Underwhelming

So, the Browns fired Freddie Kitchens today.. not that I really care, of course, but on the one hand I think it needed to be done, but on the other... well, there is a case to be made that he learned from his mistakes and that to put in a new coach and system and all now... well, it would be starting the clock again, and I am not sure that is good for the development of Baker Mayfield.  Alas, alack.

Continuing with the theme, I finally got around to watching "I Am Not Your Negro," the documentary/biopic about James Baldwin.  While I liked it...  I guess for all of the hullaballoo about it from other people, it was...ok?  Maybe it's a bit dated, maybe the movement has changed, or maybe -- while I like what I read of Baldwin - I just thought he was off (in the 1619 project sense) about what he was talking about... not that I am not glad I watched it, but, as with so much else in life...I expected more.

Hole filling

Merry Belated Christmas everyone!  As always, I should have blogged sooner, but with the holiday and all...anyways, my Xmas was pretty good -- books and some nice presents -- and always too much food.  The weather is wonderful for this time of year, global warming be damned!

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/
As I had posted the response, it is only...fair and balanced... to post the counter-response.

In other news, the Tribe finally made a move and signed a FA... as I told the boys at work, it was the obvious move, so while it is a good thing, it's not exactly something that should be rewarded with a ticker-tape parade, either.  One thing I did note -- that in addition to being a better glove than Kip -- is that if the walk rate recovers (no sure thing), he would be...well, more than useful, to put it mildly.  Not sure where he will hit in the lineup -- seven comes to mind -- but at least that hole is filled.

Linx

All this blogging I am doing!  Ha!  Anyways, today I hit the mall and got ALL of the shopping done, yay!  It wasn't too bad -- I parked close enough, found everything I needed (eventually), and got the gift wrapping... they actually moved into an empty store this year, which I guess is indicative of the decline of malls in general...for better or worse.

https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-19-116/
I've seen five of these, excluding "Gaslight" and "Old Yeller," which I am excluding because it has been a while since I have seen them.  I guess I do like the concept of a diverse film population, so this is fine with me. As for the revised count, it is now 714 of 775.. I've gone away with trying to add to the list, so now I have something to shoot for...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/millennials-are-leaving-religion-and-not-coming-back/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Interesting?  I mean, on the one hand...well, what the hell do I care, as I like to say, more room in heaven for me... On the other, of course, is the fact that as fewer people are in the pews... well, eventually, there will have to be...contraction.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-unites-republicans-may-be-changing-same-with-democrats/
I thought this was also interesting...

Underwhelmed

So...the trade.  Like many, I was...underwhelmed?  I mean, I think that deal is available at the trading deadline, if Kluber pitches...poorly.  If he pitches well, you get a better prospect haul, and we know how they love prospects... I guess I do not mind that it is a salary dump, but then don't tell me that it is anything but.  As I often say at work, I don't mind the BS, but don't lie to me.

In other baseball news, I love the Trevor Bauer tweetstorm over the MiLB contraction; he's right, for one... you'd think someone would point out that businesses never really grow by contracting, and this is a business like any other...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/retreat-christian-soldiers/603043/
This, I thought was interesting, mainly because... well, I think what people on the left tend to forget, or not to realize, that this is the logical progression of their ideas/thought patterns.  I guess this is me, but -- wasn't the story about Daniel Boone that his neighnot was seven miles away and thus too close -- Americans like to move for all sorts of reasons, and if you can't stand your neighbors and their values... well, oh well?  I am not saying I want to live in this town, but if people who want to do, it would seem to be...anti-choice... to prevent it and castigate them.

Catching up

So, another hiatus in posting... no real reason, just...being busy.  And, I am trying to get over a cold, and, of course I am just...lazy?  Alas.  We will now commence with the usual empty promise of more posts!  :P

I wonder -- not sure if you can quantify it -- how much of BoJo's electorate is "Trumpian" and how much is people who are appalled by Corbyn. I am not sure all of it will carry over here -- the left is newer and more energized on this side of the pond -- but I suspect in the UK BoJo, for all his faults, is... well, more comforting...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/an-ode-to-the-video-store-chain-on-the-occasion-of-blockbuster-s-demise?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 I actually think (or thought; how often have I gone to one) that this was one of the best things about the video store...you could (if you were interested) go out and see and learn about films that you would not have experienced otherwise...

https://ahousedividedapd.com/2019/12/05/how-the-decline-of-religious-institutions-fueled-the-rise-of-the-trump-evangleical-coalition/

 Interesting.  I guess I come from the Catholic side of things, where there is Church teaching and actual practice...but I would argue on the Protestant side of things there is a sorting, where people tend to go to churches where what they believe in preached and practiced.  I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing -- as I say at work, no one should be forced to eat at bad restaurants, right?  -- but on the other hand, let the market decide isn't exactly sound theology.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/10/opinion/welfare-state-brezhnev-doctrine/

Funny and true!

Links

So, I told myself I wouldn't take a week to blog again, and here I am!  Ha!  No, more seriously, I have been busy, and when I was not...well, I watched Duke beat MSU, which was fine, though I kept wondering how they lost to the Lumberjacks...  funny, because I always tell people that playing Duke (at least for ACC play) is...well, it can be the highlight of the year, and so everyone plays up for that game.  And someone did!

Anyways...
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/oake-n18.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/28/wood-n28.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/14/mcph-n14.html

I love these things; I mean, guess I sort of liked the NYT stuff, but... I did notice that they missed things, some big things -- the role of the Africans in the slave trade, the revolution caused by the cotton gin, the fact that inequality and prejudice really came to fore after Reconstruction.  I do love this stuff, though... I've read a lot of what these guys have written, of course, and now I want more...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/buffalo-bishop-malone-resigns-following-accusations-that-he-mishandled-sex-abuse-cases/ar-BBXK0Xa?li=BBnb7Kz
I am shocked, shocked by this...