5 Thoughts for October 10, 2016

1. Billy Bush: In defense of Billy Bush, there are very few people who could stand up to a bully. In grade school, who stood up to the bully -- did you? I did, and believe me, it's not easy. All those other kids who appeared to be standing behind the bully, it turned out, were just scared of him. They told me so, afterward. It's a lot easier to laugh and join a bully in his put downs, than it is to stand up to one. Billy Bush was a coward, but then, so are the vast majority of people. It was inevitable that he would be suspended, and it's easy to criticize him, yet he's not alone. Look around you and you'll see that most people simply don't have it within themselves to stand up to a bully. You say you can, but have you ever?
2. Alphas and Stalking: I am mystified that some folks have conflated predation with pack hierarchy when talking about the second presidential debate. Donald's actions weren't that of an alpha. Go over the video and count the number of times Donald entered Hillary's sphere of territory -- a circle around her chair -- and compare that to the number of times Hillary expressly violated Donald's. Leaning on a chair from behind is not what an alpha does, ever. Donald was not the alpha in the second debate; he may have been stalking from the shadows, but he was not the alpha.
3. USC Trojans Football: I had higher hope after USC's win against ASU than after this past weekend's game against Colorado. Yes, the offense and defense keep getting better, but the four turnovers are a glaring and ominous sign of poor mental focus. Colorado is better than last year, but they're not anywhere close to the level of talent at USC. That USC could drive the ball at will in the first half was a sign of the talent gap, and ultimately the difference between a 4-turnover team that pulled out a win and one that probably wouldn't be able to. That USC stalled in the second half points to a couple of serious issues with the team, and one that will eventually catch up to them if they fail to correct these problems. On the bright side, Sam Darnold's been impressive with the short throwing motion and quick decisions; he looks like a Cam Newton but without the nasty ego.
4. Donald's Chemistry + FOSS Lesson: In last night's debate Donald was gracious enough to provide us with both a lesson in chemistry and free, open-source software (FOSS). When ostensibly talking about Bleachbit, he never called it by name, but instead, twice referred to it as 'acid-wash'. He then explained that others may call it 'bleaching'. Therefore, we were informed that chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite), with a pH of 11, was an acid. While talking about Bleachbit, he also informed us that it was expensive, even though Bleachbit is a free, open-source software. And you wonder why Americans are stupid?
5. Concussion Hits: The NFL really isn't stepping up its enforcement of concussions. Take for instance NY Jets' Brian Winters' late hit on Seattle's Michael Bennett. Winters launched his head into Bennett, long after the whistle had blown. He got fined the NFL's minimum, $24,309. The irony, of course, is that he ended up with a concussion rather than delivering one, making Winters look like a fool. Or look at Cam Newton. There were multiple hits to his head, but there was just one fine attributed to one hit to his head, and again, the fine was the minimum, $24,309. They didn't penalize Carolina for failing to put Newton into the concussion protocol. The NFL isn't serious about concussions. There are NFL teams concerned about concussions -- Seattle specifically switched to tackling rugby style to avoid concussions -- but the NFL's protocols are nothing but a distraction.