Red’s Olympic Update

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Mondial Ping -Women's Singles - Quarterfinal - Ding Ning-Ri Myong Sun - 17.jpg

For those who missed the exciting Women’s Single Table Tennis final last night, it featured a rousing match between Ding Ning (you know how Red likes interesting names)  and Li Xiaoxia decided in seven sets.  Ding avenged her loss to Li at the 2012 London Games in the final.  It appears that Li and Ding have a frosty relationship at best as after the match there was a perfunctory handshake and nothing else.  The Olympic Gold gives Ding the much-hallowed triple crown of table tennis (who knew?) having previously won the World Championship (twice) and the World Cup (also twice).

For those who discount table tennis as a professional sport — almost nothing comes close in China.

 

Servergy Sued Again for Fraud

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Servergy, Inc. – the company at the center of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal woes – has been sued by a group of Alabama investors who claim they were defrauded into purchasing shares of the company.  The suit alleges that Servergy made numerous misrepresentations about its business to entice new investors to buy into the company.  The investors claim that Servergy made unsupported claims about the sales of its signature product  – a small server – and represented that IBM and other giants were poised to buy the company.  Paxton himself brought investors to the table without revealing that he was getting a commission.  Tea Party favorite Paxton never bought into the company but did receive 100,000 shares as a gift that he somehow forgot to put on his tax returns and his required disclosures with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Today in Texas History – August 11

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From the Annals of the Political Machines –  In 1914, the Duval County Courthouse in San Diego burned down taking with it most of the evidence that might have revealed the criminal activity of legendary South Texas boss Archer Parr.  Parr ran a powerful political machine that controlled Duval County and beyond. Parr was 22 when he settled in Duval County in 1882.  By 1907 he had control of the local Democratic Party and was the undisputed political boss of Duval County.  He maintained his control with the help of local Hispanics who kept voting Parr and his cronies into office in elections stained by corruption and fraud.  He ran Duval County as his personal business enterprise parsing out County funds to himself, his machine and the local poor folks who did receive some modest benefits from their boss.  The fire occurred during an audit of County finances that resulted in the indictment of Parr – by then a Texas State Senator.  But the fire likely destroyed the evidence needed to secure a conviction and Parr escaped further prosecution.  Parr’s control over the County was consolidated and he built a considerable personal fortune on the backs of his constituents.  The Parr family continued to control the County with Parr’s son George taking over after his death in 1942.  Parr family domination continued until at least 1975.

Today in Texas History – August 10

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From the Annals of the State Police – In 1935, the Texas legislature established the Texas Department of Public Safety.  As the name implies, the function of the agency was to provide for public safety meaning primarily crime prevention and investigation.  The DPS was under the oversight of the three-member Public Safety Commission who were appointed by Gov. James Allred.  The Commission hired the director and assistant director who were responsible for day-to-day operations.  The original DPS was organized into six divisions: the Texas Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers, Bureau of Communications, Bureau of Intelligence, Bureau of Education, and Bureau of Identification and Records. The DPS is still in business today with its headquarters on N. Lamar in Austin.

Ten Things Donald Trump Could Say and Not Lose Support from the Tea Party Wing

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1. Slavery, really not so bad.  We should consider giving it another chance.

2. Defeating Hitler.  Bad idea from the Democrats.  Cost a lot of lives for nothing. I would have voted against that.

3. Executing innocent people.  It happens.  Maybe we need to execute more innocent people to make this country great again.  Only I can make that happen.

4. Wait for it folks.  January 21, 2017, I will be declared your new dictator-for-life.  Trust me, it’s gonna be great.

5. Last night I offed a homeless illegal immigrant.  Took out my Glock and I blew his f&#king head off. Didn’t even have to get out of the limo.  That’s one down, 11,999,999 to go.

6. Can you believe those morons that paid to attend Trump University?  What a bunch of pathetic losers.  They deserved to have me steal their money.

7.  I wear ladies underwear – bra and panties.

8.  If you lost a son or daughter in Iraq, well sorry.  My boys were too busy killing big game in Africa to fool with fighting in a war.  That’s what smart rich kids do. And if they had, they wouldn’t have been stupid enough to die for their country.

9. I remember when Hillary was working as a prostitute.  I’d see her on the street and kept wondering who pays good money to stup that.

10. I worship Satan and let me tell you it’s  fabulous.  You can’t believe what a great guy he is.  The ladies love him.  God is so jealous.

 

Quote for the Day

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“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. But the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”

Donald Trump

Donald wants to impose a religious test for immigration, give a huge tax break to the wealthiest Americans, reinstate torture as national policy, give up on NATO, use tactical nuclear weapons, target children of terrorists, and abolish the First, Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.  By the way, and if gets elected, nothing you can do folks.

But the knife-wielding maniac people, maybe there is, Red doesn’t know.

And the Texas Chainsaw Massacre people, maybe there is, Red doesn’t know.

And the Walking Dead people, maybe there is, Red doesn’t know.

And the Vampire people, maybe there is, Red doesn’t know.

Not to mention the hateful and vengeful Democrats, maybe there is, Red doesn’t know.

And if the Secret Service is reading – Hey, Red’s just saying, you know anything could happen and is referring solely to organized political action by the knife-wielding maniacs coalition for example.  Who by the way are quite the political force Red hears.

 

 

Today in Texas History -August 9

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From the Annals of the Veterans –  In 1946,  the last Confederate reunion was held at Camp Ben McCulloch near Dripping Springs.   The first reunion of Texas Confederate veterans was held in 1896 at a site near CBM.  CBM began to hold the annual reunions in 1904.  The reunion expanded and by the 1930s, the event was the largest annual reunion of the elderly Confederate vets with as many as 6000 attendees.   The reunion of actual veterans lasted until 1946 when the last two Hays County veterans died.  CBM still hosts an annual event for the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy.

Texas’ Very Own Spineless Weasel from the Species bushpolitico spinoabsentata

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George Pee Bush endorsed Donald Trump for President on Monday and urged other to vote for the man who had such nice things to say about dear old Dad JEB!!!!$$$$? (damn it feels good to type that one again!).  Here’s a sample.

“He’s a total stiff, Jeb Bush.”  Red has to disagree here as this seems to imply the presence of a spine – something demonstrably lacking in this species.

“Loser.” Hard to argue with that one in retrospect.

“The last thing we need is another Bush.”  Again, Red has to concede on that one – but shouldn’t George Pee be taking notes for future reference.

“Not a smart man.”  Trump nails it again. Red has it on good authority that JEB!!!!$$$$?’s college roommate referred to him as “the stupidest person I have ever met.”

“Here’s a guy, honestly, if he weren’t in government, you wouldn’t hire him to do anything, okay? If you had a company you wouldn’t even hire him.”  But wouldn’t the lack of hiring prevent the Donald from using his “You’re Fired” tag line. Oh well, sacrifices must be made for the greater cause.

“I don’t have a lot of respect for Jeb. Jeb’s a lightweight.”    Red assumes that “featherweight” is a bit too obscure.

“He’s a sad person who has gone absolutely crazy. I mean, this guy is a nervous wreck.”  Cue the violins.

And finally, the greatest insult of all.

“He’s an embarrassment to his family.”  Considering the considerable competition in the familial embarrassment category available from big brother’s track record of incompetence, Dad’s humiliating loss to Slick Willie and little brother’s shameful business dealings, Red can’t really imagine that anything worse could be said about JEB!!!!$$$$?

So what kind of completely spineless weasel, suck up, sycophant endorses someone who has said these things about his father?

 

 

Red’s Olympic Update

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Red, for one – possibly the only one in Texas, is eagerly anticipating the first match for Chris and Gabby Adcock of Great Britain in the mixed doubles Badminton competition.  For those who have never played real badminton, Red can inform you that it is a tough game that takes great coordination, concentration, quickness and stamina.  And it is a lot of fun to boot.  The interesting thing about the Adcocks is that they are the only husband and wife in the Olympics who are competing together as a team.  Talk about potential for marital strife.  The Adcocks have been playing together and against each other since they were teenagers and were married in 2013.  They are no slouches as they are currently ranked 7th in the world having won the 2013 Hong Kong Super Series against the world No.1 and Olympic Champions, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, the 2014 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold against Chai Biao and Tang Jinhua  and gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 BWF Super Series Masters Finals.

Their first match is Thursday at 2:40 p.m. against Ma and Xu of China.

Photo from telegraph.uk.

 

Red’s Olympic Update

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With the  31st Summer Olympiad set to begin in Rio tomorrow, Red will keep you updated on some of the more obscure sports and aspects of the games.  While awaiting the opening ceremony, Red looks back longingly at some Olympic events that have faded from the scene and that he wishes might be brought back to life.

The ancient Greek Olympics featured a competition called  pankration   which combined boxing, wrestling and brutality – sort of like modern day MMA.  The sport was played on open ground making it impossible to corner an opponent and extended the length of fights.  Biting and gouging were the only prohibited actions.  Legend has it that one such match – a fight between Damoxenos and Kreugas –   ended when the Damoxenos struck his opponent  with outstretched fingers, pierced his abdomen and grabbed his entrails – giving new meaning to “rip your guts out.”  Red thinks that Trump voters would be particularly fond of such a sport.

On the more modern front, Red laments the loss of tug-of-war from the games.  The event had a five Olympics run before being eliminated after the 1920 games.  Red always personally hated participating in tug-of-war, most likely because he never remembers being on a winning side and has a particular distaste for rope burns.  But he does enjoy watching a good old-fashioned tug.