More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Elon's Endgame. The timeline and plan makes sense but I can't shake the feeling this is also the backstory of a real-life Bond or Dr. Who villain,

- Where do we find such men?

- The workers opting to retire instead of taking on AI. (HT Steve Landry)

- Funny because its true.

Funny Because It's True!

Via

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"And it is also true that, like orange juice and Listerine, the [Cleveland] Browns and high expectations simply don't go well together." - Football Outsiders Almanac 2021

"Dogs are intrinsically motivated to run after the scent that excites them the most. Be like a dog." - Andrew Kirby

"The people who have lied to you every single day for the past several years are now confused that you don't trust them." - Zuby

"The war against the virus is going as well as the war on drugs and the war in Afghanistan." - Scott Adams

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

"Don't be overheard complaining... not even to yourself." - Marcus Aurelius

Flotsam and Jetsam

 Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If 2020 was to have a sequel to 2014's Too Many Cooks it would have to be called Too Many Kooks... If President Trump wanted to troll Kamala Harris he could pardon any parent that was jailed as part of California's controversial Truancy Law - a law Harris as District Attorney supported... Who knew? Erwin Schrodinger didn't even own a cat... Can't help but think that if I tried to write a Raymond Chandler-type noir book I would call it The Woman with the Larry Bird Mustache... I seriously spend time wondering if the Harry Potter movies could have been better if they were made by Pixar instead. Perhaps someday Pixar will get the rights to reboot the series... Hard to believe but the last head coach of a Cleveland Browns team to win an NFL playoff game is none other than Bill Belichick. And it was against the Patriots... George Orwell's 1984 had the "two minutes of hate" meanwhile modern America has the "hour and a half of hate" but we call it the Presidential Debates... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Heh heh - Joe Biden: "I'm just like you regular folk. I put my pants on one arm at a time",,, A blonde is a blonde. A brunette is a brunette. A redhead is a redhead. So what do you call a woman with black hair? She's not a "black" and definitely not a "blackhead." And don't come at me with raven because that's a bird or a pro football player from Baltimore... Ron Rivera is a good man. He'll make someone an excellent coach next year with the team with the most obvious need for someone like Rivera being the Cleveland Browns... It has to be said that the world has really gone to hell since the passing of Abe Vigoda. Was he some sort of sentinel guarding the gates of chaos or something?... This is an interesting map. Islam is losing its grip on Northern Africa. Also interesting is in these sorts of graphs red is generally bad and green generally good. Were the map makers trying to insinuate that religion on a whole is bad?... As a rule I don't judge people but I will judge you if you play Hotel California on a digital jukebox that has access to thousands of other songs. And my verdict won't be kind...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Here's my thoughts on the World Series: I'm rooting against the Astros because of the way they handled that female reporter from Sports Illustrated but I want Mattress Mack to win his bets although I'm not going to subject myself to a four hour game if there's any football on that I can watch instead... I'm going to hell for laughing at this (make sure the sound is on)... "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."- Thomas Huxley... Hard to believe but the last head coach of a Cleveland Browns team to win an NFL playoff game is none other than Bill Belichick... Heh heh - vintage birth control... I seriously spend time wondering if the Harry Potter movies could have been better if they were made by Pixar instead. Perhaps someday Pixar will get the rights to reboot the series... There's less than 100 days until the Super Bowl and I'm still wondering where the hell did the summer go?... Who knew? The first scientist was a woman. Before Mary Somerville - people were called "men of science"... 

Bill Belichick and 300

Bill Belichick goes for his 300th win as an NFL coach today (268 regular season and 31 playoffs). It's an incredible achievement for an incredible leader.

As coincidence would have it his 1st NFL victory came as coach of the Browns against the Patriots and today he's the coach of the Patriots playing the Browns for his 300th.

The quote that really stood out for me from the article was what Belichick told his team prior to Super Bowl XLIX Patriots vs Seattle:

"If at any point in this game you start to think beyond the next play, if you start to think about after the game, if you look at the score and think about what could possible be if we win this game, stop and go right back to where you're at and focus on the play that you're about to play. Every single play is a new play and an opportunity to execute and do your job. Because if you don't do that, and your mind starts to wander from what the task is at hand, you're not going to be able to execute."

Be prepared. Be focused on the play at hand. Do your job.

That's how you get to 300 wins in the NFL.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Somebody pretty please ask Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she'd eat the moon if it were made of ribs. Or better yet ask her if the Sun is her favorite planet. Please, please, please... My current life goal is to live longer than Charles Bukowski did. That means if I make it to 75 I win!... Alex Trebek is the best!... Now that Beto is in the race - when does the Rent if Too Damn High guy announce he's running for President too?... "The tools for learning are abundant. It's the desire to learn that's scarce." - Naval Ravikant... "Stinktum" should be a word. It's so much nicer sounding than either "anus" or "sphincter"... How funny would it be if Odell Beckham Jr. didn't pass the Browns physical and had to return to the Giants? I have my fingers crossed because I enjoy a certain amount of chaos...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

An underlying problem with today's media is they don't spend enough time telling people about heroes like Major Brent Russell Taylor and too much time on self-aggrandizing asshats like Jim Acosta... Heh Heh... This Steven Pressfield post on What Works and What Doesn't (when it comes to motivation for writing) reminds me of the quote from Annie Dillard - "How we sped our days is, of course, how we spend our lives"... There should be a unit of measure called "the Acosta" where every time Jim Acosta appears on air CNN loses .01 ratings points and for every five times CNN loses an advertiser... I think President Trump would win a lot of good will among GOP die-hards by offering an important posts to Scott Walker. Can you imagine the number of heads on the Left that would explode if he tried to make Walker Secretary of Education?...  Heh heh - speaking of open positions in the Administration... Conversely in a show of bipartisanship new House Speaker (assuming that happens) Nancy Pelosi should throw Hillary Clinton to the wolves over the email server investigation. I think this would secretly please many people on the Left who just want Hillary to go away and it would make Pelosi look evenhanded in any moves against Trump regarding the Mueller Investigation. Just saying... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The inside story of The Naked Gun baseball scenes. The Naked Gun is a better baseball movie than Field of Dreams. There I said it!

- NPR researched school shootings and found that two-thirds of the reported 254 shootings never happened.

- This was pretty funny

- Excellent life advice

- These remain some of my favorite paintings

- One of the primary reasons why college education costs continue to soar

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh heh - the Illuminati is not a frivolous subject. Hey Charlie what do you think about Taco Bell maybe bringing back the Black Taco?

- This is an interesting story on many levels. Is Trump taking a shot at US newspapers? Canada? NAFTA? All at once? What do US newspapers have against buying American paper? Maybe this is in retaliation for the US media fawning so much over Trudeau winning the handshake battle?

- Interesting look at the Celtics' one-man European scouting department

- Heh heh

- Speaking of Trump and NAFTA. Have to hand it to Trump - he's really maximizing the US's leverage heading into talks.

- Am I a bad person for laughing at this?

- Have to wonder if this is not just a reaction to the Republican Tax reform but also partly because of the upcoming NAFTA talks.

Jamie Collins

Have to get this off my chest so I can stop thinking about it. I think Bill Belichick did the right thing by trading Jamie Collins.

Anyone watching New England knows their offense is firing on all-cylinders. It is the defense that is the big question mark. And the Patriots defense this season was actually better when Jamie Collins was not on the field. Let that sink in for a minute. The biggest issue for many fans is the lack of pressure on the opposing QB by the Pats defense. Collins had just 1 sack in the first half of the season. Do you think someone will be able to step up and replace or improve upon that one sack in the second half? I do.

New England was already starting to use rookie Elandon Roberts more and Collins less. You don't want a player in his contract year, a player who by reports plays when he wants to play, getting reduced snaps in games. That player is bound to be unhappy with his decreased playing time hurting his market value. Would that player become a clubhouse distraction down the stretch and into the playoffs? Well now the Patriots don't need to find out.

Right now the Patriots don't have any major dead money salaries on the books. Their two best players, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, are both grossly underpaid. The team wasn't about to give Collins the type of money he is looking for and in the end the current on-the-field production and potential distractor-factor wasn't worth it to Belichick for what the team is already paying him now.

I wish Jamie Collins nothing but the best. I hope he does get his big payday. But it will be interesting to watch (from afar) if all that money effects his motivation to play all-out.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Last week Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said that Kevin Youkilis was hitting the same for the White Sox as he was hitting for the Red Sox. He said this out of the blue as if to explain that Valentine wasn't the problem with Youkilis' early season batting woes. The problem is Youkilis is not hitting the same for the White Sox as he was hitting for the Red Sox. His OBP is almost 50 points higher and his OPS is 140 points better. Valentine's failure to grasp this simple fact is a huge red flag regarding his ability to manage in the major leagues today... Interesting read on the role of Wes Welker with the Patriots... Just a reminder but Art Modell was so popular in Cleveland in the late 70's that the Republican Party wanted to run his for Governor... Am I bad person because I thought this was really funny? The Cheers opening turned into Jihad.... I am still coming to grips with the Patriots losing to Arizona on Sunday. Did that really happen?... More awesome photos from the Hubble space telescope...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- The Greatest Letter Ever Printed On NFL Team Letterhead

- The Coelacanth. Just don't call it a living fossil.

- 'Merry Xmas' written in Si atoms in a 100 nm square. Would have been more impressive if they didn't have to abbreviate Christmas.

- Amazing image of MASSIVE cave dwarfing puny explorer.

- Rex Ryan and "ihaveprettyfeet" - Yikes! It's true! In case you don't know what I'm talking about - Rex Ryan And Wife Make A Foot Fetish Video

- Billy Carter launched Billy Beer in 1977. Here's a look at exactly how that came to be

- An interesting take on the Bellagio robbery

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm so sick of Michael Vick. Enough already. The guy will never be a factor in the NFL ever again. Stop with the stories and updates. I don't think I'm alone in saying I just don't care anymore... On this day back in 1941 Ted Williams finished the season with a .406 batting average becoming perhaps the last major league batter to ever reach .400 for a season. Amazingly Williams did not win the MVP that season despite hitting with 37 HR, 120 RBI and 135 runs scored. The voters just like Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak better.... Now we'll never have to hear about how Ben Roethlisberger has never lost a game in the state of Ohio ever again... Today is Ryan Zimmerman's 25th birthday. I like to think of Zimmerman as Kevin Youkilis if Youkilis was stuck on an awful team... There is a good chance that the Cleveland Browns could lose every game this year matching the Lions mark of futility from last season. Is it me or does Eric Mangini seem like Rick Kotite without the charisma?...

NFL Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous NFL thoughts and observations.

For a game that ended up 34-17 - there was lots of drama in end of the Patriots / Browns. Let me explain. First let me explain that locally the line on the game was 16.5 points (some places were Patriots minus 17 points). With about a minute left in the game the Patriots were up by 10 points (27-17) but were stopped on a 4th and goal and so it looked like any hope of covering by the Patriots was out the window. Then with less than a minute left in the game - Randal Gay forced a fumble and returned it for a TD to make it 34-17. The drama was not over yet though. The Browns managed to get the ball down to the Patriots 10-yard line but on 4th down they went for a TD instead of kicking a field goal that would have made the final score 34-20 (and made losers out of anyone who bet the Patriots)... If USC loses 3 games this year then I would not be surprised if Pete Carroll takes a long hard look at the San Diego head coaching job... I'd like to thank Texans QB Matt Schaub for that one point he got for me at the QB slot yesterday for one of my fantasy football teams. Yeah - its really tough to get one measly point from the QB position. I could have started Carson Palmer who had a bye week and still been just one point off what Schaub had to offer... It could have been worse - I could have had Matt Hasselbeck who had ZERO fantasy points on his 13-27, 116 yards and 1 interception performance. Or worse I could have had Jon Kitna who had minus 2 points with his ZERO TD 2 INT performance... Has there been a bigger season-long fantasy bust than Larry Johnson though?... The Saints have scored just 51 points this season and I think the whispers about Reggie Bush being vastly over-rated are no longer whispers...

AFC North Preview

Here's what I predict for the AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals 10-6
Baltimore Ravens 10-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 8-8
Cleveland Browns 6-10

I already explained that I think Cincinnati will go 10-6 this year. I also earlier explained my reasoning in picking Baltimore to do the same.

Ben Roethlisberger is not a top level quarterback in my opinion and he has a new offensive coordinator and new offense to learn. Big Ben has said that he looks forward to being a "rookie" this year and I think we will see him make some "rookie" mistakes in some close games that will ultimately cost the Steelers a playoff spot. I won't make many friends in Pittsburgh by saying this but I consider Roethlisberger to be just an over-hyped Jon Kitna. I see them going 8-8 in coach Mike Tomlin's first year.

Brady Quinn will probably start his career at QB for the Browns against the Dolphins in week 6 because Romeo Crennel just won't throw his future franchise QB to the wolves by having him start against Bill Belichick and the Patriots in Foxboro in week 5. I'm just as curious as the next guy to see how the Notre Dame star fares in the NFL and I bet the Browns are happy to have the anticipation to Quinn's ascendancy be the top story instead of stories of how bad they have been or stories of flesh eating bacteria in the locker room.

Infections are a serious problem but I can't help but think of how far our medical knowledge has come. Back is 1924, President Calvin Coolidge's son - Cal Jr. - played tennis on the White House lawn with shoes but not socks and got a blister on his foot. The blister became infected and Calvin Coolidge Jr. died from the infection. Less than 85 years ago our medical knowledge was such that even the President's son could be killed by an infected blister while staying at the White House! We've come a long way since then but bacteria are still a major health issue (as the Cleveland Browns could attest).

Heh Heh

I thought this was pretty funny.

On a personal note - I take the Browns to the Super Bowl every moning (I'm pretty regular).