Arizona Cardinals & the NFL regular season's week 8

Arizona Cardinals had a Bye week which, taking into account all that's going on (like their last game ending in a shutout loss), was definitely needed. 

Bye week or not though, the news regarding Carson Palmer is not encouraging if you want to see the Cards have a successful rest of the season:

"Cardinals place Carson Palmer on IR, will miss at least 8 weeks"

http://www.abc15.com/sports/sports-blogs-local/cardinals-place-carson-palmer-on-ir-will-miss-at-least-8-weeks

And speaking of shutout losses, week 8 started with yet another one, this time by the (4-3) Dolphins losing 00 - 40 to the (4-4) Ravens (who improved to 500) during "Thursday Night Football":

"Ugly, embarrassing and just plain bad. Dolphins melt down in blowout loss to Ravens."

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article181190251.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article181190251.html#storylink=cpy

Also, several seemingly competitive teams moved into the (3-4) "losing record column": Denver Broncos lost 19 - 29 to the (6-2) Chiefs. Detroit Lions lost 15 - 20 to the (6-2) Steelers. Washington Redskins lost 19 - 33 to the (4-3) Cowboys. & Houston Texans lost 38 - 41 to the (5-2) Seahawks.
Before the Texans v. Seahawks game, the controversy over the National Anthem protests continued, with the Texans taking a knee:

"Houston Texans Players Kneel En Masse After Owner Bob McNair’s “Inmates” Comments"

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/10/29/houston_texans_players_kneel_to_protest_owner_bob_mcnair.html

"After being compared to “inmates running the prison” by team owner Bob McNair, a majority of the Houston Texans responded by taking a knee during the national anthem before their game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

McNair’s comments were revealed in an ESPN the Magazine feature story published on Friday that gave an inside account of the NFL’s prolonged struggles with their response to national anthem protests. "We can't have the inmates running the prison," McNair said at a meeting regarding NFL players' demonstrations against racial inequality and police brutality."

& as I mentioned before, week 8 ended with the "Monday Night Football" game between the (now 3-4) Denver Broncos versus the (now 6-2) winning Kansas City Chiefs. A game I might add, I did not watch in its entirety due to the #TrumpRussia news (which I wrote about earlier today):"#TrumpRussia: Ex-Trump campaign officials charged. Papadopoulos cooperating with government:"
https://genxmillennlatino.blogspot.com/2017/10/trumprussia-ex-trump-campaign-officials.html


With this scandal-plagued white house, it's no wonder NFL's ratings are down.

As for the rest of the games; here's the NFL's page with the regular season's schedule & results for week 8:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2017/REG8

And here's the NFL's Season Standings:

http://www.nfl.com/standings

#TrumpRussia: Ex-Trump campaign officials charged. Papadopoulos cooperating with government

Like I've written before on this blog, I don't really like to talk about the #TrumpRussia investigation (that much), because journalists (much less the public) don't really know what's going on with it. Unlike Trump's administration, Mueller's investigation appears to be leak-proof. So it's all been speculation.

All that changed today, when former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump associate Rick gates were charged with conspiracy, thus giving us an idea of what Mueller is doing:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/politics/paul-manafort-indicted.html"The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, was assigned in May to investigate whether anyone close to Mr. Trump participated in a Russian government effort to influence last year’s presidential election. Monday’s indictments indicate that Mr. Mueller has taken an expansive view of his mandate."

"The indictment of Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates makes no mention of Mr. Trump or election meddling. Instead, it describes in granular detail Mr. Manafort’s lobbying work in Ukraine and what prosecutors said was a scheme to hide that money from tax collectors and the public. The authorities said Mr. Manafort laundered more than $18 million."

No mention of Trump in the indictment of Manafort & Gates. However, we do for the first time see the words "Donald J. Trump" in the federal plea bargain of George Papadopoulos:
"A guilty plea from a former Trump campaign aide"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/10/30/a-guilty-plea-from-a-junior-campaign-staffer/?utm_term=.1fe48a92ed54
"We see for the first time the words “Donald J. Trump” in a federal criminal plea bargain. As detailed in the plea, Papadopoulos was a junior foreign policy adviser to the campaign. According to the plea, he lied to the FBI when he said he knowingly communicated with a Russian “professor” with “substantial connections” to the Kremlin before Papadopoulos joined the campaign. In fact, he did so during his employment by the campaign. The Russian told Papadopoulos that he had “thousands” of Hillary Clinton’s emails and later that he had “dirt” on Clinton."

This is an important ongoing story. Therefore, cable news channels will have a lot of information to dissect this evening (& the ratings will prob soar), except for probably 'FoxNews' who will somehow find a way to blame Hillary Clinton. If you think I'm joking, check out this morning's Trump tweet blaming Hillary:

The Donald's ever-shrinking base may buy it. However, the rest of the public (which is the majority) is not fooled by Trump trying to distract with his own public (or more like Twitter) trial of Hillary. & it's irrelevant, because let's remember, Hillary Clinton (despite winning the election by 3 million votes) is now just a private citizen with no governing power.

The release of the JFK assassination files

I've always looked up to my dad. Despite being an immigrant who didn't speak a word of English when he first arrived, Dad was able to give us a stable comfortable life here in the U.S. 
He never made much money (Trump would probably call him a loser) but he's a man with a lot of common sense, and he'd always give his children sound advise & guidance. In addition, Dad's political views are center-left so I mostly agree with him. However, there is one area where I always disagree with him. & that's when it comes to the JFK assassination. 

I've never believed in conspiracy theories. "Lizard people", "FEMA concentration camps", etc. is all nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Governments & powerful organizations are mostly about getting wealth, resources, & nothing else. That's what drives most politicians and world leaders."Money makes the world go round" as they say. When it comes to complex conspiracy theories I tend to dismiss them unless you can show me somebody is making money off it: then I'll investigate a little bit more but most of the conspiracy theories are just B.S. to keep certain people occupied.

But back to my dad, I've always argued with him because he is sure there was a great conspiracy to kill JFK. I've always counter by saying it was just a lone nutcase who was radicalized to the point he committed one of the worst acts of violence of the 20th century. The lone nutcase blew the brains out of the president of the United States in front of his wife (& on video) which led to a decade of turmoil in the United States's mainland: which I doubt was good for government, business or markets which mostly depend on stability at home. Still, I can see how some people want to believe it was all part of a grand plan by some shadowy organization or group of powerful individuals.  

& this week, Trump has been hyping the release of more JFK files.
Again, probably just to keep certain people occupied. & people as well as journalists are interested because; who doesn't love "investigating" or talking about a conspiracy theory?

To me, JFK's assassination was just a massive failure by the secret service, Dallas police and intelligence agencies. However, lone nutcase killers are tough to identify & find, as we've all seen with the frequent mass-killings; the latest being the Las Vegas shooting, so the failure is not unprecedented.

The NYTimes has a very detailed story (with interactive options to view the documents) about the files which describe the turmoil & confusion in the assassination's aftermath. 
Nobody knew what to make of it. Soviet Union at first thought it was a "coup" by the "ultra-right" before their intelligence agencies (KGB) decided to blame president Johnson. 

In addition, I think Trump hyping the release of the files so much seems designed to undermine our intelligence agencies & even the FBI. Imagine the damage to the FBI if the cable described below had been released back in those days:

"An F.B.I. cable from April 1964 reconstructed Oswald’s bus trip to Mexico weeks before the assassination, including the names of the people sitting around him and even what he was wearing: “a short-sleeved light colored sport shirt and no coat.”

In Hoover’s memo two days after the assassination, he expressed anxiety that Oswald’s killing would generate doubts among Americans. “The thing I am concerned about,” he wrote, “is having something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.” 

Worst of all, after all these years, the NYTimes comes to the conclusion the documents will just keep JFK assassination conspiracy theorists (like my dad) with more questions than answers:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/us/politics/trump-jfk-release.html

The documents will not end the debate or speculation — and a few may add to the questions. In a 1975 deposition, for example, Richard Helms, the former C.I.A. director, was asked: “Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or an agen…”

But the document ends there, and Mr. Helms’s answer is missing.

#Trump administration's "contradicting signals" on taxing 401(K) upfront

When I heard Republicans were planning (among other things) to tax 401(K) accounts upfront to pay for massive tax cuts for corporations & the wealthy, I was not surprised. Republicans control all branches of government, thus they can get away with this type of legislation. The GOP will just use Trump as a salesman, & since the Donald's an expert at doublespeak, his base will blindly believe anything he says without questioning any details.

Nevertheless, Trump denied it on Twitter: "There will be no change to your 401(K)" he tweeted.  

Of course, you can't trust anything Trump says (& he usually doesn't know what he's talking about policy-wise), therefore, markets were down today. Because (among other things), taxing 401(K)'s is back on the negotiating table:

"Tax Plan Worries, Tepid Earnings Halt Rally"

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/10/25/business/25reuters-usa-stocks.html

"(Reuters) - Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index was headed for its worst loss in seven weeks on Wednesday, with downbeat corporate earnings and contradicting signals on Republican plans for a popular retirement scheme weighing on sentiment."

"Contradicting signals" from Texas GOP rep & tax writer Kevin Brady. Here's more information from "Business Insider"... 

http://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-brady-401k-retirement-savings-trump-tweet-tax-reform-2017-10

"Reports began circulating Friday that the tax legislation's writers were set to impose a $2,400-a-year limit on contributions to tax-deferred retirement accounts to help pay for coming effort to overhaul the tax code. Subsequent contributions would have to go in a Roth account, which is taxed up front, according to the talked-about changes in news reports.

Some feared the proposed change could depress how much Americans saved for retirement.

Despite Trump's promise that "there will be NO change to your 401(k)," Brady on Wednesday said potential tweaks were still on the table."

... And from CNBC:

"Top House tax writer suggests 401(k) changes could still happen, contradicting Trump"

• Rep. Kevin Brady leaves the door open to making changes to 401(k) retirement savings plans under the GOP tax bill.

• President Donald Trump had said Republicans would not revise 401(k) rules.
• Savers can currently put a specified amount in those plans without paying taxes upfront."
  • • https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/rep-kevin-brady-says-401k-changes-could-happen-contradicting-trump.html

Besides the "contradicting signals" (more like flip-flopping) from the GOP, the down market was also affected by other reasons (like a string of disappointing reports):

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-500-set-to-slip-hurt-by-chipotle-and-amds-earnings-driven-drops-2017-10-25

"Dow down by triple digits as stocks sag on a string of disappointing earnings"

"The stock market pared some of its losses Wednesday as investors sought a comfortable level to buy back into equities, though the Dow was still down by triple digits on a string of disappointing earnings reports.

A recent series of record closes, low volatility and stretched valuations were also cited as reasons for the cautious trading that is dominating much of the session."