#United States national basketball team

[wallpapers4screen]

[uniqrenders]

[instructionsonback]

[capsfriendly]

with the caps at home vs the panthers tonight, i wanted to come on here and say a couple things about the panthers’ visit to the white house.

i’ve seen some people on here and on twitter pointing out the hypocrisy of certain players who have vocally supported diversity initiatives in hockey turning around and doing a photo op with a man who is nakedly trying to strip marginalized people of their rights. the sense of betrayal those fans are feeling is completely justified. despite appearances, conservative politics are incredibly popular among nhl players. i’m not writing to defend any of these men (my views lean pretty far left), but to share my understanding of the ways north american hockey as an institution perpetuates conservatism.

1) barrier of entry

ice hockey requires a lot of equipment to play. to be able to put a child through the decade or more of club dues and equipment fees required to begin seeing returns on investment—in men’s hockey, this begins with stipend pay at the major junior level in north america—requires an amount of money that many families simply cannot pay (though there are a bevy of charities trying to combat this). sports like soccer and basketball, which require comparably little equipment, are far more popular among both players of color and players from low-income families, especially in countries where hockey isn’t a national pastime.

because of this economic disparity between those who can play hockey and those who can’t, locker rooms can turn into echo chambers of privilege.

2) lack of higher education

i’m not sure of the data for other countries, but in the united states, there is a high positive correlation between holding a college degree and voting for democratic candidates. north american players are drafted to the nhl from major junior and collegiate teams, and entrance to professional leagues cuts their education short.

nhl players drafted from collegiate teams often enter the league without completing a bachelor’s degree, getting a year or two of higher education. during those years, many pick classes that they already have a strong knowledge base in, aware they’ll need to keep their grades up to maintain their university’s gpa requirement for athletes. because of this, many miss out on subjects that would teach them about systems of inequality like statistics, sociology, and studies of groups of historically marginalized people.

major juniors players, who move away from home in their mid teens, are even worse off. they leave school, usually completing the bare minimum requirements of a high school diploma to focus on their development as players and travel for games. and up until a recent vote, athletes from the canadian major junior hockey leagues were ineligible from playing ncaa hockey.

3) body economics

like all athletes, hockey players’ bodies are their jobs. the natural decline of their bodies over time limits their playing careers to the years of their lives when they can physically compete with both opposing players (to win games) and their own teammates (for roster spots).

the mean nhl career is 7 years. many hockey players don’t learn another trade and have no guarantee of making a successful career transition after retirement from playing (though some go on to coaching and media positions).

this creates a pressure to make as much money as possible while they still can, knowing that every time the take to the ice to do their jobs, they risk the very things they use to earn money: their bodies.

the physical nature of hockey means that a career-ending injury could come at any point. holding onto their earnings, knowing they’ll likely make up the bulk of income over their entire life, is essential to ensuring the comfort and health of themselves and their families.

earning high paychecks for an inherently limited number of years, it becomes attractive to these players to support candidates who promise to cut taxes for the rich, something popular among conservative politicians. while players may bear no ill will to members of historically marginalized groups and may even support their rights and freedoms, their personal economic situations lead them to vote for politicians who perpetuate that marginalization.

there are plenty of straight-up bigots playing major league sports. the panthers shouldn’t be singled out for visiting 1600 pennsylvania avenue. not because supporting the current administration isn’t reprehensible, but because it isn’t unique among hockey players—or even among athletes.

[magicalbuttertarts]

I have been a quietly proud Canadian my whole life.

When I have travelled, when people ask me where I am from, as they can tell from my accent that I am not from their country, I say I am from Canada.

I have never been one to raise my flag up high, or put it on my clothes, unless it is for Canada Day.

But we have our own culture here, which many people do not realise.

We have our own music.

We have our own movies & TV shows.

We have our own sports teams for baseball, hockey, soccer, and basketball.

We have our own football league, the CFL.

We have our own festivals, and holidays. Each Province and Territory having their own specific holidays, like Family Day, Louis Riel Day, or Yukon Heritage Day just to name a few.

We have two national languages, English and French.

We have two national sports, Hockey and Lacrosse.

Our National animal is the Beaver.

We have our own Military and Navy. Yes, we do have a Navy, as many people have assumed we do not have one.

Our history is strong and interesting, and not at all boring, like many people assume.

Our history is filled with good, and bad.

But, we have always come together as a country, even when we were still under British rule, like during the war of 1812.

We fought hard during the conflicts our country has faced through the years, but we have stood together, along with our neighbour to the south.

Now, our country is being threatened by our once closest ally.

Many people find it funny when their government says we will become the 51st state, but to myself and many Canadians, it isn't funny.

We have stood side by side with your country through every conflict that I can think of, WW1, WW2, the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan.

If our Prime Minister was the first one to say that the United States of America should become our 11th Province, many people in the USA would be calling for war.

I have seen many Americans say they will march across our border and easily take our country.

I am tired of these threats from our neighbouring country.

Canada does not wish to be a part of America.

We never have and never will.

If you are Canadian, and wish to be American, the way for you to become one is through the proper protocols.

Not America trying to annex our Country.

[tcifob]

(Spectrum News/Anna Albaryan)

Despite progress, women are still sidelined in equal pay

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After four knee surgeries and two years off the field, women’s soccer icon Christen Press is back and training with Angel City FC — the highest-valued women’s sports team in the world — at its state-of-the-art facility in Thousand Oaks.

“Honestly, I never would’ve imagined 10 years ago that we’d be here now,” said Press.

It wasn’t that long ago, Press explained, when opportunities like these didn’t come for women — or they had to be fought hard for.

Back in 2019, when the U.S. Women’s National Team secured their fourth World Cup title, they were making just 8 cents to every dollar earned by men.

The team took legal action, suing the U.S. Soccer Federation. And after years of fighting, the team earned equal pay.

But equality at the club level and across other sports is still out of reach, Press noted.

“Right now, in the United States, as a soccer player, women get paid doing one thing, one part of their job equal to men,” said Press. “But when they go back to club, and for everyone else... there’s huge discrepancies.”

Those discrepancies are front and center in the WNBA, where players earn on average $119,590 a year — compared to the $11.9 million earned on average by NBA players.

Even rising stars like basketball phenom Caitlin Clark have base salaries as low as $78,000, with endorsements like her record-breaking $28 million contract with Nike making up the difference.

“If you’re sitting at home and you’re thinking, 'Oh, I want these athletes to be paid more,' watch more — because we have to drive up the value of our media rights,” said Press.

According to a 2021 study by USC, media exposure could be key to leveling the playing field. With more visibility, the value of women’s sports could rise dramatically, says USC sports data analyst Lorena Martin.

“A lot of it has to do with the media and are we watching and acknowledging the value,” said Martin.

This is proven in tennis, says Martin, where prize money in grand-slam tournaments — such as Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — is equal for men and women.

“It’s a great example of how women draw as much viewership as the men and sometimes even exceed it,” Martin said.

Martin says fan behavior is shifting, too. According to Complex Sports, women's sports will generate $23.5 billion this year, a 25% increase from 2024.

It’s progress that Press says she’s grateful to see for her younger teammates.

“So much of the work that we did was for the next generation,” said Press. “So this feels like a gift to be here, to be able to play here every day and to kind of see what the next generation is going to have.”

[mariacallous]

Within just the last week or so, Elon Musk’s DOGE hit team of mostly young, almost exclusively male engineers and executives have done the following:

Pushed a website live to track “savings” that showed no savings for several days, and made it trivially easy for random people on the internet to make changes to it.

Published classified information on that same website.

Got called out for accidentally inflating that savings amount by $7,992,000,000, and doubled down on their inaccuracy before they fixed it.

Fired hundreds of people who work on nuclear security, then scrambled to rehire them, except they had nuked all the work email addresses and personnel files so they didn’t know how to get in touch.

Basically the same deal, except with the US Department of Agriculture employees working to protect the country from a looming bird flu crisis.

Rehired a 25-year-old engineer with a stack of racist tweets to his name.

Spouted a bunch of nonsense conspiracy theories about who’s getting Social Security benefits. (Okay, that was all Musk.)

That’s just a sampling. It doesn’t include the damage born of purging thousands of workers across multiple government agencies, the consequences of which will reverberate in both obvious and unexpected ways for a generation—not to mention the near-term impact that arbitrarily spiking the unemployment rate will have on the US economy. It doesn’t include the opportunity cost of tossing hundreds of government contracts and programs into a bonfire.

This is just the truly dumb stuff, the peek behind the veil of DOGE, the confirmation that all of this destruction is, in fact, as specious and arbitrary as it seems. When in doubt, tear it all down, see what breaks, assume you can repair it—maybe with AI? It’s the federal government; how hard can it be?

This is incompetence born of self-confidence. It’s a familiar Silicon Valley mindset, the reason startups are forever reinventing a bus, or a bodega, or mail. It’s the implacable certainty that if you’re smart at one thing you must be smart at all of the things.

It doesn’t work like that. Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time; when he turned to baseball in 1994, Jordan hit .202 in 127 games for the AA Birmingham Barons. (For anyone unfamiliar with baseball stats, this is very bad. Embarrassing, honestly.) Elon Musk is the undisputed champion of making money for Elon Musk. As effectively the CEO of the United States of America? Very bad. Embarrassing, honestly.

Just look at all of those firings. DOGE has targeted so-called probationary employees first, often without regard for their skill or necessity of their roles. Do you know what a probationary employee is? It’s people who have been in their position for less than a year, or in some cases less than two years. That means new hires, sure, but also experienced workers who recently transferred departments or got promoted.

Not only does DOGE not seem to understand this, it has given no indication that it wants to understand. These are the easiest employees to fire, legally speaking, so they’re gone. It even changed the length of the probationary period—from one year of service to two—in order to super-size its purge of the National Science Foundation.

It takes a certain swashbuckling arrogance to propel a startup to glory. But as we’ve repeatedly said, the United States is not a startup. The federal government exists to do all of the things that are definitionally not profitable, that serve the public good rather than protect investor profits. (The vast majority of startups also fail, something the United States cannot afford to do.)

And if you don’t believe in the public good? You sprint through the ruination. You metastasize from agency to agency, leveling the maximum allowable destruction under the law. DOGE’s costly, embarrassing mistakes are a byproduct of reckless nihilism; if artificial intelligence can sell you a pizza, of course it can future-proof the General Services Administration.

Worse still, none of this will actually help DOGE make a dent in its purported mission. What’s efficient about firing people you have to scramble to hire back? What are the cost savings of a few thousand federal employees compared to the F-35 program? What are we even doing here, actually?

There are two possible explanations for this mess. One is that Musk and DOGE have no interest in the government, or efficiency, but do care deeply about the data they can reap from various agencies and revel in privatization for its own sake. The other is that a bunch of purportedly talented coders have indeed responded to a higher civic calling, but are out here batting .202.

Musk did have a rare moment of self-awareness late last week, during an Oval Office appearance with his four-year-old son and President Donald Trump. “We will make mistakes,” he said. “but we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”

So far he’s half right.

[technofeudalism]

New details about the midnight phone call from the president of the National Basketball Players Association, Chris Paul, to the former President of the United States, Barack Obama, that helped save the NBA season have surfaced.

Appearing as a guest on LeBron James' barbershop-themed talk show "The Shop," which aired Friday on HBO, Obama described the discussion that unfolded hours after the Milwaukee Bucks' wildcat strike in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, put the league's bubble in jeopardy.

“I think it was close to midnight when Chris, CP, calls with LeBron, Carmelo [Anthony], I think Russ Westbrook was on the phone, and the conversation we had was along the lines LeBron spoke about," Obama said of a call that sources said also included Miami Heat forward Andre Iguodala. "Protest is useful in terms of raising awareness, but given the power that the NBA players had, my suggestion was that we use that platform to see if you can start asking for some specifics. This isn't something that's just a one-off. That's sadly what we've seen, as it happens again and again.

Obama's suggestion took hold. Two days later, the NBPA and the NBA jointly announced an agreement to establish a social justice coalition composed of players, coaches and team governors with an expressed interest in increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement and advocating for meaningful police and criminal justice reform. With that pact in place, along with a commitment from team owners to use arenas as mass voting centers and for voting-centric public service announcements to be aired during subsequent playoff broadcasts, the season continued.

"As I told them though, it's not going to be solved overnight. This is something that we got to stay on. We got to keep on moving," Obama said on HBO. "So the fact that LeBron then has also been working with More Than a Vote, working with my outstanding partner and the most popular Obama, Michelle Obama, in getting people registered, getting them educated, understanding the connection between voting and reform so that you combine protest and going to the polls, I think that's the best outcome possible."

thanks Obama.

[hed-romancer]

Okay but Nandor doesn’t like basketball in general. Nandor likes the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team. He wanted to pledge allegiance to their unholy nation in 1992. He has a room full of merchandise just for this one team (Citizenship). He wears a jersey for them in Nouveau Théatre des Vampires. He wishes to play one on one with Michael Jordan wearing the team’s jerseys in The Wedding.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no evidence that Nandor likes basketball outside of this one specific team. There’s no evidence Nandor knows what college basketball even is.

[whirlpool-blogs]

Building a prodigy: How Jack Hughes’ blend of skill and personality morphed him into a top NHL prospect

Published: Jun. 21, 2019

Jack Hughes was pissed.

Standing in the driveway of his billet family house in Plymouth, Mich. — finally free to do so in the early spring after the cold, oppressing winter broke — Hughes grabbed a basketball, his eyes red with revenge.

Moments earlier, United States National Team Development Program teammate Alex Turcotte dunked directly over Hughes. Poster-worthy jams came frequently on the intentionally lowered nets, and Hughes wasn’t going let Turcotte have the last word.

The 5-10, 171-pound hockey player took the ball, drove to the net, catapulted toward the rim and unleashed hell.

“He got so mad,” NTDP defenseman Marshall Warren said. "Just went the other way and dunked on everyone.”

That outburst came during innocent pickup hoops played among some of Hughes’ best friends. Those circumstances never stopped him from being the first rip off his shirt, playing until sweat streamed from every pore on his body.

The desire to never be outdone stems from Hughes’ attitude on the hockey rink, where during his teenage years, his drive and skill transformed him into a top NHL prospect, which could culminate with his likely No. 1 overall selection by the Devils at the 2019 NHL Draft on Friday in Vancouver.

Even while scouts and coaches sung his praises as he tore through every level of youth hockey, Hughes developed his own distinct personality off the ice. His drive bled out in some aspects of life, but Hughes found ways to turn off his engine away from game that defined him.

"You get him into those athletic situations and he’s the ultimate competitor, but he’s able to flip the switch off, which I think bodes very well for him long term,” NTDP head coach John Wroblewski said. "Not just as a hockey player, but as a functioning adult and a product of a good family."

A JERSEY DOWN TO HIS KNEES

When Wroblewski accepted the heading coaching position at the NTDP in 2016, he inherited a group of 17-year-olds born in 1999 as the first group auditioning for his U18 team. Running spring practices in Plymouth, he was still getting acclimated with the names, faces and skills of his new roster.

Before a practice, Jeremiah Crowe, then the program’s director of player personnel, approached the coach and told Wroblewski another player would be skating with the team. He was the younger brother of Quinn Hughes, one of his 17-year-old defensemen. His name was Jack.

Wroblewski took the ice, and as the team trickled out, he saw a small, skinny 15-year-old kid emerge from the tunnel, with skaters two years his elder towering over him. Hughes’ assigned jersey hung down to his knees.

Yet the scrawny center skated with power rivaling any 17-year-old on the ice, and that group of teenagers was the best the United States had to offer. Wroblewski couldn’t keep his eyes off the kid that was supposed to be 24 months away being there.

"He had this magnetic ability, the puck just kept finding him and finding him,” Wroblewski recalled. "And when it did, the opposition couldn’t shut him down. They would give him too much time and space because he had this kind of forcefield that great players have.”

But the newest members of the U18 team picked up on this. Eventually, they stopped respecting the underage boy skating circles around them. They collapsed on Hughes, attempting to take away the freedom that came so easily.

That didn’t make a difference.

“If somebody rushed at him, he’d slide it right through their legs and go around them,” Wroblewski said. "It was amazing how he could manipulate players two years older than him and fit right in and be one of the best offensive players on the ice for two straight days.”

To Wroblewski and those seeing Hughes up close for the first time, it came as a mild shock, even with some of the murmurs that accompanied his arrival. They’d only heard secondhand what the crafty forward was doing from the day he put on skates.

Some of Hughes’ eventual NTDP teammates skated with him for the first time years earlier. In 2011, Hughes and a gaggle of 10-year-olds suited up for the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament in Edmonton, blissfully unaware of the future that awaited some them with the NTDP.

Even then, among players barely old enough to access their skills and talents on the ice, Hughes shined among his peers.

RAISED TO SUCCEED

The Hughes clan has already been dubbed the next great American hockey family.

Quinn Hughes, the oldest of three brothers, was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, and he’ll be a mainstay on the Vancouver Canucks’ blue line for years to come.

After Jack inevitably goes at or near the top of the draft on Friday, the youngest of the three siblings, Luke Hughes, will follow in their footsteps. The defenseman will likely hear his name called in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Genetically, the trio was bred to be hockey players. The brothers’ father, Jim Hughes, played college hockey at Providence. That never blossomed into a long pro playing career, but he carved out his path coaching in the NHL and AHL before becoming the Toronto Maple Leafs’ director of player development.

Their mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, was the one that taught the brothers most of their hockey chops. A former player on the U.S. Women’s National Team and a member of the University of New Hampshire athletic hall of fame, she introduced the three to skating. Then she showed them how to excel at the sport that came so naturally.

"She was our coach,” Jack Hughes said. "Our dad, when we were young, was coaching pro, on the road a lot, so it’s not like when you have a game, you get a fly by. Our mom, she knew the game too, so you’d hear it from her.”

But aside from Jack Hughes’ prodigious skill on the ice, the two parents molded the forward to be the person capable of handling the attention off of it.

"How does a kid who’s that good and has been tabbed the No. 1 pick, remain humble and hungry, and just overall a good person?” Wroblewski said. "You can’t look any farther than the parents.”

The NTDP cycles in class after class of America’s top hockey talent, plucked from every corner of the U.S., with the sole goal of developing the country’s next superstars.

Hughes fits that mold in every sense of the word, from his competitiveness and desire to never be second best. Yet away from the ice, Hughes’ life isn’t dominated by the game.

He has a shoe collection. He plays video games and poker. He golfs. He hangs out with friends. He does what, by most standards, many normal American teenagers do when they can escape the daily grind of school and sports.

His teammates don’t see him as an untouchable prodigy. Hughes never looked down on them from a pedestal as praise and hype followed him at every turn and continuously gained steam as he aged.

"He’s kind of a goofy kid. Loves hanging out with his buddies. Just making jokes,” teammate Trevor Zegras said. “To me, he’s always just been Jack.”

THE PATH TO NO. 1

David Gregory tried to avoid the hype. He heard the name more than enough, but like any prospect, he wanted to see for himself before drawing his own conclusions.

A North American scout for NHL Central Scouting, tasked with watching and evaluating hundreds of skaters every year across the U.S. and Canada, Gregory walked into Plymouth’s rink and saw Hughes at a camp, trying out for the development program.

Gregory saw Hughes again in his first U18 game, where the center received an early promotion as a 16-year-old. Gregory didn’t need that second viewing to know Hughes would live up to his billing.

“He’s already at full speed and he figures out how to find this other gear,” Gregory said. "If a hole opens up or there’s an opportunity to get to a different spot to make a play, he just finds more speed. It’s pretty amazing to watch.”

From the moment the whispers started years ago about Hughes potentially being the No. 1 overall pick, all the way through the palpable hype during his 2018-19 season, his teammates and coaches never saw a shift in the forward’s demeanor.

Traveling back from a European tournament on a Monday, the U18 team had a quick turnaround for a USHL road game in Omaha on Friday. Hughes roared from the get-go, skating with the ferocity of someone playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“He’s flying around the ice, and the other team’s trying to kill him. Literally,” Wroblewski said. "Three guys are trying to go after him and he’s still doing his thing and dishing pucks."

That consistent drive helped Hughes shatter the all-time scoring record at the NTDP, previously set at 189 points by current Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller. Hughes’ 228 career points also dwarfed the production of current NHL stars Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane and Auston Matthews.

As Hughes racked up record after record, he was still routinely the first on the ice for practices. If the goalies needed a shooter for drills beforehand, he was the first to volunteer.

"That’s also a part of a why he’s so good. He hates losing. He wants to be a difference maker all the time, which I think is why he’s going to be a special player,” goalie Spencer Knight said. “That’s something people might not see about him. Besides all the skill and the glamour, he’s a really good guy, and he’s always working hard.”

[pyrotoons]

On this day (or possibly May 22,) in .. 1887, Jim Thorpe was born near Prague, Oklahoma. His birth name was Wa-Tho-Huk (“Bright Path”) and he was a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation.

He won Olympic gold medals and played professional football, baseball, and basketball. Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in classic pentathlon and the other in decathlon). He was also an integral part of early pro football, serving as the NFL’s first president. In addition he was named to the leagues’s 50th anniversary team as a fullback and defensive back. He played a few games in major league baseball, as well, and barnstormed. He was on several all-American Indian football and baseball teams throughout his career, and barnstormed as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of Native Americans, for a time.

digital art hand drawn by @pyrotoons

[calciumcryptid]

If you were in charge of making a Kentucky Manifestos sequel, how would you go about it?

I don't have a lot in terms of story, but there is a lot I would include:

Horses) We are one of the leaders, if not the leader, in the racing horse industry. The units could operate under the disguise of being a special riding camp, maybe even having horses or other mounts made out of their energy rather than simply channeling it into their weapons to make the unit feel more unique to other ones. The weapons could be inspired by riding crops, whips, brushes, ropes.

An Indigenous Cast) While we don't have many reservations like other states, we are home of a lot of the more... not sure how to phrase this... tribes you would think of if you thought Native American like the Shawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and some others.

Bluegrass Music) There is so much you can do with this alone, and we are known for it.

Bourbon & Moonshine) Alcoholics, all of them. I'm mostly joking, but having some people work as bartenders or bar owners or having a common hang out spot be a bar.

Trades) Definitely a lot of trade people, particularly automobile assembly, and the train assembly industry.

Coal Mining) It is a state with a rich history in coal mining so a person with a pickaxe weapon or other mining equipment would be cool.

College Basketball) If there is a sport, it is probably this. Not to say football isn't popular, but even as someone who never paid attention to sports, typically there is always a basketball team somewhere doing something. March Madness is especially huge here.

Quilts) The National Quilt Museum is located in Kentucky, so having some quilters with guilt based weapons would be fun.

Of course, Kentucky has a lot of cave systems and can be part of the Appalachia culture too. There are heavy Amish communities, and a lot more to play around with.

[uniqrenders]

[cauli-flawa]

CNN, December 2, 2024:

Moshe Ya'alon, a former Israeli Defense Minister with 30 years of service, accused Israel of committing genocide in North Gaza on Democrat TV. He told the news network that Israel was becoming a "corrupt and leprous fascist Messianic state."

When asked by his interviewer if he believed ethnic cleansing was "on the way," he responded; "Why ‘on the way?' What’s happening there? There’s no Beit Lahia. There’s no Beit Hanoun. [The IDF is] currently operating in Jabalya, and essentially, they’re cleaning the area of Arabs."

The Israeli Military confirms that Omar Maxim Neutra was killed in Hamas' assault on October 7. His body is still being held by Hamas. Neutra was originally thought to be alive and taken hostage.

Neutra served as a tank platoon commander in the IDF. He was known as a warm and optimistic person who brought light to his friend's lives. He also loved sports like basketball, volleyball and soccer, and was the captain of his school's sports teams. Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated that he was killed in battle near Nir Oz, a kibbutz that was severely affected by October 7. Hamas murdered or kidnapped nearly 1 in 4 of the residents.

The Times of Israel Op-Ed, December 3 2024:

David Horovitz expresses concern over how Netanyahu's far-right administration may be a threat to the nation's democracy. Horovitz points out how he does not address mass draft dodging in the youth populace, encourages Justice Minister Yariv Levin to weaken and subjugate the judiciary, and centralizing government power to himself, among other problems.

Times of Israel, December 2, 2024:

Trump threatens Hamas and those holding hostages that there will be "all hell to pay" if the hostages are not released by January 20, threatening to attack with "unprecedented American firepower," as reported by the Times of Israel.

He wrote this threat on Truth Social: "Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity."

He posted this announcement hours after the IDF announced the death of Omar Maxim Neutra, and two days after Hamas released a video of Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli hostage, begging to be freed.

Hamas published a three-minute propaganda video where Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli dual citizen, begged Trump and Netanyahu for a hostage deal. Alexander addressed Israel in Hebrew, and the US in English. Alexander may have been held hostage for 420 days.

In the video, he expressed disappointment in the Israeli government for "neglecting" the hostages. "Do not neglect us. We want to return home," he said. "Fear and isolation is killing us. Do not forget us."

"It is unreasonable that we pay the price for a mistake made by the government." Alexander also encouraged Israelis to "go out and demonstrate every day and pressure the government."

He asked Donald Trump, soon to be president of the United States, to "use [his] influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom." He also asked Trump to not "make the same mistake Biden has been making. The weapons he has sent are now killing us, the unlawful siege is now starving us."

Alexander also addressed his family, and said that "every day that passes, the pain increases."

"I miss you very much, Every day, I pray to see you soon. Please be strong, its only a matter of time before this nightmare ends," he concluded.

Edan Alexander was born in Tel Aviv, raised in New Jersey, and enlisted in the Golani Brigade.

Live page from Al Jazeera, December 3, 2024:

Gaza's health ministry claims that Israel's airstrikes have murdered 36 Palestinians and injured 96 people in the past day. The UN says that "food availability is at an all-time low across the entire Gaza Strip."

Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his demands to release the hostages by his inauguration date.

Jewish-Canadian activists sat in front of the Ottawa parliament building, calling for an end to arms sales to Israel. Niall Ricardo, one of the organizers of the protest and a member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, stated that “every bomb Israel drops on Gaza and every missile they fire into Lebanon carries a grim truth: the warplanes and attack helicopters raining destruction on civilians could not fly without hundreds of Canadian-made components."

CNN, November 30, 2024:

Following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the displaced Lebanese people are finally able to return home and rebuild. The Israeli military demanded that the people living in the southernmost parts of Lebanon refrain from returning home.

Hussein Mallah got to work rebuilding his home and business right away. “My 24/7 bakery is going to be open for business tonight,” he stated triumphantly.

The ceasefire agreement is very fragile, and can easily break apart if either army chooses to violate it. Both the IDF and Hezbollah are already accusing one another of breaking the ceasefire arrangement. Reports state that Israeli forces have fired at Lebanese civilians and villages. Israel claims that they have observed Hezbollah regrouping.

In the aftermath, Israel will withdraw from Lebanon, and the Lebanese army will be deployed in the south to make sure the area is free of Hezbollah's weapons.

Mallah stays optimistic. "Even if the ceasefire collapses, we’ll just do the whole thing all over again." he said. "I was raised this way and I’ll always be this way. Nothing can break our spirits.”

The ceasefire brings hope to Lebanon even amongst the rubble of their homes. Marwa returned to her home in Beirut after two months of displacement, thankful for the ceasefire, but devastated by the unprecedented amounts of damage done to her suburban home.

"I couldn’t even tell you how difficult it was to see my home covered in broken glass, to see my memories ripped apart," she told CNN.

But not everyone has a home to return to. Umm Hussein knew about what happened to her house - Israel had bombed it to pieces. On the day of the ceasefire, she said, "Throughout this war, I was patient with my displacement. But today, I watch these scenes and I feel like a prisoner."

[fanaticsportsworld]

Stars light up the night as Team WNBA beats Paris-bound U.S. women’s squad!

The WNBA All-Stars vs. Team USA game is a highly anticipated exhibition match that showcases top talent from the WNBA facing off against the United States women's national basketball team. The Wnba were lead by Arike Ogunbowale where the stuffed the score sheet with 34 points! According to AP news, 22 of her points were in the 3rd Quarter alone! Although it did not look too good for Team USA, however it did show that no competitive game is an easy. No matter the star power you have. The U.S. women's team's next exhibition match is against Germany on Tuesday in London, before they travel to France for the Olympics. Germany, Belgium, and Japan are in the pool with the Americans.

Final Score WNBA All Stars 117 - Team USA 109

[the-physicality]

Honestly i don’t think the pwhl even tried to find US broadcasting partners. I know that espn would be too much of a reach considering college football and basketball are in season, and i’m glad they didn’t do anything with cbs or nhl network or espn+ (all servicesto which i myself do not have access). But ion seems like they would have done something and they’re hooked up to prime video (which sucks i know but is free) and they’ve had decent production for wnba and nwsl. Of course the league could have also bought their own platform (nwsl and wnba use the same software).

Though i think the main issue is that the people in charge have not critical thinking skills and cannot separate out youtube audiences by geography, and therefore have no way of selling the audience to any broadcasters…and i would say i’m 85% sure that the switch to twitch has to do with them not knowing how to block the feed in canada (because i saw some people say the youtube wasn’t blocked jn canada)

It really is so unfortunate that they are artificially limiting their audience size when they could be part of the big 3 north american leagues (nwsl wnba pwhl). Especially because the united states does have a larger population and therefore a larger potential audience. Even the wsl (located in england) switched to stream their games that weren’t broadcast in the us to be on youtube (instead of their app, FA player) and their international audiences showed substantial growth. Because youtube is more accessible.

Furthermore, they know that americans are a big part of the reason this league even exists (though the impetus was the canadian league folding) and half the teams in the league are located in the us, so why would they put so little thought into their access? Additionally, many of the exciting upcoming draft picks (read: young us national team players) are from the united states. In fact, the number one draft pick this year plays for a team in the US. so why would the league appear to actively limit the reach of the league in the usa? Again, i have to come back to the idea that tsn and canadian broadcasters want exclusive rights in canada (because they are paying the league for them) and the league doesn’t know how to block canadian access on youtube (even though i know it is possible to restrict by location as i have seen the screen)