Category: Sports

To Kill A President

Almost from the very beginning there have been those that have thought that killing a president would solve all the problems…..and unfortunately this president is no different…..

A North Dakota man has admitted stealing a forklift as part of a bizarre plot to kill President Trump last year. US Assistant State’s Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell says Gregory Lee Leingang, 42, stole the forklift and made his way to the motorcade route before Trump arrived to speak at a refinery in Mandan on Sept. 6. 2017, the Grand Forks Herald reports. “The intent was to basically try to get to the limo, flip the limo and get to the president and he wanted to kill the president,” Sasse Russell told a federal court Friday. As part of a plea deal, Leingang admitted attempting to damage government property and “attempting to enter or remain in a restricted building and on grounds while using a dangerous weapon.”

Leingang was arrested after the forklift became stuck in a gated area. Public defender Michelle Monteiro told the court the Bismarck resident was “suffering a serious psychiatric crisis during this incident” and his mental health has improved after seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist in prison. She said Leingang pleaded guilty in state court to stealing the forklift and setting two fires the same morning. He received 15 years for those crimes and 5 years for an unrelated burglary charge. Leingang will be sentenced on the federal charges Feb. 15, and Sasse Russell says she is considering making the federal sentence concurrent to the time he is serving on the state charges. (In 2016, a British man who admitted plotting to kill Trump was sentenced to a year and a day in federal custody.)

That puts Trump in good company (something he is not too fond of doing in person….I mean finding good company)……

From Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, a look at presidential assassinations and failed attempts.

http://timelines.latimes.com/us-presidential-assassinations-and-attempts/

Notice as we get into the twentieth century the presidents involved in assassination attempts have gone up…..I wonder why that is?  (Geez!  That was sarcasm people!)

This has always been there and I guess it will continue to be so……

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Saturday–03Nov18

Cooler weather once again has come around….maybe this time it will stick around longer than a couple of days….we can hope.

I begin my weekend posting with a photo of a potato….I love a baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream but eateries never have a big potato I have to settle for those small ones….but then I saw a great potato at my local grocery…..

It was heavenly!

Enough of the foodie thingy…..we are in the middle of NFL season and we just finished the World Series…..I am not a big fan of organized sports but I do enjoy the guys at Bad Lip Reading…..

First we have the World Series……

Next their take on the NFL…

These guys are genius…..they NEVER stop being funny…..it is important to start your day with humor…….enjoy!

For me their takes are far more entertaining than the actual sports…..I hope you guys will have a great Saturday and enjoy yourself as much as you can.

Be well, Be safe…….chuq

Sneakers Are Burning

I guess this is my second Closing Thought–07Sep18

Now if you have been smart and stayed away from the TV then you may not know what I am going on about…..the truth is I was not going to take part in this story for I believe it is just a diversion from more important stuff.  But after all that was happening around the story I felt the need for comment.

Nike has taken its own advice to “Just Do It”—with the “It” being “Get involved in the NFL national anthem controversy.” The company, days before the start of the new football season, has signed up former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the face of the 30th anniversary of the “Just Do It” campaign, CNN reports. Kaepernick, who has been unable to get a new NFL contract since taking a knee for the anthem in the 2016 season to protest racial injustice, tweeted a photo from the campaign with the caption: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” A roundup of coverage:

  • “Top bracket.” Kaepernick’s existing deal with Nike had been about to expire when it was renegotiated for the new campaign; a source tells the AP that Kaepernick’s compensation will be similar to that of the top bracket of NFL players on Nike’s books—and the deal also includes a Kaepernick apparel line and donations to his charity, Know Your Rights.
  • The backlash begins. Not every Nike wearer was thrilled about the move, with some so outraged that they filmed themselves destroying their Nike gear, Metro reports. Twitter user Sean Clancy posted a video of himself incinerating his Nike shoes, complaining that the company had forced him “to choose between my favorite shoes and my country.” The hashtags #BoycottNike and #JustBurnIt started trending Monday.
  • Cutting swooshes. Country singer John Rich tweeted a picture of his soundman, a former Marine who had “just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks.” “Get ready to multiply that by the millions,” Rich warned.
  • Worth it? Nike, which has been battling Adidas to sign top players, is gambling that signing Kaepernick will be worth a backlash that is expected to include the president, Bloomberg reports. “The long-term relationship and a contract that benefits both parties over the next 10 years will likely outweigh any current controversy,” says Bloomberg analyst Chen Grazutis.
  • Athletes side with Kaepernick. Numerous fellow athletes and other celebrity spoke out in support of Kaepernick on Monday, reports Al Jazeera. #IMWITHKAP,” tweeted Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenney Stills.
  • Ahmadinejad, Cruz get involved. In what WFAA describes as a “new height of bizarreness” in the controversy, former Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tweeted Monday that it was a shame Kaepernick, “one of the best Quarterbacks in the league,” didn’t have a playing contract. Sen. Ted Cruz then tweeted that the agreement of Ahmadinejad suggested that the NFL, Nike, and Beto O’Rourke, his Democratic challenger, “are all on the wrong side of the American people.”
  • Tillman, too. Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinal killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004, was cited by conservative commentators including Fox’s Stephen Miller as somebody who would have been a better face for the campaign, WBIR reports. Critics said Tillman would have supported players’ right to protest, or suggested he be left out of the debate instead of “weaponized.”

You Tube blew up with idiots setting their Nikes on fire…..goes to show that most Americans have more  money than brains.  They are destroying a $100+ shoe because of something an orange idiot had to say.

Personally I think if you had to protest why not give your Nikes to someone who needed shoes like a homeless veteran?……but wait that action would not give one that You Tube moment that they desire.

If they do not agree with what this man did, Kaepernick, then protests like this school in Arkansas……

Nike uniforms are vestimenta non grata at the College of the Ozarks after the company’s Colin Kaepernick ad campaign. The private Christian college in Missouri announced Thursday that its athletic teams will no longer buy Nike uniforms and any it has now will be removed, the Kansas City Star reports. In a statement, college president Jerry C. Davis accused Nike execs of “promoting an attitude of division and disrespect toward America” with the Kaepernick campaign. “If Nike is ashamed of America, we are ashamed of them,” Davis said. “We also believe that those who know what sacrifice is all about are more likely to be wearing a military uniform than an athletic uniform.”

Nike, which aired a Kaepernick-narrated ad during the NFL season opener, is “free to campaign as it sees fit,” just as the college is free “to ensure that it respects our country and those who truly served and sacrificed,” says Marci Linson, the school’s vice-president for patriotic activities. President Trump also criticized Nike and NFL anthem protests Thursday. “I don’t like what Nike did. I don’t think it’s appropriate what they did,” he said before a rally in Montana. The AP reports that there were no “clear-cut protests” during the season opener, in which the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons 18-12. Sources say Kaepernick watched the ad’s premiere from Nike headquarters in Oregon.

They chose to not use Nike products…..an excellent protest.

This whole thing is silly….Nike is getting all the free publicity they can use….and Our Dear Leader is helping their sales “yugely”……

Burning Nikes is about as moronic as the old days of pouring French wine down the drain because of something they did or said…..or to a lesser extent re-naming French Fries as “Freedom Fries”.

All in all a stupid knee jerk reaction to something that needs no response.

A few closing thoughts…….

“I am patient with stupidity but not those that are proud of it”

“Nothing worse than aggressive stupidity”

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”

“It is a shame that stupidity is not more painful”

“Do not cater to stupidity”

I must shut down the mind for the day…..I dearly wish everyone have a great evening.  chuq

Are You Hungry?

When I was a mere boy I recall when the government had a give-a-way……my grandmother would take us kids and wait in long lines for a couple of pounds of butter and some cheese….those were the days before food stamps and such…..

What made me think of those days gone by was something I read about another surplus the government has on its hands…..

There’s a lot of uncertainty these days. So here’s a comforting thought: The United States of America will not run out of cheese or meat anytime soon.

US dairy producers now have a 1.39 billion-pound surplus of cheese, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. As the Washington Post has noted, that’s the largest domestic reserve of cheddar, Swiss, American, and other cheese varieties on record.

It means there’s enough excess cheese to arm each American citizen with a hefty 4.6 pounds of the crumbly, melty, salty good stuff. Why is this happening? Simply put: US dairy producers have been overproducing milk. Thanks to selective breeding, American cows are more productive than ever. And when demand for milk and dairy goes down in the summer, dairy producers store their excess milk as cheese, which has a longer shelf life in cold storage.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/24/17606958/meat-cheese-surplus-visualized

You read that right……2.5 billion (with a “B”) pounds of surplus meat.

What is wrong with having more of these give-a-ways from the past?

My Saturday has started with a bang…..August in the Deep South…..100+ heat and humidity at about 90% or higher…..a joy to behold …..we have another 2 maybe 3 months of heat….I cannot wait for cooler temps……I miss my days in the garden sipping wine and watching the wildlife go by…..my property has become an unsanctioned refuge….I have many many birds, squirrels, raccoons, and who knows at night….anyway fun to watch them all interact….

Have a good day my friends and thanx for the visits this past week…..much appreciated…..be well, be safe……chuq

If It Is 2018 It Must Be France

Formula One is my one sports passion……it began in 1959 and I went to my first Formula One race in France….and now today France returns to the Formula One schedule after a few years away.

The race calls for champagne and snacks as I watch…..

I bring this up because I would like to bitch about something the Formula One is considering…..you see they have a full schedule every year of 20-22 races to determine the championship……well the new owners of the Formula One is considering a race in  Miami…….which I think is bullshit.

Formula One, the world’s preeminent auto racing league, is actively scouting downtown Miami as a potential site for a new Grand Prix.

Executives and engineers with the global racing brand were in town this month, meeting with Miami’s new mayor and the city’s head of film and culture to go over potential racing circuits and logistics. Racing planners have already put together a half-dozen routes that would have high-performance vehicles zooming around AmericanAirlines Arena, over the causeway to Dodge Island, down Biscayne Boulevard and — in what sounds like a non-starter — through the PortMiami Tunnel.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/downtown-miami/article186841413.html

Every country has one race that has always been the way of things…..and the US already has the United States Gran Prix so  we do not need a Miami Gran Prix.  As a matter of fact I feel that we do not need other races like Singapore or Bahrain or Abu Dhabi ……..NO other country has a second race on the schedule…why should the US get special treatment?

The Big Show Returns

It is Saturday and the World Cup is in full swing….we Americans call it soccer the rest of the world it is Football.  This is when the world’s nations meet and slug it out on the pitch to see which will become the world champion.

The venue is a different country every 4 years….the US last held the Cup play offs in 1994….and the Big Show will return to the US in 2026……

North American soccer fans have something to look forward to beyond Thursday’s kickoff of the World Cup in Russia. FIFA announced Wednesday that the US, Canada, and Mexico had beat out Morocco to play host to the 2026 sporting event, the first to be awarded to three countries and the first featuring Canada as host. The US will see the majority of the action, however, hosting 60 of 80 matches, including the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, per the New York Times. President Trump promised athletes would be able to enter the US “without discrimination” ahead of the decision, per CNN. The US last hosted the World Cup in 1994. Mexico hasn’t hosted the tournament since 1986.

Hopefully I will still be above ground to watch the games…..

I have stocked up on good beer and lots of snacks…..I will be watching…..go Iceland!

I have written about the game in the past…..it is one of the few sports that I can tolerate…..Formula One and Handball are the others that I can stomach.

https://lobotero.com/2010/07/11/this-is-why-soccer-rules/

Have a wonderful Saturday…..I hope you enjoy your day as much as I shall…..beer, snacks, and football….be well, be safe…..chuq

Closing Thought–07Jun18

I wrote a couple of decades ago about the entertainment of Americans and how it has gotten more and more bloodthirsty….

Boxing could be bloody but for the most part was a good sport….then came wrestling…this was a spectacle and the bloodier it got the more popular it got……then the birth of MMA (Mixed Martial Artist) fighting which again was bloody and the more so the more it was in demand.

I wrote back in the day that we were slowly moving to a new age of gladiatorial fighting for entertainment….the more blood the better the ratings.

Over last weekend I feel that we are moving ever closer to those games where gladiators fight and draw blood for the masses entertainment.

Now we have an old sport that has not been done since 1889……

In what is being called a first since 1889, a large-scale, government sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing event took place in Wyoming on Saturday night and things got bloody. Per USA Today, a sold out crowd of 2,000 people in Cheyenne watched as 10 bouts played out before them with fighters protected only by a little gauze around the palm. An even larger audience likely tuned in via pay-per-view to see the fights, including four heavyweight bouts. Fighters came from several backgrounds including boxing, UFC and MMA. The quickest knockout occurred when Sam Shewmaker used one punch to send Eric Prindle to the canvas 18 seconds into their heavyweight bout. “It felt like hitting a home run,” Shewmaker told the AP., a fourth-generation stone mason from the tiny central Missouri town of Gravois Mills. “I didn’t think I would be able to catch him that early, but luckily I did.”

In the only female fight of the night, 29-year-old Bec Rawlings from Brisbane, Australia stopped Alma Garcia with a TKO in the second round. Rawlings and her fellow combatants were all eager to become the first to take off the gloves for a large-scale event since July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain. Even that event was illegal and had to be staged under the cover of secrecy as most states had outlawed the non-gloved version of boxing. Fighting was forced underground until 2011, when a Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match that drew more than a million viewers. The promoter of that event and Saturday’s, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights. Wyoming has since become the first state to sanction and regulate the sport.

Are we drawing ever closer to the old “Fight to the death” sport?

Is there a line between entertainment and criminal intent?