How much more stupid and absurd can this "sport" be?

Imagine
"runner tripped by official for not staying in lane"
"f1 race leader crashed out by race director in pace car for infraction"
"swimmer held under water for using illegal technique"
"soccer referee fined for pretending to be injured"
except the above actually happened...

To be fair, if the republicans were trying to add a very red 51st state there'd be outrage from the democrats. There are arguments for and against, but this is being done now as a power grab.

However, this is hardly the first low blow to be struck. Dirty tricks like this have been escalating fast - mostly from the right, from what I've seen - and in this arena if only one side is fighting dirty they're going to win. On top of that, the two-party system means neither side has a vested interest in getting a referee in to make things fair since that could open the door to other competitors.

This is just another sign that American politics could really do with a reboot, or at least (as we say over here) a boot up the arse.

Because these Karens were not fighting for their rights or their lives. They were just crazy fans seeking revenge for their team losing a game and trying to lynch the referee to change the result.

And again the President sent them. Thus they become pawns in an ego driven attack against democracy. Remember Trump is making money on donations to support this shitshow.


Rudy just spilled my coffee again with his "trial by combat" speech. This is unreal.

Nice summary, Newt! My thoughts exactly.

The police seems to favour a bunch of (probably armed) hysterical Karens shouting incoherent nonsense over people who actually have reasons to protest and a clear reasonable agenda. Hockey mums shouting at the referee without understanding the rules.

The only slightly face-saving moment was the guy in Pelosis office writing a message and leaving her cell phone on the table instead of dropping his pants and defecating on it. It is possible that these people will yet come through to realize that no, once again, this is not the end of the world that their prophet is calling for.

Trump thinks this is a reality show and anything goes. Theatrical tactics to make it look like he was cheated out of a big win. Also always backs out of everything he says - not his fault this time either?

Security agencies from top to bottom made to look stupid and weak and slow to react. Look at how many police cars are there, how many policemen in fancy dress. It takes hours to control a few hundred Karens who could have been expected from the moment the president called for a march on the Capitol.

What shall you do with a president who calls for a march on the Capitol?

Edit: just found out there had been violent clashes on Tuesday already - what happened yesterday was either incredible incompetence bordering on mental retardation, or a purposeful extension of Trumps narrative. That the police favour Trump so they let the Trump mob storm the building is a nice scenario for some conspiracy theories of our own now :-)

Your video, Camera kept swiveling to zoom in on the referee's bald head., has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Looked at right, life is a game.

Some people think the point is to win as much and by as big a margin as possible every time, no matter what that takes or who it hurts.
Some try to achieve this by being above average players, other people try to hide from the referee and cheat as much as possible.
Some turn in their own teammates when they cheat.
Some people just want to hog control of the ball, win or lose, others are happy to just be on the field.


I think it's about the kind of player you want to be....that's what will be remembered about you, not your hardest hits but how often you helped opponents to their feet afterwards.

No other instance got caught, but every coach did it? That's your argument?

No one said she didn't deserve a warning for the racket smash, not even her.

Do men get away with that level of abuse?
Remember McEnroe? He got famous for it.

Yep, mention games where players can't discuss calls with the referee at all, that makes a point well.

I don't know this was sexist, it seemed more personal to me. You're right, men shouldn't get away with this, but they do.

Another deaf moron who's ears don't work when his lips move, which is constantly, but he might still be the best listener at Fox....but realize that bar rests so low it's somewhere within the iron core of our planet.
Like the rest of the right, they invite other opinions to speak not in order to listen, but solely for the opportunity to talk over them smugly and create red herrings by not paying attention and making up claims about what the other said or believes out of thin air.
I sometimes hope Trump can enact some truth in journalism law like he says he wants but with a real, unbiased referee deciding what's proven fact and what's ignorant opinion masquerading as fact, and public consequences for the networks at the very least amounting to unimpeachable fact checking, because that will end right wing media outlets day one. They all do this, rant loudly over guests they don't agree with, because their arguments can't withstand honest debate with knowledgeable people, so those people can't be allowed to be heard by their audience.
Why they still give Faux those opportunities is beyond me, Faux must pay lefties a mint to come on.

For anyone who is really interested in how the referee team works together during large matches, I'd really recommend the documentation "Referees at work". Here is an example of the controversial ref decision by Howard Webb and also how they discuss a potential dive / foul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOaxTdoIgT0

A few leagues have been using the VAR system (video assistant referee) for a while now, and it'll also be used at the upcoming World Cup in Russia.

They only interfere in case of obviously incorrect decisions by the ref or situations of significant impact (i.e. penalties, send-offs, off-side goals, etc). This particular case would have led to the ref booking the attacker for a dive.

Works pretty well in Germany these days after going through some issues in the first half of this season.

I had no idea Michaela also refereed 8-Ball. Somehow I'd assumed that a Snooker referee (even a former one) would be above such things. :-)

What's up with the guy wearing full-leg riot gear in the background? Is that the referee?

ah,the days of being in a relationship with a woman,who loved painkilllers with her jug wine.

who would wake me up in the dead of the night,using the super heated metal tops of a bic lighter on the bottom of my feet (those are called "smileys" for those who do not know) to scream at me about some girl who had the audacity to look my way at target,because 3:30am is the time to find out if i am having sexual thoughts about random women.

or an earlier girlfriend whose father was a prominent artist in the country and was holding a weekend jazz festival.i had a customer who had cerebal palsy,and one leg had been amputated,whose boyfriend had just broke up with her and she was a wreck.

so i had this bright idea! why doesn't this poor emotional wreck of a woman come to the jazz festival of my girlfriends dad? that will get her mind off things right?

but,having a second person accompany made me a little late.so when i finally showed up,my girlfriend was already half in the bag,and mad.i tried to explain and introduce her to mary,the heartbroken girl.

and my girlfriend broke my nose with a bottle of michelob.i do not think she cared that mary was heart broken,and an utter wreck in need of human company.i could be wrong,this is just a guess,but the bleeding from my broken nose may have been a strong indicator.

or how about the time i was counseling a long time friend,who had pulled a midnight move out to escape a man who had basically had her trapped in a spare room,chaining her to the wall.that man had gone as far as severing her achilles tendons,after her first attempt to escape,and this woman suffered from a severe case of PTSD.

now she did form an almost childlike bond to me.maybe because i had offered her the first taste of true compassion,and offered her safety and comfort,and allowed her to talk the poison and bile out that had been building inside her for over three years.

but her attachment to me,which was to be expected,was not viewed favorably by my girlfriend.i spent a lot of time and attention in drawing this broken and damaged young woman to feel safe,and to begin to feel human again(which infuriated my girlfriend).my patio was always filled with friends,artists and people of interest,and i did my best to bring a normalcy to this young womans life in order to help her acclimate,and to feel human again.

and my girlfriend would come home,get drunk,and start to whisper the most vile.and disgusting things..not about this young woman,but about me.

which,of course,if you understand the mentality of an abuse victim.especially one who had suffered such as she had.any criticism,or perceived threat to the person who had (in their mind) saved them,will create incredible anger and anxiety.

so because of my girlfriends irrational jealousy of this woman,and in her drunken selfishness,she went out of her way to make this woman feel as uncomfortable,and as unsafe (the exact opposite of what i was trying to do).so much so that the young woman...who didn't want to be a burden,or affect my life in a negative way...left my home,and wrote me she would never come back,because she loved me and didnt want to cause problems.

two weeks later she was found dead in motel room.over dose of piankiller and xanax...and wrists slashed to ribbons.

or how about the time one of my girlfriends broke three of my ribs,because i was being kind to a waitress?

or the time another girlfriend stabbed me,because while she was unhappy with our relationship,she could not abide me talking to anyone who owned a vagina.in this case a fellow artist i was collaborating with,and who happened to be not only an amazing human being but beautiful as well.

or that one time,when i broke up with a girl,because it simply was not working out and she repeatedly rammed her ford fairmont station wagon into my brand new firebird?

oh..the stories i can tell about all my wonderful relationships,and the women i have shared portions of my life with.i could write a book...

and then i watch this video,and i am overcome with an urge to drive cross country to the creators home,walk inside,grab him by the ankles and crag him outsides....and beat him senseless.

because he is coming from a false premise.
he is implying the that the benefits of relationships outweigh he selective memory our brains create when reliving our moments of singlehood.

when the reality is this:as long as you have friends,who love and accept you for who you are,you are never actually single.you are surrounded and loved by an extended family.

i do not need a girlfriend.
i do not want a girlfriend.
i am not interested in getting married.
and as i have revealed here,i would prefer some memories to remain buried under the much happier and adoring memories of my actual friends who put up with my eccentricities,and my overall oddness,rather than deal with a woman who is smitten with the ideas fed to them by institutions,and periodicals such as comsopolitian and vogue.

though,ironically,i have two ex girlfriends living in my home as i write this.
one is a former porn star,and current stripper who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia,and is a recovering addict.

while the other i had to go do a midnight rescue from a place where she was renting a room,but the house was junkie house,and she is a recovering addict as well (and they also kept stealing everything from her).she has bought a house,but it needs work and that work is taking fooooooorever.

and BOTH of these women still harbor some residual feelings towards me.even though i have been quite clear,open and honest that i have ZERO interest in rekindling anything,with either of them,but that hasn't stopped them from being all catty with each other,and causing drama,and complaining about the smallest,tiniest and most ridiculous of things to bitch about.

at first i tried to play referee.
i did my best to help everyone get along,until i realized they both had no interest in getting along.they wanted to outdo the other in order to get my attention.

which is just.....dumb..but anyways,my new way of handling their insipid complaints is always this response:i don't care.

and it seems to work beautifully.

so there you have my story,or at least part of it.
and i have to say...this guy is kinda full of shit.

for those of you happily married,with a great partner,i salute you.good for you,and i mean that.

but for me?
no thanks.i am good.

Here is the problem, Mr. Schlosser is a journalist, not a Nuclear Scientist. He does not understand, or has chosen to ignore for propaganda reasons, that an unarmed warhead is EXTREMELY unlikely to perform the exact sequence of events that need to take place to have a nuclear reaction happen.

Yes, he is fully correct in that we have had numerous 'butt-clenching' moments in which we could have started WW3 due to a malfunction or human error. But in the other cases he mentions, such as the bombs that landed on Spain, the lightning bolt on the tower, and the wrench on the rocket, the chance of the warhead going up while being unarmed is infinitesimal. They simply don't go 'boom' because of a collision or explosion. Now you could have a 'dirty bomb' type incident where the radioactive materials could be spread and come into contact with humans, but that is about it.

The cases that have been officially listed as Broken Arrows were because they involved an active bomb, like the one in Florida. Everything else he mentions in this video is his 'belief' and is conjecture.

Now, before I get unloaded on, I wish we didn't have nuclear weapons. I don't agree with Trump that we should renew the arms race, I think he is nuts since we have more than enough weapons to blanket the cities of the world more than a couple of times. If you add all the nukes from the Big 3 (USA/Russia/France...yes, France) there are enough to cover every single inch of the world.

The problem is, who bells the cat? If we give up all of our weapons, we are at risk. I wish we weren't, but we would be. If we bring down our numbers gradually, there are still other countries that may not, like North Korea. How do we trust the other country is actually following through? In a perfect world, we would all lay down our weapons and sing kumbaya, but as Heinlein wrote: "...Anyone who clings to the historically untrue and thoroughly immoral doctrine that violence never settles anything I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms."

PS...Yes, I know Starship Troopers is a controversial novel with overtones of Militarism and Fascism. However, there are quotes that ring true no matter what 'ism' people attach to the overall story. If you doubt that, look at the utter disbelief and depression that overcame liberals when Trump won. "He simply was supposed to, it was impossible, not like this, we have no hope, etc" were the feelings of the people who gave him no hope of winning. I, having lived and read enough to get a fair picture of how fucked up we are as a species, had little doubt he could pull it off. We elected a former Wrestler as governor, a former actor as governor, and a former actor as President. We overlook mass genocide in other countries. We ignore climate change. We spend hundreds of billions on defense and less than 10 on space exploration, all the while living on a planet that is already critically overpopulated (and is growing almost exponentially).