Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Not a smoker but all these anti-vape pen commercials make me wonder if we should allow the tobacco companies, who are prohibited by law from airing TV commercials, to take the gloves off and air their own rebuttal commercials... Captain Kirk loves him some mountain... So at what point in your life do you go from saying that you're "having friends over" to saying you're "having company?' I'm thinking maybe after 5-years of marriage or maybe after a second kid... If this is a real product I'm willing to bet money it's made in China... Think I was part of the last generation for who getting the weekly TV guide in the Sunday paper or THE TV Guide was a vital part of planning your weekly TV viewing. May sound like an old foggy but growing up there was no "on demand" TV viewing or DVR's. There was also no "guide" button on the remote because neither one existed (on screen TV guide grids or remotes). The struggle was real... There are 17 major college football teams currently 4-0 on the season but only 15 of them are in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Neither undefeated Maryland nor Boston College are somehow deemed worthy of ranking. Makes me think David Burge' Marble Game is a much fairer method of ranking. Also starting to wonder if Georgia's opening week victory over Clemson should still be considered a "quality win"... 

Linky Links

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

- The hypocrisy of MLB 

- The dark past of pool bowling hustlers

- And this is why I don't use Venmo

- On of my favorite time wasters

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If CNN did decide to leave Atlanta because of the new Voting Laws - how many journalists would have to lose their jobs to help pay for the move? It's not like CNN is flush with ratings cash at the moment... This was a cool little story... The White House Correspondents Dinner was supposed to be April 24th but guessing from the zero discussion about it that there will be no event this year and no explanation as to why it was cancelled. Any explanation would prove politically inconvenient and we can't have that... Marvel should come out with a new character - Super Harpy. It would be a character named Karen whose super power would be hectoring people over every little thing until the person loses their will. Of course this character would be a villain... Is there a more common or unimaginative name than Branch River? Every State must have at least one... 

MLB Gives Georgia the Middle Finger

MLB has announced they are moving the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta because of their new voting law. This is a big mistake in my opinion. You can never be "woke" enough for some people and once you give in to this sort of social justice blackmail you are marked as a sucker and the woke demands will never stop.

Voting rights is also an ironic issue for MLB to tackle - especially in relation to the All-Star game. MLB allows anyone to vote for the All-Star game up to 35 TIMES. No "one person one vote" for MLB. Nosireee Bob. Also MLB was more than happy to play games n Castro's Cuba but not Atlanta? Really? How are the voting rights in Havana? 

Also when it comes to racism MLB has a lot to answer for itself before it tries to take the mote out of another's eye. When American hero Jackie Robinson was first on the Hall of Fame ballot - 22% of the Baseball Writers eligible to vote did not vote for Robinson. This was clearly racism. 100%. Yet MLB is still in bed with the Baseball Writers of America. 

Why haven't these racist baseball writers been identified and shamed? Why Rob Manfred? Why? Oh because the Baseball Writers voting is separate from MLB - but so is the voting laws of the State of Georgia but that didn't stop you there. Oh that was in the past and you're only concern is the present? Oh well then I can expect MLB to shortly denounce the human rights abuses by the Chinese and renounce MLB's partnership with the Chinese Communists - right? Why the "no comment" Mr. Manfred? You hypocritical sack of shit.   

The easiest prediction I've ever made is that this year's All-Star game will have the lowest TV ratings in history. There is also bound to be a backlash and a boycott of any sponsor who advertises during the game. Baseball used to be neutral ground but no longer. Rob Manfred has just made it political and he'll learn the hard way that there's much truth to the phrase "Go Woke Go Broke."

The only silver lining I can see is that now it is clear that all sports is open game for political stances it makes any argument against NOT boycotting the Beijing Olymics moot.  

Linky Links

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

- The Cult of Elon is Cracking. The Atlantic starting to take shots because Musk isn't toeing the Progressive talking points. Sentence that stuck with me, "Sometimes it seems like smarter people are, the more vulnerable they are to overestimating how much they know about something outside their specialty." The author was talking about Musk but this sentence seems to be projection as it would fit perfectly with almost every "journalist" working today.

- Covid-19 not transmitted via swimming in pools, lakes, or the ocean. So open up the beaches and gyms already. I want to start swimming laps again!

- Georgia seems to be doing just fine after its re-opening. Other States should take note.

- Taking health advice from these folks may be problematic.

- So many Starlink satellites continues to be an issue for astronomers (and just people who enjoy the night sky)

Tax the NCAA

Georgia fired head football coach Mark Richt after 15-years of winning about 75% of all the games he coached. By all accounts Mark Richt is a good and decent man who was a fine representative for the University but in the end that wasn't enough. At the same time that was playing out LSU was letting head coach Les Miles twist in the wind. The same Les Miles who had LSU wanked in the Top 5 earlier in the year and who has recently won a National Championship.

Isn't it time to give up the pretense that big time college sports have anything to do with education? Can anyone give me a good reason why the money generated by Division 1 sports isn't taxed?

Georgia and South Carolina Perspective

Russia recently invaded Georgia but I'm guessing that most Americans couldn't find Georgia on a map if you spotted them the continent.

Georgia (the country) is just slightly smaller than our State of South Carolina. Just like South Carolina - Georgia (the country) is almost triangle shaped with a fairly long coastal region on one end and mountains on the other.

Georgia (the country) has about 4.6 million residents and a democratically elected government. South Carolina has about 4.3 million residents and also a democratically elected government.

If a police officer in South Carolina uses excessive force then that makes national news and there is a hue and cry. The whole country of Georgia was just subjected to much more than excessive force and the international community was for the most part quiet.