Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Perfect storm coming for some campuses - most colleges are facing massive budget cuts due to the Wuhan virus meanwhile students (who don't know any better) are enamored with the talking-point of "defund the police." Boom - bye bye campus police departments (I predict you'll see at least one college go this route)... Elon Musk calls for the breakup of Amazon. "Monopolies are wrong!" As an aside Jeff Bezos also happens to be Musk's biggest competition when it comes to privatized space travel... "How soon before the word "landlord" is attacked and becomes verboten language? I mean by definition a "lord" is male (death to the patriarchy)... So Conor McGregor has announced his retirement from fighting (again). I'll believe this is true in about 5-years... "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised." - Marilyn Manson... So if spaghetti approached the event horizon of a black hole - would it too become "spaghettified?" Or would it turn into another form of pasta?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Victor Davis Hanson on the strange case of the Cuomo brothers. I could see the DNC trying to shoehorn Andrew Cuomo into the top spot (elbowing Biden out of the way) oblivious to the fact that Democrats across the country loudly dismissed other NYC options like Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio. Making Cuomo the VP would be even worse... Dan Wetzel makes the case that being able to hear Conor McGregor's trash talk in an empty arena during a fight would be must see TV. I agree. And McGregor/Diaz 3 is getting my money no matter where it is fought... Sure technically Eli Manning "retired" in January but as far as I'm concerned until another regular season game is played Manning is still the "active" NFL leader in interceptions thrown... Matt Taibbi on how Covid-19 the Wuhan Virus bailout gave Wall Street a no-lose casino... I think Goodyear and Ameriquest have missed a big marketing opportunity by not having their blimps traveling around the country. With nothing else to do people would have come out and stared at those blimps for hours. Huge missed marketing opportunity... "Blue states are about to get hit twice - massive budget deficits just as remote work makes the tax base more mobile than ever." - Naval Ravikant. Excellent point. There's no tax revenue coming in from all those businesses that were closed down. Meanwhile no State government employees or programs have had any cost or personnel reductions. Work from home employees will flee States with high taxes (Blue States) for those that don't (Red States)... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I have a solar reflex which means sometimes when I go outside just seeing the sun makes me sneeze. Used to be I'd sneeze (into my handkerchief or arm) and people would say "Gesundheit" or "God bless you" but now they look at me like I'm wearing a Hitler mustache instead... The George Carlin Germ Theory: Because now more than ever... Sometime the cliche "It's not the size of the dog in the fight that matters it's the size of the fight in the dog" does not apply. This would be one of those times... Remember those Chatty Cathy dolls that had a string you'd pull and they would speak. Or Woody from Toy Story? For a long time I've thought it would be cool to have a Rodney Dangerfield or Mitch Hedberg doll where you'd pull the string and get a one-liner joke from the doll. Would make a great gift or party conversations starter... When the worst is behind us I would fully support President Trump signing a free trade agreement with Taiwan. It would be mostly symbolic as there are very few trade barriers between our two countries but the message would be loud and clear. National Review recently had an article about this but as strong as the column started off it eventually veered off to complaints of Trump pulling out of the TPP and other Never Trump nitpicking...

Linky Links

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

- The seven most exciting space missions of 2020

- And speaking of space - Elon Musk and SpaceX have really big plans for Mars

- Very true!

- Reading Conor McGregor's Mind

- Navy to name aircraft carrier for Pearl Harbor hero Doris Miller

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

John Wayne once said that every young man needs to let the badger loose every once in a while. On Saturday I let the badger loose in a big way. And I'm not a young man... Conor McGregor had a blast Saturday at the Bruins game... I know that stereotyping is bad but if I see the back of your car has 10 or more bumper stickers and two of them are for Coexist and Bernie Sanders - I'm going to go ahead and assume your home smells like cat piss... Heh Heh... According to Snapple Facts #117 - "The starfish is the only animal that can turn its stomach inside out." Obviously Snapple has never been out drinking on St. Patrick's Day weekend with some of my Irish friends... People don't seem to use the word "famished" anymore. Is that because people's vocabularies are getting smaller or because it's not OK to use a word that comes from "famine"? And speaking of famine - when's the last time you've heard about a famine in the news? Was Sally Strothers that successful at ending hunger or have things been improving in the world to the point where famines are so rare?... When Isaiah Thomas returns to the TD Garden tonight I expect him to get one of the biggest ovations from Boston fans that I've seen in my lifetime... 

UFC 229 and What Should Be Done

UFC 229 was one of the most entertaining fight cards the UFC has ever produced but the quality of the matches will forever be marred by the violence and near riot that broke out at the end of the McGregor-Khabib bout. The responsibility for these action lie completely with the Khabib camp and according to reports from Dana White the only reason there hasn't been arrests yet is because Conor McGregor declined to press charges.

Here's what I think should happen.

Dana White and the UFC should strip Khabib of his title and give him a 2-year ban from the UFC. The members of the Khabib camp that assaulted McGregor after the fight should be given lifetime bans from any future UFC event.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission should give Khabib a lifetime ban from ever fighting in Nevada again. And any other State commission should look critically at ever sanctioning any of his fights in the future. Buyer beware.

The Las Vegas police, despite Conor McGregor declining to press charges, should arrest Khabib and any of his camp involved for inciting to riot and any other charges they can come up with. They should also ask the UFC to hold Khabib's purse to pay for any damages that might have been incurred because of his camp's actions.

The State Department should consider revoking Khabib's passport. Permanently!

Khabib's acts should have repercussions and consequences.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So Floyd Money Mayweather and Conor McGregor are trading insults on Twitter. My guess are those are the first shots in a potential re-match marketing campaign... If low-calorie beers were called "skim" beers instead of "light" beers - would they be less popular? Michelob Ultra should definitely be called a skim beer... Putin soften pension reform in face of public anger. I have long speculated that the Russian economy is much weaker and fragile than most people appreciate... Proctodeal Trophollaxis is such a cool way to say "ass-licking". The MSM did a lot of proctodeal trophollaxis of the Obama Administration...  Canada's Trudeau says NAFTA deal possible as early as Friday. This is interesting to watch. Trudeau is facing a lot of pressure to make the deal but my guess is Trump will accept nothing less than a victory for the US... Metabolic Cascades of Dysfunction would be a good name for a fantasy football team. It's also the medical term for "concussions"... For the record I was not invited to the McCain funeral either. I haven't felt this snubbed since Maggie Thatcher's funeral...

Linky Links

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

- Heh heh

- Interesting - Chinese saline soil rice experiment a success

- Behind the scenes look at Tennessee's search for their new football coach (I laughed way too hard at this)

- The hard as hell, beautiful life of  a cowboy (told in stunning photographs)

- Conor McGregor has taken on MMA fighters, boxers and now - the Irish Mafia?

- I actually want this poster

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Still think Conor McGregor should have punched Floyd Mayweather as hard as possible in the balls once he felt he was up on points after the first couple of rounds. Low blows aren't "MMA moves" so he wouldn't have violated his contract stipulations...  Littlefinger's execution is by far my favorite scene from all the seasons of Game of Thrones. Can't stop watching it!.. Also think it would have been the greatest prank in the history of sports if when he got to the ring it wasn't actually Floyd Mayweather under the mask but comedian Kevin Hart. Mayweather could have then sprinted into the ring. That would have been awesome!... Heh heh... Can we all agree that Jim Gray is awful? A man bereft of charm who sucks the energy out of any interview he attempts. He doesn't bring anything to the sports table at this point. He's the rude cousin who sneezes on the desserts before Thanksgiving dinner... You may think you're cool but you'll never be as cool as 1976 Doctor J...  Just as an FYI - Ted Danson's Toupee Harem is too long a name in most fantasy football formats...

Mayweather vs McGregor

The press conferences for the upcoming Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor fight have been very entertaining and I'm sure this fight will break all the pay-per-view records. My favorite thing so far was the pinstripes in the above suit worn by McGregor. The pinstripes either say "FUCK YOU" or "YOU FUCK" depending on how it's read. Since Conor is Irish I vote for "YOU FUCK" just because it sounds better with a brogue.

It has been conformed that McGregor will have a significant financial penalty for any "non-boxing" move he pulls in the ring. With that in mind, Connor should try to get off to a quick start and if at any point he feels like he's ahead on points he should just roundhouse kick Mayweather to the head. Paying the financial penalty will be well worth it because such an outcome would guaranty a second fight and a second payday. Highly doubtful Conor takes my advice.

The fight is giving off the Viper vs the Mountain fight vibes from Game of Thrones. If you recall the Viper was dancing all around the Mountain inflicting damage upon damage but all it took was one moment for Clegane to give Oberyn Martell a permanent headache. Mayweather started off as a huge favorite to win at better than 10-1 odds against but it has been bet down to McGregor +$470 to Mayweather -$640. I'm rooting for McGregor but think Mayweather wins. I'm going to watch but I'm not going to bet on the fight.

Linky Links

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

- I wonder if this new technology could also be used on football helmets?

- Floyd Mayweather comes out of retirement and calls for June fight with Conor McGregor. I know that this could turn out to a one-sided stunt but I also know I will watch it

- Heh heh - good advice indeed!

- Fuck Nancy Pelosi.

- Heh heh

- Holy crap - man crosses the Atlantic on a freaking high tech paddle board.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Trump should collectively nominate the cast of Hamilton to be Secretary of Education just to see leftists heads explode. "But they are not qualified" the media will point out. Then why are you listening to them Trump could ask... I love Mitt Romney. People who see cheap in that picture and not humble just don't get it... Quote of the day: "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened."- Mark Twain...  A day late but still worth remembering... I don't want a drone. I want the mechanical owl from the first Clash of the Titans movie... This is true (and sad)... Reading Charlie Pierce's post election Tweets - I can't help but picture him going naked Howard Hughes peeing into glass jars insane because the election didn't go his way... Am I the only one who reads this report and immediately thinks of Breaking Bad?... I would love to hear Adele cover Ted Nugent's Stranglehold... I'm still disappointed that Conor McGregor wasn't signed to play Mad Sweeney in American Gods... This is also true (and sad)...

Conor McGregor

So Conor McGregor "announced" his "retirement" on Twitter yesterday. It was an immediate "Wait - what?" moment.

Then Dana White announced that McGregor is indeed out of the July 9th UFC 200 in Las Vegas. This changed UFC 200 from a must see event to a "let's see what else is going on that night" type event. The overall financial impact of McGregor not being part of card will be huge.

Then came the report that the reason for the "retirement" was that McGregor asked for $10 million for the July 9th rematch against Nate Diaz and Dana White said no. The company message seems to be that no one fighter is bigger than the UFC. But the thing is - the UFC is basically Dana White. And if the reason many people would be buying the pay-per-view would be to watch Conor McGregor - shouldn't he be fairly compensated for his drawing power?

This story is far from over. It will be interesting to watch to see what Conor McGregor's next move will be.