The End Of MLB (Major League Baseball)?

 Around December of this year....the current players/owners contract ends.

The owners....over the past decade....have come to a reality....around a dozen clubs are anchored down  and not in a position to get quality players.  At the top level....there's around ten clubs who have the cash flow to hire top-level players. In the middle....around eight clubs have enough cash flow....to occasionally challenge top clubs.

The owners have wised-up....they want a pay-cap. The players? They refuse to consider the idea.

So I'll just say it....by early 2027....a strike is likely to occur, and I  doubt that any games are played in 2027.

By the summer of 2027.....with no 'rescue' in sight....some folks start talking of a rival-league....eight teams....mostly in the south.  

How To Fix The California Count-The-Votes Problem?

 Two fixes:

1.  Mandate all non-voting (absentee/mail-in) ballots to be done and dropped off four weeks prior to election day....guarded and protected by Nat'l Guardsmen with machine-guns.

2.  Bring in Florida vote-counters....to count the California ballots.

Divert Hit Piece?

I sat this AM....reading a WaPo piece....troubling news....the Trump administration is diverting at least $90 million from entry fees to national parks to fund a $1.6 million fireworks display and $76 million to repair fountains in the  DC area....of which the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is such an asset.

The piece....carried on....like a hit-piece....against Trump.

So I went Grok  and asked....what are the other facts?

National Park Service policy (for over 20 years) allows up to 20-perecent of entrance fees for system-wide projects rather than keeping all revenue at the collecting park.

This D.C. monuments stuff?   Well....they are under the Nat'l Park system, and in a mess with $24 billion in deferred maintenance backlog.

So?  It's all legit.

WaPo missing half of the story?  More or less.

Stargate Drama

 So...for about a year....Amazon (who owns the rights to the Stargate series).....had a crew of writers working on season one of a 'reboot'. In the past week....Amazon bosses met...discussed the matter, and decided that whatever the writers were attempting.....would ONLY old normal fans to view it...NOT new fans. So the 'reboot' was cancelled.

All hell broke loose after this announcement

Five observations:

1.  It's not clear what Amazon executives expected.  Maybe they wanted BOLD drama.  Maybe they wanted a all-female team.  Maybe half the team had to be gay or trans. Maybe the bad guys had to resemble Trump in some way.

2.  Maybe the Stargate had to be in some Russian bunker instead of being in Cheyenne Mountain.

3. Is it possible that none of the Amazon executives have ever  watched the series?

4. Maybe the Hammond-character has to be trans?

5.   Maybe Amazon would be better off selling this project to Paramount?

Talking Animals

 I  sat yesterday....reading this short article.

So....what the PhD guys/scientists say....AI has decoded some communication patterns in mice, dolphins, apes, birds, whales, & cuttlefish....where they think....it could eventually lead to humans communicating directly with animals.

In six months or a year?  No....I seriously doubt it.  It's probably five to ten years away...where a 500-word AI-system could convey what 'Rufus' (your Border Collie) is complaining about. 

It may not be a pleasant conversation. Rufus might be demanding twelve-hour walks....wanting wider menu selection....wants bottled-water....and wants a $700 mattress.

Cows chatting? Well....they may ask what happen to 'Larry', 'Erwin' and 'Dale'.....they seemed to have been taken somewhere.

I'm not buying into this chatter being a good thing.

Service Time And Dealing With Mentally Ill Folks

 At some point in the late 1990s....before I retired,  the topic of mental illness popped up.  We had some guy in the organization either was faking mental issues,  or was fully blown walking around with mental illnesses.  In the vault, we got into this discussion.

I was nearing age 40, and over a 22-year period....I'd observed probably a dozen folks who had issues, or worked with folks who were in the middle of 'chaos'.

One of my co-workers had been forced into instructor-status, and had some young female airman who had a imaginary 'friend'....to the point that she talked to 'Jessica' (the invisible friend).  She'd made it through basic training and around six weeks of technical training....when the friendship came to be known.  For some reason, the Air Force couldn't deal with Airman 'Jessica' (the invisible airman).  Took the mental health folks about a week to validate the situation and ease both the real person and the invisible gal out.

I had another co-worker who had a young airman arrive at the base (in Germany) and over a 6-month period....the kid got heavily into BDSM (to the point that he was very open and wanted to profess his 'religion'). I asked how he got so deep into this kinky stuff, and the response was some relationship-deal (Air Force female dental hygienist).  His boss spent several  months trying to get him to some neutral point (just don't make it so obvious)....with that failing.  Commander came up....requested a mental fitness exam....the guy failed....a week later, he was 'out'.  Oddly, the female dental hygienist wasn't kicked out or treated to a mental fitness exam. Yeah, it's possible that she lasted 20 years.

The problem is....most folks (probably in the 60-percent range)....don't want to hang around, or put 'trust' into folks they consider mentally ill or unstable. I also would agree...maybe two folks out of ten....like to view stuff like this as a theater-situation and allow it to go to the maximum crazy-level. 

Asking people to accept mentally ill folks?  If you were just asking a gal/guy to accept working around someone who says they are 100-percent Cherokee-Mexican....but are plain regular white dude....I think most folks would go and sign  off...without any mental therapy forced upon them.

Maybe it'd be the same with some female who only wants to wear male-like clothing and 'pretend'  she's mostly a guy....without any surgical stuff or forced pronoun mandating.

But eventually.....you reach a point where you don't want to participate in 'theater-operations' and keep reminding yourself of something that seems crazy.  

My Experience At The Kennedy Center

 Around March of 2011....I went to Madam Butterfly.  The ticket-price? Around $80.

Friday night....I got there early to get the full experience.

So....from a structure view....it's very 'AGED'. Marble cracks....where there was carpet....it needed replacement.

Bathroom?  Functional but you could tell....nothing had been renovated since the 1970s.

A week or two after this...I brought up the experience with a guy who'd been there five or six times...going back to the early 1990s.   His response.....the tickets basically pay for the salary of the boss/crew.....the show.....electricity, and general cost. He didn't think renovation cost was covered (he figured Congress was on the hook).

I watched a podcast recently....where several folks talked about the building from day-one.....that the original 'build' was crap.  No one was willing to sue for repairs.

The House/Senate stuck now? I'm guessing that experts will say to tear the mess down.

My impression of the night?   Half-way....we have a pause, and some 60-year-old lady (in a tight grown)....passed out about six feet behind me....ambulance crew arrived. I got nauseous....got a Coke, and decided it was best to leave.  Never knew how the show ended.