November 2014 - TomKnuppel.com

26Nov201426Nov2014

This is Why President’s Make News Announcements During the Holidays

Tom Knuppel Politics

Have you looked at the news today for any reaction to the resignation of the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagle? There is not much there and that was by design.

No press releases, no statements on Facebook or twitter from anyone in Iowa’s current Congressional delegation or newly-elected delegation.

Does that strike anyone else as odd? I would have thought the defense secretary resigning after less than two years on the job, probably under pressure from the president, possibly over disagreement with the administration’s approach to Iraq and Syria, would be big news. Just look around Hagle’s home state of Iowa and there is virtually nothing in the news. Representative Dave Loebsack sits on the House Armed Services Committee. Senator-elect Joni Ernst has claimed to have a strong interest in our country’s Middle East policy, since her “boots were on that ground” now controlled by ISIS. Senator Chuck Grassley served with Hagel for years and will have a vote on confirming his successor at the Pentagon. Newly-elected Republicans Rod Blum (IA-01) and David Young (IA-03) both criticized the Obama administration’s policy in Iraq during this year’s campaign.

This is why presidents bury big news during holiday weeks, when elected representatives and their staffers are out of the office.

26Nov201425Nov2014

Civil Disobedience is the Key, not Civil Unrest

Tom Knuppel Society

With the things that are currently going on across America we have discovered an ugly side to our society. People are not willing to wait for peaceful talk, elections to initiate change or other avenues that lead to non-violence. They turn to the streets and face the police head on with rocks, bottles and guns. They march their home turf with baseball bats and clubs to smash the windows of the businesses of their neighbors in the attempt to solidify their point.

It doesn’t appear civil disobedience is the trendy thing

The United States has a long history of civil disobedience as a means to protest injustice. Sometimes civil disobedience takes the form of a peaceful protest. Other times, it takes the form of disobeying an unjust law. The right to civil disobedience has been acknowledged by prominent thinkers in every generation:

“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”
- Aristotle

“Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.”
- Albert Einstein

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
- Voltaire

One of the earliest and most iconic acts of civil disobedience in America was the Boston Tea Party. On 16 Dec. 1773, “a group of Massachusetts Patriots, protesting the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor.” The action was illegal, but essentially peaceful. It was a protest of unjust taxes and of restrictions on commerce imposed on the colonies by the British government.

Change isn’t change if they have to get it done through force and violence. It is breaking the law.

21Nov201420Nov2014

The Political Middle is Gone -Which Means No Deals

Tom Knuppel Politics

Right of Liberalism and left of Conservatism is the place where the majority of American electorate resides. It is the place where calm reasoned logic supersedes screaming, reactionary tomfoolery. It is where the typical politicians go running to after they have “secured” their base; and where they go running from when there are no more campaigns to wage. However, it is where the future of American politics resides.

Looking for the political middle in Congress? It’s gone.

In 1982, there were 344 Members whose voting records fell somewhere between the most conservative voting Democrat and the most liberal voting Republican in the House. Thirty years later, there were 11. That means that in 1982 the centrists — or at least those who by voting record were somewhere near the middle of their respective parties — comprised 79 percent of the House. In 2012 they made up 2.5 percent of the House. So, yeah.

There are any number of reasons for this disappearance — partisan gerrymandering and closed primaries being the two most obvious — but the numbers are unbelievably stark, particularly when you consider that roughly 30 percent of the electorate consider themselves political independents. (According to exit polling, 29 percent of people named themselves independents in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.)

This explains why there will be no grand or even big bargain on debt and spending — or much of anything else — anytime soon. The political incentive to make deals simply does not exist in the House and, in fact, there is almost always a disincentive for members to work across the aisle.The deal-makers — as we have seen from the last month in the House — are largely gone. The two people who do seem capable of crafting deals — Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — come from a different time in politics. (Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, McConnell in 1984.) The middle’s voice in the House is so soft as to be almost non-existent. And it’s hard to see that changing — at least in the near term.

All of which means one thing: No deal(s)

19Nov201420Nov2014

Why Can’t Appointments Start on Time?

Tom Knuppel Other

William Shakespeare wrote: “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

I am an early person. I have said repeatedly that I would rather arrive an hour early than five minutes late. However, it is really not an advantage, most of the time, to show up for an appointment early. If they take you in to another room, it usually is just a place to get you out of the waiting area and now you sit. Sometimes it is for a very lengthy time. I get irritated!

I get aggravated with late of any sort. However, It get really ticked when an appointment time flies by and I sit and sit and sit. It doesn’t matter if the time set was 2:15pm and you wait until almost 3 before you see the person. Doctors and dentists are the worst. I know the line you hear is they are busy and things back up. Maybe, just maybe, they scheduled too many appoints too close together?

The point is, I feel bad when I keep people waiting. I feel like we’re all busy and our time is important so being consistently late is a sign that you don’t respect someone’s time. I respect you enough to make the appointment and show up on time, at least try to respect that I have other things to do beside sit around reading your old magazines all day.

On a personal level it’s just rude and signals to the person that you leave waiting that you don’t care enough to respect their time. Because while I’ve now had to wait for you it means that I have to push back other things I have to do.

This topic really gets my juices flowing!

18Nov2014

St. Louis Cardinal Spring Training Schedule Released

Tom Knuppel Sports

I am soooo ready for Spring Training and a new season. Here is a press release from the Cardinals:

The St. Louis Cardinals announced their 2015 Spring Training schedule today. The team’s 28-game Grapefruit League slate begins on Thursday, March 5, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., as the road team against their complex co-tenants, the Miami Marlins, and concludes Thursday, April 2, before heading to Memphis for an exhibition on Friday, April 3, against their Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Redbirds, at Autozone Park.

The Cardinals’ Grapefruit League schedule features 15 home dates and 13 road games including three games as the “visiting” team against the Marlins (March 5, 13 & 17), giving them 18 total games at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals and Marlins will play a total of six games this spring.

This coming spring marks the 18th year that the Cardinals will train at Roger Dean Stadium. Cardinals’ pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Jupiter on February 19 and conduct their first workout onFebruary 20. The remainder of the Cardinals’ players will be scheduled to report February 24 with their first workout on February 25.

The Cardinals host nine different Grapefruit League opponents including four games against 2014 postseason teams. The Washington Nationals visit twice on March 25 and 30, while the Baltimore Orioles (March 12) and Detroit Tigers (March 16) each visit once.

Other American League teams appearing on the schedule at Jupiter include the Houston Astros (March 6), Boston Red Sox (March 9) and Minnesota Twins (March 14), with the Atlanta Braves arriving for one game on March 21 and the New York Mets (March 27, 29 & April 2) making three visits to round out National League opponents. The first 14 Cardinals home games at Roger Dean Stadium are scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m. ET, with the final game versus the Mets starting at 12:05 p.m.

Individual spring training tickets for games in Jupiter will go on sale Friday, January 9, at 5 p.m. ET. Fans may purchase Cardinals spring training tickets in person at Roger Dean Stadium’s Box Office beginning at 5 p.m. ET that Friday or via the internet at www.cardinals.com or www.rogerdeanstadium.com beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Spring Training full season ticket plans, 6+ mini-plans and group tickets are on sale now by calling 561-775-1818.

Cardinals Spring Training tickets are priced at $29 for Field Box seats, $27 for Loge Box, $15 for bleachers and $15 for berm seating (sold day of game only). Weekend Games and Premium Games (Boston,March 9 & Detroit, March 16) will include an additional fee per ticket on those select days.

17Nov2014

They Say it Doesn’t Matter if You Win or Lose…..

Tom Knuppel Society

The old expression “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” is flat out wrong. Winning matters. It matters for an obvious reason—because you achieve something important. But it matters for a much bigger reason also.

It drives growth—personal, professional and later in life revenue.

When you have to find a way to stretch yourself and win, it changes you. It makes you realize what you’re capable of and builds your confidence. That doesn’t happen when you merely play the game well.

Of course—you can’t win all the time—and how you play the game does matter too. But it will never take the place of defining a stretch goal, digging down, and figuring out how to win when the going gets tough.

This blog belongs to Tom Knuppel

15Nov201429Jul2019

Final Scores- Mens Baskeball for Saturday, November 15th

Tom Knuppel Sports

Here are most of the final scores in D1 Mens Baskeball for Saturday, November 15th—

Saint Francis (NY) 62 Georgetown 83 Final

Trinity (FL) 69 Bethune-Cookman 91 Final

Gardner-Webb 82 Louisiana State 93 Final

Manhattan 66 Florida State 81 Final

Nova Southeastern 51 Florida Gulf Coast 63 Final

Appalachian State 47 Ohio 73 Final

North Dakota 52 Northern Iowa 64 Final

Hillsdale 68 Michigan 92 Final

Bluefield State 51 Duquesne 91 Final

Vermont 60 Canisius 64 Final

Catholic 66 Davidson 102 Final

Colgate 52 La Salle 57 Final

Bowling Green 77 Drake 58 Final

Earlham 45 Evansville 116 Final

Illinois-Springfield 57 Green Bay 88 Final

Pfeiffer 59 Winthrop 82 Final

Aurora 56 Northern Illinois 86 Final

Delaware State 77 Pennsylvania 75 Final

Maine 57 Butler 99 Final

Austin Peay 70 Western Kentucky 77 Final

Southeast Missouri 56 San Diego 67 Final

Air Force 68 The Citadel 55 Final

Cal Poly 49 Nevada 65 Final

California-San Diego 52 California-Riverside 75 Final

Dartmouth 57 Saint Bonaventure 77 Final

Kent State 69 Youngstown State 61 Final

Albany 60 Providence 64 Final

San Francisco State 64 Long Beach State 74 Final

North Carolina-Wilmington 56 Old Dominion 76 Final

Florida A&M 65 South Carolina-Upstate 78 Final

Southern Illinois 59 Saint Louis 62 Final

Tulsa 68 Oral Roberts 77 Final

Boise State 77 Loyola Marymount 69 Final

Fairfield 59 Duke 109 Final

Louisiana-Monroe 74 UAB 65 Final

Virginia Military Institute 86 Army 92 Final

13Nov2014

Is the Big 12 the Best Conference in College Basketball?

Tom Knuppel Sports

Should College Basketball Implement the 30 Second Shot Clock? That was yesterday’s blog and you can find it HERE.

Is the Big 12 the best league?

Just look through it. Kansas is always a team in the Top echelon. Now we find the Kansas State Wildcats making a charge along with the Fred Hoiberg led Iowa State Cyclones. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor will get their share of wins in 2014-15 and my personal favorite to make a lot of noise the Texas Longhorns.

What do you think?

12Nov2014

Should College Basketball Implement the 30 Second Clock?

Tom Knuppel Sports

Are we closer to having a 30 second shot clock?

Some conferences in their exhibition games are experimenting with a 30 second shot clock to see how the game flows. I am in favor of a 30 second shot clock and I like he idea of 6 fouls on a player to foul out.

I think in the next 2-3 years the 30 second shot clock will be universal. Actually I wouldn’t mind some sort of shot clock at the high school level.

What do you think?

05Nov2014

Raining on Your Parade

Tom Knuppel Politics

In short, it’s one thing to win an election in a non-presidential year, when minorities and young people stay home and older, whiter voters make up a disproportionate share of the electorate. It’s another thing to win when a Democratic presidential candidate is luring the party’s base back to the polls — especially when that candidate is Hillary Clinton, the most popular Democrat in America as of right now.