The Wind Cries Carly

Thank Locutus It's Friday!

"Resistance is futile! Those baby back ribs will be assimilated!"

What "Lying" Actually Looks Like

Carly Fiorina

So, the top "story" in the mainstream media in the wake of the Wednesday debate among the GOP presidential hopefuls is that Carly Fiorina "lied" about Planned Parenthood. Not that she was "mistaken," mind you. She "lied," pure and simple. She just made stuff up out of thin air.

Except she didn't.

You're never going to see a more glaring example of the herd mentality among "mainstream" journalists than this. They even quote each other as sources when pushing the Narrative Du Jour. ABC's George Stephanopolous, for instance, offers the debunked story by Sarah Kliff as if it were fact when intereviewing Fiorina. Amazing. Heaven forbid he would watch the videos himself...

In modern political discourse, "lying" means "pointing out facts that are inconvenient to the Narrative I'm selling." Keep that in mind in the weeks and months ahead.

A variation of an old joke:
          Q: How can you tell when The Washington Post is lying?
          A: Its presses are running.

Things That Make Me Happy: Personal Best Edition

My beloved Kansas City Royals have been stumbling through the month of September, and it seems clear that we just aren't going to get the starting pitching squared away in time to be a factor in the playoffs. Danny Duffy's performance Wednesday night got him sent down to the bullpen; Jeremy Guthrie will take Danny's spot in the rotation. The four starting pitchers we appear poised to use in the playoffs have ERAs this month of 4.40 (Yordano Ventura), 9.39 (Johnny Cueto), 7.20 (Edinson Volquez), and 4.50 (Kris Medlen). It will be nice to win a Division title for the first time in 30 years, but with the starting pitching in free fall, the Royals seem destined for a quick exit in the ALDS.

In the finale of their four-game series with the Indians at Progressive Field last night, the Royals salvaged a 2-2 split with an 8-4 victory. 2B Omar Infante, playing for the first time in over a week, set a career-best with 7 RBI, 3 of them coming on a home run in the 2nd inning...

"Boom!"

It was Omar's second home run of the season, both of them coming at Progressive Field. He added a two-run double in the 5th, and a two-run single in the seventh.

The Royals move on to Detroit to begin a three-game series at Comerica Park tonight. Johnny Cueto (9-12, 3.47 ERA) will make his fourth start against Detroit since joining the Royals at the end of July. The Royals are 1-2 in his previous outings against the Tigers. Detroit will send long-time Royals nemesis Justin Verlander (3-8, 3.58) to the mound.

This Again???

The view from my patio at 10:20 AM this morning...

Things That Make Me Barf: Uniform Edition

Much as I love my Kansas City Chiefs, I absolutely HATE their monochromatic uniform:

Dress like amateurs, play like them? Four turnovers between these two last night.

To be fair, several NFL teams now feature such uniforms, and I don't like ANY of them. To me, they smack of college football, or even Pop Warner football...

"Has anyone ever told you you're a crabby old guy?"

What part of "curmudgeon" don't you understand?

So, what happened during the game? Oh, nothing much. Just another example of the futility of the "prevent" defense, followed by an inexplicable call on offense in the closing seconds that led to a fumble and the decisive (losing) touchdown. Chiefs lose to the Broncos. Again.

One upside: Being down two games in the standings this early in the season will take the pressure to win the AFC West off of their shoulders, and free them to start checking for hotel accommodations in cities they might have to travel to for the Wild Card game...

Why I Don't Have a Closet Full of Krugerrands

From the delightful comic strip Dilbert, by Scott Adams, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On September 18, 1970 my senior year of high school was barely started when guitar icon Jimi Hendrix died in London at just 27 years of age. Even now, 45 years later, it is difficult to express just what an emotional blow this was for anyone remotely interested in guitar. There simply wasn't anyone else around who sounded anything like Jimi, nor has there been anyone since his death who has inspired such adulation among guitarists. His death was one of the darkest moments of my adolescence, not least because of the vultures who exploited his death to release album after album of subpar material that Jimi would never have approved. His original, official recordings are deservedly revered, though.

Today's send-off is a rare video of Jimi playing with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the original Jimi Hendrix Experience lineup. They're performing "Hey Joe," a song of uncertain provenance that was covered by lots of artists in the mid- to late-60s, and which still pops up from time to time even today. This will always be my favorite version, though. Requiescat in pace Jimi (and Noel, and Mitch)...