Author: thependulumswings staff

Prop Bets Laced with Logic

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Super Bowl betting is expected to cross $7 billion this weekend.  BBR wants to do its part in ensuring that you’re on the winning side of your wagers.  We tackle a few below and the logic behind them.

Coin Toss–  Take Heads ($10.50 to win $10.00)  This one is a no-brainer.  The headwinds are blowing across the land on the economic/inflationary front.  And as a bonus, Team Biden is putting their collective heads together to solve this transitory situation.

Coin Toss Winner-  Take the Bengals ($10.50 to win $10.00)  This one is a no-brainer part two.  Per Dodge, there are no Rams on the lot due to supply chain issues.  Team Biden dodged the question about when the truck maker might see any chips or even bumpers for that matter.

First Score of the Game-  Take Anything other than a Touchdown or Field Goal ($10.00 to win $200.00).  Think Safety.  We’ve been thinking about safety for 24 months.  Surely all of these masks will pay off soon.

Total Combined QB Sacks- Take Under 5 and 1/2 ($24.00 to win $20.00)  This is the best bet of the weekend.  The world thinks Joey Burrow will get hammered six or so times himself.  Vegas is begging you to take the over.  Vegas knows.  Vegas always knows.

Will Either Team Score Three Unanswered Times in a Row-  Take Yes ($24.00 to win $10.00)  Think Jen Psaki for inspiration.  She “unanswers” three or more questions in a row daily.

Total Net Yards in the Game- Take under 769 and 1/2 ($16.00 to win $10.00)  Both offensive lines are like the Canadian Truckers.  They’re quite effective but moving far too slowly for some.

First Offensive Play of the Game- Take Rushing, not Passing ($12.00 to win $10.00)  Think Ukraine for inspiration.  We’re rushing in to help when we should be passing.  Some experts even recommend punting on first down on the frozen tundra of Ukraine.

Total Fumbles Lost by Both Teams-  Take over 1 and 1/2 ($10.00 to win $19.00)  Close your eyes and think Biden with no teleprompter.  Fumble.  Or, think Biden with a teleprompter.  Fumble.  Winner.  Winner.

The Margin of Victory-  Take the Bengals by 7-12 points ($10.00 to win $65.00)  With the Rams favored by 4 and 1/2 this would seem to make no sense.  Channel the last two years of your life that make no sense and let it ride.

We’d like to give a special shoutout to the NFL for suspending any covid-19 protocols including testing and isolation for the big game.

They need to make money to pay off Brian Flores.

We need to make money to fill up our gas tank.

 

 

Russia, China, GoFundMe, and Spotify

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You only have two eyeballs.  If you’re looking globally at the Russia/Ukraine border buildup with one and the Communist China Oppression and Olympics with the other you might be missing something.

Big Tech has entered(yet again) into its own global border buildup and oppressive tactics.  And, when you consider the long-term consequences the stakes might be higher than Russia and China combined.

Let’s start with GoFundMe.com.  Apparently, the fundraising website has applied to the FCC for a name change and a new domain address.  It’s called Go F@#$ Yourself.com.  They really haven’t applied but the newly suggested name would be quite apropos.

Surely you’ve heard by now that a GoFundMe fundraiser for the Canadian Freedom Convoy that crossed over 10 million dollars was closed down by GoFundMe. Then they announced that instead of the money going to the truckers protesting the vax mandate, they would “redirect” the donations to “credible and established charities” verified by GoFundMe.

The justification offered by GoFundMe was that it had turned into an occupation.  They went on to say that there were “police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.” Both are against GoFundMe regulations to conduct a fundraiser.

This is the same platform that allowed and even gave its backing to fund the lovely new residential (tents) development in 2020 in downtown Seattle called CHOP (Capital Hill Occupied Protests).  If you want to talk occupation, how about cordoning off six square blocks in the middle of downtown?  If you want to talk violence, the mostly peaceful community was closed down three weeks after it broke ground after numerous 911 calls for burglaries, rapes, four shootings with two of them being homicides.  Thirty new neighbors and its “civic” leader in all were arrested.

Six states, all red by the way, had aggressive Attorney Generals who filed or threatened to file suit alleging “fraud and theft” by GoFundMe of the promised money.  It should be downright scary to all that we’ve gotten to this spot.

And, then there is the Spotify/Joe Rogan arm wrestle.  Former hippy musicians like Neil Young have taken their music off of the platform that gives the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast a platform that over 11 million people tune in to regularly.  Once upon a time, hippies sang for freedom from government intervention, now they apparently embrace it, but we digress.

First, it was “misinformation” as the culprit as Rogan brought one or two docs on that told us the entire approach to the pandemic was upside down.  How dare they exhibit their right to free speech?

Cancel Joe Rogan for this misinformation (misinformation is slang for “I don’t agree with you”)! How dare he ask questions that allowed the docs to step outside of the test or vax lines?

Shouldn’t we revoke the docs’ licenses to practice while we are at it? Nah, they’re not the real threat.  Rogan’s common sense and growing listenership are.

But the campaign to cancel doesn’t stop there.  Now it’s “Joe Rogan is a racist!”  He used the dreaded “n-word” a time or two too many in previous podcasts, the context of which is apparently immaterial.

Do all of these cries of misinformation and racism sound like a Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Failure, or Nils Lofgren song that’s old and tired?  They left Spotify, too.

Barbara Streisand even threatened to do so as well.  Woah, scary, or not.  If you’re Spotify, what to do?  What to do?

So far Joe Rogan apologized for what we aren’t sure about.   And Spotify has now quietly deleted over 110 of his older podcasts and we aren’t sure why.  You can’t be half pregnant and you can’t have some free speech.

Whoppi apologized last week and two weeks from now all will go on as usual.  Rogan and Spotify should easily be able to do the same, but it won’t be easy.

GoFundMe should be ostracized to the point of going out of business, but it won’t.

Hey, did you hear that Putin has more tanks headed to the Ukraine border?

Who just won gold in the women’s downhill skiing?

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Our overworked and underpaid staff needs a day off.  Unfortunately, or fortunately for news wonks, this world continues to deep fry Ten Piece Nuggets at a prodigious clip.  There is no nugget supply chain shortage.

  1.  We borrowed this line.  Ok, we stole it.   It’s too good not to.  It looks like the only person at CNN that can keep his hands to himself is Jeffery Toobin.
  2.   Jeff Zucker is out at CNN.  He’s just another in what is becoming a long line of, ahem, “exposed” frauds.  The lovely and talented Chris Cuomo helped in the dethroning.  CNN is an AT&T property that is merging to form the new and bigger Discovery Co.  What to do?
  3. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again.  CNN should pivot (we hate that word) to the middle of the political spectrum.  They lose straight up in nearly every hour in the ratings to MSNBC for left-leaning viewers.  They get smashed by the juggernaut that FOX is.  In many hours measured MSNBC and CNN combined don’t reach what FOX does.  The middle lane is wide open for market share to be taken and we sense America is wide open for some middle-of-the-road thinking.
  4. If you’re just waking up know that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed in a “successful” U.S. Special Operations counterterrorism mission in northwest Syria Thursday, President Biden said.  The world is a safer place for it and Biden will tell us about it this morning.
  5. If you combine that with his nonsensical movement of 3k US troops nearer to the Ukraine/Russia mess he’s got the opportunity for a willing press to focus abroad v the mess we have here at home.  Color us jaded and a wee bit cynical.
  6.  What if you made it to the final round of Wheel of Fortune and picked “person” as your final category and the board lit up 39 blank squares that had ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi hidden behind them.  Pat, “Five consonants please.”  You, “B, H, Q, Y, and R.  Pat, “Really? And your vowel?” You, “I.”  Pat, “Wow.  Ok, Vanna, turn them around, and amazingly let’s see what we’ve got.”   Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.  Too soon?
  7. The three women that share the set on The View with Whoppi Goldberg unanimously decried her suspension two days after her non-race rant about the Holocaust.  They also did not address the matter on the show the day after the suspension.  They wouldn’t do the same for other “misinformation” (we hate what this word is now used for) rants like Joe Rogan, would they?
  8. Speaking of Joe Rogan, the Republicans should boldly announce that he has been asked to lead the first 2024 Republican Presidential Debate. It’s never too soon.  The best defense is a great offense.  Something like, “Keep Free Speech Free.”
  9. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross vigorously denied former head coach Brian Flores claims about performance bonuses for losses. “I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious, and defamatory.” Predictable.  Flores’ lawyers surely know that the NFL is a tight-knit group of deep pockets with great incentive to defend and plenty of in-house legal counsel to help do just that.
  10. Hue Jackson, former Cleveland Browns Head Coach publically stated yesterday that he was paid extra to dump games for the miserable Browns a few years back during his tenure. He says he has proof.  Maybe so.  If so, he definitely earned the incentive money.  The product on the field and his in-game management decisions were awful.  His press conferences, if possible, were worse.  He amassed a record of 3–36–1 during his tenure with the team including 0-20 on the road.
  11.  He is debating whether to join Flores’ lawsuit.  Why?  He had eight coaching stops in the NFL including two HC spots ( Oakland and Cleveland) and three Offensive Coordinator positions.  He was fired in Oakland by first-year GM Reggie McKenzie who is also black.  It sounds like great work over 18 NFL seasons if you could be so fortunate.

Ok, you were overserved.  It happens.

Making History This Month

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

One day after Whoppi Goldberg said that the Nazi Concentration Camps were not about race, Brian Flores filed a suit saying that the NFL is all about race.

So yesterday, 2/1/22, the first day of Black History Month, history was made all over again.

The NFL and its playoffs were flying high with the Super Bowl two weeks away.  The class-action lawsuit that Flores filed against the NFL sucked the air right out of that.  Its timing, the first day of Black History Month is purposeful.

Brian Flores was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019-to 2021.  Philosophical differences were cited by owner Stephen Ross and team management for his unexpected and abrupt firing two weeks ago.  Since then Flores has interviewed for the Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Houston Texans HC jobs.

His class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Giants, the Broncos, the Dolphins, and the other 29 teams alleges racial discriminatory hiring practices and abject prejudice against persons of color seeking or serving as coordinators and head coaches.

The suit goes in many directions, but the two loudest claims made by Flores are 1) that the NY Giants interviewed Flores for the HC position to be compliant with the Rooney Rule after the team had already decided to hire Brian Daboll, and 2) Dolphins owner S. Ross treated Flores with “disdain” and portrayed him as “someone who was non-compliant and difficult to work with” after Flores refused to purposely lose games to enhance their 2019 draft position.

Expectedly, the NFL and the three teams deny any wrongdoing.

A now published copy of the text exchange Flores had with Bill Belichick is the impetus for claim #1 above.  In it, Belichick texts “Sounds like you have landed-congrats!!”  Flores texts, “I interview on Thursday.”  Belichick back, ” Got it- I hear from Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy.”  Belichick thinks he’s texting Daboll (same first name Brian and same spelling).  Belichick, “Sorry I f’ed this up.  I think they are naming Daboll.  I’m sorry about that. BB”

The NY Giants claim that Flores was considered until the 11th hour.  They will also claim that what Belichick wrote is pure hearsay.  A court of law might decide on both.

The age-old argument for more minorities in the OC, DC, HC, and GM positions is “look at how many minorities are on the field and how few are in the front office.”  If one buys into “because one has plenty the other should as well,” then the question becomes “why would the same people who fill rosters with the most qualified to win, and are 70% plus minorities, not want the most qualified to coach or manage them regardless of color as well?”

In other words, is the NFL prejudiced off of the field but not on it?  And, if so, why would Ross hire Flores in the first place?

Flores interviewed for the still vacant Texans HC position last week.  The Texans fired David Culley, who is black, after one season.  Culley is 66 years old and was never an OC or DC prior to being named HC a year ago.  If they had hired a white HC who had never been an OC or DC prior would the outrage from the minority coaching community have been palpable?

Culley was terminated for multiple shortcomings (clock management, strategic management, etc.) and was paid his full buyout of $22 million for one year of work.  If you are a racist, do you hire a black guy to fire him a year later and cough up $22,000,000?

So, what is the appropriate amount or percentage of minorities that should occupy the aforementioned positions?  Is it the same as the overall population?  That would be 13% black.  Is it the same as on the field?  That would be north of 60% black.

Or should it be whoever is the most qualified?  Seventy-three percent of polled Americans would prefer Joe Biden pick whom he feels is the most qualified next SCOTUS Justice, not corner himself with a campaign promise of selecting a black female.  Even 54% of polled Democrats agree with this thinking.

Give Flores credit.  He chose principle over a lucrative livelihood in all likelihood while still considered a finalist for the Texans’ job and while meeting with the Saints’ brain trust LAST NIGHT for their vacant HC position.  Timing is everything.

He calls the Rooney Rule(teams must interview at least two minorities with every opening) a sham. And, it is.  And, it has been.  It’s kowtowing to a cause.  But, teams following the rule as it was intended prove nothing about racial discrimination.

Throw it away and just interview who you think is the most qualified for your team’s leadership needs.  The Steelers and Dan Rooney did just that when they hired Mike Tomlin 15 years ago and counting.

It is odd though that a 60-page class-action suit could be discussed, written, and filed in such a short period of time.  It’s almost like a 1k page House Bill that Nancy Pelosi pulls out of her top drawer.

Still, if he has an agenda that he believes in it’s his right to go forward with it whenever chooses.

Will Brian Flores ever work again in the NFL?  Doubtful.

Fifty percent of Americans think America is racist.  Fifty-plus percent of Americans is tired of 50% thinking it’s racist.

Will America ever work again?  Hopeful.

Will Flores’ action be looked back upon as historic?  For better, for worse, and for sure.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s February 1st, the middle of the winter.  You need some warmth and comfort.  What better way is there to get that than to digest some Ten Piece Nuggets?

They’re served one at a time and randomly below.

  1.  Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau says that he tested positive for Covid-19.  Is he hiding from the convoy of truckers in Ottawa who are opposed to the jab, while he is vaxxed, boosted, and positive all at once? The irony.  It says here that he tucked his tail and ran.   He blasted them via a taped message calling their actions “racist” amongst other lies about their cause.  It’s always a good day to play the race card.  Should Canada insist that he go get tested for conniving cowardness as well?
  2.  If Trudeau and California Governor Gavin Newsom switched jobs in the middle of the night how long would it take for anyone to notice?  Newsom was caught on camera multiple times during the Rams/49ers NFC Championship Game yet again thumbing his non-masked nose at Californians who are under his mandate to mask up while indoors at work, events, and school.   He denied doing so.  Cameras don’t lie, people do.
  3.  While Joe Rogan apologized for exercising his right to free speech yesterday, Whoppi Goldberg exercised hers on The View.  The longtime co-host claimed the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” adding, “it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”  There was no joy in Joy Behar’s face.
  4. By afternoon she apologized.  “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man. I should’ve said it is about both.  I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused.”  That’s how you cancel the Cancel Culture Cops.
  5. And, rather than trying to cancel Rogan, why not ask to appear on his podcast?  He goes in-depth is why.  Superficial answers get followed up.  Fauci should be the first guest.  Rand Paul would jump at the chance.
  6. It was a busy Monday at the White House as well.  President Biden took to the podium to tell the assembled press that his team was trying to “figure out” why so many illegal immigrants were crossing our southern border.  Could it be that there is no enforcement and upon entry you get a free plane ride to a state of Biden’s choosing?  Stand-up comedy is not dead after all.
  7. Unvaxxed truckers cannot enter, but unvaxxed illegal immigrants with no IDs can.   Maybe next week old Joe can try to “figure out” why our supply chain is failing.  Could it be partially due to so few trucks crossing our borders due to the vax mandate?
  8. At least there’s good news for parents on the vax front.  Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit a request for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine in children six months to 5 years old as soon as Tuesday.  It’s even better news for the under-two crowd.  Pfizer reports sufficient immune effectiveness with only two jabs.  But, if you’re three or more you’ll need three or more jabs.  Approval from the “lost its mind” FDA could come early next month.
  9.  Meanwhile, several countries seem to be regaining their senses.  Today Finland joins England, Ireland, and Denmark in ending all covid restrictions.  Remember when the US was known as the home of the free and the brave?  Maybe in two more weeks after we flatten the curve we can join the crowd.
  10.  Changing gears, can the NFL be any hotter?  Four unbelievable games two weekends ago gave way to two nail-biters this past weekend.  We’ve not seen the ratings but we’re old enough to remember when we were told that the NFL was going to suffer for its activism, etc.   Doubtful.  Very.  The “home” LA Rams have been instilled as an early four-point pick over the “visiting” Cincinnatti Bengals.  Joe B. has them right where he wants them.

Less Zoom, doom, and gloom are right around the corner.

 

Think Inside the Box

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Surely once or thrice you’ve been asked to think outside of the box.

A wise CEO once asked a group a few moons ago to think inside of the box.  Why?  To get their attention is one reason.  And, to realize where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there is another.

So, where is America right now, and more importantly for Republicans where is their party in the minds of Americans?

America is seriously divided on a plethora of issues right down party lines.  Each side asks that we “come together as a country” frequently.  What they mean is “agree with us and all will be well.”  The ask doesn’t even sound sincere and it certainly doesn’t work that way.

Republicans are thought of and/or portrayed as white, old, stodgy, racist, set in their ways, and out of touch.

What to do?  How about doing some things that are progressive and democratic at the same time yet reflect conservative views?

Say what?  Well, it’s a lot different than it may sound at first blush.

Progressive also means “happening or developing gradually or in stages; proceeding step by step.” Democratic also means “relating to or supporting democracy or its principles.”

Try just a few on for size.

How about getting all new leadership after the midterms regardless of the outcomes?  Isn’t it past time that old Mitch McConnell for one, arguably the biggest RINO of them all step aside? Just last week he mumbled, “if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans,” implying that Black voters are not Americans.

On Friday, he said he “inadvertently omitted the word ‘almost,’” but then after the news conference ended, he returned to the microphones to correct himself one more time. “The omitted word is ‘all,’ not ‘almost,'” he said. “Sorry.”

Biden is worse tripping over his own tongue, but not by much.  The elephants need a fresh face, voice, and view.

How about having all 50 Republican Senators vote for the SCOTUS black female nominee?  Let’s assume that she is qualified, regardless if opinions vary if she is the most qualified.  The vote is supposed to be cast on qualifications, not political ideology.

Madame VP Harris would cast the 51st vote for her confirmation regardless, but that’s not really the point.  The point would be that America could look at this as “progress.”  Take the lead in celebrating her nomination.  Maybe even a RINO or two could sell it that way as “coming together as a country.”

Eleven Democrats voted for Clarence Thomas.  One was not then-Senator Biden, but we digress.   Thirty-nine Republicans voted for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.   Only one Democrat (don’t Build Back Better Joe Manchin) voted for Brett Kavanaugh.

And, how about looking ahead to 2024?  If you support true conservatism, you’d support it regardless of who espouses it, wouldn’t you?  Nominate the right presidential candidate from the right.  Then choose Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat in name only as your VP running mate.

Sound crazy?  It might drive perpetually in mourning Morning Joe crazy.  But, listen to what she believes in and you’ll swear that she’s further right than any Bush, Graham, McConnell, Crenshaw, Romney, or Rubio ever sounded.

It is after all principles, not sheep in wolves’ clothing that matter most, isn’t it?  And, who wants to be the first Democrat to stand up and say that nominating a Dem female is a bad idea?

Progressive and democratic is the new conservative.

Do you say it can never happen?

Don’t tell Joe Burrow “never.”

Orange and black is the new AFC Champion.

 

 

Churn and Burn

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If it’s Breyer’s, it’s got to still be good!  Any ice cream company founded in 1866 and still churning today has to be good.

But, with FDA government regulations, even good goes bad when it gets old.  Use by this date or discard the label says.

Yesterday, someone somewhere in the government decided that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s discard date had come up as well.

Breyer’s retirement was reported by the press before he himself made it.  This led to speculation that it had been leaked by a White House eager to appease left-wing critics after its recent legislative failures and court defeats.

Might the party in charge be worried about Republicans winning the Senate in 2022?  Might the party in charge be worried about another Ruth Bader Ginsberg situation?  Out with the old and in with the new.

Multiple sources told multiple members of the press that Justice Breyer was not planning to announce his retirement yesterday. They describe him as “upset” with how this has played out.  Breyer prides himself on not being partisan.

Apparently, the White House prides itself on not caring what Breyer cares about.

Did Demand Justice, a left-wing group formed to oppose Trump’s Supreme Court picks have a hand in forcing Breyer’s hand? The group proudly launched a “Breyer Retire” campaign just weeks after Biden took office.  Demand Justice is quite open about its goal of seeking to overhaul the federal court system to advance progressive goals.

Both WH press secretary Jen Psaki and Paige Herwig, Biden’s point person on judicial nominations, previously worked for Demand Justice.  Coincidence?

Breyer was good until a new flavor, but with similar tastes in thinking, can head to the Supreme Court.  And the new appointee needs to head that way before November.

The White House had little to say about Breyer’s retirement because they said it wasn’t “official” yet.   Odd?  Though they did quickly add that the Biden Administration would follow through on his campaign promise to add a black and female jurist to the highest court.  Odder?

Why not choose whomever they thought was most qualified regardless of gender and skin color?  As a Senator Joe Biden voted against the nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas, probably because he thought that he was unqualified.  Oddest?

Will the administration throw Breyer a retirement party?  If so, will they let him in on when it is?

And, most of all, will they serve Breyer’s Ice Cream with the cake at Justice Breyer’s going away party?

It’s likely, but only if the use-by and discard date hasn’t come and gone like the justice’s has.

Because remember, it’s got to still be good!

 

 

Football Is a Joke.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time to lighten it up a bit.

One of our faithful readers forwarded the quotes and jokes about the game of football below.  We blatantly copied nearly all of them for you.  Enjoy as the season is but three games from being over.

First, here are the quotes.

“I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.”
– Bear Bryant / Alabama

“It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle, you can hear it!”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“At Georgia Southern, we don’t cheat.
That costs money, and we don’t have any.”
– Erik Russell / Georgia Southern

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”
– Lou Holtz / Arkansas – Notre Dame

“When you win, nothing hurts.”
– Joe Namath / Alabama

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.”
– Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.”
– Woody Hayes / Ohio State

“I don’t expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation.”
– Bob Devaney / Nebraska

“In Alabama, an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in Bear Bryant.”
– Wally Butts / Georgia

“I never graduated from Iowa. But I was only there for two terms – Truman’s and Eisenhower’s.”
– Alex Karras / Iowa

“My advice to defensive players is to take the shortest route to the ball, and arrive in a bad humor.”
– Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar except for my grades.”
– Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

“ Always remember Goliath was a 40-point favorite over David.”
– Shug Jordan / Auburn

“I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn’t recruit me “
He said, “Well, Walt, we took a look at you, and you weren’t any good.”
– Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State/Dallas Cowboys

“Football is NOT a contact sport, it is a collision sport.
Dancing IS a contact sport.” –
Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team was;
“All those who need showers, take them.”
– John McKay / USC

“ If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education.”
– Murray Warmath / Minnesota

“The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb.
To be a back, you only have to be dumb.”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.”
– John McKay / USC

“I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

Ohio State’s Urban Meyer on one of his players:
“He doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear.
In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn’t know the meaning of a lot of words.”

And, now a few jokes.

Why do Auburn fans wear orange?
So they can dress for the game on Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday.

What does the average Alabama player get on his SATs?
Drool.

How many Michigan State freshmen football players does it take to change a light bulb?
None. That’s a sophomore course.

How did the Auburn football player die from drinking milk?
The cow fell on him.

Two Texas A&M football players were walking in the woods.
One of them said, ” Look, a dead bird.”
The other looked up in the sky and said, “Where?”

What do you say to a Florida State University football player dressed in a three-piece suit?
“Will the defendant please rise?”

How can you tell if a Clemson football player has a girlfriend?
There’s tobacco juice on both sides of the pickup truck.

University of Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh is only going to dress half of his players for the game this week.

The other half will have to dress themselves.

How is the Kansas football team like an opossum?
They play dead at home and get killed on the road.

How do you get a former University of Miami football player off your porch? 

Pay him for the pizza.

 

Have another good one?  Drop it in the comments!

 

 

Toothless Crime Enforcement

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

For over forty years the one constant in fighting crime on a national level is McGruff the Crime Dog.  He debuted in 1980 with a series of public service announcements educating citizens on personal security measures, such as locking doors and putting lights on timers, in order to reduce crime.

McGruff did and continues to serve loyally.  But, by 1994, America felt the need to take yet another bite out of crime.

Democrat President Bill Clinton signed HR 3355-Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 into law.  The bill was sponsored by Democrat Representative Jack Brooks out of Texas and Democrat, now Socialist, Bernie Sanders even voted yes along the way to the president’s desk.

The bill is better known as the “three strikes and you’re out” law.   It provided funding for tens of thousands of community police officers and drug courts, banned certain assault weapons, and mandated life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes.

Over time, studies and sentiment have deemed certain aspects of the stringent guidelines with the law too harsh.  Judges, states, and DA’s have eased up on its presumed punitive measures.

The slippery slope to lower bails, lighter sentences, plea bargains, and outright indifference to certain crimes has accelerated in the last decade.  NY and its mayor Bill DeBlasio told cops to stand down time and again.  It stopped its “stop and frisk” policy.

Social injustices and Soros’ money created movements in the streets.  Mostly peaceful protests weren’t mostly peaceful.  Cities, like Portland, worked by day and burned by night.

And, then George Floyd was killed.  And, the US was incensed and nearly incinerated.

Defund the police became the cry heard around the world and measures in some of the US blue states did just that-defund the blue.

So, now where do we stand?

Well, if you’re Cali Governor Gavin Newsom you stood in the trash of the opened boxes of stolen property on the rails of the Union Pacific railroad late last week.  There you took to the microphone (for the photo op) and blamed these railroad robberies on gangs.  Then you apologized in the next sentence, called your words pejorative, and said that you should have called them “organized groups of people.”  That’ll show them.

If you’re the newly elected NY DA you go down the rabbit hole of outlining in a penned memo that most crimes in his jurisdiction wouldn’t be prosecuted and if they were, criminals wouldn’t face jail time except for offenses committed with a gun.

Over the last two weeks, an LA officer was shot and killed, two cops in NY were shot, leaving one dead and one severely injured, a Houston officer was gunned down, and a border patrol agent in Texas was murdered.

And countless others, out on light bond money or none at all, have committed more serious crimes than their last offense.

So, now where do we stand?

McGruff has proven quite loyal, but right now his bark is far worse than his bite.  Our law enforcement has no teeth and the outlaws sense it.

If the three-strikes bill long ago was too far one way, is today’s mess too far the other?

The pendulum always swings.  Doesn’t it?   One can hope.

Kudzu

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

How can you win when you lose?

Stacey Abrams was a big win for the Democratic Party on a national level when she lost the 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Maybe few saw it then, but looking back you can see it clearly now.

“Voter suppression,” she screamed.  “Vote counting irregularity,” the Dems and their national lawyers who flew in yelled.  Recount the votes.  Recount them again.

Georgia is a have or have not state.  The title to its fertile land was owned by slave-owning, white farmers, and is perceived the same to this day.  The same with its politics.  It’s always about power.

But, in that rich soil seeds of doubt were cast about how we cast and count votes.  And the valuable crops of social injustice and voter suppression were cultivated all over again and spread like nasty kudzu.

“Hmmm?” the DNC pondered.  “How can we fertilize and water this and get it to harvest nationwide by November 2020?”

And, like the much-needed rain to nourish, fell a plague from the sky.  Covid-19 it was called, and its case count was growing like the aforementioned nasty weed.

How can we ask people to stand in line and show a silly voter identification when they could die doing so?  “We can’t,” said many blue states, using a version of the infamous blue flu to approve mail-in ballots, dropbox ballots, absentee ballots, and most of all harvested ballots.

Eighty-one million ballots in all were cast for the next President of the United States-Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.  That’s the highest vote count in American Presidential voting history for one candidate.

Donald Trump nearly lost his mind over losing to a man that may have lost his mind, claiming voter fraud from sea to sea.  “Turn those machines back on,” he squealed.

And, the Democrats roared.  “How dare you contest the fairest election that we’ve ever had?”

Team Trump had no more valid claims of illegal activity than the DNC did in Georgia, but never let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

And, just 14 months later the most voted for President in our history is polling at historic lows.  In fact, a poll yesterday of American adults aged 18-64 had 70% of its respondents checking the box “no, I do not want Biden to run for reelection in 2024.”  Go figure.

That poll was released just one day after Biden held a nearly two-hour press conference, his first in nearly 80 days.

During the presser, Biden pressed on about voting fraud.  When asked if he was concerned about the upcoming 2022 midterms he offered,  “I’m not going to say it’s going to be legit,” Mr. Biden said. “The increase and the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these reforms passed.”

Those reforms were two bills, both defeated in the Senate disguised as voting rights bills but were really fed overreach to take election control from the states.

Mr. 81 Million vote-getter is now worried about fair elections with the same laws in place that got him elected.  Go figure.

Jen Psaki, clean up on aisle two.

The kudzu spreads.