Helluva a month here at Public Occurrences, helluva month. 6441 pageviews, good for 207 per day. Russia the leading country for a full calendar month, over 2,100 pageviews, the U.S. number two at just under 1900. Helluva month. Thanks.

UPDATE: But we lost two members! :( :( :(  Swine.

No More Cavalier Performances?

Cleveland beat San Antonio (who were without Tim Duncan) last night, their fourth win in a row since Tyronn Lue replaced David Blatt, and the first image I saw of the game was...different. The image was of LeBron James of course, he was driving with the ball as I recall, and he looked fierce, as opposed to composed or Zen-abstracted or upset or lackadaisical, or even business-like. He looked fierce.

Now I read one of the write-ups on the game. The "Cavaliers" looked "frightening" was CBS' headline and, in the body of the story, "scary," "their most complete performance of the season," "merciless," they were "aggressors," "on another level" (CBS' emphasis), "overwhelming," "attacking."

Jesus Christ, was this Cleveland or Fredericksburg?

Outsiders-And we were all outsiders to David Blatt's firing; it took every single person by surprise-Outsiders never know for sure what is going on in the psyches of fourteen human beings, we only see and hear what they want us to see and hear and God (and those fourteen) only know why this has happened-Is it really as simple as playing up-tempo basketball?-but there has never been a write-up of a Cleveland "Cavalier" performance like that one since James returned, and off that, and just that, I say Tyronn Lue has changed this team, and for the better.

To climb the highest mountain "because it is there;" (1)
To choose "to go to the moon because it is hard"; (2)
To attempt to dislodge a boulder with a staff; (3)
"To be a soldier" for "a splendid carelessness for life." (4)
"To throw away [one's] life in obedience to a blindly accepted duty." (5)

All of those acts are fearless, difficult, bold and ambitious. They are not acts of heroism.

I do not know what is true.(6)

Doing something for the sake of doing it is vacuous. Doing something hard because it is hard may be vacuous in addition to being a game or "test" of character. To kill for the sake of killing is immoral; to expose oneself to death for the sake of the exposure is to be a "maniac"(7); to throw away one's life is suicide; to blindly accept duty is the mentality of the herd.

I do not know the meaning of the universe.(8)

There must be purpose to our acts, for we are beings gifted with intelligence; and that purpose must be moral, for we are burdened with knowing the alternative.

To go to war out of duty, because one must, because the war came, because it is there-Those are not acts of heroism. To show carelessness for life including one's own, is not bravery. And it is not moral.

We are the universe. The universe exists inside each of us and all of us. It has no existence outside of us. The universe means what we intelligent, moral beings, by our acts, make it mean.

1. Sir Edmund Hillary.
2. President John F. Kennedy.
3. Josue Dupon.
4. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., "The Soldier's Faith."
5. Holmes.
6. Holmes.
7. Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman on Major General Andrew A. Humphreys' conduct at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
8. Holmes.

There is the capacity for greatness in each of us, for we are creations of the universe. We are made of star stuff. We can climb mountains or die trying. Each of us owes the effort.

In re LeBron James.

"To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it," James said. "I just told coach, 'Just give me the ball. We either going to go into overtime or I'ma win it for us.' It was that simple.

"I was supposed to take the ball out," James continued. "I told coach, 'There's no way I'm taking the ball out unless I can shoot it over the backboard and go in.' So I told him to have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball and everybody get out the way."

James wound up hitting a jumper in the corner at the last second to give his team the victory.

In re LeBron James, Patrick Ewing, Pat Riley.

“I remember Pat (Riley) was running a lot of different plays and I went over to him and said ‘Pat, forget all those other plays that you are running, I am the one who is going to get the blame if we lose and the praise if we win so the buck has to stop here, get me the ball and let me go do my job...’’

“The Pacers jumped up to try to stop John from coming over the top of the pick and roll. He drove baseline and I just rolled and followed him. Once the ball went up, everyone stood up with their mouth wide open. I was able to come back and just put it in and everyone just jumped.”-Patrick Ewing.

http://nypost.com/2015/12/21/pat-rileys-biggest-basketball-regret-involves-patrick-ewing/

In re LeBron James.

“I remember Coach was running a lot of different plays and I went over to him and said ‘Coach, forget all those other plays that you are running, I am the one who is going to get the blame if we lose and the praise if we win so the buck has to stop here, get me the ball and let me go do my job,’’

FT

You're welcome.

4

82'

I can't believe I'm doing this.

GOAL! Colchester United 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Davies 80 og)

As the game restarts, a fan rushes onto the pitch and asks Vorm for his autograph! What brazen chutzpah! And then Colchester get onto the scoresheet! Massey is found in space down the left. His low shot crashes off the right-hand post and back across the goalline. Davies, rushing back, can’t stop himself running the ball into the net.

An own goal.

3
78'

"Great news regarding Alex Wynter: he’s conscious and sitting up in hospital."

“Google tells me that the Weston Homes Community Stadium is closed today,” reports JR in Illinois.-Guards.

Colchester United 0
Tottenham Hotspur 2

64'.

Colchester have come out a little cold.-Guardian.

Duh.

"Even if we clearly look like blokes running after a ball vs athletes I couldn’t be more proud of the guys.”

Official CUFC kits available at the Club Shop.

Richard Alvin–  ‏@ralvin

Does no one sit down at Colchester FC? #COYS

They CAN'T! If you knew anything, you idgit.

Colchester United 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1

27'. Shocking scoreline. Wait till that goes crackling over the wires.

Wynter on Queer Street.

It becomes our disagreeable duty to relay that the atmosphere was a bit too crackling at Weston Homes for in the second minute, one Wynter and one Eastman, both united for Colchester, united their heads in violent fashion whilst going for a ball or something. One Wynter was stretchered off to hospital with a concussion while one Eastman retired to the seamstress for repairs.

A "crackling" atmosphere at the start at Weston Homes, the Guardian reports.

Oh! The Coldchester-Spurs match at the Weston Homes Community Stadium is already underway. They're in the 7th minute 0-0. Would you like me to live blog this for the next hour and a half for you? No.

I am up and I am already out, of my warm bed and my warm apartment, and am at a warm cafe breaking my fast and will have some hot coffee to warm me further. So fortified I shall then carpe the diem a little.

Hi. 

Oh sure! Go have fun in the snow while your Daddy freezes. Good night, Cherub. Good night all u's cherubs.

Trump, get off the cover.

"Layer" "Road."

That sloping thing was a roof but it doesn't look like the roof to a grandstand, it looks like the roof to a barn.

Did the players, like, live above headquarters?

Are those guys taking a leak?! U's Coldchester fanatics are disgusting. No, just kidding. Watching the "U's." Wait a minute, where are, like, the seats? Are they all standing, not in excitement and fanaticism in cheering on the "U's," but because there are no seats? A grand "stand?"

Club shop. Homey. Weston Homey.

Thus, Layer Road. 

Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Whaddya mean?

To call that a "crowd" shot is a little bit of a...

...stretch, know whadda mean?

What is this...

What is that, a bar? The neighborhood bar? The Official Coldchester United bar?

Headquarters? The Center? The Zhongnanhai of Coldchester. The Middle of the Cold Kingdom?

Colchester United F.C...wtf? Why does this come up under Colchester Community Stad...I see a light standard! "A," "one"... I don't see much much else...Over the roof there is that a sloping thing like a grandstand? It's a sloping thing...Omfg, the https thing, the description or whatever, says "Colchester_United's_Layer_Rd_Ground." The predecessor to Weston Homes. Evidently. "Layer Road." "Layer Road?" Poetic. I see a road. "A," "one." Lanes, plural, two, it looks like. Cars, six. Match day?

Panthers in Sports.

Continuing our popular series, "Panthers in Sports," the National Concussion League "Panthers" play the Denver "Mischievous Horses"...sometime, I think February 7. The winner plays Alabama. That is not new.

Since last we treated of the Sunrise "Panthers" of the American Hockey League the team went into a deep but narrow swoon, losing a few games in a row, getting burnt to a crisp in one, to Ted Cruz' Calgary "Flames." Swoon and recovery coincided, much to the surprise of the undersigned, with the injury and return to health of 19 year old--you read that right, he won't be 20 till February 7, the day aforesaid--Aaron Ekblad. Young, young, Mr. Ekblad is nonetheless BIG, 6'3" and 213 lebs and not only anchors the defense anchors the whole dang litter or warren or covey or whatever a bunch of cats are called...A "clowder?" A bunch of cats is called a "clowder?" Get outta town. Never heard the word in my entire fucking life. A clowder. Aaron anchors the clowder of hockey "Panthers."

And since last we treated of the Picksburgh "Panthers" short pants boys basketball  team said team has been re-nicknamed the "Yo-Yo's." Got murdered by Louisville, murdered Boston College, got murdered by North Carolina State, meowed past Florida State, got clawed by Clemson. The Mystery of Pittsburgh has returned. If the yo-yoing returns Sunday they shall beat Virginia Tech.

Thus "Panthers in Sports" for January 29, 2016.

?

It was too big for me to get it all on one page using "snipping tool."

24th out of 24 in LEAGUE ONE.

Sporting News.

An exciting weekend of short pants football toes off tomorrow in the FA Cup with Spurs playing Colchester United at...waitaminute, waitaminute, waitaminute...Colchester United? What is "Colchester" "United?"

Colchester United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Colchester, Essex. The club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.-Wiks

Nickname the "U's." The "U's!" The Undefeatable "U's!" The "U's?"  Oh! For United. They're the "Uniteds."

This exciting match will be played at Coldchester in whatever the hell the name of the "U's" stadium is...Ah, yes, at the Old Trafford of Coldchester, famed "Weston Homes Community Stadium"...Coldchester is located in Broward County Florida and cozily seats 10,105 U's-es, Younses, Yinzers, Users...Best of luck to both of these fine clubs!

I wish it to STOP BEING COLD! Thank you.

Getting Real.

You know...I just took a look at RealClearPolitics average of the New Hampshire polls? Stump leads Cruz, in second place, 31-12. That is not even close. That's like the G-----S----/Cleveland score at the end of the third quarter. The New Hampshire primary is eleven days away. No candidate in the history of the New Hampshire primary has ever won being down 31-12 this close to the voting. The notion that Ted Cruz could win New Hampshire is like the notion on the "Cavaliers" twitter account that it was "time for a big fourth quarter." So, we're going to keep within hailing distance of reality here and say, T'AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN, Ted Cruz is not going to win New Hampshire. No possible way. Nobody else is going to win New Hampshire. New Hampshire is locked up for Donald Trump.

Slippery Oil.

Falling crude oil prices; negative headlines.
Falling crude oil prices; not proportional relief at the gas pump.

Those have been recurring sources of puzzlement here in the last year.

I have noticed very recently a spate of news reports on this theme and yesterday heard a National Public Radio report in which two or three or four experts were interviewed.

1. Falling oil prices are a net wash for the economy as a whole with other negative consequences: lack of hiring in the oil exploration biz; lack of investment in "infrastructure."

2. Falling oil prices are a net positive for the American economy, no doubt about that. The economy would be a lot worse if oil prices had stayed high.

3. Slowdown in China's economy...? The NPR host commented on that: the American economy has weathered the Chinese slump pretty darn well.

4. Falling oil prices have led to a gasoline savings for the average American family of $700 in a year. But the average American family didn't spend that extra $700 during the holiday buying season which was weaker than expected. Why not? The expert didn't know.

There is no good explanation for this. There are, at least, these four partial and conflicting explanations.

Boys playing in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Happy Holy Day to all Muslims.

The extraordinary photograph by Stephen Wilkes of an embattled Ruth Madoff in her Manhattan photograph on the day she made her deal with prosecutors in June 2009. Six days later she was evicted, the property was seized by U.S. Marshals.

A man was arrested carrying two handguns and a copy of the Koran at the Disneyland Paris amusement park outside Paris on Thursday, French officials said.-Reuters

Not that the two have anything to do with one another, now! It could just have easily have been a copy of the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, Pilgrim's Progress, or Good Housekeeping.

Sad anniversary in America today. Thirty years ago the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift off, live on American television and in person to crew member families watching on the ground at the Kennedy Space Center. "The Shuttle Explodes" was the headline in the New York Times and the shuttle exploded at 11:39 am. I did not hear of the disaster until after work when I stopped into a convenience store near home. The television was on and of course that was all that was on TV. I remember calling my parents that night and sort of sheepishly telling them that this reminded me of the various assassinations of the 1960's. "Oh, us too, Ben," was their reply.

We were told this could not happen, that there was so much "built in redundancy" in the shuttles that something so catastrophic could not happen on the 25th shuttle mission. That it did happen caused some people, like me, to doubt: to doubt official explanations as we came to doubt official explanations during the Vietnam War, to doubt technology, to doubt the mission of the shuttle program, and to doubt America. Those doubts had legs. The shuttle program was put on a thirty-two month hiatus and was eventually ended. Those legs run still, thirty years later.

"You need enemies to get better."-Pep Guardiola.

:o

That is the first time I have ever heard anybody else say anything like that..."It's good to have enemies."

Man, I am likin' Pep Guardiola.

Continuing our popular series, "Why does anyone live in Canada, eh?", we should like to make viewpagers acquainted with Great Bear Lake:

:)

Great Bear Lake is located in the prestigious Arctic Circle neighborhood and is anchored at its northeast tip by Fort Confidence at the mouth of the Decease River which drains the Dismal Lakes. Charmingly-named Port Radium confidently holds down the eastern shore, or ice, line while Decline is situated at the balmy southwest tip.

Great Bear Lake is the largest lake in Canada, 4th largest in North America, 8th in the world. It's big. And deep, average: 235'--average--maximum: 1463'. And cold: so cold that they shiver even when trying to write "Great Bear Lake" so it comes out "GroBer Barensee;" so cold that it is frozen from November to July which leaves three months for these guys to do whatever it is they're doing:

What are you doing.

The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, pop. 222,000, metro 260,000, is known, or wishes to be known, as "Paris of the Prairies." Okay? No.

Unrealistic Judgment.

But that never stopped us. My unrealistic judgment for the day is that the seven Canadian NHL teams break away and with new franchises in Quebec City, Kingston, Halifax, Saint John-Moncton and Sherbrooke, form a new all-Canada twelve-team league, the Canadian Hockey...Confederacy, or something. Prime Minister Cruz needs to add this to his platform.

Oh, Canada!

Boy oh boy. Boy oh boy and man oh man.

There are thirty teams in North America's National Hockey League. Seven of those teams are located in Canada. Fourteen of the thirty teams make the playoffs. If the season ended today, and it doesn't, they play 82 games, not one of the Canadian teams would make the playoffs. Look at the Western Conference: the four worst teams are all Canadian! Boy oh boy oh boy.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

WILD CARD

New Jersey
Carolina
Montreal
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Buffalo
Toronto
Columbus

WESTERN CONFERENCE


WILD CARD

Minnesota
Colorado
Nashville
Anaheim
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton

Judgment? Two Meetings.

Donald Trump will not participate in Fox News' debate Thursday night because Fox is letting Megyn Kelly be on the panel of questioners. This execrable human being (referring to Trump) is betting (a lot) that his boycott of the last debate before the Iowa caucuses will do him more good than harm.

I just can't see that. However, that execrable human being-Referring again to Trump!-has shown better political judgment than moi (referring to a non-execrable human being).

So, we'll see who has shit on their whatevers-Referring to judgments!-after Thursday.

President Barack Obama has called Senator Bernard Sanders to the White House for a meeting. His POTUS-self is concerned. He is concerned that Bernie's shit is hitting the fan and splattering Hillary Clinton all over her...face. And he, Obama, is concerned about that. Because he don't think Bernie can win the presidency and might give that shit on a silver platter to the execrable person aforesaid or to Senator Cruz or some other Republianoid type creature in which event Obama's legacy would be SHIT!

Now, Obama is not going to put it like that to Bernie, he's gonna take out some of those execrable words, and I do trust Obama's judgment, and better than my own...I just can't see this either. I can't see what perfumy words Obama can put his sentiments to make them stink less. More importantly, I cannot see what Obama's objective is here: Get Sanders to drop out? Tone down his rhetoric? His rhetoric has not been that bad, it's been nothing like on the Republican side, he's not going to get Sanders to drop out and he shouldn't want Sanders to do either! This looks boorish...Unless! Unless the purpose of the meeting is to be courteous and not boorish, to extend the courtesy of telling Sanders before he does it that he is going to endorse her. Betcha that's what comes out of this meeting and not that other shit.

We'll see on that one too.

Poor Judgment. Got Wood?

United deny it but it is on pretty good authority (The Times and Guardian) that manager Louis Van Gaal offered to resign twice, dos, as we say in America, and was talked out of it by club executive "Ed" "Woodward." Jose Mourinho didn't participate in talking Louis out of resigning, it's fair to speculate! Goodness gracious.

After the club's 1-0 loss to Southampton at Old Trafford, where they were booed, Van Gaal told the press,

"I'm very disappointed that I cannot reach the expectations of the fans.

Not "did not," "cannot."

"They have--or they had--great expectations of me and I cannot fulfill them."

United, for godssake. Let the man go. You're killing him, I hope not literally! Woodward, what is the matter with you?! You let Van Gaal resign, you put him out of his misery; you hire Mourinho, he has a fucking orgasm; maybe he turns the season around for you in which case you have a three way circle jerk and spew your bodily essences all over each other's faces. Hell, you could hold it at Old Trafford and have a 75,000 man circle jerk, it'd be messy but you could do that. Questions? 

Judgment? "Iran's President visits Italy: Nude statues covered"-CNN

See? Covered.

“We talked about humility in church today,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump sat for the entire service, which lasted over an hour, at First Presbyterian Church...

Mr. Trump, who sometimes reminds people of his Presbyterian faith...

Judgment Day Is A' Comin'.

The Iowa caucuses are a week from tonight. Ted Cruz has led in the polling for a decent while now but a new poll came out today showing Trump with an 11 point lead. Cruz has been under a constant barrage of late from Trump and his surrogates. However, I really like the manner in which Cruz is fighting Trump back. It may be too little too late! It was yours truly here just about a week ago who opined that he thought Trump had done Cruz but, with true respect for Russ Douhat's suggestions, I think with this constituency, these attacks by Cruz are more likely to be effective. From ABC (News, not "Anybody But Cruz," lol.):

Cruz has revamped his pitch to Iowan voters, giving them what he is calling "seven battles” or “seven times for choosing,” to distinguish himself from his opponents, including Trump. Ticking through the issues of right to life, marriage, gun rights, the bank bailout, immigration, healthcare and the Iran Deal, Cruz offered both subtle and not so subtle jabs at Trump.

There is something biblical there, no? "Seven": seven battles, seven times for choosing, why seven? Isn't the "seventh seal" some biblical thing? You're laughing at me, I probably botched that completely but Cruz has adopted the sevens deliberately, he has run an intelligent campaign so far and there is something he is appealing to with this constituency with repetitive use of the number seven.

"If you have a candidate for 60 years of his life has supported partial birth abortion, we should not be surprised if as president, that candidate would not defend that right to life,” said Cruz. Trump, who made comments about partial birth abortion in 1999, has since said that his views have evolved and that he is now pro-life.

"Mr. Trump’s position today is that he supports Bernie Sanders-style socialized medicine. He believes the federal government should take over all healthcare, that Obamacare didn’t go far enough and that instead the federal government should be in charge of your relationships with your doctor,” said Cruz.

And from the Washington Post, which portrays Cruz as playing a desperate rope-a-dope against the onslaught, I even like these Cruz tacks:

"Mr. Trump, has had a lot to say about me lately. Each morning is interesting. I learn a lot about myself from Donald every day."

"Donald:" Again, I like that, I like Cruz calling him "Donald." When you call someone by his first name in a contest among adults, you diminish him, we call children and very young people by their first names, not serious adults. In this context, "Donald" is not a sign of affection or familiarity, it is subtly dismissive, attacks by "Donald" aren't to be taken seriously, and you avoid the aura of Trump's great last name, you tarnish a bit that old gold in his logos. He's Donald, like Donald Duck, always quacking, not TRUMP. Very good move by Cruz there.

“We are in the season where we are discussing the differences in policy," he added. "I’m happy to have a conversation about how Donald’s and my record’s differ."

On the other hand:

A man dressed in a Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniform trailed Cruz over the weekend.

The GOP constituency is bothered by Cruz' Canadian birth, they are nativists, and it hurts Cruz. But that Trump stunt I don't like, in the sense that I think it could backfire. It's New York sleazy, too shrill, too in-your face, that is one New York value Trump has that I don't think plays well with the modest people of Iowa.

Joseph Brown, a pastor from Washington, Iowa, said he and other Cruz supporters are worried. “If Trump does win and Cruz comes in second — or even a close tie — it’s going to embolden the Trump phenomenon to the point where it’s going to really damage, I think, the momentum of Senator Cruz,” Brown said. He went on to call Trump “an in­cred­ibly wicked man.”

And I think that matters. Iowa, especially the northwest, is deeply religious. To have a pastor call Trump "incredibly wicked," which Trump is, is an attack I think will resonate.

Judgment.

Remember this knucklehead? Professor Melissa Click, affiliated with the school of journalism at the University of Missouri. Back whenever it was when there were protests at Mizzou over racism by the president of the university and fraternities and I forget who all, the black members of the tackle football team decided to boycott playing games! That got people's attention and soon the protests spread to me-to'ers like Professor Cluck. The protesters had sit-ins, encampments, on campus and didn't let journalists come around. Melissa was with a group of these "No Pencils Allowed" kids when another kid, in the journalism school, came up with pencil and camera, obviously, and mic, and all the latest high-tech gadgets and tried to practice journalism. Journalism professor Melissa's response:

"Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here.”

Well, you can imagine, if you don't remember you can imagine that that went over like a lead balloon with everybody in the whole world and especially with Official Mizzou and fellow pencils world-frigging-wide. Her contract was not renewed or something, she was affiliated with, but not of, the journalism school, lost her office I guess, I don't know, essentially, and rightly!, became a target of worldwide derision and contempt, has no future and might as well just shoot herself in the head, okay? 

The District Attorney's office has now charged her criminally with misdemeanor assault. 

Oh, come on.

Now: an assault is a threat; Melissa's words were a threat, all of the statutory elements of the crime are met. But come on.

The student journalist victim is a guy, Click looks to be a petite woman, Yes! She called for backup, "muscle," because she fucking couldn't do shit to hurt this guy kid and that was the extent of the violence. The guy-kid's pencil wasn't even broken. Give me a break, let Click live out whatever short, unhappy life she has left in humiliation. Don't fucking charge her. What is that guy-kid doing? 

Look, one time I said something, I don't even remember what it was, that really, REALLY pissed of an ex-friendgirl of moi. She was 5'0" tall. I'm 6'1". I weighed...'bout 180, she weighed...105? 110?, I better not go higher she may get pissed again. I was standing up, she was sitting on her sofa, and when I said whatever smart-ass thing I said, she BOLTED off and took 2-3 steps toward me in her bare feet and with a fierce--Much more fierce than Melissa--teeth-baring look on her face, pounded the palms of her hands with their red-painted nails twice on my chest as hard as she could!

Battery. That's  battery, call the cops, arrest her, that's battery. 

Give me a break. I couldn't help laughing even as I feared further inciting her, Who knows? Maybe she'd kick me in the shin with one her bare red-painted toes! "Is that all ya got?," is the only thing I could think to say and that's what I said and we both laughed. She hadn't done me any harm, couldn't possibly do me any harm, even if she had called for "muscle." 

Move on.

Rick Perry Endorses Ted Cruz.

So, that's one. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. I qaa interested to read Gov. Perry's comments about Cruz on Politico. Perry said Cruz struck him as "shy." Nothin' from nothin', as soon as I read that I thought, "He DOES look shy in photographs!" Perry also described his meeting with Cruz as pretty one-way sounding, he said Cruz was "one of the best listeners I've ever dealt with."

Perry, now, isn't all broke out with genius and Cruz may have played to him, Cruz is smart enough to do that, and I saw Cruz one time be a little arrogant with a voter at a barbeque or something, but it's one endorsement and a very interesting observation by Perry.

Judgment.

The letter from Dan Gilbert, the booing of the Cleveland fans, the jerseys being burned -- seeing all that was hard for [his family]. My emotions were more mixed. It was easy to say, “OK, I don’t want to deal with these people ever again.” But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react? I’ve met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We’ve talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge? -LeBron James, July 14, 2014, "I'm Coming Home."

Judgment.

Letter from Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, July 8, 2010.

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE"

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day....

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue....

Dan Gilbert

Majority Owner

Cleveland Cavaliers

Judgment.

Current twitter account header of Dan Gilbert, owner, Cleveland "Cavaliers":

Dan Gilbert– Verified account

@cavsdan

Family Man.Own Cavs.Chief Quicken Loans &Fathead Dude. Love DET&CLE. Believe in holding bad guys accountable.We all have power to think&positively impact world. Detroit and Cleveland

Carolina, neither North nor South, East nor West, just Carolina, beat Arizona to advance and play Denver on February 7. The winner will play Alabama for the National Tackle Football Championship.

"Washington Shuts Down Government, New York Rebounds After Blizzard"-Reuters

Blizzard. Shmizzard, it was Cruz.

Search keyword now:

-spy magazine trump short-fingered.

Lol.

Oh what a shame Denver won.

"The Way to Stop Trump"-Russ Douhat, New York Times.

Jew even know there was such a thing?

I didn't. Not a'tall.

Mr. Douhat's column yesterday, titled as above, advises somebody, anybody, how to go about it and one of his suggestions concerns dear old Trump U. Worthless degrees at popular prices. Buy Now!

Douhat gives the excellent advice, what I have long called a "boomerang strategy" in the courtroom, what Douhat calls "flipping the brand," of going right at Trump's strengths, principal among them being his gift at salesmanship. Attack Trump, for example, by pointing out that Trump U issued worthless degrees at exorbitant prices, was sued by the State of New York and, 

In October 2014 a New York judge found Trump personally liable for the institution's violation of state education laws.[11]-Wikipedia.

Do that, Douhat says, and you show that that old gold Trump was peddling in Trump U's logo is fool's gold. 

Attacking Trump for his stumpy middle finger to the world? Douhat, Dothat says, and it has no impact on his supporters who actually like him giving a stumpy middle finger to the world. Show that Trump is giving the finger to voters.

Attack Trump with his own snake oil and show him to be a salesman of snake oil:

-His father's "small" million dollar loan to get him started.

-Trump's bankrupt businesses.

-The bailouts that saved Trump personally by rescuing his companies.

-Trying to kick widows out of their homes for his parking lot.

-Trump Mortgage.

-Atlantic City.

Nobody, nowhere likes to get ripped off, nobody like's a snake oil salesman. Do that, Douhat says, and you stop Trump. Douhat, somebody, please. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/opinion/sunday/the-way-to-stop-trump.html?_r=0

This Month.

Been seein' this comin'. For the first time in the history of Publocc, a country other than the U.S. #1 over 30 days:

Pageviews by Countries Entry Pageviews Russia 2108 United States 1947 Germany 651 Poland 230 Slovenia 209 France 190 Australia 167 United Kingdom 114 Ukraine 96 South Korea 87

Now-Now.

Pageviews by Countries Entry Pageviews Russia 63 United States 3 United Kingdom 1 Jamaica 1

Holy hello Rooski.

Cleveland's Players Have Quit on LeBron James.

Going into last night's game folks were very optimistic that the Tyronn Lue "era" would get off to a good start. The point spread opened in Cleveland's favor at 9.5 and went up to 10.5 by tip-off. New, welcome, coaching change, Chicago playing the second in a back-to-back. At the Pawn Shop.That's a huge line. Chicago's a pretty good team. I would have taken Cleveland to win but would have been scared off by that line.

96-83, Chicago. Chi, oh my.

Cleveland shot 9-22, 41%, in free throws. 4-24, 17% from the three point line. 37% overall.

They were booed off their own court.

There was quit in Quicken Loans Arena.

What's interesting, perhaps concerning, is what both Lue and LeBron James said was wrong with the Cavs.

"I'm just really worried about our spirit, and getting our spirit right and getting our spirit together and the other stuff will take care of itself because we've got a lot of great players," said Lue, who was installed as Cleveland's coach Friday when David Blatt was fired.

And James?

"We just a team that, we're a bit fragile at times and we're still learning each other," he said. "I continue to harp on it, we're a team that's very inexperienced in growth and togetherness. We haven't experienced much together, so sometimes a little hardship happens and guys, we don't quite know how to figure it out together just yet. So hopefully we can kind of right the ship and be better for one another before we talk about the game."

The company line, which players, the new coach, and general manager David Griffin are steadfastly holding, is that the life of this team was sucked out by the coach fired Friday.

It's so easy to pile on a coach after he's gone, but if you'll notice, it's hard to find anyone coming to Blatt's defense on this matter.

And yet, one has to wonder, even with the apparent personality conflict between Blatt and the players – James, first and foremost – that was never going to go away, how the Cavs' "spirit" can be broken or how a team with the second-highest payroll in history be "fragile?"

We're talking about a team with James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. The defending East champs and current conference frontrunners. Broken spirits? Fragile? Really?

That's from Joe Vardon of cleveland.com. I share his surprise and if I correctly read incredulity into his "Really?" I share his incredulity. If not, I share with you my incredulity. That is unacceptable if true--And that is the best it can be, unacceptable--or complete bullshit. I lean heavily on bullshit. I rely on bullshit. 

I lean heavily toward bullshit because of the other things that were said. Like,

"we're still learning each other." That is complete bullshit. This team has been intact since the trading deadline last February, the "Big Three" have been together now for over a season and one-half. The entire team has been to the playoffs together, came within two wins of being NBA champs together, re-signed over the summer together. Last year, at this time, LeBron James was using the same line, and then it made sense. Now, it's nonsense.

Like,

"We haven't experienced much together." Not true. Bullshit.

"be better for one another before we talk about the game." ? "Be better for one another BEFORE we TALK ABOUT the game." ?? I don't know what he means there, that seems to be a pregnant comment but I've never been pregnant.

"The company line...the life of this team was sucked out by the coach fired Friday." That's Vardon's line, maybe he has heard that company line and I have not but nobody heard that company line in David Griffin's press conference. Not at all. If that had been the company line how could the company line have survived this putrid loss to Chicago? What was sucked out of the team by Blatt should have been blown back in by virtual artificial respiration by Tyronn "Red Auerbach" Lue.

This is what I think, you want to know what I think? I'm going to tell you what I think: Remember that Kevin Love comment after the blow-out loss to the "Warriors?" "We have to look in the mirror and it all starts with our leader over there."? (Kevin was referring to LeBron, not David Blatt.) I think there is disgruntlement among the other players toward the spirit of LeBron James. What David Griffin saw in the locker room in Phoenix on December 28 was a lack of joy, so associated with the "Warriors," in winning, in winning even a close game against an overmatched opponent. What Griffin and everyone saw on the court in Portland two days before in a blowout loss to a dreadful opponent was quit. The "Cavaliers" quit. Griffin mentioned what he had seen on that road trip in his press conference axing David Blatt. In axing Blatt, Griffin attributed that spirit to Blatt. It has become the "company line." Now that evil spirit persists, like a hangover, under Tyronn Rue. The "Cavaliers" quit when Blatt was the coach, they have quit when Rue was the coach. They didn't quit on either coach.

The team has quit on LeBron James.