5 Things on a Friday: Don’t Beat the Fluffy!

Keeping it short this week.  We've had a lot going on at our house, and anyway, the actual news remains as depressing as ever.

1. An Abused Woman Left A Heartbreaking Note With Her Puppy At The Airport (HuffPo)

Chewy, a 3-month-old Chihuahua, was found in a bathroom at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas last weekend, along with a note from his owner. The woman initially wrote from Chewy’s perspective: “My owner was in an abusive relationship and couldn’t afford me to get on the flight.”

Dude not only beat his woman, he apparently kicked their dog, too.  What an asshole.

2. Dems’ new pitch to voters: A ‘Better Deal’ (Politico)

Democratic leaders are zeroing in on a new mantra for their long-promised economic agenda: a “Better Deal.”

The rebranding attempt comes as Democrats acknowledge that simply running against President Donald Trump wasn’t a winning strategy in 2016 and probably won’t work in 2018 either. The slogan, which is still being polled in battleground House districts, aims to convince voters that Democrats have more to offer than the GOP and the self-proclaimed deal-maker in the White House.

Americans are not much into parsing complex ideas lately, so this search for a catchphrase is embarrassingly important to the outcome in 2018.  

This particular article goes into some detailed caveats about how rank-and-file Dems aren’t really in love with their party’s leadership—and who can blame them?—but since that stuff is below the fold, I’m choosing to ignore it.  Just like most voters will.

3. United Airlines gives away toddler's seat, forces mom to hold him during flight (ABC News)

Yamauchi said she "didn't want to cause a scene" so she held her son in her lap for the flight.

"I didn't want [Taizo] hurt especially," Yamauchi said, explaining why she did not argue with the flight attendant. "I, of course, feared my personal safety with everything I've seen with United Airlines. I didn’t want to see anybody get hurt."

This is why we need regulation.  Because this woman was afraid for her safety—reasonably, given recent events—but by acquiescing peacefully, she inadvertently limited the airline’s liability to her own detriment.  At this point, she has limited recourse, save to stop flying United forever.  Even that is of dubious value, all things considered.

4. Army Football Update

R-Day was Monday, which means that the new cadets have spent nearly their first full working week at West Point.  Only 202 left to go!

Heh.

With all precincts reporting, the Army Football recruiting class of 2021 wound up at what I think is a new record, 82 new cadets!  That is a lot of football players for one class.

The first big sports weekend of the new Academic Year will begin on Friday, September 1st, when Army Men’s Soccer takes on Fairfield University and Football kicks off its season against Fordham.  Volleyball begins the Pentagon Invitational that same afternoon, with matches against Air Force, the Citadel, and Georgetown.

I was already thinking about taking September 1st off from work because of the late (or early) start to that Friday night game.  Now I think I might try to catch both the soccer and football games, though there’s no telling if I’ll actually be able to spare that much time to just hang out and watch Army sports.

5. Bridgeport Bluefish Update

This year’s Bridgeport Bluefish team is the best that Park City has fielded in more than ten years.  The ‘Fish (43-31) currently sit a half-game behind the perennial powerhouse Somerset Patriots (43-30) with just over half the season in the books.  If the season ended tomorrow, the Bluefish would meet the Patriots in the Liberty Division Championship Series, with the winner moving on to face either the South Maryland Blue Crabs or the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League Championship series.

Bluefish pitcher Chris Rearick was recently signed by the Dodgers’ organization, and now Major League scouts are looking at Bridgeport’s ace closer David Carpenter, who currently sports a 1.42 ERA with 26 saves in 31.2 innings pitched.  We saw Carpenter close out the game last Friday after Jonathan Albaladejo threw a whopping 11 strikeouts in his first six innings, and Carpenter threw hot fire for the team's last three outs.  

As my wife said the following morning, “It was pretty exciting.”

Naturally, the Bluefish are looking for that late season push into the divisional series.  They’ve therefore called up a secret weapon for tonight’s game.

This glorious creature will sing the National Anthem tomorrow when the @BPTBluefish take on the @NewBritainBees at 7:15. Come on out! ⚾️👏🔥 pic.twitter.com/1yfxAul00M

— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) July 6, 2017

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That's all I've got, folks.  Have a happy Friday!