Glibertarians.com 2019 Archive

Category: Opinion

  • Leonard vs Hagler: A review by Trigger Hippie

    I’ll keep this brief. I was an amateur boxer and coach/trainer off and on for many years. I’m going to review famous bouts that many people argue over. In order to stay as acurate in my opinion as possible, I paused the fight midway through each round, typed down my view of the round so far, then finished watching the round and finish my take on it. And before you ask, yes, I was completely sober while writing this. Let’s begin!

    Round 1
    The beginning goes as many title-fights go when it’s featuring two highly skilled, highly decorated fighters: slowly. “Feeling each other out” is the term. In fact, Hagler did almost nothing but stalk Leonard to get a read on how he would react with his feet when he advanced. Oh! I had forgotten one crucial factor in the scoring of this fight: Hagler, a southpaw, fights the first two rounds almost exclusively right-handed. I’m too lazy to dig into the why of the matter but needless to say it was to Hagler’s detriment. Leonard dances, lands a few jabs and crosses, nothing too aggressive, but Hagler just makes a halfhearted effort at offense.

    Leonard 10 Hagler 9

    Round 2

    Hagler begins to advance with purpose and finally starts punching. At first, Leonard and Hagler are unable to connect with any clean punches. Leonard uses his footwork to outmaneuver Hagler and clinch effectively but then Hagler presses the issue and while not landing any meaningful punches, gains the edge through the first half of the round by brawling. The second half of the round Leonard regains his spacing and lands some counter-punches before stealing the round in the last thirty seconds by landing hard jabs, body hooks, and fighting out of the clinch.

    Leonard 20 Hagler 18

    Round 3

    Hagler finally starts fighting as a southpaw and the difference is notable. Through the first half of the round any exchanges started by Leonard are finished by Hagler. Hagler maintains pressure and keeps landing tightly thrown punches that go unnoticed by the crowd as they roar for Leonard’s deflected punches. Leonard does manage to land about four or five very clean punches in the round, but the pace, pressure and total of landed punches go to Hagler.

    Leonard 29 Hagler 28

    Round 4

    This time, it’s Leonard who comes out of the corner with purpose. He quickly finds his spacing, and easily slips most of Hagler’s punches while slipping in himself to land hard single shots and quick flurries. He also gets away with a low-blow but to me it was clear Leonard won the round easily.

    Leonard 39 Hagler 37

    Round 5

    Hagler and Leonard spend most of the first part of the round staying near each other and exchanging punches. Leonard surprisingly gets a little flatfooted and stops dancing, yet, he keeps his body angled sideways for the most part, lands the cleaner, quicker punches, and has the advantage. After that, Hagler tightens up his guard and begins to *walk through Leonard’s punches(*take the punches off his guard, and risk getting hit to close the distance), landing many solid shots and working Leonard into the ropes. Hagler does enough to reclaim the round.

    Leonard 48 Hagler 47

    Round 6

    Hagler initiates the exchanges immediately. He lands clean, hard, single shots with all four punch types within the first minute while also wrangling Leonard around the ring to keep pressuring him. The first half of the round is a classic example of how to fight “pressure-in” by Hagler. Stay inside the arms of a dancer so he can’t fully extend on his punches and counter with good footwork. Force him to brawl while you grapple, lean on, push, and land hard single shots to weaken the body and slow your opponent’s feet. Basically, be a bully. Leonard lands a few punches and outperforms Hagler in the last minute, but it’s not enough.

    Leonard 57 Hagler 57

    Round 7

    This round begins with a touch more hesitation by Hagler after an initial lunge and Leonard takes the opportunity to land a few quick shots. Then Hagler begins working inside again and scores a few shots of his own, landing a couple flurries and forcing Leonard into the ropes. But this time, Leonard does a good job of counter-punching and works his way out. The round is a draw at the midway point. Neither can land cleanly, but Hagler keeps forcing the action and then starts scoring on hard single shots. Leonard again finds his spacing and starts to score with hard shots and a few combos of his own. Hagler gets the last ten seconds, but I can’t give the round to either one clearly. Side-Note: I’m a firm believer that in order to win the round, you need to win the fucking round, even if it’s only slightly. I won’t steal a point away from a guy just cuz. This is where I deviate from most judges sitting ringside. Anyway, draw.

    Leonard 67 Hagler 67

    Round 8

    A few exchanges are attempted but nothing meaningful happens. Then they stop the fight because the tape on Leonard’s glove splits. They fix the glove, fight resumes, then Hagler spends the next minute slightly outboxing Leonard by doing a more cautious version of walking through your opponent’s punches, yet still lands the cleaner shots. Leonard regains his composure and lands several clean single shots and small flurries. Hagler neutralizes Leonard’s attack by again closing the gap and landing shots of his own during the last forty seconds. Despite Leonard landing the more crowd pleasing punches, Hagler quietly scored punches more consistently through the round.

    Leonard 76 Hagler 77

    Round 9

    Leonard begins the round strong by finding the sweet spot where you’re just inside the opponent’s range, enticing them to punch so you can hop outside and then hop back in after they miss to score hard crosses and three punch combinations(classic counter-punching). A great fighter can then stay inside and bob and weave off the opponent’s attempted counters to score more shots before working their way back out of range, and Leonard was great. He controlled the first minute easily but Hagler absorbs those shots and presses in to land some clear scoring shots himself and forces Leonard into the ropes. Leonard works his way out but quickly takes more punches and again gets cornered. Halfway through, slight advantage to Leonard because he clearly controlled more time. Then the highlight reel begins. Hagler continues to hit Leonard in the corner. Increasing in confidence, he begins to throw multiple flurries, landing a lot of shots. However, once he gets set, he’s flatfooted, and Leonard works out of the corner. Then Leonard starts landing combinations of his own. The fight shifts back to the center of the ring where Leonard’s faster hands and feet are at optimal advantage. He easily scores and avoids punishment for thirty seconds, taking the edge in the round. But Hagler settles down and slightly outboxes Leonard the rest of the way. Both fighters were exhausted. I apologize for the length of this portion, but it was possibly the best round of the fight, both from the viewpoint of an ex-boxer/geek and from the casual fan’s. Overall, I think the time was split in regard to control of the round, but Leonard’s time was more one-sided.

    Leonard 86 Hagler 86

    Round 10

    The first half of the round is a tale of two tired men, understandably so. They kept their discipline and continued to fight but nobody landed noteworthy blows or gained an advantage. If anything, I’d give Hagler this portion by the thinnest of margins because he landed about four or five uncontested, yet weak, shots on Leonard near the halfway point. Hagler then imposes his will on Leonard with solid body shots in the clinch, Leonard finds a way to counter, landing impressive shots to even the round, but Hagler lands more punches during the last thirty seconds. This was hard to score…Hagler by a nose-hair.

    Leonard 95 Hagler 96

    Round 11

    Another close beginning. Both fighters missed early but managed to score a few one-two combos halfway through, no clear advantage for either fighter. Hagler manages to maneuver Leonard into the ropes and scores punches, but at this point there’s not much force behind them. Leonard works his way out, showboats, and lands nothing. The crowd is thrilled*eye-roll*. Leonard lands a few more solid single punches but Hagler gets close and lands about four left hooks in a clinch, then another shot after the break. Leonard shows some guts and instigates the exchanges, but Hagler responds to his shots with counters. Advantage, Hagler.

    Leonard 104 Hagler 106

    Round 12

    I think both fighters believed that they had won the fight going into this round. Hagler gave a professional effort and continued to fight his fight. Leonard, however, went into celebration mode after landing a six punch combo. And to be fair, Hagler did nothing noteworthy to erase Leonard’s bravado after that. It was even outside that combo. Round goes to Leonard.

    My Final Bout Card
    Leonard 114 Hagler 115

    Skip to the thirteen-minute mark to bypass the bullshit.

  • OverRated: The Week in College Football Polls Ugly Trophy Edition

    Ugly Trophy Edition:  It turns out there are teams out there worse than MICHIGAN

    This past week we learned that there is a college in Ypsilanti, so don’t go using that sweet town’s name in vain just because you want to make fun of Jim Harbaugh (personal motto:  I was born in Toledo!).  We also learned that GM’s Willow Run plant closed in 2010 (thanks, Obama), so we’ll need to pick on some other township the next time we want to make tranny jokes.

    Out on the grid-iron, we book only two toldjasos™, but one comes at the high cost of conceding a mistake.  The week that was:

     

    Week Six Most OverRated Football Program Results

    1          Boise State unremarkably trounced entertainment engineering powerhouse UNLV

    2          Wake Forest doesn’t play Unitas-less Louisville until next weekend (I misread their calendar)

    3          Georgia finally took the all-time series lead over hapless Tennessee

    4          Florida handled Auburn and child quarterback Nix

    4          Iowa was corn-holed by the near-nobodies at Ann Arbor

    6          Texas recovered from an early scare to survive at West Virginia

    7          Auburn has a solid defense, but so does Florida, so they fell five places

    7          Oregon quietly managed Cal

    9          Oklahoma beat KU by only 25

     

    Iowa’s not much to brag on, but some trophies are just uglier than others.  Ranked 14th, they gave up eight sacks to 19th ranked Michigan and fell, appropriately, four spots.

    Auburn’s loss to Florida was a very even match, but in the polls your punishment is always all out of proportion to what happened at the game.  So Auburn falls five places, and they are now proven to have been at least a bit over-rated.  I can’t put it more succinctly than MSN:

    . . . a game that was tense, sloppy, mistake-filled, oddly coached and generally impossible to figure out from possession to possession.  After four turnovers apiece and a whole bunch of other weirdness, it was No. 8 Florida blowing the game open on Lamical Perine’s 88-yard touchdown run with 9:04 remaining, giving the Gators a terrific win and a 6-0 record despite some very clear flaws. And for No. 7 Auburn, it was a reality check about life with a true freshman quarterback in Bo Nix, who seemed rather overwhelmed with the whole thing and made some truly terrible decisions . . .

     

    This correspondent has trifled with Florida and had bagged them already earlier in the season when AP voters had lost their collective nerve over the Gators.  But now we must concede that any earlier call on UF was bull feathers and book them as a clear miss.  They feature a second-string quarterback, but, as usual, their defensive secondary is fearless and fast.  They’re still over-rated a place or two, but that’s still too close, so let’s just agree I was wrong on this one.

    So snarking about the rankings is nearly dead for the year; there’s just not much new left to yell about from the peanut gallery.  Indeed, in my admittedly very slow news, I found that if you duckduckgo for “heckler” you get endless pictures of cool pistols; that’s all I learned this week.  Now . . . onto your season’s-under-way and Iowa-free rankings:

     

    Newest Week N + 1 Post-Iowa Most OverRated Football Programs

    1      Wake Forest will host Unitas-less Louisville as my All-Time Most OverRated Team of All-Time!!11!!

    2      Minnesoda almost ties the Wake record with their ridiculous debut but should edge Nebraska by four

    3       Memphis jumps onto our board; Temple won’t have a prayer against the Tiger Hype

    4       Boise State hosts Hawaii

    5       Georgia should roll over The Other USC

    6       Texas meets worthy Oklahoma in the Red River Classic

    7       Oregon should bulldoze Colorado

    8       Oklahoma meets worthy Texas in the Red River Classic

    Honorable mentions – Utah is still over-ranked, but I’ve made enough fun of them already this year.  SMU should damp to their mean soon.  So how has our year gone so far?

     

    Year to Date Hides on the Wall Rated

    1          Utah lost to an unrated USC

    2          Stanford was revealed by USC

    2          Syracuse was unranked after Maryland

    2          UCF was edged by an unranked Pitt

    2          Iowa was no number 15 as Michigan proved

    6          Cal was dumped from the AP after losing to Arizona State

    6          Iowa State was dethroned before their decent showing against Iowa

    6          Michigan State fell out of the ratings, so I was right after all

    9          Clemson was dethroned by Mack Brown retirement project UNC

    9          Texas probably over-paid for losing to titan LSU

    9          Auburn probably over-paid for losing to Auburn

    9          Texas A&M probably over-paid for quality losses against Clemson and Auburn

    13        Washington State was unranked after becoming lowly UCLA’s first win

    14        Michigan was blown out by Wisconsin

    15        Virginia probably over-paid for losing to can-play-with-UGA Notre Dame

     

    Year to Date It-Would-Seem Blown Calls Because They’re Doing Okay Really Well

    1          LSU

    2          Florida seems to have earned their status by defeating top-ten Auburn

    3          UCF is now a skin on the wall after Pitt

    4          Michigan no longer a blown call because Wisconsin

    5          Washington State no longer a blown call because UCLA

    Let’s score this year 15–2-3 so far, nothing to be ashamed of.  So closes another week!

     

     

    links to older opinions:                  2019-10-03                  2019-09-26                  2019-09-19                  2019-09-13                  2019-09-06
    Disclosure of sources of bias:  your writer has attended the University of Tennessee, Memphis State and the University of Memphis, Christian Brothers College . . . and he sleeps with an alumna of Georgia whose parents met at Washington State . . . and his son went to Houston . . . and he never met anyone from TCU he didn’t like . . . and he irrationally hates Notre Dame, UCF, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

  • The Big Things

    If you read my previous post, you will know that I shared some of my favorite little things: fresh coffee, good whiskey and hot shaves.  I truly believe that the small things in life are what make us happy, but unless the big things are properly managed, we won’t be able to enjoy them.  The big things may not be exciting, but they are important.  Here are some of my big things.

    Three years ago my wife insisted I go to the doctor.   The fact that I work in healthcare pretty much guaranteed that I would not see a doctor unless a loved one forced me to go.  Because I value a happy wife, I acquiesced and made the appointment.  As I am sitting in an assess gown on the exam table that is covered with butcher paper I am reminded why I don’t like to go.  The assistant enters the room and asks me to step on the scale, which I assume has not been properly calibrated because the number is far too high.  She then takes my blood pressure, which I assume she is not practiced in, because yet again, the number is way too high.  Thankfully, the incompetent assistant leaves and I can finally speak to the ARNP.  

    “You are too fat Mr. Man and I want to run labs,” says the ARNP dryly?  

    I think to myself, “Run labs?  I am in my early thirties, why would I need labs?”

    I assume they are likely running up the bill, but what do I care, I have insurance.  Thanks Obamacare! I get a call a week later informing me that I need to come in to discuss my lab work as soon as possible.  The primary care provider explains that my good cholesterol is low, my bad cholesterol is high, and my very bad cholesterol is immeasurable because my triglycerides are dangerously high.  The PCP recommends several medications and lifestyle changes. I respond completely rationally and tell the PCP, “NO DEAL!”.

    I make a bargain for a three month reprieve and promise to make lifestyle changes. I will retest and if I am still high, I’ll concede to the medications.  The PCP reluctantly agrees, sharing that when TGs are as high as mine, he has never seen diet alone correct the problem and it is most likely genetic. I decline to share with my wife the seriousness of my visit, because I don’t want her to worry, and make no mention of the risk for pancreatitis with which I was cajoled.  

    I confess, to enjoying the finer things in life, especially rich food, wine, beer, cocktails, whiskey and lazy days lounging by the pool.  The day I left the doctor’s office, I cut all calories out of my drinks. No more booze, sodas or sugary coffee drinks. I greatly restricted my carb consumption and drastically reduced my portion sizes.  I fasted one day per week for 24 hours to shock my system.  In three months I had lost over twenty pounds and cut my TGs to one third of the original, which were still above normal, but good enough to avoid medication.  My PCP asked to see me in six months and if I had not reached normal levels, still wanted to start me on a much smaller dose of medication. I agreed to the terms and decided to redouble my efforts.  I joined a gym, started doing circuit machines and rowing, and then strong lifts 5×5.  Next came Mad Cow and now a strength program that Leap at the Wheel helped me design and some mixed cardio of biking and boxing.  I am proud to say I am in better shape at 38 than I was as a teenager.  I’ve keep the weight off and normalized my labs without medication.  

    Another key to a healthy life is reducing stress.  A major source of stress for many Americans is debt, which brings me to my next story.  In July of 2010, I got married and significantly increased my debt.  I graduated from the University of North Florida the year before with six figures of college loans.  My wife had graduated not long before the wedding with nearly six figures in debt as well. On the bright side, I was able to pay for the ring and honeymoon in cash and her parents helped pay for the wedding, so at least we had no matrimonial debt.  I purchased a Tacoma after graduation, due to having crashed my RX-8, but luckily my wife was still driving her paid-in-full Jetta.  We shared an inexpensive apartment while my wife looked for work and I worked long hours at the trauma hospital.  

    Then we got robbed.  Cash, computers, televisions, and several firearms were stolen.  Most heartbreakingly, my wife’s camera, with our honeymoon pictures, was gone.  Needless to say, we no longer felt safe in our current lodgings, so we sought new accommodations.  It was the end of 2010 and the housing market had mostly finished collapsing, so we decided to buy a bank-owned home.  We found a home that needed some TLC and made the purchase in January 2011. I had just turned 30 and now had a mortgage, car payment, two grad schools worth of loans and a home depot credit card maxed out to pay for flooring and a new AC unit for our home.  

    Looking back, I have no idea how we made those payments, especially in the summer when my wife was not earning a paycheck.  In 2012, we added a new RAV4 to the family as we felt life was too easy with only stifling debt, instead of crushing debt.  I wish I could tell you when or why my interest sparked in finance, but I can’t remember. I do know it started with Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor and more books than I can remember going forward.  The wife and myself decided to get debt free and paid the Home Depot card and closed the account.  Then I paid the Tacoma off and focused on the student loans. Luckily I had avoided conventional wisdom and had not consolidated my debt nor my wife’s, so we could pay the fourteen loans off smallest to largest.  With each reduction in minimum monthly payments we could save to tackle the largest loans.  

    In 2015, I refinanced our mortgage to a 15 year loan with a 3.5 percent rate. In 2016, we made the final payment on my wife’s car, leaving only the mortgage.  It took a lot of sacrifice to get out from under our debt and years later our home is still mostly empty as we chose not to use credit to fill the house with furniture or pay for the remodel.  We may not drive the latest cars or wear the fanciest clothes, but we do not fight over bills we can’t pay either, and not fighting with a wife is priceless.  

    July 2020 will be the tenth year spent with my wonderful wife.  We have decided that a vow renewal is in order and we will be inviting friends and family to celebrate what is increasingly becoming a rare event.  I attribute our longevity to similarity in personality, compromise and luck. My wife and I have different politics, religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds. Our mutual respect for each other’s differences, while focusing on shared values is crucial.  I am an atheist, my wife a catholic, but she doesn’t try to convert me and I accompany her to mass whenever she likes.  Politics is the third rail in our family and is best left untouched, however on occasion we remind ourselves why we don’t discuss the topic.  Regarding our ethnic differences, with her being a first generation American with South and Central American parents and me a white redneck/southerner, we still have common values.  Thrift, work ethic, honesty, politeness, and kindness are shared values that are much more important than skin tone or nationality. 

    It was blind luck that after we married we discovered we have similar spending habits and agreed where we should live.  We have learned to compromise, communicate and give each other space to be individuals within our marriage.  She meets friends for movies and book clubs, while I do poker nights with the boys and Halloween Horror Nights.  We still have our fights about house chores and little annoyances that are unavoidable when you live with someone, but we are fortunate that we have no big problems in our marriage.  That part didn’t just happen through blind luck. It came with hard work and understanding that no one person can be your everything and no one is perfect. We are all humans with insecurities and imperfections.  You have to be able to forgive and move on or ill feelings fester. I am no relationship expert and am probably the last person you want to listen to, because without my wife it is very likely I would be a hermit due to my social anxiety.  I do know if you are unhappy with a relationship, whether it be family, friend or lover, you must make an honest effort to improve the relationship or chose to lose the connection.  Doing otherwise just leads to heartache.

    Do I like working out and restricting my diet?  Do I enjoy paying off debts instead of vacationing in Vale?  Do I enjoy the hard conversations with my wife and reflecting on my own flaws?  Absolutely not. But if I don’t make the effort, I will be broke, fat, alone and all the coffee, whiskey and hot shaves in the world wouldn’t make me happy.  I would love to hear about your big things (phrasing). Please share in the comments.

     

  • The Face of Battle – A Book Review

    On a long drive to an undisclosed location recently, I listened for the second time to British military historian John Keegan’s The Face of Battle, his first book for the more-or-less general public.  I first listened to it probably 15 years ago, so my recollection was pretty fuzzy.  I’ve listened over the years to many of his books, and never been disappointed.  I expect I will revisit all of them in time.

    One of the things I enjoy about John Keegan is the quality of his prose.  It is just wonderful –clear, nuanced, with a dry wit underneath it all.  Very Brit, the kind of writing that reminds you they invented the language.

    The book falls into five parts.  The first is easily skipped, as it is the most academic by far – an extended discussion of the history of battle literature, the various academic fads and literary approaches, etc.  The approach he adopts is to focus (to the extent he can) on what the soldier’s experience of the soldiering and the battle would have been.

    He then examines three battles:  Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme (really, the first day of the Somme).  His Brit-centricity shows in his selection of battles that Britain not only fought, but ultimately won (although the first day of the Somme was an archetypal defeat that struck very deeply into British society).

    The accounts of Agincourt and Waterloo are very illuminating, with the account of the Somme being something of a letdown.  In part, I suspect, because the fighting on the first day of the Somme was essentially decided, and not in the Brits’ favor, within the first half hour, although nobody had any idea what was actually happening until the day was over.  Also, the very simplistic tactics of the Brits (an artillery barrage that was both enormous and almost completely ineffective, and then men walk in line across no-man’s land) are quickly comprehended and just don’t carry the interest of the back-and-forth at both Agincourt and Waterloo.  Overall, though, he strikes a nice balance between giving a tactical overview of the fighting and a look at the experience of the common soldier and their officers.

    The final section  is a review of what we have seen and learned and an attempt to generalize.  He addresses two issues.

    The first is why men will actually fight in a battle, going beyond the usual “because their buddies are”.  Historically, desertion and abandonment were always very present (providing a counterpoint to the standard narrative), with harsh penalties and soldiers posted specifically to keep men facing the front (such as Wellington’s positioning of cavalry behind some units of foot soldiers).  At Agincourt and Waterloo, whole units left the battle by the simple expedient of hiding in nearby woods.  In a modern-day battlefield, he concludes, men fight because the battlefield is so huge and deadly that front-line soldiers can’t escape it, except by fighting their way through.

    The second question is whether modern warfare has made “traditional” pitched battles between large opposing armies a thing of the past.  This is where I would have really like to see a post-script, as his answer here bounded by the Cold War face-off in Europe (recall, the book was written in the mid-70s).  Between the insupportable demands on the fighting men of a battle between NATO and the Soviets, and of course the risk of nuclear war, he leans toward the conclusion that large scale battles may be a thing of the past.

    Of course, in the decades since there have been a series of battles, mostly in the Middle East.  I would have liked to read Keegan’s take on these.  Just because they tend to be mostly one-sided probably doesn’t mean they aren’t battles, but much of the fighting I think would not qualify as a battle (which is an interesting question of its own).  The Iraqi wars would have given him a chance to test his thesis that a modern battle could exceed the capacity of men to fight, given the intensity and the doctrine of continuous engagement over long periods of time.

  • OverRated: The Week in College Football Polls

    Thin Gruel as Serious Play Begins Edition

     

     

    This week we book three toldjasos™, but none are monumental or hard math.  What happened:

    Week Five Most OverRated Football Program Results

    1          Cal lost to unranked Arizona State and fell completely out of the top 25

    2          Iowa cracked concrete design powerhouse Middle Tennessee

    2          Virginia proved they can play with we-can-play-with-UGA Notre Dame

    4          Boise State was in their bunk all weekend

    5          Florida blanked can-you-find-it-on-a-map Towson (hint:  Maryland)

    6          Clemson survived UNC’s two-point win-now PAT attempt but fell from the top spot

    6          Georgia kept to the shade for the weekend

    8          Texas is resting up for the Red River Classic

    8          Auburn more than ably handled Mississippi State

    10        Oregon ducked any comers for the weekend

    11        Oklahoma raided Texas Tech

     

    So, we only have three heads to mount on the wall this week.  Clemson was really easy math:  they couldn’t go up from number one and they were unlikely to stay there.  Think of it like betting on a Wallenda to die this century:  you can’t go wrong on some things.  On the one hand, the Tigers only dropped one spot this week; on the other hand, it takes cojones to go against all public opinion and declare that the reigning champions aren’t necessarily the best team in the sport; the easiest thing to do would be to keep your head down, but your writer is all about calling balls and strikes, even in football.  I’m not getting a tattoo over this, but I’m booking the win:  a very small, very high-risk win.  Parting shot:  they’re still overranked (as is Alabama), but I’m cashing out of these high-risk positions for this tax year.

    Cal, on the other hand, is my meat-and-potatoes:  broadside at 200 yards dropped in their tracks.  I had added them to my over-rated list because they had zero business being ranked at all much less number 15.  They stood out like tourists in Paris and deserved to get mugged.  As my toppest mostest overratedest team of last week, no one should be shocked that they would promptly lose to some other PAC256 nobody and get bounced completely out of rankedness.  I called it; this is what I do (just drops ball in endzone after TD and runs promptly from the field, no dance or chest thumping).

    Virginia, however, is very weak sauce as far as call-outs go.  If anything, they played Notre Dame well and proved they deserved their ranking.  But that’s not how the polls work:  they’re about mania, and you get pumped up and you get slapped down.  Virginia’s rack is too small for the den wall; we’ll just tack it up over the work bench in the barn and not point it out to neighbors or anything.

    So, folks, it’s getting much harder now to play the old OverRated game:  it’s late in the hand and there are only so many trump cards left to lead with.  Basically, we’ve made fun of pretty much everyone possible already, and the AP voters have learned the hard way about several teams and fairly much atoned:  there’s little low-hanging fruit left and the AP poll, at least, is pretty much in order or at least arguably in the ballpark.  Still, ranking teams is like building a mutual fund:  you gotta buy something even in an up market.  And I’ve got some old picks hanging around that weren’t very good and sooner or later I’m going to need to unload them; again, like stocks, I’ll wait until some quarter when I’ve got a ton of gains to offset and, until then, they remain on the books somewhere in the appendixes next to several asterisks.

     

    That said:  here’s your thin-gruel high-stress tax-avoidance-structured portfolio of the overranked:

     

    Newest Week N + 1 I Believe! Most OverRated Football Programs

    1          Boise St jumps to the top of our poll in time to kick around Glib bridesmaid UNLV

    2          Wake Forest joins the overranked in time to host Unitas-less Louisville

    3          Georgia will probably nuke Neyland to hold serve in the SEC East

    4          Florida or Auburn must lose, so I’ll be at least half right about something

    4          Iowa plays Khaki Bowl host University of Ypsilanti

    6          Texas will go all STEVE SMITH on West Virgina’s MountainMen

    7          Auburn or Florida must lose, so I’ll be at least half right about something

    7          Oregon lucks into playing recently revealed Cal

    9          Oklahoma should vaporize perennially impotent KU

     

    So how has our year gone so far?

     

    Year to Date Hides on the Wall Rated

    1          Utah lost to an unrated USC

    2          Stanford was revealed by USC

    2          Syracuse was unranked after Maryland

    2          UCF was edged by an unranked Pitt

    5          Cal was dumped from the AP after losing to Arizona State

    6          Iowa State was dethroned before their decent showing against Iowa

    6          Michigan State fell out of the ratings, so I was right after all

    8          Clemson was dethroned by Mack Brown retirement project UNC

    9          Texas probably over-paid for losing to titan LSU

    9          Texas A&M probably over-paid for quality losses against Clemson and Auburn

    11        Washington State was unranked after becoming lowly UCLA’s first win

    11        Florida was ranked down after silly pre-season enthusiasm (but are back up now!)

    13        Michigan was blown out by Wisconsin

    14        Virginia probably over-paid for losing to can-play-with-UGA Notre Dame

     

    Year to Date It-Would-Seem Blown Calls Because They’re Doing Okay Really Well

    1          LSU

    2          UCF is now a skin on the wall after Pitt

    3          Michigan no longer a blown call because Wisconsin

    4          Washington State no longer a blown call because UCLA

     

    Let’s score this year 14–1-3 so far, nothing to be ashamed of.  So closes another week!

     

    links to older opinions:               2019-09-26              2019-09-19              2019-09-13              2019-09-06

     

    Disclosure of sources of bias:  your writer has attended the University of Tennessee, Memphis State and the University of Memphis, Christian Brothers College . . . and he sleeps with an alumna of Georgia whose parents met at Washington State . . . and his son went to Houston . . . and he never met anyone from TCU he didn’t like . . . and he irrationally hates Notre Dame, UCF, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

     

     

  • Portrait of a Grifter

     

    This marvelous human being, who I’ll call Erin Skakel, is potentially teaching the children of at least one Glib, but more on that later. In addition to redacting her name, and the names of the neighborhood groups to which she posted (the ones of which I am aware, anyway), I have also redacted her image, replacing it with what I believe to be the original Rosie the Riveter poster art from WW2. I deliberately chose that image because her profile pic is one of her cosplaying Rosie. I find it ironic that the accompanying slogan on the original was “we can do it,” when Skakel’s modus vivendi is anything but self-reliance. Rather the Blanche DuBois sort, our girl, always relying on the kindness of strangers.

    That FaceBook post is one of the best examples of writing you will ever see. Seriously. What appears on first glance to be a disjointed stream of conscious rant is revealed upon further examination as a masterpiece of compact, effective prose. Skakel recently posted that paragraph accompanied by a picture (not included, you perverts) of human shins sorely afflicted with a large and severe patch of irritation. Her targets were at least two FaceBook groups for a formerly dowdy Richmond area which recently became trendy and saw its property values skyrocket. Neighborhoods whose lawns are dotted with signs for progressive causes and candidates.

    “anyone know the most inexpensive ways to see a doc”

    Such an innocent and straightforward request. How could you be suspicious of that, Tonio? How? Brain overheating from too many layers of tinfoil? THC-induced psychosis, perhaps? The poor woman is just trying to see a doctor, for goodness sake.

    It fails the reasonable person test that she can’t call around, or surf around on the internet and find that shiznat out. She’s an adult with a college degree and holds down a nominally professional job. Her stated request is for a referral to the cheapest treatment alternative.

    “I’m used to just making an appt”

    I kept skimming over this clause, filtering it out as “random, self-absorbed, chick blather,” but something about it made me keep coming back to it until it struck me that this was a tell; that she had inadvertently dropped a piece of information which caused everything else to drop into place.

    Used to just making an appointment, like she has done some research and found out that the cheapest way to get medical treatment involves getting to a clinic at opening hour (or earlier, because there is always a line), getting on the list and waiting around until your name is called. In the case of the private charity clinic there is paperwork and means-testing and a sliding fee scale for general medical services; I’m unsure about the fee structure of the government health clinic.

    So, you see, Skakel doesn’t just want to receive medical treatment, but to do so in a doctor’s office with an appointment like she’s used to instead of waiting around with sick, poor people for what will probably be a long time.

    Anyone taking an interest in Skakel’s plight and having internet access could quickly discover that the walk-in clinic at the chain pharmacy will cost you $59.00. Again, she’s a college graduate; she has the internet. She presumably has friends. She could figure that out if she wanted to, and if that was her actual intention. She’s signalling that she doesn’t have the money she needs to go to the doctor. But there’s that looming vacay which she drops to give a sense of urgency to her plight. It doesn’t matter how off-putting it is to certain members of her target audience to be asked to subsidize her vacay, money being fungible and all.

    So… I’m a teacher.

    Teachers are sacrosanct. Skakel knows that. She leads with that. It’s the first sentence of her post, which is supposed to be the most important part of your message in any sort of pitch. It’s also a warning to not judge her; she knows that would be enforced by the countless right-thinkful people in the neighborhood and that any pushback would only make her seem more sympathetic to the credulous people who are likely to be moved by her tale of woe.

    I […] have gotten what I thought was poison ivy but… I’m not sure is getting better or that’s what it is.

    Normal people who are looking to earn money quickly often turn to informal unskilled labor such as cleaning and yardwork. But Skakel obviously fails at yard work, and due to the placement of the injuries, is currently unsuited for on-your-knees labor such as scrubbing or weeding. Plus she may not be getting better so it would be cruel to even suggest she perform manual labor while sick. Also, bonus points to her for making that sentence do double-duty both as an expanation of the root cause of her current crisis, and as a gym pass for why she can’t be expected to do, you know, actual physical labor with those gross oozy patches on her shins.

    It’s the pervasive sense of entitlement I find most offensive about Skakel and those like her. This attitude is becoming increasingly prevalant in society. On a larger scale this becomes something like the chimeral “living wage.” In both cases there is the pervasive sense that if a person works they should be able to afford a certain standard of living, certain amenities, regardless of other decisions they have made.

    I won’t delve deeply into the argle-bargle about Skakel accidentally opting out of her health insurance. It’s just not believable on so many levels. My hypothesis is that she thought her medical expenses would be flat and predictable, opted out of her insurance, and had just enough deducted to cover her monthly meds. But, whatever. Here’s what she didn’t do once she figured out that she’d fucked up – act responsibly.

    A responsible person would have set aside money each month to cover out-of-pocket office visits. A responsible person would have gotten a part-time job at the beginning of summer break to earn money to cover unforeseen medical expenses, and perhaps been able to use that money to pay for a vacay once she had health insurance again, but not before. A responsible person would have… I’m preaching to the choir here, people.

    I grew up in an apartment complex heavily populated by teachers. Everyone knew that the unmarried women teachers who wanted to get ahead would share an apartment with another girl, hold down a summer job as a waitress, or with parks and rec, etc. If you lived simply you could afford to live alone and hang out by the pool instead of going on a nice vacation. Your choice. The assumption that she is entitled to a vacay, come hell or high water, is baked into everything she writes.

    Even though this is an opinion piece, as an author primarily of fiction I cannot help but resolve conflict once it has been established. Be brave, dear readers, as the plight of our damsel in distress is about to be revealed.

    Caloo, callay! It appears that our plucky heroine did indeed get her vacation. And how nice of her to check in on us all after the big thunderstorm that rolled through and downed a bunch of trees.

    I’m one of those barely make it month to month “ers”

    Come again? Doesn’t sound like it to me, hon. Sounds like you are living a quite nice lifestyle since you have the money for vacay and gym classes. Skakel lives in the city of Richmond but teaches in one of the nearby counties. The location of the class she wants to take is in the opposite direction from the county in which she teaches. Suspect that “accountability partner” will end up doing most of the driving.

    Thanks to everyone for slogging through a long rant with no laugh lines, tentacles or sex. So here’s a little something that will appeal to most of you.

  • What Are We Reading – September 2019

    SugarFree

    Still working on re-reading The Expanse series. (Too much Borderlands 3, brah.) I hadn’t read the last two books, so I’m into new stuff, finally. Not sure how the TV show is going to handle the [censored]. But the end of the 6th books, Babylon’s Ashes, wouldn’t be the worst place to stop the show so they might not have to worry about it. I should be done with the series in time for my all-horror October tradition.

     

    OMWC

    I will confess that most of my book reading this past month has been in the bathroom. And nothing particularly interesting. Lots of magazines, though. Geeky, geeky magazines.

    So this will be prospective: I’m about to take a plane trip, and my reading on the way will be something beyond geeky. Bob Cordell’s Designing Audio Power Amplifiers was sent to me as a courtesy copy, and I’m anxious to dig in. This is the shit you do when you don’t actually have a life, but it will sustain me through 8-10 hours of airplane and gate area entertainment..

     

    jesse.in.mb

    Atkins New Diet Revolution. The boyfriend wanted to “go keto” and I suggested we maybe read a book about it instead of basing our diet on the whims of Redditors. The BF continued to read random things from Redditors and is getting a bit crazy. I need a beer to handle this and cannot have one. Weep for me Glibertarians.

    Finally finished The Boys which I started months ago and just picked up when I had 20 minutes and a tablet in hand. It was good. The humor felt ’90s transgressive (even though it’s from the mid-aughts): sort of ham-fistedly offensive for the sake of offense, and there was a massive lull of filler stories in the middle but I was glad I finished it up and would still recommend it even with what I perceive as shortcomings.

     

    mexican sharpshooter

    I promised everyone I would read something this month; I finally came through on a promise!  First time this week…

    I read Universal Basic Income:  For and Against by Anthony Sammeroff.  This name might strike a few of you as familiar as this is the person Andrew Yang was scheduled earlier this month to debate regarding UBI, but apparently found better things to do.

    He does go through the arguments for UBI, and many of the theoretical benefits it may provide such a society, and does so in as objective manner one could expect from an opponent of the idea. He doesn’t spend a lot of time arguing against it in this book, rather he questions why modern necessities became so expensive.  Half the book cleverly spells out the reason UBI is not needed, by pointing out all the things proponents of UBI insist is needed because of it’s great expensive is a result of the deleterious effects of government policy on the market.  He discusses housing markets for example, as one area one might spend their monthly stipend, then discusses all the ways government regulations limit housing development, dry up supply, and therefore drive up housing prices.  The market he argues, creates competition necessary to drive the cost of luxuries down to where they are not really luxuries anymore, which raises the standard of living for those at the bottom of the income ladder.

    He even discusses automation and cites case studies performed by the US Air Force that found the drone programs actually increased the number of Airman and contractors needed to make the drones fly—in spite of the fact the drone does not have a pilot and aircrew on board.

    Ultimately the message is remove that one thing that keeps the market from functioning in its natural form, and we don’t really need an arbitrarily defines standard of living issued to everybody.

    JW

    I’m back to cereal boxes, but I’ve expanded my reach to high bran cereal. That gives me time to take the box into the toilet with me for reading.

     

     

  • OverRated: The Week in College Football Polls

    Redemption Edition as Serious Play Begins

     

    As the season rounds the first corner, a few true scrums have been had, blemishes have arisen, and toldjasos have begun to fill the inboxes of alumni everywhere.  Most years have slow starts:  you can’t laugh at someone for losing until they at least put their season on the line and play a competent school.  So we have finally begun in earnest:  Week Four was most yummy and delivered even more yucks than I could have hoped for.

    Week Four Most OverRated Football Program Results

    1           Utah, most obviously overrated, lost to unrated USC

    2          Cal survived a trip to Ole Miss

    3          Iowa was consumed by one of those marching band scandals

    4          Washington State handled winless UCLA

    5          Florida filleted hopeless Tennessee

    5          Notre Dame scored one whole touchdown that wasn’t a gift from Georgia

    5          UCF was outsmarted, outworked, and eventually edged at Pitt

    5          Georgia made the biggest statement of the year over Notre Dame

    9          Clemson destroyed former directional school Charlotte

    9          Oklahoma was idle

    11        Oregon had few problems with Stanford

    11        Auburn managed a capable Texas A&M on the road

    11        Boise State shot down Air Force

    14        Texas awoke and survived Oklahoma State in Austin

     

    So, we now mount that trophy on the wall as our #1 biggest takedown of the year, the largest pelt taken, the silliest ranking debunked:  Utah.  Notre Dame sold off although they lost to a highly ranked Georgia, but that’s the way it is with tulip bulb mania.

    In other news,UCF lost at Pitt (our interesting team from last week) and moves from my miss column to my hit parade; I had said they seemed to be doing okay, but, suddenly, my initial disgust was proven right.  Michigan was humiliated by Wisconsin, so I’m also overturning my earlier miss on them.  Washington State is completely unranked now, so I’m moving them to my win column as well.

    Off my radar, newly ranked TCU promptly lost to cross-Plex rival SMU, but I had recorded no opinion on either heretofore.  In summation, we add four pelts to the wall, at least a couple of which are fine specimens.

    Next week conference play now begins in all earnestness, and we’ll see who survives the grind and who is forged in fire.  Here’s my latest ranking of puff toads.

     

    Newest Week N + 1 Most OverRated Football Programs

     

    1          Cal could barely hang with terrible Ole Miss; they are the newest king of hype

    2          Iowa was recently added to the list but yet to disappoint

    2          Virginia joins our list; this fever shall pass

    4          Boise St just isn’t proving anything this year

    5          Florida has yet to be disrobed

    6          Clemson must run the table since they’re ranked numero uno

    6          Georgia has made the best statement against being overrated

    8          Texas has a comfy few weeks until the Red River rivalry resumes

    8          Auburn is barely overrated if at all

    10        Oregon is living up to the hype and might well not be overrated

    11        Oklahoma is solid and might well not be overrated at all

     

    So how has our year gone so far?

    Year to Date Hides on the Wall Ratings

    1          Utah lost to an unrated USC

    2          Stanford was revealed by USC

    2          Syracuse was unranked after Maryland

    2          UCF was edged by unranked Pitt

    5          Iowa State was dethroned before their decent showing against Iowa

    5          Michigan State fell out of the ratings, so I was right after all

    7          Texas probably over-paid for losing to titan LSU

    7          Texas A&M probably over-paid for losing to titans Clemson and Auburn

    9         Washington St is now unranked after becoming lowly UCLA’s first win

    9          Florida was ranked down after silly pre-season enthusiasm (but are back up now!)

    11        Michigan was blown out by Wisconsin

     

    Year to Date It-Would-Seem Blown Calls Because They’re Doing Okay

    1          LSU

    2          UCF is now a skin on the wall after Pitt

    3          Michigan no longer a blown call because Wisconsin

    4          Washington State no longer a blown call because UCLA

     

    So closes another week.

    links to older opinions:               2019-09-22              2019-09-13              2019-09-06

     

     

    Disclosure of sources of bias:  your writer has attended the University of Tennessee, Memphis State and the University of Memphis, Christian Brothers College . . . and he sleeps with an alumna of Georgia whose parents met at Washington State . . . and his son went to Houston . . . and he never met anyone from TCU he didn’t like . . . and he irrationally hates Notre Dame, UCF, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

     

  • The Little Things

    I am fortunate to have been born in the United States where I was able to get an education that led to a career which affords me a comfortable lifestyle.  I have traveled to some beautiful countries, eaten some amazing meals and bought some fun toys.  However, I find the enjoyment that I receive from these expensive distractions are fleeting.  What I have found leads to the most consistent feelings of happiness is focusing on the little things.  Here are a few of my favorite things.

    Every morning, after I have crawled out of bed, I make a cup of coffee.  Not just any coffee, but coffee I have roasted myself. I place the kettle to boil, deposit the beans into the grinder and fetch my Glibs-branded coffee mug.  I listen for the water to steam and smell the beans as they grind, much like being near a waterfall, listening to the water crash off the rocks and smell the bouquet of nature.  A few minutes of quiet contemplation. Once the water has come to the proper temperature, I mix the grounds and water in my French press and begin my four-minute wait. The process in entirety takes ten minutes.  Ten minutes to myself, where I’m not concerned about the problems of the world or my own.  Broken from my quiet reflection by the timer’s alarm, I eagerly pour my magical creation into my cup and deeply breathe in my latest batch.  Did my roast yield mediocre results or the finest cup of coffee on earth?  That is the most exciting part.  Experiencing the results of your own craft.  Really tasting the coffee and noting the uniqueness of each batch.  Learning from my mistakes and reveling in my triumphs. I eschew quick coffee methods because I enjoy the ritual and its usually superior results.  After draining my cup, I move to the bathroom. 

    Before work, like many of you, I engage in a hygiene routine.  Brushing of teeth, showering of body, combing of hair and whatnot.  The one area I may differ in is shaving. Several years ago, I decided to buy a straight razor because I thought it was cool. Probably the influence of too many gangster and cowboy movies.   I am not one to waste space on useless baubles, so I decided to learn how to use the aforementioned straight razor.  I fill the sink with scalding water and douse my face.  I use my silver tip badger fur brush to whip up shaving cream in my little steel bowls.  I strop my razor on fine leather and listen to the blade sing. With razor sharp and water hot, I apply the rich lather to my face.  I will confess this, when shaving with a straight razor, your mind can be on no other task, or you will pay a blood price.  Scraping and contorting my face, I shear my face in the grain of the growth. Another application of lather and I reverse the process.  Rinsing, I inspect the results of my efforts and feel pride when no errant hairs are left or blood my blade.  A quick application of aftershave and a ritual that requires absolute attention is done. I dress and leave for work refreshed and focused.  

    Having done yeoman’s work commenting on Glibertarians, I usually arrive home before midnight.  I give my wife a hello kiss and a pat on the bottom, then steal away to the kitchen for my own heaven on earth: the liquor cabinet.  I enjoy trying new spirits, but rye whiskey is a common companion.  I take my crystal tumbler from its place and place two ice cubes inside.  I love the sound of ice clinking against the crystal.  The high tinkle contrasts perfectly with the dull thunk when I pull the stopper from the bottle of Whistle Pig.  The Pig mascot in his top hat looks approvingly at me as I pour myself two fingers of that golden brown elixir and retire to the sofa to unwind.  Swirling the glass to chill and dilute the whiskey, I deeply inhale the spicy sweet scent, recounting the day’s events.  The first sip lovingly burns my throat and warms my belly.  A pricey bottle to be sure, but well worth the expense. Another day finished.  Another ritual complete. 

    These are my half-hour rituals that give me joy and keeps me sane.  I spend money to enjoy quality whiskey, coffee and razors, but that small investment pays dividends that more than offset the cost.  In fact, your small things need not cost money at all.  You could take a morning walk, play with your pet, read to your children or any number of free activities.  The key to happiness is being mindful and present and really focusing on what makes you happy. I invite everyone to share their “Little Things” in the comments section.

     

  • Grievance Drinking: Part 2

    If I could find it, I’d try it.  I’d probably save the bottle and out it somewhere on display.  It takes guts to put that guy’s mug on a label with the intent to sell.

    Anyways…this week’s installment discusses issues women have with beer.  Not necessarily what you might think.

    This my review of Singlecut Brewery Eric (moar cowbell!) Milk Stout (H/T:  IoBot).

    TW:  The Gruniad

    Drinks that have fallen victim to crude stereotyping – such as Slack Alice, a cider described as “a little tart” and pump clips featuring scantily-clad buxom women – have been banned from this week’s event at London’s Olympia which is set to attract tens of thousands of visitors.

    The blanket ban goes a step further than a new code of conduct launched by the campaign group last year and is supported by a new YouGov survey which found that 68% of female drinkers would be unlikely to buy a beer if they saw an advert for it using offensive “laddish” imagery.

    The findings suggest British women are now actively boycotting products which reflect out of date and discriminatory attitudes and images associated with an industry traditionally dominated by men.

    […]

    Abigail Newton, the vice-chair of Camra’s national executive, said: “Consumer organisations like Camra have an important role to play in making women feel more welcomed within the beer world. This is the first time we’ve made such a bold statement with a ban.

    “It’s hard to understand why some brewers would actively choose to alienate the vast majority of their potential customers with material likely to only appeal to a tiny and shrinking percentage.

    “We need to do more to encourage female beer drinkers, which are currently only 17% of the population, despite the fact that they make up more than 50% of the potential market. Beer is not a man’s drinks or a woman’s drink, it is a drink for everyone. There is a huge amount of work that needs to be done to overcome outdated stereotypes.”

    It would appear ladies that like beer happen to occur within a certain segment of the market that also does not like disparaging labels against women.  If you need a good idea of how many women happen to be enthusiastic beer drinkers, here is a picture of the most recent Beer With(out) Beards festival, which is geared for female-owned breweries, reported with 700 people attending.  Granted this number probably beats most libertarian conventions, but the photo in the link shows an awful lot of men in the crowd.  I am not sure what the Gruniad is trying to argue here.  Women don’t drink beer because they’re offended by the label and thus the industry must cater to their outrage by giving it a label with rainbows instead of flaming skulls?

    Perhaps the reason beer is not marketed to women, is the overwhelming majority of beer drinkers are men?  I’m not one of those marketing geniuses or anything so in case somebody here might be in marketing…

    At any rate this beer delivers all the cowbell Bruce Dickinson can possibly want.  If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a link, and please consider getting out some more.  Its a traditional take on the English Milk Stout, and does it very well. Singlecut Brewery Eric (moar cowbell!) Milk Stout:  3.9/5