COVID Cup

The National Hockey League has unveiled a proposal to for the 2019-2020 season to resume and end with a "worthy Stanley Cup champion".

I am happy to see that they are going to give it a try, though I am not sure it will work.

The playoffs would start with each conference having the top four slots occupied by teams with the highest point totals at the pause playing in a round robin to determine the top four slots.  Teams 5-12 play in a best of five to complete the ranking and then we are back to an eight team tourney.  The games are to be played in two or three "hub cities".

So far, so good.

Then there are the seemingly thousands of regulations about social distancing and temperature checks.  Here is where it can go off the rails, especially when it comes to "self-quarantine" if a player tests positive.

Then there are other considerations like having the season ending in July and what if there is a stoppage in the middle of the playoffs?  The next season is right behind this one.  There is a short enough break as it is.

Then there is the quality of the games.  Is hitting allowed?  No fans? Forget home ice advantage.

And then there is the stigma of being the "COVID Cup Champs".  It is like having an asterisk by the name.

I guess it is better than no hockey and my Penguins have Montreal first.

Might be better to lose.

On the other hand, at least they are trying!

Happy Memorial Day!

OK, still looking over the hockey proposal :-)

In the meantime, Happy Memorial Day!

Roaming around

Pass any stupid law you want, I am still going to roam around and enjoy my natural and Constitutional right of movement...as long as it is not on private property.  LOL

No one has attempted to stop me or any other the hundreds of others walking around in defiance of arbitrary curfews and plenty of business has opened up in varying degrees.  The best way to defeat a tyrannical government is to do what Martin Luther King, Ghandi, and Henry David Thoreau did.  '

Ignore it.

Having a picture of Rosa Parks on your backpack helps!

I am not going to comment anymore of COVID stupidity (except for the hockey proposal coming up next post.).  You know what to do--wash your hands, stay six feet way, wear a mask if you feel you need one, and please ignore anything a politician says about "compassion."  They are sociopaths with no idea what the word means.

Tyranny never lasts.  The Supreme Court of Wisconsin overruled that state's governor and there are no restrictions there, people are ignoring California's tyrant, and a good part of Pennsylvania has tuned out the idiot living for free in Harrisburg.  

Time to get the country moving again--with calm determination.  If they want to throw the first punch, let them.  The next half dozen or so are yours :-)

Have fun and be safe.

And wash your hands!

Tomorrow, time to talk about hockey playoffs!

Reopening because they can...and must

The politicians still get paid.

Small business owners do not have the luxury of a six week shutdown.  If it had been a two week shutdown, there might have been more support, but you cannot violate a business owner's right to run a store.  Not only does he or she have their family to provide for, but those of the employees.

This might be my free enterprise background talking, but it seems most politicians have never had a real job and have been on the public payroll their whole lives.

If following the rules means bankruptcy and losing everything, then it is time to throw the rules overboard.  We have a Constitution and freedom in this country from arbitrary rules.  In many states, a governor can declare a state of emergency for 30 days.  After that, the legislature must be involved.  That is how our government works.  No one person can decide which business stays open and what they can sell to whom etc...  Not only is rule by one person unconstitutional and illegal, the very first war this country ever fought was against people like that.  We have the freedom to worship and pursue happiness and run a business to provide for ourselves....and pay taxes.  I did not say it was perfect.

Plus, you cannot keep humans cooped up.  We are made to roam about.  Just take reasonable precautions like washing  your hands, keeping six feet away, and wear a mask if you feel it is necessary.  Business owners will take whatever steps they feel are necessary.

I am an adult who can make his own choices.  I am reasonable and I do all of the above.  I don't need a government that cannot do anything right and runs trillions in the red to tell me how to live. 

Then there is "it is the law argument."  If the law is wrong, then get rid of it.  If they persist with the "it is the law argument", just remind them of Rosa Parks.

Have a nice day.

Petty tyrant slapped down!

The Mayor of Louisville attempted to outlaw Easter church services and the federal judge slapped the city with a restraining order.  A church in Louisville, Kentucky had drive in services where parishioners were in their cars six feel away and hizzoner tried to keep this from happening, citing health concerns.  Violating freedom of religion did not seem to have a residence in the walnut he calls a brain.

Then the governor of the Kentucky wanted the police to record to license plates of people at the drive in service.  Seems to be little beneath the notice of a governor, isn't it?

Another injunction inbound.

It is disappointing that some local authorities have tried to turn into petty tyrants.  I am seeing more people out and about and curfews are not really working.  Protests have begun because people need to get back to work.

Stay six feet away from everyone, wash your hands, wear a mask if you feel you need to.

There.  Done. Get on it.

We don't need government idiots telling us when to work, what to buy, and if we have permission to do so.

After all, their paychecks keep coming.

Julius Caesar traveled with his soldiers, ate what they ate, and slept in a tent with them.  That way, he knew how they felt and what they were capable of.

Do you think the fools who try to restrict everything do the same?

No need for violence or confrontation.  Just go and do what you need to do.  Get back to work and get a head start on getting out of Great Depression II.

Happy (Western!) Easter!

Was the Haitian Revolution really a revolution?

Steelers-Browns game?

With everything shut down, I have been catching up on my reading.  My book journey took me to Haiti the other day, which was a little surprising since I usually don't sail into the Caribbean.  Nonetheless, I splashed ashore and looked around.

The primary force behind the Revolution was the horrible working conditions that African slaves had to labor in.  Who can you not expect a revolt in the cane fields.  I am surprised it did not happen sooner.  Also, there were a lot of class tensions between poor whites and the white aristocracy. When the revolt happened, it blew up rather quickly.

Another factor to the revolution was the French Revolution.  Since Haiti was a colony of France, anything happening in Paris would eventually make its way to Port-au-Prince.  Thus, the Revolution swept France in 1789 and landed in Haiti in 1791. 

In 1794, the National Convention in France outlawed slavery throughout French possessions.  That would include Haiti.  So, the slave revolt sweeping Haiti is not longer a revolt since slavery is outlawed, therefore the "rebels" are just enforcing the law.

Later Napoleon would try to overrun the island and tried reimpose slavery.  He was also trying to secure communication lanes with newly reacquired Louisiana.  General LeClerc overran the island but could not hold on to it and the French eventually left.

Haiti was free though saddled with debt they agreed to pay France for losses in the Revolution.

In the end, the Haitian rebels were legally in the right, so was it a revolution at all?

Bring that up and see where the argument goes!