Author: boom booms room staff

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports, Random, and News.

Posted on by boom booms room staff

It’s Friday.  And it’s time to get your happy hour started a bit early.  We’ve got ten hor deurves.  You need to make a beer run.  And, do not forget your mask.  To the Ten Piece Nuggets we go.

  1. Joe Maddon, manager of the 8-18 and last place LA Angels, is mad.  He’s tired of seeing SF reliever Shaun Anderson throw at Mike Trout’s head.  “Enough is enough,” Maddon said after Thursday’s 10-5 road loss dropped the Angels’ record to 8-18. “This is the major leagues. There’s a level of accountability here also.”  Just wondering, who should be held accountable for the 8-18 record?
  2. Do you remember when we all used to sing happy birthday to a family member or friend and then have them blow out all of the candles?   Then you would all have a slice of that cake.  Turns out that singing and a strong exhale or two (blow them all out!) might not be what the doctor advises in 2020.  Maybe in 2021?
  3.  The Washington Football Team continues to be in the news.  A few days after hiring the first-ever black President, this time the news isn’t so good.  Washington coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with cancer but plans to continue coaching.  Rivera was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma located in a lymph node, the team said in a statement. Rivera said the cancer is in the early stages and is considered “very treatable and curable.”   That part is good news.
  4. It’s way too early to deem the NFL protocols a success in holding  COVID-19 at bay.  But, a few days into 32 training camps a total of only four players have tested positive.  It’s a start.  And, there is a long way to go.  The NFL is pretty adamant about starting the season on time.
  5. No so fast NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.  His league is likely to delay its planned Dec. 1 start for the 2020-21 season.  The hope is to get paying fans back into arenas.  The league’s gross revenue is roughly 8 billion with a “b.”  The fans in the areas account for 40% of that, or 3.2 billion still with a “b.
  6. MLB has postponed 34 games this season because of positive tests and counting.  Two Mets’ games this weekend are postponed after two members of the traveling team tested positive yesterday.  MLB soldiers on though.  And, that is a good thing.
  7. The NFL Kansas City Chiefs are putting in place new policies during games at Arrowhead Stadium with regard to Native American imagery.  Fans are now prohibited from wearing headdresses into the stadium. Face painting that is styled in a way as to imitate Native American cultures is also prohibited.  The Arrowhead Chop and the pregame beating of a drum, often by a former player or coach or other local celebrity is also on the chopping block.  Maybe they can announce if the “chop” stays or goes by beginning with, “after further review, the ruling on the field….”  So, let’s see, keep the stadium name of Arrowhead, and keep the arrowhead logo, and keep the name Chiefs is fine.  But the fans, those dreaded creatures, they can’t be allowed to do anything to offend anyone.  After further review, this makes no sense.
  8. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended the Chicago Police Department’s ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives.  She told reporters yesterday that she and her family require heightened security because of threats she receives daily.  If it’s a peaceful protest, as we’ve been told repeatedly by the good mayor,  why worry about safety?  It only takes 51% of the voting population to put someone into office.  Does anyone have a tent big enough to put over the Chicago circus?
  9. Meanwhile, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms suggested that the GOP is using the Chinese coronavirus pandemic to “spread misinformation and interfere with voting,” forcing many to “risk their lives” to exercise their right to vote. Risk their lives?  Really?   It only takes 51% of the voting population to kick someone out of office as well.
  10. Joe Biden’s acceptance speech last night was only 24 minutes long.  But, most analysts and reporters thought it to be quite effective.  Hillary’s was twice as long four years prior.  Fans of the nominee turned out to watch the speech.  The DNC built security walls to barricade supporters and voters into a specific outside area to watch Biden’s speech.  The walls were set up to keep both progressive and conservative protesters at arm’s length.  Again, there was no word on why this was needed for the “mostly peaceful” protests that have been popping up across the country.

Have a peaceful weekend.

 

A Cure For What Ails Us

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Roses are tough to grow you know.   A green thumb helps.  And, watch out for those thorns.

In spite of those obstacles, everything seems to be coming up roses for the hottest political couple of the summer of 2020.  Joe Biden and Kamala (comma la) Harris are having the virtual convention of their lives.

Have you watched it? If you haven’t we can tell you that what you’ve missed is a lot of the “what Trump has done wrong, and why he shouldn’t be reelected.”  A couple of folks named Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton went so far as to say he shouldn’t have been elected in 2016 either.  Trump remains quite the thorn in their side it seems.

But, last night Harris actually shed some light on what Biden would do if he got to prune the roses in the garden on Pennsylvania Ave. for the next four years.  We probably shouldn’t use the words “Biden” and “prune” in the same sentence, but we digress.

“Joe will bring us together to end this pandemic and make sure that we are prepared for the next one,” Harris said during her VP acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday night.  We knew there was a doctor in the Biden home, but we thought that was Dr. Jill.

Biden must be quite the medical miracle worker.  It turns out that he vowed to cure cancer during a campaign stop in June 2019. “I’ve worked so hard in my career that, I promise you if I’m elected president you’re gonna see the single most important thing that changes America. We’re gonna cure cancer,” Biden said.

That campaign stop was before his campaign stopped traveling.  Maybe that doesn’t matter anymore either.  Joe has been slow to get to a few states, including a vital swing state, Wisconsin.  He hasn’t seen any Cheeseheads in person in the last 660 days.  The doctor no longer makes house calls.

But, there is only so much time in a day or week, or month or year or two.  Joe’s been doing yeoman’s work in his basement which must closely resemble the Johns Hopkins research lab.

He repeated this cancer cure vow during his Super Tuesday victory speech and also added that he would find cures for Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

“We’re gonna invest billions of dollars to find, and I promise you, cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes,” he said.  Who knew that you could throw money at a problem and fix it that easily?

Harris also has her eyes on a different virus.  It’s actually one that is so ugly that you can see it.  The first black woman to be nominated to a major party’s ticket, also described racism as “a virus” in her speech Wednesday night.

“This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other — and how we treat each other,” Harris said. “And let’s be clear — there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.”

If Biden and Harris can cure COVID-19, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and racism between now and 2024 they deserve our vote.

Period.

End of story.

Almost.

Hopefully they’ll find some time to stop the pesky climate change too.

 

 

The USPS Mess

Posted on by boom booms room staff

The BBR staff has been rolling through some states in the Deep South for the last few days.   While there we managed to take only a glimpse at the news.  And, voila, it seems like the “deep state” is alive and well.

The quest to oust Trump is nearly four years old and going strong.  It sounds like the plight of the United States Postal Service is the latest raging problem that the left is placing the blame for at the feet of the President.

It’s so bad that Trump’s two months ago appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will be beaten up like a USPS package by the time he is finished testifying before Congress next week.   Nancy Pelosi is so concerned about the Post Office all of a sudden that she decided to call the House back to Washington and back to order.  The House hasn’t been in order in years, but we digress.

TV networks will cover it like it’s the next Russian Collusion.  And, that’s because it is.  The Post Office’s problem isn’t Trump.  The Post Office’s problem is the Post Office.  And, it’s been that way for a long time.  Actually, it’s been that way for far too long.  A few facts, none of which will be brought up by the left as the excoriate DeJoy follow.

The Post Office, if it were a business would be out of business.  It’s insolvent and has been for a long time.  It lost 2.2 billion dollars last quarter to add to the 78 billion its lost since 2007. The government’s own Accountability Office wrote a May report and said that “the USPS current business model is not financially sustainable.

The Wall St Journal article last week called it a Blockbuster service in a Netflix world.  That about sums it up, doesn’t it?

In 2006 mail volume peaked at 213 billion pieces.  It’s down 33% and counting as of last year from that high.  But, during that same time frame, the number of delivery points (addresses) served by them increased from 146 to 160 million.   In other words, costs continue to rise while revenue shrinks.  Hello?

Walk-in retail customers are down 23% from the 2010 all-time high.  During that same time, USPS locations shrunk only 4%.

They have an exclusive right(monopoly) to your mailbox that carries a universal obligation or promise to carry a letter anywhere for 55 stinking cents.

One route in Montana serviced 6 days a week like all others, covers 191 miles to hit 272 mailboxes.  In extreme northern Arizona, mules take mail down an 8-mile path to the base of the Grand Canyon.

The USPS workforce is 600k people strong and organized by seven different unions.  Congress in 2013 rejected a proposal to save 2 billion a year back then and in every subsequent year by stopping Saturday regular service.  And, remember next week, this will all be the current administration’s fault.

The USPS retiree health care plan has billions to invest but is mandated to invest those Washington’s only in U.S. Treasurys.  Ten-year Treasury note returns have been falling for years and return about 1/2 of 1% per annum currently.  Do you think health care costs only rise by about 1/2 of 1 percent per year?  If so, we have a jackass to sell you that walks 16 miles a day in the Grand Canyon.

DeJoy reassigned 23 top-level managers while citing a substantial decline in volume, a broken business model, and a management strategy that has failed to address these issues.  It sounds like he is doing his job, so it’s no wonder Congress is mad.

Let the conspiracy theories begin.  Former President Barrack Obama said last month that “those in power are undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to the election that is going to be dependant on mailed-in ballots.

The Democrats, in their latest House relief bill, want to give the Post Office $25 billion to compensate for “revenue forgone due to coronavirus.”  The sickness of the financial state of the post office isn’t due to coronavirus.  It’s due to Al Gore’s invention called the internet.

What the USPS needs is major reform at a minimum.  Would you mind if your mail only came three days a week as but one example?

That will be lost in the name blame game next week.  The House will kick DeJoy around, blame Trump, and kick the mailbox down the road.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports and Politics

Posted on by boom booms room staff

“Two Ten Piece Nuggets in one week?” you ask.   “Yes,” we affirm.

And why not?  BBR wants to do its part to end world hunger.  And, in 2020 the sports and political world gives us far too many nuggets to not share.  Enjoy them randomly below.

  1.  Thomas Sowell tweeted yesterday, “If not a single policeman killed a single black individual anywhere in the United States for this entire year, that would not reduce the number of black homicide victims by one percent.”  Police reform, not defunding, sounds good.  But, since the Movement wants change isn’t it time we add to the dialogue to address the 99% as well.  Sowell did, and good for him.
  2. Clay Travis tweeted yesterday, “So in the state of Iowa it is safe to play football for the Iowa State Cyclones this fall, but not safe for the Iowa Hawkeyes to play football.  Big Ten should be ashamed & Iowa football fans should be irate.”  If the Big 12 folds late as the Big 10 did early, then the point is moot.  But, for now, it’s logic is, well, illogical.
  3. Speaking of the Big 10 and the Big 12, way back when there was the Big 8.  Nebraska was perenially competing for its championship as well as the then mythical National Championship.  The Big 8 went poof and so did Nebraska’s vaunted wishbone attack.  Nebraska joined the Big 10 (which has 14 teams so its name makes no sense) and hoped for greener pastures.  They’ve been average on the field at best.  Now, they’ve been told that there will be no chance this fall to be average.   Off of the field, strong rumors are floating around the NCAA world that Nebraska’s AD is shopping his team to other conferences.
  4. You knew it would only take a bit of time for Trump and his team to mockingly nickname Kamala Harris, Biden’s VP pick.  Well, that didn’t take long.  “Phoney Kamala” it is.  And, as an added bonus, he’s added to his arsenal for Joe Biden.  “Slow Joe” has joined “Creepy Joe” and “Sleepy Joe.”  Frank Sinatra sang, “I Did It My Way.”   Trump must love the song.
  5. But why stop with the name-calling there?  Trump tweeted this AM “very poor TV ratings for MSDNC’s Morning Joe, headed by a complete Psycho named Joe Scarborough and his ditzy airhead wife, Mika, and also @CNN, headed by complete unknowns.”  It must be election time.  The gloves have come off, way off.
  6. But what’s in a name anyway?   For Kamala Harris, it’s the mispronunciation of it.  We were reminded, and some were scorned, by the press repeatedly yesterday that it’s pronounced “comma la.” Then yesterday afternoon Slow Joe (what’s in a name anyway?)  took the podium to formally announce his running mate.  He pronounced it “Ka mal ah.”  Somebody put up a tent over this circus, please.
  7. And then there is the raging controversy over whether “Comma La” is African American or not.  It’s always important to know your roots and times five these days if it helps with the narrative.   Her father is of Jamaican descent.  Her mother is Southern Asian, or Indian if you prefer.  So, there is no African origin it seems.   Is she black?  Yes, 50% black.  But, if we aren’t supposed to see color anymore, why do we argue over our color?
  8. Never let a national or international crisis peter out without political gain.  That’s what savvy and greasy politicians say and do.  And, some get funded by George Soros.  He agrees.  In an interview with La Repubblica, an Italian daily newspaper, the Hungarian-born Soros denounced Trump as a “transitory phenomenon” and expressed hope that the COVID-19 crisis has opened up politics in a radical direction.  He’s nothing if not consistent.
  9. Yesterday was three years to the day since the Unite the Right rally brought thousands of white nationalists to historic Charlottesville, Virginia. James Alex Fields, Jr. purposely drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring many.   Joe Biden went on the attack yesterday telling whoever was listening that Trump talked about how there were good people there too.  Does Biden remember that he attended former US Senator, friend, and close colleague of his Robert Byrd’s funeral ten years ago when Biden was VP of the land?  Byrd was an active and known KKK member for many, many years.  There are no more glasshouses, only stones.
  10.  Guess who is leading the MLB NL East Division?  It’s the Miami Covids.  Er, it’s the Miami Marlins who had an outbreak of COVID-19 just a week into the season.  Upwards of 15 players and five staff members were quarantined and their season was put on hold.  They stand atop the East with an 8-4 record.  But, they’ll need to make up quite a few games as most teams have played 18-20 games by now.  Can their arms on the hill hold up having to play so many in so few days?  It’s unlikely.  But it is 2020.

Deep breaths.

Friday is near.

 

 

 

 

We’ll Know Soon Enough

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Yesterday was historic for this fractured country.

The Big 10, founded in 1896, has never postponed or canceled an entire football season. Its schools have played through two world wars and the 1918 flu pandemic.  But, the Big 10 Conference won’t be kicking off this fall for the first time ever.

For the first time ever, a woman who identifies as African American (her father is Jamaican born and her mother is Indian born) accepted the offer to be the VP running mate for the presumptive Democrat candidate for President, Joe Biden.

Oh, and the PAC 12, with four of its teams from California, which is the home of Senator Kamala Harris, opted out as well.

What do these decisions have in common?  Maybe nothing.  Or, maybe they reflect the mood of the nation.  If so, Donald Trump’s future as our President is in trouble.  But, it seems, isn’t it always?

Biden said during the debates that if he were nominated he would select a woman as his VP choice.  He one-upped that along the way saying he would select a black woman.  Voila!

So Black Lives Matter to him.  Or, at the very least, black votes matter to him.  Or, the female vote matters to him.   Or, Ms. Harris is the best-qualified candidate to lead our nation should something happen to 76-year-old Sleepy Joe along the way.  Maybe it already has.

As for the Big 10 and PAC 12, young lives must matter to them.  Or, avoiding litigation matters to them.  What happened to “follow the science?”  It will tell you that student-athletes are safest while being isolated on campus and the practice field.

Biden delayed his decision time and again.  The conferences delayed their fall season, then yesterday postponed it until the spring.

Did they all make good decisions?  By November 3rd of 2020, the most challenging year of the 21st century, we’ll know.

If the SEC, Big 12, and ACC have successful seasons, measured by health, fan perception, and TV ratings, the Big 10 and PAC 12 will surely regret their choice.  For now, that choice is perceived by some as the right one and the safe one.

Is the choice of Harris, perceived by some as a safe one given the mood of the nation, the right one?

One dissenter voiced his opinion yesterday.

President Donald Trump’s campaign swiftly responded to Biden’s selection of Harris, branding the pair: “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.”

“Kamala Harris ran for president by rushing to the radical left, embracing Bernie’s plan for socialized medicine, calling for trillions in new taxes, attacking Joe Biden for racist policies,” the Trump campaign said in a video tweeted by President Trump. “They smartly spotted a phony — but not Joe Biden. He’s not that smart,” the ad continues, before adding Biden “is handing over the reins to Kamala” if the two win in November.

A reduced number of teams NCAA football season kicks off next month.  We think.

The political football is always getting kicked around.  We know.

And we will know if the right decisions were made soon enough.

 

 

 

Again.

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Last fall on a sun-drenched early November Saturday two undefeated SEC powerhouses clashed in an epic, 60-minute, deep south battle.  When it was done, LSU had outscored Alabama 46-41.

But really NCAA football won.  It was another battle for the ages.  And, all felt mostly right in America for those nearly four hours of real-world escape while watching it.  Heck, even the leader of the free world paused from his busy schedule as Donald J. Trump watched it in person.

A star was crowned that day.  Joe Burrow went on to an undefeated season for the ages, a national championship, and a Heisman Trophy.

Just three months later, COVID-19 hit.  Down went college sports and college in-person attendance.  Down went the stock market.  Down went Trump’s approval ratings.  Down went employment.  And, down went our spirit.

And, now just four months after that, COVID-19 still hits.  But, employment has started to go back up.  The stock market has gone up, up, up.   Maybe there is hope?  But.  Down went George Floyd.  Down went statues.  The south took a flag down.  Down goes police funding.   Up goes violent crime before, during, and after peaceful protests.  As a result our nation’s spirit has sagged even further.

So, it’s time for college football to lift us up again, isn’t it?  Not so, or not so fast my friend, says the Big 10.  We’ll find out more today as their presidents meet.  They floated the cancel idea over the weekend.  The response was mixed at best.  The Big 10 has led the way in canceling sports since March.

Not so fast either says the PAC 12.  They are going to delay until October at a minimum it seems.  What does a delay accomplish?  Does the PAC 12 play football?  We digress.

The Big 10 was looking for all to fold as they did last Spring.  It isn’t happening.  Not yet anyway.

#WeWantToPlay is a movement started just this weekend spearheaded by Justin Lawrence, the Clemson QB and odds on Heisman favorite.  It has other notables behind it like Ja’Marr Chase, the LSU Fred Biletnikoff winner for the best WR.  The hashtag is trending #1 on Twitter as we write.

Maybe the players have an important voice after all. And, unlike the #United movement comprised of mostly PAC 12 players it doesn’t ask for 50% revenue sharing.  It just asks that the programs keep the players safe.  The PAC 12 players must think they are tax collectors or NBA players.  They are the only two that can scrape 50% from your top line.

Nick Saban, perhaps the loudest voice in the head coaches’ room said, “Look, players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home. We have around a 2% positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of July. It’s a lot higher than that in society. We act like these guys can’t get this unless they play football. They can get it anywhere, whether they’re in a bar or just hanging out.”

Scott Woodward, LSU AD stated, “As we have said since the beginning, we are patiently working through each and every variable following the direction of our Return to Safety and MedicalGuidance Task Force. I believe our student-athletes want to play. We owe it to them to make every effort to do so safely.”

It sounds like Alabama and LSU want to get it on again and aren’t waiting till 2021 to do so.

So, is it up to the south to rise again?  The ACC seems inclined to follow the SEC.  The Big 12 is listening carefully.

If the Big 10 cancels, the carpetbaggers will head south.

Again.

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football?

Posted on by boom booms room staff

It’s Ten Piece Nuggets time.  Usually the nuggets are provided to satisfy.  Today they likely will leave you hungry for more, for more college football that is.  Yesterday a story broke that, if it plays out, will likely mean NCAA football will not play out this fall.  Our nuggets are questions and we want answers.

  1.  What has changed in the months, weeks, and days leading up to now that has the power brokers of the Power 5 conferences thinking that they may not want to play this fall after all?  The answers are 1) a pesky spike in the virus, and 2) the PAC 12 “United” group of players demands we suppose.  Neither should be any surprise to anyone.  As for the virus, it ‘s been on the rise for eight weeks now and seems to be leveling again.  As for the demands, it’s 2020.  Everyone has demands these days.
  2. If the Big 10 folds its cards for the season, why do the other Power 5 Conference Commissioners feel the need to follow suit?   Peer pressure we presume.  If your conference played and a hot spot team or three broke out heaven forbid the scorn that they would receive that could have been avoided.  Really?  Would a “breakout” this fall inside of a team or three surprise anyone as they planned for fall?  Does it now?
  3. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play January to April?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look the old Farmer’s Almanac?  The average daily high temperature in Madison, WI, home of the Badgers, is roughly -12.  That “-” sign means minus!  Ditto for February and two thrids of March.
  4. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play in April till July?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look at the average temperature in June in Miami?  It’s around 95 degrees with 95% humidity.  In July it’s wetter and worse.  Lastly, do you think that the virus magically disappears in spring 2021?
  5. If you move it to spring, do you lose essentially all of the players who would prefer to train exclusively for the NFL Combine and/or on-campus Pro Day workouts?  The opt out number this fall was only 21 total players announced at this point.  It will be 15 times that this spring.  The NFL Draft is in late April.    Do you think the NFL will change that to accommodate the NCAA?  If you do, BBR has some beautiful land for sale for you just south of Miami.  It’s taken on a bit of water, but nothing like the rise that the ocean will have in the next eight years when climate change really kicks in.
  6.  Is the reason for the likely cancellation due to player safety?  Is there a safer place than being on campus when fellow students aren’t?  Is there a better place than having a full-time nutritionist and testing 2x a week right at your fingertips?  Or, should we say right up, then down, your nose?
  7. If regular kids can’t go to school, why should they be “forced” to play football?  They aren’t being forced, Karen.  Opt-outs are receiving full scholarship benefits in today’s kinder gentler world anyway.
  8. What if some of them contracted the virus during a game and took it home to older loved ones in their families?  Sure, that’s a concern.  But that is a concern no matter where you are and what you are doing.  If you cut them loose from the “bubble” that they are basically in right now, isn’t that a bigger concern?  Have you been to a bar lately?  Do you think any/many of them might venture out, then venture home?
  9. Do you think any of these school presidents, conference commissioners, and NCAA who hahs have asked the players what they want to do?  Doubtful.  They’ll let you opt-out if you want to on your own for now.  But, when it comes to the big decision to play or not, they’ll tell you what you are going to do and you will like it!
  10.  Or, is this all about the fan experience?  By that we mean the “money collection” experience?  No fans mean no parking, no food and beverage, no private seat license revenue, no ticket sales, no suite sales, etc.  We tend to doubt that since they can clearly see what the NHL, MLB, and NBA have done.  There is plenty of NCAA TV revenue to go around.
  11. (Lagniappe)  Will any conference go rouge?  We hope so.  Our bet is on the SEC and maybe, just maybe, the BIG 12.

Are you ready for some football?  It sounds like you might need to tune into the NFL where money talks and players kneel.

Impossible Is Nothing

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Over 25 years ago a very famous man very nearly severed his ex-wife’s head from her body while savagely killing her, killed a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time while he was there, and left an unmistakable trail of his own incriminating blood at the crime scene all the way back to his residence.

Can you imagine getting a jury of 12 of your peers that would unanimously agree that, upon further review, you were innocent?  “Only in America,” Don King would have said.  “Only in Los Angeles,” former NFL great Orenthal James Simpson said.

It’s also been said by many on many occasions that his innocence was payback to a police force and a city (supposedly of angels) that used excessive force in subduing Rodney King after a prolonged car chase captured on camera.  “Enough of this police brutality,” they screamed.

Now, a quarter of a century later, L.A. is still determined to fix that problem.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal by a 4-1 vote on Tuesday to amend the city’s charter to remove $880 million from law enforcement and “reinvest” the money in “direct community investment” and “alternatives to incarceration.”   Minneapolis has more in common with LA than sharing the Lakers it seems.

Like the jury vote to acquit, the general population will have their say on the proposal on November 3rd.

Titled, “Reimagining L.A. County: Shifting Budget Priorities to Revitalize Under-resourced and Low-income Communities,” the proposal includes language frequently used by Democrat politicians and the broader left. It alleges the existence of “systemic discrimination, exclusion, and inequity” targeting blacks and yielding “racial injustice” and “racial inequity.”

The $880 million is 10% of the current law enforcement budget.  It would “strictly prohibit any of these funds to be used in law enforcement.  Rather it would provide  “access to capital for small minority-owned businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses.” It also prescribes the use of “community-based restorative justice” among its “alternatives to incarceration.”

Usually, when big government has identified a problem, they want to throw more money at it as a solution.  In this instance they are taking it away.  But, in this instance, they are also throwing it, just in a different direction.  Don’t cut taxes, just spend it differently.

Are fewer cops, or less well-paid cops a better idea?  Or would the same amount of them, but better trained, supervised, and evaluated be a better idea?

Or, is community-based restorative justice be a better idea than incarceration?  What does community-based restorative justice mean anyway?  Is there a social worker who can work with us on this explanation?

And what is this “access to capital for small minority-owned businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses?”   Does this sound like a hand up or a handout?  And, is there a direct correlation between more money government money for minority businesses and less crime?  Is there a social worker who, hell, nevermind.

The city that has run away from supporting NFL franchises faster than OJ, finger cut and all, exited 875 South Bundy Rd.  It will now try to support minority businesses while defunding the police.  Or, will it?

Will 51% of the city’s registered voters will go for this?

Would you have thought that 12 jurors would agree after a mere four hours of deliberation that OJ would benefit from “alternatives to incarceration?”  Alternatives might have helped Rodney King as well.  He was arrested and jailed at least 12 additional times after the 1991 incident.

In 2020 nothing is impossible.  Or, given the state of the times, should we say “impossible is nothing?”

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports and Life Intertwined

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Sports and the real world are joined at the hip these days.  And that is unfortunate.  The escape has escaped us for now.   Hopefully, it will return.  Ten Piece Nuggets return below and reflect on just that.

  1.  The wokest (auto correct wants to turn wokest into weakest, hmmm) of the Power 5 college football conferences, the Pac 12, has a problem/opportunity on its hands.  Football players believed to be numbered in excess of 100 across the conference authored what they call The Players Tribune, and presto #WeAreUnited is born.  It’s a rapidly evolving set of demands.  That’s how The Movement works.   For now, know that they want a lot more than just a stinking full-ride scholarship to a great university.
  2. Their leverage, at least in their minds is to opt-out of playing this fall if their demands are not heard.  The Movement gives them the microphone to try to advance these causes at this time.  COVID-19 provides further cover.  It always sounds logical to demand “player safety” needs to be met if not exceeded.
  3.  Why should they risk exposure if schools aren’t assembling in their traditional manner this fall?  Actually, it’s a lot safer for the players if the regular students aren’t on campus.  They’re getting tests and test results a lot quicker than the general population too.
  4. They’ve asked for 50/50 percent revenue sharing.  Best of luck there.  The football teams underwrite the other sports programs and acutely the female sports teams.   Some colleges even siphon off the excess to subsidize the out of control costs of the college itself.
  5. “They see all of this clearly through the lens of racial justice,” said Ramogi Huma, the founder of a college athlete advocacy group called the National Collegiate Players Association.   Apparently free room, free books, free education, free health care, free tutors, free food, positional coaches, strength coaches, nutrition coaches, and head coaches aren’t enough.  It’s exploitation they say.  Why did they sign the scholarship papers to begin with?  It must have sounded like a good deal until it didn’t.  Justice dammit!  It’s never enough.
  6. The NBA tipped off.  Did you watch it?  The ratings will be interesting to watch to see how many decided to watch.  MLB entered week two.  At least 30 teams did.  Miami is still in time out.  Philly was.  St. Louis might be headed that way.  Shortened and late start seasons, no fans, opt-outs, virus concerns, and social justice concerns make for a less than desirable product we think.
  7.  Hey Joe.  Hey Joe!  Wake up.  It’s time.  Who is your VP nominee? You promised us an answer in the first week of August.  Will it be a minority candidate like Kamala Harris?  Or, will it be a minority candidate like Native American Elizabeth Warren? The suspense is killing us.  No, it’s not.  Have you seen one, just one, yard sign in your town that promotes Biden for President?  The election isn’t about electing him.  It’s about ousting Trump.  It’s the only way the Democrats can sell this lipstick on a pig candidate.
  8. In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, political commentator Dan Bongino wrote:  Not a joke and not hyperbole – I’m hearing from people close to the situation that Biden’s cognitive decline is rapidly worsening and is becoming increasingly difficult to mask. The Democrats are going to have to make a decision soon.  The excuses (Trump lies, so don’t waste your time) to get him out of debating The Donald are flowing.  Like him or not Trump is a young 73 in many ways.  Like him or not, Biden is an old 77 in many ways.
  9.  Biden’s been hiding for months.  Looks like Bill Clinton has gone underground as well.  Or did he go to a remote island?  Well actually according to some flight logs released in court documents emanating from the pending Ghislaine Maxwell case Willie did head to Epstein’s island 11 times.  What’s weird is that he opted out (not like the Pac 12 kids) of Secret Service coverage for seven of the trips.  Slick he is.
  10. And finally, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters issued “social justice” and “black liberation” demands regarding “diversity” to a restaurant owner in Louisville, KY, including a directive for “donations” to organizations run by non-whites.  Sounds like a shakedown.

We’re opting out to a remote island now.

Lights. Camera. Action!

Posted on by boom booms room staff

It takes one to know one they say.

You know who James Woods is, don’t you?  He’s an accomplished actor.  You know who Donald Trump is, don’t you?  He’s an accomplished actor, too.

Woods played the character “Sully” on Ray Donovan.  Sully was #1 on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.  Trump’s been in a very similar role for four years himself.

Yesterday, Woods tweeted the perfect line to capture the video he embedded in his tweet.  He wrote, “the moment a largemouth bass takes the bait.”  The video was a 1:48 rant by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.  In it, Schumer admonished President Trump for suggesting that the November 3rd election be postponed as we combat the coronavirus.  He told Trump and fellow Senate Republicans that they should stop deflecting and go solve all of the nation’s ills, not the least of which is the one we cannot see.  He bellowed that the election would indeed take place as scheduled.

If there was a director he (or she) would have said, “cut, that’s a take.  let’s wrap it up.”  Trump acted and everyone watched, listened, and roared.  Trump doesn’t want the election postponed.  He had everyone make his intended point that if you can vote on 11/3 when the second wave (whatever that means considering we just had one) might be lurking you can go back to work and school today.

Twitter has put Woods in time out a time or three. He’s too outspoken and too right-leaning for their taste, not in that order.  Kamala Harris, a fine actor in her own macabre theatre, called for Trump to banned from Twitter as well.  The best guess VP nominee of the presumptive Democratic nominee for President knows how to put on a show as well.

We need to postpone in the classroom school, sports, dining out, and work for now.  Physical sickness and fiscal mayhem makes for an angry voter.  Come November 3rd, we all need to line up and vote.  We need to stay at home now unless we need to peacefully protest.  Stay off of the beaches too, dammit!   We need to stay out of church unless we need to honor the heroes of our time.  George Floyd and Rep. John Lewis are two that come to mind.

Come to think of it, why do we even need to vote?  The polls show Biden leading by so much, we could all stay safe by staying home.

Then it could be the Joe Biden Show.  He’s been rehearsing in his basement tirelessly for just this moment.  He could act like he was the President all the while suffering from rapidly advancing dementia.  Now that would be some fine acting!

Lights.  Camera.  Action!