When Leah and I vacationed in Hawaii four years ago, I was adamant that we visit Pearl Harbor, which we did on the first day of the trip. It was a place in which every visitor showed reverence the entire time we were there. There was very little talking and lots of reflection and prayers. I was amazed at the hold it had on me considering I was not even born at the time of the attack. We can never forget.
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Orchid of the Day: Lions’ quarterback Jared Goff is taking up where Matthew Stafford left off. The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday that Goff would be the Lions nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, given annually to the player who best exemplifies Payton’s spirit of outstanding community service and on-field excellence.
Per the Detroit News, during his nearly two years with the franchise, Goff has been regularly involved in both individual and team-driven community efforts with a focus on youth initiatives. This year, Goff’s JG16 brand partnered with the non-profit Give Merit’s FATE program, to design clothing, with the profits providing scholarships to Detroit-area students.
Additionally, Goff has worked with the Detroit Lions Academy, an alternative middle school providing over-age students a path to graduation. In 2022, funds from the quarterback’s clothing line helped established a STEAM Lab (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) at the school.
In Week 5 of the 2021 season, Goff was named the NFLPA’s Community MVP for donating 40,000 pounds of fresh food and supplies to 500 food needy families in Detroit. The $10,000 award that came with that honor also went toward building the STEAM lab at the Detroit Lions Academy.
In addition to his local work, Goff’s charitable efforts continue back home in California, where he works with the Irvine Unified School District. He also founded a STEAM lab at Warren Lane Elementary school in that district, as well as donated $250,000, covering the cost of one million meals, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quote of the Day: “It’s an incredible honor and something I’m proud of and don’t take for granted. It’s important to lend a hand, not only financially but with your energy, and show the community that you’re going to be a part of their lives and a part of the solution. It’s about the people you’re giving back to and it’s about wrapping your arms around a community and wrapping your arms around kids and making sure you’re there for them, and I’m proud to be able to do it. Being a leader in the community and being a leader on our team and this organization, you want to be able to help, and there’s so many places you can in Detroit.” Jared Goff after receiving word about his nomination for the Walter Payton award.
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The mid-terms are finally over and much to the surprise of everyone prior to the November elections, the Republicans did not gain a majority in the senate even though they needed to only flip one senate seat. The Dems now hold a true majority in the Senate, because of the re-election of Senator Raphael Wornock in Georgia’s runoff election. Since the Republicans did win the House, the only way legislation is going to be passed is if the two parties reach across the aisle to make it happen. However, with the Democrats control of the Senate, they may be able to push through federal judge confirmations including any openings in the Supreme Court, all though the process is complicated. If any legislation is going to pass, it will need to pass in 2023, because 2024 will be an election year and nothing happens in an election year when one party does not control both chambers of the legislature.
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Insanity is the only word for it. The NY Mets are going to pay two former Tigers and CY Young Award winners, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, ages 38 and 39 respectively, $43 million each in 2023 and 2024. Verlander has an option of $25 million in 2025 when he will be 42 years of age. I hope they do something good with all that money.
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The former president’s organization was found guilty of various forms of tax fraud. Naturally, it was not his fault. It was the CFO who was responsible for the fraud. The same CFO who worked for the former president’s organization since the early 70’s and was CFO since 2000. How the former president continues to stay relevant in the Republican party is becoming one of the great mysteries of our time.
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Quote of the Day: See above from Jared Goff
Orchid of the Day: Jared Goff
Onion of the Day: Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the former president’s business organization for assisting in the federal government’s political witch hunt of the former president. It is incomprehensible that the former president’s organization would violate IRS tax rules and not report perks as income to the organization’s employees who benefited from the perks. How dare Weisselberg do this without the former president’s knowledge? There is no way the former president would have allowed this to happen if he had been properly informed.
Question of the Day: Is Jared Goff the QB the Lions can continue their rebuild around for the next 3-5 years?
Video of the Day: The Sounds of Silence by Disturbed.