This (Non) ) Sporting Life: Super Bowl LX

So Andrea and I ventured forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to spend time with her dad watching the Super Bowl. My father in law cited a craving for KFC chicken so I got a bucket of that along with potato wedges for our Super Bowl party snacks. (It was I think an improvement over last year's surprisingly underwhelming Bojangles.) 

As for the game itself, it was for a long stretch a bit of a snooze with the Seattle Seahawks shutting out the New England Patriots through a series of 3 point field goals. Jason Myers set a super Bowl record by making all five of his field-goal tries.

By the third quarter, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye answered with one of his own. Only then the did game itself start to get even remotely interesting to me. 

My wife and her dad were pulling for the Patriots because Drake Maye played college football for UNC. 

For what it's worth and I really didn't care that much about it but I guess I was rooting for the Seattle Seahawks. Because Seattle is Ken Jennings' home town, perhaps?

Well, I picked the winning team as the Seahawks defeated the Patriots 29-13 and won the Super Bowl.

So... yay me, I guess? 

Meanwhile, what about the much ballyhooed half time performance by Bad Bunny?

I will admit I didn't get it but hey, I'm not Bad Bunny's core demographic. But objectively speaking, what I saw was a visually engaging spectacle with a palatable positive energy.

Bad Bunny's set paid tribute to his native Puerto Rican culture. His performance included cameos from Cardi B, Alix Earle, Karol G as well as Pedro Pascal and Jessica Alba plus Lady Gaga (that's her in the photo above) and Ricky Martin. 

The show contained a wedding scene that was not a scene but an actual wedding for a couple of Bad Bunny fans. So that was cool! 

Bad Bunny was accompanied by violinists, trumpets and an entire horn section while surrounded by dancers representing a variety of generations.  

A giant screen projected the message “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Did all of this piss off Donald Trump?  Of course it did.

“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.”

Well, I think I get where Li'l Donnie's coming from.

Bad Bunny put on a show full of love with a warm and positive spirit. Of course something like "makes no sense" to someone like Donald Trump. 

Meanwhile and elsewhen, what about the other big draw for the Super Bowl, the commercials?

Here are my favorites from the evening. 

• Ben Affleck returns to shill for Dunkin' with an ad that turns the movie Good Will Hunting into a sitcom called Good Will Dunkin' featuring de-aged 1990's sitcom stars Jennifer Aniston, Jason Alexander, Matt LeBlanc. Ted Danson, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jaleel White and Jasmine Guy as well as why the hell not Tom Brady.  
• Sabrina Carpenter is "tired of boys" and in need of a real man, Carpenter builds one out of Pringles.  Which she proceeds to eat.
• Appliance retailer Bosch turned beloved foodie Guy Fieri into just a regular guy without a goat or bleached tips and wearing drab shirts and slacks.  The horror! Oh, the horror!
• Two time Oscar winner Adrien Brody in an ad for  TurboTax? While "trying to tap into the pain of taxes", the ad's director tells him to dial it back a bit. To which Adrien replies, "If there's no drama, there's no Adrien Brody!" And he storms off in a huff.
• In an intense black & white ad, Emma Stone is angry and frustrated that the domain name of Emma Stone.com has been taken by some other Emma Stone and turns to Squarespace for help.
• Danny McBride and Keegan-Michael Key team up to present us with Halfway There Insurance while Hailee Steinfeld laments she should've gone with State Farm. Thankfully Jake from State Farm and Jon Bon Jovi is own damn self show up to save the day.  
• The Backstreet Boys are back and T-Mobile has got 'em even if the stage T-Mobile provides isn't quite big enough for all five of them.  Backstreet delivers a really funny ad.  
• Andy Samberg becomes "Meal Diamond" to sing about the wonder that is Hellmann's mayonnaise. 

So that is that for Super Bowl LX.

Which is "60" for the Roman Numeral impaired out there.

We're back tomorrow for the Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Until then, remember to be good to one another and “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Good Ol' Fashioned Racism

Earlier today, I posted about discrimination and abuse towards transgender women led by Donald Trump, his capitulating syncophants and stupid, hateful Republicans.

But Donald Trump and his MAGA cultists are just getting started.

Do you know what they're hankering for?

You guessed it! 

Some good ol' fashioned racism!

Bleach and iron those white sheets, you silly little racists, you!

der Führer is ready with some marching orders! 

It helps to understand that Trump's issues with immigration have less to do with "There's a dark skin person next to you who may be here illegally" and more to do with "There's a dark skin person next to you."  

And in Li'l Donnie's world, that is the real problem.  

Trump decided Somali immigrants need to go.

“I don’t want them in our country.”

Wait! There's more! 

“Look how bad their nation is. It’s not even a nation. It’s just people walking around killing each other. These Somalians have taken billions of dollars out of our country. They have destroyed Minnesota. We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way, if we keep taking in garbage into our country."

Minnesota is destroyed? Wow! I am shocked to hear that.

So too are the people living in Minnesota.

OK, so let's assume life in Somalia does indeed suck. Which is why the Somalians living in America like living in America. 

My understanding is the the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota is a quiet and industrious community that contributes to society.  Far from being "garbage".

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is more succinct in his assessment of der Führer: “Donald Trump seems like a gross, bigoted, racist piece of shit.”

OK, that works for me. Thanks for getting right to the point, Mr. Lemon.

Meanwhile, Trump’s administration released a document early on Friday morning decrying “civilizational erasure” in Europe.

Translation: Europe is becoming less white! 

The document  expresses concerns that European nations aren’t strong allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which is the fault of diversity in the population.

Translation: Europe is becoming less white! 

The document goes on to posit that “within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European. Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”

Translation: Europe yada yada yada less white! 

The document has more urgent warnings about Europe’s “loss of national identities and the need for American diplomacy to uphold European countries’ individual character and history.”

Translation: Hell, you know the drill by now.  

C'mon, Trump’s administration document! Bring this racist bad boy in for a landing! 

“We want Europe to remain European!" 

Translation: Europe, STAY WHITE! 

Emily Harding, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, had this to say about this position paper from the Trump administration. 

“The most worrying parts of the strategy are the ones that chastise Europe for losing its European character. The sentiment behind the words seems to stoke fear of migrants and an adherence to an idealized, old-world Europe that is questionable at best."

Translation: “Donald Trump seems like a gross, bigoted, racist piece of shit.”

Wow! This is a LOT of racism! 

But wait! There's more! 

Apparently there are days where our National Parks have free admission. Two of those days are MLK Day and Juneteenth.

I don't think so, scooter! 

Trump has rescinded MLK Day and Juneteenth as free admission days to our National Parks. 

Days important to black history no longer qualify for free admission status.

But what der Führer taketh, he also shall giveth. 

Another date for free admission has been added: June 14th which is Flag Day.

Of course it is only a "coincidence" that June 14th is also Donald Trump's birthday.

Translation: “Donald Trump seems like a gross, bigoted, racist piece of shit.”

Oh, come on! Don't be so hard on Li'l Donnie! 

Some good ol' fashioned racism never did nobody no harm! 

Good ol' fashioned racism! Just like your granddaddy used to make.

It's what will make America great again! 

Wake Up Dead Name

On February 13, 2021, the person President Joe Biden nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Health was Rachel Levine.

On March 24,2021, the person the U.S. Senate voted to confirm to that position was Rachel Levine.

On October 19, 2021, the person who was commissioned as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps was Rachel Levine.  

The official portrait of the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from 2021 to 2025 was Rachel Levine.

The HHS Official Portrait of 
Admiral Rachel Levine

Until last week.

As of December 5, 2025, someone in the Trump administration decided that name was wrong.

I should note that Rachel Levine is a transgender woman. 

So the name under Rachel Levine's portrait is no longer Rachel Levine but her birth name, her dead name.  

It appears knives are out for some petty retribution at the Department of Health and Human Services to wake up Rachel Levine's dead name.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon had this to say: "Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science. We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health."

Levine said she is "not going to comment on this type of petty action."

Well, that is very gracious of Admiral Rachel Levine.

I am under no compunction to be gracious.

This is total fucking goddam bullshit! 

Among the "harmful policies" under Levine included addressing the health needs of LGBTQ youth such as making sure they didn't kill themselves.  If you think helping people NOT commit suicide is a "harmful policy", that puts you on a fast track to hell.

Satan: "Goody! Another victim for my hell pits and WHAT? You were PRO-suicide?? Jesus Christ! What is WRONG with you?!? Can we not get a better class of sinners down here than these Trump cultists?" 

But this is also another demonstration of Trump cultists willingness to re-write history.  Whatever issue the current HHS leadership may express over so called "harmful policies", the name of the person who was nominated, the name of the person who was confirmed, the name of the person who served was Rachel Levine. 

When this damnable existence under the Trump administration is over and if our nation and our government manages to survive, I hope someone remembers that the name of the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from 2021 to 2025 was Rachel Levine. 

And fixes her portrait with her correct name! 

SIDE NOTE:  This not the only anti-transgender bullshit going on in Washington. Sarah McBride, the transgender Congresswoman from Delaware has to put up with this nonsense from Republicans in the House of Representatives:

"The chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware."

"I wish to address the bill introduced by the Congressman from Delaware."

And there's also the ban on McBride from using the ladies' restroom in the Capitol building.  

McBride handles these petty slights with grace and aplomb. She chooses on focusing on representing her constiuents in Delaware and not on these partisan games to ostracize her.

Good on Rep. McBride for dealing with these insults with dignity.

Me, I gave up on dignity years ago.

FUCK YOU, Republicans in the House of Representatives and your despicable, deplorable actions based on fear and ignorance. McBride is a far better person that any of you who traffic in hatred and bigotry! 

And for good measure...

FUCK YOU, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon!

You know what? While I'm at it...

FUCK YOU, Donald J. Trump!

The Ghost Towns Of Black History

Since it's Black History Month, let's drop some black history on you with a trip back to the year 1912 and the predominantly African-American community of Oscarville GA.  

Two black men from Oscarville in Georgia's Forsyth County were accused of raping two white women. Despite conflicting testimonies, the two men were found guilty and subsequently hanged to death. 

Interesting thing about rape cases in the American judicial system is that it is usually difficult to arrive at a consensus of a guilty verdict. From undermining the character of the victim to attempts to create empathy for the accused with stuff "boys will be boys, you know, and shouldn't have their lives ruined for one moment's indiscretion." And in case you're wondering, a judge just last month overturned a conviction of a young white man using that very logic. 

Long story made short, the odds are against the victim for the successful prosecution of a rape case. 

Unless the victim is white and the accused is black and suddenly the wheels of just spin with astonishing speed and efficiency to deliver a guilty verdict.

I imagine there have been cases of legitimate assault but a lot of these cases range from some young black man just looking at a white woman wrong to there being actual consensual sex between a black man and a white woman but an accusation of rape is made to push back on that scandal. 

Whatever happened in Oscarville, there was a rush to judgement, two young men were put to death after a questionable trial which leads us to the next part of the story.

The death of those two men was not enough justice for the aggrieved white folks of the area. 

Oscarville itself had to die. 

White mobs set fire to black churches and black-owned businesses. Eventually the entire black population was driven out.   

Today, Oscarville sits at the bottom of Lake Sidney Lanier, a reservoir created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956.  

Now I learned of the story of Oscarville GA thanks to a piece presented by Amber Ruffin on her show on the Peacock streaming service. 

Now what is most distressing to me is not that I learned of a predominantly African-American community that was eradicated by an act of white terrorism. 

What is most distressing to me is that Oscarville GA now brings the number of predominantly African-American communities that I know about that were eradicated by an act of white terrorism to seven.  

That's right, there's not one or two but SEVEN times when white marauding into black communities to violently attack people and wipe those communities off the map. 

Here are the other six.

Wilmington NC (1898)

In 1898, more than 1500 white men attacked and burned the only black daily newspaper in the state and overthrew the legitimately elected municipal government. The white men forced the duly elected government leaders to resign at gun point. Prominent African Americans and their white supporters were banished from the city.  

After that the North Carolina legislature passed a new constitution that raised barriers to voter registration, imposed poll taxes and literacy tests to put those black folks in their place. 

Tulsa Oklahoma (1911)

In May of 1911, a white girl accused a Black man of assault in downtown Tulsa.  So shit went down with a wave of white men with guns and torches swarming into the predominantly black community and killing hundreds of people and eradicating an otherwise prosperous African American community from the map. 

Colfax, Louisiana (1873)

Approximately 150 Black men were murdered by white men with guns and cannons for trying to freely assemble at a courthouse.

Atlanta (1906)

Bogus reports of black men sexually assaulting white women drove as many as 2,000 white men to the streets. Communities were destroyed and the unofficial death toll was up to 100.

Elaine, Arkansas (1919)

Blacks outnumbered whites 10 to 1 and were demanding economic justice and forming a union to secure better wages and working conditions.  

Well, fuck that, said white guys! 

Hundreds of white men attacked Black residents  with reports of over 200 Black people killed. Others were arrested and tortured while in custody, forced to “confess” about an insurrection with 12 men receiving the death penalty. 

Rosewood, Florida (1923)

It began with an accusation that black man raped a white woman.  In retaliation, a white army descended on to Rosewood FL, killing 150 residents and burning the town to the ground. 

Now here's another thing I want to talk about and some stupid racist shit that's going down today. 

There are currently laws and executive orders either on the books or under consideration that would make a teacher telling their classes about any of these stories from American history a crime. 

If I were a teacher of American history and I wanted to teach my students about what happened in Wilmington NC in 1898 or in Tulsa OK in 1911, I could lose my job, be fined thousands of dollars or even spend time in jail.   

These laws and executive orders are being pushed by Republican legislatures and governors in an hysterical response to the teaching of "critical race theory" which they say is bad and teaches kids to hate America. 

"Critical race theory" joins "Sharia law" as the latest thing that really isn't a thing for right wing nut jobs to be afraid of. 

Here we are in the early part of the freaking 21st century and the battles against racism still need to be fought. 

Even as state governments try to silence teachers in the fight against racism.  

Thank goodness Amber Ruffin is on the case.  

In a Galaxy Too Close To Home

Last week, Disney and Lucasfilm finally said enough was enough and sent Mandorian star Gina Carano packing.   

Also the United Talent Agency will no longer be representing her. 

Lucasfilm wanted to be in business with Gina Carano, developing a spin off for her Cara Dune character from The Mandolorian into her own series for Disney+.  

But damn, Gina was making it so hard. 

Gina Carano's posts mocked wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and repeating false right-wing talking points about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election have put her on everyone's bad side. Well, everyone with a brain and an ounce of empathy.  

Her latest foray into social media was an Instagram post comparing the current political climate in the United States to Nazi Germany.  

Naturally, Ted Cruz leapt to her defense. 

“Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe: not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi. She played a woman who kicked ass & who girls looked up to. She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again. Of course Disney canceled her.”

It bears repeating as I have done so often on this blog that Ted Cruz is a lying fuck bastard. 

Here's some of what got Gina Carano canned.  

"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors...even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?” 

So Gina thinks the antipathy towards her expressed views puts her in the company of Jews in Nazi fucking Germany? 

How is that different? For starters, your views based on lies have cost you your job with Disney and Lucasfilm. Whereas the Jewish people of Nazi Germany paid for their faith and their heritage with confinement to camps for purposes of torture and mass slaughter. 

The cost paid by the Jews of Nazi Germany was just a touch higher than your inconvenience of being momentarily unemployed.  

Gina Carano is partnering with The Daily Wire, a right-wing website, to develop, produce, and star in an upcoming film. “I cried out and my prayer was answered," Carano said about this deal, casting herself as a kind of quasi-religious martyr, I guess.  

Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro praised Carano as “an incredible talent dumped by Disney and Lucasfilm for offending the authoritarian Hollywood Left.” 

No, Gina Carano got her ass kicked to the curb for offending basic human decency in an abhorrent repudiation of facts and history. 

Gina Carano is not the first actor to wail "woe is me" and compare her plight to being Jewish in Nazi Germany.  As I wrote on Thursday, March 23, 2017,   

Actor Tim Allen likened being a conservative in Hollywood to 1930s Nazi Germany, a comparison for which Mr. Allen received a sharp and well deserved rebuke. Of course, that response I’m sure only underscores his perspective of persecution. 

If Tim Allen equates being a conservative in Hollywood to 1930s Nazi Germany, he should be bear in  mind that unlike the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and more in 1930s Nazi Germany, Tim Allen still gets to walk the streets freely and still be an asshole in public.

The thing is there have always been conservatives in Hollywood and up until recently no one gave much of a damn about that. The problem is that conservatives insist on defending the indefensible since the advent of Donald Trump as President. Even now, as I wrote last week, Republicans continue to run towards the crazy, not as a part of any adherence to conservative values but as a blatant grab for political power. 

Conservatives in Hoillywood who use their fame as a platform to promote and espouse the lies of Donald Trump and the deranged Qanon fueled conspiracies need to be challenged. 

Gina Carano is not being censured for her values. She is being challenged for her lack of values.

Gina's perpetuation of Nazi propaganda puts her on the wrong side of human decency and Lucasfilm was wise to show her door. 

_______________________________

On the subject of people in showbiz being on the wrong side of things, the bad stories about Joss Whedon continue to pile on.

Writer Jose Molina (Firefly) said Joss used to brag about making female writers cry. 

"'Casually cruel' is a perfect way of describing Joss. He thought being mean was funny. Making female writers cry during a notes session was especially hysterical. He actually liked to boast about the time he made one writer cry twice in one meeting."  

Writer and producer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) said "I would like to validate what the women of Buffy are saying and support them in telling their story. They deserve to be heard. I understand where Charisma, Amber, Michelle and all the women who have spoken out are coming from."

Michelle Trachtenberg followed her initial message of support for Charisma Carpenter with some new info, that there was a rule on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Joss Whedon could never been alone with her in a room.  

Since Michelle Trachtenberg was only 15 years old when she first started on Buffy, I don't won't to think about why that had to be a rule. 

Joss Whedon: WTF, Man!

It's hard being a fan of Joss Whedon.  

There are so many reasons to be a fan of Joss Whedon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer alone is a worthy reason to extol the talents of Joss Whedon. 

Firefly is a classic and darn near perfect television and the Fox executives who fucked with the scheduling and cancelled the show should burn like pigs in hell. 

Dr. Horrible is a work of genius, blending music, comedy and tragedy into an extraordinary event of indescribable wonder and is a reason to lift up Joss Whedon for praise and adulation. 

Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men is some of the best comic book writing on X-Men since the heady days of Chris Claremont in his prime. 

Joss Whedon's Avengers movie thrilled me down to my bones and while Age of Ultron has it's haters, I was for the most part OK with it. 

Yes, Justice League is at best a flawed work and at worst a fucked up shit storm but what I did like about Justice League I attributed to Joss Whedon's influence to bring DC's heroes out of Zack Snyder's darkness. 

Alas, there are so many reasons of late to NOT be a fan of Joss Whedon.

Ray Fisher accused Joss of abusive and unprofessional behavior toward the cast and crew on the Justice League set. 

Charisma Carpenter says Joss created "hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly."

Carpenter said Whedon called her "fat" to colleagues while she was four months pregnant and only weighing 126 pounds, "was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval."

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself, has distanced herself from Joss Whedon. "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon."

Buffy's sister Dawn, Michelle Trachtenberg weighed in as well, responding to Sarah's comments. "You. Are my rock!! What he did was very bad. But we win. By surviving! We know what he did. Behind. The. Scenes." 

Amber Benson who played Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voiced her support for Charisma speaking up.

"Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top. @AllCharisma is speaking truth and I support her 100%. There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later." 

Damn!  

Joss Whedon is not the first talented person I've ever been disillusioned by but this one particularly hurts.  I imagine many in the core demographic audience for what Whedon has produced over the years knows all too well the pain of being bullied.  The idea that someone who has contributed so much to geek culture is also a bully. 

How can the person who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer be a misogynist jack ass? 

How can the writer who gave voice to the hopes and pains of Dr. Horrible be so unfeeling about the hopes and pains of others? 

How can the guy who brought us Firefly's Mal Reynolds be a goddamn bully? 

There is no cause for this sort of behavior towards people. Whedon has a talent and a gift that I genuinely admire but it does not begin to offer an excuse for treating other people with anything less than simple dignity.  

To paraphrase Mal Reynolds, "Bullying people don’t work so well as an incentive as you might imagine.”