The chase for the scoring record has been so huge that is what everyone talks about with Clark. But all along her passing has been awesome. I have raved about her passing on this forum and to friends.

You add her shooting/scoring, ball handling, passing and today 10+ rebounds and today's announcer said Clark might be the "GOAT".

I havent watched women's Bball as much until the last 6+ years so I cant say but Caitlin is great at 3 phases. She plays good defense also.

Also, Clark looks tired to me; it seems she is not always getting the good high launch on her jumper.

For the first time since the 70s when it first came out. I'd forgotten that Hooper bangs Brody's wife and the shark eats him.

Watching the movie 100 times had erased the book from my memory. A good read tho.

Edit: No spoiler for a 50 year old book.

We are taking (somewhat) of a last minute spring trip to Orlando next month. Not unexpectedly, the Disney hotels are full. However, most of the Universal hotels have suites available. Now the last couple of times I have been to Universal was for work related and we had the park rented out and stayed over at the Grande Lakes. What are the better hotels? Hard Rock, Loew's & Cabana Bay Beach Club (I think that's right) look to be the best -- any recommendations.

Second, quality Orlando restaurants?

Muchas...

Atlanta has gone through two stadiums (Fulton County & Turner Field) since I have been to a Braves game. Going to be in town for meetings and going to stay a little longer to catch the Braves v. Red Sox. Staying at the Four Seasons in Midtown. From memory, midtown was pretty far from Cobb County. What's the travel time during rush hour (assuming I leave the hotel around 5:30 p.m.)? And what are the spots to check out near the stadium?

Magazine is no mo

The House isn’t back until Wednesday, and government funding is set to run out Friday at midnight. Negotiators had hoped to finalize and release the bills last night. But talks have slowed.



Democrats say the holdup is House Republicans’ insistence that policy changes, known as riders, are added to the funding bills.

• “We will once again face the specter of a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown caused by an extreme wing within the Republican Party,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to his colleagues last night.

Johnson fired back in a statement, saying Schumer’s rhetoric is “counterproductive” and that it’s not the time for “petty politics.”
The speaker is under pressure from the House Freedom Caucus to obtain “significant policy changes” in the funding bills, some of which it laid out in a letter last week.
Johnson also faces discontent from many others in his conference who want him to make a decision, keep the government open and stop placating the far-right minority.
The four appropriations bills set to expire Friday — agriculture; military construction-VA; energy and water and transportation; housing and urban development — are the easier ones. On March 8, funding runs out for more controversial bills for which the far right is demanding even more explosive policy riders around abortion, LGBTQ rights and border security.



Johnson is prepared to offer yet another short-term government funding bill if they run out of time this week. But this would be the fourth time Congress would have to punt government spending for fiscal year 2024. This deep in the fiscal year, lawmakers should be focusing on next year’s funding.

A bipartisan discharge petition​

And then there’s Ukraine funding. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to maneuver around Johnson to pass it.
While Johnson is focused on government funding this week, rank-and-file House members are taking steps to bypass the speaker’s refusal to act amid threats to his speakership from some anti-Ukraine members of his party, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio).

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) filed a bipartisan bill to fund Ukraine and Israel, and to provide some border security provisions through a discharge petition — a mechanism to bypass the majority.

• Fitzpatrick said he filed the bill on Friday, after speaking with the House parliamentarian, as a way to expedite it.
• “We are forcing this bill to the floor to make sure everybody acts,” Fitzpatrick said on “Face the Nation.” “It’s time sensitive. It’s existential.”

A discharge petition led by a member of the speaker’s own party is a significant development and another sign Johnson has little control over his conference.

Another Democratic discharge petition​

House Democrats have also taken their own steps to act on Ukraine if Johnson doesn’t. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) introduced a new motion to discharge measure on Feb. 15 to force a vote on a Ukraine aid bill.

• “We need to put all the options on the table and make sure that we know all the tools in the toolbox that we have,” McGovern told us Sunday.

This is the second discharge petition Democrats have available to them. The first one was introduced last year as a way to avoid default if Republicans refused to lift the debt limit. This new discharge petition, also a shell bill, was written in a way to accommodate an appropriations bill, such as Ukraine funding. McGovern said a second discharge measure was introduced “out of an abundance of caution” in case the first was challenged.



Any discharge petition, if successful, would force a vote on the floor. But it would need 218 signatures — at least five Republicans — for it to move. The original discharge petition has 213 Democratic signatures. McGovern can start collecting signatures for the new one on March 1.
There are immense challenges for a successful discharge petition, but if frustration boils over, it might work.

I think this person nails it:

A multitude of factors has led to Iowa’s red-shift.

1. Tea Party Backlash — After 2008, the GOP regrouped and organized a massive backlash response to Obama and the Democrats, built on preying on fears and anxieties of older, WWC voters who make up most of states like Iowa. That’s what produced the Tea Party and the 2010 red-wave midterms. Part of this effort was also an escalation in disinformation, including the GOP slowly becoming more competent in using social media to spread its propaganda.
2. IDP Atrophy — the IDP also grew increasingly reliant on Obama’s campaign machine, which only was active in 2008 and 2012. For all his strengths as a campaign, Obama was not great at campaigning for other candidates in midterms/cycles he wasn’t running in. And without his resources, the IDP slowly decayed, which allowed the Iowa GOP to further regain and solidify power in Iowa.
3. Brain Drain — As Iowa has shifted more to the right, younger, more educate, more liberal Iowans have left the state. For years now, we’ve had a net negative rate of college graduates remaining in Iowa, as opposed to leaving for bluer states like MN, IL, and CO. That’s means the folks more likely to still be here are older, less educated, and more conservative on the whole. And this trend easily becomes self-perpetuating, because the GOP keeps enacting policies in Iowa that drive more and more younger liberals away.
4. Lack of Investment — Because of Iowa’s drift, the DNC has largely given up on the state. Outside of maybe IA-03, there’s not many major competitive seats here for now, so the DNC is more interested in focusing resources to holding the “blue wall” and gaining ground in new battleground states like AZ and GA. We’ve simply lost our swing state status and so aren’t worth to fight for now, at least in the eyes of the national party. That then doubles back to #2, which is why the way out of this mess is rebuilding the IDP from the ground up, with a long term strategy of making incremental wins and slowly building back up strength like we’ve seen the WI Dems do.

Not that anyone really cares, but it's important enough for a "news" article and subsequent GIAOT sharing.

‘Mary Poppins’ age rating increased in U.K. due to ‘discriminatory language’

The 1964 Disney classic twice uses a word that is a racially insensitive term for the Khoekhoe, an indigenous group in South Africa, the British Board of Film Classification announced.

The age rating for the 1964 “Mary Poppins” has been increased in the U.K. due to “discriminatory language.”

On Friday, the British Board of Film Classification upped the Disney movie’s cinema rating from U, meaning it contained “no material likely to offend or harm,” to PG for “discriminatory language.”

In a statement to Variety, a BBFC spokesperson said that the film “includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots.’"

"While ‘Mary Poppins’ has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U," the spokesperson said. "We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language.”

The word is a racially insensitive term for the Khoekhoe, an indigenous group in South Africa. The BBFC further explained that the word is used in the film by Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen), including when referring to the chimney sweeps whose faces are covered in soot.

“Some language or behaviors are therefore not permitted at U or PG in any circumstance, or are wholly dependent on context,” they said.

The original “Mary Poppins” starred Julie Andrews as the magical nanny and Dick Van Dyke as her sidekick Bert. The cast also included David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher and Ed Wynn.

The film was an immediate phenomenon upon its release, and has since been adapted into a hit Broadway musical and was given a sequel, “Mary Poppins Returns,” in 2018. Emily Blunt starred as Poppins alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. Van Dyke made an appearance in the sequel as the uncle of Firth’s character.

The more they stay the same. Just watched an episode of Gunsmoke where the marshall has to protect sick people from a mob enflamed by a religious fanatic.
In the end the good guys win and the preacher eats a bullet.

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Looks like KF lost his support against NIL

Rob Reiner has shared the first trailer for his upcoming documentary taking on the rise of Christian nationalism.


In God & Country, religious leaders and scholars, journalists and historians sound off about the threat of a movement that infuses Christian dogma with far-right politics. At the same time, the documentary seems to strive to make a distinction between the positive aspects of Christianity and the political-fueled variety.


“Christian Nationalism is not only a danger to our Country, it’s a danger to Christianity itself,” tweeted Reiner (A Few Good Men), who is a producer on the project and whose trailer (below) got him trending on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday.

Related Stories​

The trailer mixes footage of right-wing marches and the riots of Jan. 6 with various interviews. “This is not a movement about Christian values, this is about Christian power,” says one interviewee, while another notes, “Christianity at its best is committed to love and truth and justice. If we do this right, what a country we will be.”




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The documentary is directed by Emmy-winner Dan Partland, who previously waded into similar territory by directing 2020’s #Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump.


“Christianity is in crisis,” Partland previously said about the film. “To be clear, Christianity is not the problem, and having one’s faith inform one’s political beliefs is not the problem. The problem is the intertwining of a Christian identity with a political identity such that it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The danger to democracy led me to explore this topic, but what I learned in the process is that the threat may be even greater to the Church itself.”


The trailer follows Democratic strategist James Carville declaring on Bill Maher’s Real Time last week that Christian nationalism was a massive threat facing the country. “This is a bigger threat than al-Qaeda to this country,” Carville said. “Let me tell you something, they got the speaker of the House, they got probably at least two Supreme Court justices, maybe more. Don’t kid yourself … this is a fundamental threat to the United States.”








God & Country will be released in theaters in February by distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Start it off by saying I believe this is the best we have looked health wise in a REAL L O N G time!!!

125 AYALA #4 vs # 12. He appears to be a little more content on winning matches late then I would like to see. I believe he can score more often and early to get a lead. That being said, he wrestled solid. Started us off with a big win 85

133 TESKE UR vs # 3 His hand fighting was very good, The NEUTRAL DANGER 3 count rule SUCKS!!! I believe he showed he should be the man moving forward! Did his job by not giving up bonus in tough situation 80

141 WOODS #2 vs #8 Was in quick off whistle but could not finish. He pushed pace most of match, Excellent work on TD in 2nd. He looks like he is healthy and ready to become a NC!!! 90

149 TRIPLE V UR vs 18 Had a deep shot early, felt he could finish. Was good D by opponent, but he got into same situation again and made no adjustments? 70

157 FRANEK #5 vs # 10 No score in 1st was not best case, but hard work on bottom to get 1 in 2nd. Then started to get to his Offense, got the locked hands call keeping him from major 91

165 Caliendo #7 vs #3 HUGE WIN great 1st TD even better 2nd TD and ride out to finish period! Would have liked to see a harder push to get major 99

174 KENNEDY #7 vs # 21 2 shots TWOOOOO takedowns! then good work on top to finish first with 2+ minutes of riding time! Got stall calls, got late TD for major 97

184 ARNOLD UR vs #2 Kid is TUFF, smart, strong and athletic. Will be a FORCE at 174!!! give him the 83

197 GLAZIER # 11 vs # 16 kid gets the HELL YEA!!! Plus has to get some kind of team award. Would have liked to see an early TD but a hard nosed battle, SEALING the DEAL AGAIN!!!! What a scramble for winning TD!!!

Heavy BIG Ben UR vs # 11 WOW!!! said it once and I will keep saying it. Kid can be a MULTI-TIME CHAMPION. Can not believe the progress he has made in such a short time!!! 100


Over all the Venue was great, thought the announcers were good. REFS were good also with very little BS. There mat is kinda funky but cool. IOWA needs a NEW MAT with some POP in my opinion.

Best overall match IOWA has wrestled in a while!!! Lets ROLL into the B1Gs with some momentum and crown some champions and get some upsets!!!

Has some thoughts …



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I just started Episode 2 and I have to say that it's pretty f'ing great. Definitely more of adult series having so far a brothel scene, a cold-blooded killing, a very hot co-star, and a droid being pissed on. Written by Tony Gilroy who wrote Rogue One, the Bourne series, and my favorite movie of all time: Michael Clayton.

So we've got the two challenges to the two state social media content regulation laws up this morning. Hard to see them surviving. Also, orders from Friday conference.


In separate news, anybody catch the Rempe-Deslaurier tilt this weekend? Old school hockey.

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Yes please

Justices from across the ideological spectrum appeared likely to prevent Texas and Florida from immediately implementing laws restricting social media giants from removing certain political or controversial posts, even as they expressed concern about the power platforms wield over public debate.

During almost four hours of argument Monday, the Supreme Court justices considered whether state governments can set the rules for how social media platforms curate content in a major First Amendment case with implications for the future of free speech online.

The laws passed in Florida and Texas are intended to address allegations that social media companies censor conservative viewpoints by imposing strict limits on whether firms can block or take down content on their platforms.
The justices struggled with the specific path for resolving the challenges to the laws passed in Republican-led states. But after nearly four hours of argument, it seemed clear that the laws would remain blocked and the cases likely returned to the lower courts.

The semi crash on I-380 Friday morning near Brandon, that caused traffic delays for several hours, also resulted in the death of at least 12 cows, officials confirmed in an update on Sunday.

wow, that semi was smashed to pieces!

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I read that Wasabi is opening another restaurant there (linked below), anchoring a little strip mall they are putting in. I have not heard anything else. Frankly, if my business was being drowned out by all of the clutter in the Oralabor/Delaware area, I would relocate up there. Nothing but open space.

AP Top 25 (2/26)
1. Houston (53) (24-3)
2. Purdue (4) (25-3)
3. Connecticut (5) (25-3)
4. Tennessee (21-6)
5. Marquette (21-6)
6. Arizona (21-6)
7. Kansas (21-6)
8. Iowa State (21-6)
9. North Carolina (21-6)
10. Duke (21-6)
11. Auburn (21-6)
12. Creighton (20-8)
13. Illinois (20-7)
14. Alabama (19-8)
15. Baylor (19-8)
16. Kentucky (19-8)
17. St. Mary's (23-6)
18. South Carolina (22-5)
19. Washington State (21-7)
20. San Diego State (21-7)
21. Dayton (21-5)
22. Utah State (22-5)
23. Gonzaga (22-6)
24. Florida (19-8)
25. South Florida (21-5)

Others Receiving Votes
BYU, Texas Tech, TCU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado State, Arizona State, New Mexico, Florida Atlantic, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Mississippi State, Washington, Appalachian State, McNeese State, Loyola Chicago, Indiana State, Northwestern, Boise State

Dropped From Rankings
Colorado State (#22), Texas Tech (#23), BYU (#25)

=================================

Coaches Top 25 (2/26)
1. Houston (24-3)
2. Connecticut (3) (25-3)
3. Purdue (4) (25-3)
4. Tennessee (21-6)
5. Marquette (21-6)
6. Iowa State (21-6)
7. Arizona (21-6)
8. North Carolina (21-6)
9. Kansas (21-6)
10. Duke (21-6)
11. Auburn (21-6)
12. Creighton (20-8)
13. Alabama (19-8)
14. Baylor (19-8)
15. Kentucky (19-8)
16. Illinois (20-7)
17. St. Mary's (23-6)
18. South Carolina (22-5)
19. San Diego State (21-7)
20. Dayton (21-5)
21. Washington State (21-7)
22. Gonzaga (22-6)
23. Utah State (22-5)
24. Florida (19-8)
25. South Florida (21-5)

Others Receiving Votes
BYU, Wake Forest, TCU, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Clemson, Nevada, Virginia, Appalachian State, Nebraska, Seton Hall, Loyola Chicago, Northwestern, Indiana State, James Madison, Boise State

Dropped Out
BYU (#21), Texas Tech (#23), Colorado State (#24), TCU (#25)

=================================

NCAA NET Rankings (2/26)
1. Houston
2. Purdue
3. Connecticut
4. Arizona
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
7. Auburn
8. Iowa State
9. North Carolina
10. Duke
11. Creighton
12. Marquette
13. BYU
14. Kansas
15. St. Mary's
16. Baylor
17. Illinois
18. San Diego State
19. Kentucky
20. Dayton
21. Gonzaga
22. Wisconsin
23. Clemson
24. Michigan State
25. Wake Forest
------------------------------
41. Nebraska
53. Northwestern
60. Iowa
66. Ohio State
67. Maryland
78. Minnesota
96. Penn State
98. Rutgers
108. Indiana
120. Michigan

He had a heart attack recently. Best wishes to him and his health.

Iowa fell to #6 in the new AP Top 25 after the loss to Indiana last Thursday.



Full Top 25:

Obviously Iowa has a big opportunity to climb back into the Top 5 with a win over #2 Ohio State on Saturday.

Speaking of... the Buckeyes have managed to break the Curse of #2, at least for the past two weeks.