Doing Jack Campbell things

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Welp, chalk another win in the conspiracy theorist column. No wonder Wray the rat is running away.

Whadda ya got?

No toppings. No charcuterie.

Just you and a box of crackers.

What are you picking?

Player of the Week
Brice Williams, Nebraska
G – Sr. – 6-7 – Huntersville, N.C. – Hopewell
• Set season highs in points (30), field goals (10) and rebounds (six) along with a team-high five assists in Nebraska's 85-68 win over Indiana, becoming the only the second Husker in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present) to have a game with at least 30 points and five assists
• Scored nine of his 30 points in the final 6:30 after Indiana closed to within 68-67
• Marked Williams’ career-high at Nebraska and the first time a Husker scored 30-or-more points against Indiana
• Claims first Player of the Week honor
• Last Nebraska Player of the Week: Alonzo Verge Jr. (March 7, 2022)

Co-Freshmen of the Week
Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
G – 6-6 – Vilnius, Lithuania – Barcelona FC
• Averaged 23.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists against a pair of top-20 teams.
• Led the Illini to an 86-80 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin, scoring a career- and game-high 24 points.
• Scored a team-high 22 points in a 66-64 loss to No. 1 Tennessee
• Earns his first Freshman of the Week award
• Last Illinois Freshman of the Week: Will Reilly (Nov. 11, 2024)

Dylan Harper, Illinois
G – 6-6 – Franklin Lakes, N.J. – Don Bosco Prep
• Averaged 24 points. 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists as the Scarlet Knights scored a pair of wins
• Posted his first career double-double with 24 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in an 80-76 win over Penn State
• Added 24 points, including the game-winning three pointer at the buzzer, to top Seton Hall 66-63
• Earns his third Freshman of the Week award
• Last Rutgers Freshman of the Week: Dylan Harper (Dec. 2, 2024)

Iowa alumnus Milo Hamilton began his major league broadcasting career in the 1950's and called Hank Aaron's 715th homer.

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👀

Interesting read out of Marshalltown:

Economist, local business owner discuss potential effects of mass deportation plan​

Dec 14, 2024

Lana Bradstream​

Staff Writer​

With the incoming Trump administration threatening mass deportations shortly after his inauguration in January, many residents are waiting to see what happens and worrying about the economic effects. Marshalltown has already dealt with such a situation before.
On Dec. 12, 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid on the Swift & Company (now JBS) pork plant. ICE agents arrested 90 people and transported them to Camp Dodge in Johnston.

Afterward, the Immigration Policy Center reported a three percent decrease in total retail sales in Marshalltown. Swift experienced a loss between $45 and $50 million. Fewer homes were sold to Latino families, and there was a 50 percent increase in the number of foreclosures on Latino households.

Anil Kumar, an economics professor at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, said the 2006 effects are not surprising. He predicted Marshalltown would experience similar or greater effects if a similar situation unfolds in the future.

“Large-scale deportations would likely compound these issues, affecting not only workers at JBS but also the broader immigrant community, which supports local businesses and housing demand,” Kumar said. “Businesses may struggle to fill vacancies, and a reduced population would lead to lower consumer spending, negatively impacting multiple sectors of the local economy.”


He said beyond labor shortages and reduced consumer spending, Marshalltown could face higher costs for housing and services. A smaller workforce at JBS could increase production costs, potentially leading to higher prices for consumers. Kumar added the housing market might also suffer, with fewer people available to buy or rent homes, potentially lowering property values and tax revenues.

“The overall decline in economic activity could strain local government budgets, affecting services such as schools, infrastructure and community programs,” he said.

Alfonso Medina, the owner of La Carreta Mexican Grill, has spoken to many Marshalltown residents and said the primary concern expressed to him is the devastation of the local economy — a permanent loss of jobs and businesses, unsold homes and buildings, reductions in home values and population and Social Security benefits being placed in jeopardy.

“I’m in a network of hundreds of business owners in the food service industry across the country,” he said. “Let’s remember the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, bars, hotels and more, employs the largest number of workers in this country.”

Medina said recent studies reveal undocumented immigrants contribute billions of dollars to the national economy each year, primarily through taxes paid on their earnings.

“Although they are not eligible for many government benefits, they have paid around $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022 alone, with a significant portion going towards Social Security and Medicare, despite not being able to access these programs themselves,” he said. “Deporting all undocumented individuals, including those with no criminal background, would directly impact us as citizens.”

Kumar agreed with Medina about the significant effects on Marshall County’s economy.

“Immigrants play a critical role in the U.S. workforce, and this is particularly true at the JBS plant and in many small businesses in Marshall County,” he said. “Deportations would reduce local labor availability, making it harder for businesses to operate efficiently. Industries like agriculture, food processing and hospitality, which heavily rely on immigrant workers, would be hit especially hard. This could lead to higher labor costs for businesses, reduced output, and potentially higher prices for goods and services in the area.”

According to Medina, the fears of severe economic impact are widespread among small business owners if there is a mass deportation of farm workers, employees and customers. More than 50 percent of the agricultural labor force in the country are undocumented workers. He asked how businesses would get produce, and, for the small portion that would be available, how much those would cost.

“The cost would have to be transferred to the consumer,” Medina said. “If the consumer isn’t willing to pay for higher costs of goods, then those businesses would be forced to shut down, resulting in the permanent loss of tax generating establishments and millions of jobs.”

To help mitigate the potential impact of deportations, Kumar suggested business owners and residents do four things:

Advocate for policies or programs supporting legal immigration pathways to stabilize the workforce;

Educate elected representatives on the fiscal benefits of immigration and the potential economic harm of deportations, including reduced tax revenues and weakened fiscal health;

Build networks and partnerships to attract and retain workers from other areas and;

Businesses which might get hit hard – agriculture and construction – should work with governments to plan for workforce disruptions.

Crime

Tom Homan, the incoming ICE director, has said in various national media interviews that the deportations will begin with immigrants who are a threat to the public. Where or if Marshall County is on the list of locations receiving focus is not known. During an October 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) presented a list of four Iowa counties which had the presence of three cartels — the Sinaloa, the BLO and CJNG. Marshall was the only county where all three were known to be present.

Grassley received the information from county sheriffs in Iowa, including Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips. According to Phillips, based on criminal drug activity, all three of the cartels are still active in Marshall County.

Grassley was unable to say where Marshall County would fall in the list of deportation priorities, but stressed the importance of keeping Iowa residents safe.

“My top priority is ensuring the safety of Iowans and Americans. I plan to work closely with President Trump’s administration to crack down on cartel activity and secure our nation’s borders, while utilizing current pathways for legal immigration,” he said.

Phillips said it is likely the federal agencies will identify cartel territories within the United States and focus on certain areas within those territories.

“The territories span several states, and I don’t know if Marshall County would be one of the areas,” he said. “I think most likely, with the crimes going on in trafficking, they will evaluate before they begin to dismantle. That is my own opinion. It will take a lot of coordination between state and federal agencies.”

While some members of the public might expect crime to reduce after deportations begin, Kumar said research does not prove the outcomes meet the expectations.

“Prior increases in deportation rates have done little to alleviate local police resource constraints,” he said. “This suggests that mass deportations may have minimal impact on public safety while disrupting the economy and community cohesion. While cartel activity in Marshall County might present unique challenges, it is important to note that criminal activity among undocumented immigrants is minimal. In this case, mass deportations could impose greater economic and social costs than the relatively small increase in criminal activity they aim to address.”
m elsewhere in North America and 65 from Europe.

Jay Higgins can add another All-America honor to his resume.



The Associated Press named Higgins a first-team All-American on Monday. It is his third first-team All-America honor from the preeminent organizations that determine consensus All-America status, following first-team nods last week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).


The three first-team All-America honors are enough for Higgins to clinch consensus All-America status. He is Iowa’s second consensus All-American linebacker in the last three years, joining Jack Campbell in 2022.




Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, meanwhile, was an AP second-team All-American. Johnson also was a second-team AFCA All-American and a first-team Walter Camp All-American.


The Hawkeyes have had at least one AP first or second-team All-American in 11 consecutive seasons.


Higgins’ honor follows a regular season with 118 total tackles and four interceptions. He also was named the Big Ten’s Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year. Johnson, the Big Ten’s Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year, rushed for 1,537 yards and set a program record with 21 rushing touchdowns and 23 total touchdowns.


The Football Writers Association of America will announce its All-America team on Tuesday, and the Sporting News will announce its All-America team on Wednesday.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: "Today, over 100 members of Congress support a bill to fund Ozempic with Medicare at $1,500 a month. Most of these members have taken money from the manufacturer of that product, a European company called Novo Nordisk. As everyone knows, once a drug is approved for Medicare, it goes to Medicaid.

And there is a push to recommend Ozempic for Americans as young as six over a condition, obesity, that is completely preventable and barely even existed 100 years ago. Since 74% of Americans are obese, the cost of all of them, if they take their Ozempic prescriptions, will be $3 trillion a year. This is a drug that has made Novo Nordisk the biggest company in Europe.

It's a Danish company, but the Danish government does not recommend it. It recommends a change in diet to treat obesity and exercise. Virtually Novo Nordisk's entire value is based upon its projections of what Ozempic is going to sell to Americans. For half the price of Ozempic, we could purchase regeneratively raised organic agriculture, organic food for every American three meals a day and gym membership for every obese American. Why are members of Congress doing the bidding of this Danish company instead of standing up for American farmers and children? Because Novo Nordisk is one of the largest funders of medical research, the media and politicians and the medical schools all go along with them."

Case and point - this asshole was raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter after being elected to the city council with protecting the children as a primary platform. Thankfully the poor child had the courage to tell someone.

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The wideout that everyone loved from Troy -- Devonte Ross -- he's finally in the portal.

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https://time.com/7200904/athlete-of-the-year-2024-caitlin-clark/

"Clark is cognizant of the racial underpinnings of her stardom. “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” says Clark. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

So disappointed she bent the knee to the woke mob and a league that hates everything about her after being apolitical up to this point.

It's not like anyone couldn't see this one coming.

Yes, I'd say America dodged a bullet coming straight for her forehead on 5 November! >

I have had btn plus and when it changed this Fall with new prices, I tried to subscribe and after no luck with getting on, I unsubscribed. Now I have tried to resubscribe but since cleengbv kept my previous info, when I try now, it says my email address is already in use. Well no crap, it's mine. Anyway, I can go no further with the process. Any ideas or some way to actually talk to a person? The chats are a computer and of no use. Thanks to anyone who has suggestions.

The guy's a "Christian" nut case and hypocrit:

Before Donald J. Trump picked him to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth spoke often about a medieval military campaign that he saw as a model for today: the Crusades, in which Christian warriors from Western Europe embarked on ruthless missions to wrest control of Jerusalem and other areas under Muslim rule.
As he embraced a combative brand of Christianity in recent years, he wrote that people who enjoy the benefits of Western civilization should “thank a Crusader.” On his arm, he has a tattoo with the words “Deus Vult,” which he has described as a “battle cry” of the Crusades.
“Voting is a weapon, but it’s not enough,” he wrote in a book, “American Crusade,” published in May 2020. “We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must.”
Mr. Trump has so far stuck by Mr. Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of defense despite a growing series of disclosures about his past, including allegations of sexual impropriety, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement. Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied the allegations, calling them an attempt to disrupt Mr. Trump’s agenda.
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The issue of Mr. Hegseth’s religious expressions has come up in the past. He has said he was barred from participating in the military security detail for President Biden’s inauguration in 2021 because of a tattoo on his chest depicting a Jerusalem Cross, a religious emblem that was also a symbol used by crusaders. (The Associated Press and others reported that it was the “Deus Vult” tattoo, which has been used by white supremacists, that prompted a fellow service member to flag Mr. Hegseth as a potential “insider threat.”)
Mr. Hegseth’s interest in the Crusades — campaigns that featured so many atrocities that many Christian leaders today view them as a shameful stain on the religion’s history — is linked both to his Christian beliefs and worldview. In his books, he says that if the United States cannot mount a successful defense against Islamist and leftist ideology, the nation will be destroyed and “human freedom will be finished.”
The Crusades are a frequent touchstone in contemporary American debates about Christian power, said Matthew Gabriele, a professor of medieval studies at Virginia Tech. When Barack Obama, then the president, referred to the period in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2015 as a time when people “committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,” some conservatives took his remarks as an affront.
The far right has also embraced crusader iconography and language with increasing openness, including at the Unite the Right rally, a white supremacist gathering, in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017 and at the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A lawyer for Mr. Hegseth, Timothy C. Parlatore, said that crusader symbols are common among military veterans like Mr. Hegseth, who served at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba and in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that the display of crusader symbols by some white supremacists did not mean that Mr. Hegseth intended that meaning.

​

Mr. Hegseth grew up in a Christian home. Even so, he told a Christian magazine in Nashville last year that he underwent a religious transformation in 2018, in his late 30s, when he and his current wife, Jennifer Hegseth, began attending Colts Neck Community Church in New Jersey. The church’s pastor, Chris Durkin, remains close to Mr. Hegseth and recently recorded a video supporting his nomination, describing him as “a genuine patriot who loves God.”
Mr. Hegseth and his family moved to the Nashville area about two years ago, a decision he has said was based on their desire to send their children to Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy, a Christian school founded in 2009. Classical education, in which classrooms focus primarily on the Western canon, has become a fast-growing movement among conservatives who are wary of secular public schools.
In Tennessee, the Hegseth family joined Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a small church opened in 2021 as part of the growing Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. The denomination was co-founded by Doug Wilson, a pastor based in Moscow, Idaho; his religious empire now includes a college, a classical school network, a publishing house, a podcast network and multiple churches, among other entities.
Mr. Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist, which he defined in an interview with The Times as someone who sees that “secular nationalism doesn’t work,” and who wants to limit the power of the government to impose restrictions on Christians.
He has written prolifically for years, but his profile with conservatism has risen in the Trump era; he was interviewed on Tucker Carlson’s podcast this year and was invited to speak at the National Conservatism Conference. The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches has expanded recently to include about 150 congregations, including Mr. Hegseth’s in Tennessee.
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In his writings, Mr. Wilson has argued that slavery “produced in the South a genuine affection between the races,” that homosexuality should be a crime and that the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote was a mistake. He has written that women should not ordinarily hold political office because “the Bible does say that when feminine leadership is common, it should be reckoned not as a blessing but as a curse.”
The governing documents of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches include a statement that women should not “be mustered for combat.” (Mr. Hegseth has also said that he does not believe women should serve in combat roles.) The church reserves leadership positions for men and asserts that men are the heads of their households, views shared by many theologically conservative churches.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Wilson said he had never met or communicated with Mr. Hegseth but expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of his leadership of the Defense Department.
“I would hope Pete Hegseth would be a disrupter of the Pentagon’s way of doing things,” Mr. Wilson said. “I would like to see a rebuilt military that’s far more lethal and a lot smaller.”
Mr. Hegseth told the Christian magazine in Nashville that he was studying a book by Mr. Wilson; on a podcast Mr. Hegseth said that he would not send his children to Harvard but would send them to Mr. Wilson’s college in Idaho.
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Mr. Wilson is among the Christian leaders who in recent years have reframed the Crusades, which included mass killings of Jews and Muslims, in a positive light. In the interview, he described the campaigns as imperfect, even horrifying at times, but also as “a long overdue reaction to Muslim aggression.”
Mr. Hegseth has written that while the Crusades were filled with injustice and unspeakable tragedy, the alternative would have been “horrific,” because it is Western civilization that has nurtured the values of “freedom” and “equal justice.” His writings warn of the growing presence of the Muslim faith in the West, and urge Americans to work on issues such as education, media and law to protect Christian values.
“We’re in middle Phase 1 right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate and reorganize,” Mr. Hegseth said on a 2023 podcast affiliated with Mr. Wilson’s church. “And as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations in an overt way. And obviously all of this is metaphorical and all that good stuff,” he added before breaking into laughter.
In his book, Mr. Hegseth also offered a nod to the prospect of future violence: “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.”

My dad was really fond of saying you could never trust a man that didn't have a firm handshake, and wouldn't look you in the eye. I've met several d-bags over the years that would lie to your face while giving a firm handshake.

A bipartisan framework to put off a government shutdown appeared to hit snags over the weekend, and lawmakers continued bickering Monday over a federal funding bill that will lay the groundwork for the early days of the incoming Trump administration.

Without new legislation, government agencies will shutter just after midnight early Saturday. Lawmakers are on the cusp of approving a stopgap bill to extend federal funds into mid-March, but new disputes over farm aid and disaster recovery spending have stalled progress near the final stages.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was widely expected to roll out a bipartisan bill over the weekend to tee up a midweek vote; lawmakers are eager to bolt from Washington to get home for the holidays.

The legislation would push out the government shutdown deadline by three months and include up to $100 billion of assistance for natural disaster survivors and a year-long extension of the major agricultural policy and antipoverty law known as the farm bill.

But during last-minute negotiations, the speaker attempted to tack on more financial assistance for farmers, according to two people familiar with the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Democrats responded by seeking federal funds to reconstruct Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Maryland’s congressional delegation, which holds outsize sway on the appropriations process, issued additional demands, too, related to negotiations over future home of the Washington Commanders. The NFL team now plays its home games at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, a venue widely regarded as one of the worst in the league.

The funding bill is expected to include a provision that transfers the land around RFK Stadium from the federal government to the city of D.C., paving the way for local policymakers turn the land over to the Commanders for a new stadium. Maryland lawmakers have put a hold on the funding bill, the people said, until their state can extract concessions from both the NFL franchise and other appropriators to offset the potential loss to their state.

Lawmakers almost universally expect Congress to ultimately clear those roadblocks: A government shutdown ahead of the holidays — and Donald Trump’s inauguration — would have reverberating consequences in the House leadership races.
Still, Congress will have another rapid government funding deadline next year. Johnson has pledged to process all 12 annual appropriations bills and not take up an omnibus funding package when the stopgap expires in March.

But negotiators from both chambers are still far apart on a top-line spending figure. And both chambers’ schedules are jam-packed with priorities for the start of the next term. The Senate will have to confirm Trump’s Cabinet nominees. The House may attempt to pass a budget resolution to queue up tax and border security legislation, potentially putting a robust appropriations package yet again on the back burner.

Don’t ask me how they’ll do it; I have no idea (I mean, they’ve got Maryland, Minnesota, and Northwestern coming back on the schedule, Luke Fickell’s Badgers are nowhere to be found, and unfortunately for them, Houston Christian isn’t a conference game). But by God almighty, sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, Nebber will somehow pull off exactly 3 B1G wins next year. It’s just what they do. Always.

If you want to make some serious cash, bet everything you have on Nebber at 3-6 in the B1G in 2025. Even if you can’t see three wins on that schedule either, you’ll thank me for it later, trust me.

Let's fight on a Monday. Who's your mid year POTY and WPOTY?

Also if this is a pepsi someone please link me the thread, I didn't even look.

Okay, only watched one episode. But I was giggling quite a bit. I'm guessing it gets worse as it wasn't on TV very long.

Anyone else work their ass off and feel great about where things are but are concerned that you won’t be around to enjoy the fruits of your labor?

When you’re young you are pushing, worried about that next step, the next raise, those stock options, partnership, etc etc etc

But do you hit a point where you could always have more but on the other hand you could also scale back and start to enjoy what you have.

Or is “enough” never truly enough?

From Leistikow's column today:

"All indications are that first-team all-Big Ten center Logan Jones and team sacks leader Ethan Hurkett will return for their sixth-year senior seasons. Both have a medical-hardship option that they can use. Big Ten return specialist of the year Kaden Wetjen also has an extra year from the COVID-19 pandemic that he could use to return for a fifth season in 2025."

Article

Would be big news if indeed true. OL and DL would benefit greatly from having them back.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!