unclevlad

It's a necessary move, but also a very damning one. It's affirmation that even the front office is realizing that Hackett isn't ready to be a head coach. it also puts Hackett on notice: he's got rope left, but there's NO!!! guarantee he'll be the coach next year. I won't go so far as to predict he'll be fired during the season, but this is a clear "put up or shut up" move. Yuck. Games tomorrow: Chiefs at Colts...line's only 5 and a hook, but it feels like it should be more. Philly and Washington...no way. Late slot is the Battle of the Bays. There's only so much ring-kissing adoration I can take. That'll be exceeded after 1 possession per team....

Purple rain, purple rain Purple rain, purple rain Purple rain, purple rain I only wanted to see you Underneath the purple rain Wait. The world is ending. Or Hawai'i is gonna fight it out with CSU for #1. NMSU 35-10 at halftime....and not only that, but all 5 TDs are on drives of 60+ yards. 4 plays once, 7 once, 8 for the other 3. Aggies are gashing them in the run game...27 carries for 268 in the first half. Pariah: recognize. Sac St is #6 in FCS. It's not quite as ugly as it looks at first glance. That said, losing by 31 at home, to a team you should at *least* compete with...and along with the rest of the start, that's a great way for a coach to get tossed to the curb. And...yeah...unless something changes, I expect Hawai'i to take the bottom spot, but CSU will likely be right there with em, then Colorado.

Another L, because they deserve it. Lions...the Barbary lion was first described by Linnaeus in the 18th century. AKA the Egyptian lion. Extinct 1960. The Cape lion of South Africa, extinct 1935.

Ibex...2 species, Pyrenean (2000) and Portuguese (late 19th century).

Wow. Middle Tennessee St vs. Miami. Miami's defense has been GOUGED. Been loosely following the score line. It's 38-24 MTSU, but the bigger story is that MTSU has a total of 8 first downs...and over 400 yards of offense. OK, 9 now. Receptions of 69, 71, 89, and 98 yards for 3 TDs. After MTSU made it 38-17, Miami took the kickoff back to stay in it...but MTSU goes 75 yards in close to 6 minutes for another score. That likely slams the door...3 TD lead, it's now under 9 minutes to go. EDIT: and luscious result #2. Texas Tech 37, Texas 34 in OT. Texas' time in the top 25 is quite short, and all is right with the universe again.

You're probably that guy who can eat just one Lays potato chip, too....

One of the replies to this piece said it better than I ever could:

Nor I. save for occasionally. Festival coffee...start with a nice dark roast (to stand up to the rest), a bit of spice atop the grounds before brewing, very lightly sweetened, a bit of half and half (first choice, cream too easily separates). On a cold, wet day, an afternoon mocha. Coffee's brewed EXTRA strong...maybe 2/3 the amount of water. Approx an equal amount of decadent hot choc...2 parts half and half to 1 part cream, heavy on the cocoa powder, good dollop of stevia (sugar is verboten these days), a heavy shake of cinnamon, maybe a dose of vanilla. Largely a holiday season indulgence. And the evening coffee drinks...strong coffee again, liqueur of choice, heavy cream (or whipped cream) on top and allowed to filter down. That said: those work better, IMO, as dessert rather than with dessert.

Pujols pops not one, but 2 tonight to reach 700!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #699 was his 20th this season, marking the 18th time he's reached that level, behind only Aaron and Bonds.

With a chocolate donut that dark? Ehh. I'd rather do plain milk, I think; that combo's fine. (Especially if that donut's as rich as it looks.) But it wasn't the right color for either. Even with natural cocoa powder, it's too light...at least to get any notable chocolate flavor. And you're not gonna give us ANY hint on what's in it???????

Is it too harsh to think that people who do things like this, are getting what they deserve?

Probably stood him up on a date back in the Pleistocene.

In WtC, the situation in Japan is much the same in principle; in practice, it didn't entirely work out that way, as organized crime took some...including some rather powerful ones. But the criminal supers had to be very careful, and the government hunted for them very extensively.

Super Powereds: powers are effectively mutations...you're born with them, or you're not. There are occasional tech geniuses, so an Iron Man is another option. Supers overall number in the millions, it's believed, but the vast majority aren't that powerful, and many are not combat-effective. A side comment about one character's kid was, she was a super with the power to alter the taste of food. Awesome for dieting and nutrition. In Corpies, a side book to the series, one of the principal characters is a 12 or so on an athletic scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is Olympic caliber. Great for rescue work, nowhere close to adequate for engaging villains. Villains Code: very similar to Wild Cards. The trigger event happened, IIRC, in 1947 with a physics experiment that created elements in the hypothetically stable zone, with element numbers > 300. That led to people with powers, and changed reality. Supers pop up occasionally...many of them minor. But there are also events called Confluences, where side effects of the original accident somehow coalesce. Many more, and on average more powerful, supers are created. Power types and levels are literally anything imaginable...and some are seriously wild. WtC: the Event in the early 2000's was singular. Ever since, tho, individuals gain powers, generally in VERY high stress conditions. Many fall into trope patterns...and some become the pattern that others follow, as belief systems matter greatly. There's magical types...but everyone knows D&D magic is fantasy, so most magical types follow more rooted traditions. (And it's also a justification for making things like demonic summonings harder, IMO.) Vampires and fey exist...and follow the classic tropes, by and large. Some people would probably become like Jedi...that's a firmly established, if relatively recent, archetype. I think Harmon just didn't want to rile Disney up. Breakthroughs are shaped largely by the person and the circumstances. Sometimes they'll become wish-fulfilling...I wanna be a vampire, I wanna be super strong and tough...and others go in different ways altogether. A one-time, never-repeated influx *might* arguably be the worst case. That feels to me the most likely to create an undamped race to the top. Once people get there, little can threaten them. Conversely, if supers perhaps start with a large surge, but there's new ones regularly, there's at least a chance for banding together to quash the worst of the worst, and build to a new stable paradigm.

Celtics suspend their coach Ime Udoka for a year, for an inappropriate relationship with another member of the organization, in violation of team rules. And no guarantees he'll return to the court after the suspension.

There's an interesting story here: https://incoherency.co.uk/blog/stories/sockfish.html about how one can cheat in a live game, but note the problems. And this was amateur play; I doubt the method would work against a master, it seems unlikely a Pi could play at that advanced a level. So, I have to leave the door open that Carlsen believes the rumors, and is going a bit off the deep end. That wouldn't be unique in the chess world.

Major, MAJOR culinary crime committed here. Quite attractive chocolate cake donuts, they look decadent.... But that pale, thin beverage in the cup looks like tea with milk, NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Coffee and chocolate are a dream combination. If that's supposed to be coffee, there's WAAAYYY too much dairy. If it's tea...nope. I love a good cup of tea...but not with chocolate.

It all depends. There is no fixed, correct answer. --"Superhuman" doesn't equal "godlike"...and Superman is INSANELY powerful. Obviously, it depends on which one you're talking about, but he's several thousand points IMO, in Hero. (EDIT: built a mostly reasonable version. Characteristics and powers are coming out at about 1300 with, I think, almost all the big stuff included.) --One of the critical, huge scenes in WtC happens very shortly after the Event. I don't recall if it's in the first book; it's definitely in the RPG, and I believe in one of the books eventually. Atlas, Ajax, Touches Clouds, and the rest of those who would become the Sentinels walk into a Congressional hearing about a bill to restrict supers. Ajax gives a speech that is awesome..."we will stop them." And that's the start. --What's the draw to be a hero? Celebrity status like nothing else. In both Hayes' SPU and WtC, popular culture is completely swept up in hero culture...and in WtC, villain culture, but not per se of the "go out and STOMP" villain types. Those are in super prison. Push comes to shove...if suddenly very powerful supers (I like to build SPU characters at around 600-650, with 16 DC attacks max) arise in today's polarized, nervous, and hair-trigger environment...then honestly? I think a billion people would die inside of a couple years, and infrastructure collapse would happen in many places. But that, in itself, could lead to a transition whereby heroes form...and knowing that the entire planet came VERY close to being obliterated, a semi-stable arrangement could be reached. In WtC, Cuba was taken over by the Tyrant...who might well be called godlike, his powers aren't made clear. He has absolute control...but he's not there to exploit. It's described as a mostly free, almost libertarian state. OTOH, there's Juarez, which is still an ongoing war zone that spills over onto both sides of the border. But some of what you're thinking...it's self-correcting to a degree. Mind...it's bloody UGLY. I kinda think that's why Harmon skipped 10 years forward. In Hayes' SPU, where powers became public and more common in the late 50's, there was an extensive stretch where hero vs. villain battles were VERY frequent, and VERY bloody. Another interesting series is Drew Hayes' Villain's Code. In SPU, heroes are heavily restricted and seriously trained. In VC...they're not. In some ways, it's like The Boys...and yes, there's more problems. But one of the subthemes in VC is that a chaotic situation where people run wild, at some point *some* form of control will develop.

Any or all of the above, and a zillion other scenarios. Some things are less likely than others, tho. --Using supers in a military action is a severe escalation in level of force. How severe depends on the damage potential of the super. Not TOO powerful...might be like a controlled chemical attack. Something like Iron Man? Closer to using a bioweapon. A wide-scale energy projector type? Almost like being the first to use a nuke. --The scenario of a super trying to compel a government in some manner is pretty narrow. Opposed supers would tend to intervene. The more likely...and nastier...situation is a mind control type, IMO. Another: the use of supers as assassins. Imagine desolid plus invisible, among others. --Controlling supers is NEVER easy. It's all too easy to paint them into a corner where they think they have little to lose. It's fairly common in superhero lit, that if super powers are reasonably common, then most are relatively minor. As in, shrug off a .38, but a 12 gauge slug...not so much. Take 2-3 punches to bash a hole in a brick wall, rather than be able to run through it with ease. And so on. So...in your effort to control the supers you can't easily restrain...do you make things overly onerous for those who aren't a serious threat? That's an invitation to a downward spiral that ends very, very, very badly. --The underlying culture is huge. Basic respect for human rights or the rule of law aren't automatic. Racial suppression/eradication has too long a history to think it wouldn't start back up. And imagine the different way the sudden onset of supers would affect things in 1990, say...versus just post-9/11, and worse, in the US of today. On BOTH sides. Anger's been building for decades, and violence has erupted at times. Toss in an angry super. Hope you've got enough body bags....

Op-ed about the roots of the current state of the Republican Party, from a former Vermont Congressman, booted in his primary run for re-election for voting for gun control...in 1991. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/opinion/moderate-republicans-gingrich-trump-new-england.html

Ahhhhhh....you can find it. I don't recommend you do. They're...pretty bad. But not bumblebee-stripe throwback bad. And that's just mild visual nausea; watching Trubisky flounder is worse. And the less said about That Other Team, the better.

Hey, gotta root for Sac State. I mean, the Aggies need to earn the #1 spot. Let's keep that competition going! (I mean...who's worse? Sac St or Hawai'i? Especially Hawai'i on the road. If NMSU goes winless, methinks it won't be a contest. That'll include losses to 4 teams in the Bottom 25 this week...at 17, 14, 13, and 4. I am honestly beginning to hope that the conference realignments force a complete schism, where the SEC and Big $0 forge a playoff-level group with its own rules. For the rest...no illusion of even TRYING to keep up with the Big Money. Tighter scholarship limits, perhaps...altho FCS isn't actually much different from FBS. But eliminate the illusion. Also split football from all other sports for conference purposes. One thing that might work, given that, is a promotion/relegation approach. Not like that would ever happen....

From the comments to the story: Typos are as per the comment, but hey, if the writer's on his phone, it happens. Can't argue much, altho I might pick slightly different (but not less critical) adjectives, save to say those go back further than Trump. Those have been in the Republican campaigning playbook for a long time.

Better idea. WVU vs. Va Tech on ESPN. Save yourself the torture. After that's over, there's some baseball.

In WtC, in most of the US, heroes are in crisis response teams; much of their work is, as noted, disaster relief and aid. But they're also the ones to take down any powered criminals...because the cops can't. The Sentinels, the team the main char's a member of, have multiple heavy hitters, so they get the call for big takedowns. One of the aspects is also: who has oversight? In Drew Hayes' Super Powereds and WtC, that's a civilian function. In WtC, the CAI teams are state militia, and there's a federal department as well. In SP, it's all federal. In both, you *must* be accredited to actively use powers legitimately, or at least with shielding against liability. SP takes that to an extreme: it's a 4 year program called the Hero Certification Program, and it's highly competitive, with (probably too) few graduates a year. The comics allow vigilantism to run amok, and that isn't practical given the serious damage a super on super fight can cause. Costumes in both also serve another purpose: recognition. While obviously someone can try to exploit that angle, it's still preferable to know that when that guy says "GET DOWN!!"...you really need to listen. Both series point out the trust factor. In the SPU, there's a second tier of supers that are purely first responders, NOT authorized to enter into super combat except in self-defense. They're called PEERS..privately employed emergency responders. He also set up an overarching Super Athletics Association, because supers vs. non-supers is like Georgia versus a high school JV team in football. And both WtC and SP have supers dedicated to just cleanup operations...lots of them.