Category: OT

Lord of the Rings no championship bling

I happily covered my alma mater’s run to the class 4A football championship but sadly I am not surprised to see another self-inflicted public relations wound courtesy of a very controversial school principal. I expressed my concerns about Mr Verlander two or so years ago after an excellent teacher was fired for refusing to change the grade of a donor’s son so frankly this does not surprise me. The reader comments sum up popular opinion of the alumni with most being very concerned about the damage being done the school by the current administration. Jim Mashek and Al Jones had this story hung on the front page of yesterday’s Sun Herald:

Members of the St. Stanislaus Class 4A state championship Rockachaws football team would love to have championship rings to commemorate the experience, but school policy forbids it.

St. Stanislaus principal Paul Verlander sent a letter to Rockachaws’ coaches, players and parents recently stating that commemorative rings to celebrate accomplishments, including state championships, are not in line with school policy. Continue reading “Lord of the Rings no championship bling”

Always know your place. Never let anyone put you in it

Desirée Rogers… has been cruising for a bruising since telling The Wall Street Journal in April: “We have the best brand on Earth: the Obama brand. Our possibilities are endless.” She wanted to pose for The Journal in an Oscar de la Renta gown in the first lady’s garden, but the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, vetoed that.

The statuesque social secretary brandishing a Harvard M.B.A. and animal-print designer shoes is not any mere party planner. The old friend of the first couple from Chicago has the exalted and uncommon title of social secretary and special assistant to the president.

Instead of standing outside with a clipboard, eyeballing guests as Anne Hathaway did in “The Devil Wears Prada,” Desirée was a guest at the dinner, the center of her own table of guests, just like the president and first lady…

Desiree Rogers obviously didn’t know her place.  Sop slabbed her yesterday in Speaking of Allstate, Anyone else remember Desirée Rogers? and Maureen Dowd’s Op-Ed for the NYT  Who’s Sari Now? definitely put her in it – and well it should. ( h/t observant reader)

…the breached White House wall serves as a prism to examine our society, our president and our values. Continue reading “Always know your place. Never let anyone put you in it”

A few random football links

From the Bay and the Rocks, not only did Dylan Favre and company beat the snot out of Greene County their quest for a first ever state football championship actually began a year ago watching D’Iberville get horsewhipped by Noxubee County in last year’s 4A title game. Of course Dylan couldn’t be shattering all the state passing records without a good O-line.

From the Saints front Jeff Duncan at the Times Picayune does a great job on film study from the Monday night game, which almost set a new Cable TV ratings record. Monday night was no fluke, Tom Benson had 3 Archbishops and 6 priests say mass before the game. (The reader comments are priceless).

If you want a scouting report on the ‘Skins, Nakia Hogan has a good one for the Times Picayune. Finally if you want to see how loud the Dome gets when it is rockin’ click Dan Swenson’s graphic we’ve embedded.

sop

Making history and the ol’ Black Friday workday….

We’ve been swamped with year end work of late thus my complete absence from the Slabbed cyber-scene.  Thanksgiving offered no break as, like Nowdy, I’m the main Thanksgiving cook at casa Sop. My first attempt at a cane syrup pecan pie was a flop. Today I get to clear 2 weeks worth of non critical s-mail from my desk and hopefully reply to almost 2 weeks worth of emails.

Tim Isbell/Sun Herald

One thing I’ve managed to do though is continue to follow St Stanislaus’ trip through the class 4A south state playoffs as the Rock’s QB Dylan Favre and his talented group of wide receivers have dismantled all comers, whether it was blitzing Columbia defense or the “cover 2” played by Forrest County AHS. Tonight Greene County is on tap as the coast’s 3 South State Championship contenders were featured on the front page of today’s Sun Herald. James Jones takes it from there:

The Rockachaws (12-1) entertain Greene County tonight at Brother Phillip Memorial Stadium. A victory would put St. Stanislaus in the 4A title game for the first time in school history………

The Rockachaws get a rematch with Greene County. The Rockachaws rolled past Greene County 42-21 in a Region 8-4A game last month in Leakesville.

Quarterback Dylan Favre will become the state’s first 5,000-yard passer, barring injury. He has compiled 4,829 yards passing while throwing for 56 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 1,142 yards and 15 more scores. Continue reading “Making history and the ol’ Black Friday workday….”

Thank you for the nice dividend……

I don’t use Slabbed to pump my risk portfolio but I did mention EDCI once here as an example of good corporate governance. Thanks for the $4.50ish per share dividend on a $5.00 stock guys, it will go nicely into the cash rebuilding fund. As BCI points out we should not go much lower ex dividend as there is still mucho underlying value. Consider this today’s open thread.

This is not a recommendation for others to take a position in this company’s stock. Investing in individual issues is a risky endeavor.

sop

A day in the life of your hosts Sop and Nowdy

In addition to my billing time sheet that I keep for the business there was one day not long ago that I kept a log of everything I did from 5:00am until 8:00pm quitting time on what turned out to be a busy day. I was reminded of that last night after Nowdy and I exchanged some 2:30am emails with some regular readers, one of whom replied this morning to Nowdy, “You need to get more sleep”. Indeed. Unfortunately we don’t control the news cycle or briefing schedules and our day jobs can’t take the slack.

For me it has meant that I only own two stocks in my risk portfolio instead of my pre Katrina limit of five. I’ve found most people do not have a clue the amount of time that it really takes to perform continuous in depth due diligence on individual issues so for me 1 slab equals 3 stocks. Sometimes I wonder if Nowdy, the official “Queen of the Slabbed” ever sleeps because the high level of legal research that she does is very time consuming.

I won’t bore you with the details of that day which I memorialized to the minute Continue reading “A day in the life of your hosts Sop and Nowdy”

My partner Nowdy says she is a justice blogger……

Well then, here is an injustice that is literally crying out for her considerable talents, the travesty that former New Orleans Saints linebacker extraordinaire Rickey Jackson has not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. John Deshazier has the sports story for the Times Picayune:

Another NFL Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend has passed.

Silently, again, in New Orleans for Saints fans, who by now should have celebrated the induction of former Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson to the Hall, but continue to watch the selection committee overlook “City Champ” as if Jackson never existed.

That’s not so much a slap at the credentials of the players and contributors who’ve been voted in since Jackson became eligible five years after his last season, 1995. The most recent class included former Bills defensive end Bruce Smith, former Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas, former Steelers defensive back Rod Woodson and former Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes. You wouldn’t win an argument in favor of any one of them being overlooked in favor of Jackson.

But certainly, you can argue that he can stand alongside them.

Somehow, the obvious perception is that Jackson was less of a player than everyone who has been selected since he became eligible. Somehow, the ultimate honor continues to elude a player whose numbers – and impact – merit inclusion.

“It’s not even a question,” said former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, who played all seven of his Saints seasons (1985-89 and 1991-92) with Jackson (1981-93). “To me, it’s not even a question. Continue reading “My partner Nowdy says she is a justice blogger……”

Some folks were Slabbed by Katrina. Slabbed by Sugar??

Well folks I’m not quite certain what to say except the felony of the day here at slabbed is buggery which also reminds me of what insurers did to the people here after Katrina. The Charlotte Observer has the story:

A Conway, S.C., woman who had video surveillance of a man having sexual intercourse with one of her horses said she found the suspect behind her barn Monday night and pointed a shotgun at his head until police arrived and arrested him.

Rodell Vereen, 50, of Longs, is charged with buggery and trespassing after Barbara Kenley, who owns Lazy B Stables on Coates Road in the Wampee section of Horry County, told officers she had video of the suspect having sex with a horse then wanted to catch him at her barn.

“That stable was my getaway, my stress relief,” said Kenley, who has owned the stable for 20 years. “Everybody has a place they like to go to get away. Now it is totally destroyed. It is the only thing I have in life.”

I’ve updated the blogroll with a few new links

I’m short of time this morning but thought I’d put up a quick post to highlight the new links I added to our blogroll category and circle back to one Nowdy mentioned a day or so back, VickiePynchon’s Negotiation Law Blog. I don’t know why we neglected Ms Pynchon’s blog for so long because she was the first national law blogger highlight our work in a post she did in April 2008 that still generates us traffic from time to time. Now for the others I just added:

I mentioned Jessica Hagy’s blog Indexed previously here as one I visit for fun. Jessica is a real talent and as she discovered less than 2 weeks back doing a card on the topic of insurance sure does stir up the industry faithful. I personally think she is spot on.

After I linked Zero Hedge I noticed a few other Mississippi blogs started mentioning the site. Here is another one for you finance freaks in Greenbackd, one that is near and dear to my style of investing in finding undervalued companies with a management team needing a swift kick in the rear end.

Finally those needing good information on insurance news in Florida should check out Miami Herald Reporter Beatrice Garcia’s Florida Insurance News Service blog which has the skinny on all the major insurance news in Florida.  It was my honor and pleasure to leave Beatrice her first comment.

I hope everyone enjoys the new links.

sop

Our condolences to the family of Harmon Turan

As we walk the road of life and move closer to the “front of the line” those ahead of us that we once emulated as children now blaze the trail for us to the other side. Late last year we lost Uncle Leo and now we lose Harmon Turan, another legendary coast businessman. Our thoughts and parayers are with the Turan family and Debbie in particular, who I’ve known since the early days in Waveland at St Clare. God Bless.

sop