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Twelve Chris Rock Will Smith Thought and My Standing Orders Story

Posted: March 28, 2022 by datechguy in culture
Tags: ,

After watching the video of the Chris Rock Joke and Will Smith’s response I’ve several things to say.

  1. When I was a kid jokes about people’s wives and mothers were considered completely off limits and any such joke would constitute “fighting words” particularly in the presence of a husband and/or son.
  2. When I heard Rock’s joke I thought it was pretty tame and was unsure if it rose to the level of a smack in the face until my wife informed me of Smith’s wife’s disease that caused her to lose her hair. Given that fact I’d say such a joke about a man’s wife made publicly in his presence required a response.
  3. Even without the disease it would be up to Smith and not me to decide if Rock’s words rose to the level of a punch in the face.
  4. If this was not told in a public place with Smith present it would not have required a public punch in the mouth Smith could have spoken to him privately and demanded an apology, and if it didn’t’ come THEN he could whack him.
  5. I very much liked the fact that Smith walked up slowly and calmly before smacking him and then slowly and calmly returned to his seat. That was exactly the right way to do it.
  6. I must say I give a lot of credit to Chris Rock for his reaction he took the punch and carried on. didn’t miss a beat. He did the deed, paid the price and continued about his business.
  7. Even with a tame joke if that had been a joke about my mother and my father was present the only way he wouldn’t have gotten to Rock would be because me and my brothers might have gotten to him first.
  8. My wife told me that several million women across the country swooned when they saw Smith call on Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” and even more when he threw the punch. She’s right. Woman like the idea of their man standing up for them even if they might not admit it.
  9. Congresswoman Ayanna Presley of the squad tweeted out support for Smith’s actions and then deleted it. It figures. She finally tweets something I agree with and then deletes it.
  10. I’ll wager Smith gets a ton of fan mail over this, but will be condemned by a the “right” people because his actions reinforce masculinity and the role of men, something our cultural betters despise.
  11. Of course in fairness to our cultural betters since they can’t define “woman” they would have no idea what to do anyway.
  12. Finally The folks who produce the Oscars must have been in rapture. It’s the most attention the show has gotten in decades.

This of course brought to mind a story involving my wife and my youngest son.

I taught my boys to avoid fights, I further told them than if in a situation where they might get in a fight and it’s impossible to get out of it to make sure they didn’t throw the first punch.

There was however one caveat to that rule. If the person in question was saying something about either their mother or their grandmother, they not only had permission to throw the first punch but they had standing orders, provided the person was not armed, to do so.

This exact situation arose about twenty years ago. My wife was a school nurse at the time and my son attended the school she worked at. On the playground somebody said something about his mother and he smacked him.

Of course he got into trouble and I was called in to talk to the vice principal. I told him in no uncertain terms that he was acting my standing orders and that while I understood that the school had to enforce their rules and had no objection to any discipline they had to apply to my son that my standing orders to him remained in force and he would be commended by me for his actions.

So my son got detention and principal thanked me for my time, but as I was reaching the door he said quietly to me that he hoped his son would do the same thing in the same situation.

A postscript. Nobody ever talked any smack about his mother in his presence again.

Bubbles, Battles and Reality

Posted: March 28, 2022 by datechguy in war
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Depending on where you go on the net or in the media you read a lot of different takes on the war in Ukraine.

You might hear one thing:

it is impossible to ascertain exact information about a battlefield situation on the other side of the globe, but these limited reports indicate that the Ukraine counter-offensive is making progress. If that is the case, we should soon begin hearing about fighting around Borodyanka, a key crossroads that would logically need to be taken by Ukrainian forces seeking to surround the Russian force at Bucha.

Or you might hear another:

The destruction inflicted on the Ukrainians by Russia is vast. If Ukraine still had a viable air force they would be challenging Russian combat aircraft and carrying out airstrikes on Russian positions. I have seen no reports in Western media about such actions.

In cities, such a Mariupol, that are besieged by Russian forces there has been no visible attempt to provide air support, artillery fire or reinforcements. The AZOV battalion left in an ever shrinking perimeter in Mariupol have no way out and are running out of ammunition and food. No soldier in the world survives long without ammo and chow.

There is evidence that a growing number of Ukrainian soldiers in other parts of the battlefield are surrendering

The problem are the bubbles. Both Russians and the West are being informed inside bubbles that do not acknowledge the failures and realities of war. The prime realities are these:

  • Any army that either doesn’t have or can’t be resupplied with food, fuel or ammunition can’t function.
  • A guerilla force can’t function If they can’t be supplied with ammunition and food.
  • Without either a safe air corridor or open and clear roads neither of these things can be provided for thousands of men on a daily basis

No amount of press briefings, internet memes or speeches in front of cameras changes these facts.

If Russia can’t supply their forces with these things those forces will be forced to withdraw or surrender.

If Ukraine can’t supply their forces with these things, they will have to do the same.

If neither can, then it will be a stalemate.

The big difference is that Russia can choose to resupply or relieve their forces from their own reserves, Ukraine can’t without western intervention

The real wild card is that we don’t know the actual war aim of Russia. If it was to secure eastern Ukraine they’ve pretty much already done so and everything else is gravy. They can pretty much stop fighting and declare victory at any time. It remains to be seen if Putin wants the whole thing (I suspect he does) not just because he wants to rebuild the old Soviet/Russian empire but also because Biden and company has given him the chance to achieve a bigger goal, the humiliation of the west and as long as the continued existence of the Ukraine is in doubt that goal is in reach.

Whatever happens Putin will declare victory.

Meanwhile Ukraine has a single goal, to survive as an independent nation. Even if Russia carves out large chunks of the nation if any is still there at the end they can claim to have held off the Russian bear. That’s the bottom line here, I predict that is the endgame of the western media and powers, to wait for this result and then declare it the greatest military victory since Midway. They have painted themselves into a corner so they will have to find a way to declare victory and that will be their best case scenario with the media lionizing Biden for his leadership if they manage this result.

We might be treated in the end to the odd spectacle of both sides declaiming victory but none of those claims will have any bearing on the reality on the ground which I suspect will continue to be unpleasant for all concerned.

In time that will become apparent because in the end reality doesn’t care about anybody’s spin.

Swept in the Series but at Least I Don’t Live in Seattle or Portland

Posted: March 27, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

As I mentioned yesterday my Dynasty baseball team made it to the World Series for the first time this century and I looked forward to a hard fought world series against a Colorado team that like me had been two games away from missing the playoffs but had unlike me won 5 straight regular season and playoff game to make the series.

Alas for me that streak was extended to nine. All the games were close and in each game the tying run was either on base or on deck when the last out was made but the team just couldn’t manage to score the key runs. It seemed like every decision I made was the wrong one.

This sounds a lot like what has happened in Seattle Washington and Portland Oregon over the last two years except they don’t seem to be willing to note that they are in their current state due to their own bad decision on how to handle rioters and looters:

In the news section of the Seattle Times, for instance, a reader is unlikely to see any consideration of a link between policing and public safety. “No single cause for 2021’s surge in gunfire in Seattle,” declared a typical recent headline over an article that points only to possibilities such as the pandemic or an unlucky cycle of “retaliatory violence”. But the majority view in Seattle appears to have shifted toward an acknowledgement that the unrest and destruction that occurred after the killing of George Floyd in 2020 marked a turning point and that the city’s policies toward its police force, whose ranks are now depleted, are relevant to understanding the story. 

But just as it’s considered improper by the elites to note that Lia Thomas has a distinct advantage when swimming against actual women it is not publicly said the city fathers, their papers or the left that the lack of consequences for bad behavior produces more of it.

On 1 June, Mike Magan and a colleague from the Seattle bomb unit entered the site to look for possible video footage. The first floor, he says, was destroyed. “All the jewellery cases had been smashed,” he says. “All the cosmetics were gone. All the makeup was gone. Shoes were gone — bags. Everything.” As for tracking down the looters, that wasn’t on the agenda. “We were told: you will not investigate any of those things,” Magan says. “The city attorney wouldn’t file charges on them.”

In the end officers have left enmase and no amount of incentives seem to bring them or replacements back:

 Last October, as vaccine mandates caused even more officers to leave, the mayor put in place an emergency order offering $25,000 bonuses to new hires. But the mindset of the city seems to have mattered just as much to the officers in this story as financial considerations. “My young rockstar detectives are sniffing around these other departments where they’ll get treated like royalty,” Young says. “How do I compete with that?” The answer to that may depend on how much Seattle cares.

Meanwhile a few hundred miles south Portland is having the same problem with the same cause:

Beleaguered Mayor Ted Wheeler, who jumped on board the defund the police bandwagon back in 2020, has been trying to address both problem for the past year and so far he has very little to show for it. When it comes to violent crime, the city set a record for the number of shootings in 2021 and is currently on pace to surpass that record by double digits in 2022.

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said for 2022, there have been an average of nearly 29 shootings per week in Portland.

If this trend continues, Chief Lovell says there will be a little over 1,500 shootings this year, which is a 14% increase compared to last year and a 266% increase from 2019.

At the same press conference where Chief Lovell made that announcement, the mayor was asked why his efforts to combat violent crime didn’t seem to be working. Mayor Wheeler rambled for a bit and then mentioned the elephant in the room.

“I’m determined to see gun violence reduced in our community and obviously that would happen much faster if we had more officers,” Wheeler said. Later in response to another question he added, “Portland has a critical shortage of law enforcement personnel right now. We are in a 28-year low on a per capita basis.”

John Sexton notes that what was unsaid was much more important than what was:

No one is saying the words “defund the police” but that’s what this is about. That and another word Mayor Wheeler never wants to say, “Antifa.” Portland police spent months battling violent goons in the street and got nothing for it but more criticism and the threat of a class action lawsuit by the protesters. 

A program initiated by the mayor to attract back retired officers had the same success rate as British Camel Spotters and drew caustic responses from those targeted for rehire insulted by the implication that they are at fault for leaving rather than the decision of the government to target the police rather than the mob:

Your letter states, “You left at a time of great despair for the Bureau and the City of Portland, 2020 became a perfect storm that thrust our Bureau and the City into a very dark period.” This sounds as if you feel that those who left, abandoned the city in her time of need, but in reality, it is the officers who were abandoned. The darkness, destruction and death to Portland was a result of your failed polices and the lack of leadership. The “perfect storm” of which you speak was the demonization of police by the Mayor’s office and City Council members, and the failure of PPB leadership to stand up to them in support of their own officers. Your letter mentions “considerable support from elected officials”. This is laughable. Portland has a Mayor who refuses to call out ANTIFA and condemn the riots, a DA who refuses to prosecute violent rioters and a Council Member who accuses police of committing the arsons and violence that were committed by the rioters.

This is an excellent example of cause and effect or more accurate the old saying that Democracy is the concept that the people should get what they want, good and hard.

As I said at the start of this piece like the leaders of Portland and Seattle my decisions led to my defeat, but unlike them I’ll be able to recover fairly quickly. It will be decades before either of these cities do, if ever.

At least there is one decision of mine that has stood the test of time. The decision of my wife and I not to move to Portland after we were married continues to be the best (non) move we have ever made.

World Series Day in the SABLE Face to Face League after the wildest Division series ever played

Posted: March 26, 2022 by datechguy in baseball
Tags: ,

For only the 4th time since 1985 and the first time in the 21st century I’ll be heading to the World Series in our face to face league as my Washington Nationals will face the well rested Colorado Rockies for all the marbles.

The Rockies who won their division by winning the final series against me two games to one made short work of the Cardinals sweeping them in three.

My path to the big game was more complicated.

Finishing in a three way tie for the two wild card berths as the B team I defeated the NYY 7-2 with Max Scherzer dodging bullets the entire way to get me the home spot in the wild card game. In that game Yu Darvish who was acquired at the cost of a 1st round pick early in the season pitched a complete game shutout to give me a chance at a pennant against a NY Mets that had only swept the season series against me this year but one that I had only managed two wins against in the three years since the league was revived.

It was a classic series

In game one I jumped to a 4-0 lead after two but starter Lance Lynn who had lost the wild card game the previous year was jumped on for three runs in the 5th to make it a one run game. Mets relivers Valdez shut me down the rest of the way while my bullpen bent but didn’t break TJ Antony getting out of a bases loaded one out jam in the 7th and after a 9th inning leadoff walk two big defensive plays kept the tying run on first.

Final Washington 5 Mets 4

Game two was a scoreless pitching duel into the 7th until Nolan Arenado singled in Anthony Rendon and a Molina Sac fly scored Lindor to give me a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 8th Mookie Betts completely misplayed a Ramirez liner putting him on third where he scored on a Trey Turner ball that went to the warning track to make it a one run game. In the bottom of the 9th Jeffries allowed a one out walk and followed that with a two out walk a single loaded the bases bringing up Ramirez. With Washington about to go up 2 games to none he hit a shot deep into the hole at short that was just out of the reach of the diving Lindor and just like that the series was tied at once each

Final Mets 3 Washington 2

Game three in Washington started well for the Nats, Merrifield singled home Guriell in the 1st and promptly stole 2nd & 3rd with nobody out but Zac Gallen retired Betts, Rendon and Abreu in order to get out of the jam. Meanwhile Max Scherzer who dodged a bunch of bullets vs the Yanks was not so lucky giving up five runs in 2 2/3 innings including a monster 3 run shot to Trey Turner who had an incredible series. Meanwhile Valdez came in again with one outs in the 5th and after giving up a single that made it a one run game retired the next 14 in a row to make the Mets insurance run in the 6th superfluous.

Final New York 6 Nationals 4

Darvish came back for the do or die game and thanks to another big hit by Merrifield was staked to a 3-0 lead until Trey Turner once again hit a 3 run shot to tie things up in the 5th. That’s how it stayed till the top of the 12th when with runners on 1st & 3rd and two outs manager Gionet surprised everyone calling for the suicide squeeze. Josh Bell laid it down perfectly and everyone was safe so even when Washington turned the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, the Mets were still only 3 outs away from a trip to the series.

They would only get one of them, Rendon and Betts would both walk to start the bottom of the 12th and with one out and the runners going pinch Hitter Didi Gregorius would smash a double down the line scoring them both and tying the series at 2

Final Nationals 5 NY 4 (12)

The rain clouds looked ominous for game five but they decided to try to get the game in anyways. That decision looked poor for NY when Betts and Hosmer went back to back to give Washington a 3-0 lead (they scored first in every game of the series) but with Lance Lynn finally finding his pitching groove giving up only one hit in 4 innings the sky opened up and the rain didn’t stop. The Game was called to be replayed the next day.

Washington surprised everyone by throwing Scherzer who had been roughed up the last time on three days rest while the Mets did the same with Gallen. Washington scored first on a single two wild pitches and another single to make it 1-0 but Acuna Jr.’s two run shot (his only big hit of the series) was enough to chase Scherzer in the third. The Mets went back to Valdez who had shut down the Nats in game 3 but it didn’t work out that way this time A solo shot by Abreu tied the game up and a critical error by Jeff McNeil led to another two run double by Gregorius followed shortly by a 3 run shot by Betts made it 7-2 and it looked like it was all over but the shouting .

It wasn’t Tejay Antone who had been excellent in relief came in with two on and one out in the 7th and after coaxing a force out to third gave up two walks and a double for three runs before the 3rd out was caught against the left field wall just short of giving away the lead.

Down by two the Mets started the 8th with a leadoff single when McNeil an excellent bat handler trying to make up for his 5th inning miscue hit a liner with the runner going that looked destined for left field but Lindor remembering the ball he couldn’t get to dove to his right to spear the liner and managed to get the ball to first to double off the runner. This turned out to be a critical play as the Jeffries arm stiffened up and he had to come out Rosentall was rushed in and threw a fat pitch for his first offering which was promptly deposited into the left field stands. 7-6.

Washington went quietly in the 9th and Trey Turner who already had 7 rbi’s in the series came up and put a 2-1 pitch into the gap to lead off the 9th. Alas what would have capped a sure MVP award for the series never happened as Trevor Rosentall decided to prove the wisdom of deadline trade that sent him to DC retiring the next three batters in a row for his 2nd save of the series and completing the biggest playoff upset in years.

Final Washington 7 Mets 6

Well my pitching staff isn’t well rested and Colorado who leads the season series against me 4-2 is but on the bright side my starting center fielder who was injured on the final day of the regular season has been cleared to play adding both power and defense to my lineup.

I’ll need it.

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