Before we get started this week, I’ve got a couple of announcements:
First, my Swim Across the Sound team still needs your support. We’re about halfway to our fundraising goal, and I know that a lot of people have been on this site lately checking out the happenings. Most of you fins folks can easily afford to support Team RBG. Please do that. It’s for a good cause.
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| Yes, this is me swimming. |
My second announcement is about #SBRLLR. This week’s post did gangbuster numbers, which is awesome. Thank you for that.
If you’re wondering what to read next, well… I personally think the whole thing is worth reading, especially if you care about context. However, most folks have liked Chapter 2. If you also like Chapter 2, then I hate to say it, but you ought to just bite the bullet and read the whole damn story.
It’s free, you cheap bastards.
Finally, if you liked #SBRLLR, and you’ve been thinking about doing something similar, please reach out. As I said earlier this week, one of the reasons I wrote the memoir was as a way of starting this conversation. Ideally, you should have a set time period to write about along with a collection of anecdotes. With that, we should be able to draw up an overall outline and lay out scene structure for the first chapter or two. That should be enough to get you going.
Alright. Let’s get it on.
1. The business of dealing with China's cheating husbands (Marketplace)
There are no exact figures on how many mistress dissuaders there are in China, but Ming’s firm, the Weiqing Love Hotel, is among the biggest with nearly 300. The company has been offering mistress dissuading services since 2010.
“I am the protector of a couple’s marriage,” Ming said.
The unorthodox business of mistress dissuading has cropped up as the number of divorces in China steadily climbed for more than a decade. In 2016, there were 4.1 million divorces. That works out to three divorces for every 1,000 people in the country, which is still below the United States. Some local governments in China have cited incompatibility, domestic violence and extramarital affairs as leading causes for divorce.
This has coincided with China’s burgeoning wealth. Men are expected to buy their mistresses apartments, cars and luxury gifts. Having a mistress is a way to show off money and power.
“[T]here were 4.1 million divorces. That works out to three divorces for every 1,000 people in the country, which is still below the United States.”
Peak understatement, even for NPR.
2. Where do you draw the lines? (Washington Post)
This term, the Supreme Court is considering the role of partisanship. But is there a fair and equitable way to draw these district lines? Some states, California being the biggest, have decided the only way to produce fairer lines is to try to take politicians out of the process.
Heh. Good luck with that.
Look, I am not a Trump fan. But shit like this is why I am also not an Obama fan. When Obama left office, he was woofing hard about how he was personally going to tackle gerrymandering by creating some kind of massive super-PAC and using his undeniably broad outreach to make this a national consideration.
Since then? Crickets.
Dude’s got a daughter at Harvard and a new show on Netflix, and honestly that’s fine. But as usual, it seems like the best part of this deal is the talk, not the action.
3. Nevada pimp wins GOP primary, rejoices with Hollywood madam (Washington Post)
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| Hof is a successful author. |
Hof defeated hospital executive James Oscarson. He’ll face Democrat Lesia Romanov in November, and will be the favored candidate in the Republican-leaning Assembly district…
“It’s all because Donald Trump was the Christopher Columbus for me,” Hof told The Associated Press in a phone call. “He found the way and I jumped on it.”
I was all set to be outraged, but Hof’s actually built quite an impressive business empire, and his book looks legitimately fascinating. I don’t necessarily think his politics would play here in Coastal Connecticut, but he’s done nothing wrong by the standards of the State of Nevada.
4. Report: Three new bowl games could be added in 2020, with Chicago and Myrtle Beach in the mix (CBS Sports)
According to Brett McMurphy in a Facebook post, the NCAA Competition Committee will add three new bowl games to the bowl schedule beginning with the 2020 season. Chicago and Myrtle Beach are expected to be the destinations for two of the new bowl games, but the location of the third potential new bowl game is considered up in the air. Per McMurphy, Wrigley Field would host the bowl game in Chicago and host a team from the Big Ten and a team from the ACC (the home of the Chicago Cubs will also host a Northwestern vs. Wisconsin game in 2020). The Big Ten and ACC already have a bowl agreement with the Pinstripe Bowl to play a bowl game in Yankee Stadium. A bowl game in Myrtle Beach would likely include teams from Conference USA, the Sun Belt Conference or the MAC.
A December bowl game in Chicago? Wow. I mean, I love college football and think that more bowl games is better, but I’m not sure that’s a prize for finishing a strong regular season.
Alas, no one’s talking about finally making the Rocket City Bowl a thing. Maybe someday…
5. Army Football Notes
There were three pieces of news this week, none of them big.
I think they set the line about right for what it’s worth, but I wouldn’t lay $1.20 to win $1 on the Under. With the vig, Over is a much better play.I know you guys are hurting for Army Football news, so here. Vegas released season win totals, putting Army’s Over/Under at 7.5. Interestungly, the Vig is all on the Under (-120), meaning you can get Over 7.5 for free.https://t.co/wx8vHUy5vd— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) June 14, 2018
In four seasons, coach Jeff Monken has taken Army from a program that lost to Yale to one that has defeated Navy and won a bowl in consecutive years. Suddenly, the team has a number of players who have no idea what it is like to experience a losing season. Even if QB Ahmad Bradshaw does not return, the culture Monken has developed combined with a good number of experienced players should allow for the winning ways to continue.
This is a nothing article. It’s great that they have Army ranked 57th overall, but their opinion isn’t based on anything. For example, rising cow QB Kelvin Hopkins was named Army’s starter several weeks ago. Athlon is still talking about Bradshaw. Meanwhile, SB Kell Walker moved back to his natural position at the end of Spring Camp. Again, Athlon either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.
Fox’s mere selection of OU-Florida Atlantic means that the OU-Army game falls under institution control. Each Big 12 member gets to hold back one game per season to distribute as it sees fit.
Most figured that the networks would select OU-Army for telecast, leaving Florida Atlantic as OU’s institutional-control game. Instead, the storyline of FAU coach Lane Kiffin in a season opener on Owen Field was too much to pass up. Which means OU-Army is the Tier 3 game controlled by OU – which means it’s controlled by Fox…
Fox gets to make the decision on OU-Army, and Sooner athletic director Joe Castiglione said every indication from Fox is that OU-Army will be pay-per-view.
Yay, Rupert Murdock.
Yeesh. What an asshole.
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That’s all I’ve got this week. Enjoy the weekend!
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