Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
These topics caught my attention in the last 24 hours:
- MTN Investigates
- Rod Blagojevich
- Houston Astros
MTN INVESTIGATES:
I got a kick out of reading the MTN News “Investigates” piece about people not stopping for school buses in Montana when the stop sign is displayed on the school buses.
First, you have to be an idiot not to stop when the school bus has its lights flashing and the stop sign displayed.
Second, Montana does not seem to care much about safety on our highways and streets. A report released earlier this month from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows the following:
In 2018, Montana had the highest drunk driving fatality rate by far, with 11.04 drunk driving deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers. Neighboring state Wyoming ranked second with 8.31 drunk driving deaths, and South Carolina ranked third with 7.79 deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers.
Congratulations, Montana!
I am sure that elected officials in Montana will get right to work on fixing the school bus stop sign issue – just like they have on the drunk driving epidemic in the state.
If local governments would look at combating school bus stop sign running and drunk driving as they did about talking on cell phones (as a money maker) they might make some serious coin out of it.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH:
There’s not a lot that President Donald Trump has done that I agree with, but yesterday Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is a Democrat. (The Hill)
That was the right thing to do. Blagojevich had served about eight years of a 14-year sentence.
The thing that ticked me off about Blagojevich’s situation was that he was tried in federal court on 24 counts. He was found guilty of one count (lying to the FBI) and the jury could not agree on the remaining 23. A mistrial was declared.
But with unlimited taxpayer resources, the shitty government lawyers retried him again and this time won on 17 counts. Face it, faithful readers, only the wealthiest among us can fight the government lawyers (at all levels) because they have almost unlimited resources. That is the main reason I agree with Trump’s commutation for Blagojevich. He should have been sentenced on the count he was found guilty of initially and that should have been it.
Welcome home Blago!
HOUSTON ASTROS:
The Houston Astros are cheaters. They won the 2017 World Series title by cheating. Major League Baseball (MLB) found that the Astros illegally stole signs of opposing teams using technology during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. (Wiki)
They probably cheated to get to the 2019 World Series, too, but they lost it.
Since betting is so prevalent in sports these days, this article caught my eye:
The Houston Astros have faced a large amount of criticism due to their sign-stealing scandal that has dominated headlines during the offseason. With that in mind, William Hill sportsbook set an over/under on the number of Astros batters that will be hit by pitches in the 2020 season at 83.5.
I imagine the Astros will be in a few bench-clearing fights this season. I pick the under 83.5 because after a few Astros being “beaned” MLB will step in to protect them and put a stop to it.
The Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title.
The Western Word 
I’m okay with Blago’s commutation as 8 years is probably enough for putting a seat in the US Senate up for sale to the highest bidder. If he had been successful, then he would have been able to pay for his attorneys in his second trial. 🙂
It’s interesting how many people that were involved in fraud and corrupt were pardoned or received commutations from a corrupt impeached pResident who makes such a big deal about his pursuit of corruption wherever he sees it (or thinks he sees it) anyplace else in the world. This, as he meddles in the Roger Stone sentencing proceeding (7-9 years) for his lying and corruption.
Doug – Thanks. The DOJ is compromised under Trump. Every case is tainted because he may have interfered. -JmB