I got to see Robert Griffin III live, for the first time yesterday, at MetLife staduim. All I can say is this guy is going to cause everyone in the NFC East a lot of misery over the coming years.
They chased him left, They chased him right. They chased him in the middle, up, over, down and sideways and the guy still made plays. Fourth and ten, late in the game where he should have been nail by Jason Pierre-Paul and he manages a 19 yard completion.
The guy is unbelievable and Mike Shanahan's decision to mold the offense to match what RGIII is used to rather than try and fit him into a pro offense is sheer genius. So far at least the NFL hasn't been able to solve this puzzle.
Of course, it's early yet.
Next week the Skins go to Pittsburgh and then get Carolina before heading into a bye week. But the big games are right after that. They'll play the Eagles at home and then head to Dallas for Thanksgiving. A short digression here. What a rotten thing to do to a rookie quarterback! Sending him to Dallas on Thanksgiving Day!
RGIII makes the Redskins relevent again in the NFC East hunt. Now it's a four team scramble and any one of them could end up on top. The Redskins actually have a bit of an edge because they're playing a last place schedule.
The question is how long can he avoid getting hurt?
His brand of free, unrestrained football is exciting and can drive defenses crazy, but it's only a matter of time before the hits he's taking begin to take a toll. He slows down an step or two and everything changes.
Still, that could be years away or it could happen next week. Or, it may never happen. We shall see what we shall see.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Bible Banners Ok at Football Games
A Texas judge (where else?) has temporarily approved cheerleaders at an East Texas high school displaying bible themed banners at school football games.
Now I’m going to make a very simple statement. I think Christianity is silly and I would prefer not to be subject to its doctrines or its trappings. However, others have the right of free speech and, as private individuals, have the right to express their beliefs.
If they want to put bible banners or quotations on their cars or front lawns, that’s their right and I have to respect that right.
If the cheerleaders were students in the stands, I would agree with the judge’s ruling. But, as students engaging in a school sponsored function (cheerleading) at a school sponsored event (a football game) they are violating the 1st Amendment prohibition against the establishment of religion and violating the rights of any non-Christians, and perhaps even some Christians, also attending the event.
A non-Christian attending the high should not have to choose between going to the game and having his rights trampled.
When are Christians going to understand this simple fact?
Now I’m going to make a very simple statement. I think Christianity is silly and I would prefer not to be subject to its doctrines or its trappings. However, others have the right of free speech and, as private individuals, have the right to express their beliefs.
If they want to put bible banners or quotations on their cars or front lawns, that’s their right and I have to respect that right.
If the cheerleaders were students in the stands, I would agree with the judge’s ruling. But, as students engaging in a school sponsored function (cheerleading) at a school sponsored event (a football game) they are violating the 1st Amendment prohibition against the establishment of religion and violating the rights of any non-Christians, and perhaps even some Christians, also attending the event.
A non-Christian attending the high should not have to choose between going to the game and having his rights trampled.
When are Christians going to understand this simple fact?
My Healthcare Plan
They’re changing my healthcare plan at work. Like all changes there are some plusses and some minuses but overall I don’t have a problem with the new options.
That’s not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about are how the premiums are allocated.
There are three basic options in ascending order of cost, employee only, employee plus spouse (or domestic partner) and employee plus family.
There are no variations based upon age or number of children and the coverage is exactly the same for everyone. Therefore the young are most likely subsidizing the costs of the old and smaller families are subsidizing the cost for larger families. Yet, I don’t hear anyone complaining.
There’s another premium wrinkle. The coverage is precisely the same for everyone but the premiums you pay are dependent upon your salary. There are six salary brackets. For an employee plus spouse, the lowest bracket premium is $156 a month. The premium for the highest bracket is $428 a month.
This means that the higher paid individuals are subsidizing the health care insurance for the lower paid individuals. Yet, again, I don’t hear anyone complaining.
That’s not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about are how the premiums are allocated.
There are three basic options in ascending order of cost, employee only, employee plus spouse (or domestic partner) and employee plus family.
There are no variations based upon age or number of children and the coverage is exactly the same for everyone. Therefore the young are most likely subsidizing the costs of the old and smaller families are subsidizing the cost for larger families. Yet, I don’t hear anyone complaining.
There’s another premium wrinkle. The coverage is precisely the same for everyone but the premiums you pay are dependent upon your salary. There are six salary brackets. For an employee plus spouse, the lowest bracket premium is $156 a month. The premium for the highest bracket is $428 a month.
This means that the higher paid individuals are subsidizing the health care insurance for the lower paid individuals. Yet, again, I don’t hear anyone complaining.
Friday, October 12, 2012
99 Years!?
Elizabeth Escalona, a 23 year old mother of five (five at 23!?), who pleaded guilty to felony injury of a child for savagely beating her 2 year old daughter and gluing her hands to the wall, was sentenced to 99 years by Texas judge Larry Mitchell.
Mitchell said that Escalona deserved to be punished.
Yes, she deserves to be punished. This lady has serious issues, needs to be tossed in jail, receive therapy and be kept far away from her kids for the immediate future. But 99 years!? I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous.
So now she’ll appeal and we’ll waste more time and money.
I get a kick out of these right wings types that are willing to pay thousands to satisfy their sense of indignation but won’t spend a few cents to alleviate the poverty that often leads to this sort of thing.
Hey, don’t get me wrong, this lady needs to take responsibility for what she did and be punished severely but, in the meantime, I’d get her some psychiatric help too. It’ll be cheaper in the long run.
Mitchell said that Escalona deserved to be punished.
Yes, she deserves to be punished. This lady has serious issues, needs to be tossed in jail, receive therapy and be kept far away from her kids for the immediate future. But 99 years!? I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous.
So now she’ll appeal and we’ll waste more time and money.
I get a kick out of these right wings types that are willing to pay thousands to satisfy their sense of indignation but won’t spend a few cents to alleviate the poverty that often leads to this sort of thing.
Hey, don’t get me wrong, this lady needs to take responsibility for what she did and be punished severely but, in the meantime, I’d get her some psychiatric help too. It’ll be cheaper in the long run.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The Birthday Slipped By
I didn't even acknowledge my birthday this year. Probably because I'm too depressed. I hit 64 on October 5, 2012.
To be honest with you I'm amazed I made it this far. I figured I'd get killed on Route 3 by now.
I'm in pretty good shape. At 6'1" and hovering between 188 and 192 pounds my weight is ok. My blood pressure is in the 120/70 range and my cholesterol is minimal with the HDL having a favorable ratio over the LDL. Even my PSA looks good at 0.9.
That's the problem with people in their 60s. They give you their medical numbers. Before 60 they ignore them and after 70 the numbers are usually so lousy they want to forget them.
Work sucks more than usual as we're in the middle of a drastic slow down and going through "reductions in force" about every three months. I'm hanging around sort of hoping my number will come up so I can retire.
Assuming a don't get a pink slip sooner, I'm thinking of hanging up my guns on May 1, 2013. If, for some bizarre reason I decide not to, I'm definitely calling it quits on November 1, 2013.
So look out world, me having all that free time on my hands might get interesting.
Maybe I'll run for King. I wouldn't want to be president, too many limitations, but King, that might work.
To be honest with you I'm amazed I made it this far. I figured I'd get killed on Route 3 by now.
I'm in pretty good shape. At 6'1" and hovering between 188 and 192 pounds my weight is ok. My blood pressure is in the 120/70 range and my cholesterol is minimal with the HDL having a favorable ratio over the LDL. Even my PSA looks good at 0.9.
That's the problem with people in their 60s. They give you their medical numbers. Before 60 they ignore them and after 70 the numbers are usually so lousy they want to forget them.
Work sucks more than usual as we're in the middle of a drastic slow down and going through "reductions in force" about every three months. I'm hanging around sort of hoping my number will come up so I can retire.
Assuming a don't get a pink slip sooner, I'm thinking of hanging up my guns on May 1, 2013. If, for some bizarre reason I decide not to, I'm definitely calling it quits on November 1, 2013.
So look out world, me having all that free time on my hands might get interesting.
Maybe I'll run for King. I wouldn't want to be president, too many limitations, but King, that might work.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
There’s a Heaven says Doctor
Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon that was in a coma for seven days, claims to have had a glimpse of the afterlife.
According to Alexander,“While the neurons of my cortex were stunned to complete inactivity … my brain-free consciousness journeyed to another, larger dimension of the universe.”
Alexander further claims “There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind—my conscious, inner self—was alive and well.”
Well doc, just because there is no “scientific explanation” doesn’t mean there isn’t an explanation. There used to be no “scientific explanation” for lightening either so everyone figured Zeus was angry.
Here’s the logical problem. If “God” was willing to allow Dr. Alexander a glimpse of heaven, why not allow everyone a glimpse?
Hell, I’m sure all of the networks would gladly broadcast a “Short Tour of Heaven” provided by the divine. Why is Dr. Alexander so special?
The traditional argument for why “God” doesn’t simply put a big billboard up is that it would interfere with free will. Because you aren’t given definitive proof you must have faith and you have free will to accept or reject that faith.
This is of course a theist rationalization. Was Dr. Alexander’s free will no longer important?
Either the good doctor, an admitted Christian, is lying through his teeth or there is a way he could dream while in the coma or during the process of awakening.
I’m sorry doc, but I’m not buying it.
According to Alexander,“While the neurons of my cortex were stunned to complete inactivity … my brain-free consciousness journeyed to another, larger dimension of the universe.”
Alexander further claims “There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind—my conscious, inner self—was alive and well.”
Well doc, just because there is no “scientific explanation” doesn’t mean there isn’t an explanation. There used to be no “scientific explanation” for lightening either so everyone figured Zeus was angry.
Here’s the logical problem. If “God” was willing to allow Dr. Alexander a glimpse of heaven, why not allow everyone a glimpse?
Hell, I’m sure all of the networks would gladly broadcast a “Short Tour of Heaven” provided by the divine. Why is Dr. Alexander so special?
The traditional argument for why “God” doesn’t simply put a big billboard up is that it would interfere with free will. Because you aren’t given definitive proof you must have faith and you have free will to accept or reject that faith.
This is of course a theist rationalization. Was Dr. Alexander’s free will no longer important?
Either the good doctor, an admitted Christian, is lying through his teeth or there is a way he could dream while in the coma or during the process of awakening.
I’m sorry doc, but I’m not buying it.
I am now convinced that Obama will lose the election
The lousy debate performance; the continuous stream of lies and nonsense being thrown about and the still stumbling economy I believe spell doom for the president.
I can only hope that it his failure doesn’t drag down the senate Democrats and the Gay Marriage referendums with him.
The debate should have been where Obama put Romney out of the race. Instead it was the greatest disaster since Nixon basically gave the election to Kennedy in 1960.
So now what?
I honestly don’t know. Based upon his retreat to the center after his debate victory, maybe Romney won’t be too bad of a Chief Executive. I guess time will tell.
This conclusion is a big deal because it means I will cease contributing to the Obama campaign. I'll still vote, but it will be half-heartedly.
I can only hope that it his failure doesn’t drag down the senate Democrats and the Gay Marriage referendums with him.
The debate should have been where Obama put Romney out of the race. Instead it was the greatest disaster since Nixon basically gave the election to Kennedy in 1960.
So now what?
I honestly don’t know. Based upon his retreat to the center after his debate victory, maybe Romney won’t be too bad of a Chief Executive. I guess time will tell.
This conclusion is a big deal because it means I will cease contributing to the Obama campaign. I'll still vote, but it will be half-heartedly.
David Siegel says I’ll fire you if Obama wins
Well, he didn’t quite say that. What the CEO of Westgate Resorts did say was if Obama wins and raises taxes he may have to lay off workers or even shut down the company.
In his e-mail Siegel made the case of how he’s devoted his whole life to the business and now people who didn’t work nearly as hard think they’re entitled to the same things he has.
No David, that is complete nonsense.
How many summer homes and yachts do you need? You’ve had that stinking 3% now for twelve years. You didn’t have it before and giving it to you sent the government budget into debt so the time has come to take it back.
Oh yeah, and the unbridled greed of you and others has skewed the percentage of income subject to Social Security taxes downward from 91% to 87% and is threatening the solvency of Social Security. You have two choices. Redistribute the income back to the working and middle classes to restore the 91% or accept a raise in the Social Security cap to get it back up to 91%.
Your choice you greedy arrogant pig.
In the meantime I won’t be staying at any Westgate Resort until you sell your interest in it which you would do long before you shut the business down.
In his e-mail Siegel made the case of how he’s devoted his whole life to the business and now people who didn’t work nearly as hard think they’re entitled to the same things he has.
No David, that is complete nonsense.
How many summer homes and yachts do you need? You’ve had that stinking 3% now for twelve years. You didn’t have it before and giving it to you sent the government budget into debt so the time has come to take it back.
Oh yeah, and the unbridled greed of you and others has skewed the percentage of income subject to Social Security taxes downward from 91% to 87% and is threatening the solvency of Social Security. You have two choices. Redistribute the income back to the working and middle classes to restore the 91% or accept a raise in the Social Security cap to get it back up to 91%.
Your choice you greedy arrogant pig.
In the meantime I won’t be staying at any Westgate Resort until you sell your interest in it which you would do long before you shut the business down.
Welch and the Unemployment Numbers
Jack Welch finds the September Unemployment Rate of 7.8% “implausible.”
I happen to agree with him.
All statistics, and the Unemployment Rate is a statistic, have a margin of error. Usually they’re pretty close but sometimes they can be off by quite a bit and I suspect that this is one of those times.
If Welch had simply said that, no big deal. The problem is he went further and implied that the numbers had been manipulated for political purposes.
Unless he has some evidence other than “funny it should happen just before the election” then that’s just irresponsible nonsense.
I happen to agree with him.
All statistics, and the Unemployment Rate is a statistic, have a margin of error. Usually they’re pretty close but sometimes they can be off by quite a bit and I suspect that this is one of those times.
If Welch had simply said that, no big deal. The problem is he went further and implied that the numbers had been manipulated for political purposes.
Unless he has some evidence other than “funny it should happen just before the election” then that’s just irresponsible nonsense.
Thursday, October 04, 2012
The Presidential Debate
So much for my hope that Obama would run rings around Romney.
If Barack doesn't want to win the election, which is how he acted last night, he can just drop out now and save us all a lot of time and energy.
The president was right about just about everything and Romney was wrong about just about everything but debates are not about WHAT is said, they're about HOW it's said.
Romney won this one hands down.
If Barack doesn't want to win the election, which is how he acted last night, he can just drop out now and save us all a lot of time and energy.
The president was right about just about everything and Romney was wrong about just about everything but debates are not about WHAT is said, they're about HOW it's said.
Romney won this one hands down.
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