When I was at Cal, the California School for the Blind was located in Berkeley. I happened to donate money to a charity for the blind that was advertised on a Wheaties box, and they sent me some sports magazine casette tapes. They were pretty good, but I wasn't the target demographic. So I gave them to the School for the Blind. They sent me a nice letter later saying the boys like the tapes quite a lot.
Lived at Clark Kerr freshman year. Oh the fire drills at 3 am, when everyone came out in their jammies because some miscreant had pulled the fire alarm handle.
Feb 12, 2021 10:00 AM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Save the date for an upcoming event with Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, who will present on his recent publication, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution.
"The Benin Bronzes sit at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonization of museums. In The Brutish Museums, Dan Hicks makes a powerful case for the urgent return of such objects, as part of a wider project of addressing the outstanding debt of colonialism." - Pluto Press
Named one of the best art books of 2020, the New York Times concludes, "If you care about museums and the world, read this book." Hicks' presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from California museums and academic institutions.
Announcement: if it's safe, I will be attending my cousin's wedding in Taiwan at the end of November. If you want to join me in eating all the things (in Taiwan in general, not at my cousin's wedding; I'm not inviting you to my cousin's wedding), then plan for a Taiwan trip in that timeframe.
Got the 12hr ban hammer from twitter for my tweet making fun of 5G being implanted into my brain. I was given the option of removing it and being let back on immediately or wait the 12 hrs. I chose the 12hrs
Some people actually believe that, and a lot of other things, which get reinforced. Sarcasm can be a dangerous tool, and the so-called sarcasm font (which may not even be honored by some end user display settings) won't even occur to some. Sarcasm is a foreign concept not supported in some demographics.
Blindness by Jose Saramago. It is my favorite book. It contains very little punctuation and no names, but it's a fantastic story ( and you get used to the style fairly quickly).
apparently he didn't even get into the capitol. He was outside on the phone with his wife and collapsed. Truth takes all the fun out of a terrible thing.
I don't really care whether it helps pollution, but I do like how the City of SF does it. They compost everyone's green waste, and then use it in the city landscaping, and any city resident who wants mulch can go get it for free and use it in their yards.
well, we built a large, multi compartment bin in our backyard and we put almost everything decomposable in them. We do it for the good dirt that result, not so much for environmental reasons
my wife gets our leaves and grass clippings mulch mowed and then sprinkled back on our lawn. i think her primary goal is better fertilization for the otherwise organic lawn.
Well, on recycling, the margins matter. A challenge is that since China stopped allowing imports of recyclables that are not a 'product' (i.e., used as raw material with minimal processing) there are very few large scale recycling situations. There could be some in the US, but the cost would be high, and the work would be 'too hard'.
Heh my more unpopular opinion/action (which I try not to talk about, lest I come off as sanctimonious) is that I no longer watch football because it (the whole system) feels unethical.
Years ago I purchased an AeroPress. Used it a few times. I specialize in not reading directions or at best skimming and diving in. First time, and not last, spilling over during pressing and spewing liquid grounds onto pants just prior to commute. I boxed it away.
Finally, I read directions via Youtube and various approaches to brewing a few months ago so I gave it another go. Very good cuppa black. And at same time quit lobotomizing myself with cream and sugar.
I don't like the taste either. I don't mind the smell, unless it's burnt. Usually I have coffee when I'm traveling for work, especially overseas. I'm not sure if caffeine really affects me much since I still get tired in the afternoons when traveling, especially Asia or Europe, even if I've had coffee.
I don't know. Usually I get a Latte so it's watered down for me anyways. I had a coworker that was a coffee snob so he would find the best places within walking distance so I'm sure the Lattes that I've had overseas is much better than the ones I've had here, which are very few.
The Machine. Toby Stevens and Caity Lotz. Low budget scifi is the best scifi
"Two artificial intelligence engineers come together as they work to create the first ever self-aware artificial intelligence. A veteran AI engineer secretly hopes to develop technology to help his diseased daughter, even if it means funding comes from the powerful Ministry of Defence (MoD). His new partner, a young woman gifted in the field of AI, is brought on after her breakthroughs are recognized by the MoD. Things go wrong when the MoD takes over and advances the researchers' work to the next level, teaching the AI to kill and follow MoD instructions with its new and nearly indestructible body."
The IMDB description barely touches on how odd it gets, and how the AI research leads to some augmented soldiers who communicate through wifi rather than speech among other things.
A story of a suicidal, insane man's journey back from the brink through his obviously unreliable filter. It is somehow sweet and unsettling at the same time -- definitely different.
I had forgotten about the national championship game last night. I turned it on just in time to see the Heisman-winning WR line up in the slot, burn a poor LB, and score a 40-something yard TD with a couple minutes left in the first half. He had 215 yards and 3 TDs in the half. The announcers were saying that Ohio State insisted on running their base personnel rather than a nickel or dime package even though the LBs kept getting torched in the passing game.
Heh, some time in the 2nd quarter my son texted the group "Devonta Smith was not on the Ohio State scouting report" - which we thought was quite funny.
first time I had watched a full Alabama game this year and...lawdy. Their offense was incredible even in the 2nd half when the aforementioned DeVonta Smith went out, Waddle barely effective returning from long term injury and their QB hobbling around barely able to walk. Also, Najee Harris is a monster. Best all around college RB I've seen in a long time.
the fact that Alabama managed to keep a comfortable lead in the second half with players getting injured left and right plus a limping QB tells a story about depth and motivation.
"A new grand jury was empaneled Friday and met Monday to hear new Capitol cases.
Hours before officials spoke, the first public federal indictment in the Capitol breach was filed against an Alabama man who allegedly brought 11 molotov cocktails and five loaded weapons to the U.S. Capitol
In an indictment dated Monday, Lonnie L. Coffman, 70, who was previously charged with two counts in a U.S. Capitol Police complaint, was charged with 16 counts of D.C. firearms violations and one federal firearms count. He also possessed a crossbow, several machetes, a stun gun and smoke devices, prosecutors said.
Coffman allegedly formulated the incendiary devices to be particularly lethal, prosecutors asserted, and “appears to have been motivated to conduct violence against our elected representatives.”
Coffman is accused of carrying 11 Mason jars with gasoline and melted Styrofoam — which an FBI affidavit said could produce a “napalm-like” explosion of sticky, flammable liquid — in addition to a rifle, shotgun, two 9mm pistols, a .22-caliber pistol, five types of ammunition and a large-capacity magazine, all loaded and unregistered and unlicensed in the capital. Coffman had an apparent license to carry a pistol in Alabama, prosecutors said."
I'm pleased that they are doing this. You don't need a "truth and reconciliation" commission if you follow the criminality... and a lot of these wild-eyed Trumpistas are just not that smart, there will be a trail.
And on top of that, maybe the GOP will be more receptive to rethinking the overreach of the state security apparatus after they get a taste of it.
I think that people forget that McConnell is unprincipled about chasing / consolidating power - and the idea of seizing the moment to push Trump aside would be appealing for that purpose.
Yup, that's why I think it's possible he might actually do this. McConnell is not stupid; he can see that the Trump brand is rapidly becoming toxic, including with the big corporate donors who would otherwise support his caucus.
Have to plug this some more! The headline is "Column: I took part in a pro-Trump attack on the US Capitol and now I have to face consequences? That’s tyranny!"
Bill Belichick has always been admirably contrarian, a stubborn individualist who refuses to be pressured by external opinion or the crowd. No outsider, therefore, could have changed his mind about accepting a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump a week after the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The change could only have come from within, from something he saw with his own retinas and judged with his own conscience.
Coaches always go to the tape. And the tape, that hideous tape, does not lie. Had Belichick stood by his acceptance, he would have risked handing a propaganda victory to militia terrorists, white supremacists, cop killers, avowed would-be assassins, the neckbearded scum who chased a Capitol Police officer up those Capitol stairs. The opposite of patriots — traitors.
Doing so erases whatever on the field legacy he has. 6 super bowls? 17 straight years of 10+ wins? 12 straight AFC east titles? Gone. All gone. No one would give two shits about any of his accomplishments if he were to go through with it and he'd be hard pressed to field a competitive team ever again. He will be forever associated with a nazi loving ex president.
I was trying to figure out if he really thinks that or it was a save face post. Given that he has been a vocal Trump supporter, it could be that he realizes he'll lose his players if he goes through with accepting the Medal.
Perhaps even more than that: he can see that Trump is about to transition out of power and that especially after recent events is going to be extremely unpopular. No need to tie yourself to that sinking ship.
He can promote his reserve punter, the one who had the 3-percenter tattoo then backpedaled that he got the tattoo when he was young didn't understand what it fully meant
A movie that is different is definitely any of the Deadpool movies. Ryan Reynolds can literally make something of nothing and i f'ing love it. Deadpool 2 is my favorite of the bunch and there's a 3rd one that's just been announced.
Unpopular opinion: Santa Clara County kicking out college and professional sports teams was a boneheaded decision that didn't bear much of anything considering the protocols teams go through and the fact that places like San Francisco County, New York City, and LA County (who hasn't had a hospital bed for 1.5+ months) still haven't banned them in the urban setting to me illustrates how much of a knee jerk decision it was. I am biased in the sense that I'm already pissed at them since I'm not on campus at Santa Clara but I guess as you can tell this subject/opinion grinds my gears, not the pandemic as a whole because yes it is something we need to tackle together.
Not sure that opinion is particularly unpopular. The comments from Santa Clara's chief health official about the 49ers seemed to suggest the decision was more political than about actual public health. I do not see how allowing a regularly-tested NFL team to play in an empty stadium is at all dangerous.
dogs! https://twitter.com/mattiekahn/status/1349110551729860608?s=20
What a coincidence.
Weird song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHxfOZH8cew This song always struck me as deeply weird.
I learned a bit about deaf and blind terminology on Twitter today, so I thought I'd share this thread: https://twitter.com/snarkbat/status/1349065373639864320?s=20
When I was at Cal, the California School for the Blind was located in Berkeley. I happened to donate money to a charity for the blind that was advertised on a Wheaties box, and they sent me some sports magazine casette tapes. They were pretty good, but I wasn't the target demographic. So I gave them to the School for the Blind. They sent me a nice letter later saying the boys like the tapes quite a lot.
Oh, that's a great story!
Was that the school that was later condemned, snapped up for a cheap price, and turned into Clark Kerr Campus?
Condemned? But yes now the Clark Kerr campus.
Lived at Clark Kerr freshman year. Oh the fire drills at 3 am, when everyone came out in their jammies because some miscreant had pulled the fire alarm handle.
My roommate and I both somehow slept through a fire alarm...AND NO ONE CAME TO GET US
This event might interest some of you:
Feb 12, 2021 10:00 AM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Save the date for an upcoming event with Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, who will present on his recent publication, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution.
"The Benin Bronzes sit at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonization of museums. In The Brutish Museums, Dan Hicks makes a powerful case for the urgent return of such objects, as part of a wider project of addressing the outstanding debt of colonialism." - Pluto Press
Named one of the best art books of 2020, the New York Times concludes, "If you care about museums and the world, read this book." Hicks' presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from California museums and academic institutions.
Registration here: https://berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/register/2016086833698/WN_Kx2JPn4PQKeyOYuzO9wiRw
Announcement: if it's safe, I will be attending my cousin's wedding in Taiwan at the end of November. If you want to join me in eating all the things (in Taiwan in general, not at my cousin's wedding; I'm not inviting you to my cousin's wedding), then plan for a Taiwan trip in that timeframe.
and to think I was feeling daring for contemplating buying a ticket for a Tame Impala show in late October!
I've purchased zero tickets!
who schedules a wedding during football season? Awful
Maybe it's Big Game weekend...
I don't know, I'd have to miss some good football games. ;)
You could watch with Golden Bears in Taiwan :)
Wal-Mart getting into wealth management? Oxymoron?
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/is-walmart-getting-into-wealth-management-51610473516
Didn't know 2 for 1 coupons counted as wealth
Got the 12hr ban hammer from twitter for my tweet making fun of 5G being implanted into my brain. I was given the option of removing it and being let back on immediately or wait the 12 hrs. I chose the 12hrs
I guess they don't grasp the concept of the sarcastic font. Or maybe they thought people would actually believe you.
why is that offensive?
Because it is the 21st century, trump, failed education system, ignorant people on line, and conspiracy theories.
Some people actually believe that, and a lot of other things, which get reinforced. Sarcasm can be a dangerous tool, and the so-called sarcasm font (which may not even be honored by some end user display settings) won't even occur to some. Sarcasm is a foreign concept not supported in some demographics.
If seen as a joke, not at all; if seen as crazy anti-vax screed - an issue.
Weird Book
Blindness by Jose Saramago. It is my favorite book. It contains very little punctuation and no names, but it's a fantastic story ( and you get used to the style fairly quickly).
"The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea", I think I read when I was too young.
Most things by Yukio Mishima.
Only book I've read by him.
I nominate the Three Body Problem series by Cixin Liu. Very different from Western science fiction, still very engaging and enjoyable.
this was fantastic. the entire trilogy was among the best books i have read in a couple years
i didnt find it all that weird. just good.
Aww nuts .The tasered-his-nuts-while-stealing-a-Tip-ONeill-painting news is false.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/capitol-riot-taser-death/
I'm not reading that. It's true to me.
nnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
I refuse to believe he did not taser his nuts.
Someone's going to have to release the autopsy report. Although would an autopsy have been done in this case?
apparently he didn't even get into the capitol. He was outside on the phone with his wife and collapsed. Truth takes all the fun out of a terrible thing.
That's what he told her...
Or someone at the funeral is going to have to find a creative way to do the needful and check for any evidence.
FAKE NEWS
it will always be true in my heart
is correct response
Lawyers of the DBD - is this a good legal defense?
https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1348760270198472708
sounds like making the case for a plea to only some trespassing or something, and not sedition, treason, or violating a gov't building.
Eugene Goodman
Unpopular opinion
Composting yard waste is a waste of effort and does almost nothing to reduce air pollution/green house gas issues.
I don't really care whether it helps pollution, but I do like how the City of SF does it. They compost everyone's green waste, and then use it in the city landscaping, and any city resident who wants mulch can go get it for free and use it in their yards.
well, we built a large, multi compartment bin in our backyard and we put almost everything decomposable in them. We do it for the good dirt that result, not so much for environmental reasons
Same. We do it to get some good soil for the vegetable garden in the spring.
my wife gets our leaves and grass clippings mulch mowed and then sprinkled back on our lawn. i think her primary goal is better fertilization for the otherwise organic lawn.
not sure she does it for pollution reasons
yes, home yard composting for good soil is fine. Industrial composting of an entire city's yard waste has almost the same air emissions as burning it.
I dunno, our county will take all the leaves and uses them for compost in county parks. Seems reasonable enough.
and then you have to find a market for 'post consumer' compost which always has things you don't want (plastic, metal, etc).
I am definitely interested in hearing more of your garbage takes. (ah ha ha "garbage takes" just a joke!!!!!)
Ohhh interesting. I feel like nothing I do on this front (reduce-reuse-recycle) is helping; it's just marginally less bad.
Well, on recycling, the margins matter. A challenge is that since China stopped allowing imports of recyclables that are not a 'product' (i.e., used as raw material with minimal processing) there are very few large scale recycling situations. There could be some in the US, but the cost would be high, and the work would be 'too hard'.
Unpopular among many in this circle: no one should have been playing football this year
I'm with you on this one, TBB.
you're out of the will, TBB
I WILL LIGHT YOUR PORCH COUCH ON FIRE
Well Ohio State lost so now you need to resort to lighting other people's couches on fire.
this is the post of a football fan. WLECOME BACK
Eh, NFL I don't have a problem with, college is a different story.
Yeah, NCAA probably should not have done it. NFL is a different matter; everyone is well-paid for their trouble.
not that unpopular.
Heh my more unpopular opinion/action (which I try not to talk about, lest I come off as sanctimonious) is that I no longer watch football because it (the whole system) feels unethical.
College or NFL or both?
both
Because of concussions?
Unpopular in my professional circles: Comic Sans is a good font
It is allegedly the most readable font.
As with Susan Sontag, the novels of JK Rowling are self-indulgent, overrated crap...
The first is a cute story. They get progressively wordier and the story wanders.
Coffee tastes bad. Doesn't matter what you put in it.
Years ago I purchased an AeroPress. Used it a few times. I specialize in not reading directions or at best skimming and diving in. First time, and not last, spilling over during pressing and spewing liquid grounds onto pants just prior to commute. I boxed it away.
Finally, I read directions via Youtube and various approaches to brewing a few months ago so I gave it another go. Very good cuppa black. And at same time quit lobotomizing myself with cream and sugar.
PREACH. It also ruins everything it touches (I am looking at you, mocha).
LIES
I don't like the taste either. I don't mind the smell, unless it's burnt. Usually I have coffee when I'm traveling for work, especially overseas. I'm not sure if caffeine really affects me much since I still get tired in the afternoons when traveling, especially Asia or Europe, even if I've had coffee.
do you like the coffee overseas better? ie more espresso based drinks as opposed to drip coffee?
while i will drink almost any coffee that is available, i generally prefer espresso.
I don't know. Usually I get a Latte so it's watered down for me anyways. I had a coworker that was a coffee snob so he would find the best places within walking distance so I'm sure the Lattes that I've had overseas is much better than the ones I've had here, which are very few.
Coffee in Turkey or Cairo is really good, and strong.
You deeply wrong, but that reminds me of a joke from The Tick that few over my son's head the first time he watched it.
Do you like the smell of coffee? My wife has always hated the taste of coffee but she loves the smell of it.
The smell is nice.
I also like the smell but dislike the taste.
I am anti- both. I would rather have you smoke a cigarette at my dinner table than brew a pot of coffee in my house.
This is the weirdest thing here today, period.
Weird movie
Rare Exports: A Christmas Take
A bone-dry dark-ish comedy from Finland that involves a murderous Santa Claus unearthed from a giant icy tomb.
Love this movie, we've made a tradition out of watching around Christmas time. Well at least the past two years.
I watched it for the first time this season and I loved that bizarre ending
The Machine. Toby Stevens and Caity Lotz. Low budget scifi is the best scifi
"Two artificial intelligence engineers come together as they work to create the first ever self-aware artificial intelligence. A veteran AI engineer secretly hopes to develop technology to help his diseased daughter, even if it means funding comes from the powerful Ministry of Defence (MoD). His new partner, a young woman gifted in the field of AI, is brought on after her breakthroughs are recognized by the MoD. Things go wrong when the MoD takes over and advances the researchers' work to the next level, teaching the AI to kill and follow MoD instructions with its new and nearly indestructible body."
The IMDB description barely touches on how odd it gets, and how the AI research leads to some augmented soldiers who communicate through wifi rather than speech among other things.
Holy Motors
Mulholland Drive by David Lynch.
My love slave claims it's a great movie but I've never watched it. Yet.
I’ll never forget watching this in a packed Wheeler Auditorium my freshman year at Cal on a Friday night.
_______ by David Lynch
Except The Straight Story, I guess.
Teeth
A story of a young girl who discovers that she has teeth "down there". She eventually learns to use them as a weapon.
House - a bizarre Japanese horror movie, and I do mean bizarre.
Rubber. The story of a demonic tire rolling around killing off everything in its path
Swiss Army Man (Netflix)
A story of a suicidal, insane man's journey back from the brink through his obviously unreliable filter. It is somehow sweet and unsettling at the same time -- definitely different.
Buffalo 66.
this is actually a funny movie about a guy who is distraught after the Bills lose the Super Bowl on the missed FG.
Isn't that the movie where Vincent Gallo gets a real live hummer from Chloe Sevigny?
Maybe Brown Bunny, I think.
After reading the IMDB page... this is a bit of misleading description methinks.
Elsewhere in college
I had forgotten about the national championship game last night. I turned it on just in time to see the Heisman-winning WR line up in the slot, burn a poor LB, and score a 40-something yard TD with a couple minutes left in the first half. He had 215 yards and 3 TDs in the half. The announcers were saying that Ohio State insisted on running their base personnel rather than a nickel or dime package even though the LBs kept getting torched in the passing game.
Heh, some time in the 2nd quarter my son texted the group "Devonta Smith was not on the Ohio State scouting report" - which we thought was quite funny.
Didn't watch it. Not surprised by the outcome. Of course next season we'll be playing BAMA in the championship game. 😎 😎 😎 😎
first time I had watched a full Alabama game this year and...lawdy. Their offense was incredible even in the 2nd half when the aforementioned DeVonta Smith went out, Waddle barely effective returning from long term injury and their QB hobbling around barely able to walk. Also, Najee Harris is a monster. Best all around college RB I've seen in a long time.
the fact that Alabama managed to keep a comfortable lead in the second half with players getting injured left and right plus a limping QB tells a story about depth and motivation.
that was quite a shellacking by Alabama last night.
I was impressed on several levels. Felt really good for the center who tore up his knee vs Florida, and got in to snap the kneel down play. Class act.
Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa:
https://twitter.com/james_benedetto/status/1348860386930552833
https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1349018535876558851
Social distancing in that tree was a pretty good idea.
Yeah, I saw that /SMH
Bama gonna Bama.
Though if Cal happened to win the Rose Bowl in this weird season I can't say our fans would have been able to stay inside either.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Liz Cheney wants to impeach
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1349123762780827648
JFC - it's so much worse than I thought.
"A new grand jury was empaneled Friday and met Monday to hear new Capitol cases.
Hours before officials spoke, the first public federal indictment in the Capitol breach was filed against an Alabama man who allegedly brought 11 molotov cocktails and five loaded weapons to the U.S. Capitol
In an indictment dated Monday, Lonnie L. Coffman, 70, who was previously charged with two counts in a U.S. Capitol Police complaint, was charged with 16 counts of D.C. firearms violations and one federal firearms count. He also possessed a crossbow, several machetes, a stun gun and smoke devices, prosecutors said.
Coffman allegedly formulated the incendiary devices to be particularly lethal, prosecutors asserted, and “appears to have been motivated to conduct violence against our elected representatives.”
Coffman is accused of carrying 11 Mason jars with gasoline and melted Styrofoam — which an FBI affidavit said could produce a “napalm-like” explosion of sticky, flammable liquid — in addition to a rifle, shotgun, two 9mm pistols, a .22-caliber pistol, five types of ammunition and a large-capacity magazine, all loaded and unregistered and unlicensed in the capital. Coffman had an apparent license to carry a pistol in Alabama, prosecutors said."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/capitol-riot-arrests-coffman-mostofsky/2021/01/12/634441e0-54f4-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html
Apparently the descriptions and indictments are going to show some even worse stuff.
I'm pleased that they are doing this. You don't need a "truth and reconciliation" commission if you follow the criminality... and a lot of these wild-eyed Trumpistas are just not that smart, there will be a trail.
And on top of that, maybe the GOP will be more receptive to rethinking the overreach of the state security apparatus after they get a taste of it.
Hmmmmmm
McConnell is said to be pleased about impeachment, believing it will be easier to purge Trump from the G.O.P.
https://twitter.com/jmartNYT/status/1349107100593647621
I think that people forget that McConnell is unprincipled about chasing / consolidating power - and the idea of seizing the moment to push Trump aside would be appealing for that purpose.
Yup, that's why I think it's possible he might actually do this. McConnell is not stupid; he can see that the Trump brand is rapidly becoming toxic, including with the big corporate donors who would otherwise support his caucus.
Astronautical levels of sarcasm: https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/rex-huppke/ct-trump-capitol-mob-fbi-arrests-cumulus-election-biden-huppke-20210112-zmxfbai4djcxncuhbcpgjdoixi-story.html
Have to plug this some more! The headline is "Column: I took part in a pro-Trump attack on the US Capitol and now I have to face consequences? That’s tyranny!"
It was very funny.
Bill Belichick has always been admirably contrarian, a stubborn individualist who refuses to be pressured by external opinion or the crowd. No outsider, therefore, could have changed his mind about accepting a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump a week after the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The change could only have come from within, from something he saw with his own retinas and judged with his own conscience.
Coaches always go to the tape. And the tape, that hideous tape, does not lie. Had Belichick stood by his acceptance, he would have risked handing a propaganda victory to militia terrorists, white supremacists, cop killers, avowed would-be assassins, the neckbearded scum who chased a Capitol Police officer up those Capitol stairs. The opposite of patriots — traitors.
Doing so erases whatever on the field legacy he has. 6 super bowls? 17 straight years of 10+ wins? 12 straight AFC east titles? Gone. All gone. No one would give two shits about any of his accomplishments if he were to go through with it and he'd be hard pressed to field a competitive team ever again. He will be forever associated with a nazi loving ex president.
I don't believe for one second he came to this decision on his own.
agreed. Him and Brady both have toned their Trump love down big time
Was it ever even really toned up with Brady?
I was trying to figure out if he really thinks that or it was a save face post. Given that he has been a vocal Trump supporter, it could be that he realizes he'll lose his players if he goes through with accepting the Medal.
My wife's cynical take: He wants to still have some Black players on his team going forward.
^this. and he has a focus of trying to cut losers out of his life. Even before they are entirely losers (Brady)
I mean even the 9ers moved on from Joe Montana even when he still had something to give. Although they did have Steve Young waiting in the wings.
Perhaps even more than that: he can see that Trump is about to transition out of power and that especially after recent events is going to be extremely unpopular. No need to tie yourself to that sinking ship.
He can promote his reserve punter, the one who had the 3-percenter tattoo then backpedaled that he got the tattoo when he was young didn't understand what it fully meant
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2020/12/15/did-patriots-kicker-rohrwasser-have-controversial-tattoo-removed/3913123001/
I guess I'm cynical as well since that was also my first thought when I read that he turned it down.
Casino mogul and Trump supporter Sheldon Adelson passes away at 87.
Thank God. Too bad it wasn't a couple of years ago.
What breaks my heart about this is that his wife is still alive.
gosh that's too bad
Trump visited a stretch of the net 80-mile Border Wall erected in his administration because there is nothing else more important going on.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-wall-explainer/explainer-why-is-trump-visiting-the-border-wall-in-the-last-days-of-his-presidency-idUSKBN29H19S?il=0
Acting Sec of DHS Chad Wolf resigns, says he plans to leave within the next few days. So... not resigning?
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/11/chad-wolf-steps-down-from-dhs-457747
as I understand it, stepping down from the position to which he was _not_ confirmed to work in the position for which he _was_ confirmed.
PRO
Aaron Rodgers to host Jeopardy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/01/12/aaron-rodgers-jeopardy-host/
Happy Anniversary to the sage advice of taking care of your mind, body, and chicken.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1349015236171411461
CAL
Go Bears. And I am glad that so many players are sticking around for next season. Unfinished business.
A movie that is different is definitely any of the Deadpool movies. Ryan Reynolds can literally make something of nothing and i f'ing love it. Deadpool 2 is my favorite of the bunch and there's a 3rd one that's just been announced.
Unpopular opinion: Santa Clara County kicking out college and professional sports teams was a boneheaded decision that didn't bear much of anything considering the protocols teams go through and the fact that places like San Francisco County, New York City, and LA County (who hasn't had a hospital bed for 1.5+ months) still haven't banned them in the urban setting to me illustrates how much of a knee jerk decision it was. I am biased in the sense that I'm already pissed at them since I'm not on campus at Santa Clara but I guess as you can tell this subject/opinion grinds my gears, not the pandemic as a whole because yes it is something we need to tackle together.
Not sure that opinion is particularly unpopular. The comments from Santa Clara's chief health official about the 49ers seemed to suggest the decision was more political than about actual public health. I do not see how allowing a regularly-tested NFL team to play in an empty stadium is at all dangerous.