The D is the Key, Manning is not...

Matt Schaub torched the Broncos D for 290 yards and 4 TD's.

I guess I'm not really shocked to see so many Broncos Fans go after the S's after the loss to the Houston Texans but don't leave out the CB's, the LB's and the DL too. I said before they signed Manning that the D wasn't going to be good enough and complained over and over that they needed help at Safety, Linebacker and DL position.

The only quality player we have on D as of Week 4 is Von Miller and all the rest should be subjected to sever criticism including Elvis Dumervil and Champ Bailey. Mike Adams and Rahim Moore won't get the job done for sure but neither will Justin Bannon and Kevin Vickerson who've not been a factor thus far. Since no pass rush exists it really exposes the weakness we have in the backfield and that includes Champ. This D is far from being good enough to be a playoff caliber team as it stands today. The tackling in the last 2 games reminds me of how the Broncos played early last year, it's beyond horrible.

I've noticed in the pointed attacks against the rest of the team that Peyton Manning is completely absolved of any blame for the Broncos last 2 losses when in fact he has just as much responsibility for them as the rest of the team. Blaming the play calling is BS; Manning is not playing well period. He's had a hard time throwing the deep ball with any consistently and in his excitement to run the hurry up offense, his expertise supposedly, he's not making the right calls at the line of scrimmage which he is responsible for in the hurry up. IMO it may be time to rethink the whole idea of running the hurry up and slow the game down because he and his minions are not executing it well enough to be a threat.

That said Manning has thrown horrible passes and into double coverage far too many times. Frankly he's very lucky he doesn't have more than the 3 INT's he's already put up. He's been sacked 8 times already and he's not getting rid of the ball quickly enough in the pocket. When he's been on target then the set of Receivers he's throwing to can't seem to catch a cold. Stokley seems to be the only player who doesn't drop many but he's no deep threat and can't stretch the field.

I don't want to be right in fact I hate it but thus far everything I predicted about the Manning signing and how the Broncos would perform has come to pass in the early going. Manning can't rescue a team who has a below average D and very small selection of skilled players on O to help him win.

The idea that Manning was going to the last piece of the puzzle for the Broncos to win a Super Bowl was ridiculous homeristic thinking. Hell, the Oakland Raiders are favored by 6.5 points and we're playing them at home for God Sakes. It's a little early to hit the panic button but to say this Raiders game is a must win for the Broncos might be dramatic but it is a must win. It doesn't get any easier with the New England Patriots on deck and the rest of schedule is no easier. I hope they can turn it around this week because if they lose the early hole they've dug for themselves may be too much from them to dig out of.

Windfall: An Independent Film about Wind Energy

I watched this on Netflix last night, it’s a free streamer by the way if you have their service. It’s an independent film made about wind energy in Meredith, NY which is in Delaware County. I highly recommend that people who think they actually have a grasp of what modern wind energy is and think they really know what it looks like and what its benefits are should watch this documentary.

One thing that should be noted upfront is that supporters of alternative energy who have the courage to watch this film will solely blame the big evil greedy corporations for wind’s shortcomings in their rush to make profits and it’s totally misplaced.

In this case the blame rests completely on the federal governments rush to come up with green energy solutions without regard to their environmental impact, cost or benefits. It set up these wind companies with huge tax breaks to build them. The wind generators cost around $3 million each to build, the feds give a $1 million tax break and the State of New York gives a $1 million tax break to build them. The other million had to be raised by Wall Street investment firms.

First and foremost the blame has to be laid at the feet of the ignorant local officials on the town council and the town planning commission that got duped into agreeing to a wind farm by not really doing enough research on the impact of what 430 foot wind generators would have on their community. The City as a matter of course didn’t see any positive financial impact to their coffers as a result of the project but investors made millions on this governmental con.

Once the process of building these wind generators began most of the citizens of the county were in the dark about what the impacts were. So as they started being built and realized what impact they’d have the outrage grew and the story of their fight to stop them began.

One of the leading people on the town council was a big land owner in Delaware County. He wanted the wind generators and sold part of his land to build some of them. Another member of the town council was an attorney who tried to dictate policy about the wind generators and obviously was totally out of her league about the consequences once construction and implantation of the wind generators began.

I looked for movies reviews on Yahoo’s movie site and found one. Why? Because the truth slams Greenies smack in the face about wind’s problems and they can’t deny or explain it away after watching this film. If you’re the kind of person who wants to be informed about important issues that impact all of us I encourage you to watch this film and spread the word about its message.

2016 Obama's America: Movie Review

I was so amazed this movie actually made it to Astoria given the political climate that exists here. My guess is because it's a very well made documentary and it’s been making money. It opened in theaters worldwide on the weekend of Aug. 24. The film ranked seventh in U.S. box office revenue for the weekend of Aug. 24-26, gathering cumulative revenue of more than $9 million from 1,091 locations.

The film premiered July 13 on one screen in Houston and slowly expanded over the past month to 1,091 theaters in such cities as Baton Rouge; Nashville, Tenn.; Denver; Phoenix; Wichita, Kan.; and Washington, D.C. The film expanded to about 1,800 theaters last Friday.

It collected $6.2 million last Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a per-screen average of $5,940, the best of any film in wide release. It added another $1.2 million at the box office Monday.

The reason it's making money is because it's not a hit piece. It's a fact based biography of Obama's political roots. Unfortunately too many didn't know what they were getting when they voted for Obama in 2008.

In great depth it deals with his early childhood, college years and the tremendous influence his Mother, Dad, friends, college professors and mentors have had him emotionally and psychologically. Once the filmmaker puts together the story of his whole life his political ideology becomes blatantly clear and easy to understand.

It also makes the best argument I've seen yet for the reasons why so many people did vote for him. This part of the movie alone makes it well worth watching no matter what your political stripe.

I counted 45 people (a big crowd for any movie theater in Astoria) at the matinee and the manager of the theater said the movie was doing a great business. I only hope that more people go see this movie, especially voters under the age of 30. Although people over 30 should see it too I don't have much faith that harden Democrats of any age will give it a chance. It's too bad because they'd become enlightened.

One of the things that frustrates me personally about politics on either side is the unwillingness to entertain the idea that maybe just maybe there's another way to look at an issue and bend on it.

Regardless, whether you're a Democrat or Republican you should see this movie before the election. Maybe it won't change how you vote but it'll certainly give you some information you're probably unaware of to think about before you do.

Manning Cruises Over the 49ers

With great protection Manning didn't break a sweat against the 49ers.

This was Peyton Manning’s best preseason showing to date with the Broncos. Manning scored against the first team D for the 49ers and made it look easy. Eric Decker had a nice game and should have had 3 TD’s catches instead of 2. I hope Decker can minimize the drops when they count. All of the first string WR’s, TE’s and backups had drops yesterday, too many drops. Last year, the drops by Decker and Thomas were so numerous and costly. Decker must catch the ones like he dropped for that sure TD.

During the Manning series’ the Broncos OL did an excellent job in pass protection. Manning only got hit big once. They did a good job for Willis McGahee too. At 30 years old he can still run down hill with as much power as any RB in the league if he gets an opening. If McGahee can stay on the field all season the combination of his running and Manning’s passing should produce big yards and scores.

The Broncos first team D played well against the 49ers first team offense. I was very impressed how they shut down their running game. The pass rush was not as good, especially with the backups in. As a whole they didn’t get the kind of consistent pass pressure they’re going to need against better passing teams. Too many missed tackles by all 3 lines of Defense in this one too and the backup Safeties and Corners for the Broncos need a lot of work. I have real concerns about the Broncos D going into the regular season, the DB’s must improve their cover and tackling skills. The DL must improve their pass pressure in the 3-4, the 4-3 and even in the 5-2 which they lined up in several times in the game but didn’t achieve much.

It’ll be interesting to see which DB’s and DLinemen the Broncos stay with come the final cut down day. The only true standouts on D whose starting jobs are secure IMO are Miller, Dumervil and Champ at this point.

Personally I felt like the 9ers D and the team as a whole was overrated last year especially on D. They played in the weakest conference in the NFC last year and had an easy schedule. Since they had a 13-3 record last year their schedule will be much more difficult out of their division just like the Broncos this season. On offense last season 49ers kicked more FG’s for scores for points than TD’s last year so offensively they were ranked near the bottom.

You have to really take these preseason games with a grain of salt. I’m hopeful about the Broncos O being better under Manning but the Broncos D still needs a lot of work.

Seahawks Expose Weaknesses

Manning can still run a good hurry up.

I just watched the DVR version of the Seahawks/Broncos game. The most impressive part of it was the hurry up offense Peyton Manning got going at the end of the first half. Manning can still move the ball quickly when he has too. Too bad that drive had to end with a dropped TD pass in the end zone, my Mom could of caught that one.

Willis McGahee looked good in limited action but this was no thing of beauty for the offense as a whole. Manning had the 2 picks and was under pressure to many times. I was glad to see him get up after the one good hit that he took. His game while good is still not up to the level it needs to be yet and neither is the OL and the Receivers.

As good as the Broncos D tackled in the first game against the Bears they were horrible in this one. The pass rush was ineffective and when the Seahawks QB and RB's broke through the first level the Broncos missed far too many tackles on the second.

In summary I'd say Manning is on the comeback trail but he's not 100% in sync and the Broncos D still has a lot of work to do to get better. Thankfully these games don't count but when they do we have expect much better.

Good Preseason Tackling Beats the Bears

Jack Del Rio should help improve the Broncos D.

I just zipped through the Broncos game tonight on the DVR. The thing that most sticks out about the game was the tackling by the Broncos D. They didn't miss any that I remember seeing and that's amazing considering it was the 1st preseason game with backups and Rookies getting most of the playing time. Even on special teams they didn't miss any tackles. The Bears didn't have any big plays in the game at all.

Granted Matt Forte and Jay Cutler didn't play but the Broncos were very aggressive throughout. Most of the game they played a 4-3 D, many times they lined up 5 on the defense line.

They totally shut down the run game and were constantly putting pressure on all the Bears QB's in passing situations.

With Fox and new DC Jack Del Rio one would expect more aggressive defensive schemes but to be a successful D you have to be able to tackle consistently. So I'm certain Fox and Del Rio have to be pleased with this effort.

On offense the running game looked good. Willis McGahee, Jeremiah Johnson, Lance Ball and even Knowshon Moreno had some nice carries.

As for the Receivers Eric Decker and Matt Willis had some nice catches.

Manning's one series wasn't enough to see if his game is dead on yet. He threw some balls into good coverage that maybe he shouldn't have. The Brandon Stokley defection that got intercepted wasn't a great pass. But Manning looked comfortable in the pocket and the Broncos OL did protect very well for him and the backups.

Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher didn't play so it's hard to tell this early if they'll be able to pass protect against stud D's.

I was impressed with Brock Osweiler's limited playing time. He does have a strong arm, mobility and threw a nice throw for TD pass. He's got the physical tools and if he gets the head for the game he could be a good QB in the NFL.

My main concern going in was how well would all of the new players on the DL and in the backfield would play. Since the Bears didn't produce anything on the ground and the pass pressure was so good by the DL and LB's the Corners and Safety's didn't really get challenged.

It was a good start for the Broncos. Now it's on the Seahawks next week, hopefully the confidence will roll over and they can improve game by game until they count.

Smog, Climate Change and Energy are 3 Seperate Issues

I got into a debate with a Global Warming Alarmist from LA today on a message board and thought I’d share this rant. No sense wasting it on one person. If you have a few minutes, watch all or part of this video for some background.

The Global Warming Swindle

LA does have some smog and it does need to be dealt with but one EPA sized rule does not fit all. Remember living in the bubble of LA is different than living in the fly over states. Air quality needs to be addressed in big cities but even with the smog it's NOT causing global warming. Smog and global warming are not connected and never have been. The facts don't fit the argument and today the smog is not as big a problem as it was because cars are burning cleaner fuel and are not admitting as bad of emissions as 20 years ago.

Even if the air quality in LA still needs improvement we shouldn’t destroy the entire nation’s economy by spending billions on energy systems than have a huge deficit on cost and delivery. Especially if it can only be counted on to meet less than 10% of our energy needs right now. It’s a real fairy tale to believe that solar, wind and bio-fuels are going to heat and cool every house in the US or power every car, ship, truck or train that moves food and every other essential consumer products we need.

I’ll give one truly ironic and moronic thing I love about California greenies that drives me crazy in this fantasy that is global warming. Some think electric cars are the answer. Really? First where does the electric power come from? Power plants. What do they use as an energy source to fuel power plants? Coal and natural gas. When I lived in Sacramento 10 years ago (another city with smog problems) the people of California didn’t want any more power plants built because they burned coal or natural gas.

Well Gee… how the hell are you going to power electric cars if the power grid in cities like LA and Sacramento are maxed out already? Electric energy is not an invisible source of energy. I’m amazed how stupid people are in just this one case alone. Then the other issue is the manufacture and the disposal of the car batteries if millions are put into production and used. The chemical waste created by batteries would be far more harmful to the environment that any diesel or gas burning vehicle.

Just like power plants some don’t want solar farms either in California. It’s the same moronic thinking that is getting us all nowhere. Why are we letting California control the narrative on the whole climate change and energy debate? They don’t have a clue. They want Solar Energy but not at the sake of Turtles. Click on the link below to read to see firsthand the madness of  it all.

Mojave Solar Project Killing Threatened Desert Tortoises

Bio-fuels have proven to be a disaster. First you must use energy to plant the corn, then energy to harvest the corn, and then use energy to transport the corn to a processing facility, and then use energy to process the corn into fuel, and then use energy to transport the fuel to dispensing facilities. Wow, very efficient system there isn’t it? More energy is wasted in making the energy than any benefit of using it thus it’s a negative outcome not just from an energy standpoint but from an economic outcome. Not only that but the corn used to make the fuel is causing worldwide food shortages and driving up the price of foods that use corn additives.

The farmers planting the corn for bio-fuels love it because they’re receiving massive government subsidies to grow and plant corn for bio-fuel. We shouldn’t have to subsidize another grand and stupendous failure like this one period when oil, natural gas and coal are in abundance.

Wind and solar are a joke too, because they cannot and will not work in certain areas of the US because of weather conditions. I live in NW Oregon wind and solar is impossible here just as it is many parts of the country. It’s total nonsense that the people of LA or any of the other big cities can dictate what energy policy and air quality policy is going to be when nothing compares to their problems.

Nuclear power plants is one of solutions I support, but it’s the same thing, waste is created in the process so Greenies don’t want them. In France they’ve been safely using them for years.

One thing is certain we can’t let people who believe in global warming destroy our free society by letting a few cites with some smog problems dictate energy and economic policy to the rest of us. Oil, natural gas and coal in combination with the other useful alternative energy sources can and should be used but this straw man called global warming needs to be burned at the stake because man isn’t causing climate change.