Arguably the best performance of its kind

On behalf of Jay Cutler, shut up

Because he is surly and has poor body language, let me say for Jay Cutler what he cannot say for himself:  shut up.  I heard a bit of the Bears game yesterday on the radio.  The announcer bitched repeatedly about Jay Cutler's body language while the Bears defense was giving up 24 points in the first half.  

Full disclosure:  I have not met Jay Cutler.  Nevertheless, I can say one thing with absolute certainty:  he is the best quarterback the Chicago Bears have had in half a century.

(Yes, better than Brian Griese.)

I ran a list of the top 25 Chicago Bears quarterbacks by passes attempted.  A summary of the findings:

• It's  really a shame to cut the list at 25 because we omit Brian Griese, Chris Chandler, Caleb Hanie, Kent Nix, and Bronco Nagurski, among others.
• Cutler has only been there five years, but has already played more games (79) than any Bear except Sid Luckman (128), George Blanda (103), and Jim Harbaugh (89).
• Thanks to playing in the modern era, Cutler nevertheless leads the list in attempts with 2,538.  Sid Luckman is second, with 1,744, and Jim Harbaugh third with 1,759.  Dave Krieg brings up the rear with 377.
• Cutler's passer rating of 84.6 is the highest of any of the 25 quarterbacks.
• Cutler's TD/INT ratio is highest on the list (tied with Erik Kramer).
• Cutler's IAYPA of 5.3 is third on the list behind Jim McMahon (5.6) and Kramer (5.4), which is probably because he has bad body language.

So, Chicago, your Jay Cutler is an average NFL quarterback - something you haven't seen much of over the past five decades.  He is a professional foot-ball player.  He is not the Bears' problem.  There are 70 things they need to fix before they need to worry about the quarterback position.

So shut up.  You are ungrateful:  you do not remember or appreciate true champions, and so the universe punishes you.  

Jay Cutler is exactly what you deserve.

Please Enjoy Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin Pouring A Teensy Bit of Acid on the Concrete of the System

In the wake of the what, oh really? $100,000 fine on Marshawn Lynch for not talking to the media, is this.

DeLong amok

Today as in 1902 the poor have to spend their incomes in order to buy their necessities. Today as in 1902 the middle class have to spend their incomes to buy their necessities and the conveniences they need in order to ensure themselves that they are not among the poor. And today the rich can spend their incomes or not, depending on current and expected future interest rates, the magic wand of the Confidence Fairy, the state of long-term expectation, the level of interest rates, the availability of financial markets to summon the Genie of Risk Tolerance, the Inflation-Expectations Imp, and other factors.

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Art interlude

Reduction Gear to the Known Universe

A UW Math Grad student in my figure class forwarded this to me- it's an art piece in Boston by Arthur Ganson.

"Each worm/worm gear pair reduces the speed of the motor by 1/50th. Since there are 12 pairs of gears, the final speed reduction is calculated by (1/50)12. The implications are quite large. With the motor turning around 200 revolutions per minute, it will take well over two trillion years before the final gear makes but one turn. Given the truth of this situation, it is possible to do anything at all with the final gear, even embed it in concrete."

Courage Beyond Your Nation: Lt. Thompson at My Lai

Regarding a man who helped stopped the slaughter by ordering machine gun cover against fellow American soldiers at My Lai, Maj. Hugh Thompson,

The Reddit thread has veterans' anecdotes about training to dehumanize the enemy.

More media meddling in good fun

Definitely against RT @CHSurreal: @DoubleEmMartin What is your stance on this? pic.twitter.com/PNYKkBNf2P

— Melissa Martin (@DoubleEmMartin) November 18, 2014

Over the top, really

Is there anything these assholes won't do? "Spiders disguise themselves as ants to hunt prey" http://t.co/tV788mCxoC via @ConversationUK

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) November 15, 2014

I'm out

Brown's exploits run through some of the most momentous events of world history. He was at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he interrogated Hermann Goering, helped liberate the Belsen concentration camp and by chance managed to sing with the Glenn Miller band.  [He was also one of only two survivors of the sinking of HMS Audacity.]

But his greatest achievements were as a Royal Navy test pilot...

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Bonus:  NOT an obituary

Say hello to the reality hammer, bitches

Let me clarify

When I said "no one can shell a mediocre defense like Peyton Manning," I may have overlooked someone in Green Bay:

Aaron Rodgers Vs the Chicago Bears this Season: 40 for 55 617 Yards 10 TD's 0 INT's and a 2-0 record.
— Stefano Gamba (@sgmb49) November 10, 2014

A Link For the Republicans in Your Life

Rainbow Stalin, the most fabulous communism.

Trouble on the Dwarf ride

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