Packers blow-out Saints in another win against a bad team, with one more opportunity next week to prove they can beat a good team

 

The Packers blew-out the Saints yesterday, their 34-0 victory their widest margin of victory in a decade, since a 41-point victory over the Bears in 2014. The Saints, as we recall, had a mindboggling start to the season, scoring 91 points in their first two games, but have lost 10 of 13 since. Spencer Rattler wasn’t their starting quarterback then, but Derek Carr turned out to be a fluke, since he was just mainly “there” for the ride, although to be “fair” he started in all five of their victories this seasons. Injuries of course bit him, and in came rookie Rattler, who has played in five games, started four and lost them all. The Saints threw in another no-name named Jake Haener, who was relieved by Rattler to no effect in another loss.

So the Packers winning in their most convincing fashion this season, at home, was no surprise. The ease in which the Packers handled the Saints is borne out by the fact that nobody on the team had particularly impressive stats, with everyone getting a piece of the action (nine players had rushing stats, 10 at least had a pass thrown in their direction) and even Malik got a chance to complete a 34-yard pass. On defense, Keisean Nixon, who mainly does kick returns but occasionally plays cornerback, even forced his fourth career fumble to go along with his three career interceptions in 89 games.

The main point of this game is that this was another win for the most dominant division in the NFL by most counts, with the Lions and the Vikings tied atop the NFC North with 13-2 records and the Packers with a playoff appearance locked up with an 11-4 record. Stephen A. Smith doesn’t think the Packers are the third best team in the NFC, and I’m not sure why anyone would since the Eagles are 12-3 and they beat the Packers in that Brazil game. On the other hand, Mike Tannenbaum sees the Packers as Super Bowl contenders and why not? Where there is a will there is a way; just ask the Chiefs, whose 14-1 record is masked by the fact that 11 of those wins were by a touchdown or less.

As hard as it is to see sometimes, Jordan Love has seen some slight in improvement in his play compared to last season, but not enough to light the world on fire, or so says Smith. What has been carrying the team of late is a defense that is finally finding its feet under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley who prefers the old-fashioned 4-3 combination, and the defense has responded by forcing more takeaways since 2011. The defense allowing just 196 yards of offense for the Saints is impressive even against a team not all there. It is something you would expect from a better team.

No doubt the true test of where the Packers are at is if they can win a game against their principle division rivals and not merely come “close.” Next week is on the road against the Vikings; their quarterback, Sam Darnold, who was only supposed be the “stand-in” for J.J. McCarthy until he blew-out his knee in training camp. Darnold had a 21-35 record as starter with the Jets and Panthers, but when you have a team with playmakers, then you should be expected to take advantage of that. The Packers will be missing Christian Watson to injury (again), but this will be their chance to prove to doubters that they are the “real deal.”

Let's go shopping in the local Target store (not)

 

Yesterday I went down to the Pike Place Target store. I generally only go there to see if they actually have something I need. I recall a time when their “electronics department” sold both Seagate and WD external hard drives for Windows. These days they don’t have shit. It’s like the latter days of the famous Fry’s Electronics in Renton, which I talked about here:1

 If you want to find out about the effects of Trump’s tariffs on electronic goods, just read that. Fry’s used to be a hopping place, but at some point they had more laptops on their display aisles than in the back room, and why go there if they didn’t have anything in stock to purchase?

Anyways, this Target store supposedly had in stock one “hardened” hard drive for Xbox files that was more expensive but used the same file system I needed. But if nothing else I needed a new umbrella, and so I figured they must at least have one of those. So on I went, first passing through the front entrance where a couple of security guards—one white, one black—dressed-up for serious action were standing around looking for “suspicious” characters, with the white one giving this Mexican-looking guy the “eye.” I figured I’d see him around soon enough.

I found an umbrella and then went to that so-called “electronics department,” and had to break up an argument between two employees about who should go on break first in order to get their attention that a customer was there. They didn’t have any drives on display; apparently the glass enclosure they were in previously had been removed, One of the employees claimed that they were not on display because people were stealing them; that was not true: the store’s gradual elimination of the “electronics department” was what was happening here.

So after one of the employees left to go on his break, it was just me and this other guy. There were no other customers in sight because there was nothing to buy anymore. He did some checking of their stock on his phone and said there was one of the standard WD drives for Windows with a blue case in stock. I told him that was not true, that there was one in stock at another store, but not this one. The only thing they had here they supposedly had in stock that was 2TB were drives for Mac and that Xbox drive, and that was what I wanted him to look for. But he insisted and went to the back store room.

While I waited for him to return I noticed that this white security guard had finally made it to the third floor in search of me. I knew he was looking for me because people like him are "trained" to suspect only “Mexicans” to go into stores to steal; you have to give even the people who actual statistics show do it more often the "benefit of the doubt." I mean, it’s racist to have such thoughts about black people and offend them by following them around stores; if they accuse a security guard of racism, he shrivels into desperate apologias so he doesn’t get fired. 

But “Mexicans”? Haven’t we been told they are all “criminals,” “drugs dealers,” “rapists” and “illegal” to boot? It’s not racist to harbor such ugly stereotypes of all them, because those stereotypes are “true” according to people like Stephen Miller, especially to paranoid white security guards looking to justify their existence.

While I waited for the guy to look in the back for something I knew wasn’t there—and not for something that was supposed to be there—this security guard just happened to walk to where I was waiting, pretending not very well not to be “interested” in me and seemingly confused about where the employee he had seen with me had disappeared to. I couldn’t help myself: I said to him loud enough for a few people nearby to hear “What a Nazi.” He immediately sprang into action, further proving that he was targeting me, given how “personal” he took it--and the people who are most guilty are the ones who tend to be more offended by the truth.

He told me to leave the store immediately, which only goes to show you some people (i.e. “Mexicans”) are not allowed to have the same human or civil rights as other people do, or even have the right to speak,  even in “liberal” Seattle. I kinda laughed at him and waited for that employee to show up. He finally did, and as expected he told me they didn’t have that drive with the blue case. I asked what about the Xbox drive I did ask him to find, and he just looked “confused” like they only pay people who don’t know the product they are supposed to be selling. 

Meanwhile, the security goofball told me I had to leave because I was causing a “disturbance.” I told him I was only “disturbing” him and that he was the one causing the disturbance. He responded by telling me to put down the umbrella since I hadn’t paid for it and get out now.

You know what? The only thing they had that I wanted was this goddam umbrella, and that I was going to leave with it this racist asshole could take that to the bank, or wherever it belongs inside of him. So I went down a couple of escalators to the self-serve checkout counters, all the while this guy was walking behind me telling me to leave the store and the umbrella. He became incensed with me ignoring him, but I allowed him to follow me into the self-serve area, and stand there like an idiot watching me pay for the umbrella. 

He then followed me out of the store, telling me never to come back there. What for? That place doesn’t have what I want any more anyways. As a parting shot I called him a “racist,” this time loud enough for the people in the grocery area to hear. Looking back through the store windows I could see he was “disturbed” by events, especially since he picked the wrong target, a college-educated, former sergeant in the  U.S. Army--and worse yet, someone who spoke Midwest English and only knew a few words in Spanish, like "pendejo" like that phony is.

This is Trump America and the MAGAverse for you—especially if you even look “Mexican.” If you see one, it is your “patriotic duty” to be racist—and a ‘Nazi.”

Firing of SPD chief just more evidence of social politics hypocrisy in this city

 

I have to admit that in allegedly "liberal" cities like Seattle it is remarkably easy for people to choose to be misled by their own hypocrisy. In a city where there is an “unspoken” culture of exclusion and stereotyping concerning anyone who passes for “Mexican,” the Adrian Diaz story is nothing but expected.  I mean this city is so far behind the times that it doesn't know that signs like this on Metro buses are quaint artifacts of a past long gone:

 

You hardly see any "Mexicans" on buses going to or from Seattle these days, but plenty of others--whites, blacks, Asians, Haitians, Indians--who don't know the "ride right" rules, but Metro only thinks Spanish speakers are a "problem," given the absence of a post even in English on this particular bus.

Diaz was a surprise pick for permanent chief of police in 2022 after a term as interim chief. I suspect he was tolerated until that point. He was removed earlier this year after complaints by some SPD officers about not being properly “appreciated” by someone they regarded as “inferior.”

Diaz was officially “fired” this past week by the mayor after the completion of an internal “investigation” which found he allegedly had an improper relationship with a former television news reporter named Jamie Thompkins and used his position to provide her employment in the department. 

The “smoking gun” evidence that reached even the New York Post, which called it a “corny love letter” written by Thompkins and was “found” in a police vehicle, and what the Seattle Times referred to as part of the “lurid details” of the story.  Diaz called the letter a "joke," and there is more reason to believe that it was than how it is being portrayed as "evidence" by city officials and the media.

Frankly, I think the "luridness" is on the side of the Seattle Times and those engaged in the “investigation.” It must have been an "editorial decision" on the part of The Times to leave out an image of the "love interest" in this case, since it would leave in the minds of people the question of who was using who in this. I mean someone who looked like Thompkins… 

 

...wasn't playing someone who looked like Diaz…

 

…for a fool for personal gain? That "relationship" was in no way serious on her part save as "business" arrangement for her own advantage, not his, as it turned out.

Give me an effing break. Are people are that stupid? Well, maybe Diaz was for falling for her machinations, as well as many in city government and media who didn’t see what was really going on. Diaz says he is going to sue the city, and I hope he does. He recently "outed" himself as being gay, and perhaps at the time he "appreciated" the "attention" which I have no doubt she encouraged, since it quieted people snickering behind his back.

It is plain enough to “see” what was going on here, but then again there are many blind people in Seattle, given the social politics in the city.

A couple of local happenings

 

Here are a couple of local happenings that were not of interest to local news reporting, but were “news” to me, even if I was too tired to try to “fit” them into some “bigger picture” on our current sociopolitical reality.  Yesterday this guy here on the ledge by the downtown monorail tracks apparently was “excited” to ride the monorail for the first time, so much so that when the train arrived it was warned via walkie-talkie not to let him aboard. The man heard this and snatched the device away from someone and held court here, already for an hour by the time I passed by:

 

In this image we see there was some “interest” in his antics…

 

…but if he wanted the attention of TV news, he didn’t get it. The person right of center in the red jacket appeared and told him to stop acting like an “idiot.” She was approached by police, and she told them that she knew the man and that he was “educated,” but had just been released from “detox” and was not in “the right mind.” I didn’t hang around because I could see the man was careful to watch where his feet were and this wasn’t some suicide mission. But it could have been handled differently.

Here we see Kent police the previous Friday arresting some teenager with “suspiciously” brown skin:

 

Why were they arresting him? I’m not sure, except maybe they thought he was snooping around the garbage around the boarded-up "residence" on the other side there. When I passed by and saw the police with this kid in handcuffs sitting on a barrel I called out to the cops about how many city laws those white people who had been living there for years had broken and they had done nothing about it:

 

There were three junked vehicles there, one of them out of the frame on the right, in plain sight from the street. According to state law

One or more junk or inoperable vehicles, or parts thereof, which have been accumulated, dismantled, parked, placed, or stored on private property, except a vehicle or part thereof that is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property when stored within a garage, constitute a public nuisance.

According to the Kent Police code enforcement page, it is illegal to have “Abandoned junk, and/or inoperable vehicles parked on private property.” Someone who works nearby told me that a fire had broken out inside the house, but when police and firefighters arrived, the residents were nowhere to be found; I mean, why would they hang around when Kent police might be finally forced to do code enforcement?

But then again, in Kent there are two different sets of laws: one for white people, and one for the “others.” Even the numerous white vagrants who have a habit of “finding” property that doesn’t belong to them (or stealing it from each other) are left alone. Kent used to be, like Bellevue, a place for people with right-wing beliefs to escape to from Seattle, which is why every election cycle you see campaign signs for Republican candidates and how to vote the right-wing way on initiatives. Not that everyone “listens,” because according to the Census, the city it is less than 38 percent white today.

Well, that’s it. Although the “standard” edition of Vinegar Syndrome’s Looking For Mr. Goodbar Blu-ray release will be available on Amazon at the end of January, the “deluxe” edition is (or was) available for pre-order and (eventual) delivery from Vinegar Syndrome’s website until Black Friday (it doesn’t appear on searches now). I’m going to review the Blu-ray next week. I have some “issues” with the transfer looking at it on my laptop screen, but maybe it will look “different” if I watch it on a large screen monitor.

Packers beat Seahawks to clinch first 10-win season in Jordan Love era

 

I haven’t talked about the Packers for a  awhile. Some things just seemed to be more important to talk about than football. But what has happened since the Bears game, which they were lucky to escape with a win? They whipped a Purdy-less 49ers team, scoring three touchdowns off turnovers in a 38-10 win, and then opened-up a 27-3 lead on the Dolphins on the way to a 30-17 win, with Tua throwing for a lot of ineffectual yardage, and then lost to the Lions on a last second field goal 34-31, in a game that the Lions—as the Packers appeared to be doing in many of their games—seemed to be trying to give the game away, and then gave-up trying when the opponent just wouldn’t take it.

In yesterday’s game against the Seahawks, a team I generally ignore even though it’s the “local” team, I didn’t worry too much about the outcome, because even though the Seahawks had a temporary division lead in the NFC West, it’s just not a very good division this year, with the 49ers following up their Super Bowl appearance with a very down year, and just because the Rams beat them on Thursday in a game neither team scored a touchdown doesn’t mean the Rams are back on a Super Bowl run.

One thing you can say about the Packers this year is that once they (or their opponent) get off to an early two-score lead, the game is over. Not that it means it’s all party time the rest of the day, but what drama there is usually is like the hare waking up in time to notice the tortoise is catching up. Against the Seahawks, the Packers blew-out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Geno Smith, who has had a “career rejuvenation” since his time with the Jets, at least statistical-wise, if not wins and playoff appearances-wise, engineered a brief “comeback” opportunity, but messed it up by throwing an interception in the end zone that would have made it a one-score game late in the first half, and instead of an eventual 20-3 deficit into the break.

Josh Jacobs started out “hot,” scoring the first touchdown of the game, but ended-up averaging 3.6 YPG on 26 carries. You know, he was pretty hyped-up when the Packers brought him in, but he really has had only one “pro bowl” type year in the previous five. But that is nit-picking. Let’s talk about Sam Howell, who played quarterback for football powerhouse North Carolina in college and in his second NFL season last year started all 17 games for a 4-13 Commanders team that leads the NFC East this season with a 9-5 record.

I suppose the Seahawks hoped for a backup who was an  “experience option to back-up Pro-Bowl quarterback Geno Smith,” according to Seahawks.com. I’m not sure what voters were thinking when they selected Smith for the Pro Bowl in both 2022 and 2023, but it is par for the course that the Seahawks would trade for a quarterback who the other team was eager to get rid of, seeing how the Seahawks got two draft picks to offset the two picks they sent to the Commanders to get Howell.

Anyways, I’m not sure what the Seahawks were expecting to see, but after Smith went down with a knee injury, in came Howell, who on 18 passing plays (14 passes, 4 sacks) accumulated 3 net yards passing. Unfortunately for my inquisitive mind, that is nowhere near a “record.” I remember the 1970s when NFL offenses were mostly run-oriented, and under 50 percent pass completion percentages and more interceptions than touchdown passes was closer to the “norm.” While only three times in NFL history has a team thrown for negative “gross” yards passing, negative “net” yards passing—with sack yardage included—is not completely uncommon. 12 of the “top” 24 games as such occurred during the Seventies, including -52 net yards by the Bengals in 1971.

The Packers have two games on that list—and a third if you throw-in game number 25, a Lombardi team where Bart Starr had one of his worst games, completing just 4 of 19 for 42 yards, and sacked 5 times for negative 52 yards, for -10 net yards. The Packers still beat the Cowboys that day 13-3, with five takeaways to none by themselves.

Oh, yeah, the Packers won this game 30-13, and at least we can say that the Packers have at least one 10-win season in the Jordan Love era, even if he actually only won seven of them. The Packers should win at least two of their final three games, next week against the Saints at home and ditto against the Bears in the season finale. They have a playoff spot locked-up given that the other divisions are likely not to have more suitable prospects for wild card candidates.