by John Walters
Starting Five
This may be Floorida. Or California. Or Arizona. Or Nevada. Or Colorado. You know, one of those funny states with a Spanish name.
Armageddon Ready To Vote
The new wonder drug? D.C.-alis “If your election lasts longer than 15 months, please consult a physician.
It’s election day: and you thought Christmas would never get here when you were a kid. Get out there and vote. And remember to charge your phone before you go because you may be standing on line a while. Especially if you’re black.
2. Stronger To Get Her Elected
Two presidents—possibly three—two First Ladies, the first African-American president, possibly the first female prez, possibly the first First Gentleman, and possibly, who knows, the first female African-American prez….and a Stanford grad
On election eve, the Democratic nominee went to the birthplace of this nation, Philadelphia and Independence Hall. She brought out Bruce Springsteen as her opening act (possibly the first woman he has opened for since Anne Murray in the early Seventies), who was shrewd enough not to play “The River”, “Born In The USA” or “Roll of The Dice.”
The audience was both lit AND woke
President Obama made his last of 17 campaign appearances for Hillary Clinton in this battle. Trump: “He should be doing his job.” Donald, he is. He’s trying to keep America great.
Then for Hillary it was on to a rally in Raleigh, joined by Lady GaGa and Bon Jovi.
“Nuuuuuge!” Grabs himself by the pu**y
Trump held rallies in five states, finishing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with Ted Nugent in camo as his opening night. If you were watching MSNBC’s Brian Williams, he wryly noted as Nuge took the stage that “You may not be able to see him with all that camouflage, but trust us, Ted Nugent is there.” (Nugget’s last Top 100 hit, “Wango Tango,” came in 1980, by the way).
3. Ann-o-Wrexit
You cannot spell “Hannity” without placing “ann” right in the middle
There was a Coultergeist sighting on the eve of the election, as America’s favorite harridan tweeted this:
If only people with at least 4 grandparents born in America were voting, Trump would win in a 50-state landslide.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2016
And she tweeted this a few hours before 3 a.m. I’m not sure if there has been any time in this nation’s history when Americans who had four grandparents born on these shores were in the majority….which has always been one of the best aspects of America. I’ll give her this, though: she may be right. But she’s also Far Right.
4. Arc Diocese of Curry
You think Curry was aware that his 13th three broke a record?
Someone gave Stephen Curry the scouting report on 0-6 New Orleans and he decided to make it rain in Oakland. Curry drained an NBA-record 13 threes (in just 17 attempts) as Golden State defeated the Pelicans, 116-106.
Curry finished with 46 points, and if you study that stat box further, you’ll see that he shot an abysmal (especially for him) 33% from inside the arc and 50% from the free throw line, but 76.5% from beyond the arc.
You may recall, and this is hardly a coincidence, that on Friday night, on the second evening of a back-to-back, for Golden State, Curry missed all 10 of his three-point attempts at the Lakers, snapping his league-record of 157 games with at least one three-pointer. So, with two consecutive days off, he rested up, maybe took a couple treys at the practice facility, and atoned.
It was Curry’s first 40-point game of the season (he led the NBA with 13 last year). Also, I may be wrong, but it may have been the first Dubs game in which both Curry and Klay Thompson (24) outscored Kevin Durant (22). The Dubs are now 5-2 after starting out 24-0 last season.
5. Who You’re Really Going To Lose Your Job To…
And he won’t ask for a raise…
Mexicans? Cambodians? Indonesians? Try C-3PO and R2-D2.
You see the headlines about “Driverless Cars” and “Drones” and your bank probably already has automated tellers. Robots are cheaper for employers because they don’t need health benefits, they don’t ask for raises, and they (probably) don’t sexually harass their female robot co-workers.
But ultimately every robot replaces at least one job, no? The next president is going to have to address this issue, that what’s better for a corporation’s bottom line (and stock price) is not necessarily better for the U.S.A. Think of all the non-college educated people whose primary job is to drive something or someone somewhere. Where do they go when driverless cars and drones take their jobs? Will they all just become robot mechanics?
Now, think of things like Uber and AirBnB, which are basically completely deregulating the taxi and hospitality industry. That’s not a robot problem, but it’s still a problem. Basically, Isaac Asimov predicted the end of the world accurately more than 50 years ago. Sad.
Music 101
The Winner Takes It All
This song seemed rather apropos for today. Then again, you may say, “We’re even outsourcing our election-appropriate tunes now!!?! What the WTF?!?” Meanwhile, here’s the thing about Abba: they wrote all their lyrics in a second language, knowing who their biggest potential market was. The 1980 tune was voted Britain’s favorite Abba song, though it only climbed to No. 8 here ou the U.S. charts.
Remote Patrol
Election Night Coverage
PBS (and every other network, but I’d watch PBS) 7 p.m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZJujCge8Ys
Donald Trump last night: “If we don’t win, I will consider this the single greatest waste of time, energy…and money…” And that would make KellyAnne Conway America’s single greatest expert in waste management.
MSNBC contributor Nicolle Wallace, who worked on the McCain/Palin ticket, has been a breakout star of this election
Anyway, it all ends tonight. Then we can return to talking about how the Pac-12 gonna get screwed in the College Football Playoff.
Regarding No.5: The revolutionary technology of this century will work in congruence with humans. Now, for the individuals that don’t possess the skills to maximize the shift in technology: let’s educate them.
First, the notion that “education” stops following the reception of a degree needs to end. Life is fluent. The individuals that increase their optionality through patience, day-to-day learning are the ones best positioned for the future.
College tuition costs a lot. But, the cost of learning has never been this low…ever. With a computer, smartphone or tablet and an internet/wifi connection, you can learn just about anything. I, for one, am more than thankful to grow up in a society that allows me the ability to do these things at a very minimal cost.
It is my hope that the next president makes education a top priority. And not just the “let’s make public college tuition free” stuff. You can be educated at the age of 1 or at the age of 1o1. Learning the ability to learn and think critical is the least thought of skill in this country. It has simply become credential chasing. That’s what is sad.
Won’t go Susie B. and will instead leave it at that.
Also, if any College Gameday producers (or Chris Fallica) peruses this site, it is my understanding that Rece Davis is still calling College Gameday Saturday morning in Spokane, Washington. I mention this, because I believe he will be in Honolulu Friday afternoon doing on-site hosting of college basketball’s College Gameday. Commercially, non-stop, it is a six hour flight from Honolulu to Spokane. How long will he be staying in Honolulu?
Anyhow, if all of this is correct, that should be a fun 48 hours or so. Go get ’em, Rece.
(And yes, I know Rece wouldn’t be flying commercially.)
If we took Ann Coulter’s hypothetical, Donald would not be voting (Grandpa and Grandma Drumpf immigrated from Germany)
How exactly does one have MORE than 4 “grandparents”? 😉 Ok, ok, I know what she was trying to say. Well, not only were all my grandparents born in the USA, but the 1st to step foot on this continent were my paternal ancestors, who arrived by ship in the 1670s & landed in Philadelphia. His name was Balthazar (not one of THE Wise Men but pretty damn smart to get over here all the same) & his wife was Susannah. So, after being in the New World all these centuries, what did it teach us? How to recognize a lying sack of sh*t when we see one & why we’d NEVER vote for a sociopath like Trump.
I’ll bet the largest voting block with 4 US born grandparents are Black.
Right. Let’s do Coulter one better and include only those Americans who can claim complete born-in-America ancestry back to 1850 or so. African-Americans; Native Americans; Hispanics from the Southwest whose ancestors came here in the 1600s or 1700s; etc. Doesn’t sound like a Trump coalition to me.
On this day, another Susie B. is getting a lot of media attention….
Justifiably so. But what most Americans don’t seem to know (due to our woeful history education) is that Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the “brains of the operation” & SBA the “legs”. I admire both enormously & believe both are rolling over in their graves today (Wed, 11/9).