Monday, November 6, 2017

Arizona Cardinals & the NFL regular season's week 9

Week 9: the Arizona Cardinals relied on Adrian Peterson & are momentarily at 500 after beating the 49ers (20 - 10):

"Cardinals ride Adrian Peterson's career day to rebound win"

http://www.espn.com/blog/arizona-cardinals/post/_/id/28141/cardinals-ride-adrian-petersons-career-day-to-rebound-win
"This was a game the Cardinals should've won and they did. They remain in the hunt in the NFC West despite the Los Angeles Rams'decisive victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. The Cardinals continued to alternate wins and losses this season and have temporarily forgotten their blowout loss in London two weeks ago. A loss to the Niners would've reignited the fury and frustration after that loss to the Rams in Week 7, but the Cardinals were able to hold off a depleted Niners team without suffering a significant injury."

 But despite it being a win for Arizona, we have to take into account the fact it was against the San Francisco 49ers who have not managed to win a single game & are now 0 - 9.  
In addition, the Cardinals will have a short week before facing the 5 - 3 Seattle Seahawks during this week's "Thursday Night Football". 

 & as previously mentioned by the ESPN post above, in the NFC west, the L.A. Rams are on top (ahead of the Seahawks) after destroying the Giants 51 to 17:
http://theramswire.usatoday.com/2017/11/06/nfl-los-angeles-rams-seattle-seahawks-nfc-west-cardinals-49ers-standings/

"The Rams blew out the Giants 51-17, moving their record to 6-2. The Seahawks, who came into Week 9 owning the tiebreaker with the Rams, fell to the Redskins after a last-minute touchdown, dropping them to 5-3.


Here’s what the NFC West looks like now:


  1. Rams: 6-2
  2. Seahawks: 5-3
  3. Cardinals: 4-4
  4. 49ers: 0-9"

Meanwhile, in the NFC south, by beating the Falcons 17 to 20, Panthers are now at (6 - 3) which means they won't be able to match 2015's record of (15 - 1) but they might end up with a better record than last year's (6 - 10):
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/2017/11/emotional_newton_leads_panthers_to_20_17_win_over_falcons
"An energetic and seemingly motivated Newton ran for 86 yards and a scored on a head-first diving 9-yard touchdown run as the Carolina Panthers erased an early 10-point deficit to beat the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons 20-17."

 Some are calling them the best team in the NFL, whether you agree or not, the Eagles continue their domination by beating the Broncos 23 to 51:

"Chris Harris: Broncos hit 'rock bottom' in loss to Eagles"


"Quarterback Carson Wentz and his Philly teammates lashed the Broncos by land and through the air in a 51-23 beat down, a game that left Denver reeling at 3-5 and veteran cornerback Chris Harris to wonder if the season could sink any lower."

 Week 9 ended with the Lions beating the Packers 30 to 17 during "Monday Night Football".

As for the rest of the games; here's the NFL's page with the regular season's schedule & results for week 9:
And here's the NFL's Season Standings:

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Friday, November 3, 2017

I binge-watched "Longmire" S1 through S5 (spoilers)

Netflix had been bugging me for a while to watch "Longmire" (with its recommendation algorithm). 
I went ahead & binge-watched the show, but only after I found out Katee Sackhoff was starring in the series. If Netflix's preview screen had shown a more prominent picture of Katee instead of Walt, I'd watched it sooner. 

I've been a big fan of Sackhoff since "Battlestar Galactica" (one of the best Sci-fi shows of all-time). But enough about that, I don't want to sound like Harvey Weinstein or FoxNews' Roger Ailes right now. Although I'm sure younger women feel the same way about Deputy Branch & middle-aged women feel the same way about Sheriff Walt. & for all I know, some women probably feel the same way about Deputy Ferg: & besides, I'm just talking about watching TV characters anyways.

 Of course, even if the show's cast was the best-looking in the world, it wouldn't matter if the story wasn't compelling. & "Longmire" sure as heck has an interesting storyline. Starting with the mystery of Walt's murdered wife in the early seasons. As well the dynamics between off-res Native Americans & Whites living together in a small community. Not to mention the institutionalized socio-economic & racial problems within the reservation. 

 Reading some fan reviews, I was surprised to find out that so many people hated Vic. Not me, of course, the troubled personal & professional history of deputy Victoria Moretti (Sackhoff) is what makes her flawed personality interesting & humanizes her character. In addition, she's been through a lot: stalkers, intimidation from his fellow deputy (Branch), kidnapping & torture, failed marriage, her complicated attraction to older authority figures like Walt, etc.

 And as far as sexual innuendo & cat-calling, Vic is often the target of it, but it's from the perps or secondary characters in the show, never from her boss or coworkers (except for the couple episodes where she was intimidated by an out-of-it Branch). So, in all seriousness, & taking into account current news events, even being a man I can see how it'd create a toxic workplace environment for a female officer if the harassment was emanating from her boss or fellow deputies.  

& then there's of course Lou Diamond Phillips (as Henry Standing Bear), a great actor who also brings fond memories of my childhood watching "La bamba" & constantly playing the soundtrack. I was under the impression Diamond Phillips was Latino but according to Wikipedia, he's a mix between White, Native American, Asian -- So the show checks the mark for diversity in its casting for sure.

 The "Hector" vigilante story-line (which got going once the show moved to Netflix) started slow. However, the story got better as the fourth season went on, when it dealt with the complicated (to say the least) aftermath resulting from the rape of a young Native-American woman by white oil-field workers. 

 The rape story arc also provided an interesting jumping point for Cady Longmire whose participation in the show grew from early seasons as the long-suffering girlfriend of Branch & daughter of Walt, into that of the statuesque lawyer for Native Americans in need of legal representation in the reservation (although at the potential moral risk of working for dubious-intentions "Nighthorse": one of Walt's nemesis from the early seasons).

 The fifth season provides Walt with a new girlfriend, not Lizzie unfortunately, but psychiatrist Donna who seems uninterested (at one point her iPhone ID for Walt was just "Cowboy"). Speaking of that, Vic's jealousy of the Donna/Walt relationship is surprising to me this late in the show: does it mean Vic will end up having a romantic relationship with Walt? 

An attempted murder on Walt, & Donna's kidnapping formed the basis for the fourth season's cliffhanger which led into the fifth season. 
The show doesn't shy away from depressing topics like some U.S. veterans dealing with addiction and the scars of war. & Donna being a doctor who deals with these troubled veterans proves to be central to the question of who committed the crime: a troubled and traumatized female soldier was found to be responsible for Walt's attempted murder as well as for Donna's kidnapping. 

Deputy Branch's near-death experience during an earlier season (the result of the murder attempt by David Ridges) made the"Hector" vigilante story an ongoing narrative, culminating in Henry taking over the "Hector" role (after the original was indeed killed by Ridges). As a result, Henry set himself on a collision course with Walt which culminated in a bar fight between the two men at the "Red Pony".

 Complicating the situation, Baggett's civil suit (Walt being blamed for Barlow's suicide-by-cop) & Nighthorse's involvement in Henry & Cady's life has made Walt paranoid to the point of pushing friends & his own daughter away. 
& to top it all off, Walt has become a liability for Mayor Sawyer Crane due to the mayor's upcoming re-election bid which conveniently has an"anti-corruption" theme. 

 But Walt's instinct might have been correct depending on what happens during the final sixth season. If season five's ending sequence is any indication, Cady's drug-induced visions during a tribal ritual provided some clues (if you take the visions literally): Nighthorse might have been scheming with Baggett to take over Walt's property (& open a golf resort), Henry most likely will end up dead at the hands of Malachi (hope not), Cady's killing of a white man in the reservation to protect a Native-American young woman might have unforeseen consequences... 

 Season six starts in a few days so we'll soon find out what happens next.
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Thursday, November 2, 2017

GOP unveils the #TrumpTax plan

It's too early to decipher the Trump Tax plan (written behind closed doors & unveiled today by GOP leaders). We'll learn more as journalists examine the plan more closely. 
But of course, this being republican legislation, the main reason for the plan is tax cuts for the rich & corporations:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/02/winners-and-losers-in-the-gop-tax-plan/?utm_term=.687dede6be34

 "American mega-businesses would get a substantial tax reduction. The bill cuts the top rate that large corporations pay from 35 percent to 20 percent, the biggest one-time drop in the big-business tax rate ever."

 "The bill eliminates the alternative minimum tax, which forces people who earn more than about $130,000 to calculate their taxes twice, once with all the deductions they can find and once with the AMT method, which prevents most tax breaks. There is perhaps no better example of how much this will benefit the rich than that fact that Donald Trump would have paid $31 million less in taxes in 2005 (the one year for which we have his tax returns) without the AMT." 

& when the deficit soars as a result of these massive tax cuts, Elizabeth Warren said it best on CNN; the GOP will just cut Medicare & Social Security. 
For someone like me in the middle-class, I would jump to the 25% bracket:
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-gop-tax-reform-plan-bill-text-details-rate-2017-10

 "New individual tax brackets:
  • 12%: Applies to incomes up to $45,000 for an individual and $90,000 for a married couple.
  • 25%: Applies to incomes up to $200,000 for and individual and $260,000 for couples.
  • 35%: Applies to incomes up to $500,000 for an individual and $1 million for couples.
  • For single parents that are heads of households, the thresholds would be the midpoint between individuals and joint filers, expect for the highest bracket which would still kick in at $500,000."

But things are not so clear. According to this chart (based on my current income), I'd save more money than I do now (I can only hope the GOP doesn't fuck that up):
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-plan-take-home-pay-2017-9

"If your income falls into the 25% bracket, you don't give the federal government 25% of your income. That would be a flat tax, the type of tax reform favored by Ted Cruz, but it isn't how our current progressive tax system operates.
Here's how the most basic calculation works — something you probably learned in high school government class and then quickly forgot — for a single taxpayer who will not itemize their deductions in 2017:
  1. Figure out your taxable income: annual salary — deductions — exemption(s)
  2. Everyone pays 10% federal income tax on their first $9,325 of taxable income
  3. Everyone pays 15% federal income tax on their next $9,326 to $37,950 of taxable income
  4. Everyone pays 25% federal income tax on their next $37,951 to $91,900 of taxable income
  5. And so on through the rest of the tax brackets up to your total amount of taxable income."
Nevertheless, even if you do save some money, question is; at what cost? 

 The NYTimes has information on the many losers. Among other things, the Trump tax plan does the following:

 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/us/politics/tax-plan-republicans.html

     * "Eliminating the medical expense deduction..."


     * "Some tax credits are eliminated..."


* "Changing the mortgage interest deduction..."


     * "Adding limits to the state and local tax deduction..."



On that last point, "limits to state & local tax deduction", Trump's & the GOP's strategy appears to be to punish high-tax blue states. Republicans from those states will have to oppose it or face a voter revolt:

"Representative Dan Donovan, a Republican from New York, said he remained concerned about the impact of the state and local tax deduction as he left a briefing on the bill but said he would assess the proposed changes on their entirety.
“I’m looking for a benefit for the people I represent,” he said. “The people of New York City deserve a tax break.”
Representative Tom MacArthur, Republican of New Jersey, accepted the concept of retaining the deduction for property taxes as a compromise. But he said the $10,000 cap “needs to come up a little bit.”
Another New Jersey Republican, Representative Frank LoBiondo, said he would oppose the bill in its current form."
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