5 Things on a Friday: Wrestlemania, the AEW, & the XFL

There’s no sports since the outbreak of COVID-19, but there’s still some sports entertainment, and in a pinch, that’ll have to do.  Truth is, it’s been a good, long time since I was more than a cursory fan of pro-wrestling.  But if you’ve known me long enough, then maybe you’ll remember that time I was a pro-wrestling super-fan.

My grandfather introduced me to pro-wrestling back in the late 1970s, and yeah, I marked out to Hulk Hogan like the rest of my cohort back in the 1980s.  However, it wasn’t until I got married to a girl I’d met at my folks’ hometown church in 1995 in the tiny town of Tullahoma, Tennessee, that my interest in wrestling turned into anything like a genuine personal interest.  I’d been a casual fan like a lot of folks, but once Misty and I walked down the aisle, shit got real.

5 Things on a Friday: Praying for a New Plane

I’m back.  I’ve been busier of late, so I don’t know that 5 Things' return is necessarily going to be a regular occurrence, but there’s so much going on that I thought maybe we ought to talk about at least some of it.

Let’s get it on!

5 Things on a Friday: Return to Chaos

Happy Founder’s Day!

On March 16, 1802, Thomas Jefferson signed a document declaring "that the said Corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point... and shall constitute a military academy. The Corps of today celebrated the 216th anniversary of Founders Day.

Photos by: CDT Alex Werden pic.twitter.com/TbVyf7fJgq

— US Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) March 2, 2018

5 Things on a Friday: Are Non-Partisan Politics a Thing?

This week’s post comes back to politics, though I hope not in a particularly partisan way.  I’ve definitely done partisan politics on the blog, but with notable exceptions, the point of this column has always been to talk about what’s going on and why I think it’s important.  Ideally, that’s not the same as me telling you what you should think.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Reality is that we all have opinions, and while some are clearly wrong, it’s just as clearly no use trying to explain that to anybody.  This column is therefore a study of what caught my eye in a week’s worth of new.  This comes hopefully without preaching, either to the converted or to the heathen masses.

5 Things on a Friday: Who Is the Last Jedi?

They say that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t day anything at all.

Required Reading: Corporate Tax Plans

This was in the January 7th edition of the New York Times:

The Major Potential Impact of a Corporate Tax Overhaul (NY Times)

The current corporate income tax manages the weird trick of both taxing
companies at a higher statutory rate than other advanced countries while
collecting less money, as a percentage of the overall economy, than most of them.
It is infinitely complicated and it gives companies incentives to borrow too much
money and move operations to countries with lower tax rates. 

Now, the moment for trying to fix all of that appears to have arrived. With the
House, Senate and presidency all soon to be in Republican hands and with all
agreeing that a major tax bill is a top priority, some kind of change appears likely
to happen. And it may turn out to be a very big deal, particularly if a tax plan that
House Republicans proposed last summer becomes the core of new legislation. 

Among Washington’s lobbying shops and policy analysis crowd, it’s known as
a “destination-based cash flow tax with border adjustment.”

5 Things on a Friday: It’s Still the Economy, Stupid

It’s Memorial Day weekend, traditionally my favorite weekend of the year.  The weather looks to be terrific, and I have every intention of grilling out.  If you’ve got plans, I’ve love to know what they are.

Enjoy it, folks, and be thankful for what you have.

5 Things on a Friday: the Election is Everywhere

I’m still trying to keep it apolitical this week, but that’s turned out to be harder than I expected.  Election coverage is everywhere, and most of it’s so breathlessly scandalous that it simply screams for attention.

Which is pointless, of course.  

Everyone in America has already made up his or her mind.  Moreover, the vast majority of the so-called news these days is little more than clickbait for the already enraged.  I’m personally experiencing some heavy election fatigue, and it’s not even summer.  But I hate it, it’s making me crazy, and it’s absolutely self-reinforcing.  No one is open to new ideas, and at this point, that’s fine.  I no longer care.  

I just want to let it all go.  

Letting go is impossible, unfortunately.  The most interesting story of the week by far came out of the Trump camp, and though I’ve tried to cover it in a just-the-facts sort of way, this blog would have no point without my personal opinions.  Besides, it was fascinating.  Beyond that, I could very easily tie every story in this thing into the election in one way or another, most in ways that are overtly obvious.  Every piece here is directly impacted by our national choice-at-hand.

5 Things on a Friday: No More Politics

I finally realized over the weekend that if I keep doing politics every week, I’m not only going to drive away my readers, I’m actually going to drive myself crazy.  So no politics this week, and from here on out, I’m going to try to keep it to a dull roar.  Yes, that is a potentially significant challenge.  However, all that crap is not only pointless, it’s also tearing this country apart.  

I’m done with it.

5 Things on a Friday: Heading to South Carolina

There’s a lot going on this week.  South Carolina chooses its Republican candidate tomorrow while Democrats choose theirs in Nevada.  Besides that, there’s more Daredevil coming and a bunch more movies for geeks.  

Check it out!

5 Things on a Friday: It’s Wonder Woman’s World!

It was a crappy week on Wall Street, but my man John Kasich looks like he might still have a little life.

Let’s get to it.

5 Things on a Friday: Looking for Vets from the "War on Christmas"

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it.

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1. Starbucks ‘removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus,’ Christian says in viral Facebook video (Washington Post)
Some say Jesus Christ healed the sick and died to redeem humankind. Little is said about his views on the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Still, secular coffee maker Starbucks has come under fire from some Christians who say the company isn’t repping hard enough for Jesus on its recent understated holiday cups.

Shots fired!  It’s a War on Christmas!!!

5 Things on a Friday: Nerdist Conspiracy Theories

Buckle your chinstraps, folks.  It's Friday.

Let's get it on!

5 Things on a Friday: In a Tough Spot

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it.

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1. Why we shouldn’t let Russia fight the Islamic State (Time)

[T]he Russian strikes have been mainly in areas controlled by other Sunni groups that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sees as a threat, including rebel groups trained by and aligned with the United States. That is because Russia’s strategic goal is not to destroy the Islamic State, but to prop up the Iran-backed Assad regime — and to force the West to back him as well. By destroying the moderate opposition, the world will be left with a choice between Assad and the Islamic State…

By eliminating moderate opposition, Russia is driving all Sunni groups into the arms of the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-backed Jabhat al-Nusra — making them the only game in town for the majority of the population opposed to Assad, even if they do not share the terrorists’ radical ideology...  That helps Assad, who needs the Islamic State threat to justify his regime’s continued existence…

5 Things on Friday: Joachim Strikes!

Happy Friday, folks.  There’s a hurricane off the East Coast, and as of this writing, no one is quite certain exactly where it’s headed.  Half the projections show it turning for DC, and half show it heading harmlessly out to sea.  This, of course, means they’ve split the difference on television and have it headed directly for New York City.  As I constantly tell my kids, nothing gets destroyed on TV as consistently as New York.

Speaking personally, I think the Football Gods are looking to smite Happy Valley.  My prediction is that the hurricane will hit full force in Pennsylvania just as Army is kicking off against Penn State on Saturday.  The game already projects to be a sloppy affair, and this small bit of advantage will put the Black Knights over the top, giving them their greatest victory of the twenty-first century.  Or else it will just cause chaos, which would also be fine perfectly fine.  As you can see, the track only needs to shift a little futher north to turn the contest into a water polo match.

5 Things on a Friday: Servers for Indictments

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it.

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1. China Seeks to Calm Markets as It Devalues Currency for 3rd Consecutive Day (NY Times)

China on Thursday sought to ease the turbulence its depreciating currency, the renminbi, has set off in global markets, even as it pushed the renminbi lower for the third day in a row.

China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, set the renminbi’s official exchange rate to the dollar lower by 1.1 percent on Thursday, bringing the total devaluation since Tuesday to 4.4 percent, the biggest drop in decades.

5 Things on a Friday: Texas Enters the Union at Last

Thank God it's Friday.  I don't know about you, but this has been a really long week for me.

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1. The Commodore PET Has Been Reincarnated As A Phone (TechCrunch)

The guys who bought the Commodore name are releasing an Android smartphone for about $300. The price includes some bog standard specs but, most important, includes two emulators so you can play classic 1980s games right on your screen.

5 Things on a Friday: Russia Spies Danger in Selfie Nation

Happy Friday, folks.  Hope everybody’s primed to have an awesome weekend.

Let’s get to it!

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5 Things on a Friday: Unpayable Debts, Unpayable Wages

Happy Friday, folks.  Today kicks off a nice, long weekend here in the States, and if you’re me--and I am--it’s the start of four days off.  Hallelujah!  I’ve been busy as all Hell lately and can use the time.

Let’s get to it.

5 Things on a Friday: Jeb! Makes it Official

Let’s start off with the obvious—the blog’s been kind of dead lately.  That hasn’t affected readership, readerships is actually up, but the number of posts per week is down, so if you’re a daily reader, there hasn’t been much to see.  However, it turns out that blogging follows the 80/20 rule just like every other thing in American business, which is to say that 80% of my readers come here to read at most 20% of my posts, and really, if I’m being honest, it’s probably more accurate to say that 95% of my readers come here to read 5% of my posts, but whatever.  You get the idea.  To the extent that this blog has readers at all, it has them because people want to read the various Dungeons and Dragons posts.  Meanwhile, I’ve finally started the re-writing Sneakatara Boatman and the Crown of Pluto for the third and last time, and since nobody much is missing the filler that comprises most of the blog’s mid-week articles, I’ve let them slide.

You don’t mind, do you?