It looks like the Republican won the governorship in Kentucky despite everyone being sure he would lose. That's a bad sign for the Democrats. Kentucky is still one of the few southern(ish) states that leans Democratic. But apparently, Democratic voters are on strike. For the longest time, it looked like the Democrats were going to recapture the US Senate, but now I'm having my doubts. After things like Kentucky, it seems that the left is just too demoralized to turn out. Moreover, the Dems are using a bad strategy in places like Virginia where Bloomberg is determined to make the Senate contest about gun control. Good luck with that, fool.
A word on black quarterbacks. The search for the world's first great black quarterback has become a sort of Holy Grail quest for liberal sports journalists. The way this translates is rather ironic. First, it means that THOU SHALT NOT criticize the latest great black hope. Even to offer very legitimate criticism gets attacked as racist. And when these guys show some talent in their first year, well break out the Papal robes because they get anointed as divine. But the moment they stumble, these same journalists who sought to shame away all the critics turn viciously and often unfairly against these guys. Their attacks go beyond talent and far into personality. RG3 and Colin Kaepernick have both been savaged now by journalists for being lazy, entitled and rude. They are described as rude and selfish. And many of these articles are downright gloating, mocking and intentionally insulting. It is an amazing display only a liberal could excuse. How can it be racist to offer legitimate criticism that, if corrected, could help these guys succeed, but the moment the Messiah robes turn to ash, it becomes fair game to destroy them as people?
I'm not entirely sure what Putin is doing, but after the Russian plane got shot down in Egypt (and with more no doubt coming), I think Putin is about to start his own Vietnam in Syria and Iraq. It will be interesting to see if Putin can eliminate his problem by simply killing enough people. History says he can't, but he seems like he's willing to try. Anyways, my prediction is this... look for a joint Russian/Iranian invasion of ISIS held Iraq in the near future.
Thoughts?
28 comments:
BTW, Rustbelt's take on Frankenstein is up at the film site. :)
The Mongols killed off entire regions for many hundreds of miles, scorching the earth and sewing salt in fertile lands. It worked back then. It also worked in most of Chechnya where the Russians relocated the Muslims out and moved "good Russians" into their homes. You don't hear much from them anymore do you? That's why.
LL, Good point. This may be a lot harder as it's farther from Russia's borders, but it will be interesting to see what happens. I mean that with genuine curiosity. It seems like ISIS has finally met someone just as brutal for the first time, but it's hard to say if Russia has the will or the firepower.
Maine just voted down a $15 minimum wage hike.
KC Royals won the World Series...I'm happy for them, however, KCMO is on the other side of the world from me. There are more Atlanta Braves fans down here than KC Royals fans..
The Russian military is a paper tiger, they have a few good units and equipment that is outdated and broke. I don't doubt their bravery, however, it's been awhile since the Russian military took on anyone but Georgia and a few Chechnyians. We have been at war almost continually since 1959,...Russia's biggest problems is an inability to really project power. They have only a few aircraft carriers and no strategic bombers of any worth. Their army is mostly conscripts. I wish tem well in destroying ISIS, but it's going to be a long hard road. Personally, I can't see the West's adherence to a policy of removing Assad, in comparison to ISIS he's a lightweight.
Ohio voted down legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use. As most people have no issue with legalizing pot for medical use, pro-recreational pot advocates blew it for sick and dying children by overreaching.
And Houstonians rejected a referendum to would have banned descriminationsin all of the usual grievance-mongering categories. If it has passes pretty much the only category of human where it would be okay to openly discriminate against would be straight healthy Caucasian males. It all came down to public bathroom access. More on this tonight...
Bev, I understand the Ohio thing also included some strange provision limiting who could grow the pot. From the little I've read, it sounded rigged and it may have turned a lot of supporters against it to.
In any event, it sounds like the Sheriff in San Fran got handed his retirement by the voters because he let an illegal out who shot a woman. The GOP retained the Virginia Senate. The Houston thing happened too.
Not a good night for liberals. Lots of warning bells.
Critch, I don't think the West has a policy in Syria. I think they have a hippie-dippy wish to get rid of all the evil dictators, but they don't have any idea how to do it without replacing him with anything worse. So their goal has basically been to look like they are doing something while not actually doing anything.
Putin seems determined to protect Assad first and then crush ISIS. He can protect Assad easily, but I'm not sure he can achieve anything against ISIS for the reason you mention. They have some good units, but they really can't project power. BUT Iran can, and that's why I think you will have an Iranian invasion of Iraq in the near-future. They will wipe out ISIS and claim a lot of land through a proxy government with Russian support.
Kit, On that point, has anyone noticed the appearance of these damn computers at the tables at places like Red Robin and Olive Garden? They are annoying as hell. In any event, their real purpose is to find a replacement for waiters. Basically, low end restaurants are about to become computer interfaced with servers bringing out the food... no real waiters.
Andrew, I must confess to using them to order my drinks and appetizers and then to pay the check. I rather like them. I hate waiting for a drink after I've been seated: SOLVED. And I hate waiting for the check when I'm done: SOLVED. Then there's Applebee's. They've got the same things, but they never seem to work.
On one hand, this is what happens when folks demand higher wages for low wage work. On the other hand, this enables fewer staff to serve more people, thereby justifying the higher wage.
Of course, then there are all those servers out of work. Liberals like to call it unintended consequences. I like to call it solving problems with problems.
tryanmax, That's actually a pretty accurate description of liberalism in general: see a problem, fix it with a solution that creates more problems, fix those problems with a solution that causes even greater problems, rinse and repeat until the problems become insurmountable and then have someone with more money (government) take over the thing and rebuild it using a different model.
The problems I have with the machines are that I don't like them taking space at the table, service has gotten really slow in places with them, and the waiters seem too think they have no responsibility for fixing problems. I'm avoiding places that have them now.
I haven't been in a restaurant yet that has computers to order yet. but is sounds like a human version of Pavlov's experiment. Touch the right numbers at the right time and food will come out. Do not and starve!
On another restaurant-related topic: One of our top chef/owners in MYC announced a couple of weeks ago that his restaurants would no longer allow tipping and raising their prices accordingly to cover his employees. And as odd as this may seem, there are actually a group of people complaining about not having to tip. 8-\
Its amazing to me that the Democrats were convinced gun control was a winning issue in Virginia of all places. That makes no sense at all.
As for RG3 (don't know the other guy) I think his rise and fall were non-racial and non-partisan. RG3 is far from the first guy to be hailed as the Redskin's savior but to wind up being hated because he was unable to save them (saving meaning winning the Superbowl). I hope that victory happens in my daughter's lifetime. At 41, I fear it won't happen in mine.
Interestingly, despite his race early in I remember more liberal sniping at RG3 than conservative sniping due to rumors he was going to declare himself a Republican.
Generally speaking, most admired his willingness to do whatever (including run) to gain yards but once he started getting injured he was damned for the thing he was once praised for (doesn't take care of himself!).
A lot of local DJs had fun when he proclaimed himself the best QB in the NFL a few months ago.
"...see a problem, fix it with a solution that creates more problems, fix those problems with a solution that causes even greater problems, rinse and repeat"
Andrew and Tryanmax - Yep, it's their most reliable and oft used "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" plan...how else can liberals create new jobs when they hate private enterprise so much?
And Andrew - on the Ohio pot initiative. Yes, apparently the pot growers activist groups who got the initiative on the ballot also added a monopoly clause that they would be the only ones who would be allowed to grow and sell in the state.
Off Topic: How's this for media bias? The Daily Beast has an article today that--if you read it--basically says Ben Carson has had incredibly few malpractice suits brought against him for a neurosurgeon. The headline: Ben Carson Was Sued for Malpractice at Least Eight Times Nothing false, but what impression does that give?
Now, don't take me for a whiner. I'm not necessarily an advocate of unbiased reporting. If anything, I favor openly biased journalism. I just wish the news-writers on the right would learn to craft a story-in-a-headline like that. Enough with "You won't believe the top 7 reasons why the government doesn't want you to click here! (in pictures)"
Anthony, It happens all the time. There is an army of racist black sports journalists (the same guys attacking Chip Kelly this offseason) and self-righteous liberal whites who hover around draft time waiting for people to offer criticism. Then they pounce. Criticizing a lack of passing accuracy gets spun into "white guy who can't handle black quarterbacks" and criticizing personality traits (even passing along such criticism) or criminal record gets translated into "racist white guy who hates black culture and 'reminds me of when racists would openly say that blacks aren't smart enough to be quarterbacks!'"
This stuff goes off like clockwork with every single black quarterback to come out of college, and it generally lasts for a few years after they get into the league in the form of "think about those racists who said he couldn't play this game... who wanted him to try out for wide receiver!! Look at him now stringing together two good quarters! He's proven everyone wrong! Boo down to this amazing athlete!" Then it all flips one day and they shred the guy as a human being.
RG3's problem, I think, goes back to him being seen as a religious conservative. That made him fair game for massive hate once he started struggling. Russel Wilson got the same treatment in his salary dispute that never really was because he's seen as a religious nut (and abstinent). So he was accused of being a diva, being selfish, being disloyal, being hated in the locker room and not being black enough -- something that has been lobbed at RG3 too. By comparison, Vick was immune from criticism despite never having back to back winning seasons and having the worst passer rating in the league until the dog fighting thing.
Geno Smith's critics were savaged for racism for repeating what coaches and players at West Virginia said about him lacking leadership, brains and a work ethic. Then Smith fell on his face and now he's fair game too.
Rush got fired for saying that the reason no one would criticize McNabb was that he was black. A couple years later, McNabb failed out of the league and began a DUI tour of America.
In the 1980s, there was a real argument made in the media that it was racist not to list Randal Cunningham in the top 5 of quarterbacks for all time, even though in the league at that point were Elway, Marino, Kelly, Favre, Montana, Young and others... so he wasn't even in the top 5 of that year.
Bev, The problem I have with the no tipping thing is that (1) it eliminates the incentive to provide excellent treatment and (2) I like rewarding good service.
P.S. Anthony, I think the gun control thing is an obsession essentially and the advocates just aren't capable of reading the public on this because they surround themselves with a bubble.
Bev, According to the AP, adding 300,000 people to Medicare "produces" 30,000 jobs. Uh... how?
tryanmax, Every neurosurgeon I know has been sued multiple times.
As an aside, I should note that Carson's problems do not lie in his background, they lie in his religious beliefs that are not consistent with the vast, vast majority of voters and will scare people away from him.
Andrew and Tryanmax - re: Carson's med/mal record - that is just way of being racist without having to actually say that he must have been an "affirmative action" kind of Neurosurgeon...
You know - performing-brain-surgery-while-being-Black (and Republican) kind of racism.
Wait a minute! Carson's not white? Who is this guy if not Ben Carson then ==>Ben Carson?
Andrew - I tip because I want too also. But the first time I experienced a world without tipping AND great service was in Japan where tipping is insulting. But then the Japanese culture has instilled a great sense of honor in perfection, graciousness, and hospitality which is exemplified in their customer service.
It is kind of the opposite in socialist countries like the UK...no tipping just translates into lethargy.
Andrew -- agreed that Carson has no issues in his past, which is why I find it so interesting that TDB would be trying to mine it. Then again, how relevant is TDB these days?
As to the religion thing, I don't expect him to make it out of the primaries to find out either way. He's done a good job deflecting Trump, and I'm seeing none of the articles about how weird 7th Day Adventists are like I saw about Mormonism in the last presidential race. If anything, the response I've seen is that Trump thinks it's weird, and Trump himself is weird, so maybe 7DAs are not weird. Like I said, I don't even think this will have the chance to play out.
I don't want to be one of THOSE parents, but I need to pass this on. The longer I live with this army of girls around me, the more I realize that all the sugar spice stuff was just propaganda. Note today's exchange:
Younger Girl: laughs
Older Girl: Mom, she just farted on me!
Mom: Stop farting on your sister!
YG: But it was funny!
OG: No it wasn't! laughs
YG: Heeeey! Mom! She just farted on me!
OG: Yeah, because it was funny.
Mom: Why did I have kids again?
Bev, Japan is great in several ways. That was one of them. The service was fantastic.
Europe is a different story entirely. Tipping would change a lot of bad things in Europe.
tryanmax, It's hard to predict how far he will go. I'm seeing the rise of Rubio right now and that could slowly squeeze Carson out, or it could make him a VP. Hard to tell. Odds are it finished him. So you may well be right.
On the religion aspect specifically, I'm not sure the 7DAs (sounds like a crime fighting syndicate) get the same kind of negative emotion as Mormons right out of the gate, but the media will work them over when the time comes to be sure.
The bigger problem, as I see it, is that every time he speaks on religion, he says things that genuinely bother people who don't share his beliefs. Those are the kinds of things that make it easy to write someone off as "dangerous" or "crazy" because they're very, very exclusionary and, frankly, in direct violation of the religious tolerance Americans expect as required in their candidates.
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