Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

This morning I got to play someplace different--I was invited to play at a friend's club, reciprocity for my having invited him.
I'd still be there socializing but he got a call over some minor emergency at home.
Had a lot of fun though, enjoyed the course, but my game will never again be what it was, obviously. That's somewhat disturbing. "Golden years" is a very odd term.
I guess it just means that I don't have to work anymore!
 
Here's a thought for you, Rev.
You're a math guy and I'm not.
This morning, it occurred to me why.

I took my SAT tests in 1963 and didn't bother to re-take them in my senior year of high school the next year.
I got a half-decent 685 on the comprehension part but a very pedestrian 535 on the math half.

Now I know why.

(Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch) / (At Bats + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies) = On Base Average. Sacrifice Bunts are not calculated.

(Total Hits + Doubles + 2x Triples + 3x Home Runs) / At Bats = Slugging Average.

On Base Average plus Slugging Average = the On Base + Slugging Performance Index

There it is.

The most critical calculations that we ever have to make in life can be accomplished with no more than long division.
Hell, we can do our golf and bowling scores with just addition!
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Here's a thought for you, Rev.
You're a math guy and I'm not.
This morning, it occurred to me why.

I took my SAT tests in 1963 and didn't bother to re-take them in my senior year of high school the next year.
I got a half-decent 685 on the comprehension part but a very pedestrian 535 on the math half.

Now I know why.

(Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch) / (At Bats + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies) = On Base Average. Sacrifice Bunts are not calculated.

(Total Hits + Doubles + 2x Triples + 3x Home Runs) / At Bats = Slugging Average.

On Base Average plus Slugging Average = the On Base + Slugging Performance Index

There it is.

The most critical calculations that we ever have to make in life can be accomplished with no more than long division.
Hell, we can do our golf and bowling scores with just addition!
Click to expand...

So true, so true. Simple math gets everything of importance to normal, everyday life done. I use golf to teach my 7th graders about positive and negative numbers. I actually had beginning bowling in college. Our final was calculating the score for three marked games. The first day of class I bowled a 235 and the instructor asked my buddies (a couple of other math majors) and me why we were in there. We just needed a HPER credit and liked to bowl so we took bowling.

On a serious note, it seems we like to herd every High School student down the college pathway. At least that's the way it is in Oklahoma. I am agianst that. I think more focus on basic math skills would be much more beneficial to most kids that I teach than trying to get them to learn about the first derivative of the Quadriatic Formula. They'll never make me the Math Czar of Oklahoma though.
 
Teach them how to balance a checkbook, and how to be smart about handling their own money.
The basics.
Everybody needs that.

I had a close friend, now deceased, who was outstanding in college math and absolutely stupid about managing his money.
Plenty of intelligence. Light in wisdom. And like most of us, somewhere in the middle with sanity. Three totally different things.

We need to teach some folks how to split the atom, but we need to teach everybody the math side of life skills.
 
Life is pretty boring right now. I go to work and come home. It’s hot. Was 105° today. The weatherman claims that we’ll see a 20 - 30 degree drop on temps after tomorrow and that we should have a cooler than normal August from here on out. Hope he’s right about that. If so I’ll be leaving work at 2 and driving straight to the golf course on most Tuesdays and Thursdays until the time changes in October.

Enjoying the baseball down the stretch. Really enjoying the Yankees collapse of late. They may have gotten out to too big of a lead in the division to be caught but it’s down to single digits as of today. If they mess around and lose the division it would have to be called a monumental collapse.

Cards just walked it off on 3 walks and a hit batsman in the bottom of the night. We’ll take it but what happened to pitchers being able to throw strikes? I may be too old fashioned for the modern brand of baseball. Our kids are having the same problems this year. In 6 games they have over 70 walks and hit batsmen combined. Hard to find a win that way.
 
They have pitch counts in Little League now.
Kids don't get to develop their arms when they're young anymore.
They simply don't throw enough while they're too young to injure their arms.

We used to play ball every day in the spring from when school ended until it got dark.
Once the streetlamps came on (a city thing), it was time to head home for dinner.

Now, they can't throw strikes and they can't throw complete games. They can all throw 95, though.
Maybe in time the circle will go around.
 
What a great day. One of the things that came from COVID is having virtual school days. I don’t like them and would much rather teach in person but I am not in administration so I just do what they tell me to do. I teach 4 classes this year so I stayed at school until 6:30 yesterday putting together virtual instruction (YouTube videos) and assignments for a virtual day today.

When there is a virtual day I essentially get to do what I want to as long as I am available to answer questions from 8 to 2. So I grabbed a hotspot and my phone and went to the golf course this morning. The kids had no questions so I wasn’t bothered at all. I was able to get 18 in with a friend then come home and rest a bit

After the missus got home from work we took a watermelon from the garden and some venison summer sausage I had made to a man from church who is battling cancer. We visited with him and his wife for about an hour then we came home and I took her fishing. We fished for a couple hours, enjoyed the peaceful creek which we had to ourselves. We did catch a fish apiece but let them go.

Now I’m watching MLB’s The Big Inning. It’s been a good day. Now if the Cards can just beat the Diamondbacks that’ll be the icing on the cake.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
They have pitch counts in Little League now.
Kids don't get to develop their arms when they're young anymore.
They simply don't throw enough while they're too young to injure their arms.

We used to play ball every day in the spring from when school ended until it got dark.
Once the streetlamps came on (a city thing), it was time to head home for dinner.

Now, they can't throw strikes and they can't throw complete games. They can all throw 95, though.
Maybe in time the circle will go around.
Click to expand...

Street lamps. I wanted to respond to this the other day and forgot to. I had street lamps until I was 8…then we moved here and we have security lights. I do remember playing with the neighborhood kids in the yards (except one “get off my grass” guy’s) and in the street until the lights came on. Even then we might play hide and seek until mom or dad called us in.
 
Been a while since checking in on this thread. Got to update here every now and then. My teaching schedule is a bit more demanding this year but not helping with baseball keeps my evenings free. I finally gave in and paid a yearly membership to the golf course that I frequent. I get off at 2 pm and meet my friend twice a week for a round.

Getting a few football tickets to a couple of early games so we have an excuse to go see my son. We plan to go watch Kent State if it works with his schedule and I can get someone to fill in to preach for me.

In the meantime I’ve gotten to see my Cards on TV two days in a row. Playing the Braves this weekend. Hoping we can find a way to pull this 3-3 game out tonight. If we could pull this division out it could be a fun Fall.
 
The "best" part about the Red Sox sucking so badly this year is knowing that the Patriots and Bruins are going to suck just as badly.
Boston College is going to suck too. Harvard may be on TV once or twice, tops, but if I want, the tickets are sure easy enough to get.


The Celtics should at least have a winning record, but they play a game that can't usually keep me awake.

Ty Cobb actually called it "niggers running around in their underwear," I've heard, but other than being able to hit really well,
I understand that he was pretty much a complete asshole.

Overt racism aside, Cobb died in the Bill Russell-Bob Cousy era when the game was a bit more watchable.
 
I’ve shaved an average of 20 strokes off of my game this summer. See, I told you I was really bad. My goal for the end of next summer is to play bogey golf.

I broke a my driver last week so I bought a good, used Ping driver at Play It Again Sports and hit it an average of 20 yards further that the old driver today. Good choice.

Football is my second favorite spectator sport, next to, well, you know. My Sooners are starting a new era. It will be a different style of football this year. I saw a meme on Facebook today. It said some thing like, “One week before I let a college football team determine my mood for the next four months.” :) Well, I’m not nearly that bad but I am looking forward to the season too see how we can do.

You mentioned Ty Cobb and his statement concerning basketball. I know a bit about the game but can’t stand to watch it beyond the college level…and even that is getting sketchy. I heard a quote from Bobby Knight that if the NBA was on channel 4 and a nature show about the mating habits of tree frogs was on channel 5, he was gonna watch channel 5. I feel the same way.

We have both seen times change from folks using the word “nigger” in the derogatory sense, or ignorantly in the descriptive sense to where it isn’t uttered by anyone hardly at all…it is now “the n-word.” I never was one to use it but it surely has become taboo to do so.

I was around for the Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish Celtics. I do have to admit that the battles between them and the Magic/Kareem led Lakers were some classic finals. Even then I didn’t watch regular season games, just the finals.
 
I would never use the word "nigger" as an ethnic slur. Not now. Not as a young person either.

But referencing the word isn't the same as calling somebody that. Referencing the word, it's only a word.
I suppose that I lack the hypersensitivity to make it in a woke world.

By the Byrd, Parrish, McHale era in the 80s, I was only a casual Celtics fan at best.
I was more of a fan in the Russell-Cousy era, but I am nearly seventy-six years old, after all.
I saw Ted Williams and Sugar Ray Robinson play/fight in person, too.
I'm a relic.
 
Virtual Friday today. Actually it’s just a Friday off for Labor Day weekend. Anyway, I went to the golf course solo, caught up with a twosome on the 7th hole, joined them for the rest of the round. Shot a 100 (47/53) for the round, my lowest for the summer by one stroke. I actually had a 10 footer for par and a 99 on the last but missed an inch to the left. Still happy with the progress…and I made a couple new friends to golf with. Exchanged contact info and will likely play together again in the future.

I am so impressed with that Ping driver. Love it.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Watched college football and baseball last night, looking forward to some more college football tomorrow. Baseball season heating up, college football getting started and just less than a week until NFL starts. I like fall.

Planning to go see the offspring next weekend and watch OU vs Kent State. I just want to see my boy for a bit.

Sunday will be really busy for me. Normal preaching Sunday morning then I have to drive south 2 hours and preach my oldest cousin’s funeral … Dad’s side of the family. Not looking forward to that, but such is life.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
I would never use the word "nigger" as an ethnic slur. Not now. Not as a young person either.

But referencing the word isn't the same as calling somebody that. Referencing the word, it's only a word.
I suppose that I lack the hypersensitivity to make it in a woke world.

By the Byrd, Parrish, McHale era in the 80s, I was only a casual Celtics fan at best.
I was more of a fan in the Russell-Cousy era, but I am nearly seventy-six years old, after all.
I saw Ted Williams and Sugar Ray Robinson play/fight in person, too.
I'm a relic.
Click to expand...

Wow…that’s awesome! Ted Williams and Sugar Ray Robinson. One of the advantages of living near civilization I suppose. ;)
 
Went to the lab for my quarterly bloodwork today.

Turns out that I still have some.

We'll see if that's still the case in December.

Place your bets now.
 
I have bloodwork done biannually. My next appointment is next Thursday. They have to keep a check on it to make sure I am too sweet. So far I keep coming up as a sourpuss.

We are 4 weeks into the school year and I am wondering if I should plan on stepping away next year. Between the Republicans trying to kill out Public Education and parents not wanting anyone to make little Billy behave in school...I may be getting too old for this. The decision to fully retire is made a bit more difficult when I overhear a student wish she could have Mr. Leaningright as a teacher throughout high school or when another student comments that Geometry class passes so quickly because we are always working/learning. IDK ... I'll have to ask myself about it again in April.

The weather has been wonderful here. Went to the golf course yesterday and played OK. I have got to get the "left" out of my irons somehow. I lost 4 strokes yanking a couple of iron shots into the woods. I don't know ... I hate having a problem that I don't know how to correct. Looking forward to the weekend though.
 
I'm supposed to play golf tomorrow but am already trying to think of an excuse to get out of it.

Just feeling lethargic, although my appointment with the doctor went ok--except for my having put on a few pounds. I definitely heard about that,

I retired at age 55 and have never regretted it. Still, I was in a fortunate situation to be able to do it. Although I would have to wait seven more years for social security, I was pension eligible at work
and got a very good union-negotiated severance package as well. I will have already enjoyed 21 years of retirement as of next month.

There aren't many places left in the private sector that have benefits like that anymore. I feel really bad for the young generation. This is a generation that has actually had it much harder than their parents did.
America is no longer going in an upward direction. I wouldn't even consider having kids today.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Now that virtually all the Republican controlled state legislatures, with the complete blessing of our pig shit constitution,
are dismantling the democratic republic of the United States of America by taking over complete control of who votes
and whose ballots get counted,

storming the capitol should no longer be necessary.


They have discovered how unnecessary it was to start the previous civil war by firing on Fort Sumter.
They could have just stayed home and done it in a perfectly constitutionally compliant way.

Rural Christian conservatives are able to destroy the republic as a minority
because the genius founders provided them the right to do it.

What's worse, the confederates are not merely seeking separation anymore.
Now, they want to take over the whole thing.
That, however, they can only do with our help.
Blue States have legislatures as well. Also, a fuck of a lot more money.

Civilized progressive liberals have got to wake up.
We no longer have the luxury of believing in the idyllic America that we were told about by clueless grade school teachers.
It was a nice thought, but it was total bullshit. We should be easily able to see that now.

There are people in the middle of this country who hate us,
who hate our modern and humane ideas,
who worship a magic man in the sky,
and who believe that the magic man wants them in charge.
They have lots of guns.
They have no brains whatsoever.

The centrists and fence-sitters among us are not neutral;
they're clearly on the side of the shitkicker crackers.
They're all Joe Manchin without the expensive haircuts that they wouldn't be able to get back in their home states such as West Virginia.

So now, non-devolved, still with functioning brains humans, what do you plan to do about it?
You're not all pushing seventy-five.
Most of you will have to be here for a long, long time.
Do you wish to live like a human being,
or like a devolved mutant trumpanzee?

I have been the only contributor on this forum to remind you of what should have been obvious.

We have radical problems,
and there are NO moderate solutions to radical problems.

You can continue to be panty-waists fellating your precious constitution,
or you can decide that you'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES
to not live like some drooling cracker like the ones you've met here at JPP.
Click to expand...

So what specifically do you think needs to be done?
 
NiftyNiblick said:
I'm supposed to play golf tomorrow but am already trying to think of an excuse to get out of it.

Just feeling lethargic, although my appointment with the doctor went ok--except for my having put on a few pounds. I definitely heard about that,

I retired at age 55 and have never regretted it. Still, I was in a fortunate situation to be able to do it. Although I would have to wait seven more years for social security, I was pension eligible at work
and got a very good union-negotiated severance package as well. I will have already enjoyed 21 years of retirement as of next month.

There aren't many places left in the private sector that have benefits like that anymore. I feel really bad for the young generation. This is a generation that has actually had it much harder than their parents did.
America is no longer going in an upward direction. I wouldn't even consider having kids today.
Click to expand...

Hoping you get to feeling like playing...especially if the weather there is like it is here. Beautiful skies, perfect temps...and here I sit at work (on my 20 minute lunch break) typing this post.

I started drawing my retirement at 52 but coninued to work part time. It actually increased my yearly take home pay from the year prior. I have continued to work because I like what I do. I am fortunate enough to be able to quit at any time and have to admit that it is a comfort to be able to say, "take this job and shove it" if I ever get put in a position where that is necessary. I plan to continue to work until my son gets out of college but we'll see. It is more and more of a challenge teaching kids today. Some days I really want to Gibbs's slap a few...which wouldn't be good for me.

Teachers never made much in Oklahoma. I never planned to be rich. But it has been a living and I have enjoyed it. I worry for our younger generation as well. Maybe for some of the same reasons you do but for some of the same reasons also, I'll bet. I don't know how I'd feel about having children today if I were a younger man...but no way for the 2022 version of leaningright. My grandfather had his last kid at 72 years old. I could not even imagine...

We're entering my favorite time of the year. Some sports event to watch almost every night that I'm home. Great weather. Hunting season just around the corner. Fishing if I want. Golf when I want.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Now that virtually all the Republican controlled state legislatures, with the complete blessing of our pig shit constitution,
Click to expand...

One only needs to read this far to realize that you are a severe mental case in dire need of institutionalization. When reading your posts, one can only wonder how anyone can become this ignorant and stupid. I guess you didn't have to try real hard being a leftist. :palm:
 
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