Well, the unthinkable happened last night, didn't it? Self caught the last of it on TV last night after seeing a silent movie with live orchestra, admittedly saying after the pop flyball for the first out, to the TV screen and the outfielder in question: "Don't drop it!". Still, if nothing else, one can't complain about value for money (more of which later), with the series going to 7 games.
Actually, the loss by the Texas Rangers isn't the biggest example of loserdom to emanate from TX this week. For example, you may have heard about the censorship by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of references to climate change on NPR this week, for one.....
For those who missed it, the story was on Morning Edition this past Thursday morning. To wit:
"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the TCEQ, commissioned a scientific report called State of the Bay, but it wasn't happy with some of the results. The report's authors are in agreement that sea-level rise caused by global warming is threatening wetlands surrounding Galveston Bay, but the TCEQ did not want any mention of human-caused environmental calamities and pulled out its red pencil."
The deputy director of the Office of Water at TCEQ, L'Oreal Stepney, stated (i.e. lied):
"Let me say this clearly. We are not an agency that is about censorship. It is not what we do, it is wrong, it is not who we are."
Well, tell that to Professor John Anderson of Rice University, a contributor to the report, who said:
".....the agency deleted passages that Galveston Bay is currently rising three millimeters a year, a six-fold increase, and that human-induced global warming is the cause."
You get the idea. This is, after all, a state with a moron global warming denier (not to mention corrupt crony capitalist) as its governor, and who wants to be POTUS.
There's also a TX bigot named Crockett Keller who stated, regarding his training class for concealed handguns, as reported here:
""If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner in chief, please do not take this class. You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision under the law.
If you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you the class with no shame; I am Crockett Keller, thank you, and God bless America."
Actually, memo to Crockett Keller: by voting for Obama and for Democrats (or simply against Republicans), we have amply demonstrated that we are more than capable of making knowledgeable and prudent decisions. I have no doubt that you voted for Rick Perry for TX governor, which shows that you are the one incapable of knowledgeable and prudent decisions making when it comes to politics.
But back to the main point: of course, Keller has the right to refuse to serve his business services to anyone he doesn't care to. (Would our side do the same to a supporter of B-ck, B-chm-nn, or P-l-n? Think about it.) After all, in restaurants, there is the old sign:
"The management reserves the right to refuse serve to anyone."
That's not the issue. To Crockett Keller: you certainly have the right to turn away anyone you want. We, in turn, have the right to tell you off for what you are: a mean-spirited, small-minded bigot. In fact, he fits well with a certain wingnut media type who thinks that murdering liberals is OK.
And speaking of said sociopath, currently in the happyland that is Cardinal Nation this weekend, no one is talking about Tony LaRussa's or Albert Pujols' appearance last year as B-ck the Bigot's "Restoring Honor" rally, for understandable reasons. (Only dweebs like me remember it anyway.) This championship win is about baseball and a morale boost for this sports-obsessed town that could always use it.
Even at the show last night, the SLSO president announced the score at the start of the game, while the conductor did the same after the intermission and at the very end of the concert. Plus, if nothing else, the series was a momentary "stimulus package" for city coffers, as reported on Morning Edition on Wednesday (the day of the rain out) by the local NPR station's Maria Altman:
"City officials say each World Series game played here brings about a half million dollars in additional sales tax revenue, most of it from ticket sales and concessions.
The first two games of the World Series, plus the playoff games, have brought what Mayor [Francis] Slay calls a windfall, allowing him to cancel unpaid days off for city employees called furloughs. It's a cost-saving measure that would have affected 2,700 employees.....
And sports boosterism aside, a Game 7 would certainly mean additional tax revenue for a struggling St. Louis."
Hey, we'll take what we can get, yes?
BTW, did anyone notice the almost utter lack of analysis of the series itself in this diary? Further proof of the loserness of the diarist, natch. OTOH, looking at the poll results last week, 70% of the votes rooted for the Cardinals, so some sense of good judgment there. Not so much, though, as the anonymous person reported here, speaking of bets with long odds. With that, time for the usual SNLC protocol below, namely your loser stories of the week.....