oblong

Props to the Tigers PR department. This account has been very informative.

Best concert, hands down, was Prince in 2004. And what bugs me about it is I had no expectations. For me Prince was the guy from the 80s and 90's who had some songs I liked but I didn't appreciate him like I do now. I wish I could go back and anticipate it and I would also have not had anything to drink. But yeah... he was ****ing awesome.

Researching it more.... there were test flights that filled those slots. (AS-201 and AS-202, AS stands for Apollo-Saturn) They just weren't officially Apollo's 2 and 3 at the time. The Apollo 1 fire mission was unofficially and casually referred to as Apollo 1 internally, never publicly announced that way, but those two test flights preceeded it. The widows of Grisson, White, Chaffee, asked for their husband's mission to remain Apollo 1 and NASA Admin agreed to do that. But the problem is they had to figure out how to go forward so they just said "Screw it, we'll make the next one 4. So what could have been Apollo 2 and 3 preceeded Apollo 1. They just were never called that in the paperwork. I don't know what they would have done if there hadn't been a fire and Apollo 1 launched, if it would have stil been called Apollo 1. For example, the first manned Gemini mission was Gemini III. So they had history of not starting with 1 for manned missions. I suspect Apollo 1 sounds better for memorial purposes than Apollo 3 or 4. There was another unmanned mission but it didn't carry a CSM (Command and Service Module) boilerplate so it didn't get an official designation internally, like AS-201, AS-202, etc. Apollo 7, the one you first remember, gets forgotten because they didn't go the moon like Apollo 8, or have a LM, like Apollo 9 in low earth orbit to play with, so nothing very sexy about it. But it was the first manned mission after the fire and they had to test out the completed CSM spacecraft. Everything had to go well in order to continue on with the missions to meet the deadline. What was originally going to be 3 missions was crammed into one. The crew won an emmy award for their broadcast from space. Commander Wally Schirra donated his to the San Diego Air and Space museum and I saw it 2 years ago.

But what do you suggest we do? Ranting on social media isn’t going to make a lick of difference. Getting angry doesn’t solve anything. All I can do is vote for the other side, put up a yard sign, and donate some $$ if I can afford it. Merely saying “I care” doesn’t solve the problem. Telling someone they are wrong doesn’t change their behavior in this circumstance. I don’t know what “off the hook” means in this context. We can’t send him to jail. We can’t prosecute him. Congress can’t do anything. It’s the “wearing a ribbon” conundrum. Ok. Wear it. People still have cancer.

I was a Cardinals fan too back then, after the 82 world series, and that pissed me off. Then 1987 came and that hurt too b/c no way could I root for the Twins.

I would think that whoever the POTUS was in 2020 would be interested in finding out what happened.

I don’t even react anymore. It’s as if you told me you bought blue socks instead of navy blue socks. The people we need to care about this do not. It’s not worth my time anymore. I’m not dismissing it or being indifferent. I dont know what the word is. There’s nothing more to say to try to convince people.

Old school weather channel layout.

The reason why is because TJ is very tough to go thru and I doubt any pitcher wants to unless they have to.

That’s on it true if you think the team that wins the World Series automatically can be called the best team rather than a team that won a 4 week tournament. the national media can say whatever they want but they don’t set the rules. Their opinions are just as valid as anybody here. I grant them no authority.

His strength was also his weakness. He let people do their jobs, had patience, and wrote big checks. That’s good when you have Jimmy D and Dave Dombrowski and no salary cap. It’s bad when you have Randy Smith. He also got attached to players and I think signed them out of sentiment.

I copied this from an AI Generator May 30 1922, a 78-year-old Robert T. Lincoln, (President Lincoln’s only surviving son) is helped up the steps at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Robert Todd Lincoln did not deliver remarks but listened with great interest as other speakers paid tribute to his father. Robert took great interest in the memorial as it emerged within Potomac Park and frequently requested that his driver pass the site so that he could observe the progress; he even secured permission once to visit the site in the midst of ongoing construction. Born in Springfield, Illinois in 1843, Robert was the eldest of the four Lincoln sons. He was graduated from Harvard College, and then served briefly with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, being present at General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. Robert went on to have a successful career as a lawyer and businessman, and served as Secretary of War under Presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur. During Benjamin Harrison’s administration, Robert served as Minister to Great Britain. He died at his home in Vermont in 1926 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery within sight of his father’s memorial.

I don't agree with that. That's last year. Rosters turnover year to year so they can't claim credit today for what happened with different people.

You've inspired me to read it again. I've probably read it 3 times but not in the last 5 or 6 years. I like to read books more than once. What I do is get on a subject, then go back to previous books to act as a cross check. Maybe something in the 2nd or 3rd book brought to the surface a detail that I missed in the first book. Like a damn Marvel Movie or Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.

Yes, I read that one too. Also 1776 and of course John Adams. All very worthy books and not too academic or stuffy. The Fifties covers Elvis, Holiday Inns, Rockets and Space, Levittown, Korvettes, Civil Rights, Peyton Place, Tennesee Williams, McKinsey, Eisenhower and the struggle for the soul of the GOP in 1952 (which has swung the other way today), and I'm sure things I forgot about.

I read about that in Halberstam's book The Fifties. I'll say it again, if you haven't read that, please do. It's a top 5 book for me. I learned so much about so many things.

like driving on the interstate and not filling up at the nearest gas station because they only take CC and you don't want to pay the surcharge... "I'll get the next exit". Careful. I tried that in Ohio once and got down to 4 miles remaining.

I believe at that point they get a "gold" card which gives them admission to any game.

Our Germans are better than their Gemrans. And it wasn't just Von Braun. He had a whole team he brought with him. Huntsville became like Frankenmuth for awhile with all the Krauts living there. And also regarding the moon.... If Kennedy didn't have his Bay of Pigs issue and the Russians didn't beat us into manned space flight, JFK may have never made his declaration about landing a man on the moon before 1970 and if he hadn't died.... that goal motivated the entire process and once it was reached they couldn't cancel missions fast enough as Vietnam was eating into the budgets. And it was a Republican who did it. The Apollo astronauts on the later missions that would have to meet or talk to Nixon could barely hide their disgust, even though most of them were Republicans. Here's a guy trying to bask in the glory of a program he eliminated. There were supposed to go up to Apollo 20 but 18-20 were cancelled. There were 11 manned Apollo missions (7-17), plus Apollo 1 (the fire), and unmanned Apollos 4-6. They skipped 2 and 3.

That was true the day he won the nomination in 2016 and is applicable to everything about the guy. Pardons are just one piece in a giant pile.

I heard he had both hands amputated but they built a special glove for him and he can sort of sling it in there now.

If Harris had won do we think Biden would have pardoned Hunter? Hard to say. I am open to the idea that he pardoned him because he feared a Trump Justice department would not play fair. I’m also open to the idea that he was an old man who lost a son and had the power to keep his other son around a big longer for the short amount of time he had left. Not justifying it but understanding it and I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if I had the power. It’s his son. Not some campaign donor.

I'm not suggesting all pardons are created equal but the issue is essy and face it... when you pardon someone who was convicted of a crime, then it's going to look bad, unless its part of a mass pardon for something that since diminished as a crime, like pot use and draft dodging. The differences are often of degree, not principal. I just don't think crying about them is going to amount to much in terms of public opinion. How can anything Trump does at this point amount to much? It will make us feel better doing it but we're left in the same place.