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washparkhorn

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Posts posted by washparkhorn

  1. Nuggets fan here - good addition for Houston. He provides depth to an already great team in a tough conference. Carmelo never fully lived up to his hype. At this stage he wants to play and contribute for a title contender. He got his wish. He can still shoot. He transitioned from a iso to a catch and shoot scorer last year, which was needed. 

    As for personal relationships, Melo is certainly a guy who can hang out with Harden at the Paris Fashion Week. That’s right up Melo’s alley - again a good sign for the Rockets. 

    The Rockets  lost 2 good defenders to FA. That will not be something Melo can replace. But I don’t see a big downside to this deal for the Rockets. And there is good potential upside if Melo improves his catch and shoot scoring over the Summer. 

  2. On 7/19/2018 at 8:50 PM, bad_teammate said:

    y'all motherfuckers pretending y'all can forecast need to stop, because you can't

    Who do you actually WANT?

    That is the essential question - what does the voter want and who promises to deliver it. 

    2020 will be difficult to predict this far out. Trump understands if the press hits on a negative story about him, he can simply change the subject with a tweet (and the press gobbles it up in a non-stop feeding frenzy). Trump is story No. 1 -- every damn day. Today's journalists lack the vision to see the forest for the trees. So called experts called on by the Press to comment have no understanding of the world outside the Beltway and what drives solid Trump supporters.

    DC is in full time meltdown every day. The town criers keep yelling the end of the world in nigh because of Trump. When the world continues to function despite Trump, the middle of the country stops listening to the single minded media and moves on to their own issues - like how to pay for college and what jobs will be left once automation hits full stride.

    The middle of the country knows the press is unreliable and tribalism is safer than voicing an opinion. We do not speak with each other the same way as we did before - especially about politics.

    The country has no thirst for war and prefers we take on our own needs rather than wasting lives and money on wars. No one wants a war with Russia, yet we are constantly fed propaganda that Russia is a grave threat to our existence. Russia isn't the Soviet Union. At this point, we better start preparing for a failed Russian state with an arsenal of nukes if the constant drumbeat for war and the sanctions continue to deteriorate Russia's abilities to control its future. The nukes alone are reason enough to try and integrate Russia back into the G-8. 

    Democrats need to pound the economic message and come up with solutions that focus on our problems. Democrats need to acknowledge we do not have the resources to take on more poverty when we have enough people in despair already. And Democrats must propose bold action to address the many problems brought on by big government programs, like the war on drugs. The Democrats are becoming the Party of the wealthy and government workers. That leaves many in the dust.

    The Republicans have been dealt a hand with an unsuited trump card with little ideology. They are attempting to hold on to a corporate electorate that wants nothing to do with Republicans regardless of Trump. Corporations enjoy the status quo; millions of Americans want real change to level the playing field for all, not just the politically connected. The Republicans have a base of Americans who believe upward mobility is an important component of the American Dream. As the wealth gap continues to widen between the .01% and the 99.99%, Republicans and Democrats both need to address the reality for most Americans - our children will face a tougher future than we and our parents experienced.

    I imagine the party that explains how the wealth disparity was created and how we might reestablish upward mobility in our economy, regardless of wealth, will have an advantage in the next few election cycles as we continue our downward spiral. It's easy to blame multinationals - because they own most of the blame for the decay we and our kids experience more and more often. We will lose multinational corporations, regardless of the fixes proposed as they move on to more fertile ground to continue accumulating Idle wealth for "investors", which puts no one to work.

    Regardless of party, the tax burden on the .01% will need to rise. Money on the sidelines when the nation, as whole, needs it out there growing our economy and creating opportunities for upward mobility is devastating to our economy. 

    Any candidate out there calling for war against Russia or China should and will be shunned by voters who understand the burden of war hits the poor, not the wealthy. 

    We are in a populist period in our history, which is not necessarily a bad thing in a nation where the elites don't listen to the middle and the working classes. Those stuck in the cycle of poverty are beginning to understand voting Democrat has not lifted many out of poverty. They will all begin to demand a more responsive government to our immediate needs. If they find a shared message, the 99.9% can regain control of the nation from the .01%. Media will have no choice but to air their grievances.

    As we see today, populism is fragile. Class goals shatter when identities are effectively pitted against one another. That's how the game is played: If the classes band together for a fairer deal, the elites drive wedge issues to separate people into tribes and then encourage them to battle with each other. That game preserves the status quo - the ideal outcome for the .01%. 

    Both the right and left are energized, which is dangerous for the status quo. Trump is the major wedge issue today. The Democrats are very worried about losing the working class to Trump and the Republicans. But the elites of both parties want nothing to do with the deplorable working class. The elites understand the middle class is on its death bed as economic conditions from globalism have decimated their ranks. Strong voting blocks for one party or the other are beginning to understand they have been used by the status quo and the blocks are beginning to shatter. 

    My guess is we will continue to see wedge issues rising that keep the middle and working classes artificially separated. But there is a line of thought in the more ideologically oriented critics of the status quo that these groups might join together (as they did in 2016 to a limited extent) to bring on effective and fair changes to the status quo. I am not holding my breath for that to happen. Tribalism has effectively neutralized any real change in how this nation functions. Obama quickly moved to the status quo once he secured the nomination. And, with Trump, you are either for him or against him - regardless of any proposal he might suggest that would benefit us all (see, normalization of relations with Russia and North Korea). 

    As long as we are kept separate, the status quo has nothing to fear. When there is nothing left to pillage in the US, they will move on to Africa - where populations are expected to boom for the foreseeable future. They love cheap labor and urbanization will create opportunities to strip everything earned by those attempting to rise from extreme poverty. 

    Neoliberal Capitalism is not the capitalism of Adam Smith. Adam Smith knew taxation of wealth, not income, was the key mechanism to control what we see today. Adam Smith would ask why we didn't read the entire book rather than just cherry picking passages that suited the wealthy. It's a little like the religious who pick and choose what religious passage to follow when the essential message is God's love.

    Adam Smith understood concentration of wealth in the few was a plague that had to be prevented or we would end up with an oligarchy devouring more and more, as the poor got poorer.

    Adam Smith, today, would encourage you to grab a pitchfork . . .  

     

    • Like 2
  3. Phillip K Dick's works have translated well to film and The Man in the High Castle is no exception. The cinematographer/s and directors have done a terrific job with this series. The screenwriting for the series has been solid; there was no way to translate the novel into film without taking liberties deviating from the book. I applaud the efforts.  Smith's storyline is well done in the series. Hell, just seeing the architecture planned by Nazis in the series demonstrates the power of visual storytelling. It is a complicated story. I am looking forward to how they move it forward next season.

    I would love to see someone take on Dick's "Ubik" (his best work, in my opinion) and Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" (McCarthy's best work as well, in my opinion, although "Suttree" is right up there with Blood Meridian). There have been attempts to put Ubik and Blood Meridian on film, with no success. The Man in High Castle and other serialized novels we have seen lately (like Game of Thrones) gives me hope I will see Ubik and Blood Meridian on film in the future. Blood Meridian is so vast in scope and scale that it may still be impossible to film. But unlike Game of Thrones and Westworld, there is an on-ramp and an off-ramp in both Ubik and Blood Meridian (the stories have already been written, unlike Game of Thrones, which remains a work in progress). 

    Fiction is fiction. It requires some suspension of realty, which is understandably difficult (especially for those trained in the sciences).  

    I agree with those who dislike needless magic to extend the story. With technology advancing so rapidly, I am optimistic we will continue to see unimaginable advances in technology in our lifetimes. Imagine a novel written in 1980 suggesting most Americans will have supercomputers in their pockets by 2018. For many in 1980, the suggestion of Americans having a handheld device with more power than a Cray Supercomputer would have been met with laughter and derision from many; the Kray computers of the time were enormous in size.

    The power to imagine is an author's greatest gift. It's a gift that requires a deft touch. Sometimes its better if the author ignores how the technology advanced (like Huxley and Orwell) and focuses instead on the impact of the technology on civilization and individuals. For some stories (the Alien screenplays, for instance), audiences rightfully deserve films with fidelity to past works in the story timeline. 

    The Man in the High Castle's magic has been premised on a quick end to WWII and German genocide to "quickly eliminate the need to feed useless eaters." Eliminating the burden to care for conquered civilians allowed the Germans to accelerate technology development rapidly - not without unintended consequences. That works for me in the fictional world of the series; it broadens the dystopian consequences of an Allied loss in WWII for humanity as a whole. It also provides some symmetry with the bleeding edge of technology today.

    Short version - I can rationalize and reconcile the fictional issues raised by the premise of the book at this point.

    If for no other reason, I look forward to the next season to see if the producers care enough about the series to demand plausible truth telling from the writers and whether the writers have the skill to communicate essential truth in this work of fiction. 

     

  4. The Western Conference is loaded. Add in LBJ and a Lakers' team who will struggle to make the playoffs plus improvement by the few dogshit teams there are in the West, and the Western Conference Championship will decide the league champion again. There is no end in sight to the Western Conference dominance. Toronto, Philly and Boston have some talent. I was proud SA refused to send Leonard to a Western Conference team, but then they did get a hell of a player in return. Parity is gone between the conferences and may be missing for some time now. The West is in a major arms race. The East will decide who will become the next sacrificial lamb in the Finals.  

    GS's regular season will be tougher next year. They have some cracks - as any follower of the NBA Western Conference knows. Durant is in a good place for his style of play and his personality.

    The Western Conference teams have to get better every year just to make the playoffs. As a Nuggets fan, I have no problem with the Nuggies taking a flyer on MPJ - who could make them better in a Conference where you must improve or perish. Denver is not going to be a premiere destination for the LBJ or KD's of the world. But we do get the benefits of competing and winning in a strong conference - and good players want to play in the Major Conference to prove their worth. For that, I do thank the Warriors, Rockets, San Antonio, . . .  for making the West where the best want to play. The Nuggets were only 3 games behind the No. 3 seed, Portland, and lost a play-in game with Minnesota in missing the playoffs again this year. With the Lakers' improvement, there are at least 11 teams realistically playing for only  8 playoff spots. For the playoff contenders, every game counts in the regular season. 

    KD is playing the best basketball has to offer and is on a team that should win it all again next year - as long as they get through the conference playoffs, which is no guarantee in the West. Dumping games is a problem that has to be solved, but it is unquestionably a way to get back in the fight for the lesser Western Conference teams. For the Eastern Conference teams, they look like they are playing a game better suited for the 1980's NBA. 

    We live in interesting times.

     

     

    • Like 1
  5. It is a huge problem. For the Executive Branch, these trades are illegal.

    For the Legislative Branch - well . . . let's just say they don't give a damn. Two of the swampiest congress critters (Sheldon Whitehouse and Bob Corker) don't appear to care what we think about congressional insider trading.

    From a WaPo opinion piece last year:

    Of the senators who remain active in the stock market, they have a high propensity for trading stocks in businesses they directly oversee from their committees. From these perches, members of Congress often are privy to information that could directly affect the value of stocks, posing a serious conflict of interest when trading in those markets.

     Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), one of the Senate's more prolific players in the stock market, sits on the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security as well as the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, all the while trading stocks in the health-care and technology industries. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joins Whitehouse in trading stocks in infrastructure businesses he directly oversees from his position on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The list goes on of senators playing in the stock markets of industries directly related to their official oversight roles in Congress. 

    Politico found a similarly disturbing trend in both chambers of Congress. Politico identified about 30 percent of members of the House and Senate who are currently active in the stock market. Several of these members play in the markets over which they have some direct legislative responsibility — in some cases, even sponsoring legislation that could have a direct bearing on their stock investments. 

    Just as problematic, many congressional senior staffers — who have been removed from public scrutiny of their stock-trading activities when Congress eliminated the comprehensive disclosure requirement of the Stock Act — are also trading stocks in industries their bosses directly oversee. Last year, three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department whether the drug company Mylan was violating federal drug laws. Nine days later, the Justice Department agreed and levied a massive settlement penalty against the company. After the letter and before the settlement, a senior staffer to the Judiciary Committee dumped between $4,004 and $60,000 of Mylan stock investments.

    Such conflicts of interest in stock trading activity are squarely addressed in the executive branch. Senior executive branch officials are required to divest themselves of any stocks and other properties that pose a direct conflict of interest with their official duties. The same ethics standard should apply to Congress — both to members and senior staff. A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for example, should not be actively buying or selling stocks in the defense industry.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-truth-about-congress-and-financial-conflicts/2017/10/19/8ea8afd6-b382-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.cc1ae105d7a4

     

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  6. Thanks Helo. That’s good news to me.  

    In making the decision to shoot, are they using weapons loaded with ammunition that is likely to go through walls and kill/injure innocents?  That was an excuse used by the LEO commanders on the decision to wait after Columbine. 

  7. Non-political point - Shooter’s threats should have caused the Baltimore Sun to take some precautions for this satellite paper. Litigation brings out the worst in relatively sane folks. When you have years of threats from an unstable individual, they should have been in a building with layers of protection. Unsuccessful litigants can perseverate over a loss in Court to the point they seek their own justice. 

     

    Its not everyone’s preference, but I am damn glad to have at three attorneys in my office carrying concealed weapons.

     

    Our mental health facilities have been gutted through austerity. Those were menacing tweets from the shooter (if they are indeed his messages). I am also a little surprised there wasn’t more intervention by the Sheriff earlier (perhaps there was). 

     

    On on the plus side, that was a great reaction time by the Sheriff’s Department (60 seconds). They ran to the danger. I hope we are seeing a shift in tactics so shooters are neutralized quickly. One of the saddest aspects of Columbine was the first responders standing down as kids were being killled and wounded. It must haunt those the law enforcement officers who were ordered to wait while they knew the killings continued. 

    There is a lot of rage out there. Economic insecurity continues to add stress and anger. Many are able to tough it out (which can be effective, but a good therapist is quicker). Some cross the line when they have nothing else to lose. 

    We need to address the lack of mental health services available to those who need it.  And for goodness sake, when you have an active menace stalking a target, provide security - especially if you are in a building with zero security. 

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  8. Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society will advise Trump again. Gorsuch, one of the 21 on the Federalist Society's list, is the type of judge the Federalist Society champions.

    Pro-Lifers hated the pick because it was widely known Gorsuch supports an individual's right to be left alone (privacy).

    Gorsuch is also a champion of precedent, which makes it highly unlikely he or the Court would ever overrule Roe. If Leo has Trump's ear again, we will probably see another liberal (classic) nominee akin to Gorsuch.

    If you are looking for judges as legislators, you will not like the Federalist Society's picks. The Society clings to the separation of powers - where legislators create law, the executive executes the laws, and the judiciary interprets laws. Frankly, the executive branch has been delegated too much power by Congress. Way down in the weeds, it is time to relook at the Chevron doctrine. 

    Gorsuch was a good pick all around. He provides some geographic diversity, which is greatly needed in the full time DC world we created. Gorsuch is a strong supporter of individual liberty. And he is a judge who honors precedent, which provides certainty.

    The last thing this country needs is cultural war  - although partisans of both parties appear eager to engage.

    • Like 8
  9. 16 minutes ago, F250 said:

    What are the odds that an evil neoliberal centrist wins the nomination with the backing of the liberal wing of DNC?

     

    100% guarantee Dem, Inc. will choose a neoliberal. The owners of Dem, Inc. will want a candidate who is an expert at virtue signaling and expert at getting the rich - richer. 

    The base wants a New Dealer (the last New Deal President was Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford).

    Dem, Inc. will give them another neoliberal (Booker, Harris, Biden, Clinton, Holder, Gillebrand, Murphy, D. Patrick, McAuliffe, Cuomo). Dem. Inc. still hasn't learned the lesson of 2016. DINO's who champion "welfare for the wealthy" and "austerity for the rest of us" are toxic outside the East and West Coast citadel cities.

    Trump hatred, while strong, goes hand-in-hand with disgust for those who pretend to know how the poor feel cold (while listening to ethnicky jazz on their five grand stereo). See Joe Crowley's defeat last night. 

    Dem Inc. and Repub Corp. hates populism - right or left - at a time when millions upon millions have nothing. Aging Baby Boomers without savings and Millennials loaded with school loan debt desperately need a big fix. No help is coming from Dem Inc. Buffett will make another mint using his tried and true vulture capitalism while Dem Inc. gives him a reach around with another bought and paid for candidate who does not care how challenging these times are for a large chunk of Americans. 

    • Like 5
  10. Amen.

    MIB is asking the questions that need answers.

    Who and what replaces Assad? What's the exit strategy? How many souls perish? Where does the cancer of war spread if we destabilize Syria?

    This is Saddam/Q'daffy all over again. How did they end?

    I hope there is a special place in hell for murderous rulers. MIB has always been a Constitutionalist on the separation of power and who can declare war. Cut the McCarthy tactics. They're ugly and add nothing to what happens next. 

    • Like 1
  11. I agree with civil libertarians on Comey's actions and inactions as the FBI Director. He wasn't Hoover, but he does like the spotlight on him. He could have turned the spotlight on a lot of scummy cockroaches, but then that wasn't his job, I suppose.

    Another take on Trump is so tired and insignificant in the overall scheme of things. 

    . . . sorry, I am tired - I just gave another take on Trump. Insignificant, don't you think?

    Wait - that was yet another take. 

    Time to go quietly . . . 

     

  12. Anyone care what the Constitution has to say about our airstrikes tonight? The War Powers Act. Oh well, Hamilton is a hero because of a damn musical, which I suppose is appropriate. The separation of powers, a cornerstone of our Constitution, is crumbling. I was hoping Trump would resurrect the Legislative Branch as a place where laws are debated and passed and the body that decides when war starts. If there was a clear and present danger - what is required for the President to launch a military attack - it's time to tell the citizens of this nation the nature of the clear and present danger. And then Congress needs to act. The President is an emergency room. Congress determines whether we are at war and the scope of our involvement. It's time for Congress to get in the game. 

    As the son of a disabled vet (WWII, Korea, and Vietnam), I only saw war as the proud son of Dad who still had an intellect, but no real ability to use his body. It changed me for the better. I never saw him wear a uniform. I saw them, but I didn't know what any of the decorations were. The ribbons were a mix of Army Air Corps and then USAF. He didn't wear a uniform and he spent most of his adult life overseas. He didn't talk about his work for the military. We talked about football, women, and political theory in practice. Perhaps that is what he talked about at work. He survived the great depression in the dust bowl - with his Dad working for Phillips. He met my Mom in Sweetwater and then volunteered for the Army and was sent to the CBI theater. After WWII, he shuffled around the world until Korea and that horrible war. Vietnam was a meat grinder.

    War should never be taken lightly. I hope the President's message to Russia and Iran makes cooler heads prevail, but the switch to Bolton from McMaster signaled a change in direction. McMaster understands how wars can be lost. Hopefully the Pentagon learned the lessons taught by McMaster and will give the President good advice on the dangers of entering a war where there are no good guys. Syria is a circular firing squad.  

    To those who served, thank you. To those with sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, family, and friends in harm's way around the world -  they are admired (and so are you). To everyone in harm's way, take care of those around you. And let us know what you need to protect yourself to accomplish your mission quickly without unnecessary bloodshed.

    Anyone know what the Mission is?

  13. Bolton for McMasters was an ominous shift for those of us who believe "war is failure." 

    The D and R Hawks are thirsty for blood. 

    Rubble makes trouble. Syria is a labyrinth with no exit strategy. It's not beyond any one of a number of warring factions in that conflict to gas their own people to draw western democracies into the meat grinder. They want civilizational wars and there are too many in Congress sharing their blood lust.

    We have no good reason to thrust deeper into this syphilis infected warzone. None. 

  14. Amen Brisket. 

    1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

    The problem is calling either one of those shows "news."  "News" is reporting of facts and events.  What they each do is "some facts and events -- with a shitload of commentary slathered on."  . . . We the people mistake commentary for news.  That's a big fucking problem.

    Journalism is in dire need of reform. We need a strong "Chinese Wall" between news professionals and entertainers. CBS - to their credit - kept that wall in place better than any other major news division for many years (they eventually had to give into market forces that required a melding of news and entertainment). 

    The non-stop commentary provided by journalists on entertainment programs (Maddow/Hannity) creates the appearance that news professionals are biased. Reporters should report and rarely, if ever, provide their personal opinions on hard facts. And they should never become the story (see Jim Acosta's transformation from a reporter to a news topic). For those of us old enough to remember Watergate, there has been a fundamental shift in how news is reported. During Watergate, we were provided with original content (the actual hearings were broadcast in their entirety on most networks). The ability to access the information directly allowed the public to hear the evidence from the horse's mouth; today, we hear secondhand interpretations from reporters who provide their own spin of the news. There is very little difference between propaganda and opinion. Reporters need to stick to the facts and provide original source material whenever possible. The reliance on unnamed sources (with God knows what agenda they are pursuing) further weakens the credibility of reporters. Unnamed sources have their place in moving the news forward, but must be viewed with healthy skepticism and not be mistaken for fact-based news.

    My last soapbox statement: the public craves facts. When reporters repeat the same angle on a story as the angle promoted by political operatives, the public should be skeptical of whether that news is biased and coordinated. The better reporters identify who is spinning what story. The best reporters also find non-establishment perspectives. 

    • Like 3
  15. On 3/29/2018 at 6:50 PM, Billy Pilgrim said:

    I'd like to see Blood Meridian made into a movie. I liked the story, not a huge fan of McCarthy's style (I know I'm about to get ridiculed for that) 

    I love the book. Terrific visual imagery. (It takes a while to get the rhythm of Cormac’s writing).

    I doubt a film could capture the book, but it would a remarkable feat if someone does. Great book. 

  16. Almost half of OD’s may be suicides. Despair has reached epidemic proportions in the US. 

    ‘Deaths Of Despair’

    When doctors do look deeper into the reasons patients addicted to opioids become suicidal, some economists predict they’ll find deep reservoirs of depression and pain.

     

    Quote

    In a seminal paper published in 2015, Princeton economists Angus Deacon and Anne Case tracked falling marriage rates, the loss of stable middle-class jobs and rising rates of self-reported pain. The authors say opioid overdoses, suicides and diseases related to alcoholism are all often “deaths of despair.”

    “We think of opioids as something that’s thrown petrol on the flames and made things infinitely worse,” Deaton said, “but the underlying deep malaise would be there even without the opioids.”

    Many economists agree on remedies for that deep malaise. Harvard economics professor David Cutler said solutions include a good education, a steady job that pays a decent wage, secure housing, food and health care.

    https://khn.org/news/difficult-to-gauge-rate-of-suicide-among-deaths-from-opioid-overdoses/

    Mental health is woefully ignored in this nation. The State Hospitals of yesteryear were horrible. But the failure to replace them with more humane access points was cruel. 

    We reap what we sow. 

     

    • Like 2
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