Join The Fantasy Wealth League!

I've got the most scathingly brilliant idea!

FANTASY WEALTH LEAGUES!

You can't play pro football or baseball so, aside from watching religiously, you might live vicariously by joining a fantasy football or baseball league where you compete with others using the abilities and activities of pro players. Personally I don't participate in these fantasy leagues so I only have a pedestrian knowledge of how they work so, I might need a commissioner. Someone who knows the rules.

The way I see it, not everybody can have Miguel Cabrerra, Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw on their Fantasy Baseball team so, there's so sort of draft similar to what the real leagues do. Like in football, some one has to take Sam Bradford at QB because not everybody can have Peyton Manning or Rodgers.

In my Fantasy Wealth League (FWL) it would be similar in that not everybody gets to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. It takes all kinds to fill up the rosters so, somebody might get stuck with a Kardashian.

But, ya know, isn't that the excitement of it? You could have a Kardashian and they do something that pays off and then you win too! Just like if that 2nd string running back has a big game and that benefits you, one of the Kardashians could cure cancer or make a sex tape. You just never know.
In FWL, things would be a little different in that you could pick up points if your rich guy buys a Congressman or if he gets one of his companies to do one of those tax inversion schemes. Conversely, if your rich guy pays any taxes- any taxes at all- you lose big! Taxes are like kryptonite to those people. Even just a little weakens them.

As you can see, I've got a lot of details to work out. One thing I know is that you've got to have some skin in the game. There will have to be a buy-in to keep out the riff raff. And of course, as always, the winnings go to the actual winner rich guy. YOU get nothing. Thanks for playing!

Sons of Bucks

Another reality show has bitten the dust. I think I've posted about "Sons of Guns" in the past. It's one of the more annoying, offensive and fake reality shows out there and I'm fairly glad it's gone. Despite what you may hear on Fox and see on the internet, America is not as absorbed with the wonderfulness of guns as the NRA would have you believe. The usual suspects are but, we knew that.

However, Sons of Guns was cancelled (evidently) because the star of the show was arrested on charges that he raped a former girlfriends eleven year old daughter. I hope that for the girl's sake it's not true. That's just awful. I don't care at all for Will Hayden, the show's star, who claims a bitter ex-girlfriend trumped up charges. Well, that does happen but, so does child rape. He hasn't been convicted of any charges yet so, we won't convict him here.

We will, however, talk about what a vainglorious poseur he is. Will Hayden is a vainglorious poseur. There, I said it. Will shouldn't be but, he is. He's an over-weight, out of shape, middle-aged, ex-Marine. Not a crime but, I suspect his portfolio is as thin as his hair. He owns Red Jacket  Firearms in Baton Rouge, La. Prior to the Discovery Channel show his claim to fame was owning a small gun manufacturing shop that seemed to be known for modifying AK47's into internally suppressed weapons. That's a big deal for people who want to shoot as quietly as possible. At the end of last season they were moving to a new site, expanding the operation. They were always looking to get local police contracts and hinting around that they might get military contracts for some of their work. And they were selling t-shirts online.  Eh that's Hollywood, Baton Rouge style. Mostly they 'invented' weird guns and fixed old cannons and machine guns and then shot the shit out of old cars to show off their handiwork. It had it moments but it was primarily just a lot of redneck noise.Shit blowed up good!

I got a kick out of the cheap drama though. One storyline was that Vince, his gunsmith, left Will to start his own business because Will was an arrogant prick. Well, OK. But then it turned out that, though Will owned the shop, Will did not have the federal license required to possess fully automatic weapons. I guess there was some missing paperwork and 10 missing guns that had caused the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms to pull their license. They kept the company and the show going by turning over the company- on paper- to Vince. When he quit, they had to get yet another owner.  

That was shady enough but there was also the usual reality series fake drama where Will or his son-in-law would get annoyed with the camera crew (that was only there to make them wealthy) and they would get angry and shove the camera, demanding to be left alone, dammit! They re-edit that five ways from Sunday and keep showing that it will happen...coming right up....


 Yeesh. Well, that's show biz! I don't know for sure if the charges against Will were the main reason Discovery Channel cancelled the show or if it was that plus poor ratings. Within days of the horrific Sandy Hook murders, the channel pulled the plug on a less offensive show- "American Guns"- out of respect for the murdered children. Yet they kept Sons of Guns. I suspect ratings. That's usually what it is. Think back to the Duck Dynasty bullshit. As long as AE is making money, the weirdo-beardos can hate the gays all they want. Have you seen the automotive coolant commercial where one of the Duck Dynasty boys (Goober???) NASCAR babe, Danica Patrick and driver-that-you-don't-know, Clint Bowyer are escaping an angry mob and the Duck dude hops in the station wagon exclaiming: "Who knew making duck calls would get people this riled?"? It wasn't the duck calls, dipshit....

White Privilege? Is that still a thing?

Well, I'll be... That Ferguson, Missouri stuff is still going on! Hardly anybody is still doing the ALS Ice-bucket Challenge anymore. Even the variations of it have run their course. So too has the uproar about Central Anerican kids invading the country through our porous border, the one on which that Obama refuses to build The Great Wall Of America. And, Robin Williams is still dead.Yet, Ferguson rolls on.

Right now it's because white people are upset that black people are still upset about Ferguson.

Why do they have to riot and burn their own neighborhoods every time this happens???!

That's an actual sentence you may have heard your friends or family say. The phrase that pays here is "every time this happens..." Unless you are a complete republican meathead, you know that a lot of unarmed black males have been killed by police in this country. We don't even know exactly how many people of any skin tone are killed by cops in this country because no one keeps track of that or breaks it down by race or armed/not armed and such. I think the guesstimate for last year was @400 for the whole country. That's more than one a day. That's a lot considering our allies in the civilized world rarely shoot their citizens..

Black people don't actually riot every time one of their unarmed males is killed. They may protest but, protesting isn't rioting. It can certainly lead to that though. If your protest against injustice is met with cops dressed for success in Iraq- but in Missouri- you might get a bit incited....

Most of life is walking in the metaphorical shoes of another. How would you feel if people of your skin tone were being shot by cops of another skin tone?

Uh huh. If you answered honestly, you'd be pissed. Idiots on the internet have pointed out that a black cop in Utah shot and killed a white kid last month and you didn't see white people rioting.

Fucking pussies....

What you do see is white people taking up arms- ready to kill- in support of old, white ranchers who don't pay their debts. The Bundy ranch. THAT is what riles white people. Not all, white people, mind you. Just the ones that think it's OK to kill cops trying to enforce the laws. Cliven Bundy doesn't "recognize" the US government. Somehow that makes him a "patriot" in Sean Hannity's eyes. Make sense of that. I dare you.

The thing is, black people live with this fear every day of their lives.You are probably as white as I am but unless you are an idiot you can probably imagine what it might be like to be a young black male in Anytown, USA. You can imagine but, you can't live it. Idiot racists can imagine that all a black male has to do is get a job but the reality is that millionaire ballplayers  who are black know that it doesn't matter what's in your wallet when it comes to police stops. Jon Stewart reported last night that a black producer of his show- in a tailored suit- was stopped by the cops as he and disheveled white co-worker scouted out an abandoned building for a future segment. Just the black guy in the suit was stopped. No beating or shooting. Just what are YOU doing here?

If you think black people can and should live like that for whatever reason, you have to think that it would be "OK" for you to be subjected to that, if the 'majority' felt that way about you.

In 20 or 30 years white people will be the minority in this country. Be kind to the people you meet on the way up. You are currently dictating the way you expect to be treated on your way down. You just don't know it.

The you in ubiquitous

I was looking at some videos made by people who support- dare I say, "worship"- the open carry of assault rifles. I'd post them here but they are all like 15 minutes each of really fucking annoying whining. Other than promoting gun sales, I really can't see what these videotaped 2A stroke fests  really accomplish.

What is the goal? It almost seems like they want America to get to the point where seeing young, heavily-armed white men is a regular occurrence, nothing to sneeze at. Yes, that young man with the AR-15 approaching the grade school could be a mass-killer but, he could also be a patriot stopping by to randomly protect the kids from mass-killers. You just never know! And doesn't one allow for the other? Doesn't the former illustrate the need for the latter?

Product placement is nothing new. Any TV show in the 90's (and beyond) likely showed the characters with a plastic bottle of branded water in hand. It really didn't matter what brand. The message was, don't go anywhere without a bottle of store-bought water. That's great advice in the desert but, in Chicago? People were carrying water in the streets as well as in offices where water was readily available. It was the thing to do. As seen on TV.

Now, the open-carry of assault rifles hasn't taken off like carrying water absolutely everywhere has and likely never will but, the attempt to change the habits of Americans is just as evident. We are all now used to paying exorbitant amounts for water that is no better than what comes from our taps- and often DOES come from municipal taps. Should we get used to seeing guns, guns and more guns everywhere? Why?

Violent crimes are down, according to the FBI. I think the reality is that, just like 20 or 50 years ago, if you stay out of bad neighborhoods, you're pretty safe. There's gangs and bank robberies and 7-11's still get robbed but, unless you're in a bad neighborhood, you're pretty safe. Even schools are safe, just not as statistically safe as they were before Columbine in 1999.

Think of all the carnage since then- the big, mass shootings that get the nation's attention- committed by young white males. Why the fuck aren't people from Texas to Oregon running-screaming when they see young, white males with assault rifles in public?

I think it's because people are stupid. Not everyone, mind you. In the videos I looked at, the cops were responding to citizen complaints about these open carry activists...carrying assault rifles openly. So, some people are unnerved. And they should be. These assholes aren't crime fighters or minutemen. They are proxy-shills for gun manufacturers. This is about sales, folks. Remington, Smith & Wesson and the others want you, me and Aunt Sally all buying their products. Duh! You show a bunch of clean-cut young white men toting attractive looking weapons and NOT harming people and you've got sales! Maybe.

I really don't see it working. I know they are not done yet but I do not see folks walking around with assault rifles. Not even so many with bottled water, actually. I'm in a pretty suburban neighborhood. Why aren't young, hip, urban and suburban types buying into the fashion of guns?

In all actuality, the bulk of gun sales is to people who already have guns. The gun nuts, as it were. Most of us go through life not really wanting to kill anyone. We think about it and we may even joke about it but, we know it's rarely the right thing to do. It's like, smart people know not to argue with their spouses in the kitchen because that's where the knives are. Put a gun on your hip and suddenly nowhere is a good venue to argue, with anyone.

Wearing a gun is a responsibility. It's a lot of trouble. It's a commitment that not everyone wants to make. If the majority of policeman can go their careers without firing their guns, what are the odds that Carl in Accounting will be called upon to fire his?  And do we want to find out the hard way when Carl gets angry?  In the wrong hands a gun is very, very dangerous. It has always been this way. Arming everyone doesn't change that. How could it? Good gawd- it will just make armed criminals blend in with "the good guys".  Duh! Makes you wonder what these guys are really selling, doesn't it?

The kids are pretty damn good!

Do not forget for one moment that the Little League World Series is brought to you by Kellogs Frosted Flakes. They are, by the way, grrrrrrrreat! Little League, like it or not, is a business and it appears that business is good. You can buy all sorts of LL stuff from pennants to uniforms. Most if not all games are available on ESPN/ABC. Not bad for something that, when I was a young Ferrerman playing ball, was shown on tape-delay on ABC's Wide World Of Sports. Did you know that the LLWS was how Howard Cosell began his obnoxious television sports career? Yep, back in the day he was legal counsel to Little League and when they went to TV, they needed someone to call the games. I guess he was all they had.

Nowadays, Karl Ravetch from ESPN does the main games with ex-big leaguers like Nomar Garciaparra and Barry Larkin. In the past Jim Palmer and Harold Reynolds have honed their broadcasting skills calling LLWS games. They all do well.

It's pretty damn good coverage too. Maybe too good?

These are 12 and 13 year old kids. Let's not forget that they are kids.

Kids come in all sizes and are now available in both sexes in the LLWS. I haven't seen her pitch yet but the sensation of this season is Mo Ne Davis, a 13 year old Black girl from Philadelphia's Taney Dragons. She's not the first girl to play in the series (18th) but she's the best so far. She throws 70 mph which is the equivalent of nearly 100mph in major league terms. The pitching rubber is 45 feet from home plate in LL, 60 feet six inches in MLB. She's normal sized. I guess but, I hear there's a couple of kids who are six foot two. That is current Ferrerman territory. Yikes.

My favorite kid so far played his last game, last night. His name is Trey Thibeault (pronounced Tebow) and he's a chunky kid with glasses. He looks like kids in Little League everywhere should look. He can pitch and hit too, with two homers to his credit. His Rhode Island team lost to the all black Chicago team which has been another great story of this season.

As always at this level, your going to see some great baseball and you're going to see some really poor play. These are kids. If you have any or were ever one yourself, you know they can be emotional. They can also throw to the wrong base.  They are playing on TV! They should be like other 12 year old's and frantically waving at the camera when it's on them but, they have a ball game to play. That's got to be a lot of pressure on a kid. It's the World Series! Whether they do great or screw up, there are replays for the viewers to watch. Plays are even reviewed to see if the umpire made the right call, just like in MLB.

One more thing I like: the coaches who get this far seem to be the mature adult ones who understand that they are guiding children here, in a child's game. How many crazy coaches have we seen or heard about who scream at their own players as well as the opposing ones and take every play  so personally? Too many. They don't generally make it this far. That should tell you something. I think that is grrrrrrreat. The kids are alright. Go Great Lakes but, may the best team win!

My Fellow Americans...

If you don't want people to receive welfare from your tax dollars (which should instead go to as many wars as possible, all over the globe and on our southern border) then make sure that poor people receive a living wage for the work they do. That is exactly how you check welfare. People who receive fair wages that they and their family can live on, DO NOT NEED WELFARE. It really is that simple.

But, this is why I despise teapublicans. They want to eliminate welfare AND the minimum wage. They have even less common sense than compassion. Millions of Walmart employees- the nation's largest employer- rely on government aid to survive. These teapublican assholes would not only take that away from them but, they would eliminate the Federal guarantee of a minimum wage, for everyone.

Life's a crapshoot for others, they guess. Sure, Walmart could then lower wages to $2 an hour but, they could also just as easily bump everybody up $10. That's the free market! The beauty is you just never know where that invisible hand will go. Well, I think they know.

In the threads, whether they portray themselves as college-educated, adulterous lawyers or as clowns on an avatar, these assholes see nothing wrong with America cutting the pay and welfare of its own citizens. Nothing. No downside. No backlash. No unintended consequences. What could possibly go wrong?

Sublime has said that you eliminate the minimum and eliminate welfare and these people will stand on their own to feet and perhaps go to college and get better jobs. Well, he hasn't said that in so many words. He's said that in 4000 characters (sometimes a few less) because that is the max amount per post on Topix. Clowns like Clem are more succinct and grammatically conservative with their venom. . They just come right out and say it without trying to sound smart. Hate and stupidity all breaks down the same whether you have a diploma or not. It's still hate and still stupid.

The irony is that for a lot of people it sounds better coming from an educated sounding person in Congress like Paul Ryan or some pundit on Fox news. Sarah Palin's whole purpose in life is to translate GOP ideology into idiot for folks who know they should like Paul Ryan but can't quote him so easily after a 6-pack as they can Sarah. She speaks like a 12-pack. It's the same on Topix except that for every Sublime that tries to rationalize and present hate-speak for the hoity-toity elite, there's a thousand clowns who spew in plain talk for the rough trade.

I think that no one hates Americans more than Americans. Can you imagine in this country, people are screaming to cut the pay of other Americans? Well, sure- they are also arming themselves against other Americans. Why stop there?  Sheesh. In the back of their feeble minds, I think they do understand cause and effect. They won't verbalize it necessarily but, they realize that taking away wages and welfare is going to cause the lesser Americans to rise up. The thing is, they see those lesser Americans as darker-skinned and thus, deserving of maltreatment. They seem to have no clue that wealth and power has no love for them either. When you deem others as expendable, you make yourself expendable. Some are too stupid-or too smart- to know that.

News and notes

Over in Ferguson, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis) folks are protesting the killing of an 18 year old, unarmed black kid by the police. Evidently, (according to witnesses) he was shot while his hands were up and he was holding a cell phone. There's been some looting, rioting and I hear the cops have instituted a "no-fly zone" in the area! I also caught the end result of a Seattle security guard pepper-spraying a black youth who was in conflict with a shirtless white guy.

Now contrast that with young white men in Texas and their new hobby of taking their long guns out to public places. What could be scary about young, white men with assault weapons? The answer is: Sandy Hook, Boulder,  Columbine- oh, too many to mention. If I were to see a young white male with a AR-15 in my neighborhood, I'd hope there was a black youth with a cell phone nearby to phone the cops. And, as someone pointed out elsewhere on the internet, in a conflict between a shirted and a shirtless person, IT IS ALWAYS THE SHIRTLESS PERSON WHO IS AT FAULT! ALWAYS. See: Any episode of COPS. I can only note that this is true except in shirts/skins pick-up basketball games. Even the dumbest security guard should be able to pick the aggressor in that shopping mall match-up.

Where is Wayne LaPierre, the spokesmodel for the NRA? It's damn near a police riot in Ferguson but he's not calling for black folks to arm themselves. How about the militia that protected deadbeat Cliven Bundy's cows from the Federal gubmint? They are still there, I guess, ensuring the right of a millionaire, Christian rancher to hang into his money. Come on- did anybody really think those assholes were taking up for the common man? I guarantee those guys will be back embracing gubmint once there's another "R" in the White House. Did you ever notice these militias only prosper under democrat presidents? They hibernate whenever there is a Bush in the White House, as does talk of "big government".

Well, I think that will change with the next "R". I've been asking why 'they' let us have guns for a long time now. I've long known the answer to this rhetorical question.

The guns are for us, to be used by us, against us. We might be a republican president away from civil war. Maybe just a republican senate away? We already are halfway there with elected legislators practicing slightly-civil disobedience against the black democrat that has twice now been the people's choice. What happens when both houses of Congress leave him no choice but executive privilege?My guess is they'll view him as uppity and totalitarian.

What else might it take? A couple of more Fergusons where black folks react badly to law enforcement? Maybe another Sandy Hook where liberals react badly to rampant gunplay and the NRA spokesmodel intimates that guns will be confiscated so, buy more? It's all been adding up for a few decades now. There will be blood. What's at stake? Money, of course. Just not for us. Nobody gets that. This revolution isn't about us. It's all about them. We're just the participants. It's the way life works for the 99% of us.