Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Sally Yates Is A Fool
Former AG Sally Yates was fired for opposing President Trump's refugee/immigration order, and her reasoning is bogus, showcasing she is not the martyr the Mainstream Media pretends she is - she is a fool.
The Bigger The Moment, The Smaller The Obama
Barack Obama's smallness shows again in his insipid attack on Donald Trump's executive order establishing accountability on refugees. Obama crafts his response by doing what he always did - lying.
"Trump's defenders are right; Obama did leave behind a variety of dubious precedents." The more accountable he had to be, the smaller he always became.
"Trump's defenders are right; Obama did leave behind a variety of dubious precedents." The more accountable he had to be, the smaller he always became.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Multiple Views On Trump's Refugee Crackdown
National Review and Commentary Magazine author compelling opposite views on Donald Trump's new temporary (120 days) policy on refugees. See also this list of five reasons opposing the immigrant-refugee ban, five refutations of leftwing criticisms of the ban, this analysis showing it is not a "Muslim ban" as well as the issue of smoking out Islamo-Arab terrorists within the ban, and this look at why the order's issuance was such a fiasco.
Also worth noting is the absurdity of grandstanding that has permeated left-wing opposition, notably from Chuck Schumer. Also worth noting is the stupidity of calling the ban "un-American." An interesting analogy is also drawn with Winston Churchill while David French examines five facts about the issue that have been mythologized.
One area that is helped by the order is the wave of public schools clogged with illegal refugees. And the objective truth remains not all refugees are worth taking in.
Also worth noting is the absurdity of grandstanding that has permeated left-wing opposition, notably from Chuck Schumer. Also worth noting is the stupidity of calling the ban "un-American." An interesting analogy is also drawn with Winston Churchill while David French examines five facts about the issue that have been mythologized.
One area that is helped by the order is the wave of public schools clogged with illegal refugees. And the objective truth remains not all refugees are worth taking in.
Tulsi Gabbard Would Probably Scream McCarthy
What is it about Hawaii that it produces nitwits for Congress? The latest dimbulb Democrat is Congresswench Tulsi Gabbard. She recently went to Syria to grovel before the Assads and especially grovel before Soviet military objectives in the Middle East.
"The simplist way to identify Russian sympathizers is to probe them on the matter of military intervention. They may appear principled in their suspicion toward American force projection but are nowhere near as apprehensive about Russian muscle-flexing - evwen in the same theater of operations......Gabbard's support for Russian objectives in Syria has always been conspicuous."
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Obama's Lie About Al Qaida
The outgoing Obama administration released some more documents from Osama Bin Laden's HQ captured in 2011 - and claims they close the book on that issue. The problem, though, is the same one that Obama has had with Islamo-Arab Imperialism forever - he has been dishonest with everyone about Al Qaida and Islamo-Arab terrorist states in general.
The Fight For 15 Continues To Ignore Real Economics
The Atlantic publishes a foolish piece by James Kwak arguing for a $15 minimum wage - the problem remains no case exists for any minimum wage, because minimum wage is a price control, a creator of shortages.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Postmodernism AKA Fake News
The dishonesty of postmodernism is at work again with continuing media dishonesty, now called fake news.
Trump Is Right On Vote Fraud
Democrats think they have "gotcha" on Donald Trump over his concerns for vote fraud by noting aides of his are registered in more than one state - yet this and other facts merely prove his point. Notable is we now know Hillary Clinton's "majority" vote came from illegal votes.
Tariffs And Their Cost
This look at 2009 tire tariffs show how much tariffs cost - and why President Trump gets the concept wrong.
Germany And Racial Profiling
On December 31, 2015 there was the rape of 600 women in Cologne's central station; on December 31, 2016 German police registered large numbers of "North African" (aka Islamic) males and German authorities spoke frankly about it. It contrasts with Sweden, where a similar mass rape in 2015 occurred in Kalmar and this New year's Eve women stayed away - because Swedish authorities feared actually cracking down would "play into the hands of the Swedish Democrats," the nation's largest political party that opposes the kind of immigration that is producing these rapes.
Chicago As A Failed City
The feds can't save Chicago, but can offer some real advice to a failed city and a failed "leader" in Rahm Emanuel.
The Spank The Monkey Rally And Addiction To Abortion
The so-called "Women's March" after Donald Trump reinstated the law banning funding for international non-governmental organizations involved with abortions was mostly a gross display of females engaged in Spank The Monkey, and thus illustrated the derangement that passes for thought in liberalism.
Follow-up: Now some on the left are criticizing the march.
Follow-up: Now some on the left are criticizing the march.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Barry Morse Man And Superman
Barry Morse carries the moment as The Devil from Man And Superman, Act III Scene 348
Three Reasons Why a Double Standard is Imposed on Israel
It's actually four.
Because they were seen for nearly two centuries as a punching bag for European Christianity.
Then Europeans got sanctimonious when Jews re-established Israel and thus were no longer beholden to European permission.
There are so many Muslims that Europeans get scared of the idea of siding with Israel against Muslims - never mind the rampant corruption and bloodletting of Muslim cultures.
Europeans still harbor an inner refusal to be fully accountable for the Holocaust. Germany willed and created it and was aided and abetted by Eastern European nations and also occupied France; nations like Switzerland and Sweden, though ostensibly neutral, turned their back; even the US refused to shelter Jewish refugees - yet antisemitism in the US is rare.
Turkey's 'Lifestyle Massacre' And Indifference To Israel
Islamic slaughter in Turkey gets worse. Yet though they have the same enemy Turkey shows a ridiculous indifference to Israel.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Is 'Auto-Enrollment' Even Worse Than Obamacare's Individual Mandate?
It is an amazing fact that the individual mandate to buy health insurance largely originated with policy wonks and politicians on the conservative side of the aisle.
Paternalistic
Open season for cronyism
Absurdly expensive
Government spending pretending to be tax cuts
Raising premiums
This ill-conceived and unconstitutional (despite the opinions of five justices) idea eventually became perhaps the most despised part of Obamacare. Yet even as the individual mandate is about to be killed off (Congress is poised to reduce its penalty to $0, thereby effectively repealing it), some center-right policy wonks and politicians are trying to give life to a new idea that might be even worse—auto-enrollment.
Here's how it would work: If an American citizen were made eligible for a tax credit for health insurance, but chose not to use it, the government could then auto-enroll that citizen in a health insurance policy of the government's choosing. It would use the tax credit to pay for it. This is a terrible idea on its face, but here are five specific reasons why it is so......
Paternalistic
Open season for cronyism
Absurdly expensive
Government spending pretending to be tax cuts
Raising premiums
The Irrelevance Of Bill Clinton
Despite being forgotten yet not gone, Bill Clinton's greed for everything has made him irrelevant.
Monday, January 23, 2017
1998 NFC Championship Game: Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings
The greatest game in Atlanta Falcons history entering Superbowl LI.
Aaron Rodgers Mister Irrelevant Redux
So the NFL now has its Superbowl LI contestants and the Conference Championship Games were revelatory about how good the New England Patriots are and how much a fraud the Pittsburgh Steelers and especially the Green Bay Packers are.
Back in 2011 and 2012 several pieces first raised analytical awareness of Aaron Rodgers' inability to win clutch games. Entering 2012 Rodgers was Mister Irrelevant in the fourth quarter at just 3-18 in comeback attempts. By October 2013 - following Green Bay's 34-30 loss to the Bengals in which Rodgers erased a 14-0 gap, led 30-14, and when a 4th-down fumble became the go-ahead Bengals touchdown failed to lead the comeback - he fell to 5-24 in comeback attempts.
And since then, nothing has qualitatively gotten any better - my quick and dirty count indicates he is now 10-41 in comeback attempts, and even more damning, by my quick and dirty count he is 4-31 in games where he trailed by at least two scores and also 0-35 in comebacks against quality opponents. For 2016 he finished 0-7 in games where he had to stage a fourth quarter comeback and 0-6 when he trailed by at least two scores; his only two game-winning drives were against the Bears - after blowing a 17-point lead - and at the Cowboys - where he was outscored 18-6 in the fourth quarter. Indeed the fourth quarter of Green Bay's 2016 games is illustrative of Rodgers, doing nothing well beyond frontrunning, and inability to make clutch plays -
The funniest Green Bay meltdown of 2016 was also the most prescient toward Green Bay's ultimate massacre at the hands of another southern division NFL team
By this point of Rodgers' career it's obvious he is not a great quarterback. When he faces clutch situations, he falters - if he has to stage a comeback, he fails. People fall in love with the athleticism and arm strength, but too often these are substitutes for smart quarterbacking the way he plays - his lack of a small ball attack is a fundamental weakness, as he prefers the spectacular play - athleticism and arm strength. Indeed what is striking the more one watches him is he so often gets away with what dumb quarterbacks usually do.
And so he falls short yet again and has now lost in the playoffs six straight seasons, 5-6 in overall playoff games in that span.
Meanwhile there's not much to say about the Patriots' usual demolition of the Steelers beyond sayonara Steelers.
So the two week interregnum for New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons begins.
Back in 2011 and 2012 several pieces first raised analytical awareness of Aaron Rodgers' inability to win clutch games. Entering 2012 Rodgers was Mister Irrelevant in the fourth quarter at just 3-18 in comeback attempts. By October 2013 - following Green Bay's 34-30 loss to the Bengals in which Rodgers erased a 14-0 gap, led 30-14, and when a 4th-down fumble became the go-ahead Bengals touchdown failed to lead the comeback - he fell to 5-24 in comeback attempts.
And since then, nothing has qualitatively gotten any better - my quick and dirty count indicates he is now 10-41 in comeback attempts, and even more damning, by my quick and dirty count he is 4-31 in games where he trailed by at least two scores and also 0-35 in comebacks against quality opponents. For 2016 he finished 0-7 in games where he had to stage a fourth quarter comeback and 0-6 when he trailed by at least two scores; his only two game-winning drives were against the Bears - after blowing a 17-point lead - and at the Cowboys - where he was outscored 18-6 in the fourth quarter. Indeed the fourth quarter of Green Bay's 2016 games is illustrative of Rodgers, doing nothing well beyond frontrunning, and inability to make clutch plays -
@ Jaguars - 3 points in a game the Packers never trailed
@ Vikings - 7 points down 17-7, lost game
vs Lions - shutout in fourth of game the Packers never trailed
vs NY Giants - 6 points in game they never trailed
vs Cowboys - 10 points when they trailed 27-9, lost game
vs Bears - 13 points where they were leading at the start of the fourth
@ Falcons - 8 points, fell behind 33-32, Rodgers comeback failed, lost game
vs Colts - 13 points when trailing by 18, lost game
@ Titans - shutout in fourth, lost game
@ Redskins - 14 points when down 22-10, outscored 20-14 in fourth, lost game
@ Eagles - 10 points in game they never trailed
vs Texans - 14 points after game was tied entering the fourth
vs Seahawks - 10 points in game already up 28-3 entering the fourth
@ Bears - 3 points after blowing 17-point lead
vs Vikings - 10 points when up 28-10 entering the fourth
@ Lions - 14 points when leading 17-14 entering fourth
vs NY Giants - 14 points when leading 24-13 entering the fourth
@ Cowboys - 6 points where they blew a 15-point lead and were outscored 18-6
@ Atlanta - 6 points in game they never led, lost game
The funniest Green Bay meltdown of 2016 was also the most prescient toward Green Bay's ultimate massacre at the hands of another southern division NFL team
By this point of Rodgers' career it's obvious he is not a great quarterback. When he faces clutch situations, he falters - if he has to stage a comeback, he fails. People fall in love with the athleticism and arm strength, but too often these are substitutes for smart quarterbacking the way he plays - his lack of a small ball attack is a fundamental weakness, as he prefers the spectacular play - athleticism and arm strength. Indeed what is striking the more one watches him is he so often gets away with what dumb quarterbacks usually do.
And so he falls short yet again and has now lost in the playoffs six straight seasons, 5-6 in overall playoff games in that span.
Meanwhile there's not much to say about the Patriots' usual demolition of the Steelers beyond sayonara Steelers.
So the two week interregnum for New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons begins.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Fake News about Planned Parenthood in the Washington Post
There are some myths that just won't die about Planned parenthood
"....and one of those myths was perpetuated in a Washington Post article on Wednesday. In a story on GOP efforts to redirect taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood to community health centers, the Post reports that
'Democrats insist that federal law already prevents public money from paying for abortions and argue that Planned Parenthood provides broad health services — from birth control to screening for sexually transmitted diseases to preventive care like mammograms.'"
The New Bin Laden Files
A perfunctory release of files captured from Osama Bin Laden's base has occurred and yet some one million others have not been released. It is a mystery why - especially as what has been released shows the complex nature of Al Qaida's relationship with its Iranian benefactors, with one 2007 document written by Bin Laden naming Iran as Al Qaida's "main artery" for money, communication, and handling hostages. The documents also showcase the US consistently underestimating the enemy.
Trump And Dishonest Intelligence Services
The politicization of US intelligence services has been a dirty open secret for a very long time and Donald Trump has merely spoken truth to that power.
The Foolish Mistrust Of Mistrusting Government
The Lamestream Media has been in a dither about Rick Perry at the Department Of Energy and Scott Pruitt at the EPA, and the media's anger reflects its refusal to understand that government is not the solution - reigning it in is the solution.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Facing Reality Down The Road
An interesting examination of how the last eight-plus years have seen how international aggression has been viewed and added to this examination is this look at the appeasement that permeated the last eight years on Soviet Russia. Also showcased is how it isn't Trump who is the fool about the Middle East.
Career And Technical Job Training
A lot of people seem to think manufacturing-type jobs are drying up. That's not necessarily true, and training programs for young men are becoming more common. Relying on decentralized and market-oriented approaches is yet again proving its worth.
Trump's Mercantilist Mythology
Donald Trump genuinely dislikes free trade and this is a problem of ignorance of how economics work - and the fact that trade does in fact work.
Stop Labeling Hate Crimes
Chicago has shown that prosecuting "hate crimes" doesn't work because the concept is merely left-wing favoritism.
NFL Top Ten Divisional Playoffs
In the history of the NFL all playoff rounds have produced memorable moments. The divisional round is often cited as the most exciting period of the season, so presented are ten of the most memorable moments in the history of the NFL's divisional round playoffs -
#10 - The Oakland Raiders vs. Everyone
The Ben Dreith Game
It is impossible to limit divisional playoffs involving the Oakland Raiders to just one game, so this has to be a matched entry -
1972 - The Immaculate Reception
After Kenny Stabler roared to a go-ahead touchdown in the 1972 Divisional Playoffs, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris pulled off the most preposterous passing play ever seen.
1974 - The Sea Of Hands
Two years later against the Miami Dolphins Kenny Stabler pulled off a winning touchdown the likes of which hasn't really been seen since.
Two years after that came the Ben Dreith game with the New England Patriots, a game whose repercussions would be fully felt twenty-five years later.
1977 - Ghost To The Post
The next year, 1977, the Raiders and Colts faced off in a shootout won in overtime thanks in large part to Dave "Ghost" Casper.
2001 - The Tuck Rule Game
Twenty-five seasons after the Ben Dreith game another controversial call became the indelible image of a stunning playoff outcome.
#9 - 1971 Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs - The Cold Turkey Game
On Christmas Day 1971 the Dolphins and Chiefs needed 82 game minutes before the Dolphins shot down the Chiefs 27-24. It became known as The Cold Turkey Game because it went on so long viewers' holiday turkeys got cold.
#8 - 1975 Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings - Staubach's Hail Mary
In 1975 Captain America pulled off perhaps his ultimate play in beating the Vikings 17-14
#7 - 1986 NY Jets at Browns - Gastineau's Gaffe
Mark Gastineau's roughing the passer penalty against Bernie Kosar saved the Browns en route to one of the longest games in history.
#6 - 1993 Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Oilers - Montana Magic Sinks The Oilers
Joe Montana pulled off what would be his last playoff win and the last for the Chiefs until 2015 - ironically at Houston - in a game that set off an earthquake that destroyed the Oilers organization; they would leave Houston for Tennessee and Houston would go 1997-2001 until a new Houston NFL team debuted. In the kind of irony only sports can produce, the Oilers franchise - now the Tennessee Titans - finally defeated the Chiefs in a playoff game in 2017 with one of the largest comeback wins in NFL playoff history.
#5 - 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans - The Music City Mulligan
The 2002 season marked the first season of the NFL's four-division alignment, thus putting the Tennessee Titans out of the former AFC Central. They faced the Steelers and won earlier in the season in a game where Tommy Maddox, a former washout with Dan Reeves who'd been resurrected by success in the short-lived Extreme Football League, was knocked out and lost for several games. He recovered and led a huge comeback playoff win over the Cleveland Browns, and at Tennessee Maddox and McNair combined for over 600 passing yards, four touchdowns, three picks, and the game lead tying or changing six times. Joe Nedney missed the winning field goal at the end of regulation, but was tripped up on an attempt in overtime, so on the rekick he nailed it (34-31 final), to the anger of the Steelers.
Best of the rest -
The Patriots and Titans had exploded in 2003 to a 38-30 thriller in Week Five. They combined to win 26 games in the 2003 regular season and then squared off in a bitterly cold division round grinder won by the Patriots 17-14 on a dropped Drew Bennett attempt. Earlier that day.......
#4 - 2003 Carolina Panthers at St. Louis Rams - Delhomme finishes the St. Louis Rams
What turned out to be the last ever playoff game at St. Louis and the final playoff home game for the Rams until their 2017 Los Angeles season went to two overtimes as Jake Delhomme established that he could not just handle playoff football but thrive in it.
Best of the rest -
In 2011 the 49ers won the NFC West, their first playoff season since 2002, and in the divisional round - 30 years after Joe Montana's touchdown to Dwight Clark that sank the Cowboys and started the 1981-98 dynasty - they faced the New Orleans Saints in a stunning shootout and Vernon Davis made his own Niners history. The two teams combined for 68 points. The next year two other teams would break 70 combined points........
#3 - 2012 Ravens at Broncos - The Ravens finally defeat Peyton Manning
The Baltimore Ravens had lost nine straight games to Peyton Manning and had been again smacked around earlier in 2012 to Manning's Broncos, but in the divisional playoffs Joe Flacco stunned the Broncos defense and then Peyton Manning did what defined his career - failed in a playoff game.
#2 - 2014 Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots - the Patriots "trick" the Ravens
John Harbaugh was livid when the Patriots ran unconventional line combos on offense and thus were able to erase 14-point gaps twice before stunning the Ravens 35-31.
The Number One Divisional Round Playoff Game Of All Time -
1981 San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins
Even today the circumstances - brutal heat, enormity of scoring, the heroics of Kellen Winslow - make this 41-38 thriller unforgettable.
BONUS: Division Round Sunday 2017:
The Jacksonville Jaguars had faltered after defeating the Steelers in the 2007 playoffs; for 2017 Tom Coughlin, their founding coach, was brought back as GM and the Jaguars won the AFC South, defeated the Buffalo Bills (in their first playoff game since 1999) and at Pittsburgh exploded to a 45-42 win despite blowing a 28-7 lead. The Steelers had talked openly of meeting the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and reports claimed growing friction between Ben Roethislberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley; it typified the full-of-themselves culture of the Steelers
And yet this game was topped by the Minnesota Vikings despite only half the scoring. The game lead changed four times in the fourth quarter as the Saints - winners of 2009's epic NFC Championship Game vs the Vikings, booted a go-ahead field goal with 25 seconds to go; Case Keenum then rifled a 25-yard first down pass to Stefon Diggs, and with no one in the middle of the field Diggs ran in the winning touchdown.
The second round of NFL playoffs thus elevates the heat even when it's cold.
#10 - The Oakland Raiders vs. Everyone
The Ben Dreith Game
It is impossible to limit divisional playoffs involving the Oakland Raiders to just one game, so this has to be a matched entry -
1972 - The Immaculate Reception
After Kenny Stabler roared to a go-ahead touchdown in the 1972 Divisional Playoffs, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris pulled off the most preposterous passing play ever seen.
1974 - The Sea Of Hands
Two years later against the Miami Dolphins Kenny Stabler pulled off a winning touchdown the likes of which hasn't really been seen since.
Two years after that came the Ben Dreith game with the New England Patriots, a game whose repercussions would be fully felt twenty-five years later.
1977 - Ghost To The Post
The next year, 1977, the Raiders and Colts faced off in a shootout won in overtime thanks in large part to Dave "Ghost" Casper.
2001 - The Tuck Rule Game
Twenty-five seasons after the Ben Dreith game another controversial call became the indelible image of a stunning playoff outcome.
#9 - 1971 Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs - The Cold Turkey Game
On Christmas Day 1971 the Dolphins and Chiefs needed 82 game minutes before the Dolphins shot down the Chiefs 27-24. It became known as The Cold Turkey Game because it went on so long viewers' holiday turkeys got cold.
#8 - 1975 Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings - Staubach's Hail Mary
In 1975 Captain America pulled off perhaps his ultimate play in beating the Vikings 17-14
#7 - 1986 NY Jets at Browns - Gastineau's Gaffe
Mark Gastineau's roughing the passer penalty against Bernie Kosar saved the Browns en route to one of the longest games in history.
#6 - 1993 Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Oilers - Montana Magic Sinks The Oilers
Joe Montana pulled off what would be his last playoff win and the last for the Chiefs until 2015 - ironically at Houston - in a game that set off an earthquake that destroyed the Oilers organization; they would leave Houston for Tennessee and Houston would go 1997-2001 until a new Houston NFL team debuted. In the kind of irony only sports can produce, the Oilers franchise - now the Tennessee Titans - finally defeated the Chiefs in a playoff game in 2017 with one of the largest comeback wins in NFL playoff history.
#5 - 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans - The Music City Mulligan
The 2002 season marked the first season of the NFL's four-division alignment, thus putting the Tennessee Titans out of the former AFC Central. They faced the Steelers and won earlier in the season in a game where Tommy Maddox, a former washout with Dan Reeves who'd been resurrected by success in the short-lived Extreme Football League, was knocked out and lost for several games. He recovered and led a huge comeback playoff win over the Cleveland Browns, and at Tennessee Maddox and McNair combined for over 600 passing yards, four touchdowns, three picks, and the game lead tying or changing six times. Joe Nedney missed the winning field goal at the end of regulation, but was tripped up on an attempt in overtime, so on the rekick he nailed it (34-31 final), to the anger of the Steelers.
Best of the rest -
The Patriots and Titans had exploded in 2003 to a 38-30 thriller in Week Five. They combined to win 26 games in the 2003 regular season and then squared off in a bitterly cold division round grinder won by the Patriots 17-14 on a dropped Drew Bennett attempt. Earlier that day.......
#4 - 2003 Carolina Panthers at St. Louis Rams - Delhomme finishes the St. Louis Rams
What turned out to be the last ever playoff game at St. Louis and the final playoff home game for the Rams until their 2017 Los Angeles season went to two overtimes as Jake Delhomme established that he could not just handle playoff football but thrive in it.
Best of the rest -
In 2011 the 49ers won the NFC West, their first playoff season since 2002, and in the divisional round - 30 years after Joe Montana's touchdown to Dwight Clark that sank the Cowboys and started the 1981-98 dynasty - they faced the New Orleans Saints in a stunning shootout and Vernon Davis made his own Niners history. The two teams combined for 68 points. The next year two other teams would break 70 combined points........
#3 - 2012 Ravens at Broncos - The Ravens finally defeat Peyton Manning
The Baltimore Ravens had lost nine straight games to Peyton Manning and had been again smacked around earlier in 2012 to Manning's Broncos, but in the divisional playoffs Joe Flacco stunned the Broncos defense and then Peyton Manning did what defined his career - failed in a playoff game.
#2 - 2014 Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots - the Patriots "trick" the Ravens
John Harbaugh was livid when the Patriots ran unconventional line combos on offense and thus were able to erase 14-point gaps twice before stunning the Ravens 35-31.
The Number One Divisional Round Playoff Game Of All Time -
1981 San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins
Even today the circumstances - brutal heat, enormity of scoring, the heroics of Kellen Winslow - make this 41-38 thriller unforgettable.
BONUS: Division Round Sunday 2017:
The Jacksonville Jaguars had faltered after defeating the Steelers in the 2007 playoffs; for 2017 Tom Coughlin, their founding coach, was brought back as GM and the Jaguars won the AFC South, defeated the Buffalo Bills (in their first playoff game since 1999) and at Pittsburgh exploded to a 45-42 win despite blowing a 28-7 lead. The Steelers had talked openly of meeting the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and reports claimed growing friction between Ben Roethislberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley; it typified the full-of-themselves culture of the Steelers
And yet this game was topped by the Minnesota Vikings despite only half the scoring. The game lead changed four times in the fourth quarter as the Saints - winners of 2009's epic NFC Championship Game vs the Vikings, booted a go-ahead field goal with 25 seconds to go; Case Keenum then rifled a 25-yard first down pass to Stefon Diggs, and with no one in the middle of the field Diggs ran in the winning touchdown.
The second round of NFL playoffs thus elevates the heat even when it's cold.
NFL Playoffs When Valiance Doesn't Produce Victory
In the NFL valiance sometimes doesn't produce victory.
The Dallas Cowboys will forever lament what should have been yet again in a playoff loss to a Packers team that did most of its damage on Aaron Rodgers' first three drives and which was incapable of holding leads of 21-3 and 28-13. People kept wondering how Dakota Prescott would handle his first playoff game - after early struggle he relaxed and started landing the ball downfield, and to erase a three-score lead and then tie the game twice in the final minutes, there's nothing to be ashamed of.
As for Rodgers his dependence on the Hail Mary throw didn't show up here and he showed a more conventional quarterbacking approach than he showed at times last week. This game also displayed a longtime problem in Rodgers' game - most of his damage was done in the first three touchdown drives and he managed two field goals in the final minutes, highlighted by his spectacular connection to Jared Cook with three seconds to go, certainly clutch a performance and doubly ironic as such clutchness has been rare in his career.
The Steelers escaped from Kansas City in a game where Roethlisberger threw a pick and never once punched it in, having to settle for a new NFL record six field goals. Alex Smith's general unreliability as a playoff quarterback had been an issue in his past but in this game he actually showed ability to step up, as he brought the Chiefs back late - a penalty on a two-point conversion proved controversial and fatal to Kansas City's chances.
So we thus approach the Conference Championships -
Falcons over Packers - The Packers lead the Falcons 2-1 in all-time playoff meetings and Matt Ryan got only his second career playoff win in pounding the Seahawks last week; one of his playoff losses was 2010's 48-21 smackdown to the Packers, the first of four straight Packers wins in the series, a streak that ended earlier this season. The Falcons, though, showed more physicality this go-around against the Seahawks and it should stand them in good stead against the Packers. Seemingly everyone is gaga over Aaron Rodgers but in his earlier game at the Georgia Dome he had one scoring drive in the fourth quarter and had opportunity to get to field goal range at the very end - and threw three straight incompletions.
This game should be high scoring because it's a dome and both offenses are clicking. Rodgers will put up points, but his reputation as just a frontrunner isn't going away even as he pulls off these playoff wins, and it's the first time the Falcons have reached the NFC Championship Game since their immortal upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship Game.
Patriots over Steelers - The rivalry between the Patriots and Steelers has been lopsided since Drew Bledsoe and Curtis Martin eviscerated the Steelers in the 1996 Divisional Round. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was yet another lopsided affair, and games between the two have almost never been competitive.
A lot of people are gaga over Antonio Brown and the Steelers passing attack and it has been spectacular, but last week it was largely neutralized and this week it faces a Patriots defense that
isn't getting gashed for points and which has consistently been a second-half defense. The Steelers also have an issue of the deportment of coach Mike Tomlin, criticized for being a cheerleader instead of a real coach by Terry Bradshaw - a criticism Tomlin's recorded tirade against the Patriots would appear to verify.
On offense the Patriots had a serious struggle against the Texans between protecting up the middle and also with Brady lapsing back into the habit of leaning on a binky - here Julian Edelman, as he and Chris Hogan were almost the only people Brady targeted all game; whenever Brady leans on a binky the offense inevitably grinds to a halt. Hogan left last week with a knee issue after four catches for 95 yards but should be good for this coming game; also expected back is Malcolm Mitchell, out for much of the second half of the season with a knee issue. Michael Floyd was targeted just four times and a bad Brady pass bounced off his hands into a pick - Brady needs to keep throwing to Floyd as well as Martellus Bennett, whose own game health nonetheless looked to be an issue last week. Danny Amendola returned last week and had a key rush for twelve yards, so having him as another pass catcher is a plus.
So we await Conference Championship Sunday.
The Dallas Cowboys will forever lament what should have been yet again in a playoff loss to a Packers team that did most of its damage on Aaron Rodgers' first three drives and which was incapable of holding leads of 21-3 and 28-13. People kept wondering how Dakota Prescott would handle his first playoff game - after early struggle he relaxed and started landing the ball downfield, and to erase a three-score lead and then tie the game twice in the final minutes, there's nothing to be ashamed of.
As for Rodgers his dependence on the Hail Mary throw didn't show up here and he showed a more conventional quarterbacking approach than he showed at times last week. This game also displayed a longtime problem in Rodgers' game - most of his damage was done in the first three touchdown drives and he managed two field goals in the final minutes, highlighted by his spectacular connection to Jared Cook with three seconds to go, certainly clutch a performance and doubly ironic as such clutchness has been rare in his career.
The Steelers escaped from Kansas City in a game where Roethlisberger threw a pick and never once punched it in, having to settle for a new NFL record six field goals. Alex Smith's general unreliability as a playoff quarterback had been an issue in his past but in this game he actually showed ability to step up, as he brought the Chiefs back late - a penalty on a two-point conversion proved controversial and fatal to Kansas City's chances.
So we thus approach the Conference Championships -
Falcons over Packers - The Packers lead the Falcons 2-1 in all-time playoff meetings and Matt Ryan got only his second career playoff win in pounding the Seahawks last week; one of his playoff losses was 2010's 48-21 smackdown to the Packers, the first of four straight Packers wins in the series, a streak that ended earlier this season. The Falcons, though, showed more physicality this go-around against the Seahawks and it should stand them in good stead against the Packers. Seemingly everyone is gaga over Aaron Rodgers but in his earlier game at the Georgia Dome he had one scoring drive in the fourth quarter and had opportunity to get to field goal range at the very end - and threw three straight incompletions.
This game should be high scoring because it's a dome and both offenses are clicking. Rodgers will put up points, but his reputation as just a frontrunner isn't going away even as he pulls off these playoff wins, and it's the first time the Falcons have reached the NFC Championship Game since their immortal upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship Game.
Patriots over Steelers - The rivalry between the Patriots and Steelers has been lopsided since Drew Bledsoe and Curtis Martin eviscerated the Steelers in the 1996 Divisional Round. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was yet another lopsided affair, and games between the two have almost never been competitive.
A lot of people are gaga over Antonio Brown and the Steelers passing attack and it has been spectacular, but last week it was largely neutralized and this week it faces a Patriots defense that
isn't getting gashed for points and which has consistently been a second-half defense. The Steelers also have an issue of the deportment of coach Mike Tomlin, criticized for being a cheerleader instead of a real coach by Terry Bradshaw - a criticism Tomlin's recorded tirade against the Patriots would appear to verify.
On offense the Patriots had a serious struggle against the Texans between protecting up the middle and also with Brady lapsing back into the habit of leaning on a binky - here Julian Edelman, as he and Chris Hogan were almost the only people Brady targeted all game; whenever Brady leans on a binky the offense inevitably grinds to a halt. Hogan left last week with a knee issue after four catches for 95 yards but should be good for this coming game; also expected back is Malcolm Mitchell, out for much of the second half of the season with a knee issue. Michael Floyd was targeted just four times and a bad Brady pass bounced off his hands into a pick - Brady needs to keep throwing to Floyd as well as Martellus Bennett, whose own game health nonetheless looked to be an issue last week. Danny Amendola returned last week and had a key rush for twelve yards, so having him as another pass catcher is a plus.
So we await Conference Championship Sunday.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
NFL Puts The Division In Divisional Round
The NFL's 2016 season hit the divisional round of the playoffs and once again an off-field story has usurped attention from the on-field competition.
San Diego's 43-35 shootout over the Tennessee Titans was in a sense the last hurrah for the San Diego Chargers
The rumor of a move of the San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles had died down in recent weeks, even to circulating speculation the Chargers, seeing less than promising response to the presence of the Rams in LA in 2016, would postpone a decision until after 2017. But that blew up when Dean Spanos announced the Chargers are moving to Carson, CA and will play there in 2017 until Stan Kroenke's new Rams stadium is built around 2019.
The rumor had swelled after San Diego voters rejected a hotel tax to fund a new stadium in San Diego, and they were stunned when Dean Spanos made the announcement of the move and the rebranding of the team after the wildcard round of the NFL's playoffs. The anger of Chargers fans caught more than a few in the media by surprise, and the universal indifference of reaction in Los Angeles was also telling.
The rationalization of the move was strikingly muted in the media; indeed what was most striking was national media condemnation of Spanos for moving the Chargers and also mocking of Roger Goodell's claim that "It is not a viable option" for the team owners and the league to spend its own money on stadiums - of course this was exposed as yet another Goodell lie (though the attitude predates Goodell) by the roughly $600 million relocation fee the Chargers have to pay, as if they could not have refurbished Qualcomm Stadium with Spanos' own money the way Stephen Ross has done to Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami; Kroenke's new LA stadium is being built with his own money, which catches one by surprise with Minnesota and Atlanta getting new publically-financed stadiums.
The assertion that staying in San Diego (a market by all accounts the NFL wants because it is a football town) retards the long-range value of the Chargers - with repeated citation of the purchase price of the LA Clippers in the $2 billon range - is laughable given LA's miserable record as a sports town with little fan support, sponsor support that does not stand out compared to other markets, and the faltering of fan support of the Rams almost as soon as they played their first home games. It is striking how universal the view is that moving the Chargers to LA makes zero sense - of course it indeed makes zero sense.
After this travesty came the laughable follow-up - the Oakland Raiders filed paperwork to move to Las Vegas, yet another con of a sports market.
The relocation story cast a shadow over Saturday's wildcard games. The New England Patriots were overwhelming favorites over the ineffective Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans. The game itself was a wire-to-wire Patriots win by 18 points, but the Patriots struggled strikingly badly on offense with no rhythm, two INTs by Brady, a Dion Lewis fumble on a kick return, and a disturbingly limited number of pass-catching targets in Chris Hogan - sidelined in the third with a thigh issue - and Julian Edelman. Lack of pass-catching depth has plagued the Patriots' playoff runs of late and this time it is doubly striking given the depth the Patriots seemed to have going in.
Brock Osweiler's growing incompetence as a quarterback was exposed yet again as he threw a bad pick that set up Dion Lewis' touchdown.
The Seahawks' road woes of 2016 reached their nadir at the Georgia Dome - they finish 3-5-1 in road games in 2016 - as Matt Ryan grabbed only his second career playoff win - both of them against the Seahawks. This season marked the end of the Legion Of Boom and the Seahawks face a period where they will stay contenders with Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll but are not a championship-caliber outfit - and Wilson's poor play made this point even more.
San Diego's 43-35 shootout over the Tennessee Titans was in a sense the last hurrah for the San Diego Chargers
The rumor of a move of the San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles had died down in recent weeks, even to circulating speculation the Chargers, seeing less than promising response to the presence of the Rams in LA in 2016, would postpone a decision until after 2017. But that blew up when Dean Spanos announced the Chargers are moving to Carson, CA and will play there in 2017 until Stan Kroenke's new Rams stadium is built around 2019.
The rumor had swelled after San Diego voters rejected a hotel tax to fund a new stadium in San Diego, and they were stunned when Dean Spanos made the announcement of the move and the rebranding of the team after the wildcard round of the NFL's playoffs. The anger of Chargers fans caught more than a few in the media by surprise, and the universal indifference of reaction in Los Angeles was also telling.
The rationalization of the move was strikingly muted in the media; indeed what was most striking was national media condemnation of Spanos for moving the Chargers and also mocking of Roger Goodell's claim that "It is not a viable option" for the team owners and the league to spend its own money on stadiums - of course this was exposed as yet another Goodell lie (though the attitude predates Goodell) by the roughly $600 million relocation fee the Chargers have to pay, as if they could not have refurbished Qualcomm Stadium with Spanos' own money the way Stephen Ross has done to Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami; Kroenke's new LA stadium is being built with his own money, which catches one by surprise with Minnesota and Atlanta getting new publically-financed stadiums.
The assertion that staying in San Diego (a market by all accounts the NFL wants because it is a football town) retards the long-range value of the Chargers - with repeated citation of the purchase price of the LA Clippers in the $2 billon range - is laughable given LA's miserable record as a sports town with little fan support, sponsor support that does not stand out compared to other markets, and the faltering of fan support of the Rams almost as soon as they played their first home games. It is striking how universal the view is that moving the Chargers to LA makes zero sense - of course it indeed makes zero sense.
After this travesty came the laughable follow-up - the Oakland Raiders filed paperwork to move to Las Vegas, yet another con of a sports market.
The relocation story cast a shadow over Saturday's wildcard games. The New England Patriots were overwhelming favorites over the ineffective Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans. The game itself was a wire-to-wire Patriots win by 18 points, but the Patriots struggled strikingly badly on offense with no rhythm, two INTs by Brady, a Dion Lewis fumble on a kick return, and a disturbingly limited number of pass-catching targets in Chris Hogan - sidelined in the third with a thigh issue - and Julian Edelman. Lack of pass-catching depth has plagued the Patriots' playoff runs of late and this time it is doubly striking given the depth the Patriots seemed to have going in.
Brock Osweiler's growing incompetence as a quarterback was exposed yet again as he threw a bad pick that set up Dion Lewis' touchdown.
The Seahawks' road woes of 2016 reached their nadir at the Georgia Dome - they finish 3-5-1 in road games in 2016 - as Matt Ryan grabbed only his second career playoff win - both of them against the Seahawks. This season marked the end of the Legion Of Boom and the Seahawks face a period where they will stay contenders with Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll but are not a championship-caliber outfit - and Wilson's poor play made this point even more.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Obama's Iran Uranium Shipment
Top Lawmakers Left in Dark About Planned Iran Uranium Shipment<
Directly aiding and abetting an enemy state will make people clam up.
"The Obama administration left top lawmakers, including leaders on the congressional committees charged with overseeing American foreign policy, in the dark about a secret deal to send Iran more than one hundred metric tons of natural uranium, according to statements provided to THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The United States and world powers have agreed to send Iran 116 metric tons of natural uranium in exchange for Iran exporting heavy water, another nuclear-related substance that it has stockpiled in violation of the landmark nuclear agreement. The uranium shipment, which experts said could be enough for over 10 nuclear bombs, only came to light after it was publicly reported earlier this week. Previous reports had revealed other details of heavy water exchanges, including a U.S. payment of roughly $10 million.
Top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle told TWS the administration had not briefed them on the decision to send uranium to Iran.
Directly aiding and abetting an enemy state will make people clam up.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Obama Keeps Kissing His Own Ass
Barack Obama's farewell speech was everything that made him a failure - self-important, stuck-up, and dishonest.
1981 Chargers at Dolphins Playoff Epic
The greatest Divisional Round playoff game in NFL history may well be 1981's shootout between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers
The Hypocratic Party And Soviet Russia's Election Meddling
Much verbiage has been vented over an intelligence report about Soviet Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That Soviet Russia meddles in US elections has been glaringly obvious for decades; that this story is about delegitimizing Donald Trump is also glaringly obvious. The actual evidence against Trump is laughably weak, and it reflects that the Democratic Party is completely idiotic - and was also itself party to Soviet backing of the antiwar movement, unions, and even the Occupy movement.
But it gets even worse, as a BuzzFeed story alleging gross personal behavior in Russia by Donald Trump - as well as stories his campaign worked with the Russians - have been exposed as frauds. And the phoniness and self-contradiction get worse as Trump exposes his critics to have no credibility.
Addendum March 21, 2017: Hillary Milhous Clinton's election loss was not about Soviet interference.
But it gets even worse, as a BuzzFeed story alleging gross personal behavior in Russia by Donald Trump - as well as stories his campaign worked with the Russians - have been exposed as frauds. And the phoniness and self-contradiction get worse as Trump exposes his critics to have no credibility.
Addendum March 21, 2017: Hillary Milhous Clinton's election loss was not about Soviet interference.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Cory Booker Likes To Make Things Up
The Democrats cannot refute people like Jeff Sessions on facts so they resort to more lying
Sessions followed up by making his critics - notably Senator Al Franken - look foolish, but no one made a fool of themselves more than Booker. And he thinks he's running for President.
Update: January 17: Booker's idiotic rant against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - where he cited a phony study and attacks her because she won't agree with him about Donald Trump's "shithole country" comment - exposed the Left's gender dishonesty.
When Cory Booker makes history today as the first sitting senator to testify against a fellow senator nominated to a White House cabinet position, it would be wise to keep in mind his record of weaving fictional tales to serve his political goals.
Throughout his career, the New Jersey Democrat has displayed an extraordinary talent for urban story-telling, manifest in a Jimmy Breslin-like Newark drug pusher character named T-Bone, who Booker would often refer to in his speeches and campaign events. T-Bone was a compelling figure who represented the dangers of the mean, decaying urban streets Booker managed as mayor of Newark while at the same time standing for the hope and humanity only a transcendent leader like Booker could bring to New Jersey and the country at large.
T-Bone was too good to be true. And, as Eliana Johnson uncovered at National Review in 2013, he was completely fictional.
Sessions followed up by making his critics - notably Senator Al Franken - look foolish, but no one made a fool of themselves more than Booker. And he thinks he's running for President.
Update: January 17: Booker's idiotic rant against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - where he cited a phony study and attacks her because she won't agree with him about Donald Trump's "shithole country" comment - exposed the Left's gender dishonesty.
The Media Turn Against Their Own Fake News Crusade
The phoniness of the Mainstream Media never seems to stop
Fake news! The phrase was such a handy hammer for liberals to pound the heads of conservatives—until conservatives grabbed the hammer and started pounding liberals, pointing out some of the fakery that liberals had fallen for. How dare they? So now the liberal mantra is: We must retire that dreadful phrase fake news.
Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan has issued new marching orders to the press: 'Fake news' has had its 15 minutes of fame. Let's put this tainted term out of its misery.
Remember that the tainted term is strictly of liberal origin. The phrase fake news in its current sense only took off in mid-November, when the liberal media scrambled to find some reason why their favored candidate, Hillary Clinton, had lost the presidential election besides She was a lousy candidate who ran a lousy campaign and We misread the American electorate. So was born the notion that Trump voters had mostly been gullible simpletons who believed everything they read on the Internet, including stories with headlines like Breaking News Surfaces that Obama Was Born in Kenya and Pope Francis Forbids Catholics From Voting for Hillary. (Both these headlines had originated from sites in a village in Macedonia whose clever teenagers had figured how to make sneaker money by generating Facebook clicks that produced ad revenue for them.)
NASCAR'S 2017 Calendar Of The Weird Already Underway
NASCAR's 2017 season hasn't even started yet and two stories have already made it a Calendar Of The Weird.
First came word that Carl Edwards has left Joe Gibbs Racing and will not race in 2017. The reason why is for now a mystery, though Tom Jensen analysis suggests burnout from racing. Daniel Suarez takes over the JGR #19 Toyota.
The sport has offered the usual positive retrospectives on Edwards' career, the wins and the backflips in celebration -
2010 Atlanta 500
Compendium of Carl Edwards tantrums
Edwards takes out Keselowski and Keselowski gets T-boned, 2010 Gateway.
- but the real legacy of Edwards is the psychopathia he displayed on the racetrack - as one notes on the replay of the 2010 Gateway crash, he worked to change the subject, always the giveaway of someone who is dishonest. Edwards has an eminently successful career but added all up he was never a guy to root for and is not someone the sport ought to miss.
*****
The other story is a report that NASCAR executives are considering format changes including midrace breaks, "heat" races, and the like. That NASCAR is even considering format changes - some of which have already been tried without success in the Xfinity and Truck Series - instead of attacking substantive weakening of the sport's competitive strength shows anew that corporate types who are not racing people continue to not learn from their mistakes. NASCAR needs real substance to the competition, not gimmicks which make a mockery of competitive integrity.
1996 Daytona 500
1996 Pocono 500
What is racing at heart? 500 miles fighting for the lead with racecars that are forgiving for the drivers and that want to pass and repass. NASCAR suits need to get it, having not done so for so long.
First came word that Carl Edwards has left Joe Gibbs Racing and will not race in 2017. The reason why is for now a mystery, though Tom Jensen analysis suggests burnout from racing. Daniel Suarez takes over the JGR #19 Toyota.
The sport has offered the usual positive retrospectives on Edwards' career, the wins and the backflips in celebration -
2010 Atlanta 500
Edwards takes out Keselowski and Keselowski gets T-boned, 2010 Gateway.
- but the real legacy of Edwards is the psychopathia he displayed on the racetrack - as one notes on the replay of the 2010 Gateway crash, he worked to change the subject, always the giveaway of someone who is dishonest. Edwards has an eminently successful career but added all up he was never a guy to root for and is not someone the sport ought to miss.
*****
The other story is a report that NASCAR executives are considering format changes including midrace breaks, "heat" races, and the like. That NASCAR is even considering format changes - some of which have already been tried without success in the Xfinity and Truck Series - instead of attacking substantive weakening of the sport's competitive strength shows anew that corporate types who are not racing people continue to not learn from their mistakes. NASCAR needs real substance to the competition, not gimmicks which make a mockery of competitive integrity.
1996 Daytona 500
1996 Pocono 500
What is racing at heart? 500 miles fighting for the lead with racecars that are forgiving for the drivers and that want to pass and repass. NASCAR suits need to get it, having not done so for so long.
Monday, January 09, 2017
Protecting Palestine
Protecting Palestine
"Not long ago, I was talking to a Fatah official about Palestinian aspirations, especially his party’s sharp emotions about Hamas, the Palestinian fundamentalist movement that rules Gaza and would gladly overthrow the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority on the West Bank. Fear, loathing, secular outrage (which may have been amplified to please Western ears), and a certain sadness about unrequited Palestinian fraternity in the face of Israeli oppression punctuated our conversation. When I finally tired of his urgent demand that America rectify Israeli transgressions or see violence rip the West Bank, I asked him how long he thought the Palestinian Authority could survive if Israel yanked its support to Fatah's security apparatus. I suggested one month. He remonstrated: We could probably last two.
What has been lost, again, in Barack Obama's final venting against Israel through his abstention in the United Nations Security Council resolution against all Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Jewish homes in East Jerusalem is how disconnected American foreign policy on this imbroglio has been from the larger issues riling the Middle East. The truth about Fatah's security weaknesses is symptomatic of the truth about the Palestinians: They can exist as a non-Islamist polity only if Israel protects their attenuated nation-state. If the Jews pull back, then the militant Muslim faithful will probably recast the Palestinian identity, wiping away the secular Palestinian elite who have defined the Palestinian cause among Westerners since the Israelis and the Palestine Liberation Organization first started sparring with each other in 1964."
The Myth of Rafsanjani
Former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, a so-called Iranian moderate and pragmatist, died Sunday at 82.
"For a picture of the cleric, who served as president of Iran from 1989 to 1997, read these excerpts from pieces over the years by WEEKLY STANDARD contributing editor Reuel Marc Gerecht.
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, … is in the West probably the most misunderstood cleric in the Islamic Republic. For the Europeans, and some in the Bush administration, Rafsanjani was the white-turbaned hope, the realpolitician-pragmatist who would save the West from a showdown over Iran's nuclear-weapons program. In reality, he is the true father of Iran's nuclear-bomb program, an overlord for the Iranian terrorism that struck Europe in the 1980s and '90s, and quite possibly one of the dark princes behind the domestic assassination campaign of Iranian liberals that began in the late 1990s. Concerning Israel, Rafsanjani has never given any indication that he differs with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group Rafsanjani has always supported: Israelis are best when dead."
Russia Is The Enemy, Period
Donald Trump is exploring "good relations" with Soviet Russia. The blunt reality is Soviet Russia will always be an enemy state.
NFL Playoffs Division And Conquer
The NFL's playoffs are off and running and already we've had two football diva moments -
First Odell Beckham Jr. is doing nothing but make the case that he is a liability to the NY Giants. He came up small yet again in a big game - and one cannot remember one time where Beckham ever raised his game even marginally in any kind of big game. Beckham's sideline and postgame tantrums are getting worse, notably with a reported blowup after his Giants got smoked by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Beckham's marketing endeavor has by now all but surpassed his on-field production and the conclusion one can only draw now is he is not a serious football player, he is a self-marketed brand name irrelevant to winning.
Even worse is Beckham was part of a party cruise several days before the Packers game with several teammates, a sign of a lack of discipline on the part of Giants coaching apart from the awfulness of the Giants' overall performance against the overrated Packers, where they had the Packers manhandled for much of the first half and couldn't score, and couldn't stop Aaron Rodgers from yet more desperation heaves that he keeps getting away with - his overall game more and more is becoming streetball - based on freelancing and overreliance on athleticism and arm strength to get out of situations - rather than the kind of smart quarterbacking that today is personified by Tom Brady.
*****
The second diva moment came when Steelers coaching assistant Joey Porter - a former linebacker with the Steelers - was arrested outside a bar following the game. Porter's history as a player was one of instigating fights, so getting arrested would seem to be par for the course for a guy who's not worth a damn anymore than Odell Beckham Jr.
*****
The Steelers' win over the Dolphins was one of several curious revenge bowl games that permeated Wildcard weekend, as the Steelers avenged their earlier slaughter at Miami, while the Houston Texans manhandled the punchless Oakland Raiders - as for the first time a Houston pro football team defeated the Raiders in the playoffs after losses by the Oilers in three such contests - and the Packers got a measure of revenge over the Giants after the two playoff losses (2007 and 2011).
Divisional round weekend offers more such opportunity.
Falcons over Seahawks - This is a rematch of 2012's playoff stunner at the Georgia Dome and one recalls this 2012 meeting remains Matt Ryan's only career playoff win. In Seattle's victory over the Lions, former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren served as the color analyst on Westwood One's radio call, and it is doubly fitting as the Seahawks enter this game having reverted to the distinguishing characteristic of Holmgren's time as Seahawks coach - poor performance in road games (3-4-1 on the road this year). The Seahawks even at home against a Lions team that has once and for all shown no ability to beat a quality opponent didn't play all that strongly. It's a key game for Ryan as he has never proven he can elevate his game when it matters.
In 2015 the Patriots faced JJ Watt - and Watt was invisible.
Patriots over Texans - The Texans managed the win over the Raiders who didn't have a capable quarterback. It the short history of the Texans they've won once against the Patriots and the losses to the Patriots have been almost invariably embarrassing. The Patriots enter this game with the deepest receiving corps they've had in years and the top scoring defense in the league; Houston's defense has also been strong, but Houston's seven losses speaks to that defense not being as good as the numbers might suggest.
Steelers over Chiefs - A lot of people are awed by Antonio Brown of the Steelers and in yet another rematch from the regular season the Steelers get a Chiefs team they annihilated in Week Four. The caveat here is the Chiefs have forced 23 turnovers since then (plus-six in turnover differential over the Steelers in that span) with ten wins in their last twelve games, plus the way the playoffs have gone the home team enters Divisional Round weekend unbeaten.
Cowboys over Packers - We mentioned Aaron Rodgers' style of play - streetball, just freelancing and relying on athleticism and arm strength instead of smart quarterbacking. The Cowboys play smarter football and have already manhandled the Packers in their own building this season. The match between these two that will get a lot of recall is the Dez Bryant catch in 2014 that was overruled. Dakota Prescott has shown Russell Wilson-esque calm in tough situations and the result has been Dallas' 13-3 surge.
So we thus await Odell Beckham's next meltdown and Divisional Weekend.
First Odell Beckham Jr. is doing nothing but make the case that he is a liability to the NY Giants. He came up small yet again in a big game - and one cannot remember one time where Beckham ever raised his game even marginally in any kind of big game. Beckham's sideline and postgame tantrums are getting worse, notably with a reported blowup after his Giants got smoked by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Beckham's marketing endeavor has by now all but surpassed his on-field production and the conclusion one can only draw now is he is not a serious football player, he is a self-marketed brand name irrelevant to winning.
Even worse is Beckham was part of a party cruise several days before the Packers game with several teammates, a sign of a lack of discipline on the part of Giants coaching apart from the awfulness of the Giants' overall performance against the overrated Packers, where they had the Packers manhandled for much of the first half and couldn't score, and couldn't stop Aaron Rodgers from yet more desperation heaves that he keeps getting away with - his overall game more and more is becoming streetball - based on freelancing and overreliance on athleticism and arm strength to get out of situations - rather than the kind of smart quarterbacking that today is personified by Tom Brady.
*****
The second diva moment came when Steelers coaching assistant Joey Porter - a former linebacker with the Steelers - was arrested outside a bar following the game. Porter's history as a player was one of instigating fights, so getting arrested would seem to be par for the course for a guy who's not worth a damn anymore than Odell Beckham Jr.
*****
The Steelers' win over the Dolphins was one of several curious revenge bowl games that permeated Wildcard weekend, as the Steelers avenged their earlier slaughter at Miami, while the Houston Texans manhandled the punchless Oakland Raiders - as for the first time a Houston pro football team defeated the Raiders in the playoffs after losses by the Oilers in three such contests - and the Packers got a measure of revenge over the Giants after the two playoff losses (2007 and 2011).
Falcons over Seahawks - This is a rematch of 2012's playoff stunner at the Georgia Dome and one recalls this 2012 meeting remains Matt Ryan's only career playoff win. In Seattle's victory over the Lions, former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren served as the color analyst on Westwood One's radio call, and it is doubly fitting as the Seahawks enter this game having reverted to the distinguishing characteristic of Holmgren's time as Seahawks coach - poor performance in road games (3-4-1 on the road this year). The Seahawks even at home against a Lions team that has once and for all shown no ability to beat a quality opponent didn't play all that strongly. It's a key game for Ryan as he has never proven he can elevate his game when it matters.
In 2015 the Patriots faced JJ Watt - and Watt was invisible.
Patriots over Texans - The Texans managed the win over the Raiders who didn't have a capable quarterback. It the short history of the Texans they've won once against the Patriots and the losses to the Patriots have been almost invariably embarrassing. The Patriots enter this game with the deepest receiving corps they've had in years and the top scoring defense in the league; Houston's defense has also been strong, but Houston's seven losses speaks to that defense not being as good as the numbers might suggest.
Steelers over Chiefs - A lot of people are awed by Antonio Brown of the Steelers and in yet another rematch from the regular season the Steelers get a Chiefs team they annihilated in Week Four. The caveat here is the Chiefs have forced 23 turnovers since then (plus-six in turnover differential over the Steelers in that span) with ten wins in their last twelve games, plus the way the playoffs have gone the home team enters Divisional Round weekend unbeaten.
Cowboys over Packers - We mentioned Aaron Rodgers' style of play - streetball, just freelancing and relying on athleticism and arm strength instead of smart quarterbacking. The Cowboys play smarter football and have already manhandled the Packers in their own building this season. The match between these two that will get a lot of recall is the Dez Bryant catch in 2014 that was overruled. Dakota Prescott has shown Russell Wilson-esque calm in tough situations and the result has been Dallas' 13-3 surge.
So we thus await Odell Beckham's next meltdown and Divisional Weekend.
Saturday, January 07, 2017
Obama's Israel Pettiness
Barack Obama went after Israel because of his petty vindictiveness at Benjamin Netanyahu for showing him up - constantly - to be a fool But he's also going after Donald Trump with other foreign policy pettiness.
The Addiction To Obamacare
The Democratic Party has a sick addiction to Obamacare, despite - or perhaps because - of its failure.
Thursday, January 05, 2017
Obama's Fifteen Middle East Mistakes
Why has Obama's Middle east policy been such a failure? Fifteen ways summarized below -
Treating Israel as an enemy.
Not facing he should have kept troops in Iraq and thus kept Iraq stable and invulnerable to Islamo-Arab aggression
Not facing that ISIS - former Al Qaida et al forces commanded by the remnants of Saddam Hussein's army - was a real threat.
Waffling between overthrowing Qaddafi and staying out of it, made worse by refusing to prepare for possible terrorist attack in Libya and when it happened lying about it to play Cover Your Ass.
Allowing Islamo-Arab imperialists to take Egypt.
Waffling in Syria
Siding with the Ayatollahs instead of Arab Spring dissidence in Iran and allowing Iranain nuclear weapon programs to live.
Allowing Soviet Russia to rearm the Middle East and make it its own sphere.
Dealing ineptly with Erdogen in Turkey.
Passing the buck for Middle East strife by blaming it on the US.
Not calling Islamo-Arab imperialism for what it is.
Led from the ass rather than lead, period.
California And The Self-Exemption Of The Anointed
California best illustrates the force driving national anger - the fact self-appointed elites dictate to everyone else and exempt themselves from their own rules.
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
The Downside And Dishonesty of WikiLeaks
Assange lied about US military personnel in 2010
During an interview with Sean Hannity that aired Tuesday night, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asserted: We have the trust of our sources, we have the trust of our readers, having never got it wrong.
This is an important point, Hannity interjected. Not one evidence [sic] where you've been proven wrong.
Not even one sustained allegation, Assange replied. We have a perfect record in relation to authenticating the material that we publish. That's a very valuable reputation to have.
But in 2010, Assange and WikiLeaks released a video that wrongly portayed U.S. soldiers in Iraq as murderers. As Bill Roggio wrote at THE WEEKLY STANDARD at the time: Wikileaks, the website devoted to publishing classified documents on the Internet, made a splash today with a video claiming to show that the U.S. military 'murdered' a Reuters cameraman and other Iraqi 'civilians' in Baghdad on July 12, 2007. But a careful watching of the video shows that the U.S. helicopter gun crews that attacked a group of armed men in the then Mahdi Army stronghold of New Baghdad was anything but 'Collateral Murder,' as Wikileaks describes the incident.
Tuesday, January 03, 2017
When The Left Looks For Blame
The defeat of the Democratic Party
Excuse-seeking by the Left has long been the ideology's reason to even exist, for unreason lay at its heart from its very birth.
With just under a month until Donald Trump's inauguration, many liberals have ratcheted up the hyperbole to the point of derangement. The New York Times editorial board has called for the abolition of the Electoral College, dismissing it as nothing more than an artifact of slavery. This came on the heels of a video from Hollywood celebrities pleading with Republican electors to select somebody other than Trump—and arguing that the Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton especially, would want them to do precisely that. Keith Olbermann, the former ESPN and MSNBC commentator, has started a webcast for GQ, subtly titled The Resistance, where he talks darkly about the end of the country as we know it. Paul Krugman—the Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist—tweeted just the other day: Thought: There was (rightly) a cloud of illegitimacy over Bush, dispelled (wrongly) by 9/11. Creates some interesting incentives for Trump.
Excuse-seeking by the Left has long been the ideology's reason to even exist, for unreason lay at its heart from its very birth.
The Myth About Fair Share Gets Punctured Again
The myth is still pushed that "the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes." The fact remains they're the ones who have to balance everyone else's books.
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Yes Jim Mora There Is A Playoffs
The NFL season has reached -
Yes Jim Mora, there is a playoffs.
We'll start with the Houston Texans, AFC South champs. Their quarterback situation has been iffy at best this season and lately has gotten downright ugly. Tom Savage struggled in the game against the Titans and was lost with a concussion, so Brock Osweiler came off the bench and finished the game, a 24-17 Titans win. For the Titans it's something to build on for 2017 once Marcus Mariota heals up having taken a major step forward as a quarterback.
For the Texans it's a quarterback issue when they least need one.
But the Texans host their wildcard round game against a team with even bigger quarterback issues in the Oakland Raiders. Matt McGloin had to start with Derek Carr out until next season, and McGloin struggled before getting knocked out at Denver. As a result rookie Connor Cook took over and it wasn't in the least bit pretty, though Cook acquitted himself reasonably well given his rawness. It salvaged a winning season for the Broncos as coach Gary Kubiak is reported on his way to retirement, leaving more questions for the lame duck champs.
My prediction for this wildcard game - Texans win.
The bad news in the AFC West is the San Diego Chargers ended the season - and perhaps their life in San Diego - in disgrace with two more interceptions by Philip Rivers and a 37-27 Kansas City Chiefs win. With just 48 wins and one playoff win this decade so far the Chargers have been perhaps the most aggravating un-achiever in the AFC given the talent on this squad, and the disgrace of their refusal to renovate Qualcomm Stadium - their true home - and presumptive move to the pit that is Los Angeles makes it all the worse.
For the Chiefs 2016 continues at 12-4 and the second seed in the AFC; they thus await the winners of the wildcard round. It's been a stunning surge from starting 2015 at 1-5 - and winning 23 of their next 28 games to date.
The Steelers rested starters and got a game out of the 1-15 Browns and Robert Griffin III, who shockingly looked like an actual quarterback. The Browns took the lead in overtime and the Steelers clawed down, even chancing a 4th and 2 conversion, before spearing the Browns for the win yet again. They are thus AFC North champs and the three seed.
The Dolphins made a game of it at the end of the first half but the Patriots then escalated the firepower and won 35-14, this after a lot of pregame verbiage about losing three straight at Miami. The Dolphins had secured the six seed in the AFC and had an outside shot at the five seed. An interesting point was made by ESPN - should the Dolphins win their wildcard game they would go to Foxboro for the divisional round no matter what else happened, so there's nothing to gain by showing everything in this Week 17 game. Whether one buys it or not depends on taste.
In any event the Dolphins head to Pittsburgh for the divisional round.
The last time the Steelers played the Dolphins the result was a turning point for the Dolphins season and a reality check for the Steelers.
My prediction - Dolphins win.
Yes Matt Moore is now the quarterback and one is iffy about him in a playoff game. But the Steelers have been overrated the last five seasons with just one playoff win in that span plus the Dolphins are well ahead of all expectations under first-year coach Adam Gase. Jay Ajayi is the primary weapon for the Dolphins and the Steelers didn't slow him down a whole lot earlier this year, plus their overall run defense has allowed 4.1 Yards Per Carry - not that encouraging.
The game meant nothing since the Cowboys were top seed in the NFC, but it was fun seeing Mark Sanchez prove anew his ineptitude as a quarterback.
With the Cowboys already the NFC's top seed the Falcons won the race with the Seahawks for the conference's #2 seed and continued the erosion of the Saints that has been ongoing for several years now, an erosion that makes Drew Brees' 5,208 yards this season irrelevant even as a trivia bit. The Falcons thus await the wildcard round results.
The Seahawks surprisingly struggled to put away the hapless 49ers, continuing a noticeable slide since the Superbowl loss, the slide becoming more noticeable this past season with a strikingly mediocre offense and reversion to the Holmgren-era bugaboo where the Seahawks would win all their home games (though not literally in 2016) and then blow it on the road every week (specifically they were 2-5-1 on the road in 2016).
The Giants had already secured the NFC's five seed so the Redskins had the chance to make it in as the six - the odds were long, though, and in the end the Skins proved they're not close to being primetime caliber.
The Sunday Night game meanwhile showed anew two things - the Packers can frontrun to victory and the Lions have NO ability to handle ANY kind of quality opponent. Quinton Collins' very serious neck injury put the damper on the game and thus brought the regular season to a strikingly forgettable halt. Thus the Packers will host the New York Giants in the wildcard round.
My prediction - Giants win.
Everyone is gaga about Aaron Rodgers' athleticism and arm strength and also that he fulfilled his run the table prediction. The Packers also beat the Giants 23-16 earlier this season. Since then though the Giants won nine of their next eleven games - and had more wins (four) over teams with .500 or better records than the Packers (three) in their six-game win streak - while the Packers slumped to 4-6 before their late-season rally after losing five straight games (this during a six-game stretch) to teams that finished at least .500. The Packers' secondary hasn't acquitted itself all that well and for all his erraticism Eli Manning is a lot more trustworthy than a Packers team he beat three straight times before 2016's toe-stub in October.
As for Lions at Seahawks, it's a slam-dunk win for the Seahawks. Matthew Stafford is useless against any good opponent and for all the Seahawks' struggles Russell Wilson long ago proved himself in the crucible great quarterbacks have to master - a crucible that is too much for Stafford, Jim Caldwell, and the Lions.
So we await playoff Week One.
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