Don

Spent Thanksgiving at my brother's place. We were gonna go to his wife's parents' about an hour away, but weather ruined that idea. So it was just the three of us throwing together whatever we could without leaving the house. No political arguments, as we're all pretty much on the same page in that sense.

In Omaha for Thanksgiving. Supposed to pick up a quarter inch of freezing rain plus about 2 inches of snow tomorrow. The snow won't matter much, but the ice could be an issue, as the prediction is right on the line between nuisance and terrible. Basically, 0.2 inches of ice = rough driving conditions for a day, and 0.3 inches = tons of downed trees and power lines. Having experienced it before, I can assure you that there is nothing worse weather-wise in the Midwest than an F-all ice storm.

Supposed to snow here tonight too. It seems like the first snow of the year is always within a week of Thanksgiving one direction or the other.

Seems very much like a straight up murder to me. It sounds much more like a personal thing than a police making bad decisions during interactions with the public thing though.

I have a co-worker that just spent a month there on her honeymoon (her husband is from there). Speaking with her about it, she said the crime is definitely an issue in Johannesburg and Capetown, but not much of a problem in rural areas. Her advice was to pretty much watch your surroundings at all times regardless of where you are, take taxis only from reputable companies, and ALWAYS keep your doors locked and windows up while you are in a car in cities. Apparently there is a fair amount of motorcycle traffic, and it's super common for motorcyclists to try to open an unlocked door, steal a purse or backpack, then quickly take off. Nothing ever happened to her (because she kept the doors locked/windows closed), but she said it was attempted a few times while she was there.

I got terrible grades in high school. Always did well on tests and projects, but never did the regular homework and never took notes in class (this was a big deal at my school, as most classes made you take notes and turn them in daily for like 20% of your total grade). Got into a lot of arguments with teachers over that one. So yeah, it was pretty normal for me to ace every test and project in a class, then end up with a C overall. College treated me much better.

Late season thunderstorms here in KC. Kinda comforting, as this will likely be the last until about April. From here on out it's just crap until mid-March

Never felt the need to cheat. I've always been good with tests in general, and I always liked the feeling of going in a bit nervous, then walking out a while later thinking "I nailed that sh*t."

What has Europe gotten for its acceptance and tolerance? Death and kebabs. Fück these people. I hope that European acceptance ends. I hope the refugees are booted out. At some point Europe will realize they're at war.I get that. But Islam will not be wiped out tomorrow. More than likely, we see a mosque in France, Spain, Germany, or Denmark bombed within the next few months (guessing sooner), then another Muslim extremist attack in one of those countries soon after. And then that cycle just continues with some people calling for the eradication of Islam (with you there. I wish fast food were more of a religion) and others telling us we're all racist/theologist because "not all Muslims". This just doesn't have a good end to it. Islam/shit like this won't be eliminated, and I think we've just began a potentially horrendous cycle of violence in Europe.

Worried about the retaliatory attacks from far right wing groups in France, and really Europe in general. I honestly think this attack was meant to inspire that. I think some (many?) Muslim extremists want to turn Europe into a (semi) active battleground, and this just might be what kicks that off. Not like all out war, but I could see a semi-regular series of terrible attacks from both sides coming out of this.

If you're bored, any ideas on fecal removal?

My basement is a literal shit show currently. Like I just walked down there to do laundry and there is a solid inch of standing water and toilet paper that showed up sometime in the last two days. Wish me luck guys.

So I have to give some respect to the KCMO police recently. I was downtown when they won it, and it was a madhouse. KCPD didn't make a single arrest that night, but they could have. They chose to focus on public safety. They let the petty drinking in the street and other harmless stuff go that night. But they did take care of people that were obviously too drunk and needed a cab home. When people got up on cars they asked them to get down (and everyone complied), then sent them on their way. Same was apparently true on the day of the parade. I didn't go, but I can assure you it was a logistical nightmare here. From the people I know who went though, they said that the police were mostly focused on making sure kids that had been separated from their parents were taken care of. Nothing wrong with calling out potential issues in policing (as has been done in this thread), but when a group handles a stressful situation extremely well, that's worth recognizing too.

There Will Be Blood. Awesome cinematography, editing, and acting. I just felt like the story had nothing. And that has to be the base of a film for me. A great story with bad everything else I can live with. A bad story with great everything else is just crap to me.

What do fish say when they run into a wall? Dam.

I think his throwing arm contributed quite a bit too. Dude's underrated in that respect.

Terribly sad to hear. Obviously there's a conversation to be had as to why it happened and what his mental state was like after losing a sibling and going through so many career struggles (if that contributed to whatever happened). That being said, it's unfair to speculate on that right now. I just hope his family can find a way to cope and be as ok as they can be given the series of tragedies they've experienced. Nothing but love and sympathy for them.

You and your reasonable, balanced assessments need to stop.

Pepperoni and black olives with some red pepper. I'll switch out the pepperoni for salami when possible though.

Bob Benson. Wharton. Accounts.

I had an instructor in college that had the stray shopping carts book in his office.

I did Spirit for a quick KC to LAX trip in August. Just under $200 round trip. I knew what to expect, so I wasn't disappointed. Just did a small carry on (free) and called it good.

Beasts of No Nation Really good movie. Idris Elba is a freaking fantastic actor.

POTY

I didn't know there was animosity. As an Angels fan living in KC I've never once had a bad experience with Royals fans. Not to mention, this town supports them in a way I've never seen out of a city. Every place in town was packed last night.