The first 1,062 words of this week’s column deal with the unprecedented degree of anger (TMQ’s words) directed at the NFL. TMQ believes that there are two reasons for this. Reason one:
And, from TMQ’s point of view, the NFL has used up their “reserve of goodwill”.
Reason two:
…
It is interesting, though, that we see this with Ray Rice now. We didn’t see this strong an outcry against domestic violence when Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend; there was a lot of talk about how it was all the fault of those evil guns that made Belcher pick them up and shoot Kasandra Perkins (even though Belcher could just easily have killed her with a kitchen knife or his bare hands) but little to no discussion of domestic violence in general.
In other news, the Denver-Seattle game was fun, but Denver made some odd choices (including chicken-(salad) kicking).
The Broncos and Seahawks now both get a bye week. They earned it!
Well, actually, they get a bye week because it is on the schedule, not because they played a good game. Both teams still would have a bye week even if the Seahawks had curb-stomped Denver.
Stats. Sweet: New Orleans. Sour: Tennessee. Mixed: Green Bay – Detroit.
This week in unrealistic television: “Chicago P.D.”
Can we point out that Chicago has strict gun control?
The antihero protagonist is said to have been in prison for corruption but released “by order of the police chief.” This really is not how the justice system works.
We’re amused by TMQ thinking that Chicago has a justice system.
Then a cop-killer also is released “by order of the police chief,” which sets up a plot arc in which the good guys seek vengeance. In the real Chicago — or any big city — a convicted cop-killer would never see sunlight again.
But we will give him this one. Sounds like the Wolfster has stuffed his pipe full of the wacky weed.
Actually, given the shameful history of the Chicago PD, we’d suggest that the use of torture by the police is probably the single most realistic aspect of “Chicago P.D.”.
TMQ has deep thoughts on the Boeing/SpaceX/Blue Origin deal.
It might have been interesting if, instead of indulging his tendency to bash private space initiatives, TMQ had explored the reasons why those past initiatives, like the shuttle, ended up being more expensive.
Why the hell not?
(Okay, we admit: it’s a battleship, not a frigate. But same principle.)
Chicken-(salad) kicking: Tampa Bay, Houston, Munich Cowboys.
Gregg Easterbrook has chosen to devote 1,501 words of this week’s column to…a discussion of the Federal deficit. Seriously. Short summary: Debt is not being paid down, increasing entitlement spending would be a bad idea, and “today’s federal spending for the poor, the working poor, the disabled and the retired is much more generous than commonly understood.”
TMQ likes Talisker, but “Steer your ship clear of Talisker 25, whose 116 proof is close to grain alcohol.” Dear Greg: grain alcohol is roughly 190 proof. 190 minus 116 is 74. Put another way, this is the difference between 58 percent and 95 percent. This is obviously some definition of the word “close” we were previously unaware of.
“The NFL has no shame.” Film at 11.
Thanks for making our point for us, Gregg. Hey, let’s bash the Vikings!
Bonus TV from TMQ: “Forever”.
Someone would like a word with you, Gregg:
(Yes, we get it wasn’t supposed to be an all-inclusive list, which is why we didn’t call out Doc Robbins. But to make a list like that and not mention the progenitor of “medical examiner as hero”? That’s like saying 95 is close to 58.)
The football gods continue to chortle. We have not suffered another bout of late-night hiccups, though our nose is now attempting to kill us.
And why does that get a bookmark, when TMQ’s climate change protest item doesn’t?
If the United States simply gives money to the developing world as a guilt payment, that could provide luxury living for government elites, but won’t do anything regarding artificial global warming.
TMQ was wrong, wrong, wrongity wrong about the amount of money the world famous Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio sheltered from taxes. But:
Why should taxpayers subsidize a professional sports exhibit of any kind, much less one that adulates someone like Simpson?
We’ve made the point before that a tax-exemption is not a subsidy, unless you believe all money belongs to the government until proven otherwise. But let’s set that to one side for now. Isn’t the Hall of Fame a museum of sorts? Should museums not be tax-exempt? Should, say, the Blanton Museum of Art pay taxes on admission income? After all, UT is a rich university with a large endowment; isn’t it unfair to expect taxpayers to “subsidize” art for people who can afford $9 admission? Why not? What consistent argument can you apply to an art museum that doesn’t also apply to the Hall of Fame? “I like art better than I like football” isn’t one. TMO’s primary motivation here doesn’t seem to be any kind of intellectually consistent argument, but a hatred of OJ Simpson. That’s fine; he’s got every right to complain about OJ. But using taxes as coercion is the kind of thing that can backfire on a guy. What happens when someone goes after the Contemporary Arts Center‘s tax-exempt status because they don’t like Robert Mapplethorpe?
Why was Chicago so eager to get rid of Devin Hester, who seems to be playing quite well for Atlanta now? Worthless items on Kirk Cousins and NFL fines.
The 500 Club. The 600 Club. No 700 Club or better this week.
Greensboro 37, La Grange 35. On a related note, we’ve actually managed to get it together and even made a note on our calender: the Slippery Rock State/Indiana University of Pennsylvania game is October 25th at 1 PM Eastern.
And that’s a wrap for this week, folks. Tune in next week, when we’ll have TMQ up on Tuesday. Thursday is close to Tuesday, right?