It's knockout round time!!!
I got lazy this year and waited for the Group Round to be over. The big shock of course is the elimination of Germany. That leaves the door for Brazil to get some revenge for its debacle four years ago.
Anyway, on to making a fool of myself.
Uruguay vs Portugal - I'm going with Portugal.
France vs Argentina - This is a really tough one but I'm sticking with my friends, France.
Brazil vs Mexico - I think this is a bad break for Mexico following a disappointing outing against Sweden so I'm going with Brazil.
Belgium vs Japan - I have to go with Belgium.
Spain vs Russia - Russia has been playing really well but I have to go with Espana.
Croatia vs Denmark - Hmm, decisions, decisions. I'm going with Croatia.
Sweden vs Switzerland - I'm taking Switzerland.
Columbia vs England - Oh boy. I'm sticking with England but I have a bad feeling about this game.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Justice Kennedy to Retire
Well that's not good. This was always the problem with the 2016 election, the fear that the winner would be able to mold the Supreme Court for decades to come.
Trump will be making a payment on his dept to the Religious Right by nominating an extreme conservative. You can be sure that whomever gets the nod it will place both abortion access and gay rights in jeopardy.
This will probably leave Chief Justice John Roberts as the possible voice of sanity on the court.
Trump will be making a payment on his dept to the Religious Right by nominating an extreme conservative. You can be sure that whomever gets the nod it will place both abortion access and gay rights in jeopardy.
This will probably leave Chief Justice John Roberts as the possible voice of sanity on the court.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
The McMartin Trial
I just finished watching an HBO movie about the McMartin trial in Southern California and it terrified me.
Basically the McMartin's ran a child care center and they and teachers working at the center came under suspicion of molesting the children under their care. Questionable techniques used by a social worker led to an avalanche of stories by hundreds of children.
The thing just mushroomed after that with accusations getting wilder and wilder, parents understandably ready to keel haul the accused, the media hyping the sensationalism of the charges without really considering the probability of the accusations and the prosecution under enormous pressure to get convictions.
After seven years and some $15 million spent by the state of California all charges either ended in acquittals or were dropped. Of cou rse the lives of all of the accused were essentially ruined.
How easy it can happen.
Accusations are not convictions. Innocent until proven guilty has to be the basis of our legal system or we might as well go back to mob rule.
This is the danger I see in the feminist #MeToo movement. Yes, jackasses that rape or molest women should be dealt with but it's too easy for this to become hysteria where accusation equates to guilt.
Either the system works or it doesn't and if it doesn't, then we damn well need to fix it.
Basically the McMartin's ran a child care center and they and teachers working at the center came under suspicion of molesting the children under their care. Questionable techniques used by a social worker led to an avalanche of stories by hundreds of children.
The thing just mushroomed after that with accusations getting wilder and wilder, parents understandably ready to keel haul the accused, the media hyping the sensationalism of the charges without really considering the probability of the accusations and the prosecution under enormous pressure to get convictions.
After seven years and some $15 million spent by the state of California all charges either ended in acquittals or were dropped. Of cou rse the lives of all of the accused were essentially ruined.
How easy it can happen.
Accusations are not convictions. Innocent until proven guilty has to be the basis of our legal system or we might as well go back to mob rule.
This is the danger I see in the feminist #MeToo movement. Yes, jackasses that rape or molest women should be dealt with but it's too easy for this to become hysteria where accusation equates to guilt.
Either the system works or it doesn't and if it doesn't, then we damn well need to fix it.
The Separating of Immigrant Families
Tearing children away from their parents for the "crime" of wanting political asylum in the US is about a barbaric an action as I've seen performed by the US government in decades.
Worse is that the motive for this appears to be political leverage to get appropriations to build that idiotic border wall.
This is really unforgivable and worse is the litany of crap coming from administration officials. First we get told it isn't happening; then we get told it's happening but it's OK because it's legal; then we get told it's OK because it's justified in the Bible and finally Trump tells us it's all the Democrats fault.
Right wing pundits are tying themselves into knots. The wave followed the "no, it's all a lie by the media" party line then it morphed into something like "well, these people shouldn't be coming to the border so it's really their fault."
Then, the worst one, comes from a Fox & Friends host who says "And these are not -- like it or not, these aren't our kids. Show them compassion, but it's not like he is doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas."
WTF is wrong with these people?
Then of course there's the inevitable tu quoque whine of "well Obama did it too."
No, Obama didn't do it too and neither did Bush.
The Obama administration, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of illegal immigrants coming to the border from Central America, was putting whole families into detention centers until their case could be adjudicated by the courts but families were not broken up.
The problem was that the volume involved was so large that the wait stretched into months and the courts said that was unacceptable because there's this little thing about habeas corpus in the US Constitution.
So the policy was changed and people were released under the authority of the civil courts because entering the US illegally the first time is only a misdemeanor and the priority for deportation was given to people with felony convictions. Of course the problem with this "catch and release" approach was people often didn't show up for their civil hearing.
Trump's "zero tolerance" policy changed things and people trying to enter were arrested on criminal charges rather than civil charges. Essentially misdemeanors were promoted to the level of a felony.
Since you can't put children in adult jails, they were taken from their parents and put in detention centers.
Rightfully so there has been a firestorm over this.
The American Psychological Association sent a protest letter to the administration about the harm being done to children due to being separated forcibly from their parents.
All five surviving first ladies, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rosalind Carter and even Trump's own wife have condemned the policy.
American and United Airlines have refused to fly immigrant children for the government after pressure from the airline attendants.
The King of Holland has condemned Trump.
The pope has condemned Trump.
Any human being with an ounce of decency has condemned Trump.
Anyone defending this policy should be ashamed of themselves.
Anyone remaining quiet about it should really look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why this doesn't upset them?
Worse is that the motive for this appears to be political leverage to get appropriations to build that idiotic border wall.
This is really unforgivable and worse is the litany of crap coming from administration officials. First we get told it isn't happening; then we get told it's happening but it's OK because it's legal; then we get told it's OK because it's justified in the Bible and finally Trump tells us it's all the Democrats fault.
Right wing pundits are tying themselves into knots. The wave followed the "no, it's all a lie by the media" party line then it morphed into something like "well, these people shouldn't be coming to the border so it's really their fault."
Then, the worst one, comes from a Fox & Friends host who says "And these are not -- like it or not, these aren't our kids. Show them compassion, but it's not like he is doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas."
WTF is wrong with these people?
Then of course there's the inevitable tu quoque whine of "well Obama did it too."
No, Obama didn't do it too and neither did Bush.
The Obama administration, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of illegal immigrants coming to the border from Central America, was putting whole families into detention centers until their case could be adjudicated by the courts but families were not broken up.
The problem was that the volume involved was so large that the wait stretched into months and the courts said that was unacceptable because there's this little thing about habeas corpus in the US Constitution.
So the policy was changed and people were released under the authority of the civil courts because entering the US illegally the first time is only a misdemeanor and the priority for deportation was given to people with felony convictions. Of course the problem with this "catch and release" approach was people often didn't show up for their civil hearing.
Trump's "zero tolerance" policy changed things and people trying to enter were arrested on criminal charges rather than civil charges. Essentially misdemeanors were promoted to the level of a felony.
Since you can't put children in adult jails, they were taken from their parents and put in detention centers.
Rightfully so there has been a firestorm over this.
The American Psychological Association sent a protest letter to the administration about the harm being done to children due to being separated forcibly from their parents.
All five surviving first ladies, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rosalind Carter and even Trump's own wife have condemned the policy.
American and United Airlines have refused to fly immigrant children for the government after pressure from the airline attendants.
The King of Holland has condemned Trump.
The pope has condemned Trump.
Any human being with an ounce of decency has condemned Trump.
Anyone defending this policy should be ashamed of themselves.
Anyone remaining quiet about it should really look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why this doesn't upset them?
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Wishful Thinking
I keep hearing how Trump has lost support. I think that's just wishful thinking.
From what I’ve seen Trump’s support has held fairly steady and there are in fact a number of reasons that people keep supporting him.
(1) The economy is good. Much of the good economy is due to Obama but Trump is getting the lion’s share of the credit.
(2) The tax cut did put some extra dollars in the pockets of ordinary Americans. The fact that the ultra rich were the primary beneficiaries and the deficit is ballooning which will probably result in an economic disaster down the road is just not on most folk’s radar.
(3) Feminists and other SJW types have created a lot of enemies and these people see Trump as standing up to them. Hell, even I don’t like feminists.
(4) Evangelical Christians support Trump because he is making their wildest fantasies come true in the culture wars.
(5) Muslims are disliked and feared in this country because the overwhelming majority of Americans have never met a Muslim and only know what they hear on the news and the internet. Trump has played on that dislike and fear.
(6) A lot of people have bought into the idea that immigrants take jobs away from Americans or have lowered wages for Americans by working for less. Trump also plays on that idea.
All of these “reasons” upon closer inspection are an illusion but most people are working too hard every day to do a lot of closer inspection. The biggest success of Trump and the Republicans has been to undermine the reputation of those, such as the media, that can do a closer inspection.
From what I’ve seen Trump’s support has held fairly steady and there are in fact a number of reasons that people keep supporting him.
(1) The economy is good. Much of the good economy is due to Obama but Trump is getting the lion’s share of the credit.
(2) The tax cut did put some extra dollars in the pockets of ordinary Americans. The fact that the ultra rich were the primary beneficiaries and the deficit is ballooning which will probably result in an economic disaster down the road is just not on most folk’s radar.
(3) Feminists and other SJW types have created a lot of enemies and these people see Trump as standing up to them. Hell, even I don’t like feminists.
(4) Evangelical Christians support Trump because he is making their wildest fantasies come true in the culture wars.
(5) Muslims are disliked and feared in this country because the overwhelming majority of Americans have never met a Muslim and only know what they hear on the news and the internet. Trump has played on that dislike and fear.
(6) A lot of people have bought into the idea that immigrants take jobs away from Americans or have lowered wages for Americans by working for less. Trump also plays on that idea.
All of these “reasons” upon closer inspection are an illusion but most people are working too hard every day to do a lot of closer inspection. The biggest success of Trump and the Republicans has been to undermine the reputation of those, such as the media, that can do a closer inspection.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Trump and North Korea
I'm going to give Trump some credit here. he may not have resolved all the issues, and he probably gave up a lot more than he got, but meeting face to face with Kim Jong-Un was a BIG step in the right direction and the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
Agreeing to stop joint military exercises with South Korea without getting anything that we know of in return and not letting the South Koreans in on his plans looks more than a little weak.
Where did this guy even get the idea he was a great negotiator?
Agreeing to stop joint military exercises with South Korea without getting anything that we know of in return and not letting the South Koreans in on his plans looks more than a little weak.
Where did this guy even get the idea he was a great negotiator?
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