The Frankish Reich

I think the 75 year old Larry Little would be an improvement for them

Yep. We did that because there was one kid who was like the 12 year old Josh Allen - just bigger and better than everyone else, and it wouldn’t be fair or fun if only one side had him on their team

Somehow I find it weirdly exhilarating to watch this epic Chargers collapse. After how they screwed San Diego they deserve it. And no way Mahomes or Allen are scoring 3 points in the second half of a game like this. Herbert, you are not in their class.

Bosa’s antics may very well cost them this game. No way they go for 2 if it’s on the 2 yard line. 1 yard line? Sure.

People used to say that about Andy Reid

Agree with you on tankless water heaters. I still see hot water tanks in new construction … why? Im really intrigued by induction.

Given CPSC Commissioner Trumka’s foreshadowing of what’s coming — a nationwide attempt to ban gas stoves (and no, I don’t believe that was just one guy speaking out of class; gas to the home has been a favorite environmentalist target for a few years now) — I may just replace my old gas range sooner rather than later. I hate, hate, hate electric. Question, Chef: I’ve never used induction. What do you think about it?

I agree. I don’t want to box Lamar in as some kind of uber-Tyrod. My comment goes to the fact that as long as he’s under Greg Roman (a guy I really like) we’re not really sure how good he can be in a different offense, and that there’s kind of a Law of Roman Diminishing Returns.

I agree that he hasn’t had a great receiving corps. But really: Greg Roman ran the optimal offense for Lamar. Roman turned a severely limited Tyrod Taylor into a starting QB on a playoff team (barely), also with minimal receiving talent. He helped turn the much more gifted but still raw at the time Lamar into an MVP. Lamar has no reason to complain about his coaching (and as far as I know, he isn’t complaining about it). The question with a Roman offense featuring a very athletic QB is not whether it will succeed. It will, and it has. The question is for how long and with what ceiling. And right now, the answers seem to be “not much longer” because his system wears down those QBs, and probably “the ceiling is divisional champ, one and done in the playoffs.”

Subtle grammatical cues don’t work around here (he says, scrolling down…)

We have a lot of transfer/welfare programs in America. Most are stupidly inefficient. You have a VAT, and then you consolidate those welfare programs into something like a minimum income transfer payment in lieu of food stamps, etc. I’m not pretending it’s simple to do, but you can protect those in the bottom quintile while moving away from the progressive and intrusive income tax. How is it that the only two politicians in my lifetime who have gotten traction with a true taxation reform system are fringey Republicans Steve Forbes and Herman Cain? Is there no one out there who’s interested in looking at our system as a whole, comparing it to those of other developed countries, and starting from scratch?

Newark and Detroit - you'll get no argument from me. Memphis and Baltimore have their charms. Got a free afternoon? I'll find some interesting stuff to see there.

Where are all the conspiracy theorists now? The Dems don’t want Biden to run again. And suddenly classified shows up in his garage? But seriously, a window of opportunity has just opened. DUMP BIDEN! Just not for Kamala. Or Pete. I had to look that one up.

I’m sure there are, but right now nothing’s coming to mind.

1. Miserable climate. Insufferably hot/humid in the summer, but not offset by a really pleasant winter like Florida. 2. Godawful traffic. 3. The 2nd highest property crime rate major US cities (Miami). 4. Lack of interesting natural or cultural attractions for visitors. I had a day of dead time there on a business trip a few years ago and multiple locals told me to go to the Coca-Cola museum. Which I did. EDIT: I see the MLK historic site was greatly expanded in 2018, after I was there the last time. So that would be my only reason for visiting other than a football game. offset I guess by a really, really nice football stadium.

Ugh. I really dislike Atlanta. More than any other major US city. Maybe KC will lose in the divisional round.

There’s so much misinformation here about the IRS going after low earners. Here’s the stats: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-the-odds-being-audited.html Other than the 8.9% audit rate for reported zero AGI filers* the chances of being audited never exceeded 0.6% all the way up to $500,000 declared AGI. And then only a 1.1% chance up to a reported $1.0 million AGI. Over TEN MILLION dollars in reported AGI? Only an 8.6 percent chance of being audited. We largely have an honor system when it comes to tax filing. As a great Republican once said, “trust but verify.” And verify = audit in the tax world. *so why the high rate for zero AGI reporters? Well, they’re filing tax returns showing zero AGI, so they’re seeking big refunds, often despite big earnings or big 1099s. So by definition they are claiming big “adjustments” (that’s what the “A” stands for) to their Gross Income. And that often warrants a closer look. Even so, it’s still under ten percent of these zero declared AGI filers who got audited.

But is he a Matt Barkley?

Based on the brief summary I saw of the bill, I wouldn’t want it to pass and it won’t. But … I’m glad someone is starting the debate again. The debate about reforming the tax code to be less focused on income and more on consumption. Yes, this would be regressive if passes as is, but there are ways of addressing that. The worst thing to do is to add yet another layer of complexity to the current income tax system, and that’s where we’re headed unless/until Congress is ready to rethink a more fair and efficient way of funding the government. Two cheers for some wingnut named Buddy.

Is the 10 coming from a Dolphins fumble recovery/INT? Because I’m not sure Skyler Thompson has contributed to 10 points in his career so far.

Could cure it? You apparently haven’t tried swallowing the UV light and washing it down with bleach. Don’t knock it until you try it.

They won’t. Not because of the stadium or because of the team moving. Because “the Bills.” I predict a name change within 10 years. That bison slaughtering interloper! Seriously, our branding is all about the bison. Buffalo Bill is basically unknown to the younger generations and it’s been 60 years since they even used his image. Buffalo Bisons. (Pay the minor league team a few bucks if you need to). Or is the plural of “bison” still “bison?” We can get a grammar consultant.

True. But there’s the Bridgewater factor too. So something like Dolphins + 7 with Tua starting (basically Bills 4 point faves on a neutral field). Dolphins + 10 with Teddy starting. Dolphins + 16 (more? He’s that bad) with Skyler Thompson starting. Try to “knock him around” bothers me too. Try to bring pressure to throw off that quick rhythm passing game? Yeah, I’m fine with that. Although you do risk not getting to him and letting Tyreek/Waddle break one for 70 yards. I prefer “try to disrupt the receivers to keep them from getting off the line cleanly.”

The system is a terrible one. I will bring up Trump again not (believe me! You won’t) for political reasons, but just because his and the Trump Org’s tax returns are in the news. Trump Org man Alan Weisselberg pleaded guilty to tax fraud. The fraud: the Trump Org paid his kid’s private school tuition (in Manhattan, so that’s big private college type money), and he didn’t claim that payment as personal income. Really an easy case. You can’t do that as his kid’s education doesn’t benefit the company. He makes a ton of money. Let’s say the tuition was $100,000 over two years. If the Trump Org had paid him $100,00 more in salary, he would’ve brought home about $48,000. (Fed + NYS + NYC). So doing this scam netted him about $50,000. Not a ton of money for him, and he risked getting convicted/going to jail for $50,000. He risked it because he knew there was almost no chance this scheme would’ve been revealed. Except he was wrong, because everything Trump is under scrutiny now. You can debate whether that’s fair or good. You can debate whether exorbitant marginal tax rates cause such behavior. You can’t debate that this was tax fraud. It was. And under our ridiculously complex system, only an audit discovers that fraud, which no doubt takes places in tens (hundreds? Millions?) of other places all the time.

And next step on the Chiefs decision tree: “if he has committed a crime, can they prove it? Is there video? If not, then go ahead and sign him!