#golf fundamentals

[macrogolf12]

Square Stroke Golf: Transforming Precision and Power on the Course

Golf, often revered as a game of precision and skill, is constantly evolving with new techniques and equipment that redefine how players approach each shot. Among the many advancements in the sport, the concept of "Square Stroke Golf" has gained considerable attention. This technique has gained traction for its ability to enhance control, precision, and consistency. With roots in simplifying the swing mechanics, Square Stroke Golf presents a powerful alternative to traditional techniques, allowing players to experience a new level of accuracy. This article delves into the importance of Square Stroke Golf, exploring the unique elements that make it a game-changer for golfers at all levels.

Special Elements of Square Stroke Golf

Square Stroke Golf incorporates a few distinct principles that set it apart from traditional golf techniques. One of its most defining aspects is its emphasis on alignment. By focusing on maintaining a square alignment throughout the stroke, players can achieve more effective body mechanics. This alignment fosters a direct path for the clubhead, promoting a straighter shot and reducing the likelihood of misalignment at the impact point.

Another key component of Square Stroke Golf is its minimalistic approach. This method reduces the complexities of traditional swings by eliminating unnecessary movements in the wrists and shoulders. By simplifying the swing, players can avoid common errors that arise from over-complicating their form.

Benefits of Square Stroke Golf for Different Skill Levels

Square Stroke Golf offers benefits that are advantageous to golfers across the spectrum, from beginners to advanced players. For beginners, the technique’s simplicity provides an excellent foundation to build upon. Many new golfers find traditional swings complex, as they involve multiple adjustments that can lead to inconsistent results. Square Stroke Golf, with its emphasis on a direct and linear swing, allows newcomers to focus on core principles without being overwhelmed by complex mechanics.

Why Square Stroke Golf is Here to Stay

As more golfers and instructors recognize the benefits of Square Stroke Golf, it has established itself as more than a passing trend. Its focus on control, simplicity, and alignment resonates with the fundamentals of effective golf. In addition, it appeals to a wide range of golfers, making it a versatile technique that can be adapted to individual needs. In a sport where precision and consistency are paramount, Square Stroke Golf offers a method that is both accessible and highly effective, which is why it continues to grow in popularity.

Square Stroke Golf is a powerful technique that appeals to golfers seeking accuracy, simplicity, and consistency. Its focus on a square clubface alignment and controlled swing path brings out the best in a golfer’s natural abilities, reducing errors and boosting confidence. By integrating Square Stroke Golf into their routine, players across all skill levels can enjoy a more rewarding and effective golfing experience.

[techdriveplay]

How to Improve Your Golf Swing

Mastering the art of golf is a journey that combines precision, practice, and an understanding of the game’s subtle mechanics. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting, knowing how to improve your golf swing can be the key to unlocking a better score and enjoying the game more fully. In this guide, we’ll explore the essential techniques and adjustments you can make to refine your swing,…

[thegratefulgolfer]

Finding Our Golf Game

If you are looking for ways to help your game, welcome to the club. As a life-long student of the game (sometimes an A student and other times a D) I continually look for easy ways to improve my golf game. With advent of the internet, the knowledge of how to lower my golf scores is at the touch of my fingers. Or is it?Continue reading Finding Our Golf Game

[golflounge]

These Three Golf Swing Fundamentals are The Key to Building a Repeatable Swing.

Most golfers have no chance to hit the ball well because they lack the proper golf swing fundamentals. These are the three things you need to do check BEFORE you swing to hit the ball well.

Three Fundamentals

1. The Grip 2. The Stance 3. Relax!

Golf Swing Fundamental #1: The Grip

You don’t have a chance to hit the ball solidly if you have a bad grip, but most people never check their grip.

High handicappers make two errors concerning the grip. They hold is wrong, and they hold it too tight!

No matter what grip you use (overlap, interlock, baseball), the key to a correct grip is to hold the club more in the fingers and not in the palm. This is especially true for the right hand, but goes for the left hand as well. The left hand applies most of the pressure. The left hand “holds” the club, and the right hand “steers” the club. Most of the pressure on the right hand should come from the third and fourth fingers. I like to barely have my thumb, index, and pinkie fingers of my right hand on the club.

Most golfers hold the club way too tight, and this causes all kinds of problems. First, it makes you tense up, and tension is the #1 killer in a great golf swing. Second, it makes you want to swing harder. You want to swing the club faster, not harder. Trying to swing the club hard will actually cause you to swing slower. Third, a tight grip will not allow you to fully cock and release your wrists on the backswing and the downswing.

Here’s what you can do to make sure your grip is not too tight. First, take a normal grip. First, always make sure the club handle is in the fingers of each hand more than the palm. Then, make sure your hands are comfortable together. When you are ready to take a practice swing, squeeze your hands very tightly. This will help you to relax your grip.

Always do this before hitting a ball. This will train you to feel what a relaxed grip is, and it is the first key golf swing fundamental you must master. No one who holds the club like their going to choke it can swing easy and fast. Tight grips usually mean tight swings. You can tell who these golfers are because of their lumberjack hacks at the ball. (Nothing against lumberjacks here, just don’t swing like them.)

You should also try to stay relaxed throughout the backswing and downswing.

Golf Swing Fundamental #2: The Stance

The next golf swing fundamental is the stance. You must have good alignment to the target and good posture to hit the ball well. If you don't have a good setup, you have almost no chance of achieving a good swing plane and hitting the ball solidly. Do this to align your body correctly:

Stand behind the ball facing the target and draw an imaginary line from the target to your ball. Pick a spot, a blade of grass, a leaf, a speck of dirt, etc. that is on the line just a few feet in front of the ball. Next, get into your stance with your toes parallel to that line.

A great drill that’s easy to do at home or anywhere is to pick something that is straight, like a wall or edge of the carpet, then practice lining up your toes parallel to it. Look left (for right handed golfers) at the imaginary target, and try to memorize that sensation. This drill gets you to feel what perfect alignment is like so that when you don’t have these visual cues on the course, you can know if you’re o.k. by muscle memory. Remember, for golfers who are not near scratch, often what feels “right” and what feels “good” are two different things. Train yourself to feel “right”, and soon enough it will feel “good”.

There are all kinds of ways and advice on how to setup with the correct posture. It really comes down to this: you have to be comfortable and balanced. No matter how fundamentally correct you might be, if you’re not comfortable over the club, you won’t hit it well.

Take about a shoulder width stance (no more) and stick your butt out until your knees are bent a few inches. If your weight is on the balls of your feet, you’ve bent your knees too far. Let your hands hang naturally from the sides and always keep your chin up!

Letting your hands hang naturally tells you if you are the correct distance away from the ball. When you grip the club from here, if you have to pull your hands in towards your body, then you are too close. If you have to extend your hands out, then you are too far. (Once you get more consistent, you can use the distance from the ball to help hit a fade or draw, but just keep it simple for now and stand at the same distance from the ball every time.)

Golf Swing Fundamental #3: Relax

Out of all the golf swing fundamentals that I could talk about, this is probably the key. If you don’t relax, you don’t have a prayer of hitting the ball consistently.

The problem with most golfers is that they look at the pros and think that they are swinging out of their minds, when in fact, they really aren’t. You see John Daly take a huge backswing and you think he’s all tensed up trying to kill it. Tiger doesn’t look all that relaxed especially when he hits a bad shot. Don’t let this fool you! Pros are relaxed when the hit the ball, but they swing so fast we mistake that for tension.

The difference between a relaxed shot and a tense one is like cracking a whip and swinging an ax. The whip cracks in the air with one flick of the wrist, with every little effort. No matter how hard you swing that ax, it’s not going to crack in the air!

Be the whip, not the ax!

What’s the best way to relax over the ball? Outside of meditating (which will really annoy your playing partners) every time you get ready to swing, there is one tip that has really helped me. Set up to the ball, and just like the relaxation drill for the grip, intentionally tense up every part of your body for three seconds. Try to tighten up your hands, arms, and shoulders as much as you can without hurting yourself.

After three seconds of intense tension, let it go. You should feel immediately much more loose and relaxed. Focus, and hit the ball without delay while you’re still in that relaxed state. This golf swing fundamental is probably the hardest to master for new golfers since the tendency is to try and hit it too hard.

Practicing without a ball helps here because you’re not trying to swing for the moon. Do this drill while taking practice swings focusing on being as relaxed as possible. Remember to always pick a spot on the grass that is your pretend ball and brush through it on the downswing. Never just swing on the grass without trying to brush a spot where your ball would be. You’ve got to make practice as real as possible, and you never take a real swing on the golf course without trying to hit a ball.

Golf Swing Fundamentals Revisited

These three golf swing fundamentals will get you started on the right foot to building a solid swing. Just like a skyscraper needs a deep, solid foundation, so does a good golf swing need a great setup.

Once you can “feel” a good setup, once you know how proper golf swing fundamentals feel, you’ll know when you’re off and be able to stop yourself and readjust before hitting a ball. That’s when golf becomes less mechanical and more intuitive, and that’s when the scores begin to drop like January temperatures in Minnesota! Click Here Freizeit Hamburg and Freizeitaktivitäten Hamburg

[sirfrogsworth]

Early voting to beat the lines... the best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.

So... yesterday was quite the day.

After being stuck in bed for the past 6 weeks with some mystery slump, I was finally feeling better. So I decided I would try to cram as many errands into my day as possible. That works better for me when I drive out into the world because I end up only having to do one big recovery instead of a bunch of little recoveries.

My to-do list...

Go to the doctor

Vote early

Return oxygen machine to FedEx store for scammy eBay guy

Return Amazon package to the UPS store

Get gasoline for my whip

Go to Discount Tire to get my tires filled for free

Drop a check off for my lawn guy

Mail a secret package to Katrina at the US Post Office

It would have been nice if I could have gone to just one shipping place instead of all three, but the universe has a sense of humor and likes to do shit like that to me on a regular basis.

So, I get my checkup, it goes quick, no long wait, I'm feeling good.

As I get in my car, it starts to rain. It was an ugly day and it actually has not stopped raining to this very moment a day later. Just gray, windy, chilly, and wet. I look up the voting place and start the GPS.

Wipers and music on full blast, it's time to get my vote on.

When I reach my destination, I realize early voting is at some kind of private golf club. And at the center is a recreation center—which is a public building.

So it's like this private/public turducken situation.

I was expecting this errand to take 20 minutes. Because early voting always seemed like a way to get in before the crowds of election day for a more convenient voting experience.

But the parking lot was packed and I feared my expectations were about to be subverted.

As I walk through the parking lot I see a bunch of signs in the ground.

And a particular one caught my eye.

This is bullshit.

Like, just a straight up lie. No truth to it whatsoever.

Amendment 3 in Missouri basically restores abortion rights in the state. And Republicans have taken issue with the following language...

"The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions."

They claim the phrasing "but not limited to" means you can give an 8-year-old kid "sex change surgery."

This is how their online flyer puts it...

It could also include a free puppy.

Or a zillion bucks.

Or a clown will come to your house after the abortion and honk your nose.

It's ridiculous and desperate. I honestly don't know how it is legal for them to put a lie like that outside of a polling location, but here we are.

The organization "Missouri Stands with Women" is run by... a man.

It was set up by a lawyer named "Edward Greim" on behalf of the Federalist Society.

His law firm has a lovely biography about him. And a bunch of publicly available contact information. I say that for no reason whatsoever.

The Federalist Society funds all kinds of shit like this. Their main thing is installing conservative judges all over the country who will reinterpret or negate legislation. And they do it all to "stand with women" by taking away their reproductive rights.

Here is the board of directors of the Federalist Society.

Ya know, before I looked this up, I said to myself, "I bet it's going to be a sausage fest." I am psychic.

I think it would be more accurate to say they stand with A woman.

Just one.

And she sucks.

Nicole is a law professor at Notre Dame. She chose her Catholicism over her right to choose. The Catholic Church will fuck your rights and your children and Nicole will help them do it.

Anyway... back to my quick and easy voting experience...

So as I'm walking in to vote I keep passing a ton of these awful signs. I notice an older woman standing next to the aforementioned "child sex change" sign and she says, "Can I talk to you about Amendment 3?"

At this point, I'm pretty angry. I look her dead in the eyes and say with my most assholish tone, "NO." as I walk past her.

And then she finishes her sentence...

"...to protect the reproductive rights of women."

Ah, dammit.

I thought she was an old Karen but she was cool as heck. Standing out in the rain telling people the sign is bullshit. I wanted to turn around and apologize but I was stuck in full social anxiety mode so I just kept walking.

If that old lady happens to have a Tumblr and follows me and is willing to read this giant story... I just want to say I am sorry. I thought you were awful and I should have let you finish your sentence. You're super cool and I'm happy there are folks like you fighting for what is right.

I get inside and a young woman greets me. She tells me the line is in the next room and points. I still wasn't quite sure what the situation was. The parking lot being full gave me pause, but I was still hopeful I could have a swift early voting experience.

But I walk through the doors and into a huge gymnasium and my heart sinks.

It's hard to represent in pictures how long this line is.

It goes all the way to the end of the gym, loops around, and comes back. At first I was not too discouraged, because there was a nice gentle ramp at the start of the line.

But then I notice several sets of stairs at different stages of the line. And I'm just thinking how hard it would be to stand in this line and then also having to go up and down several sets of stairs.

So I go back to the young woman working there and ask what their accessible voting options are. And she told me I could do curbside voting and points outside. I then notice a line of cars wrapped around the parking lot. I don't know how I didn't see them walking in, but I guess I was too busy being a jerk to elderly progressive women.

My biggest concern was time.

The longer this takes, the more energy I use up, the longer my eventual recovery will be.

They tell me the car option is the slowest. And I could be in line for 2 to 3 hours. And then an old man who seemed to be in charge walks over and tells me the fastest option is to stand in line.

So I walk back out to my car and grab my cane and decide to try the long serpentine gynasium line.

I start walking up the ramp and some of the other folks see how slow and labored I'm walking and they start encouraging me. "You can do it! You got this!" Which I suppose was meant to be a positive helpful thing. But I found it to be embarrassing.

I get to the end of the line and notice most of the line has bleachers directly next to it. So I decide to sit down and rest and figure out how I am going to survive this experience.

It took me a while to recover from the long walk to this spot. I watched a bunch of people pass me by and the line was actually getting much longer as I rested. I was not really sure what to do. I was trying to problem-solve this situation but the answer that kept popping up in my mind was just... "go home."

But I felt this was too important and that wasn't really an option.

My best idea was to ask someone if they would hold my spot in line. Perhaps I could just sit in the bleachers and follow them around in the line, staying as close to them as I could. But my social anxiety was set to maximum and I was not finding the courage to ask someone.

After about 10 minutes of sitting, resting, and thinking, I basically say, "Fuck it, I'll try to stand in line."

I get up and start walking to the end of the line.

Then I hear a voice yell out to me.

"Hey, man! Come over here! This is your spot!"

A young man was waving at me. He was accompanied by his wife. Both of them were dressed in black and they had a sort of goth skater aesthetic going on. He had a competitively bushy beard, but with less gray. And she had very vivid purple hair.

I was a little confused and still processing what was happening. Then they both started waving at me to join them in line. They remembered I got there just before and told me I should be in front of them. I walk over and thank them. Then he suggests...

"Hey, why don't you just sit in the bleachers and follow us around the line."

He suggested my idea!

Without me asking!

I felt like he read my mind or something.

Can bearded people read each others' minds? Was this some beard skill I was unaware of?

"I got you, man. You just sit and we'll keep your place."

And his violet hair'd significant other agreed. "Yeah, we got you."

The kindness of strangers was more accessible than my polling place and I was just so thankful in that moment.

So I sat in the bleachers and watched them traverse the line. In the middle of the gym there were some teenagers playing basketball. And so I just rested and watched them play.

That young man in the red pants was like a goddamn Harlem Globetrotter. He was just embarrassing the others. He was bouncing the ball behind his back and through his legs and then he just danced around his opponents like a figure skater. It was such an unbalanced matchup. He might as well have been playing 4th graders. Not only was he significantly faster and more maneuverable, but he was consistently hitting 3-pointers.

And then during a break, he ran towards the hoop, jumped from the free throw line, flew all the way to the net, grabbed onto the rim, and proceeded to do several pull ups as if they were the easiest thing in the world. I don't think I've seen anyone jump that far and that high in real life and it was just a bonkers display of athleticism.

I spent the entire wait watching him humiliate the others—hoping he would get a full ride scholarship to some prestigious university.

And I hoped the other boys paid attention in school and got straight As, because basketball was not going to work out for them.

As my new goth skater friends progressed through the line, I would make sure to keep sight of them. Every once in a while I'd give them a head nod to acknowledge we were in this together. After an hour and a half they were at the final segment of the line, so I sat next to the wheelchair folks.

I probably could have argued to sit with them in the first place. But I really did not feel like making the case that I was just as disabled as them and needed that level of consideration. The old man running things seemed quite stressed and was putting out 8 fires at once. And my anxiety wasn't really cooperating enough to be assertive in my needs.

But it worked out in the end, so I'm not going to dwell on the lack of accommodation for people who weren't *visually* disabled.

My new bearded friend neared the end and waved me over. I thanked him and his wife profusely.

I joked, "Thank you for adopting a voter."

They seemed confused by my joke.

"No problem, man. Happy to help."

I told him and his wife they truly saved me. "I honestly don't think I would have made it through the line." And then I looked back...

I said, "As crazy as this is, I do find this kind of turnout encouraging." His wife agreed and said, "We were saying the same thing!" And then I thought, "Can the wives of bearded people absorb the mind reading ability? I hope she can't read my mind right now. Although, I'm mostly thinking that her hair is a really cool shade of purple, so she'd probably find that complimentary."

As I waited to get my ballot I could hear the happy couple behind me. They were very cute. They were making fun of each other in a very lovey-dovey fashion. I had high hopes they were going to grow old and gray and purple together based on their chemistry. And I was just so thankful they were able to recognize that I needed help without me asking. Because I probably would have just caved to my anxiety and not asked for help otherwise.

I got my ballot and sat down to fill in all of the appropriate squares. Thankfully I had prepared a cheat sheet on my phone.

It was an exact replica so I was able to copy it and finish quite rapidly.

Then I fed my votes into the vote-eating monster and they gave me a sticker.

My quick 20 minute adventure to vote early only took 2.5 hours!

And because I didn't want to buck tradition, I stood outside in the wind and the rain and took a voting selfie.

Yep, that seems about right.

Ah, crap... that was only the second thing on my to-do list.

Let's speedrun the rest of this story, shall we?

I drove to FedEx. I hauled a 40 pound box inside. I plopped it on the counter and said, "Man, this thing is heavy!" as I tried to catch my breath. The 20 year old working there then lifted it like it was a feather and I felt great about that.

I drove to the gas station because I was nearly on empty—that is both a metaphor and not a metaphor. I filled my ride with go juice.

I noticed I was a mile from the tire store and they fill up tires for free. So I did that and the guy was super nice and complimented my tires. I felt both weird and proud about having my tires complimented. Like, I had nothing to do with my tires being nice. But I accepted the praise on their behalf.

I drove to the UPS store. The last time I was there I made a scene. They refused to box up a return and I got upset and wasn't feeling well and they had to find a chair for me to sit in because I was going to faint. So I was hoping the same woman wasn't there, but she was. She didn't recognize me, so it was fine.

I drove to my lawn guy's house. He wasn't home. I dropped a check in his mailbox. My checks have corgis on them. My checks are cute.

I drove to the post office. I sent a secret package to my bestie, Katrina. I'd tell you what is in it, but it is an inside joke and you wouldn't get it. The woman noticed my voting sticker and I couldn't help thinking about what I just accomplished to get that sticker.

On my way out I noticed a miracle.

2 of the 4 doors were fixed!

I mean, I don't know why they couldn't fix all 4, but now the employees won't freeze in the winter. So I take that as a win. It only took a year and a half to accomplish and I'm sure all of my phone calls and emails did not help at all. But I'm going to pretend I saved the day regardless.

And then... I drove home.

5 hours of errands.

I was so fucking tired. My back was on fire with pain. I immediately collapsed into my bed. I passed out. And I slept for 14 hours.

The End

[whereserpentswalk]

Sometimes you'll meet a Fae, and it won't look like it's supposed. It'll be broken looking, missing pieces like shattered glass, deformed and distorted features to the point where they're twisted and uncanny, discolored body, erratic or dangerous behavior, sometimes even so distorted it looks more like an eldrich horror then a creature of the Fae courts.

These Fae have lost their lands. Great desert spirits whose dunes have been turned into golf courses. Creatures of forests and fields whose lands have been overtaken by malls and parking lots. Protectors of cities and towns whose communities and natural ecosystems have been replaced by highways and lawns. These creatures are in pain because the very places they were part of are dead. They lost something so fundamental to them that they can't heal without it.

The people who made the world this way will complain that the Fae react naturally to what happened. But what else do they expect? This is the world they made. They'll try to solve this problem with iron bullets, but this isn't a Fae breaking its rules so it's just not going to work that way.

When you're working to heal these types of Fae you're working to heal the land. And that will take time. That monstrosity made of plastic and concreate isn't going to return to being a forest spirit the momment you plant a tree where that mall and that parking lot was, that wandering horror isn't going to switch back into being a town guardian the momment you sign a bike lane into law, you have to make space for them and give them time to heal, and then mabye you'll be making space for humans too.

[probablyasocialecologist]

“Last summer, anti-drought actions multiplied. This summer, activists will act with even more fearlessness and creativity: cutting off hoarders’ water supplies, putting golf courses out of action, dismantling megabasins, squatting the swimming pools of the ultra-rich and the air-conditioned offices of their insurers, banging saucepans outside pool manufacturers offices, building beaver dams to revive our rivers and their banks. Our inventiveness must have no limits.” This kind of activist communique follows two years of unseasonable drought across France. As of 30 June, 42 of France’s 96 mainland départements (administrative divisions) contain at least one area with water restrictions. 15 of these 42 are officially in crisis, meaning water usage is restricted to priority functions: health, civil security, drinking water and sanitation. It’s no surprise, then, that French climate groups are escalating their tactics in the fight over water. In August last year during water restrictions in Vosges in eastern France, activists drilled holes in jacuzzis at a holiday resort. Over the winter, others sabotaged artificial snow canons at Clusaz, south-eastern France, while others set up a ZAD (autonomous zone) in the area, citing the winter drought as their motivation.  The most contentious of these groups is Les Soulèvements de La Terre, or ‘Earth Uprising’, which is currently waging 100 days of action against “water hoarders” across the country. In response, the French state is cracking down on so-called eco-terrorism – and hard.

[...]

Earth Uprising doesn’t use the word sabotage to describe its militant action. In French jurisprudence, sabotage denotes an attack on infrastructure that’s vital to the “fundamental interests of the nation”, Basile explains. “A cement production site or a megabasin is the opposite – it’s private infrastructure which puts the possibility of a living future on the earth in peril.” Instead, activists prefer the term “disarmament”. Victor Cachard, author of A History of Sabotage, adds that this term is also a reference to the actions of the ecological movement in the US against the industries building weapons for the Vietnam War and later the Gulf War. “There was the idea among ecological activists to join their environmental struggle with their anti-war struggle, as they recognised that war pollutes,” he says.

[a-book-of-creatures]

Can you explain why fly fishing is as bad as golfing? Never heard that before and I'm curious

They're different kinds of bad but they have the same root cause that makes me associate them with each other. Namely, they attract rich, entitled upper-class twits.

Disclaimer: I'm sure there are plenty of fine, upstanding golfers and fly fishers out there. Real salt of the earth folks that wouldn't harm a (heh) fly. This doesn't invalidate the fundamental issues that I'm going to talk about here.

You've probably heard about how golf takes perfectly good land that could be used for parks and turns them into sterile, boring, manicured lawns for rich assholes to toss their balls around.

Fly fishing... there's probably a lot you could say about sport angling as a part and why it's bad for fishes and the environment, but I'm focusing on fly fishing, and this book is largely to blame.

Published in 1895, this accumulation of dead trees was what pushed the idea that a good fishing fly should be made of exotic feathers, the more exotic the better.

And with anglers being a superstitious lot (perhaps as superstitious as professional athletes, who we all know are the most superstitious people in existence), it makes it far more likely that those with the means will shell out top dollar for feathers from rare, even extinct birds. They will buy research skins from museum collections for the sole purpose of tearing them to bits and making gaudy simulacra of insects that may bestow a higher chance of a salmon biting them.

This is what led to a guy breaking into the Tring Museum and stealing almost 300 bird skins to sell off on eBay for fishing fly materials. And it's happened elsewhere too. I know this because one of the museums I worked at had a researcher walk in to look at birds, and when they left a number of skins were gone. There are still enough people out there ready and willing to pay for those feathers that the market is there.

[thefugitivesaint]

They Are Insecure For A Reason | Defector

"One of the less-amusing ironies of the violent institutional response to the nonviolent protest movement on campuses across the country is that the goals of the people protesting are much easier to understand than those of the variously curdled elites dispatching uniformed violence workers against them. The irony is in the fact that the students, with their specific demands and comparatively disciplined approach, have been cast as somewhere between essentially unserious and actively terroristic. In contrast, the institutions pivoting and pandering and giddily giving themselves over to the incoherent and spiraling political panic surrounding the protests represent principled leadership and forebearance; the gray elites insisting that these protests are actually about their dull abstractions of choice are the voice of seriousness; the police forces, rioting and ravening as ever, are somehow in fact order.

A lot of this disjunction can be explained by the undeniable disparities in power between those two sides, the first organizing toward a legible goal and the second existing essentially to oversee the unending work of saying no. Only one side can effectively call the cops on the other; here, as elsewhere, the impunity that comes with that exclusive access to violent recourse has made those with it not only cynical and lazy and cruel, but also paradoxically insecure and perpetually terrified at the prospect of any erosion in authority. It is, on its face, difficult to make the argument that it is fundamentally unserious to object to dropping a 2,000-pound bomb on a hospital, and much more morally and politically serious to object to that objection on some point of administrative order, or simply because it is too loud." ..... "There is something terribly clarifying in how eager the people in power at these universities have been to betray the trust of everyone invested in those institutions. Institutions that otherwise exist from one exploratory committee to the next will change university policies on the fly so that their local uniformed violence workers will get their chance to thump some young skulls; administrators whose notional jobs are upholding communities of learning and care gladly consent to being upbraided by clownish golf hogs and half-fascist nullities in Congress and then do exactly what they were told to do, whatever the damage to those communities. If the students and professors in these protests, which are now nationwide, have a sort of advantage simply by being the only parties involved that actually care about anything, they are also up against an opposition that is all the more implacable because of how proudly cynical it is." .... "The order they are after is all around us—a Homeowners Association with a S.W.A.T. team at its disposal, a business that grows at a steady rate without making anything anyone could use, a world in which things simply happen and continue to happen, a pristine desolation that is safe precisely because of how empty it is. But what they are afraid of grows even as they starve it, which is why these people, with all their power, are always so insecure. It is why, despite the relentless imposition of their annihilating concept of safety, they can't ever quite feel safe. They know how bad it would be for them to be seen clearly; they are fucking terrified of being treated as they treat others. They know that people can recognize their demands as what they are, and that there are still spaces in which to reject them. And they sense, maybe, that this false and failing security can't last. "The more they try to silence us," a Columbia grad student told the Times last week, "the louder we get."

[vicsbasement]

Do you think Charles and Carlos will stay friends after 2024? I know they are not gonna be as close as now but I fear that their friendship is gonna sideline like Carlando when Carlos gets a new teammate. 😭😭😭 Carlos is very friendly with his teammates (versainz/carlando/charles) but I feel he has a different bond with charles. A soft spot in his heart. So I don't think I can handle him being all lovey-dovey with another teammate. 😭😩

Oh, I absolutely think they will remain being good friends after Ferrari. Look, I'm not a Carlando girlie, but I've seen Carlando girlies spiral about divorce rumors as often as a person can tolerate, yet, to be frank, I feel this is overly dramatic. Carlos and Lando hang out outside the paddock all the time. And to talk about Charlos, Carlos has been very open about his liking of Charles, even saying just yesterday that him and Lando are both his favorite teammates. Yet, his situation in Ferrari sort of prevents him to air out his location whenever he's with Charles. They're extremely private with their off-track friendship and Charlos girlies have been fed crumbs for years at this point, just putting together dots on a map whenever someone posts a separate selfie of Carlos with a fan and then Charles with a fan in the same location.

Carlos, still, has said very openly that he thinks that him and Charles will be even *better* friends when they're in different teams. I mean, we've seen it, there's a rivalry there, and I'm the first one to see Charles get bitter over Carlos besting him at anything in the same machinery. Still, he does admit (as he did yesterday) than when Carlos does everything better than him, Carlos wins. And funnily enough, even though I felt that Charles was a little bitter in the interviews immediately post-race (the ones with Guenther), it's not the same as before. Because their friendship reached a different level altogether, and the respect they feel for each other is even more palpable now. I really do think that Charles has matured a lot.

And see how Carlos was so excited to celebrate with Charles that he asked Ricky to tell Charles to come closer so they could celebrate their joint win at Australia? That's love. That's devotion and that's friendship, right there. That's respect. Carlos does, absolutely, have a really soft spot for Charles. He followed his career in F2, for crying out loud. He admires him as a driver, he respects him as a competitor and he likes him as a person. That's the most fundamental part of their relationship. And I think it will definitely get better after Carlos leaves Ferrari, because he will be even more open with his affection. We might even see them off track together, finally! Sharing car rides and meals and probably even playing golf with Lando, like we've seen Carlos do before.

Do not fret! The relationship between Charles and Carlos is only getting better this year. I can feel it.

And about the other teammate... it really does depend on the other teammate, does it. Because we know Carlos to be an affectionate man, a tactile person. But if the other teammate doesn't like it, then, well. We might just not see it. He might show his affection other ways, like simply being verbal about it. I don't know. It just depends in whether he knows the next teammate and has a good relationship with them or not.

[piratefishmama]

Vibe Check - Oneshot

Eddie would never claim to enjoy his job. It’d be far too strange for Eddie Munson to admit to enjoying a government based job but there was something fundamentally exciting about getting to see all the little gizmos and random shit that people tried to take onto aeroplanes with them.

Of course there was the usual, bottles of liquid over a certain amount, tiny scissors or nail clippers from grooming sets that they absolutely had no idea weren’t allowed on a plane. There were the fun days with the drugs, the weird days with bagged ashes for scattering purposes that looked like it could conceal drugs and thus had to be tested. Nothing like telling a family you had to test grandma for concealed cocaine cause the computer said no.

There were the shared looks between co-workers when they spotted a dipshit in line, be nice to your fellow flyers folks, the TSA might grab you for a full cavity check for funsies if you don’t!

But then, then, you’d have those people. The people who everyone would automatically judge by their cover because the cover was all they had. Eddie didn’t usually do that, he’d often stick with the vibes and let his co-workers base their hunches on looks, it worked for Eddie nine times out of ten but today..

Today he was off his game a little. The vibe check on this one guy was coming back ?????

Call a lawyer the guy looked like every suburban mothers' wet dream, the kind of guy who wore polo’s and sweater vests, and the type to have a yacht and actually go to the clubs for it on the regular, probably had a membership to his father’s golf club that he actually used. Maybe had a fancy corner office job in Indy, he looked like the corner office type. But the vibe check came back saying NAY, believing it on this particular occasion seemed like a stupid thing to do.

Like sure he was stunning, literally, just a beautiful specimen of a human being, which Eddie would quietly mourn never seeing again, but he looked so straight laced that even holding hands might be a stretch for him.

So Eddie was reduced to book cover judgements because the vibes were wonk. No big deal.

The guy was in his line, he didn’t look nervous or uncomfortable, taking his watch off, putting it into a tray, a ring not on his wedding ring finger went in, his members only jacket, his belt, and shoes, into a second went his phone and a small tablet plus their chargers. And into another went the carry on bag, he was prepared. He flew often enough to know about separating things into their own trays.

Probably some high-level business exec. He looked the type.

“Through here sir” his co-worker directed waving him through, the tray containing the guys carry-on was last, so he was through the detector clean as a whistle before Eddie had seen what was in his case.

Probably a good thing because Eddie nearly choked on his own saliva when that case rolled through.

Holy shit.

“Uhm” he squeaked. He. A grown man. Squeaked. He’d deny that later, even if his currently heated complexion was giving him away.

That... that was an entire carry on full of sex toys. What. The fuck. Was that a whip held together by handcuffs?

Maybe the vibes hadn’t let him down after all. His co-worker walked over, Mr Sex Pest in disguise cast them a raised brow.

“Holy shit...I’ll uhm ill just—”

“No the fuck you won’t” Eddie was up, scrambling around him after flagging the bag for checks. “I got this.” He had this. He was already in front of Sweater Vest before his partner could stop him from making the potentially career ending move of approaching the sneakiest sex loony ever with interest in mind. Sweater Vest could easily complain! Eddie had no real reason to flag it, they were all contained, no bottles, no concerning substances, just toys.

“Problem, sir?” Oh boy the airport was hot. Sweater Vest had moles, cute little moles, moving on.

“Just a few checks regarding the contents of your carry on.” Gloves on, he half expected the guy to try and stop him to save face, but no, he stood there with a raised brow and an amused little curl of a smile on his lips.

“Go ahead.” Zips open and holy shit. It was like Eddie had stepped into the back room of a sex shop. Floggers, a whip, plugs, vibes, clamps, shibari ropes, dildos, both fluffy and actually decent handcuffs, why have two pairs one shit and one not? They were all so neatly organised too, the man was tidy. Was that a sounding rod?!

Could be a creep, could be a creep, coooould be a creep.

“So...”

“So... sir?” Sweater vest seemed to be challenging him. Fine, he could play ball.

“Any liquids in here that I need to know about? Drinks? Lotion? Industrial sized bottle of lube?” At least Sweater Vest laughed. A surprised little giggle snort of laughter that sounded beautiful. Eddie couldn’t help but smile.

“Nope, that’d be in the checked case.” Oooh Sweater Vest had a sense of humour “sorry I know it looks a little whacky, I’m a panel runner at the BDSM convention in Illinois this weekend, i know i'm headed in early but panel runners have to get everything set up properly if they're there for the whole weekend.” Eddie’s eyes widened, holy shit the vibes WERE right, haha fuck you supervisor who called him arrogant when he claimed to just be able to tell with people. “These are for the demonstrations.”

“...Demonstrations, on...?” He had absolutely no right to ask these questions what so ever, his colleague was already probably planning on ratting him out, but while curiosity did indeed kill the cat, satisfaction brought it back!

“A friend, A willing member of the audience, a dummy, depends on the insurance the convention has, this one allows me to pick a very lucky member of the audience since my usual convention partner is in Hawaii on her honeymoon like a traitor.”

“So... you’re a uhm... a—” not okay not allowed big nope so very unprofessional he was so fired.

“Not a Dominant, no. I’m a Submissive, both professionally and personally” didn’t need to tell him the personally bit, didn’t need to tell him that at all but he did, it was there, Sweater vest seemed pretty happy about it being out there too “I co-own an adult shop in Indy, one of the best for this kind of stuff but I have plenty of recommendations if you're not interested in my shop, here,” Sweater Vest pulled a gods honest business card out of a small compartment in the case, which listed him as the managing director/owner of one of Eddie's favourite sex shops of all time, a shop he’d only ever ordered from online so he’d never seen the owners. They had an incredible BDSM range and also delivered discreetly, they were a privately owned small business run right out of Indianapolis, also on the card though, was an Only Fans account, holy shit. “That ok with you, sir?” Sweet Cheesus on toast, had his pants just shrunk?

Steve. Steve Harrington. God that was such a golf club guys name, Steve leaned forward onto his elbows at a slight bend, eyeing Eddie up like he wanted to eat him alive, any other situation, Eddie would have let him. He wanted to bend that little brat over his knee. He loved bratty subs.

“Illinois huh?” Eddie zipped the case right back up again, as if he’d actually checked anything. He hadn’t. “Was thinking of going to that one actually, more of a dominant myself though...” trying so hard to be nonchalant to the most beautiful and confident Submissive he’d ever seen in his life “this a beginners panel?”

Steve smiled, clearly not angered by this deeply unprofessional halt to his journey. “Beginner, intermediate, pro, it’s more new toy and prop range demonstrations and a Q&A mainly, a variety of folks usually attend so... no matter your experience level you should come, maybe I’ll even make you my lucky audience member.” Steve took that card back, just to make a show of slipping it into Eddies chest pocket, tapping it once for good luck. “Can I get to my gate now, sir? Or do I need to be detained? I’m sure a cavity search would be awfully entertaining for me...considering...”

He couldn’t not ask “Considering?” His throat felt so dry, where was a confiscated bottle of unopened soda when you needed it?

“There’s four plugs in there, I actually have five” he winked, he winked. “The fifth wouldn’t fit.”

“Fuck...” Eddie breathed, much to the man’s amusement. “You’re ah—you’re free to go” he couldn’t actually hold him there and his co-workers were already starting to glare at him.

Steve grinned broadly at him before moving to grab his things, calling out a cheery “see you this weekend!” before he was off, and Eddie was taking his break early to book the next flight out to Illinois.

[jellfishjellfish]

Love the most recent chapter not enough people capture the fact that Clay is objectively kinda an asshole especially to JD. Like as much as Clay has good reasons too be angry he has little awareness of the time and place to start a fight with someone. Like Clay in cannon started shit with John Dory about him being overly focused of performing the perfect family harmony when Floyd’s life was dependent on them performing the perfect family harmony. That scene alone shows that Clay is almost fundamentally incapable of putting aside his anger or issues with a person even temperamentally when it’s a life and death situation he has the inherent need to prove his point right here right now the second something bothers him and you captured that character flaw of him very well.

Thank you!! I know some people might feel like I’m playing into the whole ‘Clay is the asshole problem child’ shtick, but it’s like you said, I feel like for someone to react like how he did in the film it would only be more prominent if less time passed. I’m giving him some legitimate reasons for his anger, but he’s not had a real outlet for it or any focus (or need) for self-reflection so far. He was too busy surviving at the golf course, trying to come across as serious and mature. Unlike John who’s been having therapy and who had those years alone where he did a lot of reflecting, Clay’s thoughts just festered. He just hasn’t considered that John might be anything but his infallible asshole older brother, because JD never showed any weakness before. He’s a complicated character for sure :)

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

A theory about Harry thinking he can be co-king -

I think it's also because fundamentally Harry is pathologically codependent. Even a child he didn't have interests of his own. He just liked to be led into whatever by whoever - his nanny, his RPO, his mother, his brother. They organized activities for him that they thought would be fun for a kid and he did those. That was his life.

Even books written by people about Diana or Charles early days (I am basicay basing this on Wendy Berry's Housekeepers Diary and the book by Ken Wharf) say that Harry wasn't exactly an independent kid, he just did stuff that others did.

He liked polo and horses because that was his father's passion, so it was something they both did over. Army/military/uniforms was Williams obsession as a kid so it became Harry's. Then at school it was Rugby because that's what the rowdy boys did. It was never cricket or swimming or tennis or running etc. He just goes with whatever option is out forward for him.

His army career was presented to him. He didn't even think of doing something after school. Didn't think of college either. But did take a gap year like William and went to Africa just like William. Joined the military because William was already in it, so might as well just do that. All his interests were what William was already doing.

His patronages were all arranged around that for his by someone else, and his has still not ventured out of that curated bubble after all these years. Still doesn't, even though he now needs more money and a more versatile profile.

Harry cannot think for himself. Never did as child. So his parents or caretakers didn't have to do much for him other than hold his hand and let him tag along.

All the times he was expected to or even encouraged, as a child to develpy an independent personality, he just say in a corner a smoked up or attended parties. When it came to disciplining him, it was just easier to tell him to go do whatever William was doing, because how else would you get a petulant boy to do anything if he doesn't want to?

Now Harry is rudderless but his conditioniing tells him his purpose is whatever Williams purpose is. Not necessarily because he thinks they are equal, but because Harry always followed Williams lead.

Meghan just came along, saw all that, and told him he could do it so much better. It's not like she can get him to do anything else. He doesn't know how, and will never. William is his North Star.

The only definition of work in Harry's mind is whatever William is doing.

Old ask from March 3rd

I do think Harry has some serious co-dependency issues, but I’m not sure it’s pathological to this extent, nor is it with William nowadays.

I disagree that Harry was pushed into all of this because William was. Harry was pushed into all of this because that’s the royal family lifestyle. All the princes serve in the military (or they try to, in Edward’s case) and all the princes play sport (Charles and his family played polo; Andrew golfs; Edward plays tennis).

And the issue there is that Harry was competitive with William. He wanted either the same that William got or better than William got. We can argue till the cows come home whether that was nature vs nurture, but the key thing here is that it’s something Diana was fully aware of and concerned by:

Diana was concerned everyone was going to think he was 'thick' as he didn't have any thirst for knowledge and was not interested in sitting down with a book. He always felt the need to compete in everything, especially with his brother.

- Ingrid Seward, My Mother and I

(Yes, I know, it’s Ingrid Seward but I find her to be pretty consistent when it comes to Diana. Of course, YMMV.)

So is it co-dependency? Not in this case. Yes, Harry has issues with co-dependency, but to the person he’s with and we know that because his personality, his style, and his interests change based on who he’s spending time with. Harry hasn’t been “with” William since about 2015-ish when the then-Cambridges moved to Norfolk and Harry stayed in London.

William is the North Star but not because Harry is rudderless, but because Harry is competitive and doesn’t want to be second-best. After all, this is a kid who used to demand his mother call him her only baby. That’s not co-dependency. It’s a one-sided competition that William isn’t even playing in — just like Meghan has an identical one-sided competition with Kate.

[thegratefulgolfer]

Using A Table Top To Chip A Golf Ball

There are many (overwhelming so) chipping techniques offered on the internet. Sifting through all the different nuances can be a challenge. I know I get overwhelmed from time to time, but I continue to seek out helpful tips for the readers at The Grateful Golfer golf blog. Today is no different. Danny Maude provides a simple, repeatable and controllable chipping process that will benefit most…

[goldenpinof]

Something I really enjoy about d&p, especially the gaming channel, is the little things. One of the biggest being the thematic outfits/costumes. They don't have to do stuff like that, and yet, it is integral to their experience of the game/filming the game, as well as beneficial to the audience. I've watched so many youtubers play golf games, but they're the only ones who wear golf hats. Would them not wearing the hats fundamentally change the content? Theoretically not. But d&p are really good at cultivating a ~vibe~. The interest then lies more with them, as opposed to just the actual game itself. They add to it exponentially.

Anyway. I love their commitment to the bit, as well as their creativity.

this, yeah

[poorrichardjr]

Why those who know will not vote for him

If you were alive during Trump's presidency and not completely submerged in the right-wing bubble, you should understand just how bad the Trump presidency was. Unfortunately, a lot of people somehow believe that it just wasn't that bad. Let me remind you of just a little bit of what Trump was like.

No administration lost as many people as his did because of resignations and firings. No administration has had as many of its people convicted of crimes. No administration had so many supporters commit acts of violence or mention the president as a reason why they did what they did.

Trump can claim all day that he had no new wars, but he sure did his best to start one. Remember how people were going insane when Trump was acting like a child while dealing with Kim Jung Un. Hell, South Park even did an entire episode about the stupidity. Trump assassinated one of the highest officials of Iran, someone akin to assassinating the Speaker of the House or leader of the Senate. If Iran had done what we would have instead of being diplomatic, we would be in world war three.

This is just a small sample of that time, but they exemplify why so many former presidents and administration officials have come out to say they will not vote for him. He is unfit for office. He is ignorant of how it works. During the debate, he said Kamala could leave the stage, go to the White House, and fix the border problem with a paper. Government doesn't work like that, unless you rule by fiat, which is something Trump did because he couldn't pass anything but tax cuts while in office.

People who know the rigors of the job know Trump isn't up to it. He is too lazy. He spent at least a year of his four year term on his golf courses. And yes, golf can be used to conduct diplomacy, but Trump doesn't have the temperament or personality to actually do diplomacy. During the debate it was proven just how easy it is to trigger him to say and do the stupidest things. Kamala baited him with crowd size, and he took it and ran. If it was so easy to get him to act like an idiot, how is he ever supposed to keep from doing the same when faced with Putin or Xi? The truth is, he can't.

Trump is a petulant and ignorant child who only wants to be president so he won't go to prison for his crimes. The only people who are supporting Trump are world leaders who would love to see us fall. Victor Orban was right about one thing. Leaders were scared of Trump, not because of actual strength, but because he was too unstable. Our allies understood he should never have been in power and that he was a puppet to foreign leaders who wanted to use him. Play to his ego and they got anything they wanted.

Trump is unfit. Do not put our country at risk by electing someone who fundamentally doesn't understand what it means to be president.