Football 2013 - Week 12

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter.

We start the football week early with a Monday night game. Apparently lightening can strike twice. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the dysfunctional bully or bullied Miami Dolphins 22-19 to become the last NFL team to get a victory this season. The Bucs got out to a 15-0 lead and then watched the Dolphins score 19 straight points. Tampa Bay finally scored again with about 10 minutes to go and then held on. This has been the modus operandi for TB all season. They get off to a fast start and then fade. The difference this time is they somehow found the end zone for a late score and the win. The Bucs improve to 1-8 and are now tied with Jacksonville, who also won for the first time the day before, for the first draft pick. Next up the 2-7 Atlanta Falcons in Tampa.  

Friday night brought us high school playoffs. We have good news and bad news here.

The LD Bell Blue Raiders didn't show their best in their 5A Division II Bi-District game against the Hebron Hawks. Final score was Hawks 27 Raiders 0. Although Bell actually finished slightly ahead in most statistics, the killer was five turnovers. This ends the Raiders season with a 7-4 overall record. It was a good but not great season. See you next year Raiders. Baseball season in a couple of months. 

The continuing good news comes from the Bishop Kenny Crusaders. They easily beat the Palatka Panthers 44-22 in a game that wasn't that close. BK had 550 total yards to 182 for Palatka. The Crusaders quarterback, John Wolford, had a milestone game. He passed for 355 yds. which moved him into third place in history for passing yards by a Florida high school player. He moved past Tim Tebow (you may have heard of him) on the all-time list. Wolford is collecting state records this year. He has set the mark for career completions and career TD passes. Kenny is now 10-0 for the season and next host the 7-4 Clay County Blue Devils. Who will triumph, Devils or Crusaders?  

John Wolford

Not so great a Saturday for my college teams. It started with a thrilling game between TCU at the Kansas State Wildcats. There were seven lead changes and the game wasn't decided until the 59:57 mark. The Frogs scored a go ahead FG with 2:13 remaining but then couldn't stop K-State from marching down the field and kicking a 41 yard FG for the win. Final score 33-31. This drops the Frogs to 4-7, 2-6. They are now officially out of the bowl picture. After a bye week, TCU hosts the undefeated #5 Baylor Bears. Good luck with that. 

The bad news continued with a USF 23-10 home lose to the Memphis Tigers. The Bulls won the statistical battle but also had five turnovers. Offensively challenged teams like USF can't afford any turnovers, let alone five. The game was close at 6-3 after three quarters but then Memphis scored 17 straight points. The old alma mater falls to 2-7, 2-3 for the season and next host the 4-5, 3-2 SMU Mustangs.

Next the Florida Gators made a valiant effort at #10 South Carolina. The Gators went into the game with no chance. They were having to play with their third string and first time starting quarterback, Skyler Mornhinweg. Well, moniker challenged Skyler did an adequate job while the Gator defense played an outstanding game. Florida actually led 14-6 at halftime before the Fighting Spurriers came back and outscored them 13-0 in the second half. In this terrible Gator's season there were some signs of life and pride. Of course in big time SEC football a moral victory still counts as a lose. It was Florida's fifth straight lose for the first time since 1979. The Gators fall to 4-6, 3-5 and next host Division II (or whatever the hell they're now called) Georgia Southern. Not a sure win for this Gators' team. They have to beat the GS Eagles and then #2 FSU to become bowl eligible. I'm thinking the Gators will be idle in December. 

In the SEC, only nine teams were in action. Ole Miss won the non-conference game. All the favorites won the conference matchups, although #7 Auburn almost blew it against Georgia. The Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead, 27-10 halftime advantage and 37-17 early in the fourth quarter. Then the Dawgs got hot. After three straight TDs, the Bulldogs actually led 38-37. Then the War Eagle flew in and made a miraculous catch with 25 seconds remaining to score a TD for a 43-38 Auburn victory. It was a great game, probably the best of the day. Georgia is now eliminated from the SEC East race. Auburn can still win the West with a victory over #1 Alabama in two weeks. With their lose to Auburn, Georgia fell out of the BCS top 25 but six SEC teams remain in the rankings with four in the top 12. Alabama remains #1. 

In the race for the BCS championship game, #2 FSU further cemented their position. They completely dominated the Syracuse Orange 59-3. Despite the Noles domination, there was one statistical anomaly, Syracuse handily won time of possession 42 minutes to only 18 for FSU. That just shows that the Noles scored very quickly and easily. The Seminoles improve to 10-0, 8-0. FSU has only the 1-9 Idaho Vandals and the 4-6 Gators remaining on the regular season schedule. They then have to play the ACC championship game. The Seminoles are solidly in the #2 position in the BCS rankings. They are much closer to #1 Alabama than #3 Ohio State. They are now tied with 'Bama for first spot in the computer rankings.

Since Atlanta traveled to Tampa this week, I was assured of one pro win. I actually expected the Falcons to be that winning team since they beat the Bucs a month ago. That was not the outcome as TB beat Atlanta 41-28 for an amazing two wins in a row and in the same week. It was the Buccaneers biggest points explosion by far this season. The game statistics were pretty close but once again turnovers played a big part. TB had none, Atlanta had three. The Birds and the Bucs are now tied with 2-8 records. They both are one game behind in the race for the first draft pick. Atlanta next plays at the 8-2 Saints. The now streaking Bucs travel to the 6-4 Lions.

Jacksonville on the other hand returned to their losing ways. The Arizona Cardinals were in town. The Jags actually led 14-7 after one quarter and were tied at 14 at the half. Then thankfully they came to their senses and decided not to play after halftime. They lost the second half 13-0 and the game 27-14. The Jaguars came in second place in most statistical categories but made up for that by throwing two interceptions. The defense did OK with three sacks and holding the Cardinals to 14 rushing yards. Sadly, I think we are seeing the end of the line for once great running back Maurice Jones-Drew. He had only only 23 yards on 14 carries and only about 450 yards this season. With this lose Jax takes sole possession of last place in the NFL with a 1-9 record and therefore first place in the draft race. They can not let their guard down though as there are four teams with 2-8 records. Next up the Jaguars face one of those teams as they travel to the almost as inept 2-8 Houston Texans.

As the high school playoffs continue, all I can say is 

Go Bishop Kenny Crusaders!

wjh

 

    

 

NFL Bullying and Hazing

by Bill Holmes

Incognito & Martin

Here we go again with the utter surprise and universal condemnation about the alleged bullying charges concerning Jonathan Martin, Richie Incognito and the Miami Dolphins. I have no idea if the charges are true, false or somewhere in between. That is not the point of this post.

What bothers me is the sense of outrage by the media, the NFL, players' union, current and former players, coaches and several thousand talking heads. While many of the "experts" have never played football, those in the game are being completely disingenuous about this topic.

Not Hazing - Tim chose that haircut

This is now a full blown public relations (PR) issue for the NFL. The story has dominated the media's NFL coverage for days and it was the main topic on all the NFL TV studio shows. Many of these programs include five or six ex-players and coaches. Amazingly none of those people ever experienced the kind of bullying in the locker room that is alleged in this instance. Who the hell are they trying to fool? I never played in the NFL but I can assure you that every team in any sport that I was on had a pecking order, hazing and bullying. Sometimes it gets out of hand but usually it's just the right of passage agenda. On the Monday Night Football pre-game show Iron Mike Ditka said he never saw bullying in all his years in the NFL. Do you believe that? Mike Ditka probably was the leader of the hazing group when he played. To deny he ever saw bullying means Mike was blind, in denial, mentally diminished or flat out lying. The same for all the other ex-jocks on the panel.

More Not Hazing

Now I'm not saying that whatever happened on the Dolphins wasn't above and beyond what normally happens in the locker room. From what I've seen and heard Richie Incognito is a full blown jerk with a history of not knowing where the bounds are and has been disciplined by the Dolphins and other teams. I guess none of that behavior ever included bullying. He is certainly not the first jerk in the NFL with boundary issues. The NFL is a macho league full of very big testosterone fueled, often PED enhanced, men who are encouraged to be violent, dominating, domineering and aggressive. You think they play patty cakes and hop scotch during their down time? Despite any previous behavior problems, Incognito was on the roster because he can play football. That is almost always the only important and deciding character trait for an athlete.

The NFL and probably a dozen other organizations promise a comprehensive and thorough investigation into this instance. That is the response to everything now days. There will be lawyers and unions and administration representatives involved. They will come up with a final report that has no or a very few fall guys and exoneration for those in power. Some token changes will be made to ensure this never happens again or until the public furor subsides, whichever comes first.

This false dismay, indignation and horror is a bunch of BS. Every time some untoward behavior is brought to light there is an investigation and total surprise that this could ever happen. Remember the bounty issue with the Saints a couple of years ago? Was that the first time bounties were offered for taking an opposing player out of a game? Hell no, it was the time it went public and took on a life of it's own. That's the only time the NFL, or any other big enterprise, takes action. Is it because they are concerned about the individuals, fairness or justice? Hell no, it's about the money. If public thinks the NFL condones bullying, encourages bounties or doesn't care about brain damage they may stop watching games and buying their merchandise.

Big time sports, collegiate or professional, and big time business want us to believe that no one in a position of authority is aware of any practice that is suspect. They are oblivious of the organization's culture or methods. More importantly, they are completely unaware of the adverse behavior in question. How can people at the top of their field be so unaware and incompetent? There are only two choices for us to choose from. Those leaders are stupid or liars. How can you pay a top head coach $5 or $6 million or a CEO $20 or $30 million and then accept his insistence that he didn't know what was going on in the organization? Tell you what, I'll be ignorant of what's going on for half that salary.

Let's accept that bullying is not a good thing in the NFL or anywhere else. Let's also acknowledge that 300 lb. millionaires bullying another 300 lb. millionaire is not the end of the world. Some bullying, especially among pre-teens and teens, is deadly. That's what we need to fix, not some NFL locker room. Because the NFL is such a big deal in this country we are led to believe this is the most important issue, at least this week, in the world. I suspect the people in the Philippines may disagree.

Fix the stuff that is broken or no longer politically correct but don't pretend no one knew it existed. Oh, and let's also acknowledge that hardly anything that happens in sports, or entertainment, is really a big deal in the overall scheme of things.

I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about this issue. After all we have a comprehensive, official investigation underway. I just wish the BS would stop. You guys got caught, fess up.

wjh

Quick Music - TV Reviews

by Bill Holmes

Another evening of cleaning up some music shows on the DVR -

The first is an Austin City Limits that first aired on PBS on 11/02/13 but didn't air here until 11/07. It was a concert by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. These two have been playing together off and on since 1975. Rodney was a member of Emmylou's band for three years, so they know each other well. 

Then

They played some songs from their new Old Yellow Moon album and some old favorites. It was a good concert. I'm a fan of Emmylou. They sound OK together but it's not necessarily great harmony. Many of the songs were almost solos by one or the other with limited participation by the other. That's OK. Rosanne Cash showed up for the last song. Rosanne and Rodney were married at one time. They still collaborate. If you like Emmylou you will probably enjoy this program. I give it a B+.

Now

You can stream the Austin City Limits episode at PBS.org. The full concert or some shorter clips.

Another PBS program is Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin' which originally aired 11/05 as part of the American Masters series. This documentary was promoted as having new performance video and interviews with those who knew Jimi. There was some new commentary and a little bit of new footage but some of the talking heads are dead so you know that isn't new stuff. I've also seen much of the performance video before.

I was around when Jimi burst on the scene. I owned the album Are You Experienced on vinyl, I now own the CD and have ripped it to my PC and the cloud. I liked and still like his music. He was a great talent. Jimi would be 71 if he were still alive. How much music have we missed because he died at 27?  

I didn't really learn much if anything new about Jimi, his life, music or death. I probably wouldn't be as critical of the documentary if it wasn't hyped as "new" stuff. If you weren't around during Jimi's time or a student of his music, you will learn about him and his journey. It's wasn't a great show but it was good, probably a solid B. I would have preferred some more uninterrupted music and fewer talking heads.

Hear My Train A Comin' is available on PBS.org also. Give it a watch.

The third PBS program I watched is an old one originally aired in 2009 titled How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin. The premise of this documentary is that the Beatles and their music helped bring down the communist government. Despite the Beatles music being banned, the youth of the 1960's and 70's Soviet Union smuggled it into the country and made bootlegged copies. They also illegally listened to Radio Luxembourg. This civil disobedience and Western influence supposedly ultimately caused the collapse of the oppressive communist rule.

If you are looking for a program about the Beatles, this is not it. There is not much music at all and what there is comes from Russian cover musicians, most not very good. It is mostly narration and retelling of the experiences of those now grown kids.

While this is an interesting subject, it is a pretty boring show. There is no way to determine the actual impact the Beatles had on the fall of the Soviet Union. The filmmaker thinks it was a major factor but he may be a little prejudiced. There was no mention of any other Western bands or music so I guess the Beatles did this all by themselves. I have a feeling that economic problems and Ronald Reagan might have had some impact on the demise of the USSR.

I suggest you skip this program. Instead listen to some Beatles recordings. The real guys do the songs much better than the Russians.

wjh

Scattershooting 11-10-13

by Bill Holmes

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to  

Marvelous Marv Throneberry

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

Wait a minute, or an hour, there are now almost eight months of daylight savings time and only about four months of standard time each year in the US. So isn't daylight savings now standard? If so, what should we call the current standard time? Daylight wasting time, daylight spending time, non-standard time? Any suggestions?

• It's 58° here this morning (11/4) so why do the people upstairs have their air conditioner running? Is the thermostat set to 55°?

Brutal but true.

GO JAGS!

The chihuahua from next door has been visiting my patio and eating the nuts in the bird feed. The mourning doves don't mind because their beaks are too small for peanuts or pistachios but the cardinals like them.

The landscape gang showed up today (11/5). It's been raining since Sunday so the leaf blowers didn't work too good. The solution, have a guy with a hose follow the guy with the blower to clean the walkways. The concrete is clean but there is debris on the grass. Guess rakes and brooms don't work anymore.

• I'm prejudiced about this subject but this story does demonstrate a big difference in how "accidents" are handled and national attitudes. I've had several close calls while riding my bike. It's very clear that many of those incidents were due to inattention and distractions. Most accidents probably aren't.

 http://blogs.bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2013/10/29/theres-another-way/?cm_mmc=BicyclingNL-_-1489688-_-11052013-_-road_rights

Looks like the kids got my fall harvest. All the fruit is gone. Only remnants of one and it looks smashed not eaten.

• Seems about right. - You will only be allowed to buy 140 shares of Twitter stock. 

The college basketball season gets underway tonight (11/8) with some Florida flavor. The North Florida Ospreys visit the Florida Gators and the Jacksonville University Dolphins travel to FSU Seminoles. A couple of David vs Goliath matchups.

Both Goliaths won - 

• Another issue our governments don't seem to be able to fix. http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/08/5317849/black-box-your-tax-future.html

• It's not only OK to kill a cyclist or pedestrian, it sometimes appears to be encouraged. From a NY Times article.

Just watched the Friday (11/08) episode of Leno that I recorded. Recorded it because Ted Cruz was on and wanted to see how he was going to embarrass Texas. He didn't disappoint. Lightweight Jay Leno, one of the worst interviewers on TV, bested him. Anytime he was asked a tough question, Teddy boy changed the subject or just shook his head. That and a few lies scattered through the conversation showed that Cruz is not ready for prime time.

Ted Cruz

Happy 238th birthday (11/10) to the US Marine Corps.

USMC - born 11/10/1775

Curious. Today during the Fox NFL studio show the guys had Windows Surface tablets on the desk. Of course nobody actually used them. Then a commercial came on and there was Curt Menefee hawking an Amazon Kindle. Seems like a conflict of interest. I bet Curt doesn't use a Surface or Kindle and actually uses an iPad. Truth in advertising.

I'm not a Cowboys fan but I'm also not a Cowboys hater. What I do hate are fat slob, loud mouthed, egotistical, obnoxious football coaches. That description applies perfectly to Rob Ryan, the current Saints and former Cowboys defensive coordinator. He is sure getting a lot of face time on the NBC Sunday Night game. Why would you want this guy's face, or anything else, on your network? Rob is the jerk on the left, his brother Rex is the jerk on the right. Rob  Rex were both trained by daddy jerk Buddy Ryan.

And in conclusion - 

Miracles do happen. The Jaguars ruined their perfect season and won a game. 29-27 over the Titans. Here we come Super Bowl.

GO JAGS!

wjh

Football 2013 - Week 11

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter.

Let's start with the highlight team of the week and season. The Bishop Kenny Crusaders beat the Episcopal Eagles 55-21 to complete an undefeated regular season. Kenny completely dominated the game with almost 500 yards, 328 on the ground, to just over 100 yards for the Eagles. Kenny has a perfect 9-0, 7-0 record with one game cancelled due to weather. They are the district 3-5A champs and now head into the class 5A playoffs. First up BK hosts the 6-4, 3-1 Palatka Panthers from district 4-5A in a Region 1 quarterfinal game.

Next we have good news, bad news. The bad news, the LD Bell Blue Raiders lost to the Colleyville Heritage Panthers 49-16. Not a good showing. Bell ends the regular season with a 7-3, 5-2 record and finished third in district 6-5A. The good news is the Raiders are in the 5-A division II playoffs. They next play the 7-3, 4-1 Carrollton Hebron Hawks. As I've mentioned before, Bell is an above average football team but not a top program. I don't expect them to go very far in the playoffs. Still a good year.

On to the college games. USF had a bye week. Next week they play the 2-6 Memphis Tigers in Tampa.

Some good news to start my Saturday. The TCU Horned Frogs beat the Iowa State Cyclones 21-17 with a last minute TD. The Cyclones came into the game at 1-7, 0-5 yet TCU struggled to win. It was not a pretty game but in this rather ugly season, any win is a good one. Both teams had two turnovers. In a close statistical game the Frogs were able to overcome a 98 yard kickoff return TD by Iowa St. The win improves TCU to 4-6, 2-5. They need two wins to become bowl eligible. No chance. The Frogs could possibly pull off an upset at the 5-4,3-3 Kansas State Wildcats next week but there is no chance they will beat 8-0, 5-0 #5 Baylor at the end of November.

Now on to the disaster. The once mighty Florida Gators were completely overwhelmed by the never mighty Vanderbilt Commodores. The score was 34-17 but it wasn't that close. Vandy got out to a 17-0 lead and never looked back. The Gators won most offensive statistics including turnovers. They had a fumble and three interceptions. Let's put this into perspective, this is the first Vandy win over Florida since 1988. That's a long time but it gets worse. This is the first Commodores win in Gainesville since 1945 which is also the first time the schools played each other. I am an old fart but that means this is Vandy's first win at Florida in my lifetime. Florida has had some bad teams in the past but still managed to usually beat Vanderbilt and always in the Swamp. They were 35-9-2 against Vandy going into this game. By the way, this was Florida's homecoming game, bet the alumni are very proud. The Gators now fall to 4-5, 3-4 for the year. They need two wins in their next three games to become bowl eligible. Not going to happen. They should beat division two Georgia Southern but will lose to #10 South Carolina next week and #2 FSU in the last game of the season. Muschamp is and should be in the hotseat. He is 22-13 in his three seasons. That includes the very suspect 11-1 record last year that was against a weak schedule and lots of luck. The worst 11-1 team I ever saw. Did I mention he has lost three straight to Georgia? So who is your pick for the next Florida football head coach?

In the SEC the big game was #1 Alabama vs #13 LSU. This is almost always a good game and it was for about three quarters and then the Crimson Tide took over. Final score was 38-17 with 'Bama outscoring the Tigers 21-3 in the second half. 

Thirteen of the fourteen SEC teams played this week. Georgia won the only non-conference game. All the ranked teams except LSU won. Mizzou remains in first place in the East and Alabama in the West. Auburn and South Carolina still have a chance to overtake the division leaders. 

Alabama remains the number one ranked team in the nation. Although LSU dropped a few spots, the SEC has seven teams in the top 25. Georgia slips back in at #25. There are now five SEC teams in the top 11. The lead for Alabama shrunk a little but they are clearly in the drivers seat. 'Bama still has to play #7 Auburn. 

The final college note is that with the Oregon lose to Stanford on Thursday, the number two spot in the BCS is now firmly in Florida State's control. They held up their part on Saturday with a dominating 59-3 win over Wake Forrest. The Noles improve to 9-0, 7-0 for the season. They finish their regular season schedule with Syracuse, Idaho and at Florida. All mediocre to bad teams. They still have to play the ACC championship game too, but none of the teams in the Coastal division look that strong.  

We now move on to Miracle Sunday. I hope you are sitting down. Wait for it - the Jacksonville Jaguars professional football club won a regulation NFL football game! It wasn't easy and they did their best to give it away but they did win. Final score was Jaguars 29 Titans 27. In classic fashion for the offensively challenged Jags, the margin of victory was a fourth quarter safety. As is always the case, Jacksonville lost all the offensive statistical categories. They did win the turnover battle 4-2. In addition to the safety the defense also scored a TD on a recovered Titan fumble with 2:32 remaining in the game. I'm not sure if this win is good or bad. On the good side, it's a win. Unfortunately it was in Nashville and not in front of the home fans. On the bad side it moves the Jaguars behind the Buccaneers, who play Monday night, for the first pick in the draft. This unexpected win moves the Jags to a sterling 1-8 record. They next play at home against the 5-4 Arizona Cardinals.

Let's get back to reality. In the battle of the Accipitridae, the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Seattle Seahawks 33-10. Another lackluster performance by a team that had high hopes at the beginning of the season. Seattle dominated the game. The Falcons fall to 2-7. They are in the race for the most futile team trophy. A race that features all three of my pro teams. Next up is a real stellar matchup. The Birds travel to Tampa to play the 0-8 Bucs. That should be a great game.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the 4-4 Miami Dolphins in the Monday Night Football ESPN extravaganza. I'll summarize that game in next week's blog.  

Next week brings the start of the high school playoffs.

GO CRUSADERS! GO BLUE RAIDERS!

wjh

New Voter ID Rules in Texas

by Bill Holmes

Tuesday, November 5th will be the first election day held under the new voter ID laws in Texas. Several other states will also begin enforcing more stringent ID requirements for voters. In previous elections in Texas you needed a voter registration card (no photo) OR a valid ID and be on the voter rolls at the poll. Now you must have a voter registration card or be on the voter rolls AND a valid photo ID. The name on the registration card must exactly match the one on the ID. If they differ but are “substantially similar” you must sign an affidavit swearing to your identity. There are many reasons the names may differ. Perhaps a middle name is left off one ID or a full name is used on one and just an initial on the other. Maybe a name suffix like Jr., II, or III is on one and not the other. Maybe it's just a typo. The most common discrepancy will probably involve women's married and maiden names.

Texas Voter Registration Card

If the poll workers determine the names are not “substantially similar” the voter will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot. They must then provide supporting documentation to the voting registrar within six days such as a divorce decree or marriage license. If the registrar approves the documentation the vote counts, if not the ballot is discarded. 

Since early voting has already been taking place problems have shown up. Ironically one of the new laws biggest proponents, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, had mismatched names on his IDs and had to sign an affidavit. He had his full name, Gregory Wayne Abbott on one and just Greg Abbott on the other. Abbott is currently running for governor. The irony continued when his gubernatorial opponent, Wendy Davis, ran into the same problem. She had her maiden name as a middle name on one ID and not the other. 

In another instance former US House of Representative Speaker, Jim Wright, went to the DMV to get one of the new free voter photo IDs because his drivers license was expired. I suspect it was allowed to expire because the 90 year old Mr. Wright doesn't drive anymore. Well, his drivers license was too far expired for him to get the new voter ID. He has since found additional documentation so on a return trip to the DMV he got the ID. The state has been advertising about how easy it would be to get one of these photo voting IDs, They were absolutely free and they had extended hours at the DMV offices so everybody who needed one could get one.

Former Speaker of the House - Jim Wright

There were a few other reported cases of prominent citizens having problems at the polls or trying to obtain a photo ID.  

The laws allow a few of the normal forms of photo IDs such as a drivers license, military ID or passport. Of course this being Texas you can also use your concealed handgun license. I'm not sure if you are allowed to actually carry your firearms into the polls.

The Republican controlled Texas legislature that passed this law contends that this will reduce voter fraud. The fallacy of that argument is that voter fraud is not really a problem. Only a handful of voter fraud cases have been uncovered in the nation. It apparently is not a crime in Chicago or the numbers would probably be higher but still not a Texas or national epidemic. This is another example of our government fixing a problem that doesn't exist while ignoring the real issues. These laws along with gerrymandering make it easier for Republicans to be elected. 

Let's be honest, this is another backdoor tactic by Republicans to reduce the number of minorities and poor who can vote. If they knock out the elderly and a few women that's probably OK too. Who is least likely to have a drivers license, passport or gun permit? That would be the poor and the elderly. The BS that you can get a free photo voter ID doesn't fly either. If you don't have the proper documentation to get a drivers license you can't one of the new IDs either. The "free" part is only for the piece of paper (plastic). It still costs time to stand in line, maybe having to take unpaid time off work. It costs to get to the DMV. The closest DMV office to where I live has no public transportation access. That means a ride from a friend, a relative or a taxi. 

The Texas law is currently being challenged but the courts allowed it to be enforced while that process takes place. Maybe the plaintiffs lawyers can call Gregory (aka Greg) Abbott to testify about his experience at the polls.  

Several states have new photo ID laws and most are being challenged. I suspect this will eventually wind up at the US Supreme Court. Will the laws ultimately be found constitutional or will they go the way of the old poll tax laws? 

What mayhem will there be at the polls on Tuesday's election? There has been plenty of confusion during early voting. That's with limited voting locations and small numbers of voters. Tuesday there will be many more polling places, more poll workers and of course more voters. Will “substantially similar” mean the same thing to all poll workers and at all polling places? This is not a huge statewide election year, that happens in 2014, but there are local elections and several state propositions. I'll give an update when the dust settles later this week. Good luck at the polls, you may need it.

wjh 

Very Random Thoughts - November 2013

by Bill Holmes  

• Ever notice how the hero/star/good guy/gal is often incompetent in the first ¾ of the show/movie but becomes a competent genius in the last 10 minutes? Inconsistent. 

• Why do sportscasters wear suits to broadcast games and matches? Neither the players or the fans wear suits. Is it to show us how serious and professional the broadcasters are?

• What purpose does it serve for a TV reporter to be outside an empty building, in the dark, like city hall to report on a meeting that will take place in several hours or already took place several hours ago? I find it especially silly during the early morning newscasts. 

• How come city councils are so concerned about restricting stores that sell alcohol around schools but not about fast food restaurants? The kids can't buy a beer at 7-Eleven or a bar but they sure can buy a greasy burger or mystery meat nuggets, fries and a 32 oz. soda at McDonald's.

• In the same vein, why are alcohol sales and sexually oriented establishments restricted from being near churches? Can't god compete on a level playing field? Churches already get a tax break, why a zoning and competition break too.

• Movie titles and credits used to take a minute or two to run. Now they are as long as the story content and often more interesting. 

• Why do we have football sideline reporters who ask inane questions? Oh wait I know, it's to get a female into the broadcast. If she's attractive that's OK too. 

• Does anybody really know what time it is? That might make a good song. What was noon yesterday is now 11:00 AM. Daylight savings vs standard time. 

• Wait a minute, or an hour, there are now almost eight months of daylight savings time and only about four months of standard time each year. So isn't daylight savings now standard? If so, what should we call the current standard time? Daylight wasting time, daylight spending time, non-standard time? Any suggestions?

• Is rap music or poetry? Maybe both, maybe neither, maybe cRAP.

• Remember when morning radio shows had helicopter traffic reports and four or five useless sidekicks on air? Not so much anymore. I'm hoping the contraction trend spreads to TV. Especially in sports. Outlaw the three person broadcast booth and six person studio shows. 

• The South used to be almost 100% Democratic. Now it's mostly Republican. Will it be Democratic again as minorities become the majority? 

wjh