Eric Holder
@EricHolder

Doug Jones wins!! In spite of suppression efforts. In spite of Trump. In spite of Bannon. In spite of fear mongering. Virginia, New Jersey, Alabama = trend. See you in 2018 —- in every race in every part of this great nation.

ThePoliticalInsider
@TPInsidr

Alabama Senate Election Results- The Polls Have Closed and the Numbers are In- OFFICIAL! - The New York Times is reporting that Doug Jones is leading in the Alabama Senate race, with all the votes in. The race is over! Watch the live campaign election...





Alabama Senate Election Results- The Polls Have Closed and the Numbers are In- OFFICIAL! - The...

thepoliticalinsider.com

Dan Barry

@DanBarryNYT

People on a New Jersey Transit train are cheering the results of a Senate race in Alabama. “In your face, Trump.” “Thank you, Jesus.” “Roll Tide.”

10:41 PM · Dec 12, 2017

DEMOCRAT DOUG JONES DEFEATS ROY MOORE IN ALABAMA!

The Democrats pick up a Senate seat in Ala-Frigging-BAMA!!!🕺🎉 A total DEFEAT for Russian-Republicans Trump and Bannon

Miscellany

Bitcoin futures trading began Monday on one mainstream exchange. The price opened at ~$15,400. At the moment it's $17,601.

"Next week in Whales against Swans": Nope. Tomorrow in Whales against Swans. Fixture congestion.

City drew Art Basel in the knockout round of 16 in the UCL, the lowest ranked opponent they could have drawn. Basel qualified this past weekend in Miami.

The Miami "Dolphins" beat the New England "Giselle Bunchens" last night.

The Miami "Tepids" blew out Memphis last night in VolsLand. Miami is a 13-13 disappointment.

SPORTbible
@sportbible
Manchester City fans heading into work this morning...

Chippy post-game, too:

Police officers and stewards had to separate up to 20 players and members of staff from Manchester United and City after an extraordinary bust-up in which bottles and punches were thrown and Mikel Arteta, one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants, was left with blood streaming down his face.
Arteta’s eyebrow was split open during a melee in a narrow corridor outside City’s dressing room and there were unconfirmed reports that another member of Guardiola’s backroom staff needed medical treatment after a confrontation sparked by José Mourinho apparently telling the victorious players to keep their music down.

Mourinho became embroiled in a row with Ederson, City’s Brazilian goalkeeper, who was standing just inside the dressing-room door and the two started shouting insults at one another in Portuguese. Mourinho is said to have accused Ederson of play-acting to waste time and then reverted to English, screaming “you fucking show respect. Who are you?”

...Romelu Lukaku was said to be prominently involved as the confrontation escalated into something much more serious, described by one person on the scene as being reminiscent of a pub fight. 

...United’s players are understood to feel like the noise from the away dressing room was provocatively loud and, with the door continually being opened, Mourinho appears to have been asking more respect to be shown to the losing team.

...City players were clearly incensed by Mourinho’s behaviour and the fact that several players, most notably Lukaku, had become involved. ManUre

Absolute horse-shit there by United and especially Jose Mourinho, absolute horse-shit.

Arsenal tied Southampton 1-1. Southie scored in the third minute. The "Gunners" popped in the equalizer in the 88th. Arsene Wenger no doubt will settle for the draw.

Everton salvaged a point at Fenway. A late "soft" penalty call enabled Wayne Rooney to secure the draw. Sam Aldaryce exasperates Jurgen Klopp and Klopp was so exasperated after the match that he ended an interview when he insisted that the reporter tell him if he thought the call was appropriate and the reporter replied "Soft, but yes."

Fifth straight 2-1 result for City. No lack of intensity here or cocky playing down to the competition, though.

City 2 United 1

Aguero did not play. So strange. He was available. Was on the sideline warming up but Pep never put him in.

This was a snippy, chippy, dirty match throughout and the "Bucs" crowd was forever "AHH!'ing in bitchiness. There were elbows to the head, knees to the legs, diving, a lot of stuttering play; the match did not flow, it stuttered between starts. The refs called it as well as could be expected, they signaled "play on" a number of times but when a guy is on the pitch writhing or pretending and the crowd is bellowing "AHHH!" the game does not flow and then the players start bitching to the refs rather than playing. I didn't like that at all. It was not "beautiful" football. 

City break tie the record for most consecutive wins in the Premier League. This was their fourteenth.

FT Manchester City 2 Manchester United 1

Watched this one, too. My second ever.

After we went up 2-1 United had two glorious opportunities in the same sequence. The United guy shot from close range right into Ederson's throat stunning Ederson, the ball of course bounced free to another United guy who shot from even closer range but Ederson recovered and got a hand on the second shot to keep it out. The ball then bounced to an Angel who cleared. (Mourinho looked like he was going to cry.) Oh my goodness!, I was sure United were going to score.

That's what happens when you're Angels and you're playing devils.

STICK A FORK IN THEM!

FT City 2 United 1. United are now 11 points back. They're done.

1-1 HT

Great goal by Silva on the first goal. Bird pump by Delph gave United the tying goal. FUCK me.

Game time.

Vietnamese television promotional for Manchester Derby.

BA-LUUUE!

I shall withhold my incremental contribution to World Happiness until I receive a living temperature.

I demand an immediate increase in the number of Kelvins in the immediate vicinity of my personal person.

City I love you

It's 50 degrees. I vigorously shiveringly object.

Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma won the Heisman Trophy Saturday night as the outstanding college tackle football player in America. There's a story here.

Mayfield won the award as an original walk-on, that is someone who was not offered a scholarship to play tackle football. He is the first walk-on to win the Heisman since colleges were permitted to give athletic scholarships in 1950.

Mayfield was born and raised in Texas but his heart was always in Norman, Oklahoma. He initially went to Texas Tech and (as a walk-on) won the starting quarterback position. Considerable achievement, that. In fact, Mayfield is the first walk-on ever to win the starting quarterback job in the first game of his freshman year at a major football school. Mayfield immediately took that considerable achievement and cold-called on then Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. Just showed up and pleaded with Stoops to give him a shot at quarterbacking the "Sooners." Stoops said okay. As a walk-on of course. And you have to sit out a year. NCAA rules.

When Mayfield finally got a shot (and a scholarship) at OU in 2015 he merely was a Heisman finalist and finished fourth in the balloting. In 2016 he finished third. This year he won it. He is the first Heisman Trophy winner to be a three-time finalist. He won this year's award with the third highest percentage of voted points since 1950. Not bad. Not bad 'tall for a two-time walk-on.

And Army beat Navy 14-13. Navy's kicker missed a 47 yard field goal at the end. Have to think he would have made it had the game been played at sea.

Oh my goodness, Army-Navy in the snow.

Coinbase‏Verified account 

@coinbase

Please invest responsibly — an important message from the Coinbase team.

No! I disagree. 

?

I disagree with "invest" and "responsibly"...Well, I'll tell you why...yes, I am nuts...Do NOT use financial terms like "invest" in reference to bitcoin. When you insist on using financial terms with Bitcoin, you are not only getting it wrong, you are separating process and outcome, which Bitcoin collapsed, you are degrading what Bitcoin is. Nobody can make a rational case for Bitcoin as an investment vehicle. Can NOT. Stop it. Bitcoiners, Bitcoin critics, just stop it. Instead, I entirely agree with the person who answered this question:

Can you teach me on how to invest in bitcoin wisely? I have a tight budget for it!

That is a very simple question...just buy, hold what you buy and just smile and then go to the beach...enjoy your life...unless you are referring to bitcoin trading then...[buy low sell high]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2142552.msg21430698#msg21430698

You see? There is a humongous difference between "investing"/"trading," and "buying." You buy because you WANT the thing. You invest because you want the thing to do something for you. What we know about Bitcoin, what it is, what it is not, how much it's worth, we know only through the behavior of Bitcoiners. We know that a significant portion of them are "hodlers" who buy, hold, enjoy their lives. The hodlers bought Bitcoin because they wanted a Bitcoin. They wanted a Bitcoin because it gave them satisfaction, pleasure. Not because they wanted Bitcoin to do anything for them. 

One of the academics interviewed for the story yesterday in Ars Technica made the analogy (CAUTION: remember the Prophet Muhammad) to the guy who pays $47 million for a painting. That is not financial decision making based upon reason. The art collector would agree. He's spending his money on something based upon his his feelings. Just to have it. Not to decorate his wall, not as an "investment" (he does not mind if it increases in value, he rather thinks it will but that is not his motivation), because it gives him a pleasure, he may not be able to put into words fully why it gives him pleasure, it just does; it just makes him "smile, go to the beach, enjoy life." He does not ask the painting to do anything for him. Coinbase is pleading with people to use their reason. The art collector and the Bitcoin hodlers are telling Coinbase "It's not all about reason, man, it's about emotions too."

The art collector analogy seems to explain the psychology of the hodlers but it is...an...imperfect...analogy. Bitcoin is not a collectible. Like, you can't even look at it. "Ah, look at that thing," can't do that. You cannot "hold" Bitcoin, like buy-and-hold, you cannot like "hold" a Bitcoin on accounta it doesn't exist. It's a fucking string of code. "Ah, look at that string of code." 

Bitcoin is a virtual...thing...that gives hodlers virtual pleasure. If that's your thing, buy it. Do not invest in it; do not trade it. Process and outcome are one. We are all Epicureans.

Premier League
@premierleague

It is a cold one out there Wrap up and join us at Matchday Live (link: http://preml.ge/yW0Moc) preml.ge/yW0Moc













9:59 AM · Dec 9, 2017




Cold all over Merry Old. America is so BIG. My Angel Child comes home today. It's snowing and 30 degrees in North Carolina right now, 75 on Miami Beach.

Poulan Weedeater Christmas Day

Americans will gladly rename Christmas for the highest bidding sponsor.

Legal Prostitution

Professorial tackle football bowl names:

-Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl
-Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
-Dollar General Bowl
-Walk On's Independence Bowl
-Camping World Bowl
-Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
-Belk Bowl
-Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
-NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
-TaxSlayer Bowl
-PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

There is no humiliation, no indignity that Americans will not suffer for a buck.

Oh my God, what a stinky lineup of matches today.

Burnley-Watford
Crystal Palace-Bournemouth
Huddersfield-Brighton
Swansea-West Brom
Spurs-Stoke
Newcastle-Leicester

All the big clubs save Chelsea play manana. Arsenal is at Southie, the Merseyside Derby is at Fenway, and of course the Manchester Derby. City is 5-4 favorites at Raymond James! Wow.

They Did It!

West Ham United hold on to defeat the defending champs 1-0. Crucial three points for West Ham to stay up and an embarrassing, dreadful loss for Chelsea.