Guard Dog

GoT just pissed away 7 seasons of character development and ignored every rule about their own plot devices that they created. Ending a series well is hard to do I get that. So many great TV shows have ended badly. In fact it's easier to count the ones that "stuck the landing". Cheers and MASH come to mind a TV series that ended well (Cheers was perfect). This one? It was a 747, they got it off the ground well, flew it gracefully (for the most part) but just couldn't bring it in for a landing. If the plane crashed on landing no one remember how smooth the flight was.

Guess what is about ready

There is no such thing as a nice scotch!

After doing some garden work this morning I made a ice cold whiskey sour using my latest sampling: I've had more than half the bottle neat. If you are interested in my opinion I'd describe the taste as rich and "toasty" with a good hint of oak from the aging (a fresh but slightly smoky taste) with hints of molasses from the wort. The afterburn is long (owing to it high alcohol content for bourbon) that favors the barley from the mashbill. In short... it's pretty good for a non-Kentucky bourbon. I'd put it above Maker's Mark and Knob Creek blended but below other small batch brands like Woodbridge and Four Roses. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say 8.6

Lost another game of IM:RO. This time as Krokyra. I built a huge Navy which did secure the straits to Erpirus and successfully fought off invasions from Rome, Macedon, and others. I took advantage of an alliance cancellation to take half of Crete, got Rhodes as a feudatory and was getting ready to go on a roll. The problem is with so much shoreline to protect now my huge navy wasn't so huge. A Macedonian fleet moved in on my Capital, during the battle there was naval parity so the 20k troops that were trapped on the mainland walked across and massacred us. That left me with just three cities in Crete that were depleted from war, had food, manpower and iron shortages so I could not rebuild the army. I still had the biggest navy in the game (once consolidated) but losing the capital meant losing all the trade routes and tax on commerce. No way to recover. The economy tanked, the admiral of my navy deserted to Macedon (after the war) and took the damned ships with him. My king dies and civil war broke out among the pretenders to succeed him. All this happened in just five years. Playing as a single city state in this game in not easy. Can't wait to try it again.

Man it was great to see the Rays beat the pinstripes off the Yankees last night! Rubber match today

OK Sharpie. it completely defeats the purpose of a "sign off" message if you are going to come in and react to what everyone is saying. That IS vain and more than a little. You're like the guy who faked his own death then attended the funeral in disguise just to see what everyone said about him.

You should have been here 10-15 years ago. It used to get down right nasty.

I don't know why Sharp One was banned (or more accurately what it was the pushed him over the "ban" line). But considering some of the folks we've had around here he barely made it above half way on the S.O.B meter. AFAIK he never promised to kill anyone. That HAS happened. More than once. I remember a long time ago I PM'ed a guy my address and told him if he was feeling froggy just leap! Anyway. All that aside a "sign off message" always rubs me the wrong way. We've had those before and it always strikes me as more than a little vain. But... it's still better than the sign off/tell off message. We've had those too! But they are usually worth a chuckle.

On the 9th anniversary of his perfect game Dallas Braden bought a ticket to an A's game and sat in the worst seat in the stadium incognito: https://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/former-major-league-pitcher-dallas-braden-watches-the-as-game-from-the-six-thousandth-row-on-the-9th-anniversary-of-his-perfect-game/?fbclid=IwAR3iiENitZE4CXXpZjFZqGlO2IKwD5Bzvwv_WEi0qKPhklXd4ghoKIb9vJA

More than a teensy bit and more than some of the time. That isn't an accident. I enjoy a spirited discussion and sometimes the charcoal just won't light without a little lighter fluid. Now on to your point. I am certainly not criticizing the House for performing it's oversight function and you already know what I think of the President and his activities. I'm grouchy because they only seem to be interested in the wrongdoing of the executive when the two are opposite parties. If you want to be a co-equal branch of the government then you need to be co-equal ALL of the time. Not just when "not their guy" is living down the street. Now as far as the executive usurping legislature power, there has always been tension between the two. Lincoln was certainly no saint in his abuses, extenuating circumstances of a civil war not withstanding. But it seems to me they really hit the gas with Woodrow Wilson. He was the worst, most damaging President in our history and a good bit of the horrors of the 20th Century were set in motion by his good intentions. But with Wilson, Congress just handed him some of their responsibilities. Tariffs for example. Of course it was supposed to be used only in war time or in the event of national emergencies. Obviously that didn't work out. The enumerated powers of each branch should have been zealously guarded. Not handed over by resolution or (worse) just ignored without challenge. But, likely too late to do anything about it now. This country would not survive a Constitutional Convention as a unified political entity and we're all likely screwed when bitcoin replaces the dollar as the currency of choice for trade so all there is to do is bitch about it.

Three attempts to play as Athens, none of them ended well in IM:RO. I give up. Now playing as Krokyra a small island city state east of Ilyria. They are tiny, Just one city with a monarchy. But they don't start the game as anyone's feudatory (meaning bitch). Step 1: Build a big navy. I built 20 Trimenes and invested in tech and imports that benefit the navy. Macedon declared war and I forced a White Peace by sinking or fighting off every invasion fleet. Hey, it kept England safe and free since 1066.

Listening to Congress squeal about how Trump is undercutting it's enumerated powers is amusing. They didn't say a f-----g word when almost every President since Wilson undermined them. Most of that time they were even complicit in their own marginalization. They say nothing when the executive takes on more and more power because all 535 of them hope one day THEY will be the one to have that power. It was inevitable a complete and utter fool would eventually end up with it. And NOW they bitch and moan. It's like a eunuch waking up one day and finally realizing he was castrated a long time ago and now starts pining for his ling lost balls. I'm glad Jefferson, Hamilton, Paine, Adams, Burr, and the others didn't live to see this hot mess we've devolved into. They would probably raise another rebellion.

$10 says you can't read this without cringing: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9019798/nullo-removes-****-testicles-knife-washington-dc/

Congrats TN, you slipped one past the goalie!

Bela has finally settled in and gotten comfortable. She started climbing into the bed at night. Sunny has never done that. She's allowed but she seems to like the dog bed in from of the living room window. She (Bela) is getting a dental cleaning today then I'm taking both of my girls to Meeman Shelby park to do dog stuff.

How about this then. Let's take away all the governments power so it's small enough to drown in a pail of water. Then we won't have to worry about who has control over it! See how easy that is?

Top 50 websites visited from the US: https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/united-states Congrats to porn for out drawing all the news sites!

I'd love to but I just poured hot coffee on my junk and I'm busy calling lawyers right now!

Cynicism is undervalued IMO.

This will fly like a lead zeppelin: https://medium.com/@corybooker/corys-plan-to-end-the-gun-violence-epidemic-ab377d9fb112 Dem POTUS candidate wants the US gov to issue licenses for gun ownership. He says if you need a license to own a car why not a gun. Well, you DON'T need a license to own a car, just drive one. But anyway driving a car isn't a right. If you have to ask the government for permission to exercise a right it isn't really a right is it? So I guess when you get your gun license you can also apply for you license to speak, write, assemble, associate, redress the government, be secure in your persons and property (oh wait... they took that away a long time ago. Civil Asset Forfeiture) No have soldiers quarters in your house. not be tried for the same thing twice, not have to worry about cruel or unusual punishment, or not be enslaved. Women and minorities don't forget to get you license to vote while you are there.

I'm on my third go around with Athens. Sixty years into the game and I've FINALLY broken free from Phrygia. Now to from alliances with a few other Hellenisitc states and start kicking some butt. One problem though. Ptolonmy's boys in Egypt now control a huge chunk of the eastern med. And Rome hasn't really gotten it's act together yet to be any kind of a challenge to them. One problem at a time.

The US Army is bringing back a version of the WW2 uniform: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/to-stand-out-the-army-picks-a-new-uniform-with-a-world-war-ii-look/ar-AAAWewJ Meh. I think they should bring this one back:

Congratulations Gromnir! That you can do it while young enough to enjoy it is a real testament tot smart financial planning. Well done sir!