Bimini sunset. I had never seen water that crystal clear sapphire before...Picture's worth 1,000 words, right? Good, I can't write any words about that picture.
Happy New Year*
Sunday, December 31, 2017
*Updated
Bimini sunset. I had never seen water that crystal clear sapphire before...Picture's worth 1,000 words, right? Good, I can't write any words about that picture.
Happy New Year*
Cleveland "Browns" Lay an Egg in 2017
Lost to the "Stillers" today at the Ketchup Bottle. 0-16 in '17. Went 1-15 in '16. Can they go 0-18 in '18? No.
"Chinese Construction Workers Discovered Dozens of Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Eggs"
I'm calling that a "poor" headline. Why? The hook in that story is "dozens of perfectly preserved dinosaur eggs." What is the point of saying "construction workers discovered" them? Would it have been any less headline worthy if lawyers had discovered them? Office workers? No. I'd knock off "discovered" too. Too long. "Found."Headlines are supposed to be short. "WAR!" Benjamin Franklin (my namesake) gently told Thomas Jefferson to take a little off the top in the Dec. of Ind. He gave the example of a shop owner's sign. ''John Thompson, Hatmaker. Fashionable Hats Sold Inside for Ready Money,'' with a drawing of a hat. Who cares who is selling them? Are you like the Louis Vuitton of hats? Take the name out. "Fashionable"? What, to distinguish from the competition who only sell un-fashionable hats. Take it out. "Sold"? As opposed to give aways. "Inside"? "Ready Money"? Leave the drawing of the hat, Ben Franklin said.
Applying Franklin's razor to the above headline we get,
Chinese Construction Workers Discovered Dozens of Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Eggs Found in China.
Applying Franklin's razor to the above headline we get,
"SURGEON ACCUSED OF REUSING SINGLE USE ANAL INSTRUMENTS ON MULTIPLE PATIENTS"
TreMENdous headlines tonight. Is the world coming to an end?
CRYSTAL PALACE DRAW MANCHESTER CITY. FULL-TIME
Both the Arch Angel and King Kev injured, the latter in a "horrible" challenge by Palace's Puncheon.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Blue Mou, Accomplished Artist, Draws All the Time
Four matches without a win for the Bucs. Three straight draws, second in a row at Raymond James. 0-0 with Southie today and now they're in third place a point behind Swine Chelsea.😖
Juan
Juan
@fraudiesta1
Mourinho outspent Pep from 2010-2013 (when they were both in La Liga) and Pep owned him. Now Pep spent more money in their times at Manchester and Pep owned him.
The common factor isn't the money, the common factor is Pep owns Mourinho.
[I don't think Pep "owns" Jose. He did get the better (but it was close!) at Barca. He is clearly getting the better of him this season in Manchester but they each won a match last year. Both are great managers.]
Paddy Berger
@TotallyLFC1892
Mourinho's problem is he hasn't been able to replace Man United's key figures – Clattenburg, Dean, Riley, Dowd, Stiles and that United legend Webb
4:15 PM · Dec 30, 2017
[That is clever. Sir Alex never got on the refs, that is true. Never said "Deary me." Right? Is that your point? Only Mourinho blames the referees?]
Football on BT Sport
@btsportfootball
"I think he's lost the players. I didn't sense any fight from the players." 👀
Martin Keown thinks the Man Utd players aren't performing for Jose Mourinho. Is he right? 🤔
[That is a telling opinion. Mourinho has fried his players out in the past. Hell, lost it on the team physio at Chelsea! There might be something to that or there might not. Mourinho has been on his best behavior at United. He only got the job when he promised to. I have not seen or heard of him going bat shit on the players, the contrary, but this "form" of the last four matches is not a one off, it's a four off, they are in a funk and it is due to something. Given Jose's history it is plausible he has lost them. After a year and a half? It usually takes him three. I don't know what it is but it is something.]
Friday, December 29, 2017
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Sky Sports Statto
@SkySportsStatto
Goalkeeper Rob Elliot had 25 touches in the first-half against @ManCity, more than any other @NUFC player.
EPL Stat Man
EPL Stat Man
@EPLStatman
Rob Elliot made more passes than any other Newcastle player in the first half (16) #NUFC #MCFC
3:39 PM · Dec 27, 2017
Newcastle that is frigging lame.
@SkySportsStatto
Goalkeeper Rob Elliot had 25 touches in the first-half against @ManCity, more than any other @NUFC player.
EPL Stat Man
EPL Stat Man
@EPLStatman
Rob Elliot made more passes than any other Newcastle player in the first half (16) #NUFC #MCFC
3:39 PM · Dec 27, 2017
Newcastle that is frigging lame.
Ahmed Mohamed
Newcastle will BEAT Manchester City tonight. Put your money on Newcastle. #NEWMCI
12:42 PM · Dec 27, 2017
Newcastle will BEAT Manchester City tonight. Put your money on Newcastle. #NEWMCI
12:42 PM · Dec 27, 2017
Thanks for the investment tip, Ahmed. You're of course putting YOUR money where your tweet is?
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Moaning Mou Blue, Critics See Red
Burnley's fans were chanting unfavorable comparisons of Jose to Pep today at Raymond James.
José Mourinho says ‘£300m not enough’ for Manchester United to compete
-The Guardian
Jose Mourinho says Manchester United's spending is 'not enough' to compete with Manchester City
"Guardiola has spent a total of £416m since arriving at the Etihad in 2016. Mourinho was appointed at Old Trafford at the same time and has spent £286m on seven players
-The Independent
Jose Mourinho: 'Manchester City buy the full-backs for the price of strikers.' 
Man City signed Gabriel Jesus
Cost: £27m
Man Utd signed Luke Shaw
Cost: £30m
Jose Mourinho: 'Manchester City buy the full-backs for the price of strikers.'
Man City signed Gabriel Jesus
Cost: £27m
Man Utd signed Luke Shaw
Cost: £30m Man City Christmas schedule has upset Jose Mourinho
Manchester City head to Newcastle on December 27 and the Manchester United manager is again unhappy
-Manchester Evening news
Monday, December 25, 2017
Alexey Navalny, Putin Critic, Barred from Running for President
His convictions, political. Russian law bars a convict of running for the presidency. Putin announced he's running for reelection in 2020.
The Case for a Relegation System
Ladies and gentlemen the "Cleveland" "Browns"" are 0-15 and the brown Turds have a damn good chance of going 0-16 at Pittsburgh next week.
These self same "Browns" were 1-15 last year. That is frigging disgusting. It is cluelessness from top to bottom that exceeds even that of the University of Tennessee and it is not unrelated. A big-time athletic supporter at UT is "Jimmy Haslem." Jimmy Haslem is also the owner of the Turds.
Did I not loathe Cleveland, Ohio so thoroughly, were I not so contemptuous of every living, breathing thing (except one) in Cleveland I would feel sorry for Cleveland. But I do and I am so I don't.
These self same "Browns" were 1-15 last year. That is frigging disgusting. It is cluelessness from top to bottom that exceeds even that of the University of Tennessee and it is not unrelated. A big-time athletic supporter at UT is "Jimmy Haslem." Jimmy Haslem is also the owner of the Turds.
Did I not loathe Cleveland, Ohio so thoroughly, were I not so contemptuous of every living, breathing thing (except one) in Cleveland I would feel sorry for Cleveland. But I do and I am so I don't.
Tonight is the Night
The perfect man was born. And with him the religion that would be the salvation of Mankind if we allow it to be.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Kevin Blundell
@kevin_blundell
Man City have won as many games before Christmas in the Premier League this season as Man Utd did in the whole of 2016/17.
That is bloody nuts.
8:19 PM · Dec 23, 2017
Wow. 'Tis. Kev, you're right. Kevin's is the tweet of the day. That is just STOOPID.
Merry BALOO Christmas all yinz.
@kevin_blundell
Man City have won as many games before Christmas in the Premier League this season as Man Utd did in the whole of 2016/17.
That is bloody nuts.
8:19 PM · Dec 23, 2017
Wow. 'Tis. Kev, you're right. Kevin's is the tweet of the day. That is just STOOPID.
Merry BALOO Christmas all yinz.
City Watch
@City_Watch
Joe Royle to the Daily Star: "It’s amazing. And I must say if any fans deserve this then it’s the Man City fans. I have to say equally that I was at a City supporters club recently in Crewe and there were fans telling me how they loved those seasons in the lower divisions."
Ol' Joe Royle, God bless you Joe! But no.
@City_Watch
Joe Royle to the Daily Star: "It’s amazing. And I must say if any fans deserve this then it’s the Man City fans. I have to say equally that I was at a City supporters club recently in Crewe and there were fans telling me how they loved those seasons in the lower divisions."
Ol' Joe Royle, God bless you Joe! But no.
Tremendous Machine
Bournemouth was shaken and stirred, and sliced and diced, 4-0, at Etihad Stadium today.
And every one of their "pursuers" except Tottenham drew. Which means that the gap over the field widened by two points. Arsenal and Liverpool drew 3-3 yesterday, Everton and Chelsea finished nil-nil today and number two Manchester United drew at Leicester. United are now 13 points behind. Sheesh kabob.
And every one of their "pursuers" except Tottenham drew. Which means that the gap over the field widened by two points. Arsenal and Liverpool drew 3-3 yesterday, Everton and Chelsea finished nil-nil today and number two Manchester United drew at Leicester. United are now 13 points behind. Sheesh kabob.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Vanity Fair is either pulling stuff out of their ass or they have inside sources the mainies don't. They get more gossip scoops than anybody else. Ivanka called Bannon a "fucking liar" in the Oval Office, Sessions said he "may get fired but will never leave" (Somebody's pulling something out of their ass there. Wtf does that even mean?), Bannon is disillusioned with Trump, who is like an "11 year-old child;" has "lost a step" in the past year. Which reminds me: that incident where Trump slurred his speech, while giving the most important speech of his life, has never been satisfactorily explained and is the most disturbing thing of its kind I can remember. VF is not pulling Bannon out of their ass, that's for dang sure. Today's article is based entirely on one of their reporters traveling with Bannon. Bannon, the original VF source for this as I remember, still says Trump is likely not to survive politically for three more years (only a 30% chance)-either impeachment or the 25th Amendment...Well, maybe their source all along has been Bannon. Duh. Good job, Vannies. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/12/bannon-for-president-trump-kushner-ivanka
Kim Getting a Haircut?
A second North Korean soldier has defected to the South. The other, a month or so ago, was shot as he fled on foot across the DMZ. He was found to be underweight and plagued with intestinal worms. He was the first DPRK soldier to defect in years. Now there has been another. Trump promised that Kim Jon un would be under pressure that he had never experienced before to end his nuclear program. Unprecedented sanctions have been imposed by the World on the DPRK. Might it be that Kim is under threat of regime change from within?
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
True Crime Stories: A Christmas Story*
*Somebody clicked on this post from December 19,2011, the last time I reposted it. I used to repost each year from 2004 to whenever, for years. I re-read the posts here (I make sure they don't get counted by Google Stats, but I have re-read this post. Too emotional. It's just excruciating. So, here it is again after a lapse of, apparently six Christmases.
When I get one of these old files, I try to piece together the case. You only get what was introduced into evidence in the trial and that never includes full-story narratives like the lead detective's report. And so you open the file and examine each exhibit, each piece of evidence, and try to see the whole from a part.
When I opened this file there was a smaller manila envelope with some small hard objects inside. They were what looked like an audio tape, one of those old reel-to-reel ones, and some metal and glass squares, about 2"x 2". I held one up to the light. It was a photo still. This must have been what slides were in 1956 and the reel must have been the film from which the slides were made. It was hard to see but I could make out the face of a smiling man. Maybe an old home movie.
I opened a larger envelope correctly assuming it contained the crime scene photos. I love the pictures. Old black and white photos of long-ago parts of town long gone. The period pieces. The wonderful 1950's cars, first generation television sets, old wooden houses, so charming compared with the CBS construction of today but of course much more inviting to termites.
Several of the 8"x10"s were enlargements of the slides. Now I could see the smiling man, dressed in a Pendleton-type work shirt walking in front of a yard and house which were blurred as if in motion. Still could've been a home movie. Then I saw the policeman in the foreground, his features blurred so that initially I didn't recognize who or what he was. His lips were pursed slightly and he looked down at the ground as he held the smiling man by the arm, obviously taking him into custody.
So this was the murderer as he was being arrested. And the film was from a TV camera. I had looked through a hundred or more of these old incinerator-destined murder files and had never seen TV film before. TV was still in it's infancy in 1956, especially in this city, whose loss of innocence and insignificance was still three years away.
What to make of the smiling murderer? Of course the first thought is insanity. There are plenty of crazy murderers with all kinds of weird looks on their faces but this man didn't look that daft. He looked "normal."
The autopsy report was in the file. Three of them. The first page just had the name "O'Malley" on it. O'Malley, O'Malley, O'Malley. Three copies of the same report I thought. Then I saw another document from the Medical Examiner's file, with case numbers 601, 602, and 603. There were three victims.
The suspect had given a statement to the police, two now that I saw. The introductory case reference paragraph at the top said:
"Investigation into the fatal shooting of one
Barbara Ann O'Malley, wf, age 41, George
Howard O'Malley, wm, age 7 months, and
Carla Laura O'Malley wm, age 4 that occurred
at 1791 NW 60 St, December 25, 1956."
The killer was George Howard O'Malley, Sr., the husband and father of the victims.
O'Malley told the police that the family was about to be evicted from their house because of their financial problems and if that happened the State would take away his children. He had had a cancer operation and spent two weeks in the hospital in November. He couldn't pay those bills and hadn't worked in some time.
Additionally, his wife had had two operations recently and they owed money from those also. In all they owed $3000.
O'Malley and Barbara apparently loved kids, they ran a foster home out of the house, a big old rambling two-story clapboard with hardwood floors and plaster walls that would have carried sound so that Barbara could hear little George when he cried or Carla as she played when she was working in the kitchen or puttering about the house.
They had tried everything to raise money to pay off their bills including selling almost all of their furniture. That got them $163.
The most desperate fundraising attempt they saved till last. O'Malley's father was a well-off businessman in Cincinnati. At some time in the past however father and son had had a bitter falling out. On Christmas eve they called him and asked for help but he turned them down.
"He told me to put the children in an orphanage or
put them in the county home," George O'Malley told the police.
So they awoke Christmas morning at 7:30 and sat down and talked. As O'Malley wrote in his suicide note,
"We talked things over and weighed the the
results--since we find no other means of
staying together--the decision was this."
They wrote farewell letters to their families in Cincinnati. Barbara's handwriting is steady, the shape of the letters and words calmly written, the structure of her sentences coherent. She stressed the mutuality of the decision,
"Don't think it is his idea alone and blame him
because I'm the one that suggested it to him,"
she wrote to her "mom."
"Right now I am not sad because it isn't everyone
who can take their loved ones along with them
when they leave this world. They came into this
world through me and they will go out of it with
me. I'm also relieved to know George will be with
us. He has suffered enough and God alone knows
what he would go through left behind..."
"It will be all over within seconds. No more worries
--sickness--and wondering if the children will have
enough food and a roof over their heads...If we didn't
love them it would be easy to put them in a county
home as was suggested by Mr. O'Malley...George and
I could not do it and never would."
Barbara concluded with instructions for the children's burial,
"Dress Carla in blue, it is her party dress and she
loves it--baby George in his green suit--he never
has worn it."
All the letters were unopened and stamped "Return to Sender."
George was to kill Barbara first ("she couldn't stand to see the kids hurt."), then the children. He was then to call their pastor and advise him of the circumstances before killing himself. The preacher talked him out of the suicide ("He kept me on the phone too long."). Bastard. Fucking-bastard-shaman-son-of-a-bitch-holy-man.
They went into the children's room where the kids were. Carla was playing in her big-girls bed. Little George was in his crib. Maybe Carla looked up and smiled when she saw them. Barbara sat on the floor and prayed.
"I shot Barbara first."
"how many times did
you shoot her?"
"Twice."
Little Carla must have screamed, perhaps "Mommy! Mommy! Daddy! Daddy!"
Baby George would have cried, startled at the boom-booms.
He shot Carla next. She would have seen the gun swinging toward her. Maybe she screamed "Daddy, No!" and held out her little hands.
"I shot her in the chest, then I got up,
leaned over and shot her again."
She was found face up. The tears could have been still on her cheeks when the police arrived.
"I shot the baby and I think the second
bullet creased him."
The bodies were all in one room allowing for a comprehensive death scene photo. Carla is in her bed, one chubby arm extended out apparently sleeping but on close examination her little eyes are open slightly. There is a large dark stain on her chest. A stuffed animal lies on the floor in front of her bed.
The baby is face down in the middle of the crib, his bottle in a corner. One of those abacus-like baby's toys with primary-colored balls strung on a string is attached to the crib. There's blood trailing from the top of his head down behind his right ear and much blood under his head.
Barbara lies barefoot in her pajamas face up on the floor. Her eyes are closed and dried blood is coming out of her nose. She is pregnant.
The scene was located at the corner of an intersection off the main highway in the city. To the left the road extended off into the distance, getting smaller and narrower until it just stopped. To the right it became a causeway over a body of water and ended at one of the barrier islands.
The house is painted what appears to be a battleship gray. It has an inviting wrap-around porch. A tricycle is outside next to a swing set.
The room has off-white walls and hardwood floors and is unfurnished except for the crib and Carla's bed.
Three big windows look out over the front yard and they would have provided a nice cross-breeze to cool the room when it got too warm.
The day was overcast, the gray of the sky and the black and white of the photos creating a monochrome, the distinction between light and dark muted.
*No real names used.
When I get one of these old files, I try to piece together the case. You only get what was introduced into evidence in the trial and that never includes full-story narratives like the lead detective's report. And so you open the file and examine each exhibit, each piece of evidence, and try to see the whole from a part.
When I opened this file there was a smaller manila envelope with some small hard objects inside. They were what looked like an audio tape, one of those old reel-to-reel ones, and some metal and glass squares, about 2"x 2". I held one up to the light. It was a photo still. This must have been what slides were in 1956 and the reel must have been the film from which the slides were made. It was hard to see but I could make out the face of a smiling man. Maybe an old home movie.
I opened a larger envelope correctly assuming it contained the crime scene photos. I love the pictures. Old black and white photos of long-ago parts of town long gone. The period pieces. The wonderful 1950's cars, first generation television sets, old wooden houses, so charming compared with the CBS construction of today but of course much more inviting to termites.
Several of the 8"x10"s were enlargements of the slides. Now I could see the smiling man, dressed in a Pendleton-type work shirt walking in front of a yard and house which were blurred as if in motion. Still could've been a home movie. Then I saw the policeman in the foreground, his features blurred so that initially I didn't recognize who or what he was. His lips were pursed slightly and he looked down at the ground as he held the smiling man by the arm, obviously taking him into custody.
So this was the murderer as he was being arrested. And the film was from a TV camera. I had looked through a hundred or more of these old incinerator-destined murder files and had never seen TV film before. TV was still in it's infancy in 1956, especially in this city, whose loss of innocence and insignificance was still three years away.
What to make of the smiling murderer? Of course the first thought is insanity. There are plenty of crazy murderers with all kinds of weird looks on their faces but this man didn't look that daft. He looked "normal."
The autopsy report was in the file. Three of them. The first page just had the name "O'Malley" on it. O'Malley, O'Malley, O'Malley. Three copies of the same report I thought. Then I saw another document from the Medical Examiner's file, with case numbers 601, 602, and 603. There were three victims.
The suspect had given a statement to the police, two now that I saw. The introductory case reference paragraph at the top said:
"Investigation into the fatal shooting of one
Barbara Ann O'Malley, wf, age 41, George
Howard O'Malley, wm, age 7 months, and
Carla Laura O'Malley wm, age 4 that occurred
at 1791 NW 60 St, December 25, 1956."
The killer was George Howard O'Malley, Sr., the husband and father of the victims.
O'Malley told the police that the family was about to be evicted from their house because of their financial problems and if that happened the State would take away his children. He had had a cancer operation and spent two weeks in the hospital in November. He couldn't pay those bills and hadn't worked in some time.
Additionally, his wife had had two operations recently and they owed money from those also. In all they owed $3000.
O'Malley and Barbara apparently loved kids, they ran a foster home out of the house, a big old rambling two-story clapboard with hardwood floors and plaster walls that would have carried sound so that Barbara could hear little George when he cried or Carla as she played when she was working in the kitchen or puttering about the house.
They had tried everything to raise money to pay off their bills including selling almost all of their furniture. That got them $163.
The most desperate fundraising attempt they saved till last. O'Malley's father was a well-off businessman in Cincinnati. At some time in the past however father and son had had a bitter falling out. On Christmas eve they called him and asked for help but he turned them down.
"He told me to put the children in an orphanage or
put them in the county home," George O'Malley told the police.
So they awoke Christmas morning at 7:30 and sat down and talked. As O'Malley wrote in his suicide note,
"We talked things over and weighed the the
results--since we find no other means of
staying together--the decision was this."
They wrote farewell letters to their families in Cincinnati. Barbara's handwriting is steady, the shape of the letters and words calmly written, the structure of her sentences coherent. She stressed the mutuality of the decision,
"Don't think it is his idea alone and blame him
because I'm the one that suggested it to him,"
she wrote to her "mom."
"Right now I am not sad because it isn't everyone
who can take their loved ones along with them
when they leave this world. They came into this
world through me and they will go out of it with
me. I'm also relieved to know George will be with
us. He has suffered enough and God alone knows
what he would go through left behind..."
"It will be all over within seconds. No more worries
--sickness--and wondering if the children will have
enough food and a roof over their heads...If we didn't
love them it would be easy to put them in a county
home as was suggested by Mr. O'Malley...George and
I could not do it and never would."
Barbara concluded with instructions for the children's burial,
"Dress Carla in blue, it is her party dress and she
loves it--baby George in his green suit--he never
has worn it."
All the letters were unopened and stamped "Return to Sender."
George was to kill Barbara first ("she couldn't stand to see the kids hurt."), then the children. He was then to call their pastor and advise him of the circumstances before killing himself. The preacher talked him out of the suicide ("He kept me on the phone too long."). Bastard. Fucking-bastard-shaman-son-of-a-bitch-holy-man.
They went into the children's room where the kids were. Carla was playing in her big-girls bed. Little George was in his crib. Maybe Carla looked up and smiled when she saw them. Barbara sat on the floor and prayed.
"I shot Barbara first."
"how many times did
you shoot her?"
"Twice."
Little Carla must have screamed, perhaps "Mommy! Mommy! Daddy! Daddy!"
Baby George would have cried, startled at the boom-booms.
He shot Carla next. She would have seen the gun swinging toward her. Maybe she screamed "Daddy, No!" and held out her little hands.
"I shot her in the chest, then I got up,
leaned over and shot her again."
She was found face up. The tears could have been still on her cheeks when the police arrived.
"I shot the baby and I think the second
bullet creased him."
The bodies were all in one room allowing for a comprehensive death scene photo. Carla is in her bed, one chubby arm extended out apparently sleeping but on close examination her little eyes are open slightly. There is a large dark stain on her chest. A stuffed animal lies on the floor in front of her bed.
The baby is face down in the middle of the crib, his bottle in a corner. One of those abacus-like baby's toys with primary-colored balls strung on a string is attached to the crib. There's blood trailing from the top of his head down behind his right ear and much blood under his head.
Barbara lies barefoot in her pajamas face up on the floor. Her eyes are closed and dried blood is coming out of her nose. She is pregnant.
The scene was located at the corner of an intersection off the main highway in the city. To the left the road extended off into the distance, getting smaller and narrower until it just stopped. To the right it became a causeway over a body of water and ended at one of the barrier islands.
The house is painted what appears to be a battleship gray. It has an inviting wrap-around porch. A tricycle is outside next to a swing set.
The room has off-white walls and hardwood floors and is unfurnished except for the crib and Carla's bed.
Three big windows look out over the front yard and they would have provided a nice cross-breeze to cool the room when it got too warm.
The day was overcast, the gray of the sky and the black and white of the photos creating a monochrome, the distinction between light and dark muted.
*No real names used.
"A Christmas Story" was first posted here in 2004. Until 2009 it was reposted each year during the season. In a professional life spent with death and murder and tragedy and pathos I have never encountered anything like this. It is the saddest story I've ever heard. I have never been able to look at the file again or even reread this post.
PUBLIC OCCURRENCES
PUBLIC OCCURRENCESForks Down
In the last couple of weeks Arizona State University has done the unwise (fired head coach Todd Graham), the difficult (made Graham a sympathetic figure), the disastrous (hired Herm Edwards as Graham's replacement), and the impossible (replaced Tennessee as national laughing stock).
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Viva Vegas
Gotta do this, sorry!
Here is to the Vegas "Golden Knights," an NHL expansion team, first year in the league, who are an astounding 21 wins 9 losses and two overtime losses (for which NHL teams get a point) through 32 games of an 82 game season, 39% of the season. Expansion teams in North American pro sports leagues are routinely dreadful, pitiful. Not Vegas. They are second in their eight-team division, fourth in the fifteen-team Western Conference and have the sixth most points in the entire 32-team league. Je.Sus. Christ. What a story. All hail the "Golden Knights." Good night.
Monday, December 18, 2017
IlegiTrump: Clapper, Former Director Nat'l Intelligence: Trump Putin's "Asset"
"I think this past weekend is illustrative of what a great case officer Vladimir Putin is. He knows how to handle an asset, and that's what he's doing with the president," Clapper told CNN, referring to how Putin publicly thanked Trump after a CIA tip-off thwarted a terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.
"You have to remember Putin's background. He's a KGB officer. That's what they do. They recruit assets," Clapper continued. "And I think some of that experience and instincts of Putin has come into play here in his managing of a pretty important account for him, if I could use that term, with our president."
"You have to remember Putin's background. He's a KGB officer. That's what they do. They recruit assets," Clapper continued. "And I think some of that experience and instincts of Putin has come into play here in his managing of a pretty important account for him, if I could use that term, with our president."
Saturday, December 16, 2017
By the time I wake up tomorrow Bitcoin may have hit $20,000. It's $19,400-some right now.
As I turn in tonight Monero is at $348, which is a 4,540% increase since my son bought me one a year and a half ago for $7.50. Which he did despite my fatherly directive that he not until it dropped to $7. Which I am glad he disobeyed his father.
As I turn in tonight Monero is at $348, which is a 4,540% increase since my son bought me one a year and a half ago for $7.50. Which he did despite my fatherly directive that he not until it dropped to $7. Which I am glad he disobeyed his father.
I hate when sports teams mess with their colors and logos, like City with the Oozing Bullet Wound Red Rose of Lancashire and their psychedelic alternate shirts (Oh my God, though, are EPL clubs in need of rebranding). I think of the University of Maryland helmets a couple of years ago. Pitt's dino cat, the "steel cut" block letters. Oh God. But these. These are tremendously awesome. Riddell's new brain buckets for the National Concussion League:
Oh my God, that forest green looks tremendous!
I think almost all of them are an improvement over the incumbent. Oh! by the way, "incumbent," Trump, Fuck You.
Where are my sunglasses. Carolina already had about the brightest blue imaginable. Riddell imagined an even brighter.
My favorite blue of the bunch. Just sensational. Only problem: The lightning bolts are the same tangerine as Kansas City's. Oh! If you had used a bright metallic gold it would have been perfect. Cannot top that blue, though. Jaw-dropping.
Excuse me while I have an organism. OH! OH! OH! OH! That maroon is the most awesome color! That is my favorite.
Enough, we're going to end on that high. Riddell, GREAT work.
Riddell didn't mess with the basic look. They just made the colors more vibrant.
Ruby red.
No.
Almost all are an improvement. What is that, navy on bourbon?
Beautiful.
Oh man. That blue! Gorgeous. Sapphire. (Sapphire has two "p's"?)
Clay?
No.
Oh, man! Nice!
A matte black to make the "Raiders" look even more evil.
Whoa-ah woo-ah.
Where are my sunglasses. Carolina already had about the brightest blue imaginable. Riddell imagined an even brighter.
Beer.
That was the first one I saw that was clearly a step back. Yuck.
Love that.
Yes, it is very similar to San Francisco's and Arizona's. All were red. Now, they're bright red. what do you want them to do? They're all an improvement.
I like that. That's not beer, that's tangerine or something. They could have gone with another shade of red, we should be glad they didn't cuz the orange-yellow really works. Beautiful.
Poor "Jets" fans. This is the second one I thought was a ringer.
J-E-T-S, CLAY! CLAY! CLAY!
:o
Excuse me while I have an organism. OH! OH! OH! OH! That maroon is the most awesome color! That is my favorite.
Enough, we're going to end on that high. Riddell, GREAT work.