Knicks Morning News (2019.07.24)

I’m so tired of Andrew Yang looking like an underprepared idiot at debates and flubbing the one topic his entire campaign is supposedly about. Seriously can we just skip to where he’s a recurring guest on the joe rogan podcast and call it a day on him talking about anything other than automation.

Knox can rebound — can rebound like a demon, in fact. He just only seems to do it every third or fourth game. Getting his effort level to be more consistent isn’t the only problem he needs to fix, but it’s one of the bigger ones.

Julius Randle joins Ewing, Houston, ‘Melo, and Tyson Chandler as Knicks who have been members of USA Basketball. On the one hand, they seem to be scraping the barrel with this World Cup team, on the other hand as a Knick fan, I take what I can get. 🙂

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254995/Jaylen-Brown-Julius-Randle-Added-To-Team-USA-Training-Camp

@6

Wasn’t Marbury already on the Knicks when he played in 2004? Or did he come to the Knicks after the olympics?

Wasn’t Marbury already on the Knicks when he played in 2004? Or did he come to the Knicks after the olympics?

Yes, my bad. He came to the Knicks during the 2003-04 season.

Anyone getting real time info on Mueller’s testimony in Congress? The whole thing is so bizarre.

Ok smart people of Knickerblogger.

RJ’s free throw shooting percentage stinks. Is there any reason to think it won’t stink in the future? Any past examples of dudes who shot FTs like garbage in college then improved by a substantial amount? Give me a reason to get excited about RJ.

If he was an 80% FT shooter he’d be a lot better prospect. Any hope of that happening?

In his 2nd year in college he was at 68.1. So he did have a history of mediocracy from the line.

Yeah i mean lebron has always been a kind of crappy free throw shooter but has improved his three point percentage, he shot 67% from the line three years ago and 36% from three on 4 attempts a game…. Free throw shooting is weird for some guys, Tim Duncan shot 80 % one year but his career average is like 69%….. Westbrook’s free throw shooting has fallen off a cliff for the last two years for some reason….. it must be a mental thing, because there is always stories about how they are lights out in practice lol

Shooting is the easiest skill to improve upon. You can’t take shit rebounders like Porzingis, Marc Gasol, Andrea Bargnani, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Jaren Jackson Jr and expect them to all of a sudden dominate on the glass. You can’t expect tunnel vision Knox to eventually be a great assist man. But shooting? It’s the thing we should expect players improve on over time because it happens again and again and again.

Getting his FT% up is going to be very important for RJ, because his best skill as a scorer right now seems to be the ability to draw fouls. That skill’s neutralized if he can’t covert at a good rate.

My hope is that he’s the perfect mix of Kobe, Bird and Kawhi.

Anyone getting real time info on Mueller’s testimony in Congress? The whole thing is so bizarre.

My new nickname for him is going to be Ferris Mueller.

The whole thing has been an embarrasment for our country. Our country is lead by a bunch of incomptents, terrible human beings, bufoons, and their scummy worker bees in the media. Don’t even get me started on the IC. Some of those people deserve to be dealt with the way Italiians dealt with Mussolini.

At least that makes them all highly qualified to run the Knicks.

Anyone getting real time info on Mueller’s testimony in Congress? The whole thing is so bizarre.

The man came across as a doddering old fool who didn’t know what Fusion GPS was FFS.

My hope is that he’s the perfect mix of Kobe, Bird and Kawhi.

Some of Kobe’s usage was role related, but he also had suspect shot selection. Let’s stick with Bird and Kawhi. 🙂

Julius Randle joins Ewing, Houston, ‘Melo, and Tyson Chandler as Knicks who have been members of USA Basketball. On the one hand, they seem to be scraping the barrel with this World Cup team, on the other hand as a Knick fan, I take what I can get. 🙂

100%…baby steps…and, that is cool…

I thought this ish was over with. So what’s going on now? An investigation of the investigator of the investigation?

gotta admit though, the political entertainment value has been stellar the last few years…thank god it only involves the administration and future of our nation…

Hey, the superbug never got us so climate change is fake

I guess I’m old cause I remember when overpopulation, global cooling, the disappearing ozone layer, the killing of the rain forests and global warming were all gonna kill us by the year 2000.
I appreciate the audacity of now calling it climate change, because, well, the climate is always changing, so anything that happens is now covered.

“People said Durant was going to sign with the Knicks and that didn’t happen so obviously climate change is fake”

mmmm, about to eat a burger…

curse them cows, their delicious flesh and their flatulent ways…

NOT TODAY, SATAN

@2for18

I get that you are a Libertarian or whatever, but more importantly I think you are a troll.

Dolan’s Razor: The Knicks land Giannis and the #1 overall pick in 2021 and then the world ends due to climate change.

Or Trump (now Presidente for life) hears chants of “Send Him Back” and deports Giannis back to Greece

Its just dirty and messy and we can do so much better. But climate change has become so political that people who don’t believe its real are just dismissing alternative, clean energy because its liberal or whatever.

+1

why would we want to keep our economy so reliant on fossil fuels anyways?

You and I don’t. Many politicians, lobbyists, industrialists, investors and financiers do. And there’s a large section of our world that self-identifies more with the kleptocratic executives of multinational corporations and hostile foreign states than the people they stand in line with at the grocery store.

I’m endlessly curious about how salt-of-the-earth, back-woods, DIY-as-a-personal-ethos men and women can identify with people, like our current president, who have probably never tied a single bag of garbage or replaced a roll of toilet paper in their bathrooms. But somehow, the powers that be have pulled it off. It’s truly a marvel of social engineering.

If Trump bought the Knicks, he’d try to make Ivanka point guard.
She’d still be better than Frank.

After being drafted at No5 with reactions like: “WhAaAaAaAat ??!!!?? WHO is Scottie Pippen ?!!!??”
And with a struggling rookie season with statline that whispers…”bust”
being voted as one of the Best ever to play the game makes you skeptical about the “truth” behind some numbers and their prophetic ability.

The name of the game is clearly:
HARD WORK

KKnox You CAN DO IT if you really want but you must try and try and try
You’ll Succeed at last.

So just insert The President, racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, or anything else that can possibly be a cause for your struggles, and those people will eat it up themselves, you don’t have to even feed it to them anymore.

So just insert The President, racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, or anything else that can possibly be a cause for your struggles, and those people will eat it up themselves, you don’t have to even feed it to them anymore.

No, there are pretty good explanations for why those things should be considered serious problems.

It’s right when my team does it!

I was taught by my uncle when I was a kid about politicians using polarization to keep us all at each other’s throats. Blaming “the other” for your problems and getting your 2 minute hate on is stupid and pointless, full stop.

I’m in that latter group and think both Trump and many democrats are both assholes.

This is such a perfect Libertarian answer.

“Haha I’m not on either side, look how dumb all the dummies are and look how smart I am with my ivory tower ideology that I’ll never have to defend because it will never be put in place anywhere in the world. Oh, if only everybody were as smart and smug as me.”

(pulls lever for Republican)

I was taught by my uncle when I was a kid about politicians using polarization to keep us all at each other’s throats. Blaming “the other” for your problems and getting your 2 minute hate on is stupid and pointless, full stop.

As my history-ignorant father did to me, your uncle was feeding you bullshit. But hey, I didn’t take some elder’s bullshit as truth, and so I, y’know, read stuff. Unequivocally: the polarization does not happen from both sides equally. And you keep parroting the same “principled” bullshit with total disdain for or ignorance of historical fact.

@2FOR18

You are very effective at trolling, to be fair

@THJC

do the Westchester Knicks

Can we pick another team and dissect their roster and future assets and cap space? Someone pick a team for us to analyze. For fuck’s sake.

I think OKC could be a lot of fun with CP3, Adams, SGA, and Gallo.

And all of these picks https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Thunder.htm

I think they’re in a position similar to the one Boston was in before it fell apart.

@ Strat

would you honestly classify Elizabeth Warren as a dimwit or a scumbag? If so why?

We could analyze how the Hornets reached the point where they are right now, proving that winning 32-38 games every year makes your franchise a very desirable place for free agents who put a premium on going to teams that have been competitive!

Want a change of subject? I recently uploaded my first boardgame to BoardGameGeek.com. It’s a tactical game of medieval battles. Seriously. I read lots of books and list them in the game rulebook.

Now, my historical setup for Agincourt 1415 is not conventional, so perhaps one might derisively label me a “revisionist historian.” 🙂

Check it out? Looks like 6 people have downloaded my game so far, but no comments, yet:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284731/bravely-their-battles-hastings-1066-and-agincourt

For the record JK, I voted for Ross Perot in my first presidential vote, then took a couple of decades off from voting, then voted for Gary Johnson last time.
Ima bet you’ve voted straight Dem.

and Cock, my uncle had more smarts and sense in one pinky than you ever had. Throwing around insults, and having access to a Thesauras doesn’t make you smart. You remind me of the poser in the bar from Good Will Hunting who memorized a bunch shit and thought he knew everything.

@ Strat

would you honestly classify Elizabeth Warren as a dimwit or a scumbag? If so why?

lmao

She’s a mixed bag for me. I see a lot of promise when it comes to Wall St corruption (which is biggie for me), but I haven’t started paying a lot of attention to the specific policies of the democrat field yet. It’s too large. Most likely, she’ll be too far left for me on economics/business.

The only one I’m sure of is Biden. He’s a scumbag. 🙂

I like Tulsi Gabbard on foreign policy. She’s not a naive appeaser, but she also doesn’t want to get overly involved in the affairs of others trying to impose our will with the military. I want to stay strong and tough, understand that we have enemies and that there is evil in the world, but live and let live unless we have to get involved. Most of the left is too naive, but the neocons never saw a brown country they didn’t want to bomb. They are total unrepentant scumbags. The thing is, I don’t know much else about her yet. I may hate her in other ways.

@Clashfan

Game looks awesome! I’ll see if I can find a friend to play it with. Feel free to pitch us a bit more on the mechanics or your thought process.

Maybe we can get a review post on KB. Would be a nice change of pace from the offseason discussions…

@82
Thanks!

I’d like to do some short videos on how the game plays, etc., like you can find on Youtube for many games, but I don’t have a good camera or tripod. There are lots of games on medieval battles, but I wanted to do something different, for better or worse, as you’ll see in my notes in the rulebook.

BTW, the first two battles here are really good for solitaire: each has an army on the static defensive.

Inclusion and tolerance for opinions other than your own is good.

Being tolerant of political opinions posited without a shred of evidence qualifies as good? Please, tell me about how the Klingons won World War 1.5 so I can tolerate your opinion.

If I were attacking an opinion for the sole reason that it is not my own opinion, you’d have a point. That is never the basis for a valid refutation.

@82
Thanks!

I’d like to do some short videos on how the game plays, etc., like you can find on Youtube for many games, but I don’t have a good camera or tripod. There are lots of games on medieval battles, but I wanted to do something different, for better or worse, as you’ll see in my notes in the rulebook.

BTW, the first two battles here are really good for solitaire: each has an army on the static defensive.

Use your phone and buy a $10 cell phone tripod. They work great and your phone will take perfectly good 720p video. I’d even edit the video for you if you needed help with that, so long as you do some groundwork to keep it concise and pointed.

Elizabeth Warren is a former Harvard law professor. You may very well disagree with her, but she’s certainly not a dimwit.

To my understanding she’s far left on social policies, similar to Bernie minus the burn everything down sentiment. She’s made some statements that she’s going to implement protectionist policies that help rural Americans retain jobs, an early bid for crossover appeal to Republicans. She wants to cancel student loan debt, appealing to younger voters.

NyTimes has a good summary of her position. I’m not advocating for her, but just thought I’d drop the info here in case anyone was interested.

Russ Buettner
So now we can see from this entire period of time, 1985 through 1995, is that his core businesses lost $1.2 billion.

Michael Barbaro
Which is staggering.

Russ Buettner
It is a staggering amount of money to lose over the course of a decade. And keep in mind that when you lose money in a business, you can use that as sort of a credit against future income. You can earn that much money without paying any taxes on it for years to come. In 1990, he has $400 million in losses that he can use to write off income for the next 18 years. The next year, that grows to $665 million.

Michael Barbaro
In losses.

Russ Buettner
In losses that he can carry forward to write off income in future years. And we know from our prior reporting on this that that figure would continue to grow to almost a billion dollars about three years later.

Susanne Craig
And those losses were so big that, by 1994, they accounted for 1.7 percent of all losses declared by individual taxpayers.

Michael Barbaro
I just want to wrap my head around this. His losses that year represent almost 2 percent of all losses in the entirety of the United States.

Susanne Craig
Yeah, it’s incredible. There’s 114-plus million taxpayers. And his losses account for 1.7 percent of all the losses in America that year for individuals. That’s how big it was. It’s insane.

@85 nah my Uncle is Will. I’m at the pool table shooting

He was a great guy. Taught special Ed in the Bronx. Became a Dean. Taught me to stick up for myself. And unfortunately died at 39.

@Jack Bauer – These guys aren’t liberals. But thx.

How about this for a change of topic. Based on some rave reviews or whatever here I got Infinite Jest. I got through not quite 200 pages and cannot bring myself to pick it back up. The writing is certainly descriptive but the book just does nothing for me. Does it pick up steam a little further in, is it something you have to be under 30 to be in tune with or a regular pot smoker?

@96

You’re ALMOST at the point where Infinite Jest starts to congeal into something magical. At a certain point in the book, everything starts to click and the book sort of turns into itself, it becomes compulsively, addictively readable. It’s my favorite novel of all time hands down.

All of the various plot threads are hard to follow, until they aren’t. It’s wildly entertaining if you stick with it. Give it to at least page 400.

howdy bird…i was thinking maybe: spain, australia and canada…hmmm, i wonder why RJ isn’t playing?

it seems like these world championships just don’t have near the appeal of the olympics for some of the athletes…

i love international competitions like these – cool to see top athletes battling for their countries…

edit: oops, forgot greece, giannis alone should make them a handful to deal with…

To my understanding she’s far left on social policies, similar to Bernie minus the burn everything down sentiment

Also

– minus the anti-war sentiment (she voted for Trump’s military budget twice).

– minus the unequivocal rejection of lobbyist cash (she raised around 15 million dollars of big donor money in 2018 to transfer around 11 million to her primary campaign and has already stated she will accept bid donor money in the general election).

– minus the criticism of Israel’s inhumane assault and colonization of the Gaza Strip and West Bank

– minus the unequivocal commitment to a form of single-payer healthcare (she’s waffled on Medicare 4 All multiple times).

– minus the life-long commitment to far left politics (She was a registered Republican as far back as 1996 and refuses to say if she voted for Ronald Reagan).

– minus the commitment to progressive activism (She went silent on the Sioux protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 despite falsely appropriating a Native American ancestry for affirmative action benefits).

– minus the same commitment to progressive economics ( She has not signed on legislation to cap Credit Card interest rates at 15%, expand the estate tax, expand Social Security, or tax Wall Street transactions).

How about this for a change of topic. Based on some rave reviews or whatever here I got Infinite Jest. I got through not quite 200 pages and cannot bring myself to pick it back up. The writing is certainly descriptive but the book just does nothing for me. Does it pick up steam a little further in, is it something you have to be under 30 to be in tune with or a regular pot smoker?

Keep going.

@86 You know best about everything of course

I know that not all opinions are created equally or worthy of the same consideration or respect

Infinite Jest starts to congeal into something magical. At a certain point in the book, everything starts to click and the book sort of turns into itself, it becomes compulsively, addictively readable. It’s my favorite novel of all time hands down.

i like this game – my fave book all time: the moon is a harsh mistress

ha…look at that, i was just refreshing myself on the book – i never even realized this:

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony’s revolt against rule from Earth. The novel expresses and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respected for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the Moon.

hmmmm, maybe this libertarian stuff ain’t so crazy…

World Cup for soccer is the Ultimate Tournament and one of the main legacy builders. Players are dying to participate.

what up knick knower…actually caught one of the recent club v club matches last night (Atletico Madrid versus Guadalajara), for a zero – zero game it was pretty damn entertaining…

as a kid i was glued to the olympic competitions, but, yeah over time the one to watch now is most definitely the futbol world cup…

Jowles, my wife has a decent camera that shoots video. I’ll play with it and see what it does.

Geo, thanks. I’ve got a bunch of projects in varying states of development…it took retiring from full-time teaching to give me the time to start getting stuff done. So, now the two Mind Carnival videos are done. Next, three games to get out there…then there’s several works of fiction I have in varying states…
🙂

@108
Hi man !
World Cups or as also called Mundials are the ultimate fun for soccer fans but unfortunately they come every 4 yrs !!!!
Next closest to these in fun and competition are the European Team Tournaments especially the one with the teams that won the championship in their country the previous season.
Most soccer stars are playing on euro teams but not all.
Copa Americas are also pretty good too.

Thanks Jowles. I just walked in and turned on my DVRd Tour de France and realized I should be last person to complain about things that are long and not immediately understandable

– isn’t 112 years old

Hey, he’d be a younger President than the one who Elizabeth voted for the 80s, without the dementia.

@51

If Trump buys the knicks it’s more likely the Association goes bankrupt. USFL New Jersey Generals.

Hey, he’d be a younger President than the one who Elizabeth voted for the 80s, without the dementia.

Reagan was 69 when he was elected. Bernie would be 78.

You can say what you want about Melo’s career but no one has lined Mike K’s pockets with Internet moola like Me7o.

All time leader in web clicks generated…

🙂

Reagan was 69 when he was elected. Bernie would be 78.

Ah, good catch.

Although Wallace was himself a depressive, tennis-playing, weed-addicted cool-guy uber-nerd with a grammarian mother and plenty of romantic dysfunction, there’s far too much to the novel’s range of character psychology and emotional expressiveness than any one person could have personally lived. And by extension, you don’t need to have been an addict or grammarian or tennis star to understand the humanity just oozing from each page. Wallace was as empathetic a writer as I’ve come across, and he does it with a inimitable style (though plenty have tried, including in some prose poetry I had published in upstate’s yuppie mag Chronogram some years back) in all his works but his first, which is unabashed The Crying of Lot 49 pastiche.

His non-fiction is a great way to experience that voracious mind without the enormous commitment that is Infinite Jest. (“How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart” should be required reading for people who look to star athletes for insight into their own greatness.)

I’ve read all of his fiction, and I’ve read that the Pale King, at 500 pages, was only about 1/3 complete. I wish the guy weren’t dead, but man, I don’t know how I would have felt about 1500 pages in that world of drudgery and tedium.

Brief break from poli sci and lit classes to acknowledge another massive shit on our team:

So ESPN asked 20 coaches, executives and scouts from across the NBA about what happened — and what lies ahead…
3. What was the worst move of the summer?
Knicks offseason – 6
Ricky Rubio to Phoenix – 6
Terry Rozier to Charlotte – 4

The criticism of the Knicks came on multiple fronts. First, after they struck out on superstar signings, they settled for middling players, rather than using their cap space to take on bad contracts and add draft assets.

“Some people were like they did a good job keeping their powder dry, but I don’t even like [Julius] Randle, so I don’t get what they did,” an Eastern Conference executive said. “I guess it was better than spending $80 million on two free agents. But that’s like saying you’re eating healthier because you didn’t go to McDonald’s for lunch and Burger King for dinner.

“Yes, you’re eating healthier — but only because you couldn’t eat worse.”

Additionally, the Knicks were knocked for signing several players — Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Marcus Morris — who all play power forward. The glut of big men could potentially stunt the growth of last year’s No. 9 overall pick, Kevin Knox, and second-team all-rookie selection Mitchell Robinson, who plays center.

“The Knicks’ five-big attack is confusing to me,” one Eastern Conference assistant coach said.

Reads a bit like… Knickerblogger. Now back to class…

It been awhile, twenty years since i read it , but my take was he cut off the last hundred pages or so and stuck them in front. That it was the protagonist having a bad trip just before the start of college. Infinite Jest that is.

I have a signed first edition. It’s worth a few bucks.

Like we didn’t give a huge contract to Harrison Barnes or anything like that.

The Knicks offseason was really bad only in comparison to expectations. Otherwise it was just mediocre.

If our franchise had been run by talented and brilliant GMs with a long track record of success, I would yield that our offseason was “just mediocre.” But when judged through the lens of the doomsday scenarios the Dolan’s Razor crowd expected, I would describe it as “relieving,” or “encouraging” or “refreshing.”

-No albatross max contracts
-No draft reaches (for, say, Reddish)
-No ridiculous overpays beyond 1-year deals
-Shrewd trade up in 2nd round deal
-Randle is a solid signing
-Enormous cap flexibility maintained beyond this year

There were better moves/non-moves to make for sure, but not doing the worst possible things while doing at least some good things is okay by me for now. It’s a shame that it’s unrealistic to expect more.

Anyone know if Dolan hung out with Jeff Epstein

Trump is still:

A. A billionaire.
B. President of the United States.
C. The banger of more hot chicks than probably this entire board put together, even with the musical contingent.

Reminds me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vudnMLzZjTg

Talking about Trump’s business losses is like Republicans talking about Obama’s college grades. Trump is still:

A. A billionaire.
B. President of the United States.
C. The banger of more hot chicks than probably this entire board put together, even with the musical contingent.

Mike

Lol this is a new board low

I’m sure Trump banged more chicks than I ever did, because if he ever banged one he’s ahead on the race.

@Ntillakilla 102,

So Warren has essentially the same platform as Bernie but may actually be electable. Got it.

I think it’s fully automated. Mike K. might read threads less often than we’d think.

Talking about Trump’s business losses is like Republicans talking about Obama’s college grades. Trump is still:

A. A billionaire.
B. President of the United States.
C. The banger of more hot chicks than probably this entire board put together, even with the musical contingent.

Sure but has he banged more hot chicks than Bobby Portis? That’s what we should really be debating.

I just want to point out to the haters that Hitler was still:

A. A billionaire (according to the Smithsonian, the Nazi party stole at least $7B in assets from Jewish citizens).
B. Fuhrer of the Third Reich.
C. The banger of more hot chicks than probably Einstein, Jonas Salk, and Mahatma Gandhi put together.

No matter how many hot chicks Trump bangs, he’ll always be sexually frustrated because he can’t bone his own daughter. Also, I’d be willing to bet Trump is practically celibate since becoming President. You think Melania is catching any of that mushroom d these days? I don’t.

I’ve always been a rim running guy myself, so I’m an advanced stats darling probably. I just hope they ignore my lousy DBPM.

Only way to save this summer is if Epstein and Dolan are on tape pissing on Russian prostitutes and high fiving each other. Silver and the rest of the governors tell him to sell and Steinbrenner family purchases the Knicks. Much much better than signing KD and Kyrie.

Still waiting for the Melania having an affair with a secret service agent story to drop.

Yeah, but what’s his VORBOHC? VORBOHC = Value over replacement banger of hot chicks

I just hope they ignore my lousy DBPM.

Dames Banged Per Month?

Dames Banged Per Month?

That is a lousy stat that favors the high volume bangers. We should focus on bangs above replacement (BAR).

Unless efficiency is your thing, and True Banging % is your stat of choice.

Ideally in NY one would want to have the most efficiency in Soho. In Astoria, I was like padding my stats like Westbrook.

Unless efficiency is your thing, and True Banging % is your stat of choice.

True Banging% under rates volume scorers. Just like wingmen are important for helping increase your TB%, the Kobe assist, where you strike out and your friend picks them up right after, leads to better overall scoring for you and your friends. Doesn’t account for your obnoxious hitting on them driving other guys away

I thought the Kobe assist is when you score with somebody on the rebound.

Anyone know if Dolan hung out with Jeff Epstein

I found:
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/15/business/bid-for-new-york-magazine-a-dance-of-money-and-ego.html

Mr. Zuckerman’s group includes Nelson Peltz, a billionaire investor whose Triarc Companies owns Arby’s restaurants; Jeffrey Epstein, a money manager with his own claim to the billionaires club; Donnie Deutsch, chief executive of Deutsch Inc., who sold the advertising agency for hundreds of millions of dollars several years ago; and Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of Miramax films.

James L. Dolan, chief executive of Cablevision Systems, the owner of the cable television provider as well as Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, is no longer a part of the current bid. But Cablevision maintains an interest in the magazine’s Web site, and other members of the group say he may come in later.

Hmmm… Dolan… Epstein, Harvey Weinstein… the owner of Arby’s, and Donny Deutsch (who appears to be clean but is patently a douche).

@ DS

Not a fan of any of those guys but I don’t think that particular connection is very meaningful. I hope Epstein gives any information he has and then faces justice for what he did, but I’m really not sure how to think about these reports he may have tried to commit suicide… I don’t feel bad for him at all but I wonder if it means he is more or less likely to talk.

#2

It’s understandable (but not excusable) that no one was willing to potentially ruin their own careers and businesses by coming forward. We saw that repeatedly with the Weinstein case where even women looked the other way. But I’ve been waiting patiently for years for someone to do a through investigation. When I read the Miami Herald story, I celebrated hoping that would break the damn open. We’ll see.

@Strat

Not sure what you mean by “understandable but not excusable”? If you knew about Epstein “years ago” are you excused for not doing anything about it?

Maybe Dolan will write a song about how he should have known about his buddy Epstein

In Knicks related news, I didn’t realize Mitch was added to the USA Select team (the team that scrimmages against Team USA). This could be huge for his development. Might actually learn some good habits! Very excited about this.

Everyone knew about Weinstein years ago – I even heard about the McGowan incident – but “doing something about it” isn’t so easy when it’s the victims who have legal rights, not the people who hear things, and if the victims don’t want to take action, there aren’t a lot of other paths. And given how cops treat women who have been raped, I can’t blame any victim for keeping her mouth shut – particularly when Weinstein had so much power for so long. The cynic in me thought the dam burst on him only because his power had waned, making him vulnerable; I didn’t recognize the beginning of a whole movement!

Of course, when the victims are kids, ffs, then it’s a million times worse. A friend who’s served time said that pedophiles are seen as the lowest of the low in prison, since many cons themselves have been molested. So they are often beaten, sometimes murdered. That was my first thought about his “attempted suicide.” My second was, oh, right, there are a lot of important people who would want him eliminated before he rats them out for being in on it…

Beautiful world.

This seems to be reoccurring internet story.only the guinea pig name gets changed.

cool…so RJ will be out there representing for his country…nice…
https://www.tsn.ca/rj-barrett-and-jamal-murray-headline-the-29-invites-to-canada-basketball-camp-before-world-cup-1.1338103

for those of you with kids – do you remember the first time you sat down with your child to watch some spongebob, and, then thought – what the fuck is crazy shit???

What an overrated hack.

.@NateSilver538: "Medicare For All Isn’t That Popular — Even Among Democrats"Latest @nytimes poll: 86% of Democrats support "having a national health plan, sometimes called Medicare-for-all, in which all Americans would get their insurance from a SINGLE GOVERNMENT plan."— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) July 25, 2019

@194 I’ve seen some polls where even a slight majority of republicans support it.

I love how DSJ is able to jump up real fast and then slow down super slow like that in mid air and then speed up again last second to dunk it. Why doesn’t he do that in games when I watch?

@194 I’ve seen some polls where even a slight majority of republicans support it.

Yep. And overall support for the measure has stabilized over 50% since 2017. Imagine if the supposed sources of statistical impartiality Nate Silver removed their lips from health care and pharmaceutical lobbyist buttocks and stopped gaslighting American voters about Medicare 4 All with misinformation. The support would even be greater.

I’m heading to Italy for the last two weeks of summer. If anyone wants a break from politics I’m down to crowd source opinions from all your experiences. Especially you, Farfa.

I’ve been to Italy before, mostly to the north and usually during winter and spring. Specifically looking for southern Italy and summer ideas.

Great news about Mitch on the select team.

I love Italy! Been there twice. I went as far south as Naples and the Amalfi coast. The highlight there for me was Pompeii. As a Knicks fan, I just can’t get enough of ruins.

When you’re in Rome, plan to spend a night out (dinner, drinks) in Trastevere. Also, if you want to go to the beach, take the train from Rome to the beach. You’ll pass a huge area of ruins, Ostia. Yeah, ruins.

When you’re in Rome, plan to spend a night out (dinner, drinks) in Trastevere.

As someone who did this a couple of years ago, I wholeheartedly concur! We stayed in an airbnb in Trastevere and walked everywhere. It was a blast!

despite not really wanting to ever leave the house, this Italy talk has me wanting to hit the road…

have a safe trip hubert, I’m sure you’ll have an absolute blast…

The most recent ex-Lady Jowles, who is an extreme social liberal and would probably qualify as a SJW, took a vacation to Northern Italy, fell in love with a Brazilian man living there, began a long-distance relationship (as ill-advised as shacking up with me), and found out on her return trip — after a transatlantic flight, mind you — that he vocally supported Jair Bolsonaro and Matteo Salvini, among others. Just desserts, Caroline!

that he vocally supported Jair Bolsonaro and Matteo Salvini, among others.

Hmm. I wonder why all those people in Brazil voted for Bolsonaro? I wonder if it had anything to do with this?

http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/BRA

Or this?

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/brazils-violence-map-shows-alarming-trends

Nah. I’m sure all those Bolsonaro voters just weren’t quite as intellectually and morally enlightened as Ol’ Jowles.

Mike

Plus I heard Bolsonaro bangs lots of hot chicks.

Suck it, snowflakes!

Mike

Nah. I’m sure all those Bolsonaro voters just weren’t quite as intellectually and morally enlightened as Ol’ Jowles.

You’re a caricature, bro. Your opinions are so fucking facile that it makes me think you’re on here to be a parody of a populist.

Posting from the last day of my own Italian trip so here’s my two cents: Trastevere is very nice, it feels like it’s been lifted out of another time.

My favorite neighborhood in Rome was Monti, it felt a bit more local but still close to the Coliseum and Forum. Monti is also where I ate best – check out Ai Tre Scalini for dinner.

If you go to Naples, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is special, one of the oldest and best pizzerias in Naples. There’s likely to be a crowd ahead of you but it moves quickly enough and it’s worth the wait. Pompeii is also incredible and Capri is one of the most beautiful places in the world if you have the time but it’s probably it’s own day trip.

Also, look out for train strikes. They are apparently a regular occurrence and naturally it fell on one of my travel days here. They are announced in advance and taking a bus between cities only added 90 minutes to my trip and at a fraction of the cost.

I’m sorry to make a personal attack but the fact that you sign your name at the end of each post might indicate you’re old-fashioned.

Whoops I read JK’s post parodying Mike and thought it was actually Mike. Apologies. I guess “snowflake” is a trigger for me.

My condolences….

Interesting piece this morning on The Ringer about the next Siakims, listing the Cruise Mitchell as one of the five possible up-and-comers this year.

@Don Nelson – is the garbage strike still going on in Rome? Awful/bearable?

@ 181 Strat (sorry for the delayed post but just realize this was caught up by the censors)

What I am suggesting is no one in a position to do so dug into the story to find out why he got a sweetheart deal, who the regular passengers on his plane were, who spent a lot of time on the island, what the girls were saying etc…to rally blow up it until the Miami Herald did it.

I blame the media for that.

You are free to blame the media if you want. But what do you think are reasonable expectations of the media? Investigative journalism is super expensive. Journalists have no subpoena power to make people talk to them. If victims don’t come forward or want to remain anonymous, do you really blame the media for not publishing claims that are near impossible to substantiate with the tools at their disposal? Especially when those claims will be damaging to the subject of the story, and may result in liability for the publisher?

also re: Mitch nicknames

MITCHELL DEFENSE SYSTEM

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MITCHELL

Yeah, was contemplating ICBM. A bit long, but certainly apropos.
He’ll likely always be Mitch or MitchRob, which I think is fine. However I appreciate that there are about 20 good nicknames we can switch through as we see fit in the moment.
It’s really interesting to watch him slowly ascend from totally under the radar to widely acknowledged low-level potential star. Can’t wait to see where it goes…

You are free to blame the media if you want. But what do you think are reasonable expectations of the media? Investigative journalism is super expensive. Journalists have no subpoena power to make people talk to them. If victims don’t come forward or want to remain anonymous, do you really blame the media for not publishing claims that are near impossible to substantiate with the tools at their disposal? Especially when those claims will be damaging to the subject of the story, and may result in liability for the publisher?

The Miami Herald managed just fine when they decided to actually pursue the story and break it open.

Mitchin’ Impossible

Mitchin’ Impossible

NYDN is gonna steal the hell out of this

By his Twitter handle, seems like Mitch like “Savage” as a nickname…Doesn’t really work, does it?

A Game of Thrones theme might work…possibilities?
Drogon
Viserion
Dracarys
The Mountain
The Night’s Watch
Wildfire
The Night King
Valyrian Steel

Given the change in hairdo, how about Orange is the new Block?

ok i’ll stop

Block Lobster

Given the change in hairdo, how about Orange is the new Block?

ok i’ll stop

Netflix and (Mit)Chill
Sexually Trans-Mitchell Infection
Swat Family Robinson

OK I’m done now

Well, Block Lobster has block and lob in it so there’s that…

Idk if this has been covered, but there’ve been a lot of shirtless pics of Randle on Instagram lately…

I seriously mistook him for Deontay Wilder. The dude is absolutely yoked. Doesn’t mean he’s going to become a top-10 player or anything, but it’s good to know he’s putting in serious work.

@253 yeah, I cant even…

Basketball used to be ever so slightly above baseball in my rooting interest. Now the gap is enormous. I’d rather watch a Knicks summer league game without Mitch on the roster than a non-playoff Mets game. Some of it is the hideous dysfunction of the Mets FO, but the game has gotten boring to me.

Dolan is rightly lambasted but there is a counterpoint to the Knicks in the Rangers. The Wilpons are easily the worst owners in NYC, in all of baseball, maybe of all North American pro sports. Corrupt, cheap, and stupid is no way to go thru life.

By his Twitter handle, seems like Mitch like “Savage” as a nickname…Doesn’t really work, does it?

Since it is a joke about a not particularly famous rapper (21 Savage, with Mitch therefore being 23 Savage), I tend to think it’s one of those things where he regrets picking it as his Twitter handle now.

@249, Clash i feel you, especially cuz the wound is fresh and will only get worse as Cano ages, Diaz flames out and Kelenic and Dunn. in the Seaver and Ryan trades, Mets gave up a Hall of Famer for nobodies and are right now the worst trades in Mets (and maybe league) history. Compare though to the Seaver and Ryan trades, this is only worse if BOTH kelenic and Dunn go supernova.

Frank——->The Awful Tower

Still growing as of this morning. 🙂

Just for shits and giggles I pulled up Tatum’s and Barrett’s freshman year statistics at Duke:

Tatum TS%.566 BPM 7.5 Reb. 7.3 Assists 2.1

Barrett TS% .532 BPM 7.7 Reb. 7.6 Assists 4.3

The TS% difference is significant, but so are the assists. The key to RJ’s success will be making 3 pointers. If he can hit those at a decent clip, he’ll be a really good NBA player.

@d-mar

There really aren’t many players for whom that’s not the case. Klay Thompson is a near-useless ball handler and a terrible rebounder, but he’s valuable to the Warriors because he’s an elite three artist.

@don Nelson – thanks. Almost went there next month for a college visit with my daughter, but decided to postpone to the fall.

The Awful Tower – I love Frank, but that did make me laugh!

BTW, I’m going on vacation too those last 2 weeks in August too. But I’ll be going to Israel and will do the full circuit. I do a lot of travelling. Whenever I’m asked “what are the best places in the world to visit?” I always say that every person should visit Rome and Jerusalem in their lifetime. And to answer the obvious follow-up question, yes, it’s absolutely safe. The US is a much more dangerous place to be.
I’ll see you at the Airport Hubert!

French Prince of Bel-Airball

This is probably just a fantasy, but if Frank plays the one and can shoot threes, very few opposing point guards are going to be big enough to stop that shot. I know that’s not anyone’s idea of a modern point guard, but I think it could work with the right players around him.

Sorry Jowles. You’re wrong. Knox was the worst shooter in the league. Don’t take that away from Knox.

@geo thx for bringing up Heinlein. Made me go back and start rereading him. I had forgotten he was the one who came up with TNSTAAFL, a classic libertarian saying, among other gems.

Disclaimer: I’m not labeling geo as a libertarian.

This is probably just a fantasy, but if Frank plays the one and can shoot threes, very few opposing point guards are going to be big enough to stop that shot. I know that’s not anyone’s idea of a modern point guard, but I think it could work with the right players around him.

If only there were some geometric based offense where he could play the 1 and only shoot 3’s, hmmm… I think we tried this.

To your point tho, Frank shot incredibly well, over 50% from 3, in the Euro under 19 tournament playing the 1. I think because of the reason you gave. Sample size disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I’m not labeling geo as a libertarian.

it is all good 2 – 4 – 18…it’s funny though – now knowing that the moon is a harsh mistress touches upon some libertarian concepts helps me to understand the term libertarian a whole lot more…

fuck, who knows – when the lights are down and i’m all alone – maybe that is me…

life is short and not always so easy…i try to make a habit of not judging others for their thoughts and beliefs, cuz – well, seems mostly pointless in the grand scheme of things…lord knows some of the shit that rolls off my fingertips probably don’t sit so well with everyone…

actions though are a different matter…seems more than fair we should all be judged for those, during our time here, and, for whatever comes next…

having served uncle sam – what really turned me on to heinlein was reading starship troopers and all that talk about:

citizen’s rights = citizen responsibility/service…

not a single doubt in my mind – i’d vote for that each day, every day…

Good post geo.

Is the high school Antetekuonmpo playing? I’d love to see this
.

Georgios Papanikolaou was definitely in New York a few decades ago and we owe him much for keeping women healthy and alive by inventing his famous Test Pap but we drafted Kostas Papanikolaou.

@289 its pretty damn close !

Printezis was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, with the 58th selection overall of the 2007 NBA draft. The draft rights to Printezis were then acquired by the Toronto Raptors, in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2008 NBA draft (Spurs used that pick to draft Goran Dragic, and immediately traded Dragic to the Phoenix Suns to acquire the draft pick they used in 2009 to draft future NBA All-Rookie Second Team member DeJuan Blair).[14][15] On January 20, 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded his draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional second 2013 second round draft pick, and cash.[16]

On December 10, 2011, the draft rights to Printezis were traded to the New York Knicks, along with Tyson Chandler and the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins, in a three-way trade. The Mavericks received Andy Rautins from the Knicks, and a second round pick from the Washington Wizards. The Wizards received Ronny Turiaf from the Knicks, in addition to a Dallas 2012 second round pick, a 2013 Knicks second round pick, and cash considerations.

In the summer of 2012, Printezis turned down a one-year contract offer from the Knicks, that reportedly was for slightly more than the minimum NBA salary.[17] On July 16, 2012, his and Kostas Papanikolaou’s draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, in a deal that sent Raymond Felton to New York.[18] On February 21, 2013, his draft rights were subsequently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a deal that sent Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers.[19] On July 15, 2014, his draft rights and Thabo Sefolosha, were traded to the Atlanta Hawks, in exchange for the draft rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis, cash considerations, and a trade exception.[20] On July 9, 2015, his draft rights, alongside a 2017 second-round pick, were traded to the Spurs, in exchange for Tiago Splitter.[21]

What a crazy circle. Journeyman that never left home.

I laughed so much at the Awful Tower, that one was gold.

Z-man on fire!

Snitches get mitches.

We’re goink to win a shitload of games. Embrace the new reality.

Mitch = the Mountain That Swats

@293

Great post. I don’t think it’s a stretch to see Trump’s behavior (cough cough narcissistic p.d.) and surmise that he has never experienced anything like romantic love. Because it’s all about him in the transaction, always.

A long-ago ex of mine actually worked as Fred Trump’s counsel in the days where young Donald was just starting out and her anecdotes about the so-called “short-fingered vulgarian” corroborate Cdiggy’s hypothesis. Donny would routinely proposition her and other female associates at the firm with offers of putting in good words with the senior partners. As thirsty as my ex was for upward mobility( we parted ways because she thought my financial ceiling did not match her aspirations), she and the others found him utterly resistible. His verbal charm being akin to Enes Kanter’s defense.
It wasn’t until the younger Trump started gaining some independent recognition after his father’s political connections paved the way for the Grand Hyatt hotel that he was able to gain some traction with some ladies.

The most complicated issues for me re: foreign policy are:

Trade in general
Middle East
Environmental stewardship
China and Russia

I don’t know nearly enough to say with any confidence what our country’s positions should be, especially with regard to the Middle East and Israel (totally conflicted as a non-practicing Jew)

But I do have some guiding principles:
-consumers should pay the true price of what they consume…factoring in defense, environmental costs, subsidies, foreign aid, worker exploitation, etc. For example, there is simply no way that a gallon of Poland Spring water should cost more than a gallon of gasoline.
-the most lethal chemical to ever exist is testosterone
-religious fundamentalism (largely steeped in testosterone-driven behavior) is an affront to intelligence and wisdom. If God exists as a supremely intelligent and wise entity, religious fundamentalism is an affront to God. I’m pretty much an atheist but believe strongly that the universe is a product of intelligence, right down to the physical laws that govern it.
-We know enough and have enough to provide everyone with the means to live a reasonably happy life.

I’ll comment as briefly as I can on the 3 topics, trade, immigration and social issues even though I have a very different view.

Trade – TPP and NAFTA type trades are ways to gain market footholds which ultimately are good for Americans.
Immigration – I agree with the GOP party platform: “”Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power to this nation, –the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, –should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.” What? That couldn’t be the GOP platform? It was. In 1864.
Social – Everyone can do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t harm someone else. I believe all people should be treated equally. That does not mean I think reparations are due to the descendants of slaves or that we must have a gay character in every TV show. I think there are people in every stereotypical classification that hates people unlike them. That “hate” is what I hate.
Z-man added the Israel-Palestinian issue. Wouldn’t it be great if they just decided to stop hating each other?

The problem in this world is hatred. If you hate. I hate you. And I hate that about me.

@309 Zman

I agree generally with your point that the costs of gasoline are not well reflected in what people pay at the pump, but can you please drop the Poland Spring thing, it drives me crazy every time I read it because it totally obfuscates and weakens an otherwise cogent and good point. Maybe it has rhetorical power with some audience but I hope this board is not that place and to me it is claptrap at best.

You talk about factoring in all the costs, the cost of a gallon of individually packaged Poland Spring has very little to do with the price of gas pumped up from a tank. Retail markup for shelf space often commands a margin of double the wholesale price. Gas stations often make ten cents or less per gallon on gas. Poland spring has brand value while most consumers don’t care what brand they put in their car, going by price or whatever station is convenient to their route. Most loyalty of regulars comes down to experience in the convenience store, which is actually where most gas stations make money. Then you add costs of individually packaging each gallon, transporting them that way in a heavier and less volumetrically efficient way than if it was just in a tanker like gas. To me it is just a bad example and invites skepticism that has nothing to do with your actual point.

@Zman 309

the most lethal chemical to ever exist is testosterone

This is also claptrap. Humanity, culture, intelligent life as we know it would not exist without Sexual dimorphism. So arguably a lack of testosterone would be a greater loss than its presence. Why is adrenaline not the most lethal? I hate stock phrases that sound good unless you actually think about them. I wish people would make their actual arguments instead of just relying on pablum. Especially on a forum like this one where I like to imagine we respect each other enough to not think we can pull wool over each others eyes.

Racial grievance politics and white identity is central to Trump’s appeal. It’s naive to pretend otherwise. It’s not like Stormfront and white nationalists and the Proud Boys and 4chan care about trade policy. Those groups all love Trump because he sends the clear message that he is fighting for the white man. He has a long history, from Fred Trump not renting to blacks, to the Central Park Five, to “Mexico sends rapists,” to “very fine people on both sides,” to “go back to where you came from.” His stans eat all this stuff up with a ladle. He just “tells it like it is” as far as they’re concerned.

I’m not saying 4chan and Stormfront make up most of Trump’s base. They don’t. But it’s telling that those groups are so enthusiastic about him. He’s playing a concerto on the old dog whistle and it’s music to the ears of a lot of people.

BJ I’m not trying to make airtight arguments, and there is some metaphorical language built into everything I’m saying. You seem to get some sort of intellectual kick out of nitpicking semantics and such rather than argue for or against the essential point (e.g. would you be happier if I used a gallon of milk or a gallon of orange juice rather than a particular brand of water). Ditto for the testosterone thing. To me, it just makes you sound dumb and petty and clutters up the discourse. If you can’t surmise that what I’m really saying is that throughout history it has been men that cause the vast, vast majority of death, destruction and persecution. It’s largely metaphorical language, but if it doesn’t pass muster with you, whatever.

I’m not saying 4chan and Stormfront make up most of Trump’s base. They don’t. But it’s telling that those groups are so enthusiastic about him. He’s playing a concerto on the old dog whistle and it’s music to the ears of a lot of people.

100% agree. Trump has made it okay for white people to embrace deeply-held racist views. For example, northern whites saying that southern whites standing up for confederate monuments are only doing so because “that’s their heritage” seem to not be aware that millions of black southerners whose descendants suffered under slavery have a heritage too, and that hundreds of thousands of white northerners were killed or maimed at the hands of those confederate heroes. Not to mention that the vast majority of the monuments were erected in the Jim Crow era by a generation who deeply resented the empowerment of former slaves and descendants.

@317 I will defer to Jowles and his contention that the left in this country is far more interested in equity, environmental protection, and social justice than the right. For you to in any way dispute that is really incredibly sad. For whatever crackpots and scumbags exist on either side, it is a joke when conservatives continually raise the specter of Socialism as they are right now… not just the crackpots on the fringes, but mainstream Republicans. Why aren’t these same people calling for the elimination of Medicare as it currently exists? That’s socialism, isn’t it? How about the elimination of disability? Unemployment insurance? Publicly-funded education? Publicly-funded Police departments? OSHA? Why don’t mainstream Republican candidates publicly come out against all of these socialist policies?

We are already a socialist country in many regards. The question is about degree. The absolutist labeling by the Republicans is just more dog whistle politics. There is simply no analog for that on the left except at the fringes.

IMO, you shouldn’t hold a candidate responsible for the racists, communists, neo nazis, terrorist sympathizers, actual terrorists, proponents and users of violence to address grievances, and other assorted crackpots that just happen to be more aligned with one of the candidates.

Yeah, so, like–

So here, I just wrote this down today. Hillary wants to raise taxes — it’s a comparison. I want to lower them. Hillary wants to expand regulations, which she does bigly. Can you believe that? I will reduce them very, very substantially, could be as much as 70 to 75 percent. Hillary wants to shut down energy production. I want to expand it. Lower electric bills, folks! Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick –if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day, if — if — Hillary gets to put her judges in.

-Candidate Donald J. Trump, August 2016

They are always going to gravitate towards some candidate. IMO, you shouldn’t hold a candidate responsible

You absolutely should hold responsible candidates who seek out the adoration of groups like those. And why are communists on that list? Strange inclusion.

let’s inject some life…

I’m kind of digging this thread that never ends…I can’t remember whom, but I know there is someone(s) whom cherishes a “clean” thread…

it makes me wonder if our benefactors have forgotten us…have we been abandoned by our creator…

I can imagine at this stage for many, it’s all about the basketball…the team…our team…

had a chance to spend time with others to celebrate my friend…strong mom…took place at a mormon place of worship…I can’t remember the last time I stepped inside a church, it’s been a while…ben was a pretty agnostic person, but, his mom was tied to the church – very strong lady…not to get preachy (discussing religion is even less sexy than discussing) but, faith matters…particularly when shit goes really wrong…

forgot who mentioned it, but, had a chance to say a few words and brought up the whole “cherish the day, tomorrow is not promised”…bit of a grim concept, but, a lesson this experience has reinforced…

I don’t know the whole grief stage thing…for me it went: guilt, sorrow for myself, then more so sorrow for his family, acceptance, appreciation…

this week though it’s been weird…I’ll be doing some random action, think of ben, and get mad…just pissed he’s gone…

it was cool to see all the folks whom his presence impacted in such a positive manner…man, poor dude used to listen to all my life trials and tribulations and help carry some of that weight 🙂

been watching a wider than normal variety of different sport activities recently (watched some marathon thing earlier)…but, seeing how it’s about a 1,000 degrees outside, taking the opportunity to catch up on LEGION…

been recording season three (I think I heard this season would be it), but, wanted to catch up and re-watch season two…

I know we have more than a few long time comic book aficionados here…sometimes it hard to judge things properly cuz of the whole recency bias thing, but, I’m pretty sure that’s the best visual representation of what it feels like to be inside a graphic novel…

I know different folks have different reasons for why they love comics, for myself – it’s been primarily for the visual nature of the medium…

one of the reasons early spawn and the the age of apocalypse turned me on so much…it was new to me at the time…loved that glossy print…

on episode 13 at the moment, one thing that has really stuck out to me, that I remembered from the first viewing – how absolutely indulgent
the whole series is…

there is just sooooo much there to consume with your eyes…the colors, the sets, the costumes…

it’s like one of those Ben and Jerry ice creams that have a half dozen “different delights” stuffed in to them…so many flavors…

oh yeah, not a bad soundtrack either…it’s almost impossible to imagine how they could have been able to match sound to sight…just really excellent…

at least it works for me…

oh yeah, up until now, gotta go with oliver as my favorite character…I wanna be half as cool as oliver when I grow up…

Feels like im in Betty Ford clinic and deal with my bball addiction….
-Doctor, i have the impression that its 24th of July…. AGAIN !
-Try to sleep and dream of Frank taking over Fiba World Cup.
-i tried that but… i dreamt Frank as Jean Valjean fighting for Justice, Freedom and cheap Perrier against Monarchy guards and blonde supremacists !!!
-Hmmm….Maybe you should drink a beer !

that smoker argument is totally unconvincing as it’s wrought with logical fallacies. It’s the type of argument that has to be eliminated from discourse but it’s the type of argument being used by politicians. It’s how we got to where we are.

Smoking kills more people every year than guns, drugs, alcohol, cars combined. Lung cancer, almost always caused by smoking, kills more people than all other forms of cancer combined. My group health insurance costs treats a smoker the same as a non-smoker. However, life insurance costs actually DO charge a significant premium to smokers, keeping my cost down. Car insurance costs are higher for drunk drivers and people prone to accidents, keeping the cost to safer drivers down. I don’t see the fallacy.

Not very much these days, sadly.

So we agree that for the cost of 60 billion they don’t do much. You could buy every homeless person in the country a house for that much. Boom we just solved the homeless problem.

So does obesity

that smoker argument is totally unconvincing as it’s wrought with logical fallacies. It’s the type of argument that has to be eliminated from discourse but it’s the type of argument being used by politicians. It’s how we got to where we are.

Smoking kills more people every year than guns, drugs, alcohol, cars combined. Lung cancer, almost always caused by smoking, kills more people than all other forms of cancer combined. My group health insurance costs treats a smoker the same as a non-smoker. However, life insurance costs actually DO charge a significant premium to smokers, keeping my cost down. Car insurance costs are higher for drunk drivers and people prone to accidents, keeping the cost to safer drivers down. I don’t see the fallacy.

We went the first 200 years of this country without the Dept of Ed

Yes, and we went 200 years without the Department of Energy, too, but it would be catastrophically irresponsible to get rid of it. I mean, I’m pretty damn sure that you don’t know what the fuck it does, but I bet you want it abolished.

Again: you know nothing of history, so you speak only from ahistorical principles. Easy to create a fiction, isn’t it?

I still largely hate the Knicks and probably will for the foreseeable future, but I have fallen in love all over again with Z-Man on this epic, three day thread.

Right back at you, but alas, we’re a package deal. Tell you what, these boys are gonna win some fans back this year. Mitch will be the most lovable Knick since the 1990’s and he’s got some company. Tell you what, give it till Thanksgiving.