Is the Louisiana AG Up for Re-election...

...or is he trying to get LSU kicked out of the SEC?

More Linky Links

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

- Inside the SEC's tangled legal battle with LSU and Lane Kiffin.

- How SpaceX streamlined the raptor engine.

- Can you hear us now? 

- Defending against massed drone attacks.

Linky Links

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

- VDH: The Democratic Chicken - or the Socialist Egg? He's not wrong.

- Matt Ridley: The forecaster's paradox.

- Barry Melrose - a remembrance. Worth a watch.

- Dan Wetzel on the LSU and SEC rift.

College Football Thoughts

College football is finally back but my thoughts about it have never stopped. Lots happening off the field and some on field action starting tomorrow.

Was having these thoughts anyway and figure may as well jot them down and post upon Substack.

Linky Links

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

- Rams owner Stan Kroenke enters agreement to buy Angels from Artie Moreno for record $4 billion.

- Kevin Kelly: The Fast Life of a Hot Atom. 20-years old but new to me.

- The cost of living in every US state, Keep wondering why I stay in Mass.

- SEC may not budge on former NFL players not being allow to play in league.

Linky Links

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

- Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) in the Frame of Traumatic Experiences. Concept was new to me.

- Young people are correct to rethink Richard Nixon's legacy.

- SEC school leaders exploring extreme steps over LSU plan to sign former pro athletes. Maybe LSU could form a semi-pro league?

- UCLA fires AD Martin Jarmond. There really was no outcry among Bruins fans as many thought the move was overdue.

Linky Links

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

- Dolly Parton - a saint? Never thought of it that way but I've also never heard of anyone who more closely matches the criteria.

- The Mount Rushmore of Nuclear. History everyone should be aware of.

- LSU poised to sign former NFL players after SEC agrees to comply with court order. Lane Kiffin really leaning into the black hat.

- John Deere's revenues boosted by datacenter construction. Orders are full for the rest of the year.

Get Your Popcorn Ready

College Football Thoughts

Some post-Christmas college football thoughts and observations including the question - did the Maize and Blue just hire a new coach?

Was having these thoughts anyway so figured might as well jot them down and share on Substack.

Brian Kelly Gets his Money from LSU

Linky Links

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

- Congress gets new information regarding Clinton Foundation corruption.

- Speaking of Hillary: Not saying this is true but it does answer many questions and connects many dots.

- Some details on the LSU-Brian Kelly legal battle. On team Kelly for this one.

- From the archives: What impossible meant to Richard Feynman.

Linky Links

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

- Why did Democrats fight so long - before caving?

- How Obamacare works - or since it was enacted - doesn't work.

- LSU now saying it did not formally terminate Brian Kelly. That's a bold strategy there LSU - let's see if it works.

- VDH: The race for the Trump economy. Would be funny if the Trump Administration adopted the phrase "Build back better - this time for real!" as their motto.

Coaching Carousel III

Most people (except Florida or Penn State fans) had the open LSU head coaching job as the best on the carousel but then Louisiana governor Jeff Landry held a press conference. Standing behind a lectern that read "Protecting the most Vulnerable" in reference to the poor of Louisiana potentially losing SNAP benefits because of the government shutdown - Landry basically said to Chuck Schumer, "Hold my beer gumbo."

That press conference by Landry made the LSU job less desirable and the coaching carousel more bizarre. Have an updated look at the situation up on Substack.

Linky Links

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

- The sordid tale of LSU football, the Louisiana governor and a year's long feud. Why would any top coaching candidate subject themselves to this circus? Especially now that AD Scott Woodward has been fired.

- Russ Roberts on the mood in Israel right now. 

- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. He's rumored to be up to chair the Fed but guessing these two won't be supporting him.

- President Trump on the meeting with China's President Xi Jinping.

Linky Links

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

- Artic Frost is shown to have included over 400 GOP targets. Bigger than Watergate.

- VDH: The Left is "Bleeding Kansas". Sadly he may not be wrong.

- Japan and US to sign memorandum on shipbuilding cooperation.

- Ross Dellenger on the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes. Was not aware of Kiffin's past history at LSU.

Linky Links

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

- More on LSU firing Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly is 64 and I would not be surprised if he took his millions and retired.

- Memories of Book (and Comic Book) Reports.

- A Nuclear Fission Blank Slate.

- Scott Galloway - Notes on being a man, and advice for young men who are feeling lost.

Linky Links

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

- Heh Heh

- Researchers from Johns Hopkins have recommended that psilocybin be reclassified for medical use.

- The great New England sea serpent of 1817. 

- Love this bet!

- Heh heh - Democrats Kavanaugh concerns over time (funny because it's true)

- Another article calling out Amazon for raising their minimum wage for nefarious reasons

- Just days after settling with the government Elon Musk mocks the SEC as the "Shortsellers Enrichment Commission". Never change Elon - never change.

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?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

For the next few weeks I'm purposefully going to be that super annoying guy who keeps asking, "So got your Christmas shopping done yet?"... This is true - Turkey remembers... Who knew? Great Britain was once the world champion of ice hockey. They won the Gold Medal in hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics...  Just a reminder - Russia and Turkey have a quite a history of not getting along... Barack Obama - Less Competent than Carter and More Paranoid than Nixon". Wish that could fit on a bumper sticker... Heh heh - "Revis Island"... I think LSU would be crazy to fire Les Miles. If he wins this weekend he'll have pretty much the exact same record that Nick Saban had at LSU (49-15 for Miles vs 48-16 for Saban). If anything get the man better coordinators. Where's Les Miles version of Lane Kiffen on offense?... Cool quick cartoon explanation of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity...

Scorched Earth Football

William Tecumseh Sherman was the first superintendent of LSU (at the time named Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy). By all accounts he was the best man for the job and did a tremendous job as head of the University. He was only there for a brief period of time but made a lasting contribution. Less than 5 years after leaving LSU - Sherman's name was hated in the state.

Nick Saban was the head football coach at LSU for about the same period of time as it took to wage the Civil War. He took over the program in November of 1999 and stayed on the job for 5 years. In 2003 he led the school to a BCS Championship. The program has been a top program ever since.

Now Nick Saban is the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide a program he led to a National Championship in 2009. I can't help but think that Saban and Sherman are somehow kindred. Both are probably held in similar regard by the people of Louisiana.

As a further Civil War connection - the LSU team name is the Tigers. This comes from the Civil War where Robert E. Lee started calling all soldiers from Louisiana "Tigers" after a New Orleans infantry company called the "Tiger Rifles" fought so well for him and his Army of Northern Virginia.

I can't believe I have to wait another week for this game.