of my coworkers pointed out, this would mean that the Tribe front office is of the opinion that Perez can be a starter.  As he was the fourth-worst hitter in the league or so... also, they may expect Gomes to decline next year, and that is a fair take, I think, though not as much as Roberto's base level.  On the other hand, the fair question ask is what we got in return... and it seems to be a 4th OF, a swingman, and what I could hope to be the world's greatest PTBNL? Ok, there are holes in the pen, and  he can fill them, but... giving up a good C for a reliever?  Um, yeah, surre.

https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-flight-93-election/

The above was referenced in this article:
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/19/17841946/trump-conservatism-california-gop-shapiro-midterms-2018
And, to use one of my favorite phrases...yes no maybe?  The problem is -- and I think this was only solved by Reagan -- is that the two sides of the GOP, if you will, have never really been able to work together.  This could be me, but there are dozens of ways that the religious right and the economic conservatives could collaborate.  Ok, school vouchers they did, but elsewhere...nada.  This I find to be troubling... if yoiu think about it, voting with your pocketbook should be the easiest thing to do, and similarly, the GOP should be able to say "For ALL of these reasons, this needs to go."  But, as the Flight 93 article points out, we never do. And it is sad.