Tampa Bay Bucs – Two Games on the Field

 

Tampa Bay, Fl 

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

 There could be trouble brewing at One Buc place. 

It's starting to look like, although it's still early in the season, there may be a clash of the Titans foaming up between the new Tampa Bay All Star quarterback Tom Brady and the seasoned old coach Bruce Arians.

It's really a battle of old-school football and new-school football. Bruce Arians is the old-school football coach. He's the guy who still believes football is all about hurting someone. To Arians, players are cogs in the wheel, should do their job, keep their mouth shut, and follow his orders.
 
Tom Brady, on the other hand, is new-school football. One who believes players are really people and people matter. Brady sees football as the game of chess, while Arians sees football as a game of checkers.
 

For a look at how all of this is playing out in the football world check out this piece from CBS SPORTS.COM By  John Breech Sept 17, 2020: Tom Brady gets called out by Bruce Arians: Here's why Brett Favre thinks that could lead to problems in Tampa.
 
From the CBS SPORTS Post: “Now, maybe they had a mutual truce going into the game, going into the season, 'Hey, I'm going to be hard on you. I want the guys to know we're going to treat you the same even though technically I'm not, so are you OK with it?' If they have that truce, great. If not, I think you are barking up the wrong tree." If the two don't have an understanding, Favre said Arians' public criticisms could quickly lead to problems in Tampa Bay. 
 
For Brady’s response check out this from CBS SPORTS By Tyler Sullivan Sep 17, 2020
Tom Brady responds to Bruce Arians' criticism of him in Buccaneers opening loss to Saints
 
Arians said, "Tom and I are fine. I don't really care what other people think. So it's just what he and I think," Arians said. "We left the stadium fine. We showed up today fine. There ain't nothin' to talk about."
 
Could be. 

But if the Bucs should lose again this week, and God forbid the following week; the Glazers may have some serious soul-searching to do.
 
Having played for Bill Belichick, Brady's not particularly thin skinned but the issue, here isn't so much how Brady feels as it is about how the fan base may begin to react if open warfare erupts between Arians and Tom Brady.
 
For now, it may be time for Bruce Arians to get out of his famous golf cart, mingle with his players, help develop a little camaraderie, and promote a winning spirit. Not exactly Arians’ cup of tea, but better to drink this one than the really bitter one that might follow.

 
E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
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Down Ballot Republicans - Will They Stick with Trump or Will the Party Fracture?

 Tampa Bay, Fl                                    

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

Downballot races have never been more important than they are in this presidential election. Here's a definition of down ballot and down ticket from Merriam-Webster:

Downballot and downticket are two new words that describe running or voting for offices listed below the most important—typically national—race on a ballot. For instance, in a presidential election, Senate and House seats and contests for state and local offices are downballot (or downticket) because their outcomes are often influenced by the turnout for the presidential race at the top of the ballot. Merriam-Webster. 

If you are following the campaign rhetoric so far in this presidential race, you will notice that The Republican candidates running for the US house, the US Senate, State and Local Offices have been strangely quiet in their comments regarding the presidential race.

While state and local offices are not all that important to the President, the status of the House and Senate are key to moving substantial legislative agendas forward. For example, if Biden and the Democrats win the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, the ability to move forward a left-leaning socialist agenda would be almost assured.

Trump, on the other hand, will most likely face an immediate impeachment proceeding should he win the Presidency and lose both the House and the Senate.

It's starting to look like they're going to be three national races in this Presidential election. The Democrats trying to get Biden and their down ticket US House and Senate candidates elected,  the Trumpicans trying to get President Trump reelected,  and the Republican Party trying desperately to get their US House and Senate, Governors and state legislative candidates elected.

All of this may be very confusing to the voter. As the media campaigns heat up it may not be clear which National Party is supporting what. The one thing for certain is this no voter regardless of party, Democrat or Republican, should just step up and vote a straight party ticket. If you are a Democrat that may be tempting. However, you need to think about the impact of a national government completely controlled by a left-leaning political party.

On the Republican side, as a voter you need to carefully consider the ballot, vote every race, and even if you're so dissatisfied with Trump you're not going to vote for him for president; you need to be sure to vote down ballot for the Republican candidates for no reason other than keeping the balance of power in place.

The framers of the Constitution deliberately set up our government with conflicting houses of government and conflicting political parties to ensure a balance of power, negotiation of issues, and compromise in solutions.

A lot of people these days are frustrated with our form of democracy. But now is no time to start down the path of replacing capitalism with socialism and democracy with anarchy.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

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An Accurate Census? Don’t Count on It!

 

Tampa, Fl
Tampa Bay Beat
By: Jim Bleyer

September 14, 2020 - 6:31 pm

By Jim Bleyer

Every ten years the public is reminded, through news reports, commentary, and public service announcements just how important census-inspired statistics are to our economic well being and representative government.

Political districts at the federal, state, and local levels are drawn based on population data. Without an accurate count, it is impossible to ensure that citizens’ votes will have the same weight.

The results of the census are also used for federal funding: more money goes to places where more people live. And knowing who lives where and how the population is changing is also critical for long-term planning as states, counties, and municipalities try to make informed decisions about where to invest in services like schools, roads, transportation systems, and other infrastructure needs.

What is occurring with the 2020 Census is more than disturbing.

I worked for the U. S. Census in 2010.  I attempted to work for them in 2020. The country went from the Information Age to the New Stone Age in only a decade.

Ten years ago, I was an enumerator going door to door in various neighborhoods, meeting residents, and collecting census information.  Communication between myself and my supervisor could not have been better.  Reports were delivered and approved in a timely fashion.

The interviewees, for the most part, were amenable and forthright.  I found myself vaulting a chain link fence only once from a snarling  Rottweiler turned loose by an angry, unreceptive owner.

In 2020, I signed on to be a Post Enumerator Supervisor overseeing census workers making followup household interviews.  The census operation compared to 2010 could not be more stark: silk versus chaos.

The three-hour in-person orientation at the outset represented the high point of my experience and it wasn’t all that perfect.  The group received government-issued, pre-programmed computers, accessories, and a large plastic bag chock full of notepaper, ID signs for autos, a pen, Sharpies, and other miscellaneous materials.

All attendees took an oath not to reveal any information about individual respondents under penalty of prison time and a $250,000 fine. I don’t know about the rest of the trainees but I never came close to seeing any of that information.

Due to COVID, we were confined for the remainder of training to learning from programs on the government-issued computer at home.  Trainees were limited to 22 additional hours of such computer time, likely ample if the computer programs worked properly.  The amount of time spent on the computer due to crashed programs and not being credited for passing the various courses ran easily 5-6 hours.  A convoluted login process, unnecessary by any rational view, added to the consternation.

Posted on the internet in February:

The (non) issuance of ID badges, critical in conveying credibility to interviewees, was an adventure that deserves its own article. Suffice to say, many trainees not only complained about not receiving them (I was privy to group emails), arrangements to obtain them were vague, impractical, expensive, or all of the above.  For me, a 300-mile roundtrip (@ 58 cents a mile plus my hourly rate) was actually proposed by one supervisor.

After 3 weeks, I lost confidence in my employer to make order out of obvious chaos.  Other trainees faced the same barriers but I don’t know how many opted to resign or wait for Godot.

But it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of a few little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. The ramifications of delays, ineptitude, and the alphabet soup procedures could be far-reaching.

Last week it was revealed in Washington that internal Census documents acknowledged serious errors will occur because the Census Bureau is rushing the process. Right now, the Census Bureau plans to end the count one month early and cut data processing by two months.

The victims of any undercount: rural areas and communities of color.

Dozens of critical social services, education, and infrastructure programs depend on census-guided federal grants that provide many billions of dollars to states and local areas each year.

Participation in the census—or lack of—therefore has real fiscal consequences.

  Cross Posted with permission from: Tampa Bay Beat

This post is contributed by Tampa Bay Beat. The views and opinions expressed in this post are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Bay Post Internet or the publisher