More Losing, Please!

Well, it's Fall going into Winter and there's a foul stench in the air.  You know what that means.  The Detroit Pistons are trying to play basketball.

For many years, Michigan's pro basketball team has been stinking up the joint.  Ever since that ill-fated trade that sent Chauncey Billups away for Allen Iverson, the Pistons have been a cursed franchise.  Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Josh Smith, Blake Griffin, and many others have all lead the way during this 15-year stretch of the smelliest basketball we've ever seen.  But right now, in 2023, this is perhaps the most putrid stuff we've ever seen...and potentially the worst basketball that has and will ever be played.

The thing is things didn't start this bad.  The Pistons started off pretty hot with a 2-1 record.  Cade Cunningham was dropping 30, Jalen Duren was making posters, and Killian Hayes looked competent.  Then, they hit a wall.  Now 13 games later, they sit at 2-14.  Yep.  They've lost 13 straight games.  When you take into account that they went 2-21 down the stretch to end last season, they currently boast a 4-35 record from year season's All-star break to this current point.  Yikes!

So, how did we get here?  Some joke that it's when they traded Saddiq Bey away for a bag of chips called James Wiseman.  And while Wiseman is shitty, that doesn't explain how a team could possibly perform this badly.  This writer is a Saddiq Bey fan, but his absence can't possibly have hurt the team that much.  And Wiseman barely plays, so he can't be hurting them that badly.

Others have said Troy Weaver is a bad GM.  Admittedly, he's made some pretty dumb decisions, but he's made a few good ones, such as drafting Cade and Ausar Thompson.  And while this past offseason was pretty bad, with him avoiding the big names to bring in a few more bags of chips, these so-called "big names" weren't worth the money, so this writer can't blame him there.  There were SOME players he could have brought in to make the team better.  Not necessarily a playoff team, but not a cellar-dweller, either.

Still, others blame the coach, Monty Williams.  Yeah...maybe.  After all, this was the man who lost a playoff elimination game by 40 on his own home court and Kevin Durant on the floor.  How does that happen?  Piston fans found out as they were down by as much as 40 in an embarrassing display against the Toronto Raptors earlier this season.  Monty Williams?  40-point deficits?  Is there a connection?

Then, there are injuries.  Not minor injuries, either.  Bojan Bogdanovic and Monte Morris have yet to play this season, and Morris may not even lace up his sneakers this season.  Jalen Duren went down multiple games.  Jaden Ivey missed a few games.  These aren't third-string players, but players who figure to play big minutes.  These subtractions really hurt.  But even when fully healthy, the team sucks.

The season is still early, though and there are some things to look forward to.  Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser look like a pair of killers, so their progress will be interesting to gauge.  They could probably squeak out a few more wins, but why win games when we can chase history?  That's right, this writer wants to see them lose.  Not for some no-impact draft pick, but to see how bad an actual NBA team can be.  10-72?  5-77?  Maybe they go on a 79-game losing streak and finish 2-80?  How low can they go?  It should be fun to watch.

And when the season is over, where do they go next?  We do have a glimpse of what the future looks like.  Cade, Duren, Sasser, Ivey, and Thompson look like a delightful core.  But how many of them will want to stay after the stinker this season is shaping up to be?  Will Cade walk?  Will Duren and/or Ivey demand a trade?  And who can they get to sign here when they're this bad, when they can't get anyone to sign here at the best of times?

Once again, it's still early.  At this point, there are still 66 games left in the season.  Will they resemble the first 3 games or the last 13?  Can they turn it around or will they continue to be one of the most inept teams we've seen since...well...last year?  Stay tuned.

Until next time...

Clean Water = White Savior?

Mr. Beast.  Some people like him, some people don't.  Personally, this writer doesn't watch his stuff, but based on the things this writer has heard, he's generally someone who uses his earnings to do good things, including literally helping blind people see.  But Mr. Beast has gone too far this time by doing something so atrocious he should be put in front of a firing squad.  He went to Africa and helped kids get fresh drinking water.  What a maggot, right?

Yep.  This is really happening.  People are mad that a random White man went to Africa and helped build wells with his own money and hands so Black kids could drink water.  What did he do wrong?  Be a White man, duh.  Everyone knows the greatest crime you can commit is be born White.  Apparently, it creates the narrative of a White savior needing to help out Black kids.  Okay, fair enough, but then you'd have to ask yourself a disturbing question; where was the Black savior?

Seriously, where were all these wealthy Blacks who could have done even more than this White man?  Where was LeBron James?  Where was Oprah?  Where was Joy Reid?  Where was Colin Kaepernick?  Where was The Rock?  Where are all these people complaining about White supremacy who could have helped these Black kids in need?  Ask them and you'll hear nothing but crickets.

What about their local and federal governments?  Aren't they run by Blacks?  Why can't they provide clean drinking water for their citizens?  It almost like they are squandering the money and saying they don't have it.  Of course, this writer is probably a conspiracy theorist, but you have to find it odd all these dictators let their people suffer while they live good lives.  You'd forgiven for thinking dictators are bad leaders.  You'd be right, which is why you'd be forgiven.

What about the good ol' American government?  Nope.  They're too busy trying to start World War 3 and make everyone into LGBTQ butt servants.  Just look at what they are trying to force into American schools.  Stupidity, low standards, and LGBTQ values.  Also, remember when Barack Obama was president?  Hilary Clinton (working for a Black president) threatened to cut off foreign aid from African nations who refused to accept LGBTQ values.  Not recent enough?  Remember when Kamala Harris (a supposedly Black Vice President) went over and tried to force LGBTQ values on Africa before they told her to go to Hell?  Considering African nations thoroughly reject the LGBTQ community, maybe they don't want America's help if it means accepting them.  So, fair enough.

What about China, the shiny new rising power?  Nope.  They aren't too fond of Black people.  They are communists and the one thing that's overlooked about communists is that they tend to be quite racist.  So, they won't be any help.  That is also a good reason to reject communism and socialism here in America, but that's another story for another time.

What about some of the Latin nations?  Black and Brown people have a coalition, right?  Nope.  They're too busy oppressing their own people and blaming America for it.  Mexico can't even clean their own water.  You think that can help clean somebody else's?

The point should be clear.  All these powerful nations, organizations, and people could have helped out, yet they did nothing.  These kids were drinking dirty water, getting diarrhea and typhoid, but none of the powerful or pretty people could be bothered to send so much as a Brita filter.  The only person who gave enough of a damn to step to the plate was this random White guy.  And if he hadn't done it, it wouldn't have gotten done.  Yet, he's the bad guy.

During this time, when hating White men is trendy, it was one of those White men we're told are so evil who went over and did something to help people who did not look like him.  He didn't do it for a reward.  Heck, he probably took a loss on it.  He did it because it was the right thing to do and nobody else wanted to do it.  Not even the people who look like them.  It's time we reconsider who the bad guys are.  It certainly isn't someone trying to provide starving Africans with clean drinking water.

It's time to stop calling people devils because they have the "wrong" skin color.  If people of color are tired of the illusion of the White Savior, then people of color need to step their game up and become Saviors of Color.  This writer won't hold his breath, though.

Until next time...

Rejecting Socialism In America

The other day, this writer saw a group of socialists outside of his workplace.  How did this writer know they were socialists?  Did they have pink, green, or purple hair?  No.  Were they Latino or Chinese?  No.  Were they holding pictures of Lenin?  No.  They simply were in a booth, proudly declaring they were socialists.  What the heck happened to this country?

This writer has written in the past about socialism and communism and how he understands how some can fall into the trap of believing these forms of government sound good.  And it's true.  They SOUND good.  Free housing, free health care, free everything.  Who doesn't want that?  Unfortunately, the results are always the same.  The people suffer and run away from those countries as fast as they can...assuming they aren't killed before they can do so.

Why do socialist countries always turn to shitholes?  Because that's what socialism is designed to do.  What other conclusion can one draw when suffering, starvation, and death always follow whenever these policies are applied.  It's almost as if socialism is evil at its core.  It may well have been designed by people with good intentions, but you know what they say about good intentions.  The path to Hell is pathed with them.

Venezuela is the ultimate example of what happens when you implement socialist policies.  Venezuela was once a paradise on Earth, believe it or not.  Now it is the biggest shithole in the western hemisphere.  That's right.  It's even worse than Mexico.  The thing is, initially, things weren't so bad when socialism was first implemented there.  Then, the country fell off a cliff and hasn't recovered to this day.

Some people say that socialism doesn't work because it hasn't really been tried.  Maybe so and based on the results we've seen, it shouldn't be.  Countries that do often have power outages, famines, and high crime, among other things, none of which are good.  How appealing.  Who wouldn't want to sit in the dark, cower from criminals, and starve to death in a hellhole?

So why does socialism always fail?  Because the governments that implement it can't pay for it.  Whether you're a capitalist, communist, socialist, or anything in between, things cost money.  This is a long-standing truth that escapes the minds of people who bought into the utopic view of people like North Korea's founder, Kim Il-Sung, and current U.S. president, Joe Biden.  As some on the Right have said, the problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money to spend.  And when that happens, suffering becomes widespread.  Only the elite are spared from the suffering, including the politicians who enacted it in the first place.  Ultimately, socialist leaders make themselves into "gods" that you have to beg for whatever crumbs they're willing to give.

So, if this system fails every time it is adopted, why are a growing number of Americans on board with it?  The simple answer is ignorance.  Americans either don't know and/or aren't interested.  Considering what they are teaching in the schools these days, this is an easy conclusion to make.  The kids are going into these schools and coming out stupider.  They have boys coming out thinking they can get pregnant and girls thinking they're boys.  You think those kids can tell the difference between capitalism and socialism when they are being groomed to not know the most basic fact of life?  Nope.  And that's what makes them open to embracing the promise of socialism, not knowing the living Hell that awaits them.

To wrap things up, we as Americans need to thoroughly reject socialism everywhere we see it in this country.  We need to stamp it out like the cockroach it is.  It doesn't work.  Never has and never will.  It turns countries into places no one wants to live.  Why do you think people run from these places?  Because socialism made them suck.

Think of socialism as an abusive relationship.  It uses sweet words to lure you into accepting it, then after you make the commitment, it beats and verbally abuses you for whatever arbitrary it can think of.  And even if things start off good, make no mistake, the ass-whuppin' is coming.  And they keep coming.  Just ask Venezuela.

Until next time...