Consolidated Break

  The main difference, perhaps, between someone willing to vote for a Republican at the midterm, and someone dead set on putting them out of power, is the willingness to walk in other people's shoes.  In one of Ben Franklin's final essays, he parodied himself. Earlier in his life, he had written a letter in an attempt to reclaim one of his slaves, one that he wrote could not survive on their own. In his later parody, he writes about Muslims not releasing their Christian slaves because they just could not get by on their own. Franklin, as with all the Founding Mothers and Fathers, creates a portrait of modern American Republicans as the most naive people in history, clearly. The right to vote, the right to pursue happiness and yes, diversity, equity and inclusion, are all aspects of the liberty that the colonists fought for. Thomas Paine's Common Sense, an English commentary on life underneath a King and Queen, led the way. So to have an American Republican Party in 2026 que...

  The ATP is sitting on top of an untapped gold mine. There truly aren't minor leagues in tennis. On the men's side, there's the Future's Tour and the Challenger Tour. But these tournaments are full of professionals who bounce back and forth between the ATP tour, and the majors.  So although we might remark that a player came from the Challenger Tour, or is making the jump between tours, these are professionals who's only restraint is their amount of wins. They are not waiting on a franchise to bring them up. They do that themselves.  But on the main ATP website, players aren't even given credit for Challenger Tour wins. You have to contact the National Archives and the CIA to open an investigation into what a player is doing on the Challenger Tour. This despite these tournaments occurring at nicer surroundings than most other tournaments. You may be at a super nice country club or at a college facility on the Challenger Tour.  This kinduv reminds me of the atti...

FO26 is almost over, which means it's summertime now. The transition is almost completed. This year's tournament was heavily married by both global warming and war. But it was till Roland Garros. It still provided the greatest drama of the season, as of yet.  Matteo Arnaldi pulling out at the last second before his semifinal is heartbreaking. As a college player, I don't think I ever completed without being hungover, so I cannot relate to Matteo. I also slept through the quartfinals once, after quarter beers, at a prestigious Alabama clay tournament after upsetting the top seed the day before. So Matteo would probably say he could not relate to me either.  But seriously, Flavio Cobolli was standing there with a full stadium. Just come out of the lockeroon, get your ass kicked and take your check dude. I picked Arnaldi to win the tournament, so maybe I am taking it personally. After being forced to watch Sinner get totally illegal help vs The Spizz and then again vs Cerundol...

  Popyrin v Svajda is a perfect way for day 3 to begin in Paris. Sinner and Alcaraz may get the most attention, but we have real human beings out here trying to pay the bills. Popyrin is the elder stateman here. He's survived and had a career. When Alexei hangs em up, he probably doesn't have to get a real job. Svajda is not quite there. If it ends here, he will probably feed balls to snotheads. The clay would seem to be a friend to Zvajda, but he's a California kid. Popyrin also favors a faster court. This should be interesting. I like Zvajda here, he needs the money. Griekspoor v Arnaldi should be a shootout. If Matteo is healthy, I like his chances to take out a seed. But Talon has seemed to mature. The FO is the ultimate test for those who have matured on tour. We shall see. I am sticking with Arnaldi here. Tabilo v Kamil is a big time R1 matchup. This should be a packed court. I think Tabilo has just gotten better and better. He may even be peaking right now. I think T...

  Day 2 of FO26 aka STAN DAY ,,,,, Fusco v Berrettini is the battle of forgottons. Neither of these two will be around for long. They may not even get back to the FO. Fusco has maximized. Matteo is just hurt all the time. I sense that Fusco is the stronger mentally, while Matteo has all the talent in the world. Fusco gets him here because I do not believe Berrettini is healthy. Pablo Carreno Busto v Jiri is similar to Fusco v Berrettini in that PCB has been around forever and is a fighter like Fusco. Whereas Jiri has all the talent in the world, just like Matteo, but puts it all together at the oddest times. This seems like it could be PCB's last FO, and I think he makes the most of it by at the very least, out-foxing Jiri in R1. Rinderknech, the 22nd seed, v Jurij Rodionov will surprise a lot of people. This is an upset alert. I think Rodionov moves better. It's going to be quite hot, which will help Arthur's serve, but I think the heat also wears him down. I am a couple y...

  I love how day one is day really day 7 ! Supp qualies ! Zverev will struggle with Bonzi. Sasha is playing too well right now to lose though. GMP is taking out Nole. I don't think it's close. I don't even think Nole finishes.  I would like to see Gea defeat Karen K. Same with Nishesh against Fritz. Though both Ninesh and Gea could win, I think only one of these guys will pull off the upset.  Mensik and Fonseca will survive. Frenchmen Jacquet will be the first French spoiler.  Halys v Belucci will be the first five setter. Ad Belucci. Miomir v Marozsan will see Miomir tired from just winning a Challenger.  Blockx has arrived. But he has to play Coleman Wong. This should be a good match. I like Coleman here. Zeng v Prizmuc is another good one. I am going to root for Zeng all the way. Hamad v Yannick should also be a good watch. I think Hamad ends Yannick's hot streak.  Duckworth v Diallo shows how deep the tour is right now. James is a tough out, but I think...

  5/17/2026  Living in Louisiana when Bill Cassidy stayed at home to secure victory over Mary Landriue, it is stunning to see the right switch from anti debate to anti democracy in 20 years. You hardly heard from the LSU doctor at the time. It was decided early on that the way to beat Mary was to have Bill Cassidy say nothing. But he wound up having plenty to say about January 6th, making even Mary Landriue proud. But Bill Cassidy was and is a republican doctor, he's not some psycho maga sycophant. He has had two very reasonable takes that have put him at odds with right wing primary voters in Louisiana. First, he very reasonably decided that Trump should be impeached over January 6th. And secondly, he very reasonably decided that RFK Jr was no RFK. Instead of being respected for his honesty, literally no one voted for him in Louisiana. The state that has parishes instead of counties, with great music inside each one, chose to be commanded by a man convicted of sexual ass...