unclevlad

Well, now. I think we have a new champion in the Man Bites Dog Challenge. Headline and lead from NYT: Those who do not value loyalty, get deserve none...

I wrote Brees??? <sigh> It was Rivers. Which is why HoF is a debate. I needed that nap, huh....

And the late-season rumors/expectations/tea leaf readings were accurate, clearly. Drew Brees announced his retirement today. Let the debate about the HoF begin. Looks like Mahomes will probably be cleared to play Sunday. But one has to be concerned about durability so soon after.

The problem is too many people could qualify.... Well now that means we need a game. Which comic, gaming, sci fi, or pulp villain is Donald Trump? DT offers up the Wicked Witch of the West. I think I'll go with Brain for now, from Pinky and the Brain. Besides, that way I can cast Giuliani as Pinky.

It's a Presidential speech. In the positive sense. On the pardons, Bannon was the big one. The other controversial ones weren't names you'd immediately recognize from the political circus. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/trump-pardons-commutations-list/index.html

The best part is that nothing happened. It's OVER!!!! Lord Orange is OUT. The problems aren't suddenly gone but the lead insurrectionist is down to shouting.

Well...no luck for me. Or mostly. I did win back $2 out of the $10.... BUT no one won tonight (Mega Millions) so the feeding frenzy REALLY begins to go wild. Estimated jackpot for Friday is a bit under $1B. As in Billion. As in dollar amounts you only hear about in Federal budgets. Cash value a bit over $700M. BTW, the highest Federal tax rate is 37% this year. Max state tax is 5%, but that of course varies wildly, and some cities have an income tax too. But it kinda matters...8% more in my grubby greedy hands means $56M here. Heck, figure that's more than I will ever, EVER need so I could keep that for myself and try to do Good Things with all the rest. I said I *could* people........stop sniggering behind my back......

The Remy XO is set out by one of my good tasting glasses for me, but that'll be for after dinner. Santa Fe 7K IPA with a lamb "fried rice" for dinner.

But only early in the morning, then expect a sharp change around noon. Hey, who else is planning to watch the inauguration? First time EVER I've said those words, but as long as I crash at a sane hour (by no means a foregone conclusion) I intend to. I get most here stiff suffer the bane of the drinking classes, tho. But you can hardly avoid it. ABC and CBS plan 7 solid hours of coverage; NBC's starting an hour later (still 2 hours ahead of time). And all 3 plan prime-time events. Fox is waiting til an hour before. CNN is going beyond overboard, apparently...36 hours. No thanks, I'll pass.

And here we go. Hawley's going to be a major PITA when he can be. Consequences be damned. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/hawley-mayorkas-dhs/index.html

Just saw that Don Sutton, former long time Dodger pitcher and member of the HoF, passed away in his sleep last night. Bummer...

OK, we'll let you live in the forest with no running water, electricity, internet..... And we'll pick your Maid Marian. Bwaaahahahaaaa........

Actually, what I'd try to do would be to get everyone here to a project, which I'd fund, to produce a completely reorganized, linked PDF or HTML format, so it's not tied to the print medium's limitations. It'd be all of volume 1 and at least the first 5 chapters (the combat stuff) from volume 2.

Saw it. And it was quite prompt. I might argue that it was 4 years ago (the target of the harassment requested non-publication for quite a while, fearing reprisal)...but...the degree of the offense, and the repeated nature...yeah, he's done. Glad the organization did it but from the ESPN story I read, it was truly a no-brainer. Porter was a complete and utter idiot, and his actions were reprehensible.

But that's why it matters if it's the insiders. Pence won't do it but Barr might, and some others will. There will definitely be some that'll just blow it off and lump them in with the other Trump Betrayers, but there will be others that will be swayed. Trump doesn't have to lose that much in the way of support before he can't dominate. It'll take more to marginalize him, for sure, but even that's not out of the question IMO. Plus, marginalizing DJT won't end things. "Well ok, maybe Trump wasn't the right man for the job...but they still stole the election and we gotta make sure that never happens again!" That sort of thing. Just because DJT isn't the focus does not spell the end of Trumpism per se. It might must require a passing of the mantle.

But not if multiple insiders and multiple angles go to work. Plus, I mean this will stop DJT. NOT the movement. Not Little Donald or Eric or Jared; heck they might be able to ride both a "Trump martyrdom" wave and a "well he wasn't perfect but he was still FOR US!!" sentiment. The King is dead, long live the King, if you will.

Any Trump resurgence will be complicated, IMO, by the court cases and the shelf-load's worth of books we'll see *from insiders* about the last 4 years. His failings in business and as a leader are going to be on full display, and the facade he's created about himself is going to crumble. And we'll have to see how long it lasts, but his business interests may be about to collapse from lack of support, as corporations withdraw from his resorts and properties. At that level, corporate travel's a major element of a hotel's business. I would also expect that some percentage of wealthy travelers find other places. The Boebert story is complicated. Conflicting reports about that possible tour...and not on just the partisan media lines. BUT, there's this too: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/lauren-boebert-republican.html?searchResultPosition=1 In case it's paywalled too: --she tried to walk through new metal detectors without submitting to having her purse checked, or being wanded --she brags about carrying a gun in a city with VERY tight gun control --I don't know about the food poisoning, but she's been very defiant about masks at her restaurant, and advocated for her servers carrying guns --and of course, the usual...banned from Twitter for election claims, screaming that a House rule requiring masks is violating her rights, etc. It's likely she'll be more of a nuisance than anything; the House is much larger than the Senate so their rules have always been more capable of muzzling someone. And a LOT of Republicans don't like her, so she's gonna have a hard time getting anything done.

Song for Donald and Melania... We're leavin' together But still it's farewell And maybe we'll come back To Earth, who can tell? I guess there is no one to blame We're leaving ground (leaving ground) Will things ever be the same again? It's the final countdown The final countdown The Final Countdown by Europe. Those of a certain age, you know you loved it too.

But use a ceramic mug, not glass.

"settled Vikings"...now there's a fresh candidate for the Oxymoron Hall of Fame.....

Whether you have the right to anonymity or not varies from state to state, actually. That said, if I couldn't (and in New Mexico, your name, city of residence, and prize amount would be available, but NOT your picture)...I'd work around it as much as I could. Build some basic corporate structure that has no real meaning *other than* to provide a separate name on the paperwork. Then probably move to a different city; one thing we don't have is very good medical care, so that would be a consideration. I'd probably stay in the West; the trick would be figuring out where.

Well, Mr. P, you can just join me in rooting for Mr. Ro(d)gers. GO PACK!!!! (I don't have that much personal animosity towards Tommy, and calling him GOAT is defensible, but the GLA BS was going way too far) On a secondary point, I hope Brees hangs it up. Not that I'd want him to go out like that, but he's just too limited now.

It's twofers week. Tuesday is a MegaMillions drawing with the estimated jackpot of ~ $850M (about $630M cash payout). Then Wednesday is Powerball. Estimated $730M / $540M+ cash. That is what I would definitely call stimulus money.

That isn't necessarily true. Powergaming also encompasses --no weaknesses. OK, defenses remain within bounds, but the defenses are particularly complete. --has a very effective attack against almost any opponent --combine high combat value with max attack AND good SPD Sure, to a degree this might look like being efficient, but if the goal is to achieve high efficiency about *everything* that's probably powergaming.

Very interesting thoughts at halftime, based on the potential game-changer turnover when the Browns' receiver got hit at the 1, and the ball slid out the side of the end zone. --Esiason: the DB led with his helmet, into the receiver's shoulder...but leading with the helmet is a flag. But *that aspect* was not reviewable. I hate that. Whether or not the hit should be legal is a separate point, but it should be reviewable. Nothing new here, tho; the NFL's replay rules have been abysmal from the start. --Cowher: you have to move the ball to the 20, yes, because a scrimmage play can't start in the end zone. BUT, Cleveland should've kept the ball. The Chiefs did nothing to earn the ball, and it would effectlvely amount to a 19 yard penalty...quite significant.