Friedrich Schiller Aesthetic Letters (1794) and his concept of art as Spiel (Play).
I had never read that before :o. That is EXACTLY my definition of Man at His Best.
Friday, October 02, 2026
USMLE Today
Dr. Ana beat the curve! Dr. Dum-Dum tied his high score, 45% correct. MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW IS THE SMARTEST DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!
Public Occurrences October 1, 2026
Tennessee is 0-2 This Year in Executions After Last Night's 2 OT Thriller
9:03 pm:
9:03 pm:
Sending 3 Carriers and 9,000 More Troops, Trumpie Vows to Hit Iran "very hard"--After Mid-Term Elections
Thursday, October 01, 2026
Stillers tie Sensitive City at 24 on TD and 2-pt conversion, 1:42 4Q
Sensitives led 21-7. Well-played, exciting game. The two QBs, Ancient Anti-Vax Jolly Rogers and Deshaun Give-Me-a-Massage Watson are both having excellent games. Steel was -2.5.
Pigskin Futures Investing
The State University of New Jersey at Ruptures vs Indiana (6) -23.5.
First bet of the season! I'm putting a nickel on the Scarlet Pimpernel to cover at SHIA Stadium.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano Video Statement Transcript
I post in its entirety but bold and repeat here at top the subject of this post:
"...the Premier League Commission has introduced an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory."
Soriano is Spanish, not Arabic. According to Google AI he is fluent in six languages: Catalan (native), Spanish (native), English, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
I mention his language proficiency for two reasons: "introduced" is awkward usage; the correct verb would be "issued"; more importantly because Sorriano's English words "the Premier League's conspiracy theory" mean that the league had a conspiracy theory about what Manchester City was doing. That is, the league's theory is that City conspired to hide the money. That's clear to everyone, correct?
I make that straightforward point because that's not what the (English) headlines say, viz,
Every word from Ferran Soriano message to Man City staff over Premier League 'conspiracy'
Manchester Evening News
Ferran Soriano called the club's guilty financial verdict part of a Premier League Conspiracy after an independent commission ruled against them.
ESPN
According to those headlines, Soriano said City were the victim of a conspiracy--by the Premier League. That is not what the man said...he should have but he didn't.
Now this is the money shot of this post: City did perpetrate a financial conspiracy against the EPL. They have been found guilty of 114 counts of a financial "sham". They will be punished for such.
It is also true, and not a defense (I don't think), as I wrote yesterday, that the EPL and other clubs in the EPL conspired against Manchester City.That is, Soriano would be correct if he had said or meant to say that the league and its most prominent clubs had conspired against City. City won it's first Premier League title at the end of the 2011/12 season. The league's Profit and Sustainability rules went into effect the next season after the next, 2013/14. They were, as I wrote at the time, since, and recently, the Anti-Manchester City rules. That's the EPL's conspiracy against Manchester City's conspiracy.
The reason why I am pretty, pretty sure that the EPL's conspiracy against City is not a defense to City's conspiracy to cook the books is because (well, because the Commission convicted them) the EPL's was not a secretive, illegal or against-the-rules conspiracy--it was a conspiracy done by the book, in the open, by adoption of a new rule approved in a vote of all league members including City, who voted in favor of it. If you want to play in the Premier League, Abu Dhabi United Group, you have to play by Premier League rules. City didn't and now is Shamchester City.
The only defense in Anglo-American jurisprudence (maybe they will have better luck before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)) that I can conjure is a City argument that the Premier League conspiracy against City continued after the P&S rules went into effect by non-enforcement. That is, the league strung City along, never inquiring, investigating or warning, "letting" City compete in its competitions and win trophy after trophy until Der Spiegel dumped their bucket of shit on City. And it wasn't that the EPL was shocked, shocked by Der Spiegel's spiel. City were suspected, strongly. The first bit of fishy business was Etihad Airways sponsorship deal with the club. By a magnitude out of then prevailing market. That was a big story and it stunk. What did the Premier League do about it? Nothing that I am aware of. "Hey ADUG, everything on the up-and-up here? Very well, keep calm and carry on."
In the humble opinion of this retired Colonies' criminal lawyer, that shit still stinks. Over here, I am confident in the Mother Country also, you don't have the right to be arrested. Sounds silly but sometimes unclever defense attorneys make the argument that if the gendarme had just timely arrested their client for the first murder he committed, well then he wouldn't have committed the eight others!
Not a perfect analogy but the fatality in the defense is the same. You don't get to commit murder or violate any law or rule until you get caught and then only for the first one! When the authorities have the evidence they will pop you on the first one and if and when they get the evidence on the others they will pop your ass agayne.
Statute of limitations? You know what that is, right? If not, look it up, my back hurts. Yeah, City have a S-o-L argument, essentially you do have the right to be arrested timely, not for murder, but for instance in a third degree felony in Florida the S-o-L is five years. That is Soriano's reference to the 2020 CAS case. That was UEFA. CAS is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. CAS ruled that City were not guilty of remote offenses because of their version of the S-o-L. City will appeal this, I don't know the first body they appeal to, but eventually yes, it will make its way to CAS. It strikes me as a different case. UEFA is a pan-European competition; the English Premier League is like in England. Different admission criteria, different rules.
Double jeopardy? No.
Had enough? Me too. Here is Soriano:
"I want to share some information related to the ongoing disciplinary process between Manchester City and the Premier League. A document has been made public with an opinion of the Premier League commission that is negative to our interests. I want to explain exactly what this is, the next steps and how we are going to continue to defend the club, and finally be vindicated in this process.
"This has gone for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation - that the owners' personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true.
"Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate that the money did not come from the owner. Every other false charge that has been thrown at us - and aggressively marketed and promoted - comes from the simple, central, and completely false accusation.
"Surprisingly for us, and for our lawyers, after nearly two years the Premier League Commission has introduced an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.
"Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact and it is unsafe. Remember we have been here before. In 2020 we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to an independent body in CAS and we won.
"We will now be relentless in our work. We will focus on the independent appeal process and also all other legal avenues available to us in order to win the case, and we will take all necessary action to protect the club and seek compensation from any party that tries to damage it now, and in the future.
"I know this can be a bit of a distraction but please remain focused on our business and take care of our extended City family as we always do. Please follow the normal protocols in referring to fan, partner and media enquiries. Very soon we will look back at this and recognise it is another time in our history when we dealt with adversity and overcame it together."
Political Occurrences
RealClearPolitics: Dems Pick Up Six Seats in Senate--Including Texas--Twenty-Five in House, Control Both Chambers
Losing Texas, Georgia (again), North Carolina (again), in addition to Virginia (a Blue state since President Obama) and the Solid GOP South isn't too solid anymore! This would be the Apocalypse and it would be all Trump's fault. "Pretend I'm on the ballot" he has said. Voters are! This is his party, bought, paid for, owned. These are his candidates, Paxton, Rogers, Collins, Whatley. Iran is his war; this is his inflation; these are his tariffs; affordability is his "hoax". He would get all the blame. For the next two years he would be the lamest duck in the history of ducks.
8:52 pm:
Top Democrats, Long Hesitant to Spend Money in Texas, Start to Back Talarico
The main super PAC for Senate Democrats will begin to run digital ads in the state’s Senate race, in a sign of the party’s growing confidence.
nytimes
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
City Verdict Official
The club chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak has always been an absolutist about the case: City never did anything wrong; there would be no negotiations to work it out; there would be no compromise. It was scorched earth full 100. Al Mubarak's reaction today is full 100 laughably embarrassing:
"Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion..."
Why do you lie? You were not surprised; you were told before the public found out on Friday.
"the club is innocent...and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in supporting all of its positions..."
😂🤣
😂🤣
"Comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" has been his standard line, repeated ad nauseum.
PUT DOWN YOUR CRACK PIPE YOU FUCKING POLTROON! YOU HAVE TWEETY BIRDS FLYING AROUND IN YOUR HEAD! YOUR COMPREHENSIVE BODY JUST WENT 1/115. YOU HAVE ZERO FUCKING CREDIBILITY! YOU ARE A FUCKING DISGRACE, A FUCKING EMBARRASSMENT TO SHEIKH MANSOUR, TO ABU DHABI, TO THE UAE, TO THE ENTIRE FUCKING MUSLIM WORLD. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE SOCCER BIZ!
Jonathan McKinsey above, director of engineering, games department, New York Times, was shot and killed on Saturday in California by his in-laws Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 76. McKinsey, 40 years old, was transgender. McKinsey was married to Candice Jang and they had three children together. Their marriage was characterized by mutual abuse allegations and child abuse against McKinsey.
Jonathan McKinsey was born Dawn S. Finney and was known by that female name until 2010 when he underwent surgery and changed both name and gender identity to Jonathan McKinsey.
Dawn Finney, center, green shirt, in 2009, the year before becoming Jonathan McKinsey.
That guy with the full beard and male pattern baldness was a female for 24 of his 40 years? I did not see that coming, hoo doggie. I was in such disbelief that I had to make sure I understood what transgender meant as applied to him.
When a person transitions to the opposite gender their birth name is referred to as their "deadname". Now, McKinsey is his "deadname" too.
Will the Boat Sink the Water? Premier League v Manchester City
One report I read has it that the independent commission's written verdict will heavily criticize the league along with, of course, City. That too is warranted. The EPL put it's Profit and Sustainability rules into effect the season after the season after "Aguerrooo!" I called them then, I call them now, the anti-Manchester City rules. The league put them into effect and then ignored them, allowing City to play on in all of its competitions.
However this resolves it is now beyond a one v one dispute between one short pants football club and one booby league, calamitous as that may be for both. To use the nomenclature of geopolitical conflict, not inappropriate here!, the issue has become one of "containment". To borrow a term from warfare, there is grave risk of "collateral damage". To put it in medical terms, there is a "cancer" and it has "metastasized."
To be direct and not metaphorical, the relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom is now implicated. Manchester City are owned by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), a private equity firm founded in 2008, at the time of the purchase of the club. City are the crown jewel in a global necklace of football clubs operated by City Football Group. The necklace is not merely for Sheikh Mansour's vanity. It is a projection of "soft power" by Abu Dhabi: to improve the Emirates image, to do well by doing good, to get favorable media coverage, to fix trade between the UAE and UK with a bejeweled clasp. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Andy Burnham, is a former mayor of Manchester. He has vouched for the good work of Sheikh Mansour in the city, not just in the success of the club, in the revitalization of East Manchester. Burnham met with representative of Abu Dhabi in July. The latter expressed deep concern over the investigation and pending verdict in Premier League v Manchester City. Now the Prime Minister, Burnham has warned against "jumping to conclusions" in the case even as the case has reached a conclusion (save punishment). The UK Culture Minister has jumped to the conclusion that while foreign investment in the UK is welcome, including in its cultural manifestations of football clubs, all owners of such entities must obey the rules. So we have a disagreement in jumps in the UK government.
All of this informs my impotent conclusion that the cancer must be excised, that the Premier League must force ADUG to sell Manchester City FC. It was a mistake to permit a prominent arm of a foreign government to insert its full length into the viscera Great Britain's sporting culture. It was a mistake to allow Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to buy and control Newcastle United. But confining ourselves to the case at bar, there is no other sanction that will excise the cancer, not a fine (laughter encouraged), not a points deduction, not expulsion or suspension from the Premier League; none other will do but removing the current ownership of the club. This is not to say that those other "normal" sanctions should not be imposed, only that this is not a "normal" case, that along with those, a forced sale must occur to ensure that club and cancer do not come back. The sale, of course, must be made at fair market value. Forbes places City as the seventh-most valuable soccer club in the world at $5.5B. There are billionaires who are not arms of foreign governments who will pay $5.5B for a club that, according to Deloitte in its 2026 report, generated the sixth-highest revenue in the world, $939M.
The "bottom line" to use the financial term is that ADUG has not obeyed the EPL's rules, will not obey the rules in the future, will fight this sale as tenaciously as they have fought the investigation, verdict, and coming punishment. ADUG did these things and the Premier League brought this case. And the war came. Both must contend with the consequences of their actions. The league is debased. The boat will sink the water regardless of punishment. The Super League is coming. Since the Premier League is going to get the same fight, why not just be done with ADUG altogether?
Monday, September 28, 2026
The Future of the English Premier League
[The City case] remains an existential threat to the league. Not least in the depth of ill-feeling. City’s owners clearly have a deep hostility towards their fellow Premier League members, who are being portrayed as partial and culturally biased. Why would you want to remain part of this organisation? Why would you make any effort to protect it?
Nothing is over, nothing is done. All that seems certain is that this would probably be a good time to hoist the death’s‑head flag and get that old Super League ship rolling again. There might just be a few more takers this time.
Nothing is over, nothing is done. All that seems certain is that this would probably be a good time to hoist the death’s‑head flag and get that old Super League ship rolling again. There might just be a few more takers this time.
I Got Firsts!
The line in Pitt vs Va. Tech Friday night has dropped from -5.5 to -3.5
My youngest brother is the biggest Pitt fan known to mankind.
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Public Occurrences September 27, 2026
Egypt Warned Netanyahu of Impending Attack on Israel Before Oct. 7
The alert adds to claims that the Israeli leader ignored signs of Hamas’s battle plans, giving his election opponents fuel
Wally
10:17 am:
NAZA
Palestinian death toll in Gaza war passes 74,000
APThink what it would have been if the IDF hadn't been scrupulous in sparing civilians!
There is panic now. The afternoon began brightly, as bright as gray can be, but after dusk the fog crawled down the mountains into the valley, silently, barely perceived, ignored, largely, when it was noticed until darkness fell, when it seized the 108,000 inhabitants by the throat temporarily paralyzing all other muscles, rooting them in position whether standing or sitting. At first, some of those who could make sound emitted only guttural noise, uncommonly heard here, unable to form intelligible words, painful, angry, sickened, paralyzed, animal-like whoops. Most could not, or would not, make any sound. They left, mostly in the hush of shuffling soft shoes, slowly then as rapidly as they could, hoping against reality to escape the fog. But they could not escape it, it had infiltrated every cell in their body, and now, the morning after they feel the lingering effects on the soul as a hangover which will not subside on the body. Penn State 20 Wisconsin 24.
Hurricane nolo
No! I was just saying to my daughter-in-law, Whew! looks like we escaped another season. Honestly, we didn't have a whiff this season.
Saturday, September 26, 2026
BOOGERZZZ!!!! Paterno-Sandusky (13) -10 Lose at Lasch 20-24 Wisconsin
Snits blew a 17 zip lead in this one on new HC Matt Campbell's first real game. Boogers outscored them 17-3 second half.
"This may be the slowest touchdown in history" (Reddit)
You may think Jacob Harris is having a heart attack running...and then he falls down in the end zone. 😁
"HARRIS, OFF AND RUNNING!" 👀
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