Protect & Cover! Omaha! Omaha!

I've always thought the GOP was running the protect and cover play. Protect and cover meaning hide the ball carrier to trick the defense. Let me explain. I've never had much confidence that Donald Trump would actually be their nominee. Trump is playing the role they want and need. He's loud, rude, fiery, and crazy. Crazy like a fox. Before Trump begin making the absolutely outlandish statements about minorities, women, shooting people, and insulting the intelligence of citizens of Iowa the craziest rhetoric in the party was coming from Tea Party superstar Ted Cruz. He made so many divisive statements to get elected Senator that many people didn't think he was electable to a national office. His polling numbers were incredibly low. I don't think he is the actual likely candidate still. The more moderate and probably the most likely candidate on the GOP palate is actually the person I believe they are both providing the cover for. Marco Rubio. 

Presidents and Candidates for the officers are supposed to be well versed in unity. They are supposed to be able to bring complex issues down to thimble of palatable medicine that both parties could swallow. Ultimately both parties realize that the ultimate goal is to win. Being far right or far left on the political spectrum is not the easiest path to White House. 

Pay less attention to the bombastic rhetoric of Donald Trump and begin to do your homework on Senator Cruz and Senator Rubio. I believe as America takes a harder look at Trump he will slide away. Eventually Cruz will do the same. Rubio will be left standing and in comparison to the other two seem likable, young, fresh, and a great choice.  

I implore you to don't let the lack of media attention around these two let you give your vote or well wishes to someone you really don't know. In Michigan we've seen this happen already. Very little was know about One Tough Nerd also know as Rick Snyder. Very little debates were held and he coasted into his first election with not a lot known about him. He posed as a moderate but his actions have been very much like a Tea Party Republican. Due diligence was not taken by many of the people hurt by his two terms. Snyder swept into office as a relative unknown. He's a pariah to the national GOP right now. The Flint Water Crisis is a human rights issue that was caused by the tea party ideas of reducing government spending and scaling back to reduce costs to the rich and businesses.  Don't get it twisted though if your upset with this line of thinking then remember Snyder's principles are shared by Cruz and Rubio. Do your homework people. Vote like your life depends upon it because we know after the water crisis in Flint.....it does! 

Flint....will people finally wake up?

What can you say when over one hundred thousand people have been subjected to lead poisining? Finger pointing won't explain or answer how we deal with the years of damage to the people effected. I'm sorry won't remove the damage to generations of people. I read today that for only a measly $50K  a year the state could of prevented this travesty on the people of Flint. 

Yet through a collective series of errors it didn't happen. Shouldn't there be consequences when people die? Shouldn't we hold people accountable when people are permanently injured. It shouldn't matter to anyone what's the race of citizens or ecnonmic conditions. This is an American tragedy. It should never happen in a country where billows and trillions of dollars flow through the the ecnonmy. The city of Flint lost the right to have elected leadership make decisions for the residents. The Governor  of the State of Michigan Rick Snyder made the decision for them. He made the wrong decision. Or maybe his appointed Emergency Manager Darnell Early made the wrong decision but either way it wasn't the leadership of Flint. 

If this doesn't upset you then you might be dead inside. This is another reminder that we must vote. We must be engage. We must wake up out of the slumber of ignorance or discontent. Now is the time. Don't ever forget this lesson. When you say you don't care or it's not important to you politicians can make decisions or fail to make decision that can cost people their lives. Wake up people the fight of our lives is now!!! This is a national news story. This is shocking to the world. It should be to you as well. 

Bengals Got Robbed By Bad Officiating

The What do you think about the Steelers & Bengals game last night. At first I blamed the Bengals but after further research it was definitely a case of the Steelers getting away with throwing the first punch and the refs seeing the responder and not the instigator. The Steelers coaches last night acted like fools. Check the examples below 

First you have Mike Munchak pulling the hair of Reggie Nelson which should have been an ejection from the game along with the personal foul that was called. 

Refs 1-Bengals-0

Next you have violation of rules with 

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, who forced a key fumble late in the fourth quarter and blasted Bengals running back Giovani Bernard on a hit that left the rusher with a concussion. 

The NFL inspired apologists at CBS defended the play as legal and called the play “unfortunate,” because Bernard’s status in the play declared him “not defenseless.” They were wrong. 

ARTICLE 8. INITIATING CONTACT WITH THE CROWN OF THE HELMET. 

It is a foul if a runner or tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players are clearly outside the tackle box

Refs 2-Bengals 0 

Then Joey Porter on the field talking trash to Pacman Jones and other Bengals right before the penalty. Why is Porter even on the field? No coaches are allowed on the field unless they are attending to an injured player or granted permission by the officials. I seriously doubt Porter was given permission in this extremely tense game. Porter is a defensive coach. The offense was on the field for the Sterlers. The referees missed this call as well. It should have been a foul on Porter first well before Pacman Jones ever got fired up. 

Think I'm wrong about coaches not belonging on the field? Look at Steelers Offensive Lineman Villanueva grab Porter to get him out of there. 

The NFL today says Porter will be fined but wait the Bengals shouldn't have gotten the second penalty at all. It should have penalties on both teams at that point. 

Refs - 3 Bengals -0

The narrative today is the Bengals were out of control, Marvin Lewis lost control, but nowhere are the Steelers or the referees shouldering their share of the blame for an ugly brutal game. Officials beat Cincinnati last night. Not just an emotional game or out of control players. 

10 Things to Make This Your Best Year.

I have seen a lot of posts on social media saying 2016 will be my year. Or this will be my best year. I think that's great but I without a roadmap or plan it won't happen. So here are my ideas and dream for me and those I know, work with, and share a community with to build a better world with better people in it. Starting with me first. Here's what I pledge to do:

1) Try to be analytical. Don't believe what we see about everyone and everything. Usually there is always more to the story then we know. Analyze the facts and see does this pass the smell test before believing everything we read or hear. 

2) Because we don't know the whole story then don't be so absolute on things. For example don't assume we have all the facts on any pop culture event or news story and automatically call for the most extreme punishment for the accused. 

3) Find several worthwhile charities and commit our time and money to them. Many of the institutions around us are struggling because society is becoming more individualistic. Like my old coach use to tell me....It's the we....not the me! 

4) Continue our education. Doesn't matter if you have completed high school or your Phd. there is no reason to stop learning. If you have more educational goals keep pursuing them to completion. Reading a book or two helps immensely with that goal. Or take a class occasionally. Either you keep learning or your comfortable you know it all. 

5) Figure out how to save more money then you spend. Lots of people are making a lot of money off our inability to have more money saved. Buy less things. Most of what we buy aren't things we you need but what we want. Look at your home the odds are you have plenty already. Commit to giving away two things for every one new thing you buy. Declutter your life and increase your bank accounts.  

6) Pick out a few people and be a great, loyal, listening friend to them. It would be really great if this is someone not in your immediate family. Hear their words without judging or trying to fix them. Just listen. Be as loyal to them as your dog is to you! Don't have a dog? Well just imagine Snoopy and how he always stuck by Charlie Brown! 

7) Commit to a physical health goal. Maybe it's walking. Maybe it's running. Maybe it's bike riding. Maybe it's just a few sit-ups or arm curls. Maybe it's a half or full marathon, but whatever you decide know you can't be a better person by doing nothing. Everyone can do something. Find that something and commit to a regular schedule. 

8) Discover your passions. We spend so much time doing what we have to do to earn a living. What we have to do to raise our families. What we have to do for church, or sororities/fraternities, or for some other purpose, but at some point this year we must spend some time doing what we want to do. That might be bowling, golfing, writing, painting, drawing, dancing, teaching, gardening, or whatever else that's planted at the epicenter of your soul....just do it. Otherwise none of the other things we have to do will have as much joy and energy as we need because there's no time to do what our soul is crying out for. 

9) Use the lens of love to view our lives and interaction with others. We too often are harsher then perhaps is necessary when we use the sanctimonious high minded judgmental attitude that we ALL have somewhere inside of us. Instead chop all of that grandeur down and think about how you would handle the situation if it was your loved one before we act, think, type, or do what we were going to do. 

10) Spend some quiet time every morning listening. If you have a spiritual relationship I implore you to focus on that time to further groom and grow and listen. If you don't then spend that time analyzing yourself. (you probably need too) 😬 I'm impressed with the fact that in the bible that Jesus with all of his majesty and glory still needed to do this and he was Jesus. So I'm pretty sure we can all benefit from it too. 

#2016 #happynewyear #inth3d3tails #betterworld #betterlife #maninthemirror

Sweater Swag

Whenever I want to switch up my look at work I love a good button up or zippered sweater. Sometimes a sweater serves the same purpose as a suit coat or sport coat. A thick wool cardigan To make sure I don't look like Mr. Rodgers, I pair it with a patterned sweater that allows you to pick up the other colors for your tie or other accessories. A buttoned down collar works best because the worst thing is when the collar is trying to fly from under the shirt. This is a clean look. It should look neat and the tie could be worn loosely. 

#inth3d3tails #sweaterwithties 

Miss Universe & Steve Harvey

I am reading a lot of statuses and messages with people wishing or proclaiming the end of Steve Harvey's career because of his mistake in the Miss Universe contest. 

If you haven't seen it he mistakenly said the first runner up was the winner. After a mixup he clarified the winner at the complete embarrassment to everyone involved. The first runner up was extremely embarrassed. The actual winner was floored. It was a bad moment for live television. (Link to Video is Below) 

I suppose we have a right to dislike whoever we want but why wish the end of his shows upon him?  Some say because he has oversaturated his brand. How dare he have two television shows and a radio show? How dare he have a book telling women how to behave in a relationship with men? How dare he act like he knows it all?  Who does he think he is. Some messages even said he's a know it all and I'll be glad when he's off the airwaves. 

I say if that's how you feel you should worry less about Steve Harvey and his brand and worry about your own. We must truly ask ourselves why wish failure on someone? I said it before and I will say it again. Grace is something we all want for ourselves but forget to ask for it towards others. We can't be so mean spirited. Maybe those people who say that must have forgotten what is was like when they made a mistakes. We need to check ourselves sometime before someone else or something else does. 

Steve messed up but his mistake is a blessing for the show. There are more people talking about the Miss Universe then who were watching the show, including me, and giving the show and the contestants new life and coverage. Some of the greatest things came out of "mistakes". Ever heard of Viagra?  A big mistake turned into a hugely profitable product. Or do some research on Sir Richard Branson, JK Roland, Steve Jobs or Abraham Lincoln. These are all people who used failure to turn into more success. Push on Steve I hope this moment means you push even higher.

Ultimately we need to remember don't wonder about the splinter in someone else's eye when we have a 2x4 plank hanging out of our own. 

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/nmqAjr0xs04

#steveharvey #missuniverse #mistakes #failure #success #inth3d3tails 

Not too hard. This Knot is Fancy!

When your looking to do something fancy, the desire to tie your tie differently seems like a simple answer. Then you actually try to tie that knot and find out it's not so simple. After many unsuccessful attempts at finishing the Eldridge Knot I gave up.

So I went looking for something that I could actually do. In my mind, if I could do it, then anyone could. So I found the trinity knot and trust me I think you can do this one! I have found that if you don't have a extra long tie, then you can cover up the fact that it's a little shorter then you wanted by wearing it with a vest or sweater. Check out the photo description of the Trinity Knot below. Let me know how you did with it. I have also included the instructions for the Eldridge, Trinity, & Cape Knots below. 

#inth3d3tails #mensfashion #ties #knots #trinityknot #dapper 

Trinity Knot