01/15/2012 archive

THE most interesting game of this post season including XLVI.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that either the Giants or the Packers will beat the ‘9ers next week; after all, without 5 turn overs by the Saints last night, they wouldn’t have won.  The Giants are capable of sucking like that, there’s a reason they had to play the Falcons last week.  The Packers on the other hand had a near perfect season losing but once (to the Chiefs– wtf?).

All year long I root, to the extent I pay any attention at all to Throwball (a brain damaged collection of steroid addicts, and those are the owners), for two teams- the Giants out of geography and the Packers.

Now I am prejudiced by my lineage, I’m only half troll; but if any team can be said to be ‘America’s Team’, it’s the Packers.

The Packers are the last vestige of “small town teams” that were once common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau (hence the name Lambeau Field on which the team plays) and George Whitney Calhoun, the Green Bay Packers can trace their lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. In 1919 and 1920 the Packers competed as a semi-professional football team against clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1921, the forerunner to what is known today as the National Football League (NFL). The Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States.

Based on the original “Articles of Incorporation for the (then) Green Bay Football Corporation” put into place in 1923, if the Packers franchise was sold, after the payment of all expenses, any remaining monies would go to the Sullivan-Wallen Post of the American Legion in order to build “a proper soldier’s memorial.” This stipulation was enacted to ensure the club remained in Green Bay and that there could never be any financial enhancement for the shareholders. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation.

In 1950, the Packers held a stock sale to again raise money to support the team. In 1956, area voters approved the construction of a new stadium, owned by the city. As with its predecessor, the new field was named City Stadium, but after the death of founder Lambeau in 1965, on September 11, 1965, the stadium was renamed Lambeau Field.

Another stock sale occurred late in 1997 and early in 1998. It added 105,989 new shareholders and raised over $24 million, money used for the Lambeau Field redevelopment project. Priced at $200 per share, fans bought 120,010 shares during the 17-week sale, which ended March 16, 1998. As of June 8, 2005, 111,921 people (representing 4,749,925 shares) can lay claim to a franchise ownership interest. Shares of stock include voting rights, but the redemption price is minimal, no dividends are ever paid, the stock cannot appreciate in value, and stock ownership brings no season ticket privileges.

No shareholder may own over 200,000 shares, a safeguard to ensure that no individual can assume control of the club. To run the corporation, a board of directors is elected by the stockholders. The board of directors in turn elect a seven-member Executive Committee (officers) of the corporation, consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and three members-at-large. The president is the only officer to draw compensation; The balance of the committee is sitting “gratis.”

As American as that pie the Apple Knockers make when they come to God’s Country to shoot at stuff and leave their money behind.

I’m looking forward to a Green and Gold repeat.

Some may quibble with the idea that Newt Gingrich must enter into the bowels of the inner city to explain to black people the power of the paycheck.

Wyatt Cenac analyzes why it took Newt Gingrich so long to be condescending and dickish to African Americans.

As I said last night Throwball Playoffs are really about picking the team you hate most.  This particular game is about picking the best team to beat the execrable Patsies whose only redeeming feature is that they are slightly less over rated than the unlamented Broncos (let’s see them run up the score against a team without a High School Offense).

The analysts were picking the Ravens to face the Broncos which makes me naturally suspicious (see: “the only class of establishment media even dumber and more corrupt than political pundits“) AND there is their history of carpetbagging greed.

The Texans are a pure expansion franchise but they are from Texas.  Last week they decisively beat the Bengals to advance.  Given that the Ravens are said to have the advantage in every category it’s hard to explain why they are only 13 point favorites in a low scoring game (23 – 10) unless Flacco really is as bad as they say.

My contrarian instinct is forcing me to go against my ingrained disdain for all things Lone Star and pick the Texans but what I’ll actually be looking for is a team that can boot the Patsies.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 350 days remaining until the end of the year (351 in leap years).

On this day in 1559, Elizabeth Tudor is crowned Queen of England.

Two months after the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary I of England, Elizabeth Tudor, the 25-year-old daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, is crowned Queen Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey in London.

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen regnant of England and Queen regnant of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her brother, Edward VI, bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his sisters out of the succession. His will was set aside, Lady Jane Grey was executed, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement held firm throughout her reign and later evolved into today’s Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but despite several petitions from parliament and numerous courtships, she never did. The reasons for this outcome have been much debated. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day.

In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings. One of her mottoes was “video et taceo” (“I see, and say nothing”). This strategy, viewed with impatience by her counsellors, often saved her from political and marital misalliances. Though Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Within 20 years of her death, she was celebrated as the ruler of a golden age, an image that retains its hold on the English people.

Elizabeth’s reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake. Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity to the point where many of her subjects were relieved at her death. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth’s rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587. After the short reigns of Elizabeth’s brother and sister, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.

Colbert in South Carolina

by Tom Jensen, Public Policy Polling

January 10, 2012

Colbert’s key… (will be) to draw out Democratic voters in the state’s open primary.  34% of Democrats planning to vote in the Republican contest support him to 15% for Romney, 13% for Gingrich, and 10% for Santorum.   … (Will) enough Democrats… (go) out to vote for him to put him in the top tier of Republican candidates?  My guess is if he’d really put some effort into it he (can win) 10-15% of the vote and (nab) himself a 4th place finish there.

While Colbert’s prospects for actually winning in South Carolina may (be) limited, he would have found support on his proposed referendum. Just 33% of likely voters think that ‘corporations are people’ compared to 67% who think that ‘only people are people.’  Supporters of every Republican candidate believe that ‘only people are people,’ even 66% of Mitt Romney’s whose comments inspired this debate in the first place.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

Up with Chris Hayes: A few of Chris’s guests are Jack Abramoff, Bob Herbert, and Katrina vanden Heuvel.

This Week with George Stephanopolis: Stephen Colbert will be George’s guest. He’ll explain the reason for his tossing his hat into the ring of his home state of South Carolina’s primary. You don’t have to watch the rest.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: I’m already sick of Republican clown show. On to FLOTUS poutage about a book

The Chris Matthews Show: More of the same from different faces.

Meet the Press with David Gregory:A slight break from the primary tedium with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on the coming congressional year.

State of the Union with Candy Crowley:CNN has sold its soul to the sinking Tea Party ship. They’re right up there with Fox

Watch Hayes. He was awesome Saturday morning talking about Guantanamo and an interview with former detainee, Lakhdar Boumediene. I’ll have the videos on that later

ek update: Herr Doktor Professor on Fareed Zakaria and This Week.

Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. It then must follow that Germany’s Chancellor, Andrea Merkel has got to be insane.

Eurozone in new crisis as ratings agency downgrades nine countries

Standard & Poor’s strips France of its AAA credit rating, rekindling fears in the markets over future of single currency

S&P said austerity was driving Europe even deeper into financial crisis as it also cut Austria’s triple-A rating, and relegated Portugal and Cyprus to junk status.

The humiliating loss of France’s top-rated status leaves Germany as the only other major economy inside the eurozone with a AAA rating, and rekindled financial market anxiety about a possible break-up of the single currency.

S&P brought an abrupt end to the uneasy calm that has existed in the eurozone since the turn of the year by downgrading the ratings of Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain by two notches. Austria, France, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia were all cut by one notch.

The agency said that its actions on eurozone ratings were “primarily driven by insufficient policy measures by EU leaders to fully address systemic stresses”. It added that fiscal austerity alone “risks becoming self-defeating“.

Germany,too may be facing a downgrade as it slips into recession as its economy is contracting in the face of the deflationary economic policy of the euro zone. So what does Frau Merkel do? You got it, more austerity.

Merkel: Europe Faces ‘Long Road’ to Win Back Trust

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Standard and Poor’s downgrades of nine countries underline the fact that the eurozone faces a “long road” to win back investors’ confidence, pushing Saturday for it to move quickly on a new budget discipline pact and a permanent rescue fund.

I agree with Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog that the ratings agencies should be rendered useless considering their part in the current economic crisis but they are right about austerity. The Europeans led by Merkel are ignoring reality.

On Saturday MSNBC’s Chris Hayes aired an exclusive taped interview with former Guantanamo detainee Lakhdar Boumediene. Boumediene, , a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was arrested with five Algerian men in Bosnia in October, 2001 and charged with plotting to blow up the American embassy in Sarajevo. He was held for seven years at Guantanamo without charges or explanation. Boumediene was the lead plaintiff in Boumediene v. Bush, a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision that Guantanamo detainees have the right to file writs of habeas corpus in U.S. federal courts. He and the five other detainees were released from Guantanamo on May 15, 2009 after a US Federal Judge found that “the Bush administration relied on insufficient evidence to imprison them indefinitely as ‘enemy combatants.

Through a translator, Boumediene explains life as a Guantanamo prisoner, about his torture, and his life after his release.

Now you might think living in Stars Hollow as I do that this would be an easy pick.

Not so.

You see, I still remember how Kraft dicked around Hartford to get Foxboro to pick up the cost of his new stadium, the greedy bastard.  Tom Brady is a stuck up jock who’s not even half as good as he thinks he is and Bill Belichick a backstabbing traitor.

That said they’re up against Tim Tebow, the most over rated Quarterback in the NFL next to John Elway who also played for the Broncos.

The Patsies will wipe the floor with them.  They don’t even belong on the same field.

Throwball Playoffs are all about which team you hate more.  That and the pretty uniform colors.