unclevlad

Kelvin. This is KC, after all. EDIT: well...that, and the fact that since this is the Peacock-only game, I feel rather frozen out from it.....

And now there's a class action suit filed against Boeing on behalf of the passengers on the flight. It was only a matter of when. There's also serious allegations here: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1223936777/a-recent-lawsuit-alleges-excessive-defects-at-boeing-parts-supplier

Good reason to take the under, which is 43.5 right now.

Oh my. ESPN has become a massive embarassment. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/media/espn-returning-emmys-submitted-under-fake-names/index.html

And things might be getting uglier. From NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/business/faa-boeing-737-boeing-max-investigation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.M00.Yydy.CPBMKcMpfaEs&smid=url-share If this is atop the prior mess with the MAX? Wow. Boeing stock's down 10% in the last week, and about 15% overall since mid-December.

It wasn't a personal attack. It was a statement of facts. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4400333-trump-lawyer-goes-on-defense-after-assassination-comment-he-didnt-kill-anyone/

Another point to remember is that Trump's people have been pre-vetting those he plans to name to the senior positions...Cabinet level, and the next level or two further down, that require Senate confirmation...and probably even further. The first, most important criterion? Loyalty to Trump. There is a very good chance that won't extend to military commanders, who pushed back against him as President. Those tended to be senior officers, tho. That may mean he'll bypass chain of command and find enlisteds who will do it, as Dean notes. In some cases, like Tlaib who's been censured? I seriously doubt the search would take long.

I expect he'll get hired somewhere, if he wants to continue coaching...but I wouldn't want him. At this point, it's a short term fix, at best...how long is he going to continue? Transitions are never assured to work, and I'd rather deal with one, than one now and one in 2-3 years.

That exact scenario was put forth by one of the judges during the hearing. You're echoing the rhetoric of one of Trump's lawyers on Fox News.

Wow, we haven't used this in a while... Well, the preseason is over, conference play is now in full gear. And such a gear. #1, #2, #3, and #5 have all lost, in conference games, this week. Kansas lost to Central Florida, tonight. Yes, that's a conference game. And yes, I've a a really hard time wrapping my head around that too.

Nothing quite so much fun as the level of pique with which the local media covers its franchises.... Well, fun, if it's some town *other than* yours, that is. https://ontapsportsnet.com/bears/chicago-bears-head-coach-matt-eberflus-staying-perfectly-mediocre-franchise-stays-on-brand

Math is perfect. Math is beautiful. Math is blameless. You, on the other hand.............

You put me in the untenable position of having to agree *completely* with...BOTH of them!!! I may never forgive you. My soul is battered, it may never recover.....

I don't recall Trade Wars. but Wikipedia lists it as a PC game. I wasn't using a PC...C64, and an Amiga. And a IIc, come to think; pretty sure that's where I ran the Wizardry series. Pretty sure my first PC had a 386. The oldest games...Wizardry I, for sure. Archon...an arcade-style game putatively based on chess, but with fantasy critters who battled each other, arcade style. Edge went to the critter on his side's color. Actually pretty fun. Each monster had different attributes, that you hadda learn. There was a space trading game that was pretty simple...altho the flying could be tricky. Little later? An Amiga. Cool for its day, far better graphics. Bard's Tales I, II, III...hated certain dungeons in BT III that were just hideous slogs. (I got the PC ports for BT I and BT II later. Finished BT I, but man, BT II's dungeons were near-constant fights...like seemingly every square. I'm pretty sure, on the Amiga, it was...pretty bad...but not THAT bad. It's also worth noting that those combats were *painfully* slow.

Which will probably start a coaching mini-carousel. '24 schedule has Bama at Oklahoma...and Georgia at Alabama...but they don't play Texas. They killed divisions, at least in football, I suspect because they didn't want to add a 9th conference game. They'd rather keep the petits fours week, typically the week before the season-ending rivalry games. So it's 8 games; I suspect most teams will have at least one dedicated rivalry game like Alabama-Auburn or Florida-Georgia. That leaves 7 games for 14 teams...so perhaps it'll be alternating-year style. For '24, Bama has Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, and Oklahoma. They only dodge Ole Miss; the other 4 were all top 6 in the SEC. Well, OK, perhaps Oklahoma's the soft touch there. EDIT: NYT's story on this drops a few names...of course, totally speculative now but... Dabo Swinney? Steve Sarkisian...poach the guy who beat Bama in the regular season? Mike Norvell from FSU? All 3 are very interesting. Dabo...he was behind only Saban in pay, so that might not be realistic. Norvell's fairly plausible, particularly if FSU's conference affiliation is tenuous. Sark would be an amusing poach. The other interesting point will be how much Bama will fork out. Saban was making $11M, but hey, you win 6 titles, you deserve it.

I vaguely remember having a ZIP drive for a while...but really just vaguely. And I never saw a tape format I liked...or trusted that much. Another blast from the past. 1200 and 2400 baud modems. Those were painful at the time, mind. I remember finally getting a 57.6 kb, and thinking, man does this help!

No. Nothing is logically impossible. Logically flawed, perhaps...but not impossible. Under any reasonable interpretations? Yeah, impossible. This is Trump. "Reasonable" is off the table, in a car driving 100 mph to Canada to ask for asylum. Mmm...and an article in The Hill today. The Trump lawyers are tossing out a "slippery slope" argument. Uhh...well, OK, thank you for admitting your position is pathetic. OK, fine, the assassination argument might be the extreme, but seriously, there's a zillion lesser ones. And considering ramifications is part and parcel of analysis of an argument. Over in the Nut House...oh, sorry, the House of Representatives...here we go again, it looks like. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4400715-conservatives-tank-procedural-vote-in-revolt-against-johnsons-spending-deal/

Yeah, the axe is getting used liberally today. Vrabel out in Tennessee. "What have you done for me lately, huh?" Chicago pretty much fired their entire offensive coaching staff. Translation, to me...sticking with Fields. Raises the odds they'll trade out of the #1 slot, aim for, say, 3 picks in the top 40? You can do quite a bit of rebuilding that way, if you draft to need. So that's 7 HC positions getting turned over. So far. Belichick, Saleh perhaps, and maybe Dennis Smith. Why? Because the players overruled his kneel-down...they still knelt, but then smacked the ball in. That was Winston's call, but the players are backing him up too. Generally, it's gotten a major thumb down...The Athletic had it 3-1 that it was a bad move this morning...but NO fans are much more approving. Could really be...more or less nothing, too. But it's great fodder for the rumor mill........

Not until they're buying their own cars. Before then? The cars they'll have available will be limited...and probably not EVs. When they can? At that point...they can choose, and I'll agree they'll have the option...but it's not a foregone conclusion, because of all the circumstantial issues with EV ownership/use.

11 years old? No. Electric cars won't have taken over in 5 years. It's not clear to me they'll take over *at all*...in the sense of completely replacing fossil fuel vehicles. At least, not in the current setup. If graphene batteries can be developed...that would change a great deal. Graphene-based batteries promise to be much smaller and much lighter...and the battery pack can be a good 1/4 of the vehicle's ground weight. Acceleration improves. Range improves. I don't recall if recharge time can improve, but long charging times are a problem for those who have to drive a lot. But there's still big question marks...live in an apartment? Where are you gonna charge up? Charging stations need to be built out. COLD weather issues: https://www.cars.com/articles/our-tesla-model-y-in-cold-weather-how-was-range-affected-448043/#:~:text=At an observed 3.91 miles,a 28% decrease in range. In my case...I would've had the apartment issue, along with a daily drive of, IIRC, 25-30 miles each way, for about 15 years. Map shows 2 charging stations on Highway 70 that I could use...and one is at a Staybridge, so might be guests only. BUT...many of these are SLOW charging. ChargePoint shows the publicly available site is 6.6 kw...20 miles of range *per hour* of charge time. That's fine at home, in a garage, but totally unacceptable for a roadside charging station.

The good news was that the judges raised that point, and were reportedly...particularly dubious. EDIT: the hopeful aspect here is, like so many Trump assertions, this one goes so far beyond anything remotely plausible, that it'll likely be completely rejected. And as Beau says...my gosh, if you STILL support Trump for President? Do you *really* believe that Trump could commit murder and not be criminally charged before impeachment and conviction?

And taking that further, he's threatening that any Republican who registers for the primary, won't get any votes in the caucuses. Even tho the law was changed...that was recent...and done by...by They Who Cannot Be Named!!! This is perhaps the most extreme voter disenfranchisement move to date, as well as close to the most flagrant disregard of election law...and that's saying a WHOLE lot.

Read the story. In this case, the situation is even more strange. For once, this isn't really on Trump's legal team...it's even more bizarre.

I'm ok with banning the color purple from the playoffs. And so it ends. 34-13, Michigan wins the last national title of the Pre-Professional Era. Harbaugh can also now move on...mission accomplished. Next stop..........who the heck knows.... Oh, and we forgot yesterday. No surprise. 23-3, IIRC, South Dakota State goes undefeated.

Not Penix' finest hour. I thought Washington would get some of the big plays, but...nope. Penix has been rattled most of the game, and now, he's battered and bruised. Side thought...anyone else looking at his low, 3/4 throwing motion and thinking that's not gonna fly in the NFL?