Tracker

Cruel and unusual punishment?

Lawyer Who Fought Helmet Laws Killed in Motorcycle Crash While Not Wearing a Helmet A Florida lawyer who passionately fought against state laws requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets was killed in a motorcycle crash while not wearing a helmet. Ron Smith, 66, was heading to a memorial service for another biker in August when he crashed his bike as he tried to slow for traffic in front of him. His 62-year-old girlfriend, Brenda Jeanan Volpe, who was a passenger on the bike, was also killed. She too was not wearing a helmet. Smith—who was a member of the Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments—represented clients who broke Florida’s motorcycle rules in cases which some say ultimately helped to overturn the state’s helmet requirement in 2000. “He thought everybody should have their own choice,” his friend Dave Newman said.

Just the way the GOP likes 'em.

'Nation's Report Card' Shows Decline in Reading Scores, Record Decline In Math "All the students, regardless of their ability, are dropping," the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics warned. Students across the U.S. have fallen behind in both math and reading in the past three years, illuminating the drastic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams released Monday. The exams, often called the “Nation’s Report Card,” sampled about 450,000 fourth and eighth graders in more than 10,000 schools across the country between January and March. The last exams were administered in 2019, just before the beginning of the pandemic and a widespread transition to virtual learning. In the past three years, math scores showed the steepest declines ever reported by NAEP since its initial trial assessment in 1990, according to Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Eighth graders’ scores sank by eight points since 2019. Fourth graders’ scores were slightly better, but still declined in 41 states. Just 36% of fourth graders were considered proficient in math, compared to 41% in 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/math-reading-national-exam-scores-decline_n_6356bd77e4b03e8038e1ecb8

Can't see Harris playing with any degree of effectiveness this season, if he plays at all. Much of his success was due to a dominant O-line and the Argo's O-line is hardly that. Moreover, he has to learn to read the blocking, which was all new at the start of the season and will need to re-learned.

So many cats, so few good recipes.

Mocking Poilievre is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Stop accusing far right-wingers of having intelligence! Just stop it!

Maybe a quarter.

I would think that O'Day has been told to not make any personnel moves until the board goes through the motions of a year-end review. They would not want to be seen as doing knee=jerk reactions on top of all the other crap. I would think that Dickenson has been considering engaging a realtor and checking U-haul rates, though.

You've been married that long???

In all honesty, Lemon has had a darned good year. Helps when you are on a good D-line, too.

Trump Tapes Reveal He's 'Dangerous' And 'A Threat To Democracy,' Bob Woodward Warns Legendary Watergate journalist Bob Woodward sounded the alarm on former President Donald Trump Sunday, releasing eight hours of interview recordings he says show the ex-president as a serious “threat to democracy.” Trump was “just the wrong man for the job,” Woodward told host John Dickerson on “CBS Sunday Morning,” referring to Trump’s presidency. “He’s not just the wrong man for the job,” Woodward added. “He’s dangerous, and he is a threat to democracy — and he’s a threat to the presidency because he doesn’t understand the core obligations that come with that office.” Woodward used the 20 recorded interviews with Trump for his 2020 book “Rage.” Now he’s releasing the tapes separately in “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump.” “Trump is an unparalleled danger,” Woodward wrote in a Washington Post essay adapted from the new audiobook. “When you listen to him on the range of issues from foreign policy to the virus to racial injustice, it’s clear he did not know what to do. Trump was overwhelmed by the job. He was largely disconnected from the needs and leadership expectations of the public and his absolute self-focus became the presidency."

Kari Lake threatens to cancel the Super Bowl if the NFL objects to her immigration policies In 1990, voters in Arizona defeated a ballot measure that would have designated Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. One of the ensuing consequences for the Grand Canyon State arrived when the National Football League relocated Super Bowl XXVII from Tempe to Pasadena, California in 1993. "The NFL's decision to move the Super Bowl is believed to be the first time a major sports league reacted to a highly politicized issue by relocating an event," ESPN explained last year. Now, that ruling by the NFL has reverberated into the 2022 race for the Arizona governorship. On Sunday, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake declared at a question-and-answer event that she would be willing to cancel Super Bowl LVII at Glendale's State Farm Stadium in 2023 if the NFL raises objections to her right-wing immigration policy proposals.

Wow. Kyrie Wilson is so injured that he skipped practice twice.

There is a myth that Jones can keep problematic players in check, but the Elks are examples that whatever he does is strictly short-term if/when it works. Jones is much like Tororella in the NHL who, except for one season cannot sustain a competitive team for long. Had Jones stayed in Regina, the outcome would have been the same sort of mess we see there now, differing only in detail.

They may have more individual talent, but collectively, as a whole (players, coaches and management) this is the worst Rider team in living memory.

Ukraine update: 'Organized withdrawal of troops of the first line is impossible' in Kherson Those days when a Russian position is clearly crumbling? Those are the best days. On Saturday evening in Ukraine, Russia has once again targeted electrical production and transmission facilities with missile and drone attacks, causing blackouts that involve a large percentage of the population, including the majority of Kyiv. However, this appears to be about the only “good news” on Russian state media and Telegram channels. Because the situation in Kherson appears to be coming to a head sooner than expected. On Saturday morning, Russian officials called for “immediate evacuation” of the city of Kherson. Officials seem to have followed this order by swiftly hopping on a boat and departing. There have also been reports that over the last two weeks Russia has been subbing in freshly mobilized troops for experienced fighters, while getting the forces who know which end of a rifle to hold across the river. There are also efforts reportedly underway to evacuate Russian personnel from the filtration camp at Beryslav. Over the course of the day, these withdrawals appear to have become evident on the front lines. There are multiple reports of abandoned Russian positions, some of which have even been confirmed by the Ukrainian general staff (which is usually reluctant to report anything happening near the actual front line). It’s possible that the front line in Kherson is simply collapsing. That may be particularly true if those reports that the line has been replaced by inexperienced and recently mobilized troops. As soon as those guys no longer had someone holding a gun to their back, running away likely seemed like a Real Good Thing. Ferries are reportedly doing frequent and rapid trips across the river on Saturday night in Ukraine, with Russians hoping to get as much across they can, while keeping an eye out for incoming HIMARS fire. As Wagner Group Telegram channel GrayZone puts it: “The situation is even worse than in the Kharkiv region after the breakthrough to Balakliya. In fact, the implementation of an organized withdrawal of troops of the first line is impossible.”

True, but he's not the solution either. Roughing the passer???? Is this the NFL?

Score actually flatters the Riders. Their defence still trying but the offence looks as flat as pee on a plate.

Edom got popped real hard and he has not been the only Rider to get run over tonight.

Trump Stashed 'Highly Sensitive' China, Iran Missile Intel At Mar-A-Lago: Report Details about Iran’s missile program and American intelligence work aimed at China were among the most “highly sensitive” information Donald Trump had stashed at his Mar-a-Lago compound, The Washington Post reported Friday. Had the intelligence been shared with or acquired by other people it could have laid bare U.S. intelligence-gathering methods. The identities of American spies could have been exposed and their lives’ endangered, and U.S. intelligence-gathering systems compromised. Yet the sensitive information was stored in a resort that drew hundreds of unscreened members and guests to parties, fundraisers and wedding receptions at a facility maintained by unscreened groundskeepers and cleaners. One of the storage areas for documents Trump took to Mar-a-Lago from the White House was reportedly easily accessible near a pool open to all members. At least one document seized by the FBI in August describes Iran’s missile program, sources told the Post. Other documents reportedly described highly sensitive intelligence work involving China. “The exceptional sensitivity of these documents, and the reckless exposure of invaluable sources and methods of U.S. intelligence capabilities concerning these foreign adversaries, will certainly influence the Justice Department’s determination of whether to charge Mr. Trump or others with willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act,” David Laufman, a former senior official of the Justice Department, told the Post. Mar-a-Lago has been considered a “spy magnet” by intelligence experts — both during and after Trump’s term as president. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/china-iran-weapons-trump-mar-a-lago-intelligence_n_63534cdde4b0e376dc17b069