There's three things that I came to note this morning which lead me to pondering:
1. The Today Show finally announced Matt Lauer's replacement (since he had to leave in a hurry)....some gal by the name of Hoda Kotb. Around the studio, they seemed all excited. Now they can continue on.
I paused at this point and kinda wondered....what exactly will Hoda bring to the table to make this all exciting? Course, I asked that with Matt as well. It amazed me that they were always willing to pay Matt more than 2-million dollars a month for what he did.
I look at most of the morning shows on TV at 7 AM and grade the majority to be 'coffee-journalism'....rather light and geared for mostly housewife mentality folks.
2. This button-talk with Mr Kim of North Korea. Kim says he has finally acquired a nuke button. My immediate take on this.....where do you buy nuke-buttons or did he have some Kim-technician manufacture the button?
I'm guessing out there in the real world, there are engineers working hard each day to develop a 'cool' and professional nuke-button that would be eagerly bought by Trump, Kim, Macron, Putin, etc.
At some point in the Kim-talk....he noted his nuke-button was in the office. I'd be a bit worried on that issue because the cleaning lady could come through in the after-hours, and dust up around the button....then accidentally hit it. The 3,000 nuke-support folks would see this red-light come on and assume the real Mister Kim hit the button, and then run to launch their one-and-only nuke missile. Things go downhill at that point.
3. I kinda noticed in the news that this Joshua Boyle character....the guy held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for a couple of years with his wife.....had gotten himself arrested yesterday.
Boyle was all worried and stressed out in early statements after getting out of Taliban-control that the US would arrest him. The thing is.....he could never explain why.
The cops arresting him now? Well....it's Canadian cops. Yeah. The charges? Two charges of assault (no one says who he assaulted), one charge involving a death-threat (usually something taken serious), and some charge over giving the drug Trazodone to someone. Trazodone is usually for anxiety or stress issues, or to get you into a sleep rhyme. In simple terms....a downer. It's a prescription drug and I'm only guessing here that he had some pills and simply gave one to a friend. It's not a charge that would usually get you into big jail-time. But the assault charges? Well...that's a different story.
The thing about Boyle is that he and his wife were held as prisoners for five years. It's a miserable five years and I think he was extremely affected by the episode. As much as he was worried over getting arrested in the US....it's an odd aspect that the statement did come true but in Canada instead, and mostly through his own actions.
Wednesday, 3 January 2018
Thursday, 28 December 2017
Alabama Governor Topic
I tend to follow Alabama news a fair bit.
Today, it was noted via Al.com that things are lining up for the 2018 Governor's election.
The GOP folks?
1. Kay Ivey (present governor of the state). On the positive side, Kay hasn't screwed up since taking over. Kay doesn't have some boy-toy or part-time lover on the side. And Kay seems to avoid any kind of controversy. On the negative side, Kay is 73 years old.
2. Tommy Battle (Huntsville mayor). On the plus side, Battle has been a business guy for most of his life, and if you wrote down his entire resume....it'd be at least five pages (he's 62 years old). If you were looking for soap opera lifestyles.....he's about as boring as you can get. The other plus of Battle is that he's gone and created more than 10,000 jobs in the last decade of being mayor in Huntsville. In some ways, he is a mini-Trump-like character. The title that he likes to point out? He's won a few bar-b-q awards and apparently knows how to grill pork and beef.
3. Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson. He's a mega-church kind of minister....a four-star public speaker....and likely will carry a fair number of the church-votes in the state. Beyond that? No real experience. We've never had a minister as a governor, so it might be a shock to most folks if he were to win the election.
4. Bill Hightower (state senator, Mobile). He's a businessman turned state senator. For four years, he's been around Montgomery and shaken a few hands. In the Mobile area....probably half the folks have heard of the guy and would recognize him. Beyond Mobile? He's unrecognizable.
5. Josh Jones. He's a health-care executive out of Birmingham and likely the most unknown individual of the five. Past political background? Zero.
For the Democrats?
1. Sue Bell Cobb. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and has done a fair amount of legal work. Age? Near 60. The problem in her case is name recognition. You can ask a hundred Alabama folks about the name, and maybe three would have remembered her being on the state Supreme Court.
2. Walt Maddox, current Tuscaloosa Mayor. He's 45 years old....mostly done work with the education sector, and been a political figure for about a decade. On the positive side....with the 2011 tornado episode that tore up the city, he's known for crisis management skills and is one of the folks you'd want in an emergency situation. His problem will be name recognition outside of the Tuscaloosa region.
3. Jason Childs. Trucker (Oxford). Well, he's the one odd character of the whole bunch. He admits right up front.....he is pro-marijuana, and pro-LGBT. He even says up front....both parties have failed the working-class folks in the state, and we need to bring back a fresh view of the common man. Name recognition? Near zero. The thing is....if someone just stood up with a web site and actively went to some campuses in the state..Childs could pick up 25,000 votes and interest a fair number of people. But that probably won't happen. To be honest as well....we've never had a trucker as a governor and that might be worth exploring.
4. Anthony White. Local black minister from Dothan. He's a local guy....former Army....been a small business owner, and got a degree in business. His issue will be name recognition.
5. James Fields. He's a black Methodist minister from Cullman. He's actually pushing this idea of a rapid-rail system in the state....connecting cities. Course, if you asked a hundred Alabama folks about something like this....they'd tend to rate this at the bottom of 10,000 things that you could do for the state. His problem will be name recognition.
Is that it? There might be two or three more jumping in by March, but I suspect this is the main group.
The odds here? I suspect that Kay Ivey will have a problem in the primary and Battle might actually be this Alabama-style Trump-figure, who gets the primary win. A second vote required? Well, here's the thing, this Dawson-character will be popular with church-voters and he might actually take 15-percent of the state vote....meaning that Ivey and Battle don't reach the 50-percent required in the first primary.
For the Democrats.....the Tuscaloosa mayor Maddox ought to win in the first primary. Childs is a wild-card because of his marijuana stance, and if this election was about making it legal....he might find 50-percent of the 18-to-50 year old voters in the state favoring him. It'd be a shocker if suddenly this whole election was about making marijuana legal in the state.
The likely winner? I think Battle wins in November.
Today, it was noted via Al.com that things are lining up for the 2018 Governor's election.
The GOP folks?
1. Kay Ivey (present governor of the state). On the positive side, Kay hasn't screwed up since taking over. Kay doesn't have some boy-toy or part-time lover on the side. And Kay seems to avoid any kind of controversy. On the negative side, Kay is 73 years old.
2. Tommy Battle (Huntsville mayor). On the plus side, Battle has been a business guy for most of his life, and if you wrote down his entire resume....it'd be at least five pages (he's 62 years old). If you were looking for soap opera lifestyles.....he's about as boring as you can get. The other plus of Battle is that he's gone and created more than 10,000 jobs in the last decade of being mayor in Huntsville. In some ways, he is a mini-Trump-like character. The title that he likes to point out? He's won a few bar-b-q awards and apparently knows how to grill pork and beef.
3. Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson. He's a mega-church kind of minister....a four-star public speaker....and likely will carry a fair number of the church-votes in the state. Beyond that? No real experience. We've never had a minister as a governor, so it might be a shock to most folks if he were to win the election.
4. Bill Hightower (state senator, Mobile). He's a businessman turned state senator. For four years, he's been around Montgomery and shaken a few hands. In the Mobile area....probably half the folks have heard of the guy and would recognize him. Beyond Mobile? He's unrecognizable.
5. Josh Jones. He's a health-care executive out of Birmingham and likely the most unknown individual of the five. Past political background? Zero.
For the Democrats?
1. Sue Bell Cobb. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and has done a fair amount of legal work. Age? Near 60. The problem in her case is name recognition. You can ask a hundred Alabama folks about the name, and maybe three would have remembered her being on the state Supreme Court.
2. Walt Maddox, current Tuscaloosa Mayor. He's 45 years old....mostly done work with the education sector, and been a political figure for about a decade. On the positive side....with the 2011 tornado episode that tore up the city, he's known for crisis management skills and is one of the folks you'd want in an emergency situation. His problem will be name recognition outside of the Tuscaloosa region.
3. Jason Childs. Trucker (Oxford). Well, he's the one odd character of the whole bunch. He admits right up front.....he is pro-marijuana, and pro-LGBT. He even says up front....both parties have failed the working-class folks in the state, and we need to bring back a fresh view of the common man. Name recognition? Near zero. The thing is....if someone just stood up with a web site and actively went to some campuses in the state..Childs could pick up 25,000 votes and interest a fair number of people. But that probably won't happen. To be honest as well....we've never had a trucker as a governor and that might be worth exploring.
4. Anthony White. Local black minister from Dothan. He's a local guy....former Army....been a small business owner, and got a degree in business. His issue will be name recognition.
5. James Fields. He's a black Methodist minister from Cullman. He's actually pushing this idea of a rapid-rail system in the state....connecting cities. Course, if you asked a hundred Alabama folks about something like this....they'd tend to rate this at the bottom of 10,000 things that you could do for the state. His problem will be name recognition.
Is that it? There might be two or three more jumping in by March, but I suspect this is the main group.
The odds here? I suspect that Kay Ivey will have a problem in the primary and Battle might actually be this Alabama-style Trump-figure, who gets the primary win. A second vote required? Well, here's the thing, this Dawson-character will be popular with church-voters and he might actually take 15-percent of the state vote....meaning that Ivey and Battle don't reach the 50-percent required in the first primary.
For the Democrats.....the Tuscaloosa mayor Maddox ought to win in the first primary. Childs is a wild-card because of his marijuana stance, and if this election was about making it legal....he might find 50-percent of the 18-to-50 year old voters in the state favoring him. It'd be a shocker if suddenly this whole election was about making marijuana legal in the state.
The likely winner? I think Battle wins in November.
Monday, 25 December 2017
The Santa Story
I noticed this piece early this morning (25th)....that a Canadian government organization is saying that global warming has triggered Santa Claus to "pack-up" and move....taking his toy-making operation, the deer barn, and the Santa house....down to the South Pole.
This organization? The Policy Horizons Canada.
Part of the story going with this....that the 'international community' (apparently not the US)....were in agreement and there was some written document where Santa, and the global warming community signed this document.
Now....I sat and pondered upon this amusing story.
A smart 8-year old kid would have eventually got to this point and asked....so, Santa just lived on top of ice...not land, all this time? Where did these reindeer eat grass? Did Santa have to ship in grain and hay for the reindeer.....aboard aircraft, and thus trigger climate change himself?
This toy-making operation, with the thousands of elves....did they require constant heat, and thereby create climate change as well....with coal or oil heat?
If things are heating up at the North Pole....wouldn't the same heating-up or climate change exist at the South Pole?
Will the letters written and addressed to the North Pole.....get now to the South Pole? What if some kids don't get the message, will their letters just end up with some dead-end post office in the North Pole? Will Larry (the kind-hearted mail guy from the Canadian government who delivered mail to Santa for 40 years) still have a job?
Were the elves forced into this move? Or did the elves just accept this as being the only solution?
Can reindeer survive at the South Pole? Are there any there (no)?
What did Ms Santa say about all of this?
It simply begs questions. One has to hope that CNN will get to the bottom of this story.
This organization? The Policy Horizons Canada.
Part of the story going with this....that the 'international community' (apparently not the US)....were in agreement and there was some written document where Santa, and the global warming community signed this document.
Now....I sat and pondered upon this amusing story.
A smart 8-year old kid would have eventually got to this point and asked....so, Santa just lived on top of ice...not land, all this time? Where did these reindeer eat grass? Did Santa have to ship in grain and hay for the reindeer.....aboard aircraft, and thus trigger climate change himself?
This toy-making operation, with the thousands of elves....did they require constant heat, and thereby create climate change as well....with coal or oil heat?
If things are heating up at the North Pole....wouldn't the same heating-up or climate change exist at the South Pole?
Will the letters written and addressed to the North Pole.....get now to the South Pole? What if some kids don't get the message, will their letters just end up with some dead-end post office in the North Pole? Will Larry (the kind-hearted mail guy from the Canadian government who delivered mail to Santa for 40 years) still have a job?
Were the elves forced into this move? Or did the elves just accept this as being the only solution?
Can reindeer survive at the South Pole? Are there any there (no)?
What did Ms Santa say about all of this?
It simply begs questions. One has to hope that CNN will get to the bottom of this story.
Thursday, 14 December 2017
NPR 2.0 (My Version of a Reboot)
I can go back to the mid-1970s and remember the original content of NPR. You actually got classic music, some jazz, literature readings, poetry, and some occasional bluegrass music. Then, in the early 80s....they started off to some other trend. For me, if I were driving around at lunch....I might turn NPR on and listen to it, but they've lost me for the most part.
What I'd like to see?
6:00 A full hour of legislative matters in the House and Senate. Explain what bills are coming up and what bills failed.
7:00 Farm news hour. Anything of a rural nature, relating to farms and rural business situations. Bring in some PhD guys to talk about livestock, and crops. Bring in a brewery guy to talk about garage beer creations. Interview some bio-fruit people.
8:00 Medical hour. Hire up four medical experts and have a morning round-table to discuss reports, health issues, and new innovations. Bring on a nurse to talk about weird school health issues. Talk about cancers and treatments.
9:00 Jazz for an entire hour.
10:00 Great literature readings from the 1700/1800 era.
11:00 Business hour. Have another round-table of four Wall Street guys to talk about what's hot in the news.
12:00 National news hour.
13:00 Classical music hour.
14:00 History hour (have four PhD history guys line up and tell some story over history).
15:00 Opera music hour.
16:00 Bluegrass Hour.
17:00 National news hour.
18:00 Four random folks interviewed hour. Just go and pick out four random people (barbers, truckers, diesel mechanics, NCAA football refs, zoo-keepers, muffler-guys, etc) and ask them random questions.
19:00 1920s/1930s Radio Mystery hour.
20:00 More bluegrass.
21:00 Great literature readings from the 1900s.
22:00 Science Fiction Readings
23:00 Sign off
What I'd like to see?
6:00 A full hour of legislative matters in the House and Senate. Explain what bills are coming up and what bills failed.
7:00 Farm news hour. Anything of a rural nature, relating to farms and rural business situations. Bring in some PhD guys to talk about livestock, and crops. Bring in a brewery guy to talk about garage beer creations. Interview some bio-fruit people.
8:00 Medical hour. Hire up four medical experts and have a morning round-table to discuss reports, health issues, and new innovations. Bring on a nurse to talk about weird school health issues. Talk about cancers and treatments.
9:00 Jazz for an entire hour.
10:00 Great literature readings from the 1700/1800 era.
11:00 Business hour. Have another round-table of four Wall Street guys to talk about what's hot in the news.
12:00 National news hour.
13:00 Classical music hour.
14:00 History hour (have four PhD history guys line up and tell some story over history).
15:00 Opera music hour.
16:00 Bluegrass Hour.
17:00 National news hour.
18:00 Four random folks interviewed hour. Just go and pick out four random people (barbers, truckers, diesel mechanics, NCAA football refs, zoo-keepers, muffler-guys, etc) and ask them random questions.
19:00 1920s/1930s Radio Mystery hour.
20:00 More bluegrass.
21:00 Great literature readings from the 1900s.
22:00 Science Fiction Readings
23:00 Sign off
Wednesday, 13 December 2017
The Tick Story
It came out recently in the world of paleontology, that they've got a bit of amber, which has a 99-million year old tick....holdingonto a feather of a dinosaur.
So there is some minor belief that you might be able blood locked into the tick, and you might be able to do some fancy work with DNA.....thus bringing back dinosaurs. Well....an awful lot of fancy work.
One can sit and fantasize about this idea.
Would you even want to go and recreate this situation? Is it dangerous? Would some idiots go and try to sell these to the general public? Would the UN go and try to forbid something like this? There are a thousand things to ponder over an idea like this.
I would speculate that if they produced just one of these....it'd crank up an entire industry, and you'd have forty different DNA projects going on within a decade to reproduce various creatures. I just don't see this being positive.
So there is some minor belief that you might be able blood locked into the tick, and you might be able to do some fancy work with DNA.....thus bringing back dinosaurs. Well....an awful lot of fancy work.
One can sit and fantasize about this idea.
Would you even want to go and recreate this situation? Is it dangerous? Would some idiots go and try to sell these to the general public? Would the UN go and try to forbid something like this? There are a thousand things to ponder over an idea like this.
I would speculate that if they produced just one of these....it'd crank up an entire industry, and you'd have forty different DNA projects going on within a decade to reproduce various creatures. I just don't see this being positive.
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
The Ball Plan
It's one of those sports stories that you have to laugh about. A few weeks ago....three NCAA basketball players from the west coast....went to China for some games. They shop-lifted while there, and got arrested. They couldn't leave China until President Trump got involved. Then when they did get back to the college.....well....they were kinda suspended. The college doesn't appear to have any desire to give them much of a second chance.
One of the players....LiAngelo Ball (son of LaVar Ball)....finally added up the problems and left college (UCLA).
Dad sat there reviewing everything....knocking Trump several times for commentary that the kid should appreciate what Trump did.
Today, the Ball family announced what LiAngelo would do next. It's an odd deal. The other son....LaMelo (in high school) announced that he was quitting high school (odd decision too). Both kids are now signed up with a semi-pro league in....Lithuania. The team Prienai, Lithuania.
Prienai? Well....yeah, it's a town of roughly 9,800 residents.
The team? BC Prienai. They've been around for about twenty years, and play in the Baltic League. Their arena? Prienai Arena. It was built around six years ago, and holds 1,500 fans.
What this whole Ball-family move to Prienai adds up to?
Most basketball teams in Europe over the past decade have really grown their game, and they really don't care to be baby-sitters. You got a drug problem, an alcohol problem or attitude problem? Fine, go home....we don't need you. I would compare about one-third of the clubs in Europe today as being almost at the level of the better NCAA teams. In another decade, I expect the majority of clubs (maybe 75-percent) to be as good as the average NCAA team.
The Ball boys? There's some advantages to being in a small town like Prienai. No stress. No major journalists following them. A chance to work out daily. As for making a name for themselves? Maybe. But if neither kid expands their game or does much to attract more attention by the end of 2018....then their careers are finished. They might stay around three or four years and be back-up players in the NBA eventually, but the chance to be starters in the NBA will diminish by the end of 2018 if they don't show improvement.
I'm not going to suggest 'dad' is stupid here, but the odds of all three Ball kids making it into the NBA are statistically very low. There's obviously no plan 'B', and I feel sorry for both of these kids thrown into the middle of Lithuania and trying figure into some plan without good odds.
One of the players....LiAngelo Ball (son of LaVar Ball)....finally added up the problems and left college (UCLA).
Dad sat there reviewing everything....knocking Trump several times for commentary that the kid should appreciate what Trump did.
Today, the Ball family announced what LiAngelo would do next. It's an odd deal. The other son....LaMelo (in high school) announced that he was quitting high school (odd decision too). Both kids are now signed up with a semi-pro league in....Lithuania. The team Prienai, Lithuania.
Prienai? Well....yeah, it's a town of roughly 9,800 residents.
The team? BC Prienai. They've been around for about twenty years, and play in the Baltic League. Their arena? Prienai Arena. It was built around six years ago, and holds 1,500 fans.
What this whole Ball-family move to Prienai adds up to?
Most basketball teams in Europe over the past decade have really grown their game, and they really don't care to be baby-sitters. You got a drug problem, an alcohol problem or attitude problem? Fine, go home....we don't need you. I would compare about one-third of the clubs in Europe today as being almost at the level of the better NCAA teams. In another decade, I expect the majority of clubs (maybe 75-percent) to be as good as the average NCAA team.
The Ball boys? There's some advantages to being in a small town like Prienai. No stress. No major journalists following them. A chance to work out daily. As for making a name for themselves? Maybe. But if neither kid expands their game or does much to attract more attention by the end of 2018....then their careers are finished. They might stay around three or four years and be back-up players in the NBA eventually, but the chance to be starters in the NBA will diminish by the end of 2018 if they don't show improvement.
I'm not going to suggest 'dad' is stupid here, but the odds of all three Ball kids making it into the NBA are statistically very low. There's obviously no plan 'B', and I feel sorry for both of these kids thrown into the middle of Lithuania and trying figure into some plan without good odds.
A Suggestion of Patterns
I sat and looked over this graphic today. It does make sit and ponder 'patterns'.
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