unclevlad

OK it's been 30 years.... Same notion.

Must be something about New York. The Nets remind me of the recent Yankess...800-odd HRs over 3 years (17-19), made the playoffs each year but never made it to the Series. All power. Nets are all scoring, far too much 1 on 1. Now to be sure: if the Nets were close to full strength, I don't think it would've been close. The Bucks' flaws on offense are too great. But too bad, so sad, they weren't, and 2 of my least favorite players (Kyrie and Harden) can let their whine out in Cancun now. Maybe Embiid will join Kyrie.

Don't remember it, but TSR was short for The Strategic Review...they were very much into military gaming.

I just finished eating...............

Wow. Hawks. Jazz. Bucks. Clips. Jazz haven't been in the Finals since Stockton and Malone...over 20 years. And that's the RECENT trip. Bucks? Kareem/Oscar era...early 70s. Hawks? 1961. Clips? Hah! The 64 cent question in the East is, I think, how much the Sixers and Nets rip things apart. Sixers because they have fundamental issues...altho forcing Simmons to learn to shoot at least a LITTLE would help immensely. He finished 15-45 in this series, and those misses were very costly in a couple games. I am actually inclined to pick the Hawks over the Bucks, cuz the Bucks have their huge flaws, similar to the Sixers.

When it rains, it pours, part deux... Yankees just turned their *third* triple play of the season. OK, sensibly, the 2nd one was a total gift...totally terrible base running, 2 different runners hung up and tagged out. But still technically a triple play. Today's was a straightforward, classic 5-4-3, hard one-hopper to 3rd base. Angels studio guy mentioned it. True but snide comment...since May 21st, the Yankees have more triple plays than the D'backs have wins. D'backs won on May 15th to get to 18-22. They're down 9-2 going into their 8th inning ABs, so figure...today's another loss. Makes them 2-31 since. If that was a batting average for a pitcher (not named Ohtani) it'd be bad. Speaking of Ohtani, wow. Numbers are insane...and then some. Still remains to be seen whether he'll hold up under the combined load but so far he's been nothing short of amazing.

What is so insane to me is no matter how absurd or outlandish...ok, MAYBE some of their followers don't buy that one but it raises basically no flags about everything else they say.

That's trying to make a mountain out of a grain of sand.

Of course, the modern take on that is "Politics is a Capitol crime."

Well, come on, we all know that LAST person Trump is honest to, is himself.

A Night at the Opera...Marx Brothers forever

Which is pretty much the basis for the Darwin Awards. Looking around, I saw (in a few places) that 100 hours of video are posted to YouTube...every MINUTE. I can't find the same kind of statistic, but let's say it's 10 hours of video per minute. Or 600 minutes posted, every minute. So you need 600 monitors working full time, 24/7 if people are going to be doing the monitoring. 3 shifts at around 800 people per shift. Every day. That's expensive as all heck. Developing automated software isn't simple either. Now, ok, there can be measures enacted and take-down protocols. There would be some, as there are obviously things that would be illegal to post. But you'll never legislate away stupid. Mmm...for some reason, one of the all-timers came to mind. Jon Eric Hexum...male lead on a beefcake and booty show called Cover Up. He was goofing off on the set with a prop gun loaded with blanks. Put the gun up to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. End of show. Or another stat: https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/trauma/news/when-its-kids-vs-trampolines-kids-often-lose/mac-20431484 1 million emergency room visits from trampolines, between 2002 and 2011. So that even starts begging the question of what's the line between risky (unmonitored trampoline) and reckless (choking to unconscious)?

"News" implies some effort to impart factual information.

I agree with Grail. Most of it isn't evil, altho promoting a dangerous product might be. Russian roulette goes back a LONG, LONG ways. Frat hazing is a combination of stupid and bullying, and has caused quite a few alcohol poisoning deaths, for example. Oh, and for really graphic examples...go on over to DarwinAwards.com and read the stories for those awarded and nominated. The ice bucket challenge was a Big Thing in 2014. The point was to get a bunch of people to pledge money if you did it. It started as a fundraiser for ALS. Couple people did it for, IIRC, a friend who had ALS. It caught on with social AND mainstream media; quite a few pro athletes took part. VERY! successful...to the tune of $200M +. The rest of it? Kids being kids. The sense of immortality and invulnerability...nothing really BAD can happen from this. Yeah, to be sure, it's more dangerous because normal adolescent stupidity can only impact a tiny few; with social media, well, the reach is enormous. Can it be monitored? Are you gonna monitor every platform? How many tens of thousands of hours of video are posted on TT or YouTube every day? Who's gonna pay for this? And what counts as dangerously stupid? Heck...there is an auto ad that may still be running, but certainly ran for quite some time, on broadcast TV. SUV driving along, 3-4 young-ish (late teens, early 20's, it appears) girls. They start taunting/daring each other to jump into a lake they're just driving by...fully clothed. And of course 3 of the 4 do it; the 4th says "it's too comfortable in here" because, well, that's the tag line for the ad anyway. Still...you see the others running out and preparing to go in. Stupid? Foolish? Pointless? All of the above. Dangerous? Actually, yes, *at times*. Cold-water lakes can be tricky, and if you don't know what the shoreline is like, they *can* be dangerous. it is unlikely, tho. But while it is staged, hey, the behavior is absolutely believable, as stupid stuff like that DOES happen. So here's a major mainstream ad that really, actually, is promoting and glorifying stupid behavior.

Is boxing really this desperate? Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya is going to fight Vitor Belfort...not a boxer, but MMA from the UFC. OdlH is 48. Belfort is 44. This is even more of a joke than Mayweather vs. McGregor, but nothing close to the total farce that was Mayweather vs. Paul. I don't follow boxing much at all at the best of times, but right now I don't think I could name a single active boxer in any weight class. Tells you something that ESPN also dropped Friday Night boxing for MMA. So yeah, boxing probably is that desperate.

For comparison purposes: https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races it's twice as much as the most expensive Senate race in 2020, and well over 10x the most expensive House race. I have no intention of double checking but yeah, when half a billion was mentioned, I was like...yeah right...and assumed it was going to be sunk into multiple campaigns.

I think we're getting too deep into a political philosophy discussion for this thread, particularly since we both agree that many of the anti-vaxxers have no rational basis for their refusal, at least that we can see.

So who decides what is an acceptable reason for the population in general? And what else do they have the right to decide? The law and the government are not subtle instruments. In some cases, we can readily demand that there are no valid reasons...get vaccinated or get fired. Health care workers is the most obvious, and the staff of a nursing home. I have no problem with school districts requiring vaccinations for all employees and all students. More broadly, I have no problem with any employer deciding that all employees must be vaccinated; they don't need extra grounds. But that isn't the same as the government stepping in and making these decisions. If freedom means anything, it must include the right to say No. That isn't absolute; when there is no meaningful imposition on a person's freedom (wearing a mask), then the requirement is well within public safety concerns. Does requiring vaccination impose a burden? That is a good question. I don't think so. I'm sure you don't think so. But it is a more intrusive move, and it is not completely risk-free.

If that recording is legit........................................................... Wow. OK, well, IF it's legit, I sit corrected. If ANY of it is legit...well, OK, I stopped listening after 2 minutes, but by that point he's *repeated* his threats. And his tone is such that hey, he's got no plans to stop there. If you listened, feel free to chime in, but from those first two minutes, my take is, the speaker didn't think Trump went NEARLY far enough. I'm glad I haven't gotten lunch yet, cuz I'm not sure I'd have kept it down.....

Unfortunate. Pulling out of the Olympics is much less of a surprise; its place in the tennis calendar wasn't that great. And the protocols to assuage Japanese concerns sounded fairly intrusive. But having to withdraw from Wimbledon, combined with the results from the clay court season...amazing for anyone else, but for Rafa, a significant step down...this presages that the end of his career is probably now in sight. I think Federer is already a long shot to win another major; he actually lost in the 2nd round at Halle, on grass. His ranking is also dropping; he's #8 now. That never helps; it means he may have to play 3 of the 4 best players to win a tourney. And rankings are something of a vicious circle...when you drop, you increase the risk of an unlucky draw, and getting knocked out earlier and earlier. Which means fewer ranking points from the tourney and thus a lower ranking. Nadal's not *as* far along; he's #3 still. But he may well fall to #4...and there's that vicious cycle starting to play for him. His body isn't going to suddenly, miraculously get better and stay better. So I think Djokovic is likely to pass them both for most GS titles. He's at 19, they're at 20. He'll be the heavy favorite at both the US Open and Aussie Open, and I think he's got another year or two where he'll remain close to the top, unless his mental game derails that.

I'm inclined to believe Braddock's denial, as the accusation is s totally, absurdly over the top. If the 3 other Republicans are going to work together to ensure she loses...well, I can buy that. Already lost in the general election and the boat anchor of a Gaetz endorsement doesn't bode well for the 2022 election. And she supports banning all lobbyists, which will sit REAL well with the Republican caucus.

Kawhi out for game 5 after tweaking his knee in game 4. This really is an insane rash of injuries to crucial players. 2 more coaches dumped...DC and Nawlins. Dallas GM Donnie Nelson gone...ok, he drafted Dirk and Doncic but had a hard time piecing a full team together. Luka hasn't been close to real success; Dirk's teams got the one title but only had 1 other significant playoff run. Could've been, should've been more.

Yeah, to a point, but losing 26 of 28...well, one can also argue that's on the front office for failing to develop depth. And there was a stretch, IIRC, where they gutted their farm system. So that's why I figure it could be the GM. LATE EDIT: D'backs got smashed again at SF. Postgame show, Brandon Webb pointed out...at one point they were 2 over. That was, looking it up...May 2nd. 15-13. That means they have gone 5-37 since. The worst season starts in MLB history include 5-21, 5-28, and 7-35. Granted that's just to start the season, but I have no doubt this is one of the worst 42-game records in history...it's a winning percentage of .119.

OTOH, the D'backs might be. 68 games played, they're 17 1/2 back of the Padres. 8-3 lead in San Fran...blown. Again. 21 straight road losses; record, according to the Dodger broadcasters (have that game on MLB network) is 22. Lost 26 of 28 overall. That's full-on dumpster fire, injuries or no. Manager and/or GM won't last beyond the All Star break; that just feels inevitable. They're on pace to lose 110 games.

Wow. Just...wow. This might not have been the single worst loss in playoff history, but it is a contender. Kyrie is out. Harden plays but is fundamentally ineffective, as in 1 for 10 from the field. The Bucks have major advantages down low. But over and over and over and OVER AGAIN, THEY DON'T EXPLOIT IT! They do get up 17 by ball movement and driving...but then they play isolation ball, take 3's, Giannis has Harden on him, the ball on the block...and turns for a freaking fadeaway. Durant was awesome. NO doubt. Played the full 48, 49 points on 23 total shots, 17 boards, 10 assists. One for the ages. But it should NOT HAVE MATTERED. Bucks blew this one on offense by through impatience, lack of awareness, and lack of cohesion FAR too much of the time. If the Bucks can't come back and win this series, I think this one seals Budenholzer's fate.