Fights, Good and Bad…

Wow, what a game. TWICE, now, the Niners have come out and started slow, to say the least. I doubt they’re intentionally spotting their opponents points but it sure looks like they’re spotting their opponents points. Can we please put the “Purdy is a pretender” talk to bed, now? The naysayers can still have “Purdy is less accurate in the rain.” That one, at least, seems to be true. But all the rest? You’re just being stubborn. He’s a very good player. That whole team is loaded but there’s no negative narrative going on about any of the other players. Just Purdy. So just stop, okay?

Detroit played very well. After all these years, it was nice to see Detroit enjoying a bit of success. Not so nice I wanted them to enjoy success over my Niners but still… That’s a team that has suffered for a long, long time. At this rate, I have little doubt they’ll make the leap, here, soon. They played some very good football. In truth, they, THEN played some not so good football but they deserve props. They’ve come a long way in a short time…

I’m not sure what happened to the Ravens. Well, yes, I know the Chiefs happened to the Ravens but the Ravens played badly, all on their own. They started flat, like the Niners did, but never managed to turn things around. Lamar Jackson is something else. This was a very good team, all season long. To fall apart like that in the Championship? There’s going to be some disappointment in the clubhouse for a while.

For the Chiefs it just seemed like business as usual, just another game to be played. Mahomes is still Mahomes, which means a very good football player. Andy Reid is still among the best coaches coaching, these days, and still a better bet than Belichick for GOAT. Of course, one can never overstate the contributions of the vaunted Taylor Swift, either. Normally, when a player on the field does something wonderful/amazing/glorious (or even bad/embarrassing/disastrous), the camera focuses on the player, who gets an extra moment of screen time. When poor Travis Kelce does something great, the camera pans straight to Taylor Swift, for her reaction shot. (Spoiler alert: she’s happy for her boyfriend.)

Hopefully, we’ll all get to see how Taylor looks when she’s sad because her boyfriend is about to lose the Stupor Bowl on February 11. The camera will absolutely grab that screenshot, just like they do when she’s celebrating. She has asked them to tone it down, a bit – they just don’t comply. Why would they? They get free celebrity endorsement from Swift every game and they don’t even have to pay her.

I expect a heck of a game. I HOPE the Niners win but I wouldn’t BET the Niners will win. These are two very good teams. Sadly, I think one of the most glaring problems for either team is the Niners Defensive Coordinator, Steve Wilkes. That guy just doesn’t understand the Niner defense. Last year the Niners defense was top-of-the-charts under DeMeco Ryans, as it was the year before that under Robert Saleh. They’re pretty porous with Wilkes at the helm. That could prove to be the difference in the big, dumb game this year…

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Can somebody help me out, here, please? I’ve been looking for information about how HAMAS is fighting back against Israel. I can’t find anything. Whenever I go looking, all is get is references to the oh-so-stupid HAMAS attack on Oct 7. I DID see a story about how some HAMAS fighters used a rocket to kill three Israeli soldiers preparing to blow up a building but there’s precious little else.

Netanyahu says he isn’t stopping until all of HAMAS is wiped out. It’s hard to blame him for feeling that way, but he ALSO seems to think that every Palestinian is HAMAS. He also seems to be trying to expand the fight from just Gaza to the West Bank. To me? He seems to think this is his chance, once and for all, to get rid of the Palestinians. ALL of the Palestinians. The whole world has asked him to stand down. He just thumbs his nose.

I’ll tell you this: Netanyahu may not be saying ‘from the river to the sea’ but he sure seems to be doing ‘from the river to the sea.’

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There’s a guy running against Putin in the upcoming Russian “elections.” That’s some guts. He will either end up in some Russian prison (“Say ‘hello’ to Nalvany for me…”) or dead, having committed suicide by drinking poison, chopping off his own head, and then throwing his own body out one window and the head out another. And THIS is the system MAGA wants to see in America?

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There’s a weird “analysis” of dissolving Donny’s businesses in AP, this morning. It takes the position that shutting down Donny’s fraudulent business will only empower the state to shut down other fraudulent businesses, and, after all, how fraudulent WAS Donny’s fraud? Oh, and he stopped some of his fraud – right after he got sued for providing fraudulent statements, so, what’s the problem? The “analysis” suggests that most of the time, when a business DID get shut down, the case was able to demonstrate who got hurt.

But THEN, it acknowledges that NY law doesn’t require showing damages, only an ongoing pattern of fraud. It acknowledges that not every business shut down showed damages. Despite the fact that the “analysis” seems to arguing against shutting down trump businesses, the article points out these things have been going on for at least eleven years and says, “Trump exaggerated the size of his Manhattan penthouse apartment by three times. He listed unfinished buildings as if they were complete, and apartments under rent-control as if they were free of such rules. He showed restricted funds as if they were liquid cash. And he portrayed Mar-a-Lago as if it could be converted to a residence even though that is prohibited in its deed.”

I’ll tell you this: When the “analysis” says, “Yeah he did all those things but we should just give the guy a break?” I suspect it was written by MAGA…

Not Right…

The conservatives in congress won’t fund aid to Ukraine or Israel unless and until something is done at our southern border to stop the flow in immigrants. So, old Sleepy Joe went ahead and arranged for a weapons sale to Israel without congressional oversight. That’s supposed to be a no-no but the Biden administration is pushing the idea that it’s an emergency and that Israel has national security implications and a right to “maintain a strong and ready national defense capability.”

Obviously, the cons are whining about Biden’s congressional end-run on GOP obstruction. But then, they whine about everything, all the time. By now, it’s LOUD, but it’s boring. As it happens, there are Democrats out there complaining about the sale, too. There WILL BE some kerfuffle about it but I’m pretty sure more American bombs will be falling on Palestinian babies soon. Thanks, Joe.

Meanwhile, South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top court, to declare that Israel’s war in Gaza is a violation of the Genocide Convention of 1948. The filing accused Israel of engaging “in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”. I stand with South Africa on this one. Israel rejects the charge “with disgust” and as “blood libel” from South Africa. ”Blood libel.” Sounds like time for the disclaimer.

For me, and millions of people around the world, my concerns about the developments in Israel and Palestine are about governments and what governments do. I don’t give two figs about which religion these people practice or which of the nearly 3,600 gods worshiped on Earth right now, today, they think is the most super-de-duper. Trying to shut down criticism of Israeli actions with charges of “antisemitism” or “blood libel” is a dodge that comes from people who don’t seem able to otherwise defend their actions.

Look, I do not, CAN not, will not defend the incredibly stupid and violent response of Hamas in their October 7th attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. Since that day, though, the Israelis have killed nearly 22,000 Palestinians and they have no intention of stopping. Palestine is in ruins. Israel warned Palestinians to run south, then bombed the place they told the Palestinians to run to. They’ve completely destroyed any and all medical help in Gaza. If you’re Palestinian, disease is becoming more likely to kill you than Israeli (American) bombs.

I see it this way: let’s say you’re in a bar and a guy sucker-punches you from behind, then blends into the crowd so you don’t know who hit you. You do NOT have the right to kill everyone you see until you get the right guy. But that has been Israel’s strategy from the start. The world (except the US) started asking Israel to stand down. Netanyahu said he will not. Eventually, even Biden asked Netanyahu to, if he wouldn’t mind, please, take it a little easy on Gaza. Netanyahu increased bomb runs. The outcry is getting louder but the attacks just keep coming, Palestinians just keep dying. Israel keeps attacking and they’re using American bombs to do it. Yeah, because they need a strong “defense capability.”

If you ask an Israeli apologist about the war, they’ll look at you and drone, “From the river to the sea” because Hamas says they want to drive Israelis into the sea. From MY point of view, Israel says it wants everyone to get along - all the while working aggressively to push Palestinians into the sea. Hamas says they wish they could do it. Israel just does it – and they’re using American bombs. Oh, how I hate this war…

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Okay, I need something lighter. I didn’t see the game so I can’t say for sure. Yesterday, the Dallas Cowboys played the Detroit Lions. At the end, the Lions were down by one and tried a two-point conversion to win the game. This is all “in the weeds” stuff so I’ll simplify as much as possible. There’s a way for a guy normally NOT allowed to catch the ball to be allowed to for one play. He has to report to the refs that, for this play, he’s an eligible receiver and the refs tell the defense so they’re aware.

According to the LIONS, a guy named Decker reported to the official, Brad Allen, as eligible. At the same time, another player was running onto the field, number 70, a guy named, Skipper. (That’s his real last name.) So, Decker reports but Allen tells Dallas that SKIPPER has reported. The Lions run their play and it goes to Decker, just like it was supposed to. The refs called a penalty and the winning two-point play was negated. Detroit went on to lose.

The ref, Allen, may have gotten confused, listening to Decker, but watching Skipper run onto the field. Allen reported the wrong name to Dallas, then punished Detroit for Allen’s error. Allen maintains it was Skipper who reported. Uh-oh. As always, there’s video. The video shows DECKER reporting and the official nodding, then speaking to Dallas. Despite the video, Allen is sticking to his story, for now.

This game had serious ramifications on the playoff picture. The officiating “error” changed things. There’s nothing that can be done about it now. Detroit is just screwed. It’s getting easier and easier to make a case that the NFL is using it’s well-established reputation for crappy officiating to manipulate the outcome of games…

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See? Lighter. Okay, so this is the last issue of MyBaconPress for the year 2023. If you like what I’m doing, you can go to my site, https://mybaconpress.com/. Click the “Follow” button and enter your email address and they’ll come straight to your email inbox. Never miss an issue again!

2024 looks like it’s shaping up to be a BIG year in human history. WILL the US fall into the conservative fascist dream? Will Stinky Donald end up in prison or the White House? (Are we amazed that’s even a question?) Will rational, thinking Americans FINALLY push MAGA back into the shadows, where they belong? Will America solve its housing problem by passing the ‘End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023?’ Hell, will we solve ANY of our problems, or just keep nursing them as campaign “issues?” We all just have to wait and see. But I’ll be writing…

I’ll tell you this: I hope you have a safe and happy New Year celebration and I REALLY hope 2024 works out well – for all of us…

It’s The Abuse, Stupid…

This is from the BBC.  It’s the first and last paragraph from the article, ‘Gates blocks abuse photos release’, dated 15 November, 2009.

“The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has blocked the publication of further images of US soldiers abusing foreign detainees…

…He said then that the release of such images would be “of no benefit” and might inflame opinion against the US.”

Gee, ya think? It’s too bad the Empire is unable to produce photos of the “detainees” being treated well and in accordance with US and international law…

Gates is mired in this classic “rightie” thinking, though.  See, it’s not the abuse that causes the problems.  It’s the photos of the abuse.  Personally?  I would have preferred to live in a country that believed in it’s own principals enough simply to live them and trust the example to be inviting to others…