Banish these in 2013! Words and Phrases that Don’t Apply

The following words and phrases should no longer be uttered, printed or even thought about. If they ever applied they no longer do. Being that we’re starting a new year now is as good a time as any to rid ourselves of the bullshit. These words and phrases constitute just that.

“The rich need to pay their fair-share”                                                                                              I wanted to vomit every time I heard President Obama or Senator Patty Murray or any other divisive Democrat utter such words. Never in all the time these BS words were being uttered did I ever hear them answer the follow-up question which naturally is, “If the highest 53% of income earner pay 100% of all federal income tax how are they NOT paying their fair share?”. English: President George W. Bush and Presiden...

Well Congress finally passed into law a “permanent” change in Federal income tax rates raising to 39% the rate paid by those earning over $400,000 per year. So the President essentially got what he wanted. He stuck it to the rich. Now, lets not hear any more of the claims they aren’t paying their fair-share. They’re paying more than Republicans wanted them to, and exactly what Democrats say they should.

“Obama is a Muslim and a Communist.”                                                                                           I didn’t vote for Barack Obama in either 2008 or 2012 and I think there is abundant evidence that he’s a lousy President and will continue to be so in the coming four years.

But claims by his haters that he’s 1. Muslim or 2. Communist are ridiculous and do absolutely nothing to better this country or this government. Worst of all they poorly taint all Conservatives and Republicans as hateful and racist further driving away moderate votes. There is a reason Republicans have lost 5 of the past 6 Presidential election popular votes. What I would ask those who make such claims is, where is your evidence? And, what difference would it make if you were correct? The fact is Obama is Christian because he says so. His father was Muslim. But so what? Jesus was a Jew. But all his followers aren’t. And Obama is not a Marxist/Communist. He may be a Socialist, which is different. But at best he’s the most Liberal President since Roosevelt.

“Obama was born in Kenya”                                                                                                         Again, like above, those who continue to make these silly claims are idiots and hurting the Conservative cause by looking like idiots and through association making us look so. Like above I would ask, “Even if you’re right, what difference would it make?” Obama is President, twice elected. And he’ll be our President for the next four years. Besides even if you’re right it makes no difference. Obama’s mother was an American citizen. So Obama could have been born on Mars and he’d still be an American citizen.

“The Mariners are Rebuilding”                                                                                                           I never want to hear this phrase again because…1. No they’re not. And….2. You have to have been “Built” in order to be “RE-built”. The Mariners haven’t been built, a contender, for more than 10 years. That’s half a generation. They’ve been to the playoffs only four times in their history and join the Washington Nationals as the only remaining teams in Major League Baseball to have never been to the World Series.

Seattle Mariners

Watching them whiff on Josh Hamilton one year, Prince Fielder the next, and every big name free agent who comes on the market every winter is no longer hard to stomach. It’s not hard to stomach, because it’s too easy to ignore. The Mariner’s President is Chuck Armstrong. He’s been at the helm continuously since 1992 and for 2 more years before than in 1987-89. And Howard Lincoln has been the team’s Chief Executive Officer since  Hiroshi Yamauchi bought the team in 1992.

“The Seahawks are Rebuilding”

QB Russell Wilson in the Pocket

QB Russell Wilson in the Pocket

The Seahawks are no longer rebuilding. They are rebuilt. They have a good coach. A franchise quarterback and young-enough Pro Bowl running back, and basically one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. And yet, they led the league in fewest points allowed, they’re 11-5 and they are unquestionably this year’s winner of the title “The team no-one wants to face in the playoffs” award. No more excuses. We expect this team to win and we will be disappointed if they lose. They can beat anyone at home or on the road.You may say…”Next year…not this year”. But that’s the typical Seattle way. And I’m rejecting that way. Sure winning three road playoff games might be hard. But can they beat Washington? Yes. Can they beat San Francisco? They just did 42-13. Their third playoff game (if they get that far) would be in either Green Bay or Atlanta. Both would be tough. But we already beat the Packers.

“This economy is in recession”                                                                                                        No it’s not and hasn’t been for a couple of years. Will it be in the near future? I think that’s definitely possible. But they are not in recession now. Continuing to act like we are in recession I believe is part of what keeps us in recession. Why go back to work when Congress just extended the two-year unemployment comp plan for another year. It’s embarrassing. Were unemployment benefits cut off in 3-6 months as they normally are I assure you our unemployment rate would be lower, more people would be working, tax revenues would be higher and we could talk about taxes and the deficit in serious ways instead of as a necessary evil while “the economy recovers”.

Kim Kardashian

OK…ya…she’s beautiful. But beautiful women are a dime a dozen. She has never done anything in her life to justify her news exposure and it makes me ill. And while we’re banishing her lets banish all the faux celebrities out there who have no talent and no earthly reason in the world for being on the checkout stand magazine cover.

“Fiscal Cliff”

The news media was at its most annoying best (worst) with the continuing reference to the tax hikes and budget cuts Congress imposed on itself two years ago as the conclusion to the “sequester” negotiations. We were not ever going to go off our fiscal cliff. It was a faux news story…like Paris Hilton.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Look at My Pants- Lose Weight Now – YouTube

So you have a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight? So what’s new? Haven’t you had this resolution before? What are you going to do differently this time?

Trust me. I want to help you. Get the 24 Day Challenge Bundle. Just click on the link/words to get to the website to purchase. Follow the plan and you will lose weight, inches, and gain muscle. It’s guaranteed.

To see what is in the 24 Day Challenge bundle watch THIS video:

Lose Weight- New Year’s Resolution.

A wonderful side benefit of AdvoCare is you can be a Distributor for only $79 with no obligation to buy any amount of product. But you do get paid for everyone you introduce and get involved in AdvoCare. I don’t know if $1000-$5000 per month in monthly income from a part-time job interests you or would make a difference in your life. But it did for us.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Seahawks Looking Good! Can you say Super Bowl?

The San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX troph...

Since the writing of this blog the New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football 42-14. 

This Seattle Seahawk season ticket holder was pretty darned impressed with what he saw in Sunday’s 58-0 record blow-out of the Arizona Cardinals. It’s got me thinking of…dare I say it…the Super Bowl.

Call me crazy if you will but my dreams could be realized if a few small things fall our way. And we could be making plans for a trip to…NEW JERSEY? Ya…New Jersey. The fact that the game is being played in a northern climate again is one other reason why I feel optimistic. Seattle’s only other trip to nirvana occurred in 2006 when the Seahawks lost to Pittsburg in Detroit, MI.

(Oops! It has been correctly pointed out to me that the Super Bowl in New Jersey won’t take place until after next season in 2014. This season’s 2013 Super Bowl will be in New Orleans.)

Picture taken by me of Qwest Field at night fr...

CenturyLink Field where Seattle is undefeated.

Here is the situation: Seattle is 8-5 with three games left. Sunday they travel to Toronto to play the Buffalo Bills. On Christmas Eve eve, December 23rd, the Hawks host division leading San Francisco at CenturyLink Field. And then they close out the season at the “Clink” against the improving St. Louis Rams.

Before anyone gets too excited let me remind you that Seattle has played and lost to both the 49ers and the Rams this season, and at this point in the season they haven’t clinched anything. Having said that I like our chances.

Tonight’s Monday night game, Houston at New England, in Foxboro could be important. If Houston wins New England would not want to lose two straight when they host the 49ers next Sunday night. So come-on Texans! If the Pat’s win tonight they might start shifting into coast-mode before the playoffs when they play San Francisco. (New England won 42-14)  If San Fran loses their game in New England, while Seattle beats Buffalo the game in Seattle would decide the division lead with only one game to play.

Seattle will beat Buffalo for several reasons. First, they exorcised that “can’t win on the road” ghost in beating the Bears in Chicago last week. Second, the game is not in Buffalo so the Bills will not have that much of a decided home field advantage. Lastly, besides the crowd the other huge advantage Buffalo has over all its opponents in December is the weather. But the Seahawk game will be inside what they used to call Skydome.

I think the Hawks can break the 49ers win streak of them and take the division lead. What a nice Christmas present THAT will be. A division crown would come down to beating the Rams on December 30th at CenturyLink; a proposition I favor. But it won’t be easy. The Rams play an up-and-down Minnesota club next week and a declining Tampa Bay after that. They could come to Seattle 8-6-1 needing a win for the playoffs. Still, you can’t bet against Seattle at the Clink, no matter who they’re playing; as evidenced by their victories this year over possibly the 2 best teams in the league, Green Bay and New England.

Seattle would then host at least one playoff game and probably earn a bye the first weekend. This scenario counts on G.B. to lose at least once more. which I think they’ll do. Seattle and the Packers would be tied with an 11-5 record and thanks to Russell Wilson, Golden Tate, and a Replacement Referee Seattle would host their first playoff game after taking a week off.

Seattle would be favored over whoever they played and I would expect them to win, putting them into the NFC Championship game.

NFC Championship Game logo, 2005–2010

Under my scheme that game would only be in Atlanta or Seattle. If it’s Atlanta, well, the Falcons would be deservedly favored. If it’s in Seattle against the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers or the last playoff entrant (Who cares. They won’t win), then I like my teams chances of going to East Rutherford.

I’ve never been happier being so wrong. I’m referring to Pete Carroll’s pick of Russell Wilson as the teams starting quarterback this year. I was the first in the Matt Flynn camp, dating back to last January. And as good as Wilson has played, who’s to say Flynn couldn’t have done the same thing? Having said that, clearly Wilson is a special player and can lead this team to the Super Bowl provided a few not-so-unlikely things fall our way. Go Seahawks! Go Texans! Go Patriots (next week)!

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Seahawks Should Make the Playoffs

English: Picture of the 12th Man Flag at Centu...

 

We’re half way through the 2012 NFL season and my pre-season prediction for my Seattle Seahawks to finish 9-7 is looking pretty safe in spite of their middling 4-4 record and two game losing streak. In fact I’m willing to bump my prediction to 10-6 and possibly 11-5.

 

When I wrote The Seahawks WILL Win before the season’s first game I was still pretty pissed that Coach Pete Carroll had decided to start rookie Russell Wilson ahead of free agent acquisition Matt Flynn.  I’m still not sure Flynn wouldn’t have done better (who is?); but at this point Wilson has shown improvement and is a huge leap ahead compared to Tavaris Jackson one year ago. If he continues to improve he could be something pretty special by the end of the year; and Seattle’s offense could be considerably more formidable than it is now. If Seattle hopes to make any noise in the playoffs the offense better improve. And the defense, which has been mostly good, has an annoying habit of not getting of the field soon enough. They have one of the worst 3rd down conversion percentages in the league. But hey, Seattle’s defense has faced Dallas, Green Bay, Detroit, New England and arrives at the halfway point fifth in the league in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed. And they’ve done it with five road games out of eight.

 

All in all their record is pretty much what I expected. They had losses I thought would be wins- Arizona, St. Louis; and wins I thought would be losses- Green Bay, New England.

 

Going forward the Hawks have five home games and a history under Carroll of playing best in the second half of the season.

 

I count four of the five home games as locks 4-3 Minnesota, 3-5 New York Jets, 4-4 Arizona, and 3-5 St Louis. Toss-up games would be the December 23rd home game with 6-2 San Francisco and road games at 4-3 Miami and 3-4 Buffalo. The only automatic loss I put on the Seahawks record is their December 2 game on the road against a 6-1 Chicago team that extremely potent in the last two years whenever Jake Cutler plays. And right now he’s playing.

 

So by my reckoning the worst Hawk fans can expect is a one game improvement over the past two years to 8-8, which won’t get them to the playoffs.

 

The best the team can expect is 11-5 which would almost definitely get them to the playoffs. I think its more likely to expect them to drop one of those toss-up games and finish 10-6.  Currently six NFC teams have winning records and I suspect Minnesota is a paper lion and will be proven so this Sunday at CenturyLink Field. Aside from the current division leaders in the NFC East, South and West we need not worry about the rest. Seattle will be battling for a wild card spot at the end of the season with Detroit, who just narrowly beat them; and with Green Bay who Seattle narrowly beat thanks to a controversial touchdown call on the last play of the game. How ironic. I see two losses left on the Packers schedule so in all likelihood they’ll have the first wildcard. The Lions have a touch remaining schedule that will probably not see them finish any better than 9-7.

 

Seattle’s running game is so good, even if Marshawn Lynch were to be injured Robert Turbin and Leon Washingtonhave shown themselves to be adequate.

 

English: Red Bryant, a player on the Seattle S...

Red Bryant, Seahawk Defensive End

 

The defense at times has been amazing. And since they seem intent on correcting a really bad trend in allowing a nearly 40% 3rd down conversion rate for their opponents, and the fact that their remaining opponent don’t come close in terms of offensive fire power as their early season opponents; we can expect something pretty special by the end of the season.

 

The Seahawks have been in every game they’ve played. They literally could be undefeated. They could also be 2-6. I intend to enjoy what comes, and enjoy the playoffs. After all…no matter what…its not 2008.

 

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

 

 

 

Seattle Sports Doldrums. Time to get Mad.

 

 

 

English: The top of the Space Needle in Seattl...

 

 

 

A weekend of ineptitude from the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners has me frustrated and wanting to take a pound of flesh from some of the teams administrators.

 

 

 

The Seattle Mariners wrap up another losing season in the next three days with a young team that has some promise, but none of it in the vicinity of an acceptable Major League offense. Our swabbies were swept in Oakland the past three games by an equally young Athletics team. The Athletics youth is just about the only resemblance they bear to our Northwest 9. Oakland will play in the American league playoffs, probably as a Wildcard entrant. But given they possess the best record in baseball since the start of June they can be counted on to make some noise.

 

 

 

The Mariner’s too have had a better second-half of the season than they had in the first half. Since July 5 Seattle actually has a winning record at 38-37; compared to a miserable 35-49 in the first half. But as reporter Geoff Baker writes in this morning’s Seattle Times the league worst offense has only gotten worse, scoring just 3.63 runs per game compared to 3.87. It’s a familiar story too many Northwest baseball fans have become used to. Seattle has been at the bottom of the Major League offensive categories for 4 straight years. Their losing record reflecting accordingly.

 

 

 

What’s sad is during this time they’ve possessed arguably the best pitcher in the American League in Felix Hernandez. During this time Hernandez has won a Cy Young Award, finished second in the voting another year, and is likely to be among the top 5 vote getters again this year. Seattle’s other pitching has been less impressive but good enough were the offense not so completely inadequate.

 

 

 

First Baseman Justin Smoak is an unquestioned failure. He has blown up his batting average over the past two weeks with some solid hitting; but for the season that’s only lifted his average to a woeful .214 with 19 home runs and 50-something RBI (no I’m not looking up the exact number. What’s the difference between 51 and 59?). My only hesitation in making this proclamation is that outfielder Michael Saunders has rectified his carrier with a .250 average and 19 homers this season. I would have written him off before the season after he’d managed more yawns than thrills during parts of four seasons with the Mariner’s prior to this season. But seriously, how excited should we be about a fourth year player who’s best season is .250 with 19 home runs? At best he’s a fourth outfielder on a good team.

 

 

 

The number of disappointing Mariners doesn’t stop with Smoak and Saunders. Dustin Ackley, Mike Carp, Franklin Gutierrez, Casper Wells, Brendan Ryan, and Miguel Olivo arte all hitting what used to be considered pathetic offensive numbers. Seattle not only doesn’t have a .300 hitter this season. They don’t have a .290 or .280 hitter. They have catcher John Jaso as a part-time player hitting .277 as the only representative north of .260.

 

 

 

As we watch the playoffs this October with young American League teams like the A’s and Orioles competing for a championship, devoid of a Seattle representative for an 11th consecutive year, let’s forget the pathetic cliche` “wait until next year”. Next year won’t be any better if Mariner management doesn’t get its act together and throw out some of the young experiments that didn’t work. Specifically any of Seattle’s outfielders could be a solid forth outfielder. The rest can be discarded. We need a whole new outfield. One that can hit. Smoak should also be shown the door in favor of a 1st baseman that can hit for power and at-least a respectable average.

 

 

 

Safeco Field in Seattle.

Safeco Field in Seattle.

 

And Mariner management needs to do three more things unrelated to on field personnel. Chuck Armstrong needs to go as Mariner President. Outfield fences need to be moved in. And a policy to keep the Safeco Field roof closed unless it’s sunny and 60+ degrees needs to be established. Everyone from Ken Griffey Junior to Jesus Montero knows the ball carries better with the roof closed. And it’s warmer, for better fan comfort.

 

 

 

Speaking of missed opportunities. We’re watching a big one with the Seattle Seahawks this season. The Seahawks possess a championship-caliber defense, running game and special teams. All three of those areas of the team have performed spectacularly in the teams first four games. And yet all the team could manage was a 2-2 record that’s one controversial call away from being 1-3.

 

 

 

An active volcano, Mount Rainier is one of thr...

 

It was acknowledged by everyone that the choice to go with Russell Wilson at quarterback to start the year would require some sacrifice while the young player grows into an NFL caliber QB. Coach Pete Carroll was and is enthralled with the potential of his 5′ 10″ third round draft choice. But here is one thing Carroll seems to have ignored, Matt Flynn is young and loaded with potential too. But Flynn has something Wilson doesn’t…four years in the NFL. Flynn also has a Super Bowl ring, and an NCAA National Championship. Put those two together, along with some other factors, and what do you have? A WINNER. Matt Flynn is a proven winner. Having him stand on the sidelines while Wilson slowly learns his craft is a waste of the other very talented aspects of this Seahawk team.

 

English: Green Bay Packers back-up quarterback...

Quarterback Matt Flynn 

 

The argument that Wilson gives Seattle a better chance to win in the long run is simply stupid since Flynn too possesses plenty of attributes that would lead a reasonable football fans to conclude his growth is currently ahead of Wilson’s and could potentially be great too.

 

 

 

There is no question Wilson is an outstanding young man worthy of respect and praise. But with the worst passing attack in the NFL, a-quarter of the season is long enough to determine that the Seahawks need better play at quarterback right now or they could blow a season the is rife with promise and potential. Flynn is just as capable of handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch as Wilson, he can see and read the field better, and he CAN throw the ball extremely accurately according to most observers.

 

 

 

Please Pete Carroll; make the change. Install Flynn as the starter this week against Carolina. A trip all the way across the U.S. is tough enough. Tougher still, when you’re a rookie. It’s time to see Matt Flynn.

 

 

 

Thanks. I had to get that off my chest.

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

 

 

 

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