If A Story Seems Bogus/Fake?

 I have six general rules to apply against somewhat fake/bogus stories:

First....where did this start....who first reported it?

Second....are there parts of the story that seem vague?

Third....there has to be a timeline.  If it's marginal or non-existent....the story is fake.

Fourth....how much emotional manipulation exists?  

Fifth....are there missing details?  Did they leave out part of the overall story?

Sixth...does the follow-up story even exist, or does the story just 'drop' within 24 hours?

Mark Walter And The Dodgers 'Landscape'?

 This week, I dug into understanding the scandal developing over the LA Dodgers (and the Lakers too....apparently).

So you have to go back to 2012 (it might even end up being five to ten years prior)....with this Mark Walter-guy buying up investment-type companies (mostly insurance companies).  

They have to invest money and get a 'return'.  For this reason....logically....they invest typically in sound practices.  

Well...Walter bought two companies, and counted on the gov't being 'lax'.  Delaware Life Insurance Company and its affiliate Clear Spring Life and Annuity....were the two.

So he rigged money 'borrowed' here from the two....into personal projects.  Oddly....none of this was disclosed as “related-party” transactions,  Yeah, it's a violation of law.  How much was loaned?  At least $16 billion....maybe on up to $20 billion.....with this part unclear presently.

The trend over the past decade?  Buying up the Dodgers, and Lakers (NBA).....with media outlets that seem connected to the two.

Exposure?  It would appear last year....some parts of the gimmick got exposed.  

Lakers? Walter sold a majority share of the Lakers that he owned....making around $2.5 billion in profit off his short-term ownership.  It would appear that he's trying to balance the books of the insurance companies, and the loans he's taken (to pay them off).

Fed mess?  As a minimum....grand jury hype will occur.  

Walter could probably pay off all the loans in the end (if he disposes of the Dodgers cleanly).

This whole discussion....part of the Major League Baseball spiral toward a strike at the end of this season?  Well...the Dodgers are drawing a lot of criticism over how they seem to have tons of money (maybe insurance capital money).

I come to this odd end conclusion....wondering about ninety-odd NFL, NBA, and MLB clubs and how they were acquired in the past ten to twenty years.  Could there be twenty to thirty clubs.....bought with more insurance or mutual fund capital....illegally?

Then I kinda wonder.....could some guys out there have $300,000 insurance policies....that they'd pass on (die), and the wife gets told....the insurance money can't flow very quickly....because it's tied up in the Dodgers, and the wife wondering....what the hell did 'Marvin' buy insurance-wise?

In a way....it's kinda funny.  

Complicated?  On my personal scale of 1-to-10.....complexity-wise....this is a '10'.

My Five Problems With The George Floyd Episode

From three years ago....it still sits upon my mind....

 1.  For the record, George Floyd was a 'regular' at the corner grocery.  On this morning of the event....he'd gone to buy a pack of cigarettes'.  You can figure the pack to cost in the $9 range.  He passes a $20-bill, and the clerk does a quick check to reveal that it's counterfeit.  Change never passes to Floyd...instead, the clerk asks for the smokes back.  Floyd refuses, and walks out the door.  The clerk then calls the police (perhaps in the presence of Floyd, but this is never really laid out). 

Oddly, to the police later....the clerk says George Floyd appeared out-of-focus....perhaps drunk.  This issue is never discussed ever again in court.   

Floyd's behavior?  He had to know the bill was a problem, but didn't care.  

2.  This all occurs around a few minutes before 8 AM. Clerk calls for the cops and they arrive at 8:08.  Where is George Floyd?  You would think that in this situation....you'd return to your vehicle, and get the hell out of sight.  Eight long minutes...99-percent of people would be a mile down the road in that period of time.

Floyd is sitting there in the vehicle....it hasn't moved in 8 minutes.  By the description that the two cops give....he's not focused or aware of anything much.  Maybe drunk....maybe on some drug?  Well....you have to wonder about this.

3.  At 8:10 AM.....two minutes into this encounter....some guy happens to pull up and have video running of the event unfolding.

Just odd....maybe it's a new trend with people....always video-taping everything they see.

4.  There's this one exchange between a policeman and Floyd.....where Floyd is described as erratic or acting weird.  From the moment that he exits the SUV....I don't think Floyd was in any control of his mental or physical being.

5.  So finally, Floyd and Chauvin meet.  They both work at the same 'club'....for several years.  They have to know each other.  You would think....in 99-percent of cases where you and a co-worker meet in a hyped-up situation....tense moments would have relaxed.  Yet you don't see that.  

This is an odd part of the story.  Chauvin could have eased Floyd's situation by a few comments....but you don't see that.  

It's an odd story to lay out.  No matter how you assemble the facts....Floyd had to be seriously unfocused and having something in his system that confused the hell out of him.  With or without the counterfeit bill or the cops arriving on the scene....he was in a uncontrolled manner, and certainly not in fit condition to drive a vehicle. 

 But going back to the $20-bill....where did it come from?  That question has never been answered. Had he just reached into his billfold....pulled out a legit $20....this whole thing would have never occurred.  

Ten Things That California Will Eventually Mandate/Conrol

My humble belief:

1.  California will mandate single-ply toilet paper (TP) as the one and only TP to be sold (within 5 years).

2.  State educational leader will mandate anal-sex 'training' by the 6th grade....for all public schools.

3.  Regular Coke/Pepsi will be mandated 'out'....leaving you with only diet-Coke/diet-Pepsi.

4.  Mustard/ketchup/sauces for burgers will be a menu-item that you must ask for....otherwise, burgers will all come without any liquids added.

5.  Public toilet 'tax' will be started by 2035....meaning you must pay $1 as you enter a public toilet.

6.  Businesses will be forced into hiring non-English speakers, or face a fine.

7.  State authorities will agree to allow you to self-identify as aliens (from outer space) on your driver's license. 

8.  A couch-disposal tax/fee will be established...at $50 per unit.  This will trigger people to pay $10 to some Mexican crew to take the couch across the border for disposal.

9.  A meter will be required for flush number statistics in your house.  Above a certain level, you will pay extra.  

10.  A thousand-dollar surf-board tax will be openly discussed....per year...to cover rescue-operations at the beach.

Five Humble Thoughts

 1.  Over the past six months....if you view the Ukraine's drone-strikes on Russia....with severe damage to the oil refinery operations and fuel production....there's likely some breaking point in 6 to 12 months....where gas sales will only occur in limited quantities.  Third-world status will have been achieved.

2.  WNBA.  I'll go and predict....they rig the draft where none of the transwomen are drafted....a lawsuit occurs....somewhere around late 2027, the NBA tells the WNBA that the case will result in a $100 million win for the transwomen, and that the NBA will not cover the losses.  At this point....the NBA walks away and refuses to be a 'partner'.  WNBA....season of 2028....ends.

3.  If you'd paused and conversed with 100 folks in 1975....trying to engage on the topics of socialism and capitalism....fewer than 10-percent would have engaged.  Today?  I hate to suggest it....but probably 80-percent or more....would engage....most giving an edge to socialism but never giving any details/facts.

4. My belief....male Gen-Z individuals....opting out of the job market, and casually living 'free' in the parent's house....will wake up around age 50....to realize their future (reliance upon dad/mom living) is hopeless.  

5.  If it takes a state longer than 24 hours to do a vote count.....you probably have state math 'scores' in the low IQ range.  

Trying to Do Andy Griffith in 2026

This weekend, I pondered upon someone coming up today and trying to remake Mayberry and do an Andy Griffith episode in today's atmosphere.  I doubt if they'd get past twelve episodes.

Andy today?  He'd be a failed student at Liberty University, who quit and spent six months trying to make it in Nashville.  On the final night before leaving Nashville, before returning to Mayberry....he got drunk and banged out three tunes in sixty minutes to some guy for $500....enough to pay his ticket home.  Andy remembers nothing of the night but all three tunes went over the next year to make $20 million for the country guy now made into a star. Andy returns to Mayberry mostly as a failure but just in time as the old police chief dies in some trailer on the south-side of Mayberry while 'hugging' some trailer-trash gal.  Andy agrees to the chief's job but admits he knows little to nothing about the job.

Barney?  He's be some Gulf War-vet who has PTSD and goes nuts about every three weeks from some drug that he's taking.  What no one knows is that he got there in Iraq a month after the war ended, and ended up as the custodian to one of Saddam's palaces, and was mostly there to water the plants, arrange for clean-up crews, and ensure Army guys hanging out there don't break anything.  He's convinced Andy to let him tote several military assault weapons in the police-car but no ammo.
Aunt Bee?  She's a cigarette-smoking ex-bartender from Tulsa who tinkers with motorcycles, makes apple pies from scratch, and has some mysterious past from San Francisco (claiming to have known at some point Charles Manson).

Otis?  He's been on sixteen different alcohol rehab adventures.  He's under study now by a Swiss PhD guy with radical ways of treating this.  Otis's wife is a die-hard far-left liberal who mostly drives Otis to drink.

Floyd?  He has a secret history of dressing up as women.  He's secretly written a dozen romance books and flies into the Bahamas once a year for two weeks while he writes another successful book.

Gomer?  He's mostly a gas-sniffer and comes in and out of brilliance about four hours a week.

Goober?  He's PhD character who flipped out and gave up a life in computer design to just repair cars.

Ernest T. Bass?  He's mostly a crazy nut, who can't be put away in a home.

And Helen Crump?  She's a fireball teacher who does crazy stuff and never seems to get arrested or fired.

The show would be watched intently for two or three episodes and then folks would say that it just isn't the same as the old show.

My High-School Math Experience

 Leaving the 5th grade and entering the 6th....there was some bump-up in terms of 'hard-stuff'.  We had a older lady (early 60s) as a math teacher....who had the method....home-work assigned at the end of class, with the hour spent the next day....everyone sent to the board to draw the problem (from the home-work).  Out of 24-odd people....maybe four understood the problem (or got help the previous night). 

We suffered for 50-odd minutes....with only about one-third  of the folks getting the problem right. Key issue....even if they draw the problem and right solution....they could not explain how they arrived at the end.

The teacher?  Mostly marginal competent at the math-crap.  Around mid-way in the year....she has health issues, and is replaced by someone even more dimwitted than her.

Sixth-grade achievements?  Zero (for me)..

Seventh-grade math....new instructor....same method.....same problem with the teacher really not capable of getting a problem across.

Eighth-grade math.....new instructor....same method.....same problem.  

Ninth-grade math....new instructor.....same method....same problem.

If you asked me....of 24 folks....four understood the formula crap...with another four getting older brothers/sisters giving them some marginal help.  The rest? Still at 5th grade level (this was early 1970s....rural Alabama).

10th grade.....I change schools, and the new math instructor hands the book out and says....USE the book and examples.

Over the course of three weeks....I progressed from 5th grade level to 10th grade level...simply reviewing the book examples, and methods.

By this work-at-your-own-pace....around  early January.....I had completed the entire course (tested out).

If you asked me about the four years of wasted math instruction?  I'd say the instructors weren't that capable of math (in the first place). Having a degree in math?  I seriously doubt it....they probably had some teaching degree 'deal'.  

This being the 'norm'?  I kinda wonder about that.