Paragraphs to Ponder

Posted on by
Reply

Peggy Noonan:

“Most of those around Mr. Trump know his problems—bad judgment, little understanding of history, disordered ego. They’re for him for their own reasons. But to their credit, they never say, ‘He’s wiser than he was in his first administration,’ or ‘He’s mellowed,’ or ‘This is a good man.’

When your own people can’t say these things, that is a weakness. What they do believe, and will say, is the Democrats are worse, the media is worse, and Mr. Trump was never treated fairly. That is their sole unifying principle.

Those around Joe Biden believe in Mr. Trump, in that they believe they can take him. He can take Mr. Trump again. They can’t know that about other candidates but they know it of Mr. Trump because he does what Mr. Biden has long struggled to do, rally and unify the Democratic base. They long to read, ‘Trump Wins GOP Nomination.’ It means the November headline is ‘Biden Re-Elected.’ How odd it would be for Republicans at this point in history to give Democrats what they so long for.

Keri Russell Knows Herself

Posted on by
Reply

I’m always impressed with people who know their limitations and are comfortable with them. Probably because of the rarity of such intrapersonal intelligence.

Russell was amazing in The Americans and is currently staring in Netflix’s The Diplomat. This exchange is from a recent interview:

Recently you’ve done such a wide range of characters, from The Americans to Cocaine Bear. How do you find your characters?

I don’t know. My guy [Russell’s husband, Matthew Rhys] is a really serious actor. Like he can do German accents and s*** at the drop of a hat. He’s legit. And I am not like that. I have to read something and have an immediate, instinctual thing where I get it, I understand it. I can’t do everything. I have a limited amount I can do and I kind of go, “Oh, I know what that is. That’s funny to me,” you know? I’m not one of those people who goes, “Oh, my gosh, I’m gonna play a Russian drug addict. And I’m gonna get the accent. And I’m going to shave my head.” I know my limitations, and I think there’s just something about this character that I got immediately. This is closer to who I am than like a sly, cougar-walking Elizabeth Jennings from The Americans.

You Go Girl

Posted on by
Reply

Lauren Daigle, according to the New York Times, has crossed over into the pop world with greater success than anyone since Amy Grant in the early ’90s. 

She comes across as very likable in the Times profile. And what a voice.

This paragraph is funny.

“She wrote some songs with Shane McAnally, a Nashville hitmaker who is gay. And because the themes on her album are less faith-based than in the past, she knows some will count what’s referred to in the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) world as JPMs (mentions of Jesus Per Minute) and find the music too worldly.”

And in Sports

Posted on by
Reply
  • Lamar Jackson, Ravens QB, was widely criticized for negotiating his own contract without an agent. He just signed for $260m for 5 years making him the highest QB for now. Agents get something like 5%, so Jackson has a $13m bucket for quarterly estimated taxes.
  • A friend asked why 15 University of Colorado players entered the transfer portal on the same day. Because the student-athletes discovered academic programs more to their liking at other institutions of higher learning. It is no longer college football, it’s semi-pro football.
  • In the London Marathon, it took Kelvin Kiptum 27:50 to run from the 30k mark to the 40k.
  • If I had one player to pick to start a team for these NBA playoffs, it would be Steph Curry. Everyone overlooks his uncanny ability to get to the rim. It’s really not fair that he’s also a scratch golfer.
  • Giannis’s presser has gone viral. The critics are wrong. It’s a wonderfully heartfelt, fiery, but respectful response. Major props to the Greek Freak. Subtlety and nuance is lost on the critics. There’s a difference between disappointment and failure.
  • My NBA theory. Total bench scoring is the single most important stat. Every team has similarly talented starters who usually cancel each other out. Hey ChatGPT, what percentage of games do teams win when their bench players outscore their opponents’ bench players? My guess, 85%.
  • Best baseball story of the young season, Drew Maggi. When you look up resolve in the dictionary, you see his face. Second best story, the $75m Pirates kicking ass.
  • Some people are spreading a weird rumor that Seattle has a hockey team. And they aren’t stopping there. They’re saying they’re in the playoffs.

The Largess of Billionaires

Posted on by
Reply

Portland Oregon’s historically black Albina District would be better off with a more Scandinavian or Western European social safety net. Which would, of course, require a more progressive tax system reflecting genuine concern for the common good.

Absent Europe’s political values, and stuck with the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” individualism so deeply engrained in the (dis)United States, Allbina’s residents are left with the generosity of Oregon’s favorite plutocrat, Phil Knight, Nike’s 85 year old founder.

After reading Shoe Dog, the story of Nike’s founding, I’m a Phil Knight fan. In fact, he would probably be my first pick in a draft of billionaires.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Señor Swoosh is investing $400m to revitalize education, housing, and the arts in Albina. That’s less than 1% of Knight’s $47.2 billion estimated net worth.

That’s not meant to be disparaging especially given this:

“The Knights’ donations to the University of Oregon have funded professorships, expanded the main library and built numerous lavish sports facilities. The Knights have given $1 billion in the past seven years alone to launch and expand the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. 

They have given $500 million to cancer research at Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University. Mr. Knight also has given hundreds of millions to Stanford University, where he earned an M.B.A. in 1962.” 

It’s dumbfounding how much you and I have enriched Knight through our shoe and other sporting good purchases.

I’m glad he has a social conscience and is using some of the money we gave his company to improve the quality of life in a section of inner North and Northeast Portland.