The Frankish Reich

As a white kid growing up in Buffalo who hit reading age a few years after MLK was assassinated, I learned about civil rights and life in the pre-civil rights South by reading biographies of sports stars. Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, and others. I think some of them actually used the “n” word in describing their experiences in the old South. I would hate to see books like that taken off library shelves. They taught me some valuable lessons.

Inflation has slightly more than doubled the cost of an item in those 32 years. So 600 bucks is now $1289. I’m not going, but if I were I’d wait a couple more days for those $1289 cheap seats!

I had a relative who worked at DFW doing a lot of “special concierge” type projects for wealthy and high profile people. She said that all those 1990s Cowboys stars were great guys: Aikman, Emmitt, even Jimmy Johnson. Except for one entitled obnoxious doosh. Michael Irvin.

I’m guessing you live in WNY. For those of us who don’t, it’s nice to see a little attention given to the Bills.

WSJ (paywalled) explains it nicely. The streaming wars are killing profits, and content production costs are a big part of it too. No indication of any drop off in park attendance, etc. a fundamentally very strong company going forward. What no analyst is saying: that people are running away from Disney because of its political stances. These political backlash/boycott things almost never work. Either way. I remember the Chick-fil-a fallout that was supposed to ruin them. They’re doing just fine.

I hope you burned the Betamax of that game long before you put the Trinitron on the street corner. Because it’s fun to finally be the new Packers or Steelers?

True. Weird that given how much the NFL and TV networks push the Chiefs on us, they just don’t seem to have gathered a big national fan base like the Steelers, Packers, and of course Cowboys. And the Eagles have always been kind of an eastern PA/south NJ market, cut off by Steelers dominance to the west and NYG to the north. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like the Bills have been gathering a real, sustainable nationwide following, one that I hope lasts longer than the 1990s version

An honest GOP response that we might have seen before the Trump Takeover: ”The Republican Party has, for years, urged Congress to take action to finally put Social Security on a firm financial footing for current retirees and for future retirees for generations to come. We need to continue the the discussion rather than simply kicking the cam down the road until the inevitable date when the Social Security trust funds can’t pay the benefits you were promised. By villainizing good faith attempts to fix Social Security rather than welcoming bipartisan solutions, President Biden ensures that this problem will only be worse when future leaders are finally forced to deal with it.” Can you imagine a politician saying this today? Republican OR Democrat? Both parties want you to ignore it and happily cash your checks. We no longer have a party committed to fiscal sanity. That’s why Repubs are horrified when confronted with their prior responsible selves.

Yep. The White House did its (political) job there, obviously ready with the old video of Mike Lee calling for an end to social security. It was all over the news networks this morning. And Mike Lee stupidly walked into the trap by calling Biden a liar on that one. (I’ve mentioned before that I think we should be looking at how to reform social security, so I wouldn’t blame Lee if he had reacted honestly and admitted that he believes we need to take a hard look at it now. But he behaved like a politician who has just been confronted with past statements he wishes everyone had forgotten)

I read the article. It is fair overall, but infected by political spin. The facts: inflation spiraled to levels not seen for 40 years under Biden. But inflation has been coming down steadily for at least the last 6 months. Technically he said that inflation is coming down, and that’s correct. What he didn’t say is inflation is coming down after reaching a four decade high. So …. Spin from Biden, spin from his critics.

Well, to chime in on when it MAY be appropriate to comment on someone’s looks and when it definitely is not: - when playing the role of political pundit. I hear some of this “Nikki Haley is attractive” stuff and how that makes her a more appealing candidate. She is, kind of a moderately attractive not overdone woman of her age. So it would be fair to say Sarah’s looks work the opposite way. - when talking about ridiculously overdone cosmetic (or cosmetic procedures) a politician inflicted on him/herself. The “own goal” thing. Trump’s ridiculous spray on tan and combover. Biden’s teeth/hair transplant or whatever is left of it today. Pelosi’s eye thing. Or Marjorie Taylor Greene’s whatever-the-hell-that-was-supposed-to-be outfit. Or Kyrsten Sinema’s “look at me” styles. But not McConnell’s, umm, turtle face (I read somewhere that there’s a genetic thing behind that). And not Sarah’s face, which is just … her face. The one she was born with. So those are my rules. I think they’re pretty good rules to live by.

Step away from the bong, sir. True. I hate the fact that in America we still live by that old cliche that "social security is the third rail of American politcs; touch it and you die." We do need to touch it, at least to shore it up at the margins. But there you have it: Rick Scott touched it, his party owns it.

Too long, Joe. Bill Clinton started the hour-plus windbag State of the Union thing. And nobody since has been wise enough to end it.

Again: this is ungrammatical nonsense. Learn. To. Write.

The poster who embedded his preposterous tweet about how inflation is running from 10-17% right now.

Remedial writing courses are available right now at your local community college!

Inflation rate 10-17%? People just make crap up. We're running at about 6.5% year over year. Much lower month to month since the major increases -- which did cause it to tip over 10% for a short time -- happened last spring/summer.

I stand corrected on Rep Andy Biggs. He won the Publisher's Clearinghouse "you may have already won" thing. Appeared in commercials with Dick Clark and Ed McMahon. Ahh, Republican "thought leaders."

Police reform: I have family members who are cops, and I've worked with a lot of cops and other law enforcement in my career. Do we have issues like this with State Troopers? Maybe I'm forgetting a notable incident, but in general, no we don't. Why not? They are extremely well trained and very professional in executing their duties. They are an elite police force. That's the model to follow. The infamous Memphis cops were all new to the job in the last few years and can't hold a candle to our State Troopers. And it shows. Yes, reform the police. But also pay them better, make it a true career again (many cops cycle in and out of what can be a miserable job), and you'll find great recruits who understand that their job is a public service. That is something I will gladly pay a little extra in tax to get. Well, I haven't won the lottery like Andy Biggs, so I guess he's smarter than me. Must have consulted an astrologer for lucky numbers or something.

I don't think Andy Biggs understands what "coming down" means. They went up, they're coming down now. Such a difficult concept for a small mind, in Congress because (I am not making this up) he won the lottery.

Yep. It happens. It's absurd, and it would be a sound policy to ban it. https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2021/non-compete-contracts-sideline-low-wage-workers

Not a lie. Rick Scott - a Republican leader - has suggested changes that start chipping away at social security. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; it needs to be put on a sound actuarial footing. But it's no lie to say it. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/us/politics/republicans-social-security-medicare.html

"Buy American" - check "Rein in the big pharm companies/reduce prescription costs" - check "Build big infrastructure projects" - check Trump could've (did) say all of these things

Good point. Think about the Bills: our O line play was terrible. Objectively below replacement level as a group, excepting Dawkins. There is a good argument to be made that 4 league minimum salary guys would have performed about as well. And there are teams that will be doing exactly that. It is the moneyball era, NFL version. A few star/highly conpensated players (mostly QB, and then some mix of WR, edge rusher, primo CB) and minimize salary commitments everywhere else.

The Pro Bowl is long past the point of being an embarrassment