Gromnir

quick observation: am not knowing what trump meant by threatening to enforce free speech on campuses by executive order with fed funds being held hostage as the means o' enforcement, but am not liking. first amendment already applies on public and, to a lesser degree, private campuses. understandably, and for what should be obvious reasons, public forum free speech ain't the same as academic free speech, so perhaps it is at such gaps the President seeks to bolster first amendment protections on campus. biology professor wanna teach creationism at UCSD? first amendment is not gonna be used to force board o' regents to allow professor wingnut to teach bible version o' evolution. however, am admitting the deplorable lack o' spine and integrity which has ubiquitous developed 'mongst University presidents and boards is disheartening. 'cause a bunch o' oversensitive children wanna be safe from unpleasant or unpopular ideas is hardly a valid academic reason for cancelling speaking engagements and presentations. fear of student safety is all too often the knee-jerk excuse for caving to infantile pleas for safe zones. *snort* that being said, the notion the WH should be taking on the role o' Constitutional interpretation offends us more than a little. the idea o' the wh generating guidelines for free speech on campus is as idiotic as it is misguided. then again, attempts at Constitutional overreach by this chief executive is no longer surprising. HA! Good Fun!

bartimaeus may join any group o' college football fans discussing the game using any o' the three following observations: 1) "alabama or ohio state should win the cfp every year. just look at the draft." 2) "defensive coordinator at a big 12 school is probably the worst job in college football. these guys make seventy calls in a game and get less than two minutes total to make those calls, then thy get vivisected by fans and journalists for the next six days because of all the mistakes they made." 3) "notre dame is overrated." obvious the 'bove three observations will get you more mileage depending on who you are speaking to/with. for example, an ohio state fan might balk at implication they is underperforming in spite o' overwhelming talent. is the reason we offer three options. regardless, drop one o' the three into a discussion by college football fans will get you instant credibility. am personal liking college more than nfl. take a look at the twitter link we posted in our preceding post. compare to cba stories and stuff like the antonio brown kerfuffle. call it naïve, but the college kids is, for the most part, still playing for the love o' the game, and even the ohio states and alabamas have walk-on kids who not only make the team, but is starters and even stars for their teams. at college level, heart means more. HA! Good Fun!

nfl combine day 1 had a couple ol improve their stock. andre dillard had one o' the better ol combine performances in recent memory. has all the physical tools, but needs to be coached up as he plays too tall-- must learn to keep his arse down and punch much lower. greg little, one o' the top ol draft prospects apparent looked bad in drills, but we didn't see any such so am only repeating pundit assessment. his measurables were also below average with poor 40, disappointing vertical and refusing to bench. pro day will be extreme important for little. will update this post with a few standouts and disappointments. day 2 disappointments: all the qbs. am knowing rich eisen and a few espn folks were impressed by arm strength o' jackson and haskins, but the footwork for both were atrocious and jackson, in particular, has almost a kinda windup release. none o' the top guys got the ball out fast and with great accuracy, at least not today, and none o' s'posed top guys were consistent. actually liked northwestern's clayton thorson best based on what he did in skills portion o' the combine. maybe didn't have quite the strength as a few other guys, but he had sound mechanics and delivered a nice ball every single time. second biggest disappointment: broad jump measurements. am suspecting half o' the broad jump participants from day 2 is gonna have their unofficials reduced by a couple inches. saw multiple guys hop and skid forward. got measured where they ended rather than where they hit the turf. te is a logjam o' three with smith, fant and hockenson being only guys who deserve round one or two grades. hockenson showed why bench press can be so misleading, 'cause while fant and smith had better bp, hockenson were dominant in the blocking drills. three bears? hockenson is gonna be a dependable pass receiver (very good hands, but can improve routes) but is a good enough blocker to take on most nfl de and olb. fant is a great pass catcher and has enough strength to block, but doesn't. irv smith is a great combination o' blocking and pass receiving, but isn't best in either category. wr. hmm. dk metcalf had one o' those vernon davis kinda combines. looks like a big lb and has lb kinda strength, but he runs like a db and his vertical were near tops for wrs as well. played half the year and weren't exact tearing it up in mississippi when he were healthy. had two good games: ul monroe and kent. lsu shut him down and only had 2 receptions 'gainst bama, though one did go long for a td. regardless, combine were fantastic. aj brown ran a 4.49. doesn't sound fantasmagoric, but he were so dominant on the field, particularly in terms o' yac, 4.49 is gonna be more than enough to keep him in conversation for top wr in the 2019 draft. looked good in drills with nice adjustments made to a couple poor thrown balls. behind metcalf as the guy who did most to improve stock at wr (perhaps did more as metcalf were already considered top five) were miles boykin. ran 4.42 at 6'4" and 220lbs. broad jump were second best at 11'8" and vertical were a current combine best at 43.5". routes coulda' been better, but were better than average, and he showed great hands and nice tracking to a couple poor passes. perhaps most fun moment from day 2 were when nfl network showed nd teammates react to boykin's 40. https://twitter.com/i/status/1101903583161827330 boykin were kinda a projected third or fourth round guy before today. might move up to second round, possible early second. regardless, after seeing qbs, am understanding why murray, who did not participate at the combine other than to have height and weight measured, is now considered the top qb prospect in the draft. kinda sucks for teams in need o' qb as they is gonna need fight with each other, sacrificing current and future draft picks, to get the likes o' haskins, lock and jones. HA! Good Fun!

disagree. US and allies committed enormous amounts o' personnel and resources to rebuilding Iraq. 150,000 peacekeeping forces in 2003 were hardly paltry and those folks were not meant to disappear overnight and return home to a tickertape parade. the commitment by US were enormous. the problem is, in spite o' the enormity o' the commitment, it were still woeful inadequate. based on intelligence and similar past peacekeeping efforts, bush shoulda' known the US commitment were insufficient. weren't "victory! boom! let's go home!" kinda doing a disservice to the vast number o' committed military and diplomatic personnel who were fully committed to bringing peace to Iraq. US were running a kobayashi maru simulation... just didn't tell folks on the ground what were situation. HA! God Fun!

there was an exit plan for iraq, but the plan were based on fundamental flawed presumptions. the idea that once liberated, the iraqi people would, with little US help, police self, create efficient democrat institutions and begin repairing/improving infrastructure, were wishful thinking and not the basis for an exit plan. exit plan were designed for fantasyland and not iraq. the mind boggling arrogance which were essential to rationalizing the exit plan were the real tragedy. folks get their shorts in a twist over so-called lies 'bout wmds, but same post-invasion problems woulda' existed regardless o' presence o' wmds. is far more reasonable to be angry 'bout how upper echelon pentagon and executive branch ignored the intelligence which made clear stabilizing iraq post invasion were not gonna be simple and that far more troops would be necessary for a much longer period o' time than were being advertised by the bush administration and by bipartisan elements o' Congress. bush didn't actual know 'bout the absence o' wmds. as noted, even blix were believing as late as December 2002 that iraq had wmds. however, bush did get a whole lotta intelligence which indicated his exit plan were undermanned, underfunded and the time frame for complete withdrawal were unreasonable optimistic. be angry at bush is legit, but am thinking most Americans is angry for wrong reasons. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking invade v. intervene is largely a semantic differentiation and it ignores actual reasons for perceived success v. failure. sadly, success in these kinda post-invasion operations comes down to a willingness to allocate sufficient resources to adequate maintain peace in newly occupied territories. https://www.rand.org/pubs/periodicals/rand-review/issues/summer2003/burden.html https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1753/MR1753.ch9.pdf us peacekeeping force in iraq were too small. woulda needed 3x as many troops 'ccording to estimates, and a whole lot more money invested into infrastructure if true lasting peace were the goal. coulda' sold iraq invasion to public if actual costs were known? doubtful. bush administration mistaken thought once "liberated," the iraqi people would take care o' self policing and infrastructure development. wrong. obama made same stoopid mistake during arab spring, believing regime change, but w/o costly invasion, would lead to development o' stable democratic governments throughout the region. so obama helps spark the regime changes but then watched impotent as middle east burned. is an ugly reality to face. ain't morality which determines success o' peacekeeping and nation building efforts. is simple a matter o' having will to commit necessary troop numbers and intelligent allocate rebuilding dollars. gd suggests the investment is never worthwhile. am not certain we agree, but we do recognize how the costs is typical far greater than politicians claim, and actual costs, if truthful communicated to public, would almost always be considered untenable. if all the US wants is to maintain influence with bad actors 'round the globe, is much cheaper ways to bring 'bout positive results compared to any sorta serious military campaign. blix, for example, noted just how effective were sanctions in limiting iraq's wmd programs. 'course sanctions hasn't been as effective insofar as north korea and iran. stay complete uninvolved is a bit 19th century and a little naive, but am recognizing any sorta state-sponsored regime change is likely to be far too costly to sell to American populace in all but most extreme situations. HA! Good Fun!

as we noted, there were multiple reports regarding how US intelligence were untainted by coercion, and am doubting the kinda coercion discussed even contemplated overt threats o' harm to family. zor might be indulging in a bit o' the dramatic. reports couldn't even discover the kinda garden variety coercion one expects from your typical military/bureaucratic organization. the intelligence were uncorrupted by external influence, but the intelligence were wrong in many parts, and where intelligence were accurate but equivocal, the bush administration failed to transmit such uncertainty. can't speak to baradei, but we did hear blix speak live and in-person at berkeley a couple years after the invasion. there were a multi-day event at Cal specific related to media in warzones and given our area o' expertise and boalt affiliation, we got invited. "why didn't saddam just do what he was asked to do?" were the question posed to blix. if saddam had simple allowed complete access and followed un rules the war woulda' been avoided. "saddam were in an intellectual bunker." blix saw saddam as a tyrant who couldn't accept the possibility o' consequences and his ego refused to accept the indignity o' full inspections. regardless, the main reason we is so quick to defend bush regarding wmd claims is precise 'cause o' what we heard blix say. blix met the bush and bush told blix he were confident in blix's efforts and bush said so in front o' powell and cheney and rice and others as if making certain the cynics in his administration understood what the President were saying. blix were genuine reassured by meeting bush. blix seemed to focus his ire on pentagon intelligence sources as the real culprits o' misinformation. analogized investigation to middle age witch hunters who were not making up evidence, but were so certain o' conclusions from start that ambiguous evidence looked certain. furthermore, blix observed how, as o' december 2002, even he thought iraq had wmds and as o' 2003 he couldn't say they didn't with any certitude, but proving a negative is, well, you know. instead o' giving blix an opportunity to do what he deemed necessary inspections, the bush administration instead chose to highlight iaea failures in the early 90s to discredit his advice regarding the need for more inspections and more intelligence. blix believed the threat o' a us invasion, at some unspecific point, were enough to have resulted in real and unimpeded inspections which woulda' provided definitive answers, but US and brits weren't listening. blix opinion were that the US were so worked up after 9/11, it weren't interested in critical reflection. regardless, wasn't til may 2003 blix became convinced o' absence o' wmds. at the same time, blix were also ambivalent 'bout outcomes. he expressed concern that if his inspections had been allowed to continue, a monster like sadam woulda' been allowed to persist in power. he also seemed to think that regardless o' inspections, military force mighta' eventual been necessary and approved, but he thought such were a job for UN. actual hearing blix helped convince us that while the US rushed into iraq with insufficient intelligence, there weren't some kinda conspiracy or coverup regarding wmds. as we noted, blix believed saddam had wmds as late as 2002, and he were uncertain if saddam had 'em in 2003. what blix appeared certain o' was that neither he nor the US or brits had enough intelligence to make sound judgements 'bout iraqi wmds immediate previous to the invasion. HA! Good Fun! ps edit added how blix believed iraq had wmds as late as December 2002.

have seen it before. hate it. only two overt liars, based on statements in the image, is clinton and trump. when obama made his claims, (were actual something like +30 times he public insisted folks could keep their doctors and/or plans) he likely believed 'em to be true. legislation evolved, as it often does, and promised feature ended up being exorcised. that said, obama made what appeared to be a pretty bold promise to the American people. failing to make certain such a promise were kept is "on him,"-- no doubt 'bout it. but liar? nope. when bush made his claims, he too were believing what he said. keep in mind, there is multiple quotes from bill clinton, late in his administration, claiming saddam had a wmd program and that US efforts had not expunged saddam's wmd capacity. is all kinda post war reports which explain how intelligence were wrong concerning wmds, but such reports appear uniform in agreeing that the bush admin did not utilize any kinda coercion to make reports more favorable to a particular conclusion. https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/opinions/russian-hacking-is-not-another-cia-fiasco-like-iraq-wmd-bergen/index.html now, as to whether the wmd threat presented by intelligence were sufficient to go to war, well, that is a murkier issue. we would tend to agree the rationale for going to war seems mighty suspect in light o' released documents and reports, and bush deserves blame for such. weren't the lie 'bout wmds which should offend, 'cause it weren't a lie based on intelligence. nevertheless, bush and cheney appeared to willful leave out intelligence regarding the scope o' the iraqi wmd program. we would argue there were lies o' omission but such stuff ain't the sorta fodder which makes for an enduring internet meme. clinton and trump? those two guys could be part o' the following kids n' the hall skit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22n8ZqXavDY HA! Good Fun!

Peta is garbage. Not because of "militant", but because they really don't care about animals. About the Bison, wouldn't be surprised if it's just good old corruption. Like that bear a few years back. None of the hunters were able to track him down. There was panic in the media for days. Then the politicians decided to allow the bear to be shot. Guess what, after that decision, it took them barely an hour or so and he was dead. Who would have thought. you do realize such an explanation makes situation worse and more baffling. instead o' some bumbling bureaucrat panicking and giving the okie dokie to shoot a protected animal 'cause o' misplaced fear the critter could be dangerous, you instead suggest willful malfeasance. oh well. at least the rat were saved. HA! Good Fun!

House will call Trump Org. financial exec Weisselberg to testify will be interesting to see if weisselberg takes fifth and perhaps more important, on which questions he takes fifth. already has an immunity deal, so smarty congressmen, if they work together, should be able to figure out what exact is scope o' sdny investigation insofar as weisselberg is concerned. HA! Good Fun!

there were something weird in the water during the early-mid 80s. herschel walker actual had faster track times than bo in college, and competed olympic two-man bobsled. in high school, walker won state in 100, 200 and shot put. two guys, one year apart, who were once-in-a-generation athletes and had near identical size at 6'1" and ~225. HA! Good Fun!

were far more common in ye olde tymes. guys such as george halas and charles dressen would make list. am suspecting there were a bunch o' old skool players who played pro football autumn and winter and pro baseball in spring and summer, if only 'cause neither job alone would cover cost o' living for average players back then. lesser known guys such as drew henson and dj dozier is modern guys who make the list, if only barely. for example, am pretty sure dozier only played a single year for the mets. but again, am suspecting is bunches o' names from before even Gromnir's time. HA! Good Fun! ps only reason we know halas played baseball is 'cause o' a george halas documentary we half remember from a couple decades past. he played three sports in college, were rose bowl mvp and served in navy both ww1 and ww2. etc.

hmm. mere four months 'til am properly ancient. don't feel ancient. HA! Good Fun!

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/us/sonoma-county-russian-river-cresting-flood/index.html am posting here 'cause a significant source o' department o' defense construction money trump is trying to reallocate to border wall/fence projects is current tasked for army corps o' engineers work on CA (and other states) deteriorating levee system. arguable ugliest moment from summit 'I Take Him at His Word.' Trump Defends Kim Over Otto Warmbier's Mistreatment and Death HA! Good Fun!

with john defillipo in jacksonville, pundits is predicting foles going to jaguars. am unconvinced. if jacksonville don't push hard for foles, am thinking it is a telling sign. witten was pretty good in the booth. collinsworth and romo is our current top two for color guys doing nfl game commentary, but witten is 'mongst three guys immediate behind top spots. would prefer to see him in booth as 'posed to getting beat up on the field. witten suffered more than a couple concussions over the years. as such, am kinda disappointed to see him return to the field, but wish him luck all the same. HA! Good Fun!

endorsement Ks has changed the calculus in the last decade. for a guy like jeff samarzidja, who woulda' been late first or early second round draft worthy as a wr, am thinking baseball makes sense. choice is much harder for kyler murray who will be a presumed starter at qb for some nfl team from day 1. a huge shoe K for murray as an infielder for the ports? hmmm. if football does't work out for murray in the next four years, he may go back and do baseball. am suspecting a future baseball K, albeit initial smaller, would still be offered murray as long as he don't suffer a career ending injury. reverse? less likely. am admitting baseball first makes much sense, even when considering endorsements and such, but am thinking the choice is not so clear to us. HA! Good Fun!

well, kim jong un were able to embarrass the US while the world watched, so we wouldn't say the summit were a complete waste. in pyongyang, beijing and moscow, am thinking the summit were viewed as a success. am suspecting things went same with kim as with "enrique." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-mexican-president-stop-pay-wall/story?id=49009884 am doubting trump cares 'bout making a real deal, but he no doubt wanted something with which to go the press and declare victory. kim wouldn't budge, so... HA! Good Fun!

momentarily perplexed until we recalled leferd is an A's fan. HA! Good Fun!

apologies for double-post, but, wtf? got ten firefighters saving a rat? a rat? one guy with a shovel and problem is solved in less than 30 seconds. give the rodent a whack with the business end, and then shear off exposed part and let tail end fall back into the sewer from which the little beastie were trying to emerge. done. and before you go all militant peta on us... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-wild-bison-spotted-two-centuries-germany-shot-180964986/ german mindset baffles us. HA! Good Fun!

A Failed Soviet Venus Probe Might Just Crash Back to Earth This Year, So Heads Up those of us from 1977 know what happens next https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6l0Hr3W7aI HA! Good Fun!

would argue mdk2 were bioware's best effort, although not our favorite game. bg2 and me2 would be our two favorites, if for different reasons. da:o, though flawed in may ways and not in any way living up to pre-release developer goals and promises, were not far behind me2 on our list o' most enjoyed bioware games. as for the curious glee experienced by many at the thought o' bio's demise, we do not get it. perhaps you believe bio is no longer able to make the kinda games you enjoy. bio simple cannot make it through the swamp. converse, maybe bio went from being your loyal crpg developer to instead becoming something darker, something sadder. in either case, we remember what was and mourn what coulda' been, but take no joy at what is. HA! Good Fun!

of the new info provided by cohen, am thinking the following is most signifficant, if less sexy than what some hoped. Trump's Shifting Net Worth May Bear Clues for Investigators as noted 'bove, subject matter o' sdny and mueller were not actual discussed by cohen, so there is possibility for new fraud investigations to arise from today's testimony. given we weren't genuine expecting anything new, this sorta thing is significant. keep in mind, trump lying 'bout worth is not only believable, but there is a pattern o' such behaviors by trump which is not matter o' opinion but fact from record. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/trump-lies/?utm_term=.e116beeb1b40 a large % o' trump lies from the linked depositions is related to his creative valuing o' worth and investments. today cohen provided enough info to see a new investigation started since it don't seem as if sdny or mueller would be looking into such. even provided names and locations o' relevant info for investigators. HA! Good Fun! ps biggest actual surprise o' the day were how our opinion o' ocasio-cortez shifted. honest, we have been kinda dismissive o' her. she frequent spouts nonsense and assumes we should believe her simple 'cause o' her commitment or verve... or something. am not thinking she is lying when she says stuff demonstrably wrong, but like trump, am thinking she is not particular concerned with facts. stuff sounds right in her head, and she cannot seem to stop from talking. have been dismissing her as a cartoon character, a kinda silly pastiche o' far-left clichés. however, the ocasio-cortez facing cohen today, unlike in most interviews we has seen, were deliberate and restrained and... smart? am not gonna complete change our opinion o' ocasio-cortez, but am gonna stop channeling our inner al swearengen every time she speaks.

is perhaps a non-sequitur, and if so, you may ignore, but to our recollection, there were only one substance abuse violation by gregory we know were marijuana. the other suspensions never had specific offending drug disclosed due to privacy issues o' team and league. as such, is possible legalization o' marijuana would be complete irrelevant to Gregory's present circumstances. am not complete opposed to legalization o' marijuana save for recognition o' irony. the only group o' people serious endangered by marijuana use is the folks most likely to use marijuana: young persons. until brain develops complete, which has no set date but happens early-to-mid twenties for many folks, marijuana is genuine harmful. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479587/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4936934/ so, the people most likely to be harmed by marijuana use is the folks least likely to know o' dangers and is the folks most likely to use. make marijuana use ok for folks over 25? wouldn't bother us in the least. HA! Good Fun!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cohen-testifies-he-has-knowledge-of-other-illegal-acts-by-trump/vi-BBUahCj?ocid=spartanntp is actual the most important part o' testimony we heard. the stuff cohen were allowed to speak o' were stuff sdny and mueller didn't care 'bout anymore. now cohen may be full o' p00p, and he sure as heck ain't running the sdny investigation, so would be dangerous to read too much into comments 'bout the sdny investigation, but the clip 'bove kinda reinforces our earlier observations 'bout the flea circus and the sdny aspects o' testimony. "Asked about the last time he and Mr. Trump spoke, Cohen said he couldn't elaborate. ""Unfortunately, this topic is actually something that's being investigated right now by the Southern District of New York and I've been asked by them not to talk about these issues," Cohen said. Asked if there are any other illegal acts or wrongdoings federal prosecutors are investigating, Cohen responded, "yes."" is this kinda cohen testimony, which while less salacious, intrigues us most. people will parse testimony, but am thinking nothing much happened today. folks who thought trump were a conman and a racist before testimony had their opinions cemented. those who don't care trump is a racist conman didn't sudden change their opinions 'cause o' canceled checks and letters to schools. nothing to see save the flea circus. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26555074/who-is-allen-weisselberg-donald-trump-accountant-chief-financial-officer/ cohen gets attention, but weisselberg is the guy who interests us most. guy were granted immunity. is not like tv courtroom dramas wherein the clever criminal gets immunity, gives the prosecutor worthless info, and then walks away free and clear. you don't get immunity 'less you need immunity. you don't get immunity unless you got something to give. HA! Good Fun!

cohen and committee members has been informed russia is verboten, which is disappointing, but ain't surprising as mueller ain't finished. am actual a bit curious 'bout how much o' what is presumably sdny subject matter appears to be on the table. dunno. makes us think o' flea circus. folks is gonna imagine all kinda stuff into being, while the real testimony is limited to behind closed doors. HA! Good Fun!