Gift Idea: A couple of years ago we got my elder dad one of the digital frames that has wifi to accept new pics from anything uploaded to related app. Entire family spread across the country has the app to send pics to my dad-- he absolutely loves it. There are several brands now, we got the Skylight.
For the first time ever, I have been placed in a social media jail...Twitter has suspended my account for saying: "F-ck that guy...I hope he gets shingles." After reading the rules sheet they sent me, I did in fact wish another person harm, so voila...Twitter jail. Oh well...so much for Free Speech, eh Elon. You prick.
The person I was referring to? Jon Heyman, for his Arson Judge tweet....
Exactly!! I didn’t even spell out the whole F word, and if Heyman has had the chicken pox, then the shingles virus is already growing silently in his body so I’m not saying anything that isn’t true….
Gladiator was a Cuba Gooding Jr. boxing movie in the early '90's with Robert Loggia, Brian Dennehy, John Cena, John Heard and James Marshall, one of the dudes that inadvertently killed PFC William Santiago with the Code Red. I thought it was really good.
Then the Russell Crowe ditty came out about a real Gladiator!
Watching Pam & Tommy - I think the 8th episode - produced in 2022. After that (and we always watch serious first, half & half second, then pure comedy last) watched the 11th episode of Freaks & Geeks which has a 23 year younger Seth Rogen! Wacky!
Finished with Abbott Elementary for the evening - love that comedy.
I finished Tinker Tailor last night – one of the movies that ATV+ is streaming as companions to their various shows...a pretty neat concept – which was pretty damn boring. Was too tired for SH...will watch tonight. Good to know it's a good one!
In other news, Trump is in his third week of being an official Presidential candidate and has zero rallies, zero fund raisers, but one meeting with a white supremist and Kanye.
"The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen."
Interesting how Paul Whelan and his family seem to be at odds on this. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I do think Putin received greater value for this trade. Griner is going to go home and live a normal life while Bout will probably go back to being the merchant of death.
He was mostly reselling old Russian gear which they’ve either lost to the Ukrainians or need to fight the Ukrainians. He’s an absolute asshole but he’s been replaced in the market.
Democrats fall back to a 50-49 majority in Senate as Sinema officially leaves the Democratic party /sees the writing on the wall and doesn't want to be primaried/prefers to torpedo the general election when she siphons enough votes from DEMs to ensure a GOP victory
But she is still caucusing with the democrats. Technically the democrats were already at 50-49 majority as Angie King is also an independent. This actually means it is 49 (D) - 49 (R) - 2 (I) but the two independents align with the democrats.
That’s right, I forgot Bernie is independent as well.
Still, the 3 independents all caucus with democrats. Sinema is going to keep her Democrat appointed committees.
At the end of the day this won’t matter much as no major liberal legislation was passing through the house with the Large Marge and GQP in charge there.
As long as she keeps voting those federal judges through for the next two years we will be fine.
Sinema WANTS to keep her Dem appointments, but will not commit to caucusing with the Democrats. If I were Chuck, I'd hold her committees hostage to a commitment to caucus with the Dems.
...aaaand that's been her strategy all along. Move to independent status so that she's assured of appearing on the general election ballot. If she's intent on getting re-elected, she's holding up the Democrats. She's daring the DSCC to run someone and effectively throw the seat to the GOP.
I'd actually entertain the idea that she's been paid off by shadowy contributors who are intent on getting the seat back in GOP hands, only because she's sided with the GOP on minimum wage, will not support killing the Senate filibuster eve in the face of voting rights legislation, and insisted on preserving the carried interest tax loophole for hedge funds while also sabotaging Build Back Better.
In short, she's basically said "Fuck You!" to democracy and reducing economic inequality.
When its apparent there are enough Republican votes in the state to take the election if there is a "D" following the name, do you just concede, or adopt a strategy that can succeed? (Noting that those are the only available alternatives.)
They have another Democratic Senator who won handily. And a Democratic governor. Her stances are unnecessary, unless your primary goal is attention seeking and setting yourself as a future conservative lobbyist.
My possibly flawed recollection was it was a close race, not at all a certainty of outcome right up to the end. I watched both parties self destruct on what should have been guaranteed win races this year, so I'm Leary of anything that's the least bit shaky any more.
She is definitely all about attention seeking, though as an electoral strategy I don't think going independent is helpful to your chances. I wonder what her endgame actually is here, because it doesn't seem to be staying in the Senate.
Good points. Maybe Dems shouldn't be so nervous about Sinema's decamping to Independent status. Maybe it's all about vanity - she doesn't want to be primaried.
I'd say that Chuck Schumer's due diligence will be to decide if it's better to write off the seat in 2024 for regaining it in 2030. That, in itself, is a gamble. But it may assure that Sinema, a self-serving disruptor, is out.
If the decision is to run someone against Sinema to force her out, then the questions is who do you recruit for the nomination? This is essentially a political suicide mission.
I didn't think I could despise Sinema more than I did before today. She's proved me wrong.
Either of those alternatives not only write off a seat that can't be afforded to being totally written off, but is highly likely to not be regained in 2030 (a risk you acknowledged). As distasteful as she is to some, I still don't see a better outcome being an available option/pipe dream.
The actual politics in Arizona seem pretty clear, even it a lot of people don't like them. My point is I can't envision a better sequence of events that's actually achievable (given the reality of those politics). I'd love to have someone outline one.
The politics are changing due to the change in the populations in the state. It's not RED anymore - not BLUE yet, but very much becoming a purple state in the future.
Arizona experiences the same red/blue, rural/urban divide like other interior states in the West. Though Maricopa County may trending blue, it would be a huge mistake to rely on demographic changes to swing in Dems favor as a continued trend. Hispanic districts of southern Texas have already proven this true. It would be folly for the Dems to miscalculate here. Sinema really is fashioning herself as the center, left version of McCain in some ways and I think the only way she would lose is if the Dems run someone against her in a general election, in which case, they'd be handing a victory to the GOP. The Dems are stuck with her much the way that the GOP is stuck with Mitt Romney.
I think you are right. Add to the calculus that the GOP could very well run someone like Lake or another hardcore MAGA candidate and the risk calculus increases substantially. The Dems don't want to risk siphoning off votes in a general election under this scenario.
Even relative to other politicians she's an attention-seeking egomaniac. Just the top of person who's drawn to political office and shouldn't be in it.
Bad 15 yd unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the sack. Then only 13ish seconds left no TO and the Raiders play press coverage with not much help over the top. All you need to do is keep the ball in front of you and tackle someone inbounds.
Given that Cal will be hiring a new FB Play by Play/Voice of the Program person, and listening to the ear-grating local morning sports & news show in a fruitless attempt to garner useful information, an idea for a new DBD poll occurred to me:
Name the prevalent trait in the substitute for journalism that passes for market-based broadcasting and reporting that most makes you want to punch Twist.
The choices are:
Blatant Homerism
Endless Sunshine Pumping
Complete Lack Of Understanding of the Subject
Consistently Misstating of the Facts Due To Total Lack Of Preparation
Distorting the Situation/Discussion to Avoid Inconvenient Reality
I think homerism is fine when it's the team's broadcast but not regional or nationally. Although I think when Joe Davis called the 2020 G7 Dodgers HRs against the Braves, he did it with a little more gusto than his other national broadcasts.
I saw a list today on the www, sans bullets, of four characteristics. I taped them to the fridge. I may have stumbled into key issues blocking my journey of self improvement.
Gift Idea: A couple of years ago we got my elder dad one of the digital frames that has wifi to accept new pics from anything uploaded to related app. Entire family spread across the country has the app to send pics to my dad-- he absolutely loves it. There are several brands now, we got the Skylight.
we got this Aura one for our off-to-college daughter so she would remember us
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099HC8XQ2/
i should probably mess with it and see if can get my face to show up on it!
For the first time ever, I have been placed in a social media jail...Twitter has suspended my account for saying: "F-ck that guy...I hope he gets shingles." After reading the rules sheet they sent me, I did in fact wish another person harm, so voila...Twitter jail. Oh well...so much for Free Speech, eh Elon. You prick.
The person I was referring to? Jon Heyman, for his Arson Judge tweet....
I would have guessed you were referring to Mark Fox.
Should have let us take some guesses before you told us.
It crossed my mind…
So, Roger Stone and Laura Loomer are okay, but Jimmy Chitwood is clearly a threat to society?
Exactly!! I didn’t even spell out the whole F word, and if Heyman has had the chicken pox, then the shingles virus is already growing silently in his body so I’m not saying anything that isn’t true….
We should demonstrate at Twitter HQ. I'll draw up a sign: " Justice for Chitwood," or "Hey Elon, try banning this: I hope you get shingles!"
Solidarity baby!!!
Woman gives her neighbor head rather than sex toys [SFW link]
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/woman-gave-neighbour-box-said-28693173
<Pam from the Office meme>
What's in the box, Carmen?
Oh...not THAT kind of head.
WORLD CUP
ZZZZZ
When does the FCS playoff game come on?
I manage to get through basketball and baseball seasons without complaining about other people enjoying them, maybe give it a go.
You need to ask Bob
Are you watching to scout Furd's new coach?
Actually more interested in the Montana St. game, but I will check on the Sac. St. game outcome.
BOOOOOOO!
Netherlands vs. Argentina
2-0 is the most dangerous lead in football
Arg blows late 2-0 lead. going to extra time ..
NED , only 2 shots on goal. score twice.
PKs now
Croatia vs. Brazil
Croatia's goalie was amazing. See you later Brazil!
i was pretty surprised that Brazil gave up that goal in extra time that tied it.
it seemed they were on the track to move on to the next round.
Another game to PKs. I'm not a fan. Make them play until someone scores.
The English already invented one very long and boring game in cricket, no need to make it two.
This is the game of the infamous nil-nil tie. It could well take until next Wednesday.
PA man suffers a Wile E. Coyote death
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/12/man-survives-central-pa-rollover-crash-but-dies-after-train-hits-him-state-police.html
Gladiator
The first Gladiator was a kick a$$ movie.
The second Gladiator received much more fanfare!
there was a 2nd one? not sure how i missed that
Gladiator was a Cuba Gooding Jr. boxing movie in the early '90's with Robert Loggia, Brian Dennehy, John Cena, John Heard and James Marshall, one of the dudes that inadvertently killed PFC William Santiago with the Code Red. I thought it was really good.
Then the Russell Crowe ditty came out about a real Gladiator!
ah ok. i guess i thought the Russell Crowe one was the first.
Definitely very good in lots of parts, some kind of a problem for me.
DBD AV Club
I have a sort of funny comment:
Watching Pam & Tommy - I think the 8th episode - produced in 2022. After that (and we always watch serious first, half & half second, then pure comedy last) watched the 11th episode of Freaks & Geeks which has a 23 year younger Seth Rogen! Wacky!
Finished with Abbott Elementary for the evening - love that comedy.
Abbott Elementary is sooo good. It's replaced Parks and Rec as my comfort show.
The reveal of Ava's boyfriend!
Big events going on in Slow Horses episode 3!
Gonna watch now!
I finished Tinker Tailor last night – one of the movies that ATV+ is streaming as companions to their various shows...a pretty neat concept – which was pretty damn boring. Was too tired for SH...will watch tonight. Good to know it's a good one!
Echo 3 on Apple TV.
Silly. 5 of 10 episodes are out, and I'll finish it, but it's sooooo silly.
it's supposed to be a soldier thriller, right? Silly doesn't seem to be a good adjective.
Watch…and you tell me
do I have to?!? trying to not start another show ;-)
besides, aren't you an enemy of the state now. can't be trusted!
I absolutely am an enemy!!!
And I agree - we don’t need anymore shows in our lives!!! ;-)
good to know. I loved S1, but was meh on S2
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Trump's fund-raising is down vs. last cycle, down about 20% - but he has a decent warchest in his other PAC
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/08/trump-cash-haul-spike-2024-launch-00073211
In other news, Trump is in his third week of being an official Presidential candidate and has zero rallies, zero fund raisers, but one meeting with a white supremist and Kanye.
My bold prediction is that he doesn't even make it to the primary.
My guess is finding ways to spend his war chest on his own entities until he can bow out
Your lips to God's ears.
Cry more, Christofascist
https://twitter.com/RitchieTorres/status/1600947886405345280
Paul Whelan's family:
"The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen."
https://www.boston.com/news/world-news/2022/12/08/paul-whelan-family-on-brittney-griner-deal/
Interesting how Paul Whelan and his family seem to be at odds on this. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I do think Putin received greater value for this trade. Griner is going to go home and live a normal life while Bout will probably go back to being the merchant of death.
He was mostly reselling old Russian gear which they’ve either lost to the Ukrainians or need to fight the Ukrainians. He’s an absolute asshole but he’s been replaced in the market.
James Gunn is now the head of power!
No no, Jenna Fischer's ex-husband!
City in Iowa that hosted a Trump rally last month is shocked - shocked, I tell ya - that Trump would stiff them on expenses.
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/sioux-city-trump-rally-debt/524-b3b57be0-0641-486c-aab6-b30bae7ef011
Apparently, someone has been meeting with Supreme Court lobbyists. Now, who would do that and even encourage it, Clarence Thomas?
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/rob-schenck-clarence-thomas-supreme-court/
[CNN] J6C leaning toward criminal referrals to the DOJ for Eastman, Clark, Drunk Uncle, Meadows, and Trump
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/politics/january-6-committee-criminal-referrals/index.html
Democrats fall back to a 50-49 majority in Senate as Sinema officially leaves the Democratic party /sees the writing on the wall and doesn't want to be primaried/prefers to torpedo the general election when she siphons enough votes from DEMs to ensure a GOP victory
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/12/09/sen-kyrsten-sinema-of-arizona-why-im-registering-as-an-independent/69712395007/
But she is still caucusing with the democrats. Technically the democrats were already at 50-49 majority as Angie King is also an independent. This actually means it is 49 (D) - 49 (R) - 2 (I) but the two independents align with the democrats.
No, Senate composition along party lines is -
Democrats - 48
Independents - 3 (Sanders (VT), King (ME), Sinema (AZ))
Republicans - 49
That’s right, I forgot Bernie is independent as well.
Still, the 3 independents all caucus with democrats. Sinema is going to keep her Democrat appointed committees.
At the end of the day this won’t matter much as no major liberal legislation was passing through the house with the Large Marge and GQP in charge there.
As long as she keeps voting those federal judges through for the next two years we will be fine.
Sinema WANTS to keep her Dem appointments, but will not commit to caucusing with the Democrats. If I were Chuck, I'd hold her committees hostage to a commitment to caucus with the Dems.
I agree with that if she doesn’t caucus with the Dems. I haven’t read anything today where she hasn’t committed to caucusing with the Dems.
...aaaand that's been her strategy all along. Move to independent status so that she's assured of appearing on the general election ballot. If she's intent on getting re-elected, she's holding up the Democrats. She's daring the DSCC to run someone and effectively throw the seat to the GOP.
I'd actually entertain the idea that she's been paid off by shadowy contributors who are intent on getting the seat back in GOP hands, only because she's sided with the GOP on minimum wage, will not support killing the Senate filibuster eve in the face of voting rights legislation, and insisted on preserving the carried interest tax loophole for hedge funds while also sabotaging Build Back Better.
In short, she's basically said "Fuck You!" to democracy and reducing economic inequality.
When its apparent there are enough Republican votes in the state to take the election if there is a "D" following the name, do you just concede, or adopt a strategy that can succeed? (Noting that those are the only available alternatives.)
They have another Democratic Senator who won handily. And a Democratic governor. Her stances are unnecessary, unless your primary goal is attention seeking and setting yourself as a future conservative lobbyist.
My possibly flawed recollection was it was a close race, not at all a certainty of outcome right up to the end. I watched both parties self destruct on what should have been guaranteed win races this year, so I'm Leary of anything that's the least bit shaky any more.
51.4% to 46.5%, against the type of Republican candidate the part is highly likely to run again. A Libertarian got ~2%.
She is definitely all about attention seeking, though as an electoral strategy I don't think going independent is helpful to your chances. I wonder what her endgame actually is here, because it doesn't seem to be staying in the Senate.
Good points. Maybe Dems shouldn't be so nervous about Sinema's decamping to Independent status. Maybe it's all about vanity - she doesn't want to be primaried.
District? It's the State.
I'd say that Chuck Schumer's due diligence will be to decide if it's better to write off the seat in 2024 for regaining it in 2030. That, in itself, is a gamble. But it may assure that Sinema, a self-serving disruptor, is out.
If the decision is to run someone against Sinema to force her out, then the questions is who do you recruit for the nomination? This is essentially a political suicide mission.
I didn't think I could despise Sinema more than I did before today. She's proved me wrong.
Either of those alternatives not only write off a seat that can't be afforded to being totally written off, but is highly likely to not be regained in 2030 (a risk you acknowledged). As distasteful as she is to some, I still don't see a better outcome being an available option/pipe dream.
I... don't think you're reading the real politics in AZ.
The actual politics in Arizona seem pretty clear, even it a lot of people don't like them. My point is I can't envision a better sequence of events that's actually achievable (given the reality of those politics). I'd love to have someone outline one.
The politics are changing due to the change in the populations in the state. It's not RED anymore - not BLUE yet, but very much becoming a purple state in the future.
Arizona experiences the same red/blue, rural/urban divide like other interior states in the West. Though Maricopa County may trending blue, it would be a huge mistake to rely on demographic changes to swing in Dems favor as a continued trend. Hispanic districts of southern Texas have already proven this true. It would be folly for the Dems to miscalculate here. Sinema really is fashioning herself as the center, left version of McCain in some ways and I think the only way she would lose is if the Dems run someone against her in a general election, in which case, they'd be handing a victory to the GOP. The Dems are stuck with her much the way that the GOP is stuck with Mitt Romney.
The difference is that McCain was always popular in his state. Sinema is not.
I think you are right. Add to the calculus that the GOP could very well run someone like Lake or another hardcore MAGA candidate and the risk calculus increases substantially. The Dems don't want to risk siphoning off votes in a general election under this scenario.
Even relative to other politicians she's an attention-seeking egomaniac. Just the top of person who's drawn to political office and shouldn't be in it.
PRO
The Philly Eagles release a Christmas album. It sells out in less than a minute.
https://twitter.com/JasonKelce/status/1601238443316871168
The Mets are approaching $400m payroll including luxury tax
https://nypost.com/2022/12/09/mets-steve-cohen-spending-whatever-necessary-to-win-now/
The Bobby Bonilla deal strikes again!
With 1:45 left, Baker Mayfield leads the St. Louis Rams to an improbable 98 yard drive to win the game with 10 seconds left over the Oakland Raiders
https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401437888
Bad 15 yd unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the sack. Then only 13ish seconds left no TO and the Raiders play press coverage with not much help over the top. All you need to do is keep the ball in front of you and tackle someone inbounds.
Jerry Tillery has been a Raider for like 2 weeks and he pulls that crap...silly.
He was terrible on the Chargers. Another former ND 1st round pick bust.
Elsewhere in college
Tanner McKee declares for the NFL. Furd could be awful next year. Like Colorado bad. Which means they'll win Big Game.
https://twitter.com/McKeeTmckee/status/1601037578395787266
furd hiring Troy Taylor tho…
[MBB] U South Dakota's HC will miss their next game because he went full Griswold
https://www.keloland.com/sports/usd/south-dakota-mens-basketball-coach-injured/
CAL
How do you end up with an underperforming HC on a big extension when you’re own alumni is a hot shot up and comer and is going to your rival.
Plus Men’s basketball won’t win a game this year and we’re likely getting relegated to the MWC.
FIRE KNOWLTON IMMEDIATELY.
Given that Cal will be hiring a new FB Play by Play/Voice of the Program person, and listening to the ear-grating local morning sports & news show in a fruitless attempt to garner useful information, an idea for a new DBD poll occurred to me:
Name the prevalent trait in the substitute for journalism that passes for market-based broadcasting and reporting that most makes you want to punch Twist.
The choices are:
Blatant Homerism
Endless Sunshine Pumping
Complete Lack Of Understanding of the Subject
Consistently Misstating of the Facts Due To Total Lack Of Preparation
Distorting the Situation/Discussion to Avoid Inconvenient Reality
Blatant Homerism is awesome in sports announcing and I don't know why Americans are so against it.
Here's Mitro's game winner against Brentford earlier this year as called by Fulham's Gentleman Jim https://youtu.be/Ru52uEY6VSc?t=100
I think homerism is fine when it's the team's broadcast but not regional or nationally. Although I think when Joe Davis called the 2020 G7 Dodgers HRs against the Braves, he did it with a little more gusto than his other national broadcasts.
For me it is "Distorting the Situation/Discussion to Avoid Inconvenient Reality."
This summarizes the tactic of every politician and news pundit.
Note to self:
I saw a list today on the www, sans bullets, of four characteristics. I taped them to the fridge. I may have stumbled into key issues blocking my journey of self improvement.
Go Bears!!!