Macca

Yeah, good point Gorgo ... moving to a team within a division is often frowned upon but he is 32. Regardless, AP will probably end up in the AFC if he moves. As always, money talks and at his age he has to take on a good offer if it comes his way.

It's difficult to know what is going on ... he's a free agent and the Raiders are interested but the Vikes may want to keep him. I'd love him at the Packers even if it was just for a year or so. Doubt he'd end up at Green Bay though.

If we end up with a list of 13-16 good footballers, we'll get our chance. It sounds a bit formulaic but it's something that I've come to realise over the years ... lesser lights don't really deliver unless surrounded by quality. Whilst I'm here, and seeing we're on a new page, here's the current EPL Standings ... (Chelsea look like taking out the title and will be hard to shift)

I agree Wrecker but younger Demon fans will want more than 1 flag ... I know a couple of Bulldog fans who are getting on and they are both well satisfied with last's years triumph (but their thinking might change down the track) As for Leicester, they turned in one of their best performance of the year in defeating Liverpool overnight. A bitter sweet outcome and they may well rally and prove my theory wrong. It's hard to predict (sport)

It was a highly entertaining event and I watched it live (as I often do) .... the bit that will get forgotten is that the La La Land cast & crew would be devastated ... but let's face, they've all made a stack of money and the movie might even get an extra boost at the box office. And the winner (Moonlight) was such an excellent movie that it was a fully deserved winner anyway ... if you haven't seen it hardtack, do so, I highly recommend it. It winning makes me think that 'Manchester by the Sea' might have gone close too. And yeah, Kimmel was terrific and Damon played his role to great effect.

I was assuming it was the right envelope with the wrong card inside - see edit below. The 2nd last award presented was for best actress so we at least know the envelope (or the contents) were doubled-up. Anyway, does it matter ht? It's as funny as in my opinion. I love the Oscars but I don't take them all that seriously. To me, it's just a simple error with hilarious consequences. And again, the tonight shows are going to have a lot of fun with it all. Here's a couple of up-to-the-minute podcasts about the shemozzle ... The Oscar's Were Crazy The Oscar's Surprise Ending Edit: Apparently there were 2 sets of envelopes just in case something happens to one of the envelopes and Warren Beatty was handed the copy of 'The Best Actress' award. Again, we'd need to have a look at the envelope but they (Dunaway & Beatty) couldn't assume they were given the wrong envelope. Regardless, they couldn't have been expected to look at the writing on the envelope. .

As it stands, the outcome will be fodder for the satirists for years. "They put the wrong card in the right envelope" ha ha l just loved the way the producer from La La Land snatched the card out of Warren Beatty's hand as if he'd taken over the running of the show. So much of the whole ending was just high-farce. Fake news? You betcha! .

Wow, what a monumental stuff-up at the Oscars Faye Dunaway with the help of Warren Beatty read out La La Land as best movie when they were meant to read out Moonlight. The whole crew of La La Land were in the middle of their acceptance speeches when the blunder was discovered. It's just laugh-out-loud hilarious! The satirists are going to have an absolute field day Edit: As it turns out, Dunaway & Beatty were handed the wrong envelope. So no real blame should be attributed to either of them (in my opinion)

It's hard to find some decent links but apparently the Obama administration attempted to ban/boycott Fox news in 2009 but the left-leaning news outlets bandied together to put a stop to it. Let's hope the same thing happens this time although the solidarity might need to be led by Fox news. Various administrations or perhaps all of them have all had their issues with the press with the most notable one being the Nixon administration ... first it was the press (partly because of their reporting of the Vietnam war) ... this eventually led to the break-in at the Democratic HQ'S and then the cover-up. Speaking of which, for those who have seen 'All the President's Men', here's a documentary of sorts which features Robert Redford, Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein (the close-ups of the participants kicks in about 5 minutes in) It's quite an apt link when considering another big issue at the moment - the possible links between the Trump administration & the Russians.

And the Trump administration/Russian connection just won't be going away either - the latest from The Washington Post ... Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories

The Trump administration has made the unprecedented move of blocking numerous news outlets from attending the press briefings ... including the BBC, LA Times, NY Times, CNN, Politico, Buzzfeed & The Guardian. Other news outlets including Time Magazine & the Associated Press have decided to boycott the press briefings in support. All too predictable though as Trump is about as thin-skinned as thin-skinned can get. His Republican support will lessen as a result and in turn, his ability to govern properly will be diminished. He should just suck it up as previous Presidents have but not this bloke. Meanwhile, his right-wing support will be thinking up some elaborate way of explaining this action ... the move possibly goes against the first amendment too. White House blocks news organizations from press briefing

Leicester have sacked Ranieri ... that's hard to believe when considering the success he brought them just 9 months ago. I doubt they'll ever win another Premier league title (unless something dramatic happens) so the memory of winning in such an unexpected way is always going to be associated with sacking the coach just 9 months later. If there was player unrest it wouldn't have been all of them ... I'll be surprised if they stave off relegation now. They had a better chance of avoiding relegation with Ranieri in charge. And if they do get relegated this hair-brained decision will look even worse. Claudio Ranieri: Leicester manager sacking made Gary Lineker 'shed a tear'

And in a short space of time the Aussies have found themselves in a very strong position. Bowling India out for 105 was probably not in the thoughts of many. Huge kudos to O'Keefe (6-35) but all the bowlers contributed. Agree on Renshaw ... looks to have a very bright future. I still see Starc as more of a clean hitter - no.8 is his spot. Mitch Marsh is still young enough to improve - he can be rotated in or out depending on whether we may prefer to play a pure batsman at no.6. The no.6 spot can be used in a flexible way and I reckon it will be used that way by the selectors - I'm not rusted on to a certain type of player. It would help if Warner & Smith bowled a bit more and could hold their own.

For those without cable TV, you can listen to the tests from India here ... the ABC are providing coverage but not through their normal radio outlets. The link should work through your phone (if it's compliant)

As dc said, his target audience are his own supporters. Trump is literally preaching to the converted ... and again, it works and it's working. He doesn't have to win over the left because in his eyes, they don't really matter. The left aren't going to buy into his policies so why bother? It's very different to what we've seen previously where most new leaders do try and bring all the people together ... I reckon Trump knows that that is a waste of time & effort so he'd rather strengthen his own base. Watching his rally in Florida made me think that more people might jump on board with him (a percentage of those who don't lean strongly to the left but aren't exactly far-right either) It's not normal politics - neither side is listening to the outrage coming from the other side ... the divide is quite stark and it will probably remain that way for quite some time. .

Here's a quick write-up of 2 more of the 9 movies up for best picture at the Oscars. 3 to go after this post and I'm still to see 2 of the movies up for best film (Lion & Fences) ... looking forward to seeing both of course. January/February are movie months and why not? - there's not a great deal of sport happening. Anyway, here goes (spoiler free) Moonlight A extremely touching movie that will stay with you long after you've seen it ... the film is a coming-of-age type movie but not in the traditional sense. Again, tough to watch at times but very rewarding. The cinematography is superb. The movie is about identity, discovery, is devastating in parts whilst telling a simple story extraordinarily well. Moving & sad at times, this film is one of the best of the year. 8.5/10 If you've seen the movie, here's a podcast featuring the director Barry Jenkins and actress Naomie Harris (contains spoilers) Hidden Figures A feel-good movie with (at times) rather awkward & somewhat sinister undertones. NASA features as the backdrop with the space-race as the theme. The story of 3 women who excel against the odds ... and given the time that the movie is set in (the early 60's) these 3 women excelled in a rather surprising way. A 'hidden treasure', this film will both surprise & entertain. 8/10 Again, if you've seen this movie, here's another podcast featuring the director Theodore Melfi (contains spoilers) Whilst I'm here, a catchy jazz track from "Hidden Figures" ... featuring Pharrell Williams ... .

Just having a bit of fun Wrecker ... none of us should ever be locked into a way of thinking because events happen and things change to a point where our minds are made up for us. We buy-in and buy-out in sport all the time and politics is no different. The dilemma for the Republicans is would they be better off without Trump? Their policies are represented by Trump (by and large) and I don't necessarily see another Republican president being much different in terms of policy except ... in style, delivery, bluntness, charisma, political correctness & the ability to appeal to the other side of politics (and his own side) A mixed bag of course but the last factor is very important in terms being able to govern unimpeded. The mid-terms will be upon us before we know it and the Republicans should be at least able to improve their position in the senate (only 9 Republican senate seats are up for re-election where as at least 23 Democrat senate seats are on the line) ... or they could lose ground if the electorate wants change.

It's worth noting that 40 of Nixon's aides were indicted or went to jail. That might explain the disconnect that we're starting to see.

Egomaniac bully, glass jaw & absolute train-wreck = Trump Thanks for confirming Wrecker.

Speculation is free ... getting that speculation wrong is par for the course though Here's one ...Trump's core support whilst not overly huge is as strong as I've seen. Where as the support for the Democrats & Hillary before the election was more a 'default' support. It lacked real passion. Fast forward to now and it's about governing and whether Trump can do it and whether he's allowed to do what he wants. Stay tuned - same time, same multitude of channels. .

There has to be a moment where Trump absolutely crosses a line that is an impeachable offence (and that may or may not occur) The Russian stuff is not going away but there needs to be proof-positive of wrongdoing. And it has to be linked back to Trump. Nixon resigned before certain impeachment but it took an age & the Democrats stood by Bill Clinton in the senate when he was in the throes of being impeached. It's important to note that 67 of the 100 senators would need to vote to impeach. But somehow I reckon he may either survive his way through or something odd/weird/strange happens that ends his presidency. A 2nd term is unlikely but this is America we're talking about LH!

Trump has hit upon a way of winning that's never been seen before ... at least, I've never seen anything like it. And that cannot be downplayed. The support he has is unwavering but there's a cut-off point where it swings completely the other way. With not much in between. His issue is how to govern unimpeded with so much hostility about. I reckon we're just going to see more of the same until a pivotal moment is reached. What that moment might be is anyone's guess though. The rally in Florida was all too predictable ...designed to galvanise his support base and again, it's working. But he ultimately needs to govern well and that's where I see him failing. I'd be open to changing my mind if all the Republican senators & congressmen were right behind him.

Yep, they should have already changed tack and there were many saying that they lost sight of their core values a number of years ago. Are they listening? Hillary's campaign message was "Don't vote for Trump" and it failed spectacularly. But Trump's main concern for now is the Republican party ... the senate majority is not a large one and if he wants policy to flow unimpeded, he needs to butter them up. Even 2 votes the other way can blocks bills and in some cases a 60/40 vote is required (supreme court judge appointments etc etc)

The issues going forward for Trump is going to be can he and his administration govern and make laws unimpeded? The red-tape, bureaucracy, protocols and such-like are going to create barriers that he & his administration may not be able to overcome. In a short space of time we've already seen his security advisor (Flynn) removed and the muslim ban lifted ... the wall and whether it will ever get built is another obstacle and there will be numerous other issues that may incur stumbling blocks. Winning an election & remaining popular is one thing but being able to govern effectively once that win happens is another entirely different matter. In order to govern effectively he's going to have to play the game and build up good relationships with as many large groups & bodies as possible (his own party, the Democrats (especially in the senate), the media, the FBI, CIA, NSA etc etc) Luckily he's got the majority of Republicans on his side (for now) but he won't want to cross-swords with too many from the GOP. The mid-terms (2018) brings about a full election in the House of representatives and whilst the margin is quite substantial right now, an electorate ready for change can soon swing that margin about.

Somehow I don't believe that's going to happen. More to the point is that Trump's M.O. is working ... he's not trying to win everyone over. He's got his potential target audience and he is simply playing to them. It quite literally is like a reality TV show where a maximum rating can be achieved and if that rating is gained, the win is attained. Looking at it all with a conventional mind is out the window ... that thinking doesn't necessarily apply.