Category: News

  • ODDS and ENDS: World Cup, Lawsuits, and Reading

    (I Believe That We Will Win!)

    So, the World Cup is almost here, and yes, I am excited about it. I have kept my promise of not blogging non-stop about Tottenham, (even though they have been playing like gash, yet still did make it out of the group stage in the Champions League – but that is a blog for another day) and as the World Cup is about to begin, I will be writing about it. The teams I will be watching are Team USA because you support your home country, Mexico as they have good teams that never deliver and their fans are the best, and England. In fact, The English National Team released a video announcing their team lineup that I thought was rather original:

    Now, I woke up this morning to the news that a Texas Federal has ruled the Biden-Harris Student Loan Forgiveness plan unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by a group called Job Creators Network Foundation, which is an organization that was founded by the billionaire and former CEO of Home Depot, Bernard Marcus. What I find the most interesting about Marcus, and this whole situation, is that if you read his bio, after graduating high school, he wanted to be a doctor, but couldn’t afford college, so he went to a state school – Rutgers – back when college was funded by the government, making it affordable for working class kids from Newark in 1947. Added on top of that, I can find no evidence of Marcus fighting against the Federal Government cutting his taxes back in 2017. I mean, Marcus owed taxes, but then Trump passed a law and forgave what he owed, in essence. I love how hypocritical the uber-wealthy are. And they wonder why no one likes them.

    Did you know the average American reads 13 books a year? I was actually surprised by that number, as I thought it would be much lower. I have a feeling there are a few people out there that are reading way more than 13 books a year, which is pushing the number up, and I would like to thank those people for helping make America seem more literate.

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  • Power to the Twit

    How does the line go? “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” I think it was Maya Angelou who said that, and I also hold that she is correct. If I might add a caveat to that statement, and I am speaking only from my personal experience, I never realize that someone is showing who they are in real time; it’s always after the fact.

    I sort of feel that’s what happening with Elon Musk and Twitter. I don’t think he’s as business savvy as he keeps telling us. I mean, there are a bunch of decisions that he’s made that don’t add up to me. Like the laying off of 50% of the Twitter work force. There is a reason layoffs don’t happen the way Elon is doing it. He’s spending a dollar to save a dime, which generally is the sign that the decision was emotional and not logical.

    Deep pockets do not mean you are a genius at business. Deep pockets mean you can afford to make many, many, MANY mistakes until you figure out the right thing to do.

    Also, there is the whole content curation, and what is and is not allowed in the platform. He says he’s all for free speech, unless you are planning on mocking him, then that speech isn’t allowed. But he’s cool with you mocking, and hate-speeching other people. Got that. Just not him. Mocking Elon is wrong. Remember: You are free to do what Elon tells you.

    You are free to do what Elon tells you!

    YOU ARE FREE TO DO WHAT ELON TELLS YOU!!!

    (Full disclosure; I borrowed that line. It’s based off a Bill Hicks joke.)

    In the end, I think he just wants the attention, and he’s getting it. This is what, like the third time I have written about this, because on some level, this whole situation just gets in my craw. Part of it is that I don’t trust uber-wealthy people. The other side is that I have a hard time not looking at the train wreck happening right before me. But at the end of the day, 3,700 people are losing their jobs for no fault of their own. That’s 3,700 families being upended, having their livelihoods, and futures jeopardized, for what? So, some rich guy can be the global center of attention.

    Elon has been showing us who he is for a very long time, and only now some of us are seeing the morally bankrupt fraud he is.

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  • ODDS and ENDS: Elon’s Twitter Deal, Pickled Out, and Brett and Climate Change

    (I see dead tweets ahead…)

    Elon Musk bought Twitter, and we all can’t stop talking about it. Maybe he’ll reinvent it and it will become the town square where ideas are freely exchanged. I doubt it. Social platforms, and the internet as a whole, is a place for people to create their new fictive personas. In most cases, people want to stay anonymous, which leads people saying things they never would in real life. You cannot slay people’s id, especially when you have given it a platform to flourish like the weed it is. No, I feel like Elon wants a bit of attention from us, and he’s getting it. The way I see it, the tech wunderkinds are starting to over play their hands. Zuck and his Metaverse is a vanity project of epic proportions. Apple is just rolling out new models and hasn’t “innovated” anything in years. And little Elon just bought something, that he hopes goes up in value, and then he’ll unload it. At the end of the day, this is all about making money. They are just big corporations now, doing what big corporations do; new boss, same as the old boss.

    Give it a rest with all the Pickleball news stories, already. It’s the Amway of sports; Its cool that you’re into it, but I don’t want to hear about it.

    Hey! Brett Stephens has come around to understand climate change is real! But he’s still Brett Stephens and thinks the market will solve the problem, and we shouldn’t rush into making any changes too quickly. I love how conservatives continue to believe that the profit motive leads to good, altruistic, moral decisions that benefit all. (Does no one else find it odd that out of the Seven Deadly Sins, Greed is the only one that leads to salvation according to capitalists?) If the market has a choice of solving a problem or making money, it will always choose making money. (DuPont is my prime example of that.) I am glad that he has come around, and he is a conservative that is willing to come to the table to find solutions; that is a big step forward that I wish more people would make.

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  • ODDS and ENDS: North London Derby, Apple Picking, and My Flute!!!

    (My weekly segment and , you know, I like soup.)

    Here we are – Tottenham v Arsenal. The North London Derby. The #1 and #3 team of the Premiere League go at it. Will Spurs stay undefeated? Will Arsenal stay on top of the League? I won’t know because NBC is showing the match in USA, and I don’t have cable. I have Peacock, and the more I say that out loud, the sillier and more embarrassed I feel. What the hell am I paying for if I can’t watch matches live. (Yes, I sound like a bitter old man, and yes, I will start yelling out a cloud next.) Anyway, I saw a report that Dejan Kulusevski got injured this past week, and might not play. On paper that shouldn’t be an issue with Kane, Son and Richarlison up front and Dier anchoring the back line. Still, it is Arsenal which has been playing really well, and if there is a team that can get under Tottenham’s skin, it’s Arsenal. Should be a fun match, but I’ll have to catch it on the replay, because NBC’s Premiere League coverage sucks.

    Tomorrow starts October, which means I will go apple picking with my family, and I will have flannel on. Even if it is too warm out, I will be decked out in Autumn appropriate clothing, even if it kills me. It just was the season demands.

    Apparently, according to our American Conservative friends, Lizzo isn’t allowed to play an old flute that no one knew existed three days ago. I can’t prove any of this, but I have a feeling that the idea of Lizzo playing the Madison flute probably was thought up by someone in the Library of Congress with the intention of expanding kids’ interest in American history, and Lizzo was all for it. Good intentions, you know… I bet there are a bunch of history nerd at the LoC looking at each other wondering how this flute situation has become “controversial.” I bet the “H.E.R. Playing Lincoln’s Guitar” idea is now out the window.

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  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Statement, It’s a Con, Weather, Honesty, and Connection

    (Riding on any wave, that is the luck you crave)

    Tottenham isn’t playing this weekend, so I have nothing to say about them this week. Oh, I will have something to say, but not at this time.

    What if I told you that no one knows anything? That knowledge, true knowledge, is unattainable. If all of that is true, then do you think that real estate seminar really has secrets to share with you? It’s a con.

    Sweater weather means I also need warmer socks.

    Friends don’t let friends become Alex Jones-types.

    Somedays, it’s hard to get the thoughts organized enough to share them. But what I do know is that Elastica was an underrated band.

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