Kavanaugh Trial is the OJ Trial. Part Two

Welcome to the OJ trial.  You know it well.  One aggrieved portion of our society is going to finally make the other side pay via their day in court, and it matters not what the evidence does or doesn't show.  Women have been suffering at the hands of men since the dawn of time, and now men are finally going to pay, rule of law be damned.

And when it's all over, we'll hate each other even more.  

Do I believe Ford?  I believe something happened to her.  Do I believe Kavanaugh?  I do indeed.  Beyond her testimony, is there one piece of evidence to back up Ford's claim of Kavanaugh's guilt?  Not one.  In fact, what Ford claims as evidence isn't corroborated anywhere.  Her "evidence" exonerates Kavanaugh!

While Ford is credible, her specific accusations against Kavanaugh are not.  Not at all.

Doesn't matter.  Just like white folks had to pay in the OJ trial, regardless of the evidence, men need to pay now.  That's why, at the protest at the capitol, a woman was wearing a "men are trash" t-shirt.  Not "Kavanagh."  Not "abusers."  

"Men."

And was lauded for it.

You can own one too.  There are plenty of options out there.  Just Google it.

Nearly 25 years after OJ, and race relations are worse than they've been before the trial.  Oh, sure, we elected a black president.  And what did that get us?  Things getting continually worse.  Expect the same from the Kavanaugh event, regardless of what happens in the actual decision.

I fear this is the start of something terrible that will absolutely tear our families, our communities, and our nation apart.  Hate reigns.  

To invoke Johnny Cochran:

If she claims she's aggrieved
She MUST be believed

That's our rule of law now.

Most Parents Don't Monitor Kids' Time Online

Check out the latest via a survey from UKIE on parental monitoring of kids' time online:

35% can spend as much time as they want online?  Another 30% have limits that aren't enforced?

What kind of generation are we raising, and what are going to be the associated ramifications?

Duck Opener 2018

Things were quite slow in the duck camp this past weekend.  What started with flocks of teal sitting in our decoys minutes before legal shooting ended with basically no birds.  My partner and I bagged a total of four for the weekend, and if not for three Canada geese taken, our haul would have been pathetic.

Reports of a nearby lake were gangbusters, and that has me worried.  Literally less than three miles away they were bagging 20+ birds, where on our lake we were lucky to see 20 birds total.  What's wrong with our lake and our habitat?  Perhaps the ducks see the same thing I do when they look at our water - a sick green color caused by extensive farm runoff.  Big ag, in all its murky, disgusting, and revolting form.

Will things get better?  We stand a chance.  Previous seasons like this were salvaged by middle season redheads, canvasbacks, and mallards.  Unfortunately, we're weeks away from them getting here, so our only choice is to wade out into the green filthy water and wait. 

It could be a very tough season, indeed.

Fire Zimmer

Incomprehensible.  

The Vikings, a 16 point favorite against the hapless Buffalo Bills (a team so bad that they had a player retire in the middle of the game last week) were destroyed on their home field by a score of 27-6.  In my lifetime of Vikings football fandom, this was hands down their worst loss, ever.

Every aspect of their game was broken - so much so that I won't recap them here.  Simply, nothing worked.

I think it is time for us to take full stock of what we have here.  This is a team that was handed a loss last year at home during the playoffs by New Orleans, only to be saved by a miracle play.  They then went forward and were completely dismantled in Philadelphia.

Their defense isn't that good.  Kirk Cousins isn't that good.  And when the team is so ill-prepared by the coaching staff that they get blown out on their home field by the worst team in the NFL, the only place the blame can be laid is at the foot of the coach.  Zimmer should be fired.

He won't be, of course.  The Vikings have a short week, and the disruption of a coaching change right now would ensure a blowout loss to the league-leading Rams on Thursday.  However, unless the Vikes somehow pull off a miracle in LA, it would not surprise me if ownership of a 1-2-1 team pulled the plug on Zimmer on the flight home.

I'm tired of hearing how good we are.  If this team can't back up their boasts with their play, either they need to go or Zimmer does.

As a Vikings fan, things can't be much worse than right now.  

Saturday Song Share: The 4onthefloor - All My Friends

I simply can't love this Minnesota band enough.  We'll be doing more from their library in the future, but for the time being, let's start with my favorite:

WOO WOO!

The Left Hates Freedom of Speech

But we're the Nazis...

Kavanaugh Accusation Nothing But a Hit Job

Sorry, but the 23rd hour accusation that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape someone 35 years ago when he was 17 is nothing but a delay tactic from Democrats.  Consider:

• Democrat leadership had this "accusation" for months, yet sat on it until the last hour
• The accuser offers no corroborating evidence
• She claims a witness to the event, who, like Kavanaugh, states emphatically that the situation never occurred
• The accuser told nobody of this event until a couple of years ago when Kavanaugh was being considered for SCOTUS

Save me the tripe about her passing a lie detector test.  First off, she's a psychology professor.  Second, in my Psych 101 class we actually covered how to beat a lie detector test.

Save me as well the tripe about her risking all.  Please.  Her book deal, HBO special, and Go Fund Me page will make her a millionaire.  She's winning the lottery.

This is politics at its absolute worst.

And the worst part?  Women that have credible stories of abuse at the hands of men - stories from the current decade and involve 911 calls for example - they take a credibility hit. 

Or not.  Nobody on the Dem side was going to believe anyone that accused Keith Ellison of anything, right? 

Saturday Song Share - Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me

Dig this cool 60's vibe:

Asian Signage in McDonalds

These guys were hitting their local McDonalds and not seeing any advertising that looked like them.  So what did they do?  They made some:



It actually hung in the store for over 50 days.

Love this prank.  Makes a point, hurt nobody, and was ingenious as hell.  Kudos.

Never Forget

SJU Hype Video

I work with a video production team that graduated from St. John's.  While they're fresh out of school, they do incredible work, and SJU has employed them on a number of projects.

Here's the latest:



Go back and check out that shot of the touchdown run at the :15 second mark.  That's some incredible video work, no matter how you slice it.

There's not much better as a job than to be able to work with incredibly talented people, and that they happen to be Johnnies?  That's just icing on the cake.

Where Do We Go From Here

An unaccountable Pope.  An unrepentant and stonewalling church leadership.  A complete lack of progress, other than to wait things out and hope it gets better.

Where is my church?  

In the middle of all this, we're treated to stories like that of the two priests in Florida having sex with each other.  In public.  In the middle of the day.  Next to a playground.

My confidence in church leadership has gone.  Where we go from here is anyone's guess, but it sure looks like it is no place good.

Evil reigns.

Oh my Jesus
Save us from the fires of hell
Lead all souls to heaven
Especially those in most need of Thy mercy

Saturday Song Share: PAPA - Ain't It So

The Gift of Notre Dame

As I was watching Notre Dame play Michigan last week, I really got emotional.  That team, that stadium, that place is so rife with tradition.  I'm so fortunate I got to experience so much of it.  You see, my brother went to school at Notre Dame, and that means by extension, so did his family.

It started out with me going out there when we were both in school, and while I can't remember the game itself (who they played or the score, although I think it may have been a win against Purdue...), I absolutely remember everything else about it - the walk from the church to the game, the band, the pushups, the site, the song.  It was college football heaven.

See for yourself:



Since that first visit, there've been many others.  I've guess I've seen ND play well over a half dozen times in the stadium, plus a couple of more on the road at bowl games.  That's why when the broadcast showed the grotto in an intro, or took a shot from the end zone (where I'd bet we sat at least four times), or anything else that was familiar, I just felt lucky.  I felt lucky that my brother was generous enough to share all this with me.  

And that's what it was (and still is) - generosity.  From carting me around and showing me things that had likely become mundane when we were young students, to finding excuses for us to get together for a game when life had become so busy as adults, Notre Dame was a gift given to me by him.  

The Irish Guard.  Key plays.  The flyovers.  The band.  The announcer.  Touchdown Jesus.  #1 Moses.  The players (my goodness, the players we saw).  

But out of all of that, the best part was always this:



Thanks, Kev.  This is just one in a long line of gifts you've given me, and I can't thank you enough for letting me be a part of your alma mater.

Duck Forecast 2018

The latest numbers got released a couple of weeks ago.  Here's how the flight is shaping up for duck season 2018:

While the long-term population is up, we're down a sizable amount from last year.  A 13% reduction in birds is a significant loss, so while numbers are still healthy, hunters will likely notice fewer birds than last year.

Beyond that, the breeding population analysis shows area for concern as well.

Enjoy 2018, duck hunters.  It may be the last good one we have in a while.

Nike Walks Away from Customers

By now you've surely heard that Nike has launched their latest version of their famed "Just Do It" campaign, but this one is featuring Colin Kaepernick:

There have been a lot of responses to this, the best being a replacement of Kaepernick's face with fallen hero Pat Tillman.  There's sacrificing everything, then there's sacrificing everything.  

I won't get into rehashing the whole Kaepernick, Black Lives Matter, kneeling protest.  There's enough of that out there.  But you know what else Nike thinks there's enough of out there?  Customers.  The whole NFL thing has divided a country, and by picking a side, Nike has effectively pissed off millions - let me state that again - MILLIONS of customers.  Much like Dick's Sporting Goods did with guns, Nike is deeming it more important to be a Social Justice Warrior than it is to serve its customers.

Perhaps they feel that their SJW move can endear them to other non-Nike customers, and woke folks buying other brands will flock to Nike and offset non-woke customers.  Perhaps they just don't care, and like so many nowadays, they believe they're right, and if you don't agree with them then you're a bigot and you don't deserve to buy Nikes anyway.  I don't know.

As a marketer, I do know that acquiring customers and protecting market share, especially in a mature category like shoes, is a bare-knuckled fight.  It's damned hard work.  

Given how hard it is, why would you ever simply walk away from people that literally ensure that you have food on the table?  

I'm so tired of politics everywhere, and I'm particularly tired of politics in sports.  It used to be a last bastion where folks of different persuasions could find common ground.  Now, you either prove how woke you are, or you run the risk of being a racist, fascist, Nazi, or homophobe, even when following your favorite team.

Regardless of my political slant, the marketer in me wishes Nike nothing but failure.  The minute you take your customers for granted, especially for something like not being woke enough for you, that's the time your long-term business prospects are dubious.

Time for Action

I've had it.  The Pope's silence cannot be tolerated any further.  It's time.

As Catholics, we must demand action, not silence. To this point, it seems like that actions that have been taken have all been evil. Abuse.  Sacrilege.  Depravity.  Devastation. Cover-up. 

Enough. 

I want the righteous of Christ’s Church to go on offense. Evil cannot be ignored anymore.

Saturday Song Share: Mary J Blige & U2 - One

This is my favorite U2 song, and while it has been covered by greats such as Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, and the Cowboy Junkies, this is more than just my favorite cover.

It's my favorite version.

Her soaring, at times angry vocals bring out an emotion that is more under the surface in the original version.  She does what any great artist does when covering a great song - she makes it her own.

Just wow: