unclevlad

Well, the gadgeteer can practically be the exemplar for "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." A fairly common theme is that paratech (a term a former GM liked to use for the toys created by supers) is often not understandable or replicable even by the best non-super experts. The tin suit has this to some degree, but I think the one-off toys of the gadgeteer frequently fall into this class. My definition of magic is pretty much when there's effect but no understandable cause.

IIRC, Pence's policy positions (try saying that 3 times fast) were a little scary during the campaign. No...quite scary. I don't recall specifics but he scared me. That said, not NEARLY like Orange Don does. But I've never heard of a hint of charges against him. And even assuming Trump's forced out, I think it'd take an outright smoking howitzer to remove Pence as well. Impeaching Trump can easily be justified as protecting the Constitution; following up by going after Pence feels like you're trying for a coup.

On the Mattis resignation, a thought just crossed my mind. Remember this? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html?module=inline Yeah, I think this resignation gives considerable credence to this...and it says they're losing the battle.

Wow. Yeah, this is a massive slam. All the more so because of its tone. Lord Liaden: I've said much the same. You said it better. If I may add, in doing so he forces a Hobson's choice on so many around him. Does the Republican establishment really have a choice but to follow? Sure, but how great is *that* cost? Classic theory of co-opting someone is, get them to do little things, then use that as leverage to force them to escalate. That's Trump and the Republican establishment. They *couldn't* reject him at the convention, they *couldn't* reject him early on...by the time they could it was too late.

And the hourglass is running rather low. Politico has a piece saying it was the hard-core right wing nutjobs raking Trump over the coals that led to this. Well, if true, one has to wonder yet again about the long-term viability of the Republican Party. They're willing to burn down the Party's house much too easily...because they're critics, not leaders. Trump's pullout from Syria is also not going to be popular with many Republicans. This feels less about factional disputes than Trump's personal tunnel vision. Trump's moves in general, tho, cause enormous damage to our ability to conduct foreign policy moving forward.

It would appear likely Josh Gordon's career is now over. Back on the indefinite suspension list for violating the terms of his reinstatement from drug suspensions. He was out for 3 years before, and the process to get reinstated is never gonna get easier with more violations. That said, well, hopefully he can solve his problems.

What will comics do when Donnie and Co vanish from the scene, and now they have to dig to get material? Of course, right now I'm just hoping that Trump doesn't eviscerate us out of spite as he doesn't get his way in all things.

Signed to the practice squad. He's not even eligible to be on a gameday roster there. That's pretty much positions 54-63. Heck, giving him a chance to maybe learn there is reasonable. Doesn't cost much, doesn't commit to anything.

Well, spout out enough predictions and you get lucky once in a while. NFL.com is reporting Cam Newton's being shut down for the remainder of the season. And yeah, I just saw that on the FS1 crawl...you know you're desperate when watching St. John's vs. St. Francis (Brooklyn) college hoops...and you're 3000 miles away from NYC and NOT Catholic. Hey, Gruden just signed him to the practice squad. That's a no-risk situation, and costs almost nothing. Practice squad pay is only a couple thousand a week. In other news....oohh, the Saturday games are QUITE important! Redskins-Titans is huge; loser is gonna be in desperate shape at best. Unfortunately, of course, the Skins are still down a QB. Chargers at Ravens...important, yes. Competitive??? Remains to be seen. Not convinced Lamar Jackson's the answer, and the Chargers are probably the 2nd best team in the league. It is in Baltimore, so hopefully that will keep it competitive. And last, does anyone else kinda cringe at what the Ravens are trying with Jackson? In fear that the kid's gonna get *demolished* with as much intentional running he's doing. Like a ship sailing through iceberg-infested waters.

There are already too many interruptions for replays. This would also require a paradigm shift in how the game's called. The poster boy calls (the egregious offside/false start calls) are not reviewable because they don't want to drag things out with marginal call/no-call decisions. The problem is when we've got these absolutely HORRIBLE calls that 75,000 of the 75,007 people in the stadium ALL see...the 7 that miss it, of course, being the refs. To Cancer's point: the *blatantly obvious* missed calls have affected games. Couple that with the severe ambiguity about legal/illegal hits of all types, and you get the STRONG feeling that the refs are deciding too many games. I'd also say it's not purely an NFL officiating problem. In MLB and NBA, it's quick-trigger ejections and technicals...where the ref is felt to be injecting his ego into the game. Many fans are multi-sport fans, and I think there is crossover in play here.

This may become the motivation needed to start radically improving security WRT IoT: https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/12/19/baby-monitor-hacked-threat-houston-vpx.hln Parents panic when a man threatens to kidnap their kid? HECK yeah. ABSOLUTELY makes perfect sense. This is the kind of low-level, lizard-brain FEAR, tho, that can push an industry that's been pretty lax into doing more. AND into improving consumer education, because it has to be said that the parents *may not* have been practicing good home internet security.

YES, I strongly agree with this! https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2811205-mike-freemans-10-point-stance-nfl-fears-blown-calls-may-blow-its-popularity?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=referral

Wow. I would never have thought of swimming and repetitive motion injuries... https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2811581-missy-franklin-5-time-olympic-gold-medalist-retires-from-swimming-at-23?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

WHAT??? If your comprehension on measurement is this flawed then we have no basis for discussion. Whether it's 10 feet or a bit over 3 meters, it's the same thing. The units are not relevant to determining the distance between me and whatever the subject of my ranging is. They're only relevant in my ability to communicate that distance to someone else. I have to use a mutually understood unit. But that has NOTHING to do with determining that range. And in what manner is perfect pitch a human definition? The specific notes, fine...but again, so what? Perfect pitch is recognizing that the frequency of the sound you're hearing, does or does not match what it is supposed to be, based on the conventionally agreed musical scale. The scale is a human definition, yes, but the concept of matching it is NOT.

Yeah, there's much more variation in the jet stream these days. Warm air is hitting the Arctic more, which leads to displacement of cold air. It also accelerates ice melt...which is itself a feedback cycle. Both water and (clearly) bare ground absorb more solar radiation than ice, which is highly reflective. Personally, I think it's already too late because the world can't suddenly turn on a dime to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The question isn't if we'll have massive problems, it's how bad they'll be. And I'd say this even if the US was leading the reduction efforts, rather than the exact reverse.

Quick positive news...Alex Smith is now out of the hospital. That tells me the infection's cleared away, and the healing path should be clear now. Raiders...well yeah. What would life be without drama with the Raiders? But hey, they love the image of misfits and rebels. Al Davis showed his colors twice...by yanking the team out of Oakland, then LA. And Mark isn't any better. I get that Oakland has probems as a home base; the A's have been complaining for a very long time too. So push come to shove, everyone's to blame. A one year deal bites; there's no good answer if they leave the Coliseum, and all the issues with the Coliseum would still be there in a last desperate year.

In contrast to a turnip, you mean. I also think the dynamic with Booger isn't working out. Gruden knew his stuff but his delivery was irritating. Shatnerian pauses...ARGH!!! And condescending at times, I thiought. But certainly way better than Witten. Good article from a few weeks ago here: https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/monday-night-football-has-a-lot-of-problems-beyond-jason-witten.html Tessitore is better for college...and better still just in boxing. But who's gonna step in? ESPN's shot themselves in the foot over the last several years in terms of both talent and programming, and arguably it's really showing. They're losing both top talent and top events. NBA finals and half the playoffs, plus the BCS and bowl games. The tennis Slams? Tennis isn't that big. But no NCAA men's tournament. Almost no baseball playoffs. Almost no NFL playoffs...I think they get 1 wild card game. MNF is expensive as hell, too; NBC has the massive sweetheart deal, as they can flex games into Sunday night. I wonder if MNF has run its course, honestly. BUT, by the same token, I don't think ESPN can afford to lose MNF.

Absolute Range Sense and Perfect Pitch are both related to simple, physical properties. Heck, both even exist. Some people have, or at least claim to have, perfect pitch. I hear it can be quite annoying for a musician to have, actually, because they *know* when someone else misses. I can order a rangefinder from Amazon right now; looks like they start around $80. Frequency or distance, tho...straightforward.

Looks like the Panthers will have a complicated offseason. They're largely on life support...not dead but bloody close...but the argument largely is it's been Cam's arm issues. So is this a situation that'll get better? That won't be the only factor but it does seem it'll be a notable influencer. If Cam is expected to be a LOT better, then they're plausible contenders. If not...they gots work to do.... Fun article on FiveThirtyEight: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-still-dont-know-which-nfl-teams-are-any-good/

That's from the Aquinas referenced by Bazza. This, to me, actually supports suicide *in some situations.* My mother, for example, didn't commit suicide...but did choose to stop all treatments for her advanced lung cancer, after a couple rounds weren't very productive. She was 82. Is that a form of suicide, in not taking any and all measures to prolong life? Is life itself the Ultimate Value? (I've never thought so.) And here...your apparently healthy and happy son commits suicide. SOMETHING got missed. Something really terrible. Ranting about sin is grossly, totally inappropriate and insensitive. The What is pointless; the Why is what matters. Berating the act ignores the motivation that caused it.

I like that. Analyze: Social Interaction, or perhaps Motive. Analyze isn't worded as being appropriate, but it's workable. I'd rather keep it as a skill vs. skill contest, rather than sense vs. skill, so I'd prefer not to have a Detect Lie sense. And, what exactly are you detecting, when it's a sense? If it's a skill, then it's firmly in the cognitive range where I think it belongs. YMMV, of course.

Sure, but how is that different from the kids who drop out from their undergrad programs after 2 or 3 years, to go pro? That situation requires you remain at the school where you signed your letter, for 4 or 5 years before you can switch, and also requires that you actually have eligibility remaining. It's almost non-existent in football; it's relatively common in basketball. (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/prevalence-graduate-transfer-division-i) BUT...here's the kicker, IMO. Men's basketball has the one-and-done rule, so there's always going to be significant churn from that aspect. The NBA also has the fewest openings and *by far* the smallest turnover. The draft itself only has 2 rounds in it. That's to give everyone else, whose chances are *very* slim, a chance to make it onto any team, via D League and Summer League ball. The draft itself is *heavily* weighted to the 1-and-done talents. So I'm not sure there's as big a problem as it might seem...other than the system may have a self-perpetuating aspect in mens' basketball, because the playing time goes to the 1-and-dones and the grad transfers, which means there's more perceived need to invoke the grad transfer rule by the kids who aren't getting any time.

The Catholic Church in Michigan did pretty much pull back that priest's authorization to act independently; he's gonna be very closely supervised. Pretty much back under a mentor. And no speaking at funerals. This story's actually gotten international play. And ya know...the kid probably wouldn't have gotten a church service, or been allowed to be buried on holy ground, not all that long ago. But that would've been handled *privately* as arrangements were being made. And it still could've been managed relatively gently...sorry, sir, ma'am, but it's not allowed by Church doctrine. What the priest did here is IMO, MUCH more emotionally disruptive in the moment.

If you like to root for the underdog... Browns need a pretty major miracle Miami has to lose one. Week 16, they need to win, and Ravens, Titans, and Colts all must lose. Week 17, they need to beat the Ravens...and the near-miracle, Titans and Colts have to *tie*.

FiveThirtyEight shows Denver is eliminated. So the Vance Joseph Countdown Clock has to be considered running. Among others.