tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214489942024-03-13T16:47:31.804+00:00Da mihi sis cerevisiam<b>Looking at the world a different way - and liking it!</b><br>implication is not always a justification for optimismMalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.comBlogger422125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-51483101760404942632023-08-30T08:50:00.000+00:002023-08-30T08:50:05.827+00:00Chiefs Prospects 23-4<p> Chiefs Prospects 2023-4<br /><br />The 53 man roster has just been revealed and it’s time to make sense of how the season will unfold.<br /><br />The elephant in the room is Chris Jones – star defensive tackle. He is holding out and time is running out before the situation becomes untenable. My guess is that there is more here than meets the eye.<br /><br />Offence:<br /><br />Getting back to the players who are on the team: the Chiefs are only keeping two quarterbacks; Mahomes and Gabbert. They will probably try to sneak one through waivers to provide cover. ( My view: this is a mistake!) At running back we have Pacheco, Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon ( too thin!)<br /><br />Seven wide receivers will provide the bulk of the offence: Toney, MVS, Skyy, Jkustin Watson, Richie James, Rashee Rice and Justin Ross. <br /><br />No full back!<br /><br />O-line: Donovan Smith, Tuney, Humphrey, Trey Smith, Jawaamn Taylor, Allegrettit, Prince Tega, Niang, Mike Caliendo, Wayna Morris ( solid if not spectacular) <br /><br />Defence:<br />Ends: Katlaftis, Danna, Herring, Felix Anudike, BJ Thompson ( very thin without Jones!)<br /><br />LB’s: Bolton, Gay, Tranquill Chenal, Jack Cochrane, Cam Jones (solid if unspectacular) <br /><br />CB’s: McDuffie, Sneed, Watson, Williams, Nic Jones (should be the strength of the team – if we had a pass rush)<br /><br />Safeties: Reid, Cook, Chamarri Conner, Mike Edwards ( could be good!)<br /><br />Specialists: Butker, Townsend, Winchester ( solid)<br /><br />This is supposed to be a run it back season. Many pundits have the Chiefs as the number one NFL team before a ball is kicked.<br /><br />Mal’s take: Chiefs were very lucky to beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl and the 49ers before that. Some day the law of averages may catch up with them. If Chris Jones remains absent we are in for a long season! Another Super Bowl is always possible when you have the best coach and best quarterback in the league – but they are not my favourites at the moment: the AFC West teams are all going to be good to better and that may make the difference!<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-3362494983011103322023-02-05T17:24:00.003+00:002023-02-05T17:24:30.759+00:00<p> </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b46db89-7fff-e67b-ccfa-a2c9e7425108" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Chiefs Super Bowl</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b46db89-7fff-e67b-ccfa-a2c9e7425108" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b46db89-7fff-e67b-ccfa-a2c9e7425108" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Watch out for Eagles to have their talons removed! </span></b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">To no-one's surprise, KC will play again in the Super Bowl. Eagles v Chiefs should be a great game. Bookies have it as Philly are slight favourites. They have it all wrong. Chiefs will win and win big, say by 10 points.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Why?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Simple, the Eagles have not played a good team all season and certainly not in the play-offs.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Patrick Mahomes will run rings around the Eagles pass rush and find receivers all over the field. Pascheco will provide enough of a run game to not only slow down the rush, but also score on the ground.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">On the flip side, Hurts will have to beat the tribe in the air. He just isn’t good enough. I expect Chris Jones and co. to have a big game. The Chief’s secondary is rapidly becoming one of their strengths.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Could the Eagles win?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Yes, of course they could, but I just can’t see it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What are the dangers? Injuries for starters. Poor old Mecole Hardman looks like he will miss the game. If the other receivers are good to go then this is just unfortunate for him, - if others are no good then it’s a real problem. Travis Kelce has a bad back, now it was good enough for him to help defeat the Bengals - and hopefully two weeks rest will see it get as close to 100% as possible - if not that’s a real blow. The defensive game plan will have to be spot on - stop the run and make Hurt throw the ball - often and under pressure.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Chiefs are certainly capable of doing both these things.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Could the Chiefs come out over-confident and rusty? Not likely we have the best coach by far ( Andy Reid) and two weeks to prepare. I suspect the birds won’t know what hit them.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A week away from the game there is, no doubt, still some twists and turns to negotiate.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Still - if confidence wins then I’m really excited!</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-65916294893004670962022-10-17T13:13:00.003+00:002022-10-17T13:13:23.421+00:00Who are you calling Fascist?<p>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Can you smell that stuff you shovelling?</span></b><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Fascist is one of
the modern buzz words, bandied about by folks who have no real
arguments, but realise that simply pinning the fascist label on your
political opponents is better than doing nothing at all. And often
works.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It’s easy to see
why.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Definition of
fascism</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>often capitalized
: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the
Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and
that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a
dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and
forcible suppression of opposition.</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Needless to say,
fascism has a bad track-record and an even worse reputation and
press. If anyone cares to lump themselves in with Hitler and Benito
Mussolini, go right ahead, it profits you not. Therefore calling
someone or their ideas fascist has great appeal. Apart from being a
cheap-shot: it ensures that everyone knows exactly where you stand on
an issue. The imprecision we’ll leave for the moment.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A quick look at the
ubiquitous Google will bring up a surprising list of countries with
some fascist elements either now or historically, including the UK
and the USA. The usual suspects are, of course, there: Italy, Nazi
Germany and Spain. Add Romania, Greece Montenegro, France, Hungary
and Norway to the list and the picture is more complete.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The current
government of the UK with its central autocratic government bent of
using immigrants to shoulder the blame for the mess that Brexit has
mired the UK economy in easily fits the classic definition of
fascist. The USA in WWII with it’s forced removal of its own
citizens (of Japanese descent) and FDR’s attempt to pack the
Supreme Court so as to pass socialist New Deal measures sure smells
like fascist to me!</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As shorthand for
evil, ill-begotten, brainless, smelly rats, Fascist had a lot of
attraction as a label for your political opponent. It’s short,
catchy and sufficiently obtuse and imprecise so that you don’t
actually have to deal with the substance of an argument, just label
it fascist and move on. Very attractive to real fascists who never
actually want to engage in an argument based on facts. Why would
they?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Just sling the
fascist label on you opponents and be done with it! Sounds like
Trumpism neatly described. If the policies of Donald Trump aren’t
a classic definition of fascist ( blame the immigrants, be a
dictator, usurp the political process, and suppress the opposition
with lies, falsehoods and general BS) then I don’t know what else
to call them?</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-29186050469121214112022-09-06T04:46:00.003+00:002022-09-06T04:46:58.322+00:00Chiefs Prospects 2022-3<p><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Tribe Rocks Again!</b></span><br /><br />Football is right around the corner. As usual, the prelude is the release of the 53 man roster for the tribe’s assault on yet another division title and Super Bowl.<br /><br />Time to look at who is in and who is not.<br /><br />Offence<br /><br />QB’s Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne, Shane Buechele<br /><br />Buechele is the sleeper here. The Chiefs usually only keep two QB’s but they are keeping three this season: they really like Buechele! Question is, is it not then time to let Henne go? Maybe!<br /><br />Running Backs: CEH, Jerick McKinnon, Isiah Pacheco, Ronald Jones.<br /><br />Pacheco is the real surprise here: is he really that good? Our fingers are crossed for a real steal!<br /><br />Full Back: Michael Burton<br /><br />Big Red loves a full back and Burton is the man! Why? They like a lead blocker on some running plays and he catches the ball when asked to. Nuff said?<br /><br />Wide Receivers: Juju, MVS, Hardman, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson<br /><br />Is five enough as both Juju and MVS have had real injury concerns in the past? Look for Hardman and Moore to have real big seasons!<br /><br />Tight Ends: Kelce, Fortson, Gray, Blake Bell<br /><br />I see the Chiefs playing a lot of three tight-end sets in an effort to get the running game going – especially early in the season. Bell starts the season on IR. Fortson may be the player of the season!<br /><br />O-line: Brown, Thuney, Humphrey, Smith, Wylie (that’s the starters left to right) Christian, Allegretti Prince Tega, Kinnard are the back-ups.<br /><br />Is there enough depth? Is Wylie a good enough right tackle? If this bunch can generate a run game and protect Mahomes then Chiefs will again be a real force in the AFC.<br /><br />Defence<br /><br />Tackles: Jones, Nnadi, Wharton, Saunders<br /><br />Thin, but if they stay healthy they can be a real rock to build on.<br /><br />Ends: Clark, Karlaftis, Dunlap, Danna<br /><br />Chiefs are putting the rookie in a tough spot! How well will he hold up?<br /><br />Line-backers: Bolton, Gay, Elijah Lee, Chenal<br /><br />Problems! Problems! Is this group good enough? I doubt it!<br /><br />Cornerbacks: Sneed, Fenton, McDuffie (rookie) Williams, Watson and Lammons<br /><br />I think this will be the Chiefs Achilles heel on defence.<br /><br />Safeties: Thornhill, Reid, Bryan Cook, Deon Bush<br /><br />Three specialists: Buttkicker, Townsend, and Winchester.<br /><br />In addition, 14 players have been signed to the practice squad.<br /><br />Summing up: the Chiefs are in the Super Bowl window and despite trading Hill to the Dolphins are well-equipped to mount another challenge. The AFC West competition will be better: Chargers look better, Raider may surprise a few folks, and the Broncos are the Broncos despite getting Russel Wilson to take the snaps. I still expect the Chiefs to take care of business in the West. But, I’m not as confident as I was last year!<br /><br />Why? Simple. Defence! You may remember we had the Bengals on the ropes last year and the defence could not finish the job! Will this bunch be much better? I’m just not convinced!<br /><br />And the rest of the AFC West has loaded up. The Chargers will be better the Raider will be better and the vibes coming from Denver are positive. The Chief’s stroll through the West may not be as easy as it had been. However, what doesn’t kill you often makes you stronger!<br /> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-10172935512760356482022-06-09T15:01:00.004+00:002022-06-09T15:01:34.344+00:00Skinny Bobby Harper<p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Amor omnia vincit </b></span>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was searching for items to add to my series of reminisces about the
Old Man when I had a flashback to the sixties and WDAF radio in
Kansas City. They had a DJ called Skinny Bobby Harper who, as the
Aussies say, was as mad as a cut snake. (Mad here means crazy in
Aussie-speak)</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/atlanta/name/-skinny-bobby-harper-obituary?pid=1183696</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">He was famous for
doing crazy things on the radio. I can vividly remember one day when
he got Buckingham Palace on the phone and demanded to speak to the
Queen as it was her birthday. He failed, but his witty attempts to
get the English operator to put him through had the entire community
of Kansas City in stitches.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sometime in the mid
to late 60’s he organised a 50 mile walk in aid of some charity.
The plan was to walk from Higginsville, Mo. to the Radio station in
KC., a distance of about 50 miles if you follow the old Route 40
which was the main drag before the Interstate highway system was
built and Interstate 70 became the most travelled and direct route
between the two.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">For some unknown
reason me and some buddies (including Larry Stoner at least) decided
we would do this walk. We were young, fit and remarkably stupid.
So, we thought this would be a doddle.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Skinny Bobby had
arranged this fiasco so that the walk started at about 23:00, his
thinking was, I believe, that the walkers would get to KC proper in
the morning when he was on the radio. Good plan.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">50 miles in 9 hours
would be about achievable at about 5 m.p.h. - a good brisk walking
pace; so, we were supremely confident that we could do it and achieve
some, yeah even small, notoriety at least. Maybe get interviewed on
the radio or make the Independence Examiner as a human interest
story.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Firstly, we had to
get to Higginsville for the start of the walk. There would be no
point in driving there and leaving a car by the side of the road
cause we’d just have to go back and collect it later (if it managed
to survive without vandals having their evil way with it) Somehow, I
managed to persuade my OM to drive us to the start and leave us
there.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It was an easy
drive; this I know as we had driven there many times in our
illustrious Go-kart racing days. There was a good dirt track in
Higginsville where I won many races. From Independence it is about
38 miles. Takes about 40 minutes the way the OM drove.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Off we went and were
duly deposited at the intersection of US 40 and Missouri 13 full of
youthful anticipation and verve. The OM returned home; I think he had
to work the next day, but it may have been a Saturday and so he had
the next day off. He’s not here to ask and I doubt anyone else will
remember?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">At the appointed
hour we set off. Such was the organisation of this epic road trip we
kinda assumed there would be “marshals” there to see us off and
log our progress. We were fools. There were only a couple of people
around and so without further adieu we just set off.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A word about the
weather; I think it was late spring; but again I may be way out. My
best recollection is that it was cool, especially at 11’oclock at
night but it wasn’t cold. It was dark. We didn’t walk on the
road. In those halcyon days of almost no traffic, there were large
trucks that whizzed by every so often and a few cars. We walked on
the left side of the road and 10 to 15 feet off it. (We were not
entirely stupid; as we realised walking facing the on-coming traffic
was preferable to having a 50 ton semi truck smack into the back of
you - like all young folks we were invincible of course - or so we
thought.)</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">After about an
hour’s walking we had slowed considerably. We became aware that it
was getting cold and we were thirsty. On reflection I would like to
think that we came prepared with such things as food and water, but
in truth I can’t remember. I suspect not.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We were smart enough
to realise that we were falling seriously behind schedule. We
plodded on. Cresting a hill (US 40 was unlike an Interstate as it was
quite full of small rises) we saw the dim lights of Odessa Missouri
in the distance.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Despondency at our
foolishness had set in big time. The realisation that we had bit off
much more than an Apatosaurus could chew dawned - even though the
real dawn seemed a life-time away. Our pace slowed as our hearts
sank with the realisation that we were not going to walk to KC and
receive the cheers and glory. We might, just might, make Odessa
Missouri with sore feet and in a sour mood with the bitter taste of
defeat in our mouths instead of food or a drink. At that time of
night, it was well past midnight by then; Odessa, still a few miles
distant; was dead, no lights anywhere and not a sign of life. No
welcoming crowds, no cheering compadres, no sign of liquid or solid
sustenance: in short, no nothing. (Even that double negative fails to
convey our mood which was lower than that of the 7th Cavalry at the
Little Big Horn) i.e. lower than whale manure!</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Nevertheless we
trudged on towards a dim light in the distance. It was a gas
station. It was closed but with some lights on.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As we reached the
forecourt I saw what I thought was the Old Man’s car. I dismissed
this as a mirage.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Don’t forget we
are talking about a time when mobile phones, indeed almost every
modern communication device had yet to be thought of - even less
invented. After he had deposited us near Higginsville he just drove
off. I got closer. Sitting in the driver’s seat was indeed the OM.
He said nothing except “get in”. I firmly expected him to say
“You Omadoms have really outdone yourselves this time”, but no,
he was silent as he calmly drove us back to Independence.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Loving your parents
is considered obligatory, but it is not.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There at that closed
gas station in Odessa, Missouri I loved the OM more than I can say.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-22831073268172616122022-06-07T13:30:00.002+00:002022-06-07T13:30:20.727+00:00Liars and Other Animals<p>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>Abraham Lincoln
promoted John Pope to be commanding General. Some warned Lincoln that
Pope was a habitual liar.</b></span></p><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>
</b></span><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b><br /></b></span>
</p><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>
</b></span><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>Lincoln replied, "I
knew the Popes back in Illinois. They were all liars and braggarts.
But I see no reason why a liar and a braggart would not be a good
general."
</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Some unquestionably
great political gaffs – like Dan Quale:</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On June 15, 1992,
Quayle altered 12-year-old student William Figueroa's correct
spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at the Muñoz
Rivera Elementary School spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey. He was
the subject of widespread ridicule for his error and spelling also
Gerald Ford stumbling down the aircraft steps
(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jsu_qgVuhg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jsu_qgVuhg</a>).
My view is that this is in the same ballpark. Politicians are prone
to making themselves look stupid and/or foolish. So are we lesser
mortals;but, usually and thankfully there is no-one about to film our
peccadilloes.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">That said, it is up
to the individual to assess the policies of recent Presidents.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><u>Policies </u><u>of
Joe Biden</u></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2022/01/20/an-overview-of-bidens-first-regulatory-year/">https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2022/01/20/an-overview-of-bidens-first-regulatory-year/</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/joe-biden-policies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/article/joe-biden-policies.html</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/">https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-53575474">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-53575474</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><u>Policies of
Donald Trump</u></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://theweek.com/articles/936534/trump-bigger-socialist-than-biden">https://theweek.com/articles/936534/trump-bigger-socialist-than-biden</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/30/politics/socialism-trump-democrats-election-2020/index.html">https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/30/politics/socialism-trump-democrats-election-2020/index.html</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/">https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article248659305.html">https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article248659305.html</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/the-things-trump-got-right/617424/">https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/the-things-trump-got-right/617424/</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.republicanleader.gov/top-five-accomplishments-of-trump-pence-administration/">https://www.republicanleader.gov/top-five-accomplishments-of-trump-pence-administration/</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2021/01/trumps-top-10-accomplishments-of-2020-opinion.html">https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2021/01/trumps-top-10-accomplishments-of-2020-opinion.html</a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Trying to specify
which policies are good for the people of the US is subjective. Even
a specimen run at my view as to which policies are good and which are
bad for each guy would be superfluous. End of discussion.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I conclude.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There was a profile
of Walter Cronkite posted on Facebook praising his very objective
style of reporting – common in the 60’s. Here’s the link
(<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2022/04/21/fox-news-channels-sean-hannity-just-broke-a-primetime-cable-news-record/?sh=1140a9cf4f61">https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2022/04/21/fox-news-channels-sean-hannity-just-broke-a-primetime-cable-news-record/?sh=1140a9cf4f61</a>)
to an article explaining Hannity’s self-confessed right-wing bias
in his reporting.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In general if you
only look at sources which you perceive will agree with you you are
missing most of the real world.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Reader, widen you
interests and sources, please, you’ll live longer and be happier!</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-14983368797649920942022-05-30T15:57:00.001+00:002022-05-30T15:57:23.886+00:00Pennies on the Railway Tracks<p> </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26c482f5-7fff-6e34-b3a8-1156b86cf6a6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pennies on the Railway Tracks </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26c482f5-7fff-6e34-b3a8-1156b86cf6a6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26c482f5-7fff-6e34-b3a8-1156b86cf6a6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Old copper pennies are easily squashed </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If you lay them on the track when the loco approaches</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">When they are as mashed as sweet potatoes </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">They are almost the same colour as</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Old stogies retrieved from the ballast </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Brown, grey and greasy with age and misuse</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Can show their grief like discarded detritus </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Three roads congealed in an unctuous wood</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Surrounded by discarded rubber tyres </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Slowly decaying and ever so slowly indeed</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Becoming the commentary of our lives - our failures</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-28580994139228412772022-05-09T09:23:00.004+00:002022-05-09T09:23:59.122+00:00Abortion Crisis<p>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #073763;">
Dred Scott</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The U.S Supreme
Court is often accused of ducking the issue and/or becoming too
political in its judgements. Throughout history when the court
decides or is forced to decide on contentious issues there are
usually extreme consequences. Many people believe that the Dred
Scott case was the single most obvious cause of the Civil War.
People opposed to slavery views, quite rightly, the decision as the
death knell for a peaceful resolution to this most controversial of
issues.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It would seem from
reports that the Court is again treading into deep water, this time
on the issue of abortion.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/roe-v-wade</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">This issue has often
confused and puzzled me. On a personal level there are two issues.
Firstly, is an unborn foetus which without intervention from an
outside force would be born a citizen of the U.S. and, if so, are
they entitled to the protection the Constitution provides to all
citizens? Secondly, does the government, either Federal or State or
Local, have the power to enforce any decision based in law on all
citizens?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On the first issue:
I have always supported the protection of the unborn. My opinion is
that at conception a new human life comes into existence and should
therefore be protected. On the second issue, I do not believe that
any branch of the government has the right to dictate to any citizen
what is essentially a private matter. Hopefully, dear reader, you
can see the dichotomy here at work.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I elaborate; before
you start throwing petrol bombs at my house.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Most of our laws
have at their heart the protection the state is due to provide to its
citizens. So, legally we are back to Dred Scott.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“We the People of
the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common
defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,”</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">If the unborn is a
citizen then abortion is clearly illegal and the Supreme Court is
within its juristiction to rule that way under the equal rights
provisions of the 14th amendment.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">But, if the unborn
is not a citizen then the Supreme Court is not entitled to extend any
protection to it, same as Dred Scott.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">What is supremely
interesting here is the line-up on both sides of the debate.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On the one hand we
have very conservative Republicans who seem to support the rights of
the unborn in calling for abortion reform.and the repeal of Roe v
Wade. On the other hand we have Democrats who view this as an
infringement of the rights of the individual enshrined in the
Constitution and demand that Roe v Wade is upheld in its present
form, or something very close to it.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It would be nice to
think that there is some room for compromise here. I confess I can
see none.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Republican
Platform (from their website)</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“Republicans
believe in liberty, economic prosperity, preserving American values
and traditions, and restoring the American dream for every citizen of
this great nation. As a party, we support policies that seek to
achieve those goals.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Our platform is
centered on stimulating economic growth for all Americans, protecting
constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, ensuring the integrity of our
elections, and maintaining our national security. We are working to
preserve America's greatness for our children and grandchildren.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Republican
Party's legacy -- we were originally founded in 1854 for the purpose
of ending slavery -- compels us to patriotically defend America's
values. As the left attempts to destroy what makes America great, the
Republican Party is standing in the breach to defend our nation and
way of life.”</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">So, you may wonder,
why would Republicans be so against abortion as it seems to be
guaranteed by the Constitution as a matter for the states or the
people? A very good question.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Could it be that
they see this policy as a vote-winner?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It certainly
wouldn’t be the first time a political party cut its cloth to fit
the stripes it is currently wearing. Is this policy a vote-winner
for Republicans?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Personally, I can’t
see how.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">If the Supreme Court
rules that Row v Wade goes, the power to ban or allow abortion then
reverts to the states. Some have already said they will enact
legislation to enable abortion. Others won't. Some women will be
supportive, especially in states that don’t like abortion, say like
Texas. But, in those states there will be some women who don’t
support a ban. Who will they vote for - surely the Democrats.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ok, so what about
the reverse? States that enact enabling abortion legislation may
suffer in so far as women who support the ban stop voting Democrat.
Hang on - surely not many women who support an abortion ban currently
vote Democrat. Now seldom is there a one issue election, but I fear
the Republican party are in danger of making the next one simply
about abortion. For the party of Lincoln this could be an absolute
disaster!
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It was in no small
part the Dred Scott decision that pushed the North towards a conflict
with the South. Lincoln in particular wanted to ban slavery from
the expanding Union and Dred Scott put a nail right through that
plan. The Missouri Compromise was dead, and declared dead by the
Supreme Court. Now there was no real way to prevent slavery from
expanding throughout the Union. With that realisation the Republican
Party was formed and the rest, as they say, is history.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">History can repeat
itself. If the Court rules against Roe v Wade there will be a split
not only in Congress but also in the nation.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Is there any way
this tragedy can be avoided? The prospects are not good.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The toxic debate and
hysteria from both parties is not likely to be quelled easily.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Notwithstanding that
there are people with strong views on both sides; there is evidence
that the country, whilst divided, has no appetite for a repeal.
Perhaps this can be parlayed into some sort of compromise consensus?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On a personal level,
I believe that following the traditions of the Republican Party the
government has no business interfering in the lives of citizens for
some partisan advantage, real or imagined. I do not believe that a
government of whatever persuasion should dictate to women what they
should do regarding abortion. They can and should provide good
health care for all women, good advice about contraception to all
women, and good, safe abortion care to all women who wish it.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Supreme Court
might do better in remembering how the Dred Scott decision led in an
almost straight line to the most bloody conflict in American History.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Couple that with the
lessons of the 18th Amendment ( governments who try to legislate on
what is essentially a private moral decision run the risk of mass
civil disobedience ). I’m assuming that no one wants that? I fear
that is where we may be heading.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }</style> <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-70801998315817093412022-04-06T09:56:00.000+00:002022-04-06T09:56:16.874+00:00Clever Porkers<p> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Killing Pigs</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>When Gorge Orwell (Eric Blair) sat down to write his masterpiece Animal Farm he brought to the project a lifetime of practical experience of farms and farming.</p><p><br /></p><p>“Animal Farm might have been consigned to the dusty attics of history long ago had Orwell’s rendering of his animal protagonists not been so on point and credible — the sheep lemming-like, the pigs intelligent and top of the pecking order and the aged donkey, Benjamin, stubborn and knowing.</p><p><br /></p><p>They are rooted in Orwell’s real farming experiences and they demonstrate his profound and deep-seated understanding of animal character traits, behaviour and husbandry requirements. ‘Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw… He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut,’ Orwell writes with a farmer’s knowledge at the beginning of the book.</p><p><br /></p><p>‘My father was very observant of everything, and would quite quickly absorb the various characteristics of farm animals and subsequently pigeonhole them in his mind as to how clever or not they appeared to be,’ reflects Richard Blair, the son Orwell (real name Eric Arthur Blair) adopted aged three weeks in 1944, with his wife, Eileen.</p><p><br /></p><p>‘I guess in Animal Farm, he started with the pigs and placed the animals in descending order as he saw them.’</p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore it is not surprising that he gave to the pigs the top of the pecking order; as it firmly followed what he already knew – pigs are by far and away the cleverest animals on the farm.</p><p><br /></p><p>Back in the day I used to sometimes help out on the farm belonging to the Hall family. You gain an impressive understanding of animals, particularly farm animals by what used to be called O.J.T. – on the job training.</p><p><br /></p><p>I sat on a tractor one day when I noticed a sow pig sauntering across the back forty toward a field of excellent corn, almost ready to be harvested. Now I know this was not allowed and so did the pig. In fact Pa Hall had strategically placed some barbed wire around the corn field so that no animals would get in there and ruin the crop.</p><p><br /></p><p>He forgot to tell the pigs.</p><p><br /></p><p>And, what’s worse, he forgot that pigs are smart – very smart. </p><p><br /></p><p>I kept thinking as I watched the sow head towards the corn, “She’ll never get past the barbed wire!”</p><p><br /></p><p>There was a tree which formed part of the field boundary and it was misshapen. It rose about three feet upwards and then split to form two branches before it continued skyward. There was no barbed wire between the two branches at the three foot level, the space was up off the ground and not very large so no wire has been strung there. A very false economy as it happens!</p><p><br /></p><p>I watched the old sow as she approached the gap and stood there looking at it. Knowing that pigs are smart, I expected that she would see that she could not gain access to the corn, turn around and head back.</p><p><br /></p><p>What happened next amazed me. </p><p><br /></p><p>She calmly walked back about 50 feet towards the farm yard, turned and charged the barbed wire. And I mean charged. Pigs can run surprisingly fast when they want to. I was convinced that I was witnessing the very first kamikaze pig. When she was about three feet from the tree that had no barbed wire in the very small gap, she launched herself right at it. She was, of course, too fat to squeeze through the gap, but she did manage to wedge herself between the two branches. I watched in amazement as she began to wriggle from left to right. With increasing vigour she wriggled away for at least 15 minutes and with each wriggle she advanced ever so slightly through the gap; until at last she managed, after one almighty wriggle, to plop gently on the other side and began to feast on the corn.</p><p><br /></p><p>Clearly she had done this before. She was in no hurry.</p><p><br /></p><p>I would have liked to stick around to see her get back to the farm, but I was honour bound to tell Pa Hall the story and let him make of it what he will. I duly reported the events and although I’m not entirely sure he believed me eventually he just shrugged his shoulders and muttered damn pig!</p><p><br /></p><p>Before I leave he old sow perplexing the humans, I must mention a story I often told to school children – as long as they were over the age of 13. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now, conventional wisdom has it that whilst pigs are quite clever; they are not intuitively so. I disagree.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of the least pleasant jobs on the farm, aside from slaughtering the cows, was castrating the male piglets. They are often called shoats after they have been weaned.</p><p><br /></p><p>First you have to round up all the young male pigs and corner them in the barn. At this stage they are usually quite calm and curious about their new surroundings. You manage to grab one of the little critters and whilst sitting on a stool you place the piglet between your knees with his bottom side up. By this stage the piglet is screaming blue murder, but it clearly doesn’t know why – nor do the others. Next you take your single-edged razor blade and swiftly and deftly remove the pig’s ball bag and spray some disinfectant on the wound. Now he let’s out an unheard of scream, unlike anything heard before.</p><p>Immediately, all the other piglets scream and start running around looking for a way out. </p><p><br /></p><p>This special scream obviously means in Porcinesque “Help, they have just cut my balls off!” How else would the others know exactly what’s coming?</p><p><br /></p><p>The moral: pigs are smart and can communicate with each other. Perhaps when we kill ourselves and despoil the planet through war or disease Orwell’s vision may come true – pigs rule!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-1691583956496751352022-03-28T15:05:00.002+00:002022-03-28T15:05:33.228+00:00Biden v Trump<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>
Sleep Joe v Pussy Grabber</b></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We flatter ourselves that we know
and/or understand the folks who have been elected to represent us.
In the end; they become caricatures based, usually, on our prejudices
and expectations. Still the idea that we know them persists. This is
a very human frailty. We are at heart a tribal species and research
shows us that, at most, we “connect” with about 150 people. On
the very personal level this number is much smaller with family,
close relatives and friends and work-related members dominating.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>The Rule of 150 was coined by
British Anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, and is defined as the
“suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one
can maintain stable social relationships and thus numbers larger than
this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced
norms …</i></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This is fine until we get to,
“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed. '' In the USA and the UK to give
two examples with many millions of voters required to give consent to
be governed this inevitably leads to a disconnect between the
governed and the governors.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We therefore fall back on our
prejudices, our shared values, our history, our ethnicity, our
religious beliefs and many other fallible sources of context to make
our choices about who is to be elected. This in itself is not a
problem. The problem comes when we revert to our tribal past to make
judgements about how well, or no, the elected leaders are doing. We
revert to the tribal past so that we can use what is familiar to us
from our own experience to judge the leader’s performance by direct
evidence. He did this. He said this. He usurped my property, my
mate, or my gods. He is so bad that we need to leave the group and
start over. Not only is he a bad guy, but he is a bad guy because I
know him. He’s in my circle. I have first hand experience of his
bad behaviour or bad judgements; so I vote with my feet and leave and
that’s how, in a very large part, we came to populate the entire
planet.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Problem here is easy to define. We
don’t know Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson or, even say,
Vlad Putin, so we have to judge them by what we see or perceive to
see what they do and say.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">What tools do we have to overcome the
inherent disconnect between the voters and the elected? In the past
we relied on the media - chiefly the print media - to provide us with
details of the policies a government might follow. Nowadays the
media has proliferated into realms our political leaders could have
once only dreamed of. The media is the message has now become the
media is the only message. And the message is almost always about
character.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">In the 1980’s I was fond of what I
called the next-door neighbour test. Imagine the house next door was
sold to (in those days) Margaret Thatcher. Can you imagine living
next to Maggie? You’re in your garden and there she is looking
over at your undies on the washing line and tut-tut ing! Nightmare!
(incidentally, in those days despite the fact that she won a slew of
elections you could never find anyone who would admit to voting for
her) So who passes the Maggie Test today? Joe Biden? Not likely.
Vlad the Putin – never. Bonking Boris? He wins in and landslide.
He’s inviting you round for drinks or he’s in the local pub
buying everybody a drink! Boris wins hands down.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>The transition of news from print,
television and radio to digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in
the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. It
is also reflected in the ways individual Americans say they are
getting their news. A large majority of Americans get news at least
sometimes from digital devices, according to a Pew Research Center
survey conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020.</i></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The days of FDR’s fireside chats and
the Presidential news conference are largely gone.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Even the “great communicator”
Ronald Reagan would find it difficult today. Poor old Tricky Dick
lost the 1960 election, chiefly because the voters judged him hot,
sweaty and flustered at the debate with Kennedy.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This transition is not in itself a bad
thing. A multiplicity of news from a variety of sources could be a
good thing, but only if John Q Public is diligent enough to evaluate
not just the news but also the source. There is little evidence that
this is happening. The result is folks see something on their news
feed and just accept it, particularly if it reinforces their
prejudices.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Personally, if I see that a “story”
is from Fox News, or the New York Times I tend to gloss over it,
admittedly for completely different reasons, but gloss nevertheless.
I regret that most folks are not so discerning. Even more worrying
is the tendency for folks to stick to the media outlet that most
agrees with their already-formed prejudices. This is bad for
democracy.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A fairly simple example:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The
claim: Thomas Jefferson said giving to those who are not willing to
work endangers democracy</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
A Dec. 16<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveSouthernHeritageandHistory/photos/a.539488726198369/1916398701840691/?type=3&theater">
</a><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveSouthernHeritageandHistory/photos/a.539488726198369/1916398701840691/?type=3&theater">post</a>
</u></span>to the Facebook page for Save Southern Heritage and
History includes a statement about democracy allegedly written by
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not," says
the quote, which is credited to the nation's third president in a
meme.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
Save Southern Heritage and History is a society and cultural website
that also posts conservative news and patriotic memes, according to
its Facebook profile<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveSouthernHeritageandHistory/about/?ref=page_internal">
</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveSouthernHeritageandHistory/about/?ref=page_internal"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>page</u></span></a>.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
USA TODAY reached out to the group for comment.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
The statement has recent origins and has not been found in
Jefferson's catalog of writings.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
I’m sure that “quotations” from liberal sources which purport
to “prove” that GW Bush was/is a racist or that Trump supported
Vlad the Putin through thick and thin could also be easily found.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
We have, as a society, lost the art of critical thinking. We are not
questioning either our leaders or our news sources. We are allowing
falsehoods to profligate with impunity.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
More recently from CNN</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/16/politics/fact-check-dale-top-15-donald-trump-lies/index.html"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/16/politics/fact-check-dale-top-15-donald-trump-lies/index.html</u></span></a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
Lest we think that only one party/individual can play fast and loose
with the truth:</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/25/joe-biden/joe-biden-gets-history-wrong-second-amendment-limi/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/25/joe-biden/joe-biden-gets-history-wrong-second-amendment-limi/</u></span></a></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
So, what are we to take from the lack of trustworthiness in our
political leaders?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
Some folks may conclude that voting is just a waste of time. Some
may conclude that all politicians are alike and completely
untrustworthy. Some may be moved to grab a banner and march for
their chosen person/cause. Some may conclude that only violence is
able to effect real change and grab a gun!</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<i>I found this from Neil Fleming, whoever he is?</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<i>Do British people view the USA as a legendary country?</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<i>Absolutely. There’s lots of things you excel at and are world
leaders among developed nations.</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<i>Your lack of healthcare, dreadful employment laws, endemic racism,
lack of gun control, lack of social care, regular mass shootings,
lunatic creationists, conspiracy nuts, lack of paid vacation time,
expecting people to work for tips rather than a decent wage. Out of
control trigger- happy police. Ludicrously jingoistic warmongering
attitudes. A fear of anything mildly liberal. Terrible food
standards. The death penalty. An utterly corrupt political system.</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<i>And all the gun toting, right wing, bible thumping republicans who
think all of the above is acceptable.</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 146%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This
theme is not just historical: It was </i></span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/04/salvini-aims-to-forge-far-right-alliance-ahead-of-european-elections"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>reported</u></i></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i>
on 5 April that Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s League Party
(formerly the Northern League) and the country’s controversial
deputy prime minister, has invited leaders of other European radical
right parties to a conference in Milan, scheduled for 8 April.
Salvini’s aim, according to the Guardian, is to create a bloc of
right-wing populists which extends beyond the Europe of Nations and
Freedom group in the European Parliament. With 36 seats, ENF is the
smallest grouping in the parliament and Salvini is clearly aiming to
create something grander.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What
are his chances of success? Perhaps his biggest prize would be to
attract Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s far-right prime minister, who has
(still) not been ejected from the centre-right European People’s
Party grouping in the European Parliament, despite having been
censored for his attempts to push Hungary in an authoritarian
direction (or as he styles it, ‘illiberal democracy’).</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Although
Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has confirmed it is
sending a representative, Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front
has said she will not be attending. Le Pen herself hosted a similar
meeting in Nice in 2018, at which Geert Wilders from the Dutch Party
for Freedom and several other influential radical right speakers were
present, an event which indicated how hard it has been to create a
pan-European radical right bloc.</i></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-top: 0.49cm; page-break-after: auto; page-break-inside: auto;"><a name="_tuji76t2anb5"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Glorifying
the nation</b></i></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This
should not surprise us. At the root of radical right ideology is a
glorification of the nation, a narrative of exceptionalism and
superiority that inevitably puts like-minded nationalists from
different countries at odds with one another. It is one thing to
drive across a European border to a secret location to attend a blood
and honour gig; creating a fully collaborative pan-European radical
right quite another challenge.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 146%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>As
David Barnes recently wrote, narratives of European civilization have
been both common and hard to sustain; Oswald Mosley’s post-World
War II argument in favour of ‘Europe – A Nation’, which shares
many similarities with today’s anti-immigrant discourses promoted
by the likes of Salvini, found few takers, despite the fact that a
notion of Europe having a homogeneous racial and cultural background
was widely held across the continent’s radical right movements.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Besides,
in today’s Europe, when some radical right leaders such as Salvini
praise the Russians and share the Kremlin’s desire to destabilise
the European Union, others, such as Poland’s Jarosław Kaczyński
and the Law and Justice Party – despite sharing Salvini’s aim to
break the ‘Germany-France axis’ in Europe – come from a very
different perspective, that of Poland’s traditional suspicion of
Russia.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>And
where some, such as Geert Wilders and, to some extent, his new rival
Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy – whose penchant for
highfalutin verbiage has already become notorious – talk of
defending European freedom in the face of a supposed Islamist
advance, others, such as Orbán and Le Pen, are more socially
conservative.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Even
if Europe’s radical right leaders share certain fundamental ideas,
however, such as a belief in the need to defend the ‘white race’,
a hatred of Islam, a desire to stop immigration, and a basic
ultra-nationalist position, it is hard to see how the clash of
nationalisms that conferences such as Salvini’s will expose can
survive the experience.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Indeed,
we have been here before. During the interwar period, attempts to
create a ‘fascist international’ were set in motion on several
occasions. Historians who have recently conducted research into
‘transnational fascism’ – such as Federico Finchelstein,
Aristotle Kallis or Arnd Bauerkämper – have shown the extent to
which fascist ideas and personnel criss-crossed the continent of
Europe and beyond (to the Americas, for example), so that fascist
ideology and practice were often shared.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Examples
might be fascist aesthetics, racial ideology, or training camps.
Fascist leaders such as Mosley or Coreneliu Codreanu were inspired by
and devoted to Mussolini. And Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
established an uneasy alliance. But the analysis can only take us so
far, before it becomes clear that such collaborations might have been
set in motion but could not be sustained, as the different groups
with their rival nationalisms ran aground on the rocks of mutual
suspicion.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finding
alternative idea-mongers in Europe is less easy. Traditional left
wing parties in the UK and on the continent are, despite the fear
generated by conservatives, are definitely in retreat. More
right-wing parties are on the up.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take,
for example, Bonking Boris and the British Conservative Party.
Despite the left-wing rant from Neil Fleming, the UK public like
Boris and his policies. The voted for him in droves at the last
election and in spite of his recent problems with Party-gate they
still generally support his government. This may change with the
resolution of the Ukraine conflict, but there are no guarantees.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is interesting to note that many political leaders have managed to
survive scandals. Ronnie Reagan springs to mind. When push comes to
shove it seems the voters will forgive <span lang="en-GB">peccadilloes</span>
and poor judgement calls far easier than the commentariat.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps
the most glaring <span lang="en-GB">obfuscation</span> here is the
old adage: <u> I hate to be an I Told You So</u>. Actually, we all
love to be an I told you so. We are never happier than when we are
sure that we have the inside track on our fellow man, have the
winning combination at the gambling tables, have all the answers
whilst others are <span lang="en-GB">scrabbling</span> around in the
dark, have cracked the code whilst others are just dim-witted morons.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.85cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
conclusion: the incessant labelling as either right or left wing
ideas and policies has very little effect on the average voter. It
does tend to consolidate the support for leaders who need a secure
base from which to launch a bid for political power. </span><span style="font-size: small;">It
encourages a </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">volume</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
of poor thinking from both sides. It adds nothing to political
debate. It </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">encourages</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">kind</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
of mental agility that Dr </span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Paul
Joseph Goebbels</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
would have been </span><span style="font-size: small;">very</span><span style="font-size: small;">
proud of </span><span style="font-size: small;">indeed.</span></p>
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<p><style type="text/css">h3 { color: #434343; line-height: 100%; text-align: left; page-break-inside: avoid; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-top: 0.56cm; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent; page-break-before: auto; page-break-after: avoid }h3.western { font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal }h3.cjk { font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal }h3.ctl { font-size: 14pt }p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-77980056723716033722022-03-27T13:06:00.003+00:002022-03-27T13:06:33.393+00:00Mattthew Syed - Sunday Times<p><span style="color: red;"><b>From the Sunday Times 27 March 22</b></span></p><p><span style="color: red;"><b>Our democracy is chaotic, shrill and utterly terrifying to autocrats</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>"I tuned in to Question Time (BBC One) on Thursday evening after a long hiatus during which I haven’t felt any inclination to watch. Over the years, the programme has become more shallow, less willing to discuss complex issues and, with five guests rather than four, more shouty. People tend to hector more to get their points across, and as a consequence one learns precious little.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I watched, though, I became intrigued. It wasn’t the content of the debate that struck me so much as its tone. The panellists slated the government on the economy, the cost-of-living crisis, the response to the Ukrainian refugee disaster and workers’ rights. Words such as “risible”, “disgusting” and “shameful” were common, and that was just in the first ten minutes. At times the hostility was volcanic, and the live audience roared along.</p><p><br /></p><p>But, perhaps because I have recently returned from Poland, where the ideals of liberalism are still being cemented (and in some cases contested), I found myself watching the programme through an entirely different lens. Normally I would have been rather dejected by the hostility and rancour. Instead I was marvelling at the system we call democracy. Strange though this may sound, I am not sure it has ever looked so alluring.</p><p><br /></p><p>I mean, how on earth does our system survive this kind of bitterness? This is the miracle that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are, perhaps more than anything else, intimidated by. All that anger, all that freedom to express it, all that potential to spill over into violence, and yet democracies continue to bumble along. Economic growth in the West since the 18th century remains one of the greatest stories in history, eclipsing anything that has happened in autocratic societies, which have largely copied (or stolen) western technology. Even China is now hitting the middle-income trap.</p><p><br /></p><p>How they envy what we have here. How they resent the way all this chaos can be channelled into so much creativity and dynamism. How they wish they could undermine the miracle of co-operative competition, something they haven’t yet come close to matching. And how they puzzle over the invisible thread that runs from the ideas of the ancient Greeks through those of the Enlightenment thinker John Locke to the articles drawn up by America’s founding fathers and beyond.</p><p><br /></p><p>I mention this, too, because Joe Biden was quite right to state on Friday that the world faces a choice: one between democracy and tyranny. I hope that all of us can now see the risks of the latter more vividly as Putin brainwashes the Russian people through the ruthless control of information while using batons to quell dissent. What is perhaps less well understood is the logic of China’s social credit system, which many western scholars seem to think is some scaled-up version of the ratings system on Uber or Airbnb but which is slowly morphing into the ultimate instrument of oppression.</p><p><br /></p><p>In one of the social credit schemes individuals are judged on what they buy, what they say and even the friends they have on social media. The Communist Party wants to measure everything so it can determine which individuals are “trustworthy”. Those who say the wrong things, who befriend the wrong people and who are guilty of thought-crime are marked down. Those on the blacklist are already denied air tickets, train tickets and university admission — a trend that is coming to dominate life for 1.3 billion people, perhaps even in their most intimate interactions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Doesn’t this reveal the stakes of defending our way of life? Last week I watched as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe tore a strip off the British government for taking so long to secure her release from incarceration at the hands of the criminal clericsy of Iran. I noticed a couple of emails from friends vexed that she had focused her ire on those who had liberated her rather than those who had imprisoned her, but, here again, I couldn’t help marvelling. Here was a free citizen slamming those in power for not doing more, while fearing to call out her persecutors, given what they might yet do to her extended family in Iran. Could there be a more perfect illustration of what we have in democratic societies, and what we must never lose?</p><p>The late American novelist David Foster Wallace began a graduation day speech at Kenyon College, Ohio, in 2005 with the following parable: “There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the hell is water?’”</p><p>Wallace’s point is that when you are surrounded by water all your life, you stop noticing it, stop valuing it, perhaps even start taking it for granted. It so permeates your experiences that it becomes a kind of background factor that melts away from everyday observation. As Wallace explained: “The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.”</p><p>Hasn’t this become true of democracy? For so much of the time we are focused on the squalls of everyday interaction — the petty online arguments, the crass sound-bites in parliament, the social media squabbles amplified ad infinitum by banal algorithms that feast on the divisive and sensationalistic — that we have almost stopped noticing the miracles embedded in our way of life: the willingness to rub along despite our differences, to accept the verdict of democratic elections even when we hate the result, to transfer power peacefully to opponents whose views we’ve slated. What the hell is democracy? This is democracy!</p><p><br /></p><p>It perhaps goes without saying that the strength of democracy across the West has been in retreat over recent years, something that most of us can see all too clearly. But every now and again it is worth celebrating what we have, not least because it provides the impetus to fight for it.</p><p>As the writer Melody Beattie puts it: “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”</p><p><br /></p><p>@MatthewSyed"</p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-39961973080234209362022-03-15T16:24:00.005+00:002022-03-15T16:24:36.607+00:00Salary Caps<p> Association Football</p><p><span style="color: #073763;"><b>“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.” – Bill Shankly</b></span></p><p>I try to avoid commenting on Association Football – “football” in the UK and most other places, sometimes called soccer in the US.</p><p>But, there is so much BS said and written about it sometimes it’s just unavoidable and moreover necessary.</p><p>For example:</p><p>From the Eastern Daily Press:</p><p>Norwich City's joint majority shareholder Delia Smith has reaffirmed her commitment to the club and said she has no plans to leave.</p><p>"We have to always remember that it's called sport.</p><p>"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and that's how it goes. It's a roller-coaster with more joy than pain."</p><p>Ahead of Norwich City's match against Chelsea on Thursday (March 10) evening, the government issued sanctions against the Blues' owner Roman Abramovich amid links to Russia president Vladimir Putin.</p><p>In a display of support for Chelsea's Russian owner, travelling fans chanted Mr Abramovich's name in the away end which was met with boos from the City fans - including from Delia herself.</p><p>She added: "I was with our crowd and we were booing at the top of our lungs, including me, when Abramovich was mentioned.</p><p>"They had a lovely little song which was sang back at them.</p><p>"It's interesting because it's been going for nearly 20 years and it's taken a war for it to come to the surface."</p><p>Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003 and his millions have helped propel Chelsea to become one of Europe's elite clubs.</p><p>Delia pointed to the Russian owner's takeover of Chelsea 19 years ago and said it "hadn't done football a lot of good".</p><p>She said: "If you have multi-million pound players not even playing in the game and sitting on the bench while you have clubs like ours who are self-funding, sport goes out the window.</p><p>"It's so unfair."</p><p>The situation described by Delia is just completely incomprehensible to NFL fans. The idea that soccer clubs can act as Delia says seems just stupidly crazy to American football fans!</p><p>https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1665623-how-does-the-salary-cap-work-in-the-nfl</p><p>The situation has recently been highlighted by the “flight” of Roman Abramovich – owner of Chelsea FC. Finally, after the Russians declared war on Ukraine; the UK authorities have decided that maybe having Russian oligarchs running Premier League football clubs is not such a great idea.</p><p>In order to be deemed a fit and proper person to own a football club a person need to pass a test.</p><p>What is the Owners’ and Directors’ Test?</p><p>The Owners’ and Directors’ Test outlines requirements that would prohibit an individual from becoming an owner or director of a club. These include criminal convictions for a wide range of offences, a ban by a sporting or professional body, or breaches of certain key football regulations, such as match-fixing.</p><p>The test is applied to prospective owners and directors, who are then subject to a review on a seasonal basis. You can read the criteria of the Test in full at Section F of the Premier League Handbook.</p><p>I would very much like to be able to read the criteria on this: but, the Premier League Handbook has no index so I can’t find section F!! Deliberate or am I being a victim of conspiracy theory?</p><p>What I can tell you is that Chelsea FC fans are more than a bit upset because their oligarch has been singled out for a ban whist other (probably) just as odious fellows have not. Note Delia’s comment on Chelsea fans and their chants!</p><p>Why is this so?</p><p>A convincing case can be made that (perhaps Delia exempted) the Premier League is just a convenient way of laundering money which has been gained from either illegal or morally dubious sources.</p><p>But, wait a minute! Last time I heard Roman has said he will sell the club and not ask for the millions he has loaned Chelsea to be repaid!</p><p>Are we to really believe that he is happy to give away millions? Why?</p><p>Would it be to avoid any scrutiny of Chelsea FC and how it has operated under his ownership? Now I’m in full-blown conspiracy theory!</p><p>Lest the NFL get off scot-free, we should note that there are plenty of skeletons in the cupboards of the multi-millionaires who own NFL franchises. </p><p> Congress may be persuaded to investigate some of them. After all, the NFL only operates a salary cap and restrictions on player movements because they did a deal with the government to exempt them from the anti-trust legislation that most American businesses have to abide by.</p><p>https://www.city-journal.org/html/bench-nfl-15465.html</p><p>There are more than a few cupboards that could not stand opening.</p><p>Congress is unlikely, in my view, to investigate as the NFL is the most popular sport in the U.S. - eclipsing baseball (also exempt from legislation, basketball, also exempt and ice hockey – exempt, and also exempt is MLS).</p><p>https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/item/how-mls-single-entity-status-works-and-its-relationship-with-antitrust-law </p><p>This has a direct bearing on how the association football is run, financed and organised in the UK and Europe, if not throughout the known world!</p><p>The NFL owners, in order to keep producing a product that folks want to watch on TV or go to stadia and pay exorbitant prices for tickets, a beer, a hot dog and various items of team merchandise are quite happy not to have to play players what the market will bear. It’s just good business and with the government on board it’s a no-brainer.</p><p>Why, then does the same thing not apply to soccer?</p><p>I believe a lot of it has to do with the respective fans.</p><p>NFL fans are dreamy-eyed every March because, thanks in no small part to the salary cap, they believe all 32 teams have a chance to win the Super Bowl. In theory they do. In practice the bookies are rarely wrong and the odds reflect this. By contrast, soccer fans are much more realistic and consequently more sanguine about their teams’ chances. They accept that if their team is not one of the top six (for wins and also for money spent) they are just making up the numbers. So crazily tribal are they that the foolishness of their situation is lost on them. Like lions led by donkeys and financed by shady dealers and downright crooks they cheerfully continue to line the coffers of the already obscenely rich.</p><p>Any chance this might change? No.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-29651456069103460072022-03-14T15:24:00.002+00:002022-03-14T15:24:44.545+00:00Summer School Deliquents<p>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #c9211e;"><b>If
I have to lay an egg for my country, I'll do it: Bob Hope</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I mostly managed to
stay out of trouble during High School. My attendance was good
enough and my grades were fine, rather than spectacular.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Some of my friends
were not so academically gifted or perhaps just unlucky.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In those long gone
days, if you failed to pass certain academic subjects, like English,
you were required to attend what was called Summer School to make up
for your poor performance during the main school year. Rather than
learning a lot, I suspect it was just a sort of punishment meted out
to miscreants. Johnnie Temple (known as Triple-Tit Temple, as like
Francisco Scaramanga in the Man with the Golden Gun he did indeed
have three nipples) and Robert Taylor (known as Towbar) were two such
summer school attendees.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Unfortunately, this
coincided with a job opportunity via my Old Man (OM).</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">OM had a great
business idea. Already having set the milk business on fire, he
decided to branch out into eggs.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In those distant
days the milk business was about milk, almost exclusively. It’s
true that there was a small freezer in the truck which carried Ice
Cream, and sometimes Meyer’s Dairy would have a promotion for (say)
fruit drinks.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Usually the OM paid
little attention to such efforts to drum up business, but when they
started offering prizes to the milkman who shifted the most fruit
drink he suddenly became like a demon possessed.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">He had the other
poor smucks at a disadvantage. Although his round was not
necessarily the largest, and he may not have been the greatest
salesman; it did have one distinct advantage. The OM had developed
such a relationship with some customers that they would more or less
let him deliver whatever he wanted to. So, he would load their
garages with fruit drink, not charge them for it and thereby win the
prize – once it was a portable TV. Then we the contest was over he
would denude their garages, slowly, and eventually shift the
overstocked drink.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Now,when the OM had
an idea usually the whole family was roped in to help. His egg idea
consisted of getting a small truck (from who knows where), driving up
to an egg farm somewhere near St. Joseph, Missouri as I recall, load
it up with eggs and bring them home, which at that time was on 23rd
Street in Independence, Mo. The eggs then had to be “candled”.
A bright light was shone through the egg to make sure it was OK and
fit for human consumption. He loved finding a “double-yoker”
which was owing to the random propensity for chickens to produce one.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Now-a-days I suspect
candling is done on an industrial scale and perhaps it was then, but
the deal he made with the egg producers in St Joe was for wholesale
eggs - I expect he got them cheap for it was the Kauffmans who were
the labour force for candling.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sum total: he had
eggs to sell.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In theory he could
have just put some on his milk truck and sold them as extras, but
Meyer’s Dairy were not altogether stupid and he knew they would not
allow that.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">So, he purchased a
beat-up 57 Plymouth station wagon to serve as Egg Delivery Central.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>Needless to say it
was not in such pristine condition as some of the beauties you can find for sale in the net, but it did run.
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">(aside – it was in
the old beat-up Plymouth that I taught Linda Taylor to drive).</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">All that was
required now was a sales force to hawk the eggs and build a recurring
round of satisfied egg customers who would buy eggs on a regular
basis, say a dozen or two twice a week.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">American ingenuity
and free enterprise now had one of its finest moments!</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">My Mom was in charge
of recruiting the sales force. She picked me (of course), Johnnie
Temple, Robert Taylor and Mousy McMillian.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Because Temple and
Taylor were deep in the doghouse of Summer School we had to pick them
up from WCHS at about 13:00 before we could go and try to sell any
eggs.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Mom drove to WCHS;
we picked up the two miscreants and, obviously, before we could sell
any eggs we had to eat, so Mom would take us to Maconalds on 24
Hi-way for some lunch. <i>and it’s still there! (</i><i>11700
US-24, Independence, MO 64054</i><i>)</i></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We
would then go and try to sell eggs. I wish I could remember who
decided where to go, but alas I have no idea. The routine was
simple. Mom would park up on some suburban street, we would get out
armed with a few cartons of eggs and knock on doors, trying to sell
them, but more importantly, trying to get folks to sign up for
regular egg deliveries.
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">My
salesmanship was poor, so was Towbar’s, Johnnie Temple could sell
sand to the Arabs and Mousey wasn’t completely hopeless. Temple,
in particular, saw this as an opportunity to meet pretty girls, and
as it was the school holidays teenage girls often were the ones who
answered the door bell.</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We
sold quite a few eggs and signed up some customers for regular
deliveries. Things were going well.
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I
believe that he downfall of the egg round plan was mostly to do with
the shoestring budget that the OM devoted to it. He bought the eggs
cheap and his sales-force was had for only the price of a Big Mac or
two; the crappy Plymouth was just about serviceable for delivering
eggs and all seemed promising.</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">But,
the whole thing was built on a house of cards. Thanks mostly to
Triple-tit Temple we could sell eggs and sign-up customers; and had
the OM had sufficient financial backing to employ an on-going sales
and delivery force it might have led to a real business with real
profits.</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Alas,
it eventually petered out. Having to drive to St Joe to collect eggs
cost time and money. Candling the eggs was time consuming and left
little time for the kind of entrepreneurial oversight that was
required to make a real go of it.</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Now,
if the OM were still alive, no doubt he would have a completely
different take on it, though, to his credit, I don’t ever remember
him bemoaning the demise of the egg round while he was alive.</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">From
the workforce’s standpoint it did provide an interesting summer
vacation job and a lot of burgers.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-53183602521766160612022-03-11T13:56:00.000+00:002022-03-11T13:56:23.340+00:00E-leben-d-eleben<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had very little to do with my Dad (The OM) until about 1962. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had always been a somewhat menacing figure in the background enforcing the family discipline. My Mom would say, if we kids were being particularly awkward, you just wait until your father gets home! That usually did the trick. I often helped him on the milk round, but I looked upon it as simply a chore, maybe the OM thought it was “team-building”? Once he hurt his back so badly that I had to more or less do the milk round as all he could do was drive the truck and make notes in his log book. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That unfortunate tendency for bad backs has descended the generations. I’ve got it and so has my number two son.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was, in truth, not much of a businessman. He would let people have milk who had little prospect of being able to pay for it. Maybe he was a secret philanthropist, but I suspect not. People who owed him money might “skip town” or just disappear, or they might do a deal - a kind of modern barter system. On one such deal he acquired a go-cart.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He brought it home in the back of the milk truck and got me to help unload it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had developed an appreciation of motor racing. As a teenager I liked to go to the stock car racing. My buddy Bobby Lawless’ dad owned the local Phillips 66 service station and Bobby raced quarter midgets. I used to hang out with him and I learned a lot about general automotive things from watching and helping him.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Quarter midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are approximately one-quarter (1/4) the size of a full-size midget car. The adult-size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing used an oval track of one-fifth of a mile in length. The child's quarter midget track is one quarter that length, or 1/20 mile (264 feet).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An adult-size midget in the 1940s and 1980s could reach 120 miles per hour, while the single-cylinder 7-cubic-inch quarter midget engine could make available a speed of 30 miles per hour in a rookie class (called novices), or one-quarter the speed of the adult car. Most of the competitive classes run speeds near 45 miles per hour. Current upper-class quarter midgets can exceed 45 miles per hour, but remain safe due to the limited size of the track. Quarter midget race cars have four-wheel suspension, unlike go-karts.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-kart" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-kart</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Go-karts were in their infancy in the sixties. But, the idea of racing one was definitely an idea I could get on-board with. And, for once, the OM seemed almost inhumanly positive in his enthusiasm for the project. Once unloaded from the milk truck and with me in the driver’s seat we gave it a shove down Berry Lane, which had a conveniently steep hill.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It fired up and I was well and truly hooked! And, more importantly, so was the OM.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His sudden zeal was not entirely without its difficulties. It soon became apparent that in order to race a lot of information and knowledge had to be obtained, sometimes from sources not altogether legit. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Remember there was no internet or Google in those days)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some research led the OM to understand that the go-cart he had taken in lieu of payment was not really up to scratch for racing. The engines needed to be upgraded, so he purchased two Mcculloch two-stroke engines almost brand new. These little two-stokers were originally designed to power chainsaws but cubic inch for cubic inch they packed a punch and could rev forever. He stored them in the garage in full view and somebody stole them. OM was not very happy. He was convinced some disreputable friends of my sister, Ruthanne, were the perpetrators. In any event, he was sure with a little effort he could find the engines, and somehow he did. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A guy named Bob Osterberger advertised two engines for sale and I went with OM to see if they were our engines. They were and Bob admitted that he bought them from some kid. Turns out he was a nice guy and he and the OM became buddies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is significant. As a rule,The OM did not have buddies. We sometimes played golf with his boss at Meyer’s Dairy. Pat Clune was his name. A guy named John Crockett, who worked at Myers Dairy, (I am not making this up - heck his first name may even have been Davy!) took us hunting for squirrels down in South Missouri a few times. He knew the neighbours and would be pleasant to them, but that was it. He wouldn’t invite them in for a cup of coffee, that’s for sure. Sometimes this puzzled me. In the end, I decided that his lack of close friends was probably the result of growing up during the depression; he graduated from Blue Island High School in 1933. And he took after his dad, my grandpa, and a less out-going and un-personable soul, you would be hard pressed to find this side of Timbuktu.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of the racing in those days was on dirt tracks way out in the boonies. There were tracks at Odessa, Mo, Higginsville, Mo and Excelsior Springs, Mo. These I remember well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are not next door to Independence, so me and the OM would race around the milk round, rush home, sling the cart into the car and rush to the track.</span></p><br /><h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The OM soon discovered that whilst he had the interest in racing he had not much talent. He was too big (heavy) and seldom finished in the money. In the early days we had two West Bend engines and only one cart, so he would fire up both and race, then remove the chain from one and I would race with the single engine. I won a lot of races. Om had crash helmet and his number was E-leben-d-eleben (11 d' 11). My helmet was red with 17 on it.</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won a lot more races, after he had a special cart made for me: he improved its performance by investing in a Power Products engine that was highly sought after and highly tuneable. Some guy on South Kiger made the cart and it weighed almost nothing. A skinny kid didn’t add much weight either. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1qXmp989vM" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1qXmp989vM</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The formula for a race was simple. There were heats and depending on how you finished you earned a spot on the start line for the final. Except for practice times deciding the grid order, it’s not that much different in F1 today.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started on the pole almost every time. The starts were rolling starts so when the flag dropped I was almost always first to the first corner. There was no real way to catch me. Races were 10 - or 15 laps and because I was so far in front the only danger I encountered was going so fast that I caught up with the back markers. Even this was not too much of a problem as the engine’s air intake was rear facing so that you did not get dirt or stones or heaven knows what in the engine. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For fuel we used:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alcohols like </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">methyl alcohol (methanol) and ethyl alcohol (ethanol)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are often used in race fuels. Sometimes they are a small part of the fuel and sometimes they are a primary component of the fuel. Methanol is commonly used “straight” – that's why it's called racing alcohol by many.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was also something called Moon gas, which, as I remember, was a really high octane mixture with some additives. Engines were mostly modified by increasing the compression (bolt on a new aluminium head to increase the compression and increase the bang and upgrade the carburetor to provide more fuel ((</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell%27Orto" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell%27Orto</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)) and away you go like a bath out of hell).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or sometimes we used : nitrous oxide (often referred to as just "nitrous") </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">allows the engine to burn more fuel by providing more oxygen during combustion</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The increase in oxygen allows for an increase in the injection of fuel, allowing the engine to produce more engine power.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I dreamed of kart racing in my sleep and can now still recall the smell of the screaming engines and the oily cans so we could add just enough to make a 2 stroke run quite lean and very fast. The trick was on the warm-up lap you leaned back and adjusted the carburettor jet on the fly, so when the flag went down the little 50 cc engines were turning at about 13 000 rpm sending the lightweight cart (with me on board) hurtling to the first corner at about 60 m.p.h. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now this may not seem very fast, but when you are sitting only two inches from the ground, it’s akin to flying!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of the tracks were small ovals so that getting first to the first corner meant that nobody was going to catch me.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only later did we get asphalt tracks in Odessa and Excelsior Springs. They were laid out more like a grand prix circuit with straightaways, where you might reach 90 m.p.h. and sharp hairpin corners to negotiate. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The winner usually had a choice of taking money (only say $5 or $10) or a trophy. I mostly took the money. Still I did collect enough trophies to make a reasonable display. They were displayed proudly on a home-made bookcase on S. Lynn in Independence when we lived there in the 70’s</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I moved to England, I stored them in my buddies basement, but after he moved to a new house they kind of disappeared.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sure wish I had kept one or two to take to Europe with me.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-47546129760111543372022-03-06T15:28:00.001+00:002022-03-06T15:31:56.668+00:00Austin Healy<p> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most beautiful car ever</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps fate is a real thing. Perhaps some things are preordained. Perhaps life is more than a series of not very interesting, accidental occurrences. Perhaps pigs might fly.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1965 or 66 some guy at CMSU had an MGA he was desperate to get rid of. Or perhaps unloading it on some poor unsuspecting idiot might be more accurate. I got it for $100. It had no third gear in the transmission. It had no side windows and the brakes didn’t work. What a bargain! To get it home, my buddy Larry Stoner had a great idea. We found two old tires and lashed them tightly between the back of his Ford Falcon and the front of the MG and set off, hoping against hope that the two cars wouldn’t part company on the way. We made it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desperate to try it out, Stoner convinced me that if we set off up a steep hill - not too fast - we could kill the engine and coast back home unharmed. It almost worked. Unfortunately, we crested the hill and were headed straight for 71 Bypass with no brakes. Somehow I managed to slow it sufficiently by steering left, then right, then left again so that we regained control, slowed and avoided crashing. Somehow we pushed it back to the top of the hill and coasted back home. My interest in English sports cars was born and has remained with me for the rest of my life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By hook or crook, I managed to get the MG into good running order. It was a fun car to drive, and I eventually sold it to a dentist from Overland Park, Kansas for $450. Not bad, not bad at all. Deducting the cost of fixing it up, I just about broke even.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got to hear of a guy selling an Austin Healey 3000 Mark III for the not inconsiderable sum of $650. Now, considering that (provided you could find one ) one of these beauties would set you back $60 000 at least today, that seems an alright deal. There was a slight problem in that I did not have $650. But I did have friends. I borrowed $150 from Bosco Cox and $500 from Larry Titus and bought the car.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(addendum - I did pay them back)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was, and still is the most beautiful car ever made. The interior was white leather and it was painted a sort of pale blue. It did have a few problems. Somebody had removed the standard exhaust and replaced it with a modified one from a Chevrolet. I assume they did this to increase ground clearance, which with the standard exhaust in place was about nil. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was designed to operate in England ( a maritime climate). It did not really like a Kansas City winter. To get it started in January you had to spray Easy Start directly into the air filters and pray. Having started, it would not go far with the standard radiator configuration. Cardboard must be inserted behind the grille to block air intake or the heater would not put out even lukewarm air and the engine would only run under protest and the temperature gauge would not move from zero. With limited ground clearance I eventually broke a rear spring, driver’s side. Perhaps with a hoist you could get enough clearance to remove the rear spring shackle. I had to borrow Pa Hall’s acetylene torch to cut the spring free. Me and Bobby Hall used the whole cylinder of gas to get it done. Pa Hall was not all that pleased. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I used to take my mother shopping or up to the laundromat at 39th and Lee’s Summit road. The Heally had no glove box, just a small parcel shelf where I would dump my extraneous paperwork. I picked up Mother and was headed back home along 39th street when I noticed that she was attempting to rifle through some of my stuff. She dropped something on the floor, I reached down to retrieve it, and when I looked up, every butthole in front of me had stopped for some guy turning left. I glanced at the solid line of cars in front. I looked right - a solid telephone pole. I slammed the Healey into first, stood on the brakes and went under the back of a Chevy station wagon. Mother smacked her head on the windscreen. (there were no seatbelts in those days). I got out to survey the damage. The radiator had been pushed back about eight inches, The passenger side fender (wing) was a bit crumpled. The Chevy sustained no damage at all and the guy was kind enough to depart with no more questions. A passing copper asked if he could help and provided me with a tire tool which I used to lever the radiator away from the fan blades and eventually limp home. Who ever said the Independence police were a bunch of asshol**!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Old Man came out to assess the damage. He, quite rightly in my view, decided that although the law required that you have two headlights, it did not specify where they were to be mounted. So we simply bolted one to the crumpled wing. Job’s a good’un! The fact that it pointed skyward seemed of little consequence, according to the OM.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next problem to overcome was the squashed radiator mounts. The OM had an idea. At that point I should have bailed, but unfortunately did not.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He got a chain from the garage and tied one end to the radiator mounts (with the radiator removed) and the other end to the back of his milk truck. He reasoned that if we started the Healey, put it in reverse and slipped the clutch we could generate enough force to pull the mounts forward a few inches.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rather like Hitler’s decision to hold the panzers outside Gravelines allowing for the miracle at Dunkirk, this plan had the distinct disadvantage in that it was crap.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got in the Healey whilst the OM was busy attaching the chain to the radiator mounts at the front. In my defence, I distinctly heard him say start it up, so I did.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without the radiator in place, his hand was still near the fan blades. He somehow managed to neatly slice the tips of his fingers longitudinally. This is not even remotely funny in any sense of the word. But, as he had managed to do exactly the same thing to himself whilst doing what he called “monkeying around” with the milk truck not three days before: therefore I had to laugh.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was not amused and grabbed the nearest implement with which to inflict the maximum damage upon me and charged. I can still see the raised wooden 2x4 inches from my head as I went from zero to sixty in a record time for a human being. I would have easily beaten Usain Bolt in getting away from the wrath that was descending upon me.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hid out in Bosco’s woods for three days with my Mom providing food after the OM left for work. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got a job with the Southland Corporation, who own the 7 Eleven stores. I was doing OJT at a store in Grandview, Mo., and I was using the big Healey for daily transport. This was problematic, as it had developed some annoying habits. When I had the requisite cash I would take it to a specialist and they would tune it to perfection. It ran beautifully - for about two months, then it got sick and would struggle to outperform a horse and buggy. There was this party at the Hall’s place and I was trying to get there in a hurry. This involved some danger, which at my tender age I confess not to have considered. Getting back to Independence was more or less a straight shot down 71 Bypass (now 291), so I developed a cunning tactic. The Healey would run fairly well as long as you kept the revs up at about 2000 r.p.m (in overdrive). Let the revs drop below this and it was sick as a dog and getting it back up to any kind of speed was near impossible. I would keep the revs and </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speed up and if anyone was in my way I simply floored it and passed them. This worked well if there were no hills and no traffic coming from the other direction.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can distinctly remember cresting a hill flat out at about 80 and swerving to pass a VW Beetle only to find another small car (God was looking after me that day) coming from the other direction. We passed three abreast (it’s a two lane highway) at an astronomical closing speed. The Beetle, and I hope this guy did it on purpose, got as far left as he could - I was in the middle and a car was close aboard on the right. I regret I did not see what kind it was, but it must have been small-ish, for even at a closing speed of (say 150 m.p.h.) it flashed past and no crash happened. The age of miracles was not indeed over.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember getting 5 or 6 miles down the road and shaking so badly that I had to slow to about 30 and eventually pull over. It was only then that I realised how lucky I was to be alive. I limped on. I turned down 39th street going East past Lee’s Summit Road when I ran out of gas.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I called somebody who was at the party, left the Healey off the road as far as I could and joined the party and consumed more than a few beers.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next day I went to get it and discovered that overnight some butthol**s had come over the hill - probably drunk, and ploughed into the back of it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a mess and there was no-one to sue for damages.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We managed to get it home and I got my insurance company estimator to come out and have a look at it. It’s a write-off, he said. You simply can’t argue with these numpties, so they gave me a hundred bucks and took it away to that great Healey graveyard in the sky.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What a waste. And, what’s worse, because I had no camera at the time (yes, before digital images were a million for less than a penny cameras were in short supply) I have no record of it ever existing.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What a waste</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-61878322188306849102022-02-28T11:09:00.003+00:002022-02-28T15:46:34.149+00:00Delivering Milk for Delmar<p>
</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">In Memorium Alan Austin </span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
learned just the other day of the death of my brother-in-law Alan
Austin. He was married to my sister Ruthanne, and they had three
children before they divorced, my nieces and nephews.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">He
was at least three years older than I. We went to the same high
school and worked together at Western Electric in Lee’s Summit,
Missouri before Uncle Sam interrupted my promising industrial career
with a stint in the US Army.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Long
before then, in an effort to provide an income for My sister’s
family, The Old Man (Delmar O. Kauffman) decided that Alan should
learn the milk delivery business. The OM provided the truck and
the contacts at Meyer’s Dairy and also provided me to show Alan the
ropes. Even at the tender age of 15 I was an experienced
milkman. The year was 1961 and Alan must have graduated in
1960. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Now,
working for the OM did have certain distinct advantages, but they
were, in truth, few and far between. You could stop at various
coffee shops on the route and get coffee and a sweet roll and the OM
would pay. Stop, but only once, I may add. They were
greatly outranked by the disadvantages. Firstly, my labor was
not seen as a negotiable quality. The pay was poor. The
working conditions were second-class. The early start was at a
soul-destroying 0:500. Finish time was when you finished, say
about 14:00. My task was to turn Alan into a cracker-jack
milkman on a shoestring budget and in record time. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Nevertheless,
I attacked the job with my usual gusto. At my young age, I did
feel a certain pride in being selected for this responsible
position. After all, I loved my sister and I thought that Alan
was an all-right guy. I vowed to do my best. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
was hampered by macro-economic factors of which I was just too
young and too disinterested to take any notice of.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">“<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Recession
of 1960-1961 (April 1960 to February 1961)</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">The
10-month recession saw the GDP drop by nearly 2% and unemployment
peaked at 6.9%, while President John F. Kennedy spurred a rebound in
1961 with stimulus spending that included tax cuts and expanded
unemployment and Social Security benefits.”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Perhaps
this was not the most auspicious moment to start a new career (new,
at least for Alan).</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">On
the plus side, folks needed basic commodities like milk and in those
days (I know this is hard to believe, you'll just have to take my
word for it) most folks had their milk delivered by conscientious and
hard-working men like me, the OM and Alan.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
believe home milk deliveries are now almost non-existent.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<h3 class="western" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 221%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">What
Happened to The Milkman?</span></b></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #777777;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">So
why did home milk delivery start to decline?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">There
were also a few other factors: mainly, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">refrigeration
and grocery stores</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">By
the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">1930s
and 1940s</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">,
almost every home had a refrigerator. Fridges replaced iceboxes- the
first step in the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">decline
of milk delivery</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #777777;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">The
invention of refrigeration meant that people didn’t need milk
delivered to their homes as often because they could keep it cold on
their own.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">It’s
easy to see how </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">home
milk delivery went into decline</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">.
So why is it making a comeback now?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">In
a world where many things are processed and imported by big
corporations, more people are becoming sceptical about where their
food comes from. People have begun to </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">focus
more on <a href="http://www.drinkmilkinglassbottles.com/nearby-farmers-market-california/">buying
local food</a></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">One
of the benefits of having milk delivered to your door is the comfort
of </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">knowing
exactly where your milk is coming from</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">You’re
supporting your local dairy farmer, a valued community member just
like you. When you spend money on local businesses, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">that
money gets put back into your local economy</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">instead
of going to an out-of-state or out-of-country conglomerate.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Your
milk hasn’t been sitting on a grocery store shelf for who knows how
long. When you have milk delivered, it can go from the cow to your
doorstep in </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">as
little as 24 hours</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; line-height: 203%; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">What
is for sure, there are now no milk deliveries in Kansas City or
surrounding suburbs.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Damn,
good old google has proved me wrong:</span></span></span></span></b></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<h1 align="center" class="western" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 132%; margin-bottom: 0.6cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Shatto
Home Delivery</span></span></span></span></h1>
<p align="center" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: medium none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 163%; margin-bottom: 0.81cm; margin-top: 0.81cm; padding: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Whether
it is the simple fact that you have fresh products on your porch
weekly, or it is the excitement that is gained when the kids wake in
the morning and rush to get the fresh milk from the porch box, we are
certain you will enjoy bringing the Milkman to your home.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
regret that I don't know anyone who has milk delivered.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
seriously digress!</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Let’s
get back to 1961 and my efforts to see my brother-in-law prosper in
the home milk delivery business.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">A
word about the home-milk delivery process. First you take your milk
truck to Meyer’s Dairy (on South Dodgion in Independence - the
building is still there and you can clearly see the loading area) You
calculate the quantity and variety of milk or dairy products you
require for the day’s round. You fill out the paper-work and
load the truck. Then you go to the local Ice-house. Ice was
imperative in any weather but the dead of winter. The Ice house
was just off Noland Road. I can see it in my dreams, but I
suspect it’s not there any more. The milk had to be kept
fresh or it would spoil on the customer's doorstep. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">A
word about the milk truck. The OM was not in conscience going
to splash out on a brand-new fancy truck for Alan and I to deliver
milk in. No way. He did get us a truck from somewhere,
who knows where? It was just about serviceable, but did have
one glaring defect. The power steering did not work. Now
if you have ever successfully driven a large-ish heavily laden vehicle
with no power steering then I say you are either Superman or a
bodybuilder. It took a lot of effort just to negotiate straight
roads. Turning was problematic. A whole new method had to
be employed if any progress was to be made.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
say this in my defence for reasons which will soon become apparent.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Now,
also in my defence, I contended that then as I do now, the best
way to learn the milk business is to deliver milk to customers.
That’s how I learned and if if it was good enough for me, well it
would have to be good enough for Alan. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">We
came to an arrangement. I would drive the truck and he would
deliver the milk, meeting the customers and learning the important
parts of the job whilst on the job. Simples!</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Well,
there were a few drawbacks. Firstly, I was only 15 and had no
driver’s licence. At that time in Missouri this was not an
insurmountable obstacle. I had been driving cars for about two
years and whilst helping the OM deliver milk he used to sit me on his
lap (I was a skinny kid) and let me steer whilst he did the gears and
pedals. I learned to use a column shift by sitting in the
driver’s seat on the odd occasion when the OK was actually outside
talking to customers (usually because they owed him money) and
practising my shifting. I was good at it. I was supremely
confident in my ability to train Alan to deliver the milk whilst I the
truck.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">So
befell it on that day . . . I paraphrase the Canterbury Tales . . .
when it all went wrong, we were somewhere in the suburbs making our
way from one stop to another whilst I was trying to man-handle that
beast with no power steering around a tight right-hand corner when I
made a fatal error. Well, I say fatal, but actually no-one died
or was even hurt! </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
got as far to the right as I thought I safely could. I
misjudged. I can see it again in my mind’s eye. There was a
car parked on the road and some lady was in her front yard watering her
plants. I was too far over and sideswiped the car in the road.
I wrenched the beast around the turn, slammed it into third and shot
off up the hill. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Alan
stopped me from compounding an already crappy situation and making it into a tragic
one. We shuttered to a halt and rolled backwards down the hill,
coming to rest by the parked car. It was a fairly new 4 door Chevy as
I recall.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">The
lady turned off the watering hose and told us to come inside whilst
she rang Meyer’s dairy to confirm that the truck was insured
and to report the damage.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Her
phone was, fortunately as it turned out, up a small flight of stairs,
perhaps in a bedroom, so she eventually called down to us, “What’s
the driver’s name?”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
said a silent prayer and looked at Alan.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">He
said nothing, nor did his expression change. “He just said,
Alan Austin”. Since the injured party could not see us, and I
suspect did not notice who was driving the milk truck any way, she
returned downstairs satisfied that the company’s insurance would
pay. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">There
was little apparent damage to the milk wagon, but the car was going
to need substantial repairs to the bodywork.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I,
needless to say, never told the OM or Meyer’s Dairy who was really
driving. Neither did Alan, to my knowledge. OK, tell a lie, I
did tell the OM very many years after, when no harm could
befall.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
was sad to hear of his passing. I never remember having a cross
word with him. I saw him last at another nephew’s wedding and
exchanged pleasantries.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">I
was glad I knew him and he was part of our family.<br /></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">h1 { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; background: transparent; page-break-after: avoid }h1.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }h1.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }h1.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }h3 { margin-top: 0.25cm; margin-bottom: 0.21cm; background: transparent; page-break-after: avoid }h3.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }h3.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }h3.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-45094673147344274342022-02-22T12:01:00.003+00:002022-02-28T10:01:37.786+00:00State Cola Factory Number One<p>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">A lesson in real socialism</span></b><br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I was amused to read
in the Sunday Times about Jeremy Clarkson’s conversion to
socialism. Amused, shocked and perplexed might be a better
descriptor.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Our Jeremy is
probably best known as a critic of government, any government and an
undying opponent of any attempt to limit the individual’s choice as
to how they wish to screw up their life.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">This seemingly
illogical conversion is all to do with his more publicised and
perhaps better known conversion to the fraught life of an Oxfordshire
gentleman farmer.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The bee in his
bonnet this week is the continuing drama surrounding cladding on
buildings - in the wake of the Grenville disaster. Clakson owns a
flat in London and - guess what? It’s covered in cladding. Not
the good stuff either. His insurers want to up his cost from £6 000
to £80 000 a year. Not surprisingly he’s about as happy as a
badger sitting securely in a sett on his farm which sees the hose
pipe snaking down bringing his demise.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">What’s to be done?
Take off the cladding? Cost £400 000. Bit of a non-starter.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Leave it to Jeremy
to neatly sum up the predicament he (and many others) are in.
“There’s a technical term for what we are. And, it’s fu**ed.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Fortunately, like
most of his rants this one has a solution.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jeremy proposes that
“the government should start a state-run alternative for the
thousands of people who are in the same boat as me.” But, what if
the government says the risk is too great even for the government to
step in and insure. (Yeah! Right - this is the government who has
spent billions bailing out banks and buying shitty Covid-gear!)</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jeremy says in that
event the government should pay to have the cladding removed.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There’s a pattern
here in case you missed it.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Basically anyone but
the owners of the affected flats should pay - says our Jeremy.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Were it not for the
fact that Jeremy has a long record of moaning about the government
getting involved in what is a private business - insurance companies,
many reading his article might be taken in by the very real
injustices he exposes. They may even support his plan for the
government to do the nice thing and help him out.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Fat chance! These
are the same guys who are currently baulking at paying a few quid to
maintain Covid tests for the general public.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The whole thing
smacks of socialism.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">No other word in the
English language is guaranteed to bring on a attack of apocalyptic
proportions to Tory suburbia. The idea that socialism is to be used
to solve problems, even problems brought down on the heads of
unsuspecting citizens like Clarkson is just too awful to contemplate,
otherwise implement.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Briefly socialism
is: “a political and economic theory of social organization which
advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange
should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.” Trust
me, that’s what google says, so it must be right.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sounds horrifying,
doesn’t it? Even if Clarkson is in favour, it must be terrible.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">When I taught Animal
Farm to 15 year old’s, I always used cola as an example of how
socialism might work in the real world</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Now some people like
Coca Cola, some like Pepsi Cola and some like other brands of Cola.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Each company making
cola drinks owns the means of production, distribution, and exchange
of their product.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not only that, but
each company spends in one year (even one week even) the amount equal
to the total budget of a medium sized African nation trying to
increase its market share by even the infinitesimal amount. This
money does not improve their product, nor does it benefit the nation
in any way (except for swelling the coffers of the advertising
industry).</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">So, I postulated,
why not simply form the state cola factory number one to pool the
resources of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and others to make all the cola and use
the previously wasted advertising budgets to fund new hospitals
(state hospital number one), new schools (state school number one)
and other worthy enterprises.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I know I will be
accused of brain-washing young, easily impressed children, but, in my
defence I can only say that all these newly recruited socialists,
after reading Animal Farm and seeing how socialism might work in
practice, were soon un-brainwashed. Indeed a plea that what we need
is more public-spirited pigs fell on stony ground and deaf ears.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It is amazing to
hear people, who ought to know better (like say Trumpie, or Bo-Jo)
railing against socialism. They happily practise it whenever it
suits their purposes.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">"Neither Biden nor
Trump are socialists in this robust sense. However, in common
parlance, socialism has come to mean an expansive economic role for
the government via federal spending on the one hand, and industry
mandates and regulations on the other. By this definition, Cato
Institute's Scott Lincicome tells me, both candidates are socialists,
just different versions.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Neither has any
compunctions about using massive deficit-spending to boost economic
growth. Neither is averse to picking economic winners and losers by
helping industries they favor and crippling those they don't via
regulations and mandates. Trump, Lincicome notes, has been quite
adept at using Uncle Sam to slam industries that hurt his America
First agenda — and boost those that help it. Biden, meanwhile, is a
typical Democrat who wants to use Big Government to tax rich
companies and individuals and pursue a redistributive liberal agenda.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In an interview that
aired on Wednesday, Former US President Donald Trump said Boris
Johnson had become increasingly socialist, adding that he was "not
sure that people are loving it." Mr Trump was mainly referring
to Mr Johnson's environmental policies. This comes just a month after
world leaders met in Glasgow as part of a last-ditch effort to keep
the target of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive."</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There are many more
examples. Just open your eyes and look for them.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Most of us are
living in what is best described as democratic-socialist countries
and are governed in that way.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It’s only the
pejorations of dodgy leaders that make is so tragic</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-19808399257405943572022-02-08T16:25:00.006+00:002022-02-08T16:25:52.441+00:00Chiefs EoS 2021-2<p>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Oh, woe is me!
</span></b></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Can we say enough
about how the Chiefs blew it? No. The Super Bowl trip was booked
and paid for and then in a half of unprecedented sorrow and error it
all went up in smoke.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Wisdom says that the
offence suddenly collapsed and lost the game.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not so. I remind
all that it’s defence that wins games, and if anyone had cared to
look at the signs an average at best defence have been there for some
time.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">To recap, at
half-time the Chiefs led 21 to 3. And, they completely screwed up
the last possession in an uncharacteristically poor way. Andy Reid
has to accept responsibility for that. The defence simply could not
protect an 18 point lead. End of story.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Just a week ago we
were marvelling at the 13 seconds of magic that did for the Bills.
We came to believe that Mahomes' magic could overcome all and
everything.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As fans, we have
gotten used to Mahomes and the offence bailing us out when the
defence really isn’t that good. Chris Jones had no sacks and
Melvin Ingram one. Joe Burrow was occasionally under some pressure,
but they could not complete the job. The other men on the line
contributed very little.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Bottom line: the
defence lost the game.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Where do we go from
here?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Last season it was
the O-line that led to the embarrassment against the Bucs, so now we
flip to the defence. Is this unusual? No. There are 32 teams trying
to win the Super Bowl each season, and 31 of them are going to be
disappointed at the end. Each team will identify things they need to
improve on for the next season and plan accordingly. 31 of them will
not win the Super Bowl the next season. So, putting it into
perspective, the Chiefs have been in the AFC Championship game four
years in a row and won two of them and s Super Bowl. By most
objective standards this looks like success.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">For the Chief’s
fans this just looks like normality. We have been spoiled.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The initial reaction
from Veach was we need to address the defence - particularly the
D-line. And, he’s probably correct. Nadi and the crew on the
inside did very little against the Bengals. Melvin Ingram is a
stop-gap and although he did quite well is ready to move on. The
bit-part back-up’s like Dana did a bit but not much. Are there
players on the roster who could step up? Maybe. More likely it’s
time to use some draft picks and free agency to revamp the squad.
What about Spags? Jury is out. Andy Reid must be very disappointed
that they could not protect a good lead in the most important game of
the season. Maybe it’s time to move on?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">One of the thing is
certain, we'll be rooting for the Rams at the weekend.. Not in a
surly fashion, but simply to embarrass the Chiefs defence. I expect
they are feeling down in the mouth, as well they should.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Like most fans we
wish both teams well and hope for a good game. There's always next
year for the rest of us, but chiefs fans know that this is a real
opportunity missed. Chiefs v Rams is a Chiefs win, almost every time.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">News has it that
there again is no coaching job for Eric Bieniemy. This is sad, but
may work to the Chief’s advantage. I’ve often wondered if he is
Andy Reid’s replacement, or at least pencilled in for that one.
There is no doubt that he is a top offensive co-ordinator.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In other news,
Mahomes seems to be taking all the blame for the loss to the Bengals.
I repeat, it’s the coaches and the defence who should be in the
firing line.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-52063368167435062102021-12-13T14:45:00.001+00:002021-12-13T14:45:18.650+00:00<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-221e338c-7fff-491e-fff1-1b8bd6648b95" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Half Dreaming Edit Two</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I'm half asleep or maybe half dreaming</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A fragment, sometimes a little more</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Of a remarkable poem hoves into view </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But, before I can rouse myself </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It disappears into misty reverie </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And the moment is lost</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Only the poignant memory remains. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In that moment all things </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Become possible or perhaps not quite so ridiculous </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We swirl towards the black hole at the center of our universe </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Enmeshed in ancient memories of </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Bandy legs and coarser whiskers </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">About the fire, eyes moist and gleaming </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">While the little ones drool expectantly </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And the rat fat sizzles in the fire </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As wreaths of pungent smoke spiral to the zenith </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Low growls from a wolf-like companion </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Help to congeal the clan and all things become possible</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As another day dawns</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-68749317992073456752021-10-11T19:01:00.002+00:002021-10-11T19:01:35.773+00:00Carbon Units Infesting This Planet<p>
</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I’m
sure there are folks out there trolling the internet for items about
Star Trek. They’re called Trekkies. And the title of this post is a
direct quotation from Star Trek - The Motion Picture. So, it’s
reasonable to expect that they may find this post and have a look.
They will be disappointed. I apologise to them if they feel that I
have tricked them into looking at my blog instead of interesting
facts about Star Trek. It is not my intention to trick
anyone. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">This
post is about us - the carbon units currently infesting this planet.
We’ve been infesting it for quite some time now, and if reports are
to be believed we may not be infesting for much longer. Let’s
face it: the end of the world is a popular topic in fiction, films
and documentaries. Imagining the end of the world or of
civilization is a growth industry. Bad news still sells
newspapers. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Why
should this be so? Sorry it comes with the territory. In historical
terms it's pure hubris. Homo sapiens stands head and shoulders above
other species as the pinnacle of evolution. And, unless you are a
religious person this is simply the result of the march of evolution.
But, evolution has no end product. And however much you may wish it
wasn't so we are simply the evolutionary result of many chance
encounters. We are in the box without knowing so and have no idea how
to imagine any other reality outside the box. We are prisoners
of this planet and this reality.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">We
are, if the commentariat is to be believed, at a crossroads on this
planet. The resources required to keep our species going forward are
either too difficult to maintain or too depleted to enable us to go
forward, as we have unerringly done for the last few thousand years.
I submit that voluntarily going back to some sort of sustainable
pre-industrial utopia is simply not an option. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Now,
it may well be that Micawber-like something will just turn up.
Possible but increasingly unlikely in my view. Society has become so
dependent on technologies that the average Joe doesn't really
understand much about how things work. He just doesn't need
to. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Think
I'm joking? In the dim and distant past I taught science. I loved a
lesson where I asked 12 year olds to explain how some mundane and
common items in the home actually worked. A light bulb or a telephone
or a heating system could they explain, even briefly, how they work?
Some of the answers were very entertaining. Mostly they fell back on
you just flip the switch. That was the extent of their knowledge and
engagement with the modern world. And, it was not necessarily their
fault. To the average Joe things just work until they don’t
and then you get somebody else to make it work again. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Think
we could turn the clock back and become subsistence farmers again?
Get real. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">We
either find some way to share the resources or our stay here may be
much shorter than we either think or wish. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Which
neatly brings me to my dream, or should I say my nightmare.
Essentially we comfort ourselves with the knowledge that though as
individuals we are mortal, as a species we are immortal. We go on and
on and on for as far as we can imagine. All our hopes and the
remorseless march of the selfish gene populate our future. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Out
in the cosmos there are problems. Despite efforts lasting a long time
in human terms we are still alone and may continue to be on and on
and on. There are lots of theories purporting to prove that out there
life must be really quite common. Thousands of habitable planets are
just waiting for contact. But, there is a chilling alternative.
Habitable planets and even life itself may be as grains of sand on
every beach on Earth. Intelligent life could even be common, as
grains of sand in a wheelbarrow. Time and the sustainability of
civilisations could be the controlling feature. Many civilizations
may have existed, flourished and died before the capacity we have of
detecting them has become available. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Septics
will note here that what I’m describing is not new. Ancient
Aliens visiting us is not a new idea. What is new is that they
may have thought us so primitive as to not be worthy of another visit
and before it occurred to them to look us up they themselves fell
victim to what I’ve described. Overpopulated, running out of
essential resources and unable to sufficiently master the technology
necessary to avoid an asteroid taking them out, or some new virulent
disease plunging their civilization back into the Dark Ages; they
just ran out of time for a return visit. The fourth dimension -
time may be the controlling feature here, not some complicated
algorithm involving mathematical probabilities. They may have
just run out of time as we may before the cosmic forces align at
precisely the right moment.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
comfort of religion or philosophy only works if we can be assured
that we will be noticed and remembered. Cast ahead to a future
where the Earth is just an uninteresting looking rock orbiting
a nondescript star and a passing space ship just goes cheerfully on
its way not realising that a complex carbon-based civilisation once
was here but destroyed the Earth.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">We
leave no trace. We leave no marker. We are truly alone in the
cosmos separated not so much by space as by time. Our
immortality is gone in a flicker of space-time. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">That,
I contend, is a nightmare truly worthy of note.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-23592172941300394622021-08-31T20:15:00.000+00:002021-08-31T20:15:00.869+00:00Chief's Prospects 2021<p><span style="color: #783f04;"> Chiefs Prospects 2021-22 - run it back mark two</span><br /><br />Well if a week is a long time in politics then six months is a very long time to shake off the shellacking that the Chiefs suffered at the hands of the Buccaneers in Super Bowl 51. That particular bad taste will take some time to go away. And, quite rightly so. We got murdered.<br /><br />We move on to the next season with the cut down to the 53 man roster to be made today. <br /><br />One thing is certain, the O-line will be very, very different on opening day - very different from the Super Bowl and very different from last season’s opener. According to reliable reports, after the Super Bowl Brett Vietch, the GM, told Patrick Mahomes that the team would fix the O-line, and fix it they have, The season’s opener may well feature two rookies and some big-name signings who will revitalise the ruin game and keep St Patrick from getting murdered while running for his life from what was a good, but not spectacularly good Buccaneers defense.<br /><br />Much has been made of the Bucs decision to bring back all their Super Bowl starters. I much prefer the Chiefs strategy. Keep your core of great players, add some excellent experienced lineman,,, both on offense and defence and use your draft picks wisely, mostly on defense. Let's not forget that the opposition in February scored more than 30 points. Shoring up the defense may be the most important outcome of the super bowl thrashing. Patrick Mahomes is on record as predicting an undefeated season. Very unlikely, but that should be the goal of every team in August. In order to even get close the Chiefs will have to improve significantly in a number of areas.<br /><br />OFFENSE<br /><br />Quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne, Shane Buechele<br /><br />This is a tough one, believe it or not. The Chiefs seem committed to Henne as the back-up to Mahomes, but Buechele had an excellent pre-season. In the Covid era it may be that they decide to keep three quarterbacks. My guess? They will.<br />Roster spots left: 50<br /><br />Running backs: CEH, Derrick Gore, Jerrick McKinnon, Darrel Williams. <br /><br />That’s too many. Gore and McKinnon looked excellent in the pre-season, but Williams is the primary back-up. I look for three of four to make the final roster and McKinnon to make the practice squad.<br /><br />Fullback: Michael Burton<br /><br />Looks like the job is his, unless the team decides to go with other blocking options from some other multi-skilled players. My guess - he gets a practice squad place only.<br />Roster spots left 50<br /><br />Wide Receivers:<br /><br />Gehrig Dieter, Daurice Fountain, Mecole Hardman, Tyreek Hill, Marcus Kemp, Cornell Powell, Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson, A.N. Others<br />My guess, Chiefs keep only 7 wide-outs and Powell is the odd man out<br /><br />Roster spots left: 43<br /><br />0-LINE:<br /><br />Allegretti, Blythe, Brown, LDT, Humphrey, Long, Niang, Smith, Thuney, Williams<br /><br />My guess, they can keep only eight: LDT gets traded, Allegretti and Williams go. <br />That’s seven with Long to come back from injury they may decide to keep eight so, Williams may get in. Allegretti could make the team<br /><br />Roster Spots: 35<br /><br />Tight Ends: Travis Kelce, Blake Bell, Noah Grey, Jody Fortson<br /><br />One has to go and I think it’s Fortson to the practice squad<br />Roster spots: 32<br /><br />Specialists: <br /><br />Tommy Townsend (punter) Harrison Butker (kicker) James Winchester (long snapper)<br /><br />Locks That’s 29 left<br /><br />DEFENSE<br /><br />D-line: Danna, Jones, Kaindoh, Nnadi, Reed, Saunders, Ward<br /><br />That’s seven with Wharton Harrris and Okafor to the practice squad (if we’re lucky)<br /><br />Roster spots: 22<br /><br />Linebackers: Bolton, Cobb, Gay, Harris, Hitchens, Niemann, O’Daniel, Smith<br /><br />Three have to go either cut or to the practice squad. I’m losing: Cobb, O'Daniel and Smith<br /><br />Roster Spots: 17<br /><br />Corner Backs: Baker, Fenton, Hughes, Lammons, Sneed, Ward <br /><br />It’s Lammons out for me and keep five.<br /><br />Roster Spots: 12<br /><br />Safeties: Mathieu, Sorenson, Thornhill, Watts<br /><br />I’m guessing they keep all four<br /><br />Roster Spots: 8<br /><br />That’s where I finish, yes with still eight spots to fill. The coaches will have their work cut out for them. But, following my advice has a lot of slack in the system, but relies heavily on players clearing waivers and still leaves spots to sign players released by other clubs.<br /><br />I like it!<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-53808792131371017872021-08-25T13:12:00.006+00:002021-08-25T13:13:32.329+00:00Price of Gas and Pork<p> <span style="color: #741b47;">The price of gas is a poor indicator of how well a country's economy is performing. Think I'm wrong? Check out the gas prices in Venezuela. They can't give the stuff away. </span><br /><br />In the USA gas, or petrol as it is called in the UK, has a checkered price history. When I was first buying the stuff in Kansas City, we often had what was affectionately known as a gas war. Gas got as low as 12 cents a gallon. Happy days! But, not to last. In those days I'm fairly sure the USA was self-sufficient in gas. Before OPEC, gas was plentiful, cheap and readily available. Furthermore gas prices have always been variable from state to state. California gas prices could make you cry?! Currently it's at 4.40 a gallon. It's 2.43 in KC. In the UK, a litre (4.4 liters per gallon) is £1.25 Making a gallon of gas about 5 bucks. What is clear is that the price of gas is a poor indicator of almost anything. Yet, it is a question which concerns the American public and folks in the UK I can assure you.<br /><br />Gas is a function of the price of energy in general. Your packet of Oscar Meyer bacon has gas as a function of its retail price. The farmer who raises the pig, the slaughterhouse which processes the meat, the factory that slices and packs the meat in a carbon-based container, the bacon curing process, the advertising budget of Oscar Meyer, the consumer's trip to the store to buy the bacon all are components that decide the price of Bacon. Fixing the actual reason for the recent rise in bacon prices to the mast of a particular policy or politician is whilst very probably self-satisfying to some folks and an anathema to others overall not very sane, relevant or important.<br /><br />Clearly, for a variety of reasons, some good, some possibly spurious, food and gas prices are only going in one direction. This is likely to continue regardless of who is in office. <br /><br />American consumers need to wake up and smell the coffee. In the UK coffee it's between 9 and 14 £ per kilo (2.2 pounds) in the USA it's about 8.50 dollars a pound- that makes it about 3 bucks more expensive in the US. Your Starbucks is going to get more expensive. Inevitable. If you are a big coffee drinker, I suggest you switch to tea!<br /><br />Both the US and UK have been cheerfully living high-on-the-hog (pardon the pun)by effectively ripping off the commodity producing nations. They used to do it very nicely with gas until the advent of OPEC and the demise of Texas gold. With pork, the Chinese consumer is now mopping up any cheap pork and the US consumer is paying the price. As more Chinese eat bacon and pork, the cost to the US or UK consumer is going to go up. It’s Economics 101.<br /><br />As a result of the Biden administration's conversion to a greener energy policy, the consumer is going to continue to pick up most of the tab for the energy component of the rise in commodity prices.<br /><br />BTW (an aside) A US lab today reported that they are on the verge of the Holy Grail, commercially viable nuclear fusion which will make arguments about the price of almost everything redundant. Unfortunately, this may well not happen until beyond our life-time. Our grand or great, great grand-kids may well look back on this and wonder what all the fuss was about!<br /><br />Until fusion comes on-stream the price of energy will continue to sky-rocket and we (the consumer) will bear the brunt of any price rises. This will be true no matter where you live. The idea that the U.S. can insulate itself from the global economy is a pipe-dream. This was at the core one of the policies of Donald Trump. MAGA - make America Great Again - presumes that somehow America stopped being great at some time. It plays to the same audience as Charles Lindberg’s tribal appeal called America First before WWII.<br /><br />When the New York Times interviewed Donald Trump in March 2016, one of the reporters, David Sanger, suggested that Trump’s foreign policy could be summed up as “America First”—“a mistrust of many foreigners, both our adversaries and some of our allies, a sense that they’ve been freeloading off of us for many years.” <br /><br />“Correct. O.K.? That’s fine,” Trump responded. Sanger pressed him to be sure. “I’ll tell you—you’re getting close,” Trump said, in his typically staccato style. “Not isolationist, I’m not isolationist, but I am ‘America First.’ So, I like the expression. I’m ‘America First.’ ”<br /><br />This is one factor is driving the US consumer into fits of apoplectic rage. Even with sleepy Joe onboard the focus is on the consumer and their perception of the meaning of America First in consumer affairs.. What Donald and Joe forget to tell the electorate is that at the bottom line politicians of whatever persuasion can be powerless to affect the price of either gas or bacon. They can, of course, and often do tinker around the edges by tweaking the tax or import duties on particular products. This may assuage the public for a bit and effectively kick any real decision down the road, but, and this should come as no surprise, all politicians do this all the time. After all, why take a potentially awkward decision or even worse a potentially vote-losing one when you can effectively b***s*** the public and do nothing at all. <br /><br />Addendum<br /><br />The withdrawal from Afghanistan has been overshadowing everything else in the news. Neither Trump, Biden or Boris come out looking particularly well. Joe Biden has taken a pasting, and rightly so. People wanted out of Afghanistan, but thought that the folks organising it might have put a bit of thought and effort into it. The UK media are blaming Joe for not seeing the demise of the Afghan army as a real possibility. They are probably right.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-22834905645117391392021-08-18T15:41:00.001+00:002021-08-18T15:41:17.187+00:00<p>
</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
Returns?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
had an interesting email the other day praising the Accomplishments
of Donald Trump while he was President. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">So,
in fairness, I started to check.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Obamacare</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
didn't repeal Obamacare — he accidentally bolstered it. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(not
much of an achievement from his supporters point of view.)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Defence
Spending</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
move: The 2018 strategy rewired the Defense Department’s vast
bureaucracy away from a focus on fighting insurgents and terrorists
in the Middle East toward a long-term strategic competition with
China and Russia. As a result, the military is changing how it trains
personnel, which technologies it buys, and the geographic areas of
the world where it prioritizes its forces.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
impact: Already it has led to a reordering of the Pentagon budget and
new investments supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress,
including billions of dollars to beef up the U.S. military presence
in the Asia-Pacific.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
upshot: Despite differences in tone and rhetoric, this is a
refocusing of the United States’ military posture that is expected
to continue in the Biden administration. (looks like a plus for
Trump)</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.56cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #434343;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Coronavirus</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
failed to provide workplace guidance, making safety harder for
workers. (</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">we
all know what a tangle Trump got into over the virus, need we go
further?)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.56cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #434343;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Religion
in schools</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
boosted religious organizations in education. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(may
please some of his core supporters, most folks won’t even notice)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.56cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #434343;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Oversight</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump's
Interior Department set a new standard for ignoring Congress. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">A
dangerous precedent</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.56cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #434343;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Cannabis</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Legal
marijuana spreads across most of the country. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(I
suspect the country is split on this one, but who knows? Next
step - legalise heroin, thus depriving the Taliban of most of their
income?)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.56cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #434343;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Loan
forgiveness</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
curbed relief for defrauded students. ????</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Shell
companies</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
made it easier to prosecute financial crimes like money laundering.
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">A
plus!</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Poverty</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
shrank the food safety net — a lot. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Can’t
see how this is a plus?</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Overtime
pay</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Millions
of workers lost access to extra pay for long hours. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(
Popular with whom?)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Drones</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
imposed a near-ban on government use of Chinese drones </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(Clear
win for Trump, but does the public care?)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Taxes</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
goosed the economy with tax cuts that didn't pay political dividends
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(open
to question at the moment)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Robotcalls</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
cracked down — mostly successfully — on unwanted calls and texts
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">(
a good policy and clearly a win for Trump)</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Climate
science</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">T</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">rump
exiled climate scientists from Washington—literally. The
Agriculture Department went to great lengths to quietly quash
scientific research conducted by its employees or funded by
government dollars, in particular research about how the agriculture
industry could play a critical role in combating climate change.
Secretary Sonny Perdue was aggressive in reshaping USDA, most overtly
by relocating many of the department’s research scientists out of
Washington to the Midwest. The Agriculture Department went to
great lengths to quietly quash scientific research conducted by its
employees or funded by government dollars, in particular research
about how the agriculture industry could play a critical role in
combating climate change. Secretary Sonny Perdue was aggressive in
reshaping USDA, most overtly by relocating many of the department’s
research scientists out of Washington to the Midwest.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
move: Officials refused to publicize dozens of studies that carry
warnings about the effects of climate change on the agriculture
sector. The department even stopped the release of a plan on how to
respond to the climate change crisis.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Foreign
Workers</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
administration, however, said U.S. employers are abusing the work
visa because they want to replace American workers with cheaper
foreign labor. The administration’s most recent rules sought to
limit the types of jobs foreign workers can apply for, while also
requiring employers to pay them more.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
impact:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Some
changes — including those that narrow the definition of a
"specialty occupation" and that require employers to pay
foreign workers more — were expected to reduce the number of
approved H-1B visa petitions by one-third. Those efforts have since
been halted in court. Businesses seeking these non-immigrant worker
visas also saw an increase in requests to provide more evidence in
their applications and a higher rate of visa denials.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Toxic
chemicals</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">T</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">rump
impeded regulation — even though Republicans wanted it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
took a big swing at finally fixing health-care technology</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Sexual
harassment</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
rescinded rules protecting workers at federal contractors</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">On
the eve of the #MeToo era, Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress
repealed transparency safeguards designed to protect</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/49931-FederalContracts.pdf"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">hundreds
of thousands</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">of
people working for companies bidding for federal contracts from
sexual harassment. Business groups vehemently opposed the
requirements, which they dubbed the “Blacklist Rule,” arguing
that the regulation was so broadly worded that potential contractors
could be barred from doing work with the government based on
allegations alone.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Immigration</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">A
big crackdown on </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">legal</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">immigrants</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">While
it was no surprise to anyone who followed his 2016 presidential
campaign that Trump wanted to crack down on illegal immigration at
the southern border, his administration also imposed tighter
restrictions on legal immigration, even of the high-skilled workers
he claimed to want in the country.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
move:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Department of Homeland Security has pushed through restrictions and
changes to the H-1B visa program that allows U.S. businesses to hire
high-skilled foreign workers for “specialty“ jobs. Businesses
rely on these workers to fill jobs they say they can’t fill with
home-grown workers</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Farm
aid</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
doled out billions in aid to farmers (popular in Missouri!)</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Banking</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
rolled back rules on banks designed to prevent another financial
crisis</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
fulfilled a major GOP priority in 2018 by signing the first big bank
deregulation bill since the landmark Dodd-Frank Act was enacted in
2010. It was a victory for the nation's lenders, which spent years
fighting to roll back rules enacted in the wake of the 2008 Wall
Street meltdown. Republicans and moderate Democrats had been working
on some of the proposals well before the 2016 election, but the Trump
administration played a key role in making it possible.</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Housing
segregation</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
rolled back rules on racially segregated housing</span></span></span></span></p>
<h3 class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.14cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trade
rules</span></span></span></span></h3>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
made trade a top priority, but had only mixed results</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
prioritized trade concerns far more than any other president in
recent history, pursuing a hyperactive agenda that flummoxed allies
and adversaries alike. In particular, Trump shifted the United States
toward a more nationalist trade policy characterized by an aggressive
use of tariffs and sharp criticism of China, the European Union and
the World Trade Organization.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
move:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement supported by most
other Republicans and ran roughshod over the rules-based trading
system to pursue his political objective of boosting U.S. industry.
He imposed tariffs on more than $350 billion worth of Chinese goods
and on billions of dollars’ worth of steel and aluminum imports. He
struck a trade deal with China that eliminates many agricultural
trade barriers but left many other serious trade issues unaddressed.
He also used the threat of withdrawing from the North American Free
Trade Agreement to strike a more protectionist version of the
agreement with Canada and Mexico.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
impact:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
elevated concerns about China’s trade practices and acquisition of
American technology to a new level and helped usher in what many now
are calling a cold war between the world’s two largest economies.
He also weakened the World Trade Organization through his willingness
to hamstring the group’s dispute settlement system and to
unilaterally impose tariffs to punish trading partners and protect
domestic industries.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
upshot:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Trump
leaves office with a mixed record on trade. The new
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement has groundbreaking provisions on labor
enforcement and costly new rules for North American automakers. Trump
fell far short on his promise to negotiate bilateral trade deals to
make up for his decision to pull out of the TPP, although he did
negotiate a number of partial trade deals with the EU, Japan and
Brazil and borrowed heavily from the TPP in his NAFTA update.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Overall
this is a mixed bag. The idea that Donald Trump did nothing
whilst in office is clearly wrong. But, any good must be
balanced with his clear mistakes.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
Bad and some downright Ugly, we have to balance the books</span></b></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
beginning of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump included
statements that would have ended the campaign of any other
politician. Has an announcement speech ever looked so much like a
flashily produced political suicide? Did he really just call a key
part of the electorate criminals and rapists?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Ever
since his blunt, racially divisive debut in Trump Tower in June 2015,
Trump has proven that gaffes do not singe his hide like they do the
fragile and fretful politicians who tiptoe through the typical
campaign for public office. Time and again, Trump poured gasoline on
himself and lit a match. Time and again, pundits predicted fatal
self-immolation. Instead, Trump often rode the ensuing firestorm like
an Atlas rocket. His poll numbers actually went up after he insulted
John McCain’s war record. What mainstream politician has ever said
something like that, much less received a boost out of it? The only
thing more stunning than Trump’s dismantling of campaign norms has
been how consistently he has flirted with disaster.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">He
has insulted brown people, black people, Muslim people, Jewish
people. He has insulted women. He has insulted the grieving parents
of a dead soldier. He has mocked a disabled person and expressed
admiration for dictators. He has ham-handedly pandered to a
politically critical portion of the population by posting to social
media a picture of gringo Tex-Mex captioning it, “I love
hispanics!” He has suggested he could shoot somebody and not lose
votes. He has openly talked about the possibility of the
assassination of his opponent. Twice. And these are just the insults,
not the demonstrable falsehoods.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Some
examples:</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">1.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">When
Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re
not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people
that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems
with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">June
16, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
announcement speech.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">It
helped him dispatch 16 challengers in the extended primaries of a
party of which he has been an off-and-on member, and it has taken him
to Monday night, to the first of three debates against Hillary
Clinton—his best chance yet to get an edge in the race to become
the 45th president of the United States. Amid the pre-debate
speculation that he could say something at the debate that would cost
him the election, it’s difficult to imagine what he could say that
would do what so many other statements of his were unable to and end
his campaign.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Here
are 37 of his gaffes that could have been fatal—but somehow
weren’t.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">1.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">When
Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re
not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people
that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems
with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">June
16, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
announcement speech.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">2.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">He’s
not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like
people who weren’t captured.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/trump-attacks-mccain-i-like-people-who-werent-captured-120317"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">July
17, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. Trump was referring to Senator John
McCain, a former Navy pilot who was tortured during his
five-and-a-half years as a POW during the Vietnam war.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">3.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">You
could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of
her wherever.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/07/trump-says-foxs-megyn-kelly-had-blood-coming-out-of-her-wherever/?tid=a_inl"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">August
7, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
CNN interview about Megyn Kelly, one of Fox News’ moderators in the
first Republican debate.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">4.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Well
I really watch the shows. You really see a lot of great, you know,
when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the
generals and you have certain people that you like.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-foreign-policy-gaffes-2016-213345"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">August
16, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” trying to name his foreign
policy advisors.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">5.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Look</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">at
that face! Would anyone </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">vote</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">for
that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">president</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">?!”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/09/trumps-nasty-swipe-at-carly-fiorina/404740/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">September
9, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
in </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Rolling
Stone</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
talking about GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">6.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">It
has not been easy for me ... My father gave me a small loan of a
million dollars.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/donald-trump-father-loan-1-million-dollars-215154"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">October
26, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
on NBC’s “TODAY” show.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">7.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/mygreenhippo"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">@mygreenhippo</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BenCarson?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#BenCarson</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">is
now leading in the</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/polls?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#polls</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">in</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iowa?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#Iowa</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.
Too much</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Monsanto?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#Monsanto</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">in
the</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/corn?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#corn</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">creates
issues in the brain?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#Trump</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOP?src=hash"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">#GOP</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/10/gaffe-track-donald-trump-didnt-mean-to-dis-des-moines/412012/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">October
22, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
retweet by @realDonaldTrump.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">8.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
want to know who are the soldiers carrying suitcases with $50
million? How stupid are we? I wouldn’t be surprised if those
soldiers, if the cash didn’t get there.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-us-troop-stole-millions-and-millions-in-iraq-224352"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">October
1, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
speech in Keene, New Hampshire, suggesting U.S. soldiers embezzled
cash intended for disbursement to officials in Iraq and Afghanistan.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">9.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Now
the poor guy, you ought to see this guy. ‘Ah, I don’t know what I
said! I don’t remember!’”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34930042"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">November
24, 2015</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
physically mocks </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">New
York Times</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">reporter
Serge Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis
that affects his joints.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">16.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">If
and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is
ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have
only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President
because this would not have happened. … For a religious leader to
question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a
Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be
consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now,
with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader,
should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-response-to-the-pope"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">February
18, 2016</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.
Press release from the Trump campaign.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">17.
</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">“</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Well,
just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, okay?
I don't know anything about what you’re even talking about with
white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/rubio-cruz-turn-up-heat-on-trump-as-super-tuesday-looms-1456707632"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">February
28, 2016</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">on
CNN, asked if he’ll disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan
leader David Duke.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
judge was appointed by Barack Obama, a federal judge. Frankly, he
should recuse himself because he’s given us ruling after ruling
after ruling, negative, negative, negative. What happens is the
judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I
think that’s fine.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/05/gaffe-track-trumps-attack-on-a-mexican-judge/484877/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">May
27, 2016</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
rally in San Diego, in which he criticizes Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo
Curiel, who, on the basis of his Mexican ancestry, Trump alleges
cannot judge fairly in a lawsuit related to Trump University.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">It’s
against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying ‘This is
ridiculous.’”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-donald-trump-worst-week_us_57a56964e4b021fd9878be0e"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><u><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></u></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">July
30, 2016</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
in an interview with ABC about the presidential debate schedule. The
NFL categorically denied sending such a letter.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">You’re
living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58
percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to
lose?"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/19/politics/donald-trump-african-american-voters/"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">August
19, 2016</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">,
at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, explaining why African Americans
should vote for him.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">So
we have to ask how did he overcome these seemingly fatal mistakes?
Let’s add to the list his dysfunctional personal life. It
seems almost impossible for him to win and to rermain a viable
Republican candidatefor the next election.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0.39cm; margin-top: 0.39cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Conclusion:
the general perception of Donald Trump is just about spot on.
He should get credit for overcoming so may obstacles to become
President - most of them of his own making. he remains a deeply unattractive character who will not be missed on the political scene.<br /></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">h3 { margin-top: 0.25cm; margin-bottom: 0.21cm; background: transparent; page-break-after: avoid }h3.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }h3.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }h3.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold }p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-77101093409314756032021-07-06T10:56:00.005+00:002021-07-06T10:56:50.246+00:00Brexit (again)<p>
</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">BOJO Bulldust<br /></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
illiterati remain obsessed with chanting “Brexit is done, get over
it and move on!” Unfortunately this is a classic case of,
“can you smell that stuff you shovelling”!</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Brexit
is not done and is unlikely to ever be done. Current rows about the
status of Northern Ireland serve only to underline the point. The
choice of the majority who voted for Brexit must be respected, yet in
the country in particular politicians are placed in an almost
insurmountable position. Everybody knows that Boris is a chancer,
after all it's part of his charm. But when cornered, his true colours
often glimmer through the mist. Don't forget :he left David Cameron
thinking that he might support the Brexit deal and campaign
accordingly only to overnight become a committed leaver. Bottom line,
Boris is a shuttlecock floating towards the end line and hoping to
land in and not out. Or, should it be the other way around? Who knows
with Boris?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
current spat with the French is as unedifying as it was predictable.
Moron Macron sees votes in a bit of roastbeeefs bashing and Boris
would love to wear the Henry V mantle and give the froggies six of
the best - trousers down. . "Monge too" as Del boy would say. All good
clean fun you may say. On the day a delay to unlocking is now delayed
for four weeks, and Boris has so annoyed the speaker that he might
have to take six of the best in the Commons :it's not surprising that
the Boris balls up of Ireland has slipped down the list of things to
deal with. Let's just kick it down the road again. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">As
attractive as this might seem it's, in reality, a fantasy. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">For,
the Irish question has been kicked down the road so often, surely the
ball is flatter than a witch's chest. But, is there any chance Boris
actually has a plan and knows more than we do? Not likely. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">If
he does it's probably a dose of electoral reality. Successive
Unionist led governments at Stormont have known that the day is
coming when their electoral majority will disappear. Boris knows this
as well. He knows as leader of the Conservative and Unionist party,
he could never openly betray the Unionists. But, the present Northern
Ireland deal provides for a plebiscite of the people of Northern
Ireland if they wish to have a United Ireland. Maybe the arch chancer
is happy to just waffle and bluster and wait for demographics to come
to his rescue. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Or,
he has found that the EU, for all its blustering, can do little
practically to annoy him.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Dealing
with Dominic Cummings may actually cause him more problems than
Brexit and NI combined, but that’s a story for another day.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">News
today is that the NI executive will be reconstituted as Sinn Fein
agree to power sharing with the new ultra-right-wing Ulster
Unionists. As unrest grows on the street prior to the onset of
the traditional marching season, Boris just ignores it. After
all, that’s what he did with NI to get a deal with the EU, so why
not try it again? Then, next day Mr Poots , newly installed dup
leader, resigns over a deal he did with sinn feinn to promote the
Irish language. (a day is a long time in Irish politics) </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Boris
reaction : spout more platitudes.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
watched a very interesting documentary about the founding of the
Irish Free State. I suspect that few people know that the partition
of Ireland was agreed by the British government to be a temporary
situation. At that time even the NI unionists were on board with
guarantees from the UK that they would be protected within a united
Ireland. As we know, this did not happen and in the end the Irish
were unwilling to be part of the commonwealth with the British
monarch as Head of state. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Now
we see again that the unionists will not supinely countenance any
kind of a united Ireland. And, as we approach the marching season,
things are likely to get worse before they get better. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Whose
responsibility? </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Surely,
it’s got to be Bonking Boris. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115% }</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21448994.post-90407311176263071772021-05-06T08:30:00.003+00:002021-05-06T08:30:46.174+00:00Hakf asleep dreaming<p> </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-37b3cf2c-7fff-9f17-bfc5-f06261ef1cff" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I'm half asleep or maybe half dreaming</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A fragment, sometimes a little more</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Of a remarkable poem hoves into view </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But, before I can rouse myself </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It disappears into a misty reverie </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And the moment is lost</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Only the poignant memory remains. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In that moment all things </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Become possible or perhaps not quite so ridiculous </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">We swirl towards the black hole at the center of our universe </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Enmeshed in ancient memories of </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Bandy legs and coarser whiskers </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">About the fire, eyes moist and gleaming </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">While the little ones drool expectantly </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And the rat fat sizzles in the fire </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Wreaths of smoke spiral to the zenith </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Low growls from a wolf-like companion </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Help to congeal the clan and all things become possible</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As another day dawns</span></p><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Belton Cricket http://www.beltoncricket.co.uk</div>Malhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15555316393219463536noreply@blogger.com0