#team usa is going to be very damaging to my mental when the season starts

[hartpisces]

embiid just did his thrusting emote to the crowd and snoop copied him LMFAOO

[narniakid]

The majority of 2018 I spent educating people about the worst drought in 800 years. The Central Coast listened; we not only banded together to raise thousands of dollars, but we filled an entire truckload of donations to deliver to farmers in Western NSW.

It all began sometime around February, when I can recall seeing an article somewhere about how Australia was currently in drought. My family own and operate Mangrove Produce and Hardware, where we supply hay, grain and feed to locals in the Mangrove Mountain region. My mum had mentioned she was having a bit of trouble sourcing feed, because with no grass for cattle to eat, the demand was quickly rising – and so were the prices.

One night when I was reading statistics and stories about the drought, I stumbled across a charity called Rural Aid, who’d been running their fundraising campaign, Buy A Bale, for some time. The aim was to encourage donors to purchase a bale of hay for a struggling farmer by donating $20 or more.  It was a fantastic idea, and I got in contact with them. At a time when they weren’t a very well-known non-profit nationally, they were eager to send me fundraising materials to help raise money and spread the word.

March 2018: Help my Mum & I raise money for Buy A Bale!

As I asked around friends and family, and began posting about the drought on social media, I found that most didn’t even realize the majority of our own state was in the middle of severe drought. My good friend and photographer Andrew Cooney approached me with an idea; he discussed travelling to the worst of the drought-affected areas to document the damage, and we agreed to team up with our fundraising efforts to educate the Central Coast and just how bad it really was.  Below are some of his photographs from his first visit to a farm in Gunnedah, NSW, and they speak for themselves.

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His photographs caught the eye of Samuel Lentini from Eastcoast Beverages – a local juice company on the Central Coast. Sam decided that he wanted to come on board our fundraising campaign as well, and so – with me still busy collecting our donations, spreading the word, and putting together marketing materials – Andrew and the Eastcoast Beverages team headed to Gunnedah once again, where they delivered a truckload of orange peels from the factory for the cattle to eat. It was such an extraordinary site, it attracted a lot of media attention, including The Daily Telegraph, ABC and Prime 7!

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We spent another few weeks fundraising in person and online, when all of a sudden, the national media seemed to wake up. TV stations and major news publications started to report on all the debt, all the cattle lost, and all the mental struggles the farmers were dealing with.

That was when I met a lady named Sara Evans. She came into my workplace at the radio station, after listening to the breakfast shows discuss the massive impact of the drought. A co-worker steered her in my direction, as I had already been campaigning and fundraising to support our farmers for several months. Sara basically said to me, ‘I’ve got a truck and a driver who’s willing to donate his time, I want to do something really BIG to help these farmers.’

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We both agreed to organize a Coast-wide donation drive, which was a huge job, and we’d only given ourselves a month to plan, market and collect donations leading up to the event day. The idea was to run a drive-through drop-off zone in a central location near the freeway, as we wanted to make it as easy as possible for the public.

We both had a bit of previous fundraising experience, but nothing of this scale, and we hadn’t taken into account exactly just how much help we were going to need – pallets to pack the donations on, a place to sort and store the goods before they were loaded onto the truck, a forklift and qualified driver, traffic control on the day, a LOT of fuel money to get the semi-trailer across the state and back… we’d sort one problem, and then another would arise. And we were juggling this all while still working full-time. It was definitely a giant learning curve for both of us, but we were so incredibly grateful to have the help from dozens of local businesses.

Working for a media company, I was lucky enough to have marketing materials at my disposal – radio interviews and commercials, flyers and posters, and access to our promotional cars to draw listeners in on the day. My whole workplace was extremely supportive, and I am still so thankful to this day for all of their help. I couldn’t have pulled it off without a platform to send out the message across in the first place.

The Central Coast For Our Farmers Donation Drive was a success – while the number of people we had wasn’t as many as we were hoping, the amount that came brought an enormous amount of goods. There were donors who had collected that much dog food, groceries and water that they had to make second and third trips to bring it all to us. We had local schools collect items, business owners filling boxes and boxes of stuff at their workplaces, and families who had added extra items into their trolleys every week when they did their own shopping. It was just phenomenal how much people wanted to help. I certainly didn’t expect collecting enough donations to fill the entire truck, but we did!

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When deciding on where we were going to deliver the donated goods, we had a look into some of the most remote parts of the state, where help hadn’t yet reached. We chose the Packsaddle region, an area about 180km north of Broken Hill. The standout feature of this barren land was a popular venue called Packsaddle Roadhouse on Packsaddle Station, where tourists and truck drivers would often stop to stay the night and grab a feed.  The roadhouse was also home to the local SES Base, and Sara got in contact with the venue owner, who kindly offered up the venue for free to deliver and unpack the donations for the farmers, as well as a place for us to stay the night.

We began the road trip about 2 weeks later, with volunteers from Rotary Gosford North coming along as well. My wonderful Dad offered to drive my partner and I in his car, and on the first day, we traveled 14 hours to Broken Hill. As soon as we passed the Hunter Valley region, it was like entering a different country – the overcast weather and rolling hills of the wine country suddenly turned into flat open plains scattered with gumtrees. Everything was so incredibly dry and brown, it was hard to believe that it was once all green. We passed lots of herds wandering the roadside, with farmers leading them from behind to any patches of greenery they could find – the paddocks had turned to dust, so they were forced to look beyond their own properties for food.

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The halfway point to Broken Hill was a town called Cobar, and that was really when the effects of the drought were evidence. I almost expected a tumbleweed to roll past as we got out of the car for a stretch. From there, it got worse – we passed countless signs marking where rivers once were, now dry as a bone. The amount of dead animals on the roadside almost doubled, and as we drove the endless, straight route towards Broken Hill, there was almost no evidence that it had actually rained 50mm in the previous 24 hours. Most of the puddles had dried up already, and the sudden dump of rain had washed away the top soil on any spring crops that were planted. It was heartbreaking to think that at the time we were travelling, it was supposed to be the peak season for growth, but there wasn’t a blade of green grass in sight.

After a night’s stay in Broken Hill, we drove another 4 hours north to deliver and unpack around 60 pallets of donations. Sara and I had organized a party for all the local farming families at the roadhouse, and some had already arrived when we got there to help us set up.

The people I met were just amazing – the most hardworking, honest and down to earth people who could laugh at anything. The best part was seeing the joy on their faces. These farmers, they’d been stuck in a depression, some had really been struggling to get up to work each day. I feel so humbled and privileged to get to see first hand these people reunite with their neighbors and friends, some who they hadn’t seen for months, but had known all their life. We cooked them a free feed for lunch and dinner, treated them to plenty of free beer and set up the truck as a stage where they sang, danced and partied on till early hours of the morning.

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Most of them owned well over 100,000 acres. I spoke to a beautiful woman who’d lived on the land her whole life. To give you an idea of the size, the entire city of Chicago in the USA is around 149,000 acres – she had 250,000 acres, with a few thousand head of cattle. I asked when she’d last received rain. She laughed and said the last time she can recall was late 2015 – more than 3 years ago.

She had 10 working dogs, and the bagged dog food cost too much, so she was shooting kangaroos for them to eat instead. Each dog needed about 2 kangaroos each for a decent feed, but the ammunition for the bullets cost hundreds as well, with each bullet equaling about $5 each. There were hundreds of goats on her property which she could also shoot and sell (too skinny for the dogs to eat), but their value had dropped to $2 per goat – less than the cost of the bullet needed to shoot them.

This same lady had broken down in tears when we showed her the shed full of donations, because it wasn’t the donations themselves that brought these people overwhelming joy – it was the fact that we had gone to the effort to collect them, bring them out here, and put on a big party for them.

We wanted to show them that we cared beyond just making a cash donation for a farm thousands of kilometers away, we wanted to say ‘we hear you, we know you’re there, and we’re coming to give you a well deserved break from the day-to-day stresses of the big dry.’

Every farmer would only take the bare minimum of what they needed, insisting that there were others that needed it more. It was like a big supermarket; they could grab bags and boxes and fill up their utes with whatever they needed. They put aside boxes and pallets of stuff for their friends and neighbours who couldn’t make it.

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Many had told me that a major problem they’d encountered was the rise of bore water in the area. The water quality from the bore water, due to a substantial increase in bores being put in, meant they had to go deeper, and the little water that they could get was full of poisonous minerals and wasn’t drinkable. Most of the money they had went to buying bottled water and bagged feed, because hay prices had skyrocketed.(My family’s own business was suffering too, and we were getting phone calls from all over the state with people willing to travel hours and hours for any hay available to purchase). A lot had told me in terms of food, water and feed, they were down to about 3-4 weeks supply on hand at a time, because they couldn’t afford to redirect any money to stock up. The donations we brought have added another few weeks’ worth of supplies for them and – as equally as important, if not more – a well needed mental relief.

Andrew and I have continued to raise funds for Buy A Bale, long after I returned from delivering donations with Sara and the Rotary team. We just recently crossed the $19,000 mark, thanks money raised at our local Grill’d restaurants through their Local Matters program. We also raised money through selling merchandise and continuously spreading the word through an online campaign, radio commercials, money tins in our workplaces and articles in local newspapers and magazines.

Despite raising the money and delivering the donations, what truly touched my heart and made this experience stand out from other non-profit work I’ve done was actually travelling there and seeing the devastating impact of drought for myself. It’s one thing to press a button, share an article, give some money, but to actually see the difference it’s making is just extraordinary, and to this day it is one of the most challenging but life-changing things I’ve ever done.

Local businesses are doing it tough and desperately need an economic boost from visitors. A recent NSW Business Chamber survey in regional areas found the drought has negatively impacted more than 84%. Domestic tourism is the backbone of many regional communities, with 86% of domestic travel done by car.

Tourists spent $110 billion in local towns, cities and communities in regional Australia during 2016-17. However, of the international tourists that do visit, over 90% only stay in Sydney or Melbourne.

The best thing you can do to support our farmers is get out and shop in the local shops, eat at the local pubs, and get the money flowing through the local economy again, because the drought affects everyone – not just everyone in these remote towns, but our whole economy.

Drought conditions of NSW as of 24th January 2019 (Source: edis.dpi.nsw.gov.au)

How I Led A Team Of Volunteers to Deliver A Truckload Of Donations & Raise Over $19,000 For Aussie Farmers The majority of 2018 I spent educating people about the worst drought in 800 years. The Central Coast listened; we not only banded together to raise thousands of dollars, but we filled an entire truckload of donations to deliver to farmers in Western NSW.

[livingwellpage]

I Lost a Leg After My Helicopter Crashed in Afghanistan. Sports Helped Me Get My Life Back

[brightcove:5597045625001 default]

At age 21, Kirstie Ennis was living the life of her dreams. The daughter of two Marines, she had enlisted at 17 and was flying combat and rescue missions in Afghanistan as an aerial observer and gunner. “I was the eyes and ears for the pilot, letting him know what’s going on behind and around him,” she says. “I’m small—5’4” and 115 pounds—and as a woman I had to fight tooth and nail to prove that I could do the job. But it was worth it. I loved everything about it.”

June 23, 2012, started like any other day. She and her team had already completed one mission and were en route to pick up Marines who were pinned down in an active combat zone in Helmand Province, when their helicopter suddenly went nose down, then rolled to the left and crashed. “I just watched the ground come towards me and hoped I would open my eyes afterward,” she recalls.

Rebuilding a life

Kirstie suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as severe damage to her face, spine, shoulders and left leg. “When you're recovering from a traumatic injury, you don't just lose yourself physically but mentally and emotionally,” she says now. “You wonder if you'll ever be the same person again. For me that was a pretty huge internal battle.”

One year after the accident, on her “Alive Day,” as critically injured vets call their traumatic anniversaries, she tried to take her own life. “It was a very dark time, and I thought I didn't want to be here anymore,” she says. “After my suicide attempt, my dad was the one who talked some sense into me. He said, ‘The enemy didn't kill you. Why would you try to do it yourself? You’re tougher than that.’ It was just what I needed to hear.”

RELATED: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Suicide

Afterward, Kirstie stopped dwelling on what she couldn't do and began thinking about what she could do. Several months before, a group called Disabled Sports USA had taught her to snowboard, and she loved it. “During the following season, I trained hard, and that became my lifeline,” she says. “Snowboarding restored my confidence and gave me joy. It literally got me up on my own two feet again.”

Seeking new summits

In the years after the crash, Kristie endured dozens of surgeries to reconstruct her face and attempt to save her left leg. Then in 2015, doctors had to amputate the leg—first below the knee, then, after an infection set in, above the knee. “With an above-the-knee amputation you’re basically starting from scratch in learning how to use your leg again,” she says.

Instead of losing hope, she got hungry. She threw herself into mountain climbing, and set herself the goal of summiting the Seven Summits—the highest peaks on all seven continents, including Everest.

In March this year she summited Kilimanjaro, then in July topped Indonesia’s technical and treacherous Carstensz Pyramid—the first combat-wounded female amputee to achieve both peaks. “Carstensz was brutal,” she says. “We were climbing in blizzards, but I proved to myself I could do it.” Now she has her sights set on snowboarding in the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea.

“After my accident, I did lots of psychotherapy, but talking to someone who had no idea what I’d been through didn't help,” she says. “Being physical did. It gave me a sense of purpose, made me believe in myself and showed me how resilient my body is. It gave me goals, led me to a career and gave me the courage and strength I needed to move past my injury and into the future.”

I Lost a Leg After My Helicopter Crashed in Afghanistan. Sports Helped Me Get My Life Back published first on your-t1-blog-url

[ecoorganic]

'The Most Intriguing Battle in NCAA History': As College Football Fragments, What Next?

The Big Ten and Pac-12 canceling their fall season has left college football officially divided—and not just among conferences.

At 9 a.m. on what would be an unprecedented day in college football’s baroque, bewildering and bellicose history, a text dropped in from a TV executive who was watching the tumult unfold:

“It’s athletic directors, coaches and players vs. presidents, trustees and lawyers in the most intriguing battle in NCAA history.”

It was the perfect summation of the underlying tension of this Summer of COVID-19.

At that point, nobody was sure who was going to win that epic confrontation. By the end of the day, it was a split decision. Presidents, trustees and lawyers scored two early victories in the Big Ten and Pac-12; athletic directors, coaches and players got an apparent late win in the Big 12.

The first two leagues formally

canceled fall sports, which means for the first time in the 124-year history of the Big Ten and 61-year history of Pac-12, no school in either league will play football. There were Big Ten football champions during World War I, the depths of the Depression and World War II. But there won’t be in 2020.

The Big 12, meanwhile, emerged from a league call Tuesday night saying that it will continue on a path toward playing in the fall. It was a less-than-total declaration, with one league source telling colleague Ross Dellenger: “This doesn’t mean we’re going to play. Students are coming back to campus.”

BARNHART: If ACC, Big 12 Also Bail, Would SEC Go It Alone?

Still, this was big news—and not just for those 10 Big 12 teams and their fans. It was a necessary threshold to reach for the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences as well. If what had been described by sources as a “split” Big 12 stays the course, it means that a majority of the Power 5 is going forward—which was the assurance the ACC needed to stay in the fold.

So it is increasingly likely that college football will happen in the fall—diminished and divided though it will be. This is how it works for the oligarchy that runs the sport. There are alliances at times, but no true solidarity and no central leadership. The prevailing ethos: every rich league for itself. (And in this instance, find a few cardiologists who align their thoughts on COVID-19-related heart issues with what your league wants to do.)

But for those pressing forward to play, heed one warning: The lawyers will be circling. Not the ones counseling conferences to avoid trifling with players’ health, but the ones who will be doing the suing if, God forbid, a player dies, has long-term damage or career-threatening complications. In an email to Sports Illustrated, prominent college sports attorney Tom Mars offered this chilling view of what the Big 12, ACC and SEC could be getting into:

“Whatever conference(s) decides to play football this fall will be taking a ridiculously high risk they may soon regret. I know and have talked with some of the best plaintiff’s lawyers in the country this week, and they’re praying the SEC, Big 12 and/or the ACC are greedy enough to stay the course. If things go sideways, the plaintiff’s Bar will immediately get their hands on the internal financial analyses of the schools (a FOIA layup), get the conference financials through the discovery process, and then just stand in front of the jurors and point to the conferences that decided not to risk the health of their student-athletes. Good Lord, I’d hate to be the lawyers defending those cases.”

And the attorneys lining up to represent plaintiffs? “These are lawyers who’ve already slain bigger dragons than the SEC, and they can afford to finance the most expensive litigation on the planet. As a coalition, they’d be the legal equivalent of the Death Star.”

Sleep well, Big 12, ACC and SEC leaders.

Obviously, the fervent wish is for those who do play to suffer no ill effects. For those who don’t play, there is ample empathy.

It’s heartbreaking for all the Big Ten and Pac-12 athletes, in all the fall sports. It’s brutal for all the thousands of people whose jobs revolve around fall Saturdays in college towns like Ann Arbor and Champaign and Corvallis and Pullman. It’s a sad day for all of us who love college football.

It also could have been avoided, if the U.S. hadn’t blown off its collective responsibility to combat the COVID-19 scourge for much of the summer. The responsibility for that failure starts at the feckless, reckless top, but doesn’t end there. Before we get mad at our local university president or regional conference commissioner for taking away football, we should all grade our own virus film, to use a football term.

DELLENGER: Big 12 Keeps Hope of Fall Season Alive—for Now 

Currently, the score in the most intriguing battle in NCAA history is 2–0 in favor of those who have something bigger to worry about than whether their team wins on fall Saturdays. But back to the skirmish results from Tuesday: The university presidents, who are tasked with thinking about the greater good of an entire campus, did something they rarely do—they said no to big-time athletics. Did they want to? Of course not. It’s unpopular, and it exposes their athletic departments to massive financial hardship. But they made the hard, proper call in the midst of a pandemic that remains difficult to understand and harder to predict.

“There is simply too much unknown risk for us to proceed with the confidence we need to launch our sports seasons,” said Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez.

These decisions were made under considerable pressure, during a rare public showdown between the academic heads of major universities and their more famous (and often more popular) athletic subordinates. Sports fans are loud enough, but the noise in the system at the conference and university leadership level went up several decibels when the players themselves cranked up hashtag movements on social media, and then famous coaches chimed in, and then here came the politicians. When the president and vice president of the United States are both lobbying to play ball, that has to be considered.

The folks in athletics did their part to move the goalposts. Penn State coach James Franklin, in May: “I'm a believer in science. I'm a believer in medicine and listening to the experts.” James Franklin on Twitter this week, when it looked like the Big Ten’s scientists and doctors and experts were favoring postponement: “I love our players & believe it is my responsibility to help them chase their dreams, both collectively & individually. I am willing to fight WITH them & for our program!”

What had been a swift Big Ten progression toward a decision was slowed in the final hours. What had been considered a formality took on a tinge of drama. Would the league really tell a grandstanding Ryan Day, an angry Jim Harbaugh and a forceful Franklin to hang up their whistles until spring?

Yes it would, as led by a rookie commissioner. Kevin Warren, leading the Big Ten, stood in what looked like a collapsing pocket and delivered an accurate (if unpopular) decision. "This is a very, very trying time,” he said Tuesday. “It’s one of those days you hope in your career you don't have to deal with. But that's not the case in life—we have to deal with what's in front of us.”

For so long throughout this staggering journey toward kickoff, college football’s leadership has been embarrassingly weak. The NCAA and president Mark Emmert are virtually absent. Conferences have been fickle and slow, waiting for someone else to lead. It’s gotten so bad that one FBS athletic director stood in front of his football team Monday and apologized for the terrible leadership in college sports. “You deserve better,” he told them.

The collateral damage during all this dithering has been the athletes themselves, left twisting for weeks while trying to maintain focus on workouts for a season that may not arrive. Now that decisions are being made, universities owe them rapid answers on two fronts:

If your team is playing, what will the testing protocols and other safeguards be throughout the season?

If your team is not playing, what will the school do to support you in terms of scholarship, eligibility, access to facilities and mental health?

The split in college football is a microcosm of the split in our society, and much of it falls along the same lines. As a colleague said, a Venn diagram of those angry about canceled football seasons and those angry about wearing masks might be one circle. It’s exhausting—and also not over.

The SEC, ACC and Big 12, along with, potentially, the American Athletic, Conference USA and Sun Belt, still have to get to kickoff. There likely are many more skirmishes ahead in the battle of athletic directors, coaches and players vs. presidents, trustees and lawyers.

Read more of SI's Daily Covers stories here

More From NCAA Coverage From SI.com Sites:

Ohio State Players' Twitter Reaction to Big Ten's Decision ASU's Herm Edwards Talks Pac-12 Football Cancellation Iowa's Ferentz Delivers the News on the Loss of a Season January Football Games Are Nothing New to UW—Just Husky Stadium What Would a Spring College Football Season Look Like?

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[meralee727]

Dear Rob, Glenn and Charlie,

I am writing this very professional pitch in hopes of being part of the writing staff for season 14 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. No idea if you’ve thought about next season yet but seeing as I have done extensive Sunny research, I have some ideas and also feelings.

Here is my one ask for season 14. The one thing I beg of you not to do:

Please do not press the reset button

Pressing the reset button has become an expected plot device within Sunny universe. In the thirteenth season alone, Dee falls off the side of a building and Charlie gets his leg caught in a bear trap and neither one dies. Mac and Charlie severely beat up children to such a degree that there was a possibility that one died and there were no consequences. Sunny does take place in an alternate universe where we’ve come to expect that things like logic and prison time will simply have no place in the Sunny world.

And that’s fine.

But that being said…

I beg of you to please, please step away from the button.

I don’t have to explain what happened in the finale. You were there and Rob, I hope you treated yourself to a box of doughnuts when it was all over. A box of doughnuts that you did not share with your wife and sons. It was powerful, beautiful and perfect from top to bottom. The risk that it took to go against what everyone expected from a Sunny episode just to simply let the struggling  and lost know that it’s okay was extraordinary and for that reason, the reset button is not an option.

At least not for the first episode of season 14.

You ended on a peak of sorts and to leap all the way back to the bottom and kick off the fourteenth season doing an episode where the gang does something like solves the North Korea gas crisis would be doing a disservice to Mac finding his pride. That dance, that moment was so spectacular that pretending it never happened in season 14 just sounds disrespectful to Mac.

If I can, I would love to give my pitch for season 14.

Here it goes:

Instead of an episode where the gang spoofs a movie or does their take on a social/political issue, maybe the first episode of the fourteenth season can kick off with the gang finding Mac’s pride?

Go with me on this….

We can open on Frank and Mac coming back to the bar after having left the prison. Mac tells Frank  not to tell Charlie, Dee and Dennis about his dance.

Frank, being Frank, has already forgotten the dance ever happened  in the first place.

Despite this, Frank begins to take on a fatherly, almost protective role with Mac.

Almost.

Of course I mean Frank’s version of fatherly. The man’s not Danny Tanner. Maybe it should be “fatherly” not fatherly.  Frank begins to treat Mac how he treats Charlie. Maybe Frank invites Mac to play Nightcrawlers with him and Charlie or brings Mac boiled denim so he can change out of his wet jeans? This could cause Charlie to get jealous and as seen in episodes like The Gang Tends Bar, Charlie doesn’t handle jealousy well.

Maybe at this pride parade, Mac meets a guy? A nice guy. A guy who actually likes Mac which I think would especially throw Dennis for a loop. Someone who actually treats Mac with respect. Someone who will take Mac’s attention away from Dennis. Oh and what if this guy has an actual blackbelt in karate?

While Charlie is jealous of how Frank is being towards Mac, Dennis’ neediness starts to emerge as Mac starts spending time with Karate Man. Remembering what happened when Mac and Dennis broke up, Dennis starts to rely too heavily on Dee again.

Dee and Charlie ultimately team up to restore order to the gang. A gang as codependent as this one descends into chaos when the roles change. Frank and Mac coming together throws everything off balance. Charlie needs Frank relying on him just as much as Dennis needs Mac. With this gone, Dee will most likely get more of everyone’s abuse as Dennis and Charlie start losing control. So order needs to be restored so everything can be back to normal or whatever is considered normal for the gang.

Of course, Mac, being Mac, ultimately ends up destroying the relationship with Karate Man. Maybe Karate Man suggests that Mac take karate lessons? Mac’s delusions about his sexuality may be gone but his delusions about his ability to do karate are still alive and well.  I could not see Mac reacting well to someone telling him he should take a beginning karate class and actually trying to teach him some moves. Mac being taught contemporary dance is one thing….but karate?  Well, that’s another story.

These characters are all so severely broken and damaged anyway that while Dee and Charlie could work to sabotage the relationship, Mac will ultimately destroy the relationship on his own just by being Mac.

Now, maybe the ending could take place between Mac and Dennis?

Last season, there seemed to be a shift in the Dennis and Mac relationship. Dennis seemed annoyed by Mac though I’m not sure that was the intent. There was also the mystery as to what might have happened to Dennis? I liked the idea that you had briefly mentioned in The Gang Makes Paddy’s Great Again where the joke was that Dennis had given Mac the number to a mental health clinic. Given how Dennis was able to put together an entire sexual harassment seminar for the sole purpose of calling out the gang, this almost seems plausible that Dennis would have concocted this huge scheme so he could leave  town and perhaps check into a mental health facility?

I feel like there’s some sort of fight  or show down of sorts coming with regard to Mac and Dennis. Maybe when Mac comes back to the apartment after things end with Karate Man, Mac tries at first to tell Dennis what happened but instead Dennis goes off on one of his signature  rants. Maybe in this rant, where he goes off on all of the things Mac does that annoy him and how that affects him, he inadvertently reveals where he was when he left the gang. Mac watches in silence and when Dennis is done, Mac approaches him, punches him in the face and says, “you left me, asshole” before turning and walking out of the apartment.

I like the idea of Mac fighting back.  Mac found his confidence at the end of the thirteenth season. He found his strength. He found the ability to stand up for himself. So maybe the idea of simply punching someone in the face and leaving is enough?

The end of the episode could take place at the bar? Dee, Charlie, Frank and Mac are there downing shots of whiskey. Charlie and Frank are back as the gruesome twosome talking about a large sewer rat while Dee and Mac offer their own opinions when Dennis walks in. Dee asks what happened to his face, Dennis responds by insulting her instead and conversation turns back to sewer rats which leads to a scheme. Mac pours him a shot, Dennis thanks him, maybe pats Mac on the back. The episode ends with the five drinking at the bar planning their next scam.

Then episode two could be, I don’t know, The Gang Takes on Sliding Doors or The Gang Fixes the Border Crisis.

So how’s that?

See, I think setting the reset button will cause fandom whiplash. Right now, to paraphrase Dennis, season 13 ended with you guys as the proverbial kings of the mountaintop. To get down from top of the mountain, you don’t just jump and hope you land safely but instead you move yourself slowly back down to the ground. Back down to the world of schemes and where actions really have no consequences.

So that’s my pitch. I’d love to hear back from you regarding your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Meredith

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9859077an) Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlie Day Glenn Howerton, Jill Latiano. Rob McElhenney, from left, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlie Day Glenn Howerton and Jill Latiano attend the LA Premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Season 13 at the Regency Bruin Theatre, in Los Angeles LA Premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Season 13, Los Angeles, USA – 04 Sep 2018

IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA — “Dee Made a Smut Film” — Episode 1104 (Airs Wednesday, January 27, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: (l-r) Rob McElhenney as Mac, Danny DeVito as Frank, Glenn Howerton as Dennis, Kaitlin Olson as Dee, Charlie Day as Charlie. CR: Patrick McElhenney/FX

  Season 14: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pitch Dear Rob, Glenn and Charlie, I am writing this very professional pitch in hopes of being part of the writing staff for season 14 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

[yasunope-blog]

So Your Company Has a Authorized Dilemma - eight Handy Suggestions on What to Expect From Your Law firm

Advokát Praha As a business proprietor, you are commonly operate off your ft with the problems of working your business. The past point you need to have to stress about is a legal problem. Quite a few enterprise individuals put off working with a authorized problem mainly because they never know in which to convert, will not have the time, or most generally, are concerned of how significantly it will cost and how substantially time it will get. Legal concerns come in a lot of forms: · A customer unsuccessful to pay an account even with a lot of guarantees. · You just gained a letter from a govt company. · You just discovered out that your previous supervisor has established up a competing organization and has stolen your best customer and 1 of your key staff. · You have just been sued for $one hundred,000. · A person explained to you that a single of your standard kind contracts will not likely stand up in court docket and you are nervous about it. · You have a dispute with your landlord. · You have a dilemma with a US or European buyer. · Your enterprise has been defamed on the internet. · You just observed that your warehouse manager has been sexually harassing a female employee. · An staff is damaging your organization but threatens to sue if you fireplace him. You are not absolutely sure how to deal with it. · You are concerned with a Place of work Safety Insurance plan declare. These illustrations are just the suggestion of the iceberg of the sorts of authorized concerns company persons run into frequently. Idea #one - Seek out out lawful support at the very first sign of a dilemma Suppose a competitor has been passing off its organization beneath your name and it really is costing you shoppers and income but it truly is really hard to estimate the total. Unless you act instantly, it might be as well late to seek an injunction from the Court docket. If you feel you have a assert against yet another social gathering under a deal, a limitation time period starts to operate from the time the agreement is breached and generally expires two years later on. It's not a excellent thought to leave the claim to the past moment. If you have an challenge with an employee who is operating unacceptably, it is significant to develop a authorized approach as early as doable. The longer you wait around, the a lot more it might expense your small business. The small position here is that it is important to find assistance as quickly you detect a problem and prior to anything has been carried out to make it even worse. Crisis administration is usually more high-priced and time-consuming than early response. Suggestion #two - Have a group of attorneys to get in touch with on when you need to have them. Every single enterprise ought to have a team of on-call legal professionals. This is much less pricey or complex than it seems. All you will need are the phone figures and email addresses of reliable corporate, work legislation and litigation lawyers. Based on the mother nature of your business, you may well also require an mental house attorney, who specials with trademarks, patents and copyright. You might even need to have a tax law firm since not all tax difficulties can be solved by an accountant. If the volume of your lawful dispute is extremely modest, this kind of as a declare or complaint by a client for $1,000 or a lot less, it will be uneconomic to employ a lawyer. Fortunately, there are other valuable assets. The BBB has a dispute resolution approach which permits BBB firms and their clients to solve disputes by arbitration or mediation. You really don't want a lawyer and the only expense is a tiny administration cost. A lot more information about this approach is obtainable on the BBB web page. If your situation is in the Small Statements Courtroom ($ten,000 or considerably less), you may possibly require a paralegal who specializes in these sorts of instances. Paralegals are now controlled by the Regulation Culture but they are not lawyers and they are not a substitute for an seasoned lawyer. Suggestion #three - Learn what to anticipate when a dispute arises. As a small business person, you have learned that achievement is typically the outcome of making relationships. The relationships you make with your lawyers can be just as essential to your enterprise good results as the kinds you have with your customers, suppliers, banker and insurance policies broker. A partnership with your attorney designed on mutual believe in and respect will save you quite a few sleepless nights more than the many years and almost certainly make or help you save you a ton of dollars. There are a number of strategies to find great legal professionals for your business: Check with organization associates or relatives if they have another person to advise. If you get a recommendation, come across out much more about the organization and the lawyer by making use of some of the analysis procedures below. · The net is a incredibly handy useful resource for acquiring a lawyer but you have to be cautious. Any law firm can listing with a variety of online authorized directories. Anybody can have a flashy web site. You have to transfer past the flash to locate the compound. When looking for a attorney on the net, search for someone who has experience in the field you need. The initial identify on a Google look for might not be the finest option. Some lawyers have prepared extensively about the legislation. This is a beneficial indicator of skills and standing in the legal neighborhood. Some attorneys record scenarios they have been associated in on their websites. Wide litigation encounter in advanced business matters more than a lot of a long time is a fantastic indicator of competence. The Regulation Society of Upper Canada (Ontario, Canada) has a lawyers' referral service. The services supplies a identify but you have to check the facts out oneself. · The Law Culture certifies specialists in numerous regions of observe. Certification as a expert indicators that the law firm has accomplished a larger standard of practical experience in his/her spot but certification is not mandatory. A lot of skilled attorneys have lengthy knowledge in a discipline without having applying for certification. You have to come to a decision if this is critical to you. · If your issue is exterior Ontario, come across a local attorney very first. Several firms have networks with attorneys globally and are equipped to refer to lawyers in the Usa or other nations. Refers between colleagues are often more effective. When you contact, will not count on the law firm to clear up your enterprise dilemma above the phone. The first discussion is for the law firm to recognize whether or not s/he can signify you and for you to evaluate no matter if the lawyer seems to have the abilities to deal with your problem. If you have a authorized issue the lawyer believes his/her business can take care of, an business office assembly will be arranged. In company issues, legal professionals customarily demand a session fee for the initial office conference. At the assembly, the law firm will give preliminary or urgent tips and build a go-forward strategy. The lawyer may well be able to give a partial price estimate and will question for a retainer to include some of the get the job done. No lawyer can ensure the final result. At this early phase, there are commonly a lot of unfamiliar issues. When the law firm may be equipped to give you a partial charge estimate in a litigation matter, it truly is extremely hard to say with accuracy how a lot it will expense. It is dependent on also a lot of unidentified variables. It will be then up to you to make a decision whether or not or not to hire the attorney to characterize you additional. The choice you make will depend on your sense of confidence in the attorney. Has the lawyer listened to you? Have your concerns been answered? Does the attorney seem to fully grasp your issue? Has the lawyer introduced the hazards and downsides of your scenario? Each and every scenario has risks and charges. Beware of a attorney who tells you only what you want to listen to without evaluating the strengths of the opposing party's situation. Some attorneys will settle for a regular or yearly retainer which entitles the shopper to phone advice a couple of moments a month. Far more complicated issues demand different engagements. Idea #4 - The the very least expensive law firm is unlikely to be the greatest individual to deal with your authorized difficulty Consider this circumstance: you are searching for a attorney for a complex lawsuit. You get in touch with Mr. Jones, who solutions on the 1st ring. You explain to your tale, which has a lot of info the reverse celebration disputes. Mr. Jones states, "You have a excellent case. I am confident you're going to get." When you request how much it will value, Mr. Jones says "Don't worry, you will not likely have to shell out me everything unless you get. Just come on down to my place of work and we are going to get started out." Beware of any law firm who tells you this. Whilst Ontario lawyers are permitted to demand their expenses based mostly on contingency, i.e. a proportion of the end result, this variety of charge arrangement is only rarely relevant in company scenarios. It under no circumstances occurs when details are in dispute, recovery is uncertain or if the sum is small. When you keep a lawyer, you need a dependable advisor, who will stage out the weaknesses of your case as properly as the strengths. A litigation attorney who is waiting around by the cell phone for your get in touch with and tells you precisely what you are hoping to listen to may possibly be also hungry or way too inexperienced to deal with your scenario. He may well be in over his head and will bail out as before long as your case will take a detrimental convert. By then, your lawful circumstance may possibly have worsened. It will be additional high-priced and possibly extremely hard to repair it. Even worthwhile cases need mindful assessment and danger evaluation. An seasoned litigation law firm will typically do his by for service fees on an hourly basis in addition GST and any out-of-pocket bills necessary for your situation. Great litigation lawyers are generally in court docket, at mediation or other litigation processes, at meetings or discovery. However, fantastic litigation lawyers generally call or react by e-mail within 24 several hours. In situation of urgency or holiday, the law firm will prepare for another person in the business office to get in touch with you. Idea #5 - Avoidance is greater and considerably a lot less expensive than litigation. Authorized troubles are like pc crashes --- they are bound to arise, it can be just a make a difference of time. Contrary to personal computer crashes, some lawsuits can be prevented. Often, firms house owners deal with legal matters only when a crisis arises. They glance for the minimum high-priced lawyer to draft their leases, contracts, corporate and work agreements devoid of regard to ability, competence and knowledge. At times, organization homeowners avoid lawful measures like failing to make a shareholder settlement, failing to file a trademark software or failing to get ready a non-opposition and non-solicitation settlement with a key personnel. When served with a lawsuit, they dismiss or tear the papers up in anger. These company owners will be caught quick when the inescapable occurs. While litigation or arbitration may well still arise when there are written agreements in place, you will be in a far much more protected situation if you have taken precautionary methods just before the dispute takes place. If you answer to correspondence and authorized papers immediately, you will be greater secured than if you dismiss them. Qualified authorized suggestions is readily available for matters such as company corporation, leases, the wording contracts and other documents you use in your small business, partnership and shareholder agreements, your interactions with your workers, your firm's trade names, logos and web page, your regulatory compliance, your danger management and litigation prevention tactics. It can be all important to set up authorized affairs to assure that your particular liability is minimal in the case of a claim from your organization. Guarantee that the authorized problems affecting your business are in great get. This is probable to preserve you a great deal of money and grief in the foreseeable future. You may possibly even look at having a authorized audit or a "small business lawful checkup". We plan to compose about this topic in a long run article in this newsletter. Preventative lawful guidance might be expensive but it is just as significant as hearth insurance. Idea #six -- Do not presume that 'going to court' suggests 'going to trial' If you have not been associated in litigation prior to, you may well not enjoy that far more than ninety% of cases settle prior to trial. While a demo (or even an appeal) is not usually avoidable, lawyers use approaches to attempt to solve circumstances at earlier phases. Organization folks are wanting for certainty and to restrict expense and exposure. It really is in no way a bad notion to negotiate a settlement with the opposing get together but the timing and approach will depend on the case. It is greatest to negotiate from a posture of energy. This might imply holding off negotiations until eventually plenty of information and documents have been disclosed to favour your situation. Mediation is a different strategy legal professionals use to obtain settlement ahead of demo. Mediation includes a neutral mediator, who is normally an expert attorney, appropriate to all events. The parties and the lawyers prepare briefs to clarify their positions to the mediator. On the mediation date, following an opening session, the events retire to individual rooms. The mediator will "shuttle" among the get-togethers until finally an agreement is worked out or an deadlock is declared. This course of action creates a higher rate of settlement even in incredibly intricate scenarios. Tip #seven - Realize the risks of the litigation approach: Why do attorneys emphasize settlement? Even if you have an airtight circumstance, your attorney will nonetheless recommend settlement. Lawyers assess threat each and every working day. Even the most airtight scenario could have challenges at demo. The judge may possibly favor the proof of the opposing celebration about yours. The other party's pro witness may possibly be additional persuasive than yours. These are just two of a lot of prospects. A trial is usually a very last vacation resort. Another fantastic cause to settle is that even if you win at trial, the case could not be about mainly because The legal charges awarded by the court to a effective get together are only a partial recovery of the authorized charges payable to your attorney. · If you shed at demo or if the opposing party does better in court than their settlement supply, you will have to shell out a part of their legal costs. · There may well be an appeal which could hold off payment for two several years or longer. Until finally a remaining judgment is granted, a defendant is hardly ever prevented from working with his home - until the property is the subject of the lawsuit (or some other outstanding scenarios). The judgment may be unenforceable. The opposing party might be insolvent or go bankrupt. You may possibly not accumulate something. · The defendant may well conceal his assets or transfer them to loved ones customers to make the debt tricky to accumulate. A independent lawsuit could be important to find the defendant's assets or to declare the fraudulent transfer void. The defendant could have belongings outside the house Ontario. A law firm in the jurisdiction where defendant's assets are situated may possibly have to be retained to obtain the judgment. A settlement involves a resolution both events can are living with. If the circumstance requires the payment of funds, there is not going to be a settlement unless of course payment is created. Even with these problems, some situations won't be able to be settled. The positions of the events might be so significantly aside that a trial is required. As the circumstance progresses, you and your attorney will have to revise and update your method and estimate the authorized expense and chance of every stage of the circumstance. Preserve in intellect that the opposing party is dealing with very similar chance assessment and charge troubles as you are. Idea #eight -- Be a very good client. From a lawyer's perspective, a good shopper is a business individual who does the pursuing: Provides all the information of the circumstance rather without exaggeration or deception. Explain to your attorney anything not just the information that aid you. The rest of the story usually will come out and normally with adverse effects. · Considers the law firm as a trustworthy advisor and advocate. Has a nicely-organized set of related documents. Delivers other files and facts instantly when asked for. Accepts that each scenario has weaknesses and will work with the lawyer to produce a strategy to lessen the weaknesses. Recognizes that the attorney cannot ensure the end result but can only supply productive advocacy to generate the very best outcome, typically as a consequence of negotiation or mediation. If an assessment for discovery or demo is required, will take the time to get ready to testify. Asks for clarification on all issues that are unclear. Understands that in litigation issues, it is extremely hard to forecast the charges correctly but that the lawyer will gladly present estimates of imminent techniques in the scenario. Pays retainers when requested and settles interim accounts promptly when rendered. Considers the lawyer's suggestions carefully and delivers reasonable recommendations. 1 of our firm's consumers is a know-how business which started out as a family members procedure and has grown to the level that its brand name is now accepted and identified globally. Our client's president understands hows to get the most out of his professional advisors. He is always respectful, trusting of professionalism, intelligence, encounter and competence. He is prompt in responding to requests for facts, appreciative of great suggestions and great assistance. He functions difficult but he generally has a delighted and cheerful frame of mind.

[junker-town]

Charges are evening the playing field for NBA defenders

And stars are sacrificing the body as much as role players

On November 3, in a game that will be best remembered for LeBron James scorching the Washington Wizards for a career-high 57 points, the Wizards’ Tim Frazier suffered what has become an everyday malady for players of his ilk. In an attempt to take a charge against Kay Felder — who is now on the Bulls — Frazier hit the deck and sprained his left wrist.

The charge rule, although its criticisms operate a decibel level lower than that of intentional fouling or lottery reform, has always been controversial. Charging calls often invalidate the most entertaining plays: dunks, high-octane layups and dimes in transition. There’s nothing quite as mystifying (or frustrating) as seeing a poster dunk get waived off because it’s deemed an offensive foul.

How many great plays have been waived off as offensive fouls? How many wrist injuries could be prevented if this simple rule didn’t exist? These questions lead to the big question: Why do we have charges at all? After all, there is nothing about the charge that is fundamental to the sport.

And reckless attempts to draw charges can be downright dangerous. When a defender undercuts a guy who is jumping full-throttle to the basket, bodies are inevitably going to crash to floor. And that, the argument goes, does not even touch on the damage it can inflict on the defender.

But recklessness — Russell Westbrook notwithstanding — doesn’t, in the long view, serve professional basketball players very well. The NBA’s best charge-drawers insist that with some experience and discretion, the most dangerous attempts to draw charges can be phased out of the game.

See it from Frazier’s 6’1” view, and things change. Charges aren’t a mere brutish holdover from a bygone sports era. They actually democratize the ability of the game’s smaller, less athletic players to play effective defense. As long as they’re willing to rotate hard, read the scouting report, and understand positioning, guards who would otherwise have no business thwarting the opposition can become defensive stoppers in the paint. In that regard, charges are distinctly modern. It can’t be understated how much drawing offensive fouls has paved the way for the modernization, and eventual normalization, of help defense.

“That gives us an advantage,” Frazier says. “The bigs have advantages as well. I think it's needed.”

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

At one point in time, drawing charges was the domain of the hustle guy; the rotation guard who was forced to add it into his acumen in order to balance out his putrid one-on-one defense, or the undersized big man who thrived on his motor.

But nowadays, stars are taking charges too. Kyle Lowry has made an All-Star career out of maximizing his strong, if less explosive, 6’0” frame. He currently leads the league in charges drawn, at nineteen. “It's a game-changer when the smallest guy takes a charge on the biggest guy on the floor,” he says. “I think it's a momentum changer, also.”

DeMarcus Cousins, defense or no defense, would demand a maximum contract by way of silky smooth scoring and the defensive advantage of being seven feet tall and merely existing in the paint. But he does have defensive acumen, at least when it comes to taking a hit; the three-time All Star ranks second in the NBA in drawn charges.

He sees it as a tactile way to even the playing field against guards who create contact mid-air against big men. “I don't jump. I just take it in the chest. It's easy for a guard to sell a call against a big, so you just try to use, I guess you could say, their momentum, or their advantage, against them.” For a player who has always squabbled with referees, it’s Cousins’ way of trying to control his fortunes.

And, you know, “I'm just not the most athletic guy, so I use my brains.”

Charges do come with a cost. Quincy Acy, whose place on the leaderboard of drawn charges has helped him stay on the floor in his five-year NBA career, has progressively gotten better at picking his spots. “If I see somebody's already taking off, I usually won't go. I don't ever wanna undercut anybody. I like to take them when people are driving to pass, because they can't always stop. They just drive, dish it out, they're not really looking.”

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

He know the consequences, too. When Acy played for the Knicks in the 2014-2015 season, he sprained his wrist taking a charge. “It's really just about absorbing the contact. I try to put my arms in front of my chest, so my chest isn't taking the majority of the contact.”

He reserves most of his attempts to draw offensive fouls close to the basket where, according to him, any player wandering in with the ball in their hands is already bracing for contact. Nobody ventures into the paint and expects not to get hit, he explains.

“It's good that they added the [restricted circle],” he says, “because a lot of guys aren't jumping from way out to do a lay up. The restricted circle, in the age of Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and LeBron [James], might need to be extended further into the paint.”

But Acy didn’t hurt his wrist because of the initial contact. He fell back hard, and his wrist endured most of the blow. “It’s just working on falling,” he says, but at the same time, he admits it’s hard to work against the innate self-preservation instinct to protect your head at the expense of another joint. “I still don’t do it every time.”

“It’s just a feel,” he continues. “Sometimes, it’s the wrong feel.”

As for the inevitable dust-ups? The injuries that happen despite experience, discretion and practice, as a result of the fact that, no matter how many safeguards are implemented, chiseled 200-pound bodies aren’t meant to be knocked together at full speed?

Frazier, who played two nights later against the Raptors, put it simply. “I don't think they should change anything about it. If you don't wanna get hurt, don't take the charge.”

A Sideline Story

Situations in which Russell Westbrook just *had* to play like that to get his team the win:

Alongside Kevin Durant, with Scott Brooks as head coach

Alongside Kevin Durant, with Billy Donovan as head coach

Without Kevin Durant

Alongside Paul George and Carmelo Anthony

Situations in which Carmelo Anthony has ever deferred to anyone else:

Team USA 2008

I say this not to paint a one-sided portrait of two stars (although, yes) but to illustrate a key point in the discussion surrounding the Thunder's struggles. Over and over again, you hear the same refrains:

“They'll eventually figure it out.”

“Super teams don't always gel right away.”

But those are blanket statements that don't necessarily apply to every team, and there is very little in Westbrook or Anthony's track record to suggest that eventually, things will come together. There are personnel issues. Westbrook has been an effective off-ball player. Carmelo, even when he is set up, often defers to instinct and pump-fakes, dribbles, and pulls up for a worse shot. He is also a poor defender that's clearly on the tail-end of his career, and doesn't seem to have any designs on aging gracefully.

Now compare him to Dwyane Wade, who is thriving in a sixth man role in Cleveland, and you’ll see just how important mentality and the right personnel is.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

My two cents: Wade is incomparable, in mindset and ability, to nearly any superstar in the NBA. He was never supposed to age gracefully. He's not a very good shooter, after all, and so much of his game relied on athleticism. But over time, he built a strong mid-range game, and has always been one of the smartest players in the NBA. He's an adept passer, and his craftiness still allows him to produce within the confines of a reasonable offensive role.

Wade won his first championship, and Finals MVP, in his third season. For over a decade, they called it Miami-Wade County. He has always struck me, whether it was a result of early success or a lifelong mindset, as one of the most secure superstars in the NBA. That allowed him, in his prime, to defer to LeBron and later, to Jimmy Butler and LeBron again now. Even as he declines, Wade oozes levity.

All of which is to say: Not every super team is built the same, and not every clash of egos merely needs a reconciliation. Westbrook and Melo, like anyone else, are capable of change. But I'm not going to start thinking they will until they actually give me a reason to.

[fathersonholygore]

USA’s Mr. Robot Season 2, Episode 3: “eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd” Directed & Written by Sam Esmail

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc” – click here * For a recap & review of the next episode, “eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd” – click here Mobley (Azhar Khan) and Romero (Ron Cephas Jones) keep up the good fight for fsociety. We hear the oral history of their little arcade, from Romero, and the origin of fsociety’s name comes from the corporation title, “Fun Society Amusement, LLC.” A long, weird, ugly history. Out of which is now growing something good, or at least aimed at the intention of good. All boils down to this being the perfect place to do some hacking. Romero wants to sell the place off, under the radar. He doesn’t want to go back to jail, though. He doesn’t want to be involved. Although Mobley talks a good game. Oh, by the way, this is before Romero met Elliot (Rami Malek). The origin of their at times tenuous relationship amongst the fsociety. A great opening scene. “Panic. Here it comes again.” Elliot’s character is so compelling because he’s very real. Not only is he talented, he’s disturbed, he has mental health issues. But they’re not atypical, all the same things we’ve seen before. He’s brilliant, he’s also flawed. Now Elliot’s talking to Tyrell (Martin Wallström) over that red phone. “I think about that night, when we became gods,” Tyrell tells him. More than that he’s got dad (Christian Slater) continually barking in his ear. On top of it all he’s found out about the murder of Gideon Goddard. That morning, Mobley finds Romero at his place, shot in the back of the head. Taken out so quietly under everyone’s nose. Because whoever it is has unbelievable reach. We’re also getting a glimpse into the life of Ray (Craig Robinson). Seems he’s got his own mental issues, too. Sitting at the table, eating, looking as if he’s hooked up to dialysis, he talks to somebody who isn’t there. This is very interesting if what we’re seeing is what’s going on, if there’s no trickery. Because in this case, he and Elliot have so much in common. Which could be bad. What’s really no good is Elliot self-medicating. He’s determined to push Mr. Robot, dear ole dad into the recesses of his mind. He swallows down a bunch of pills to drown out the sound of his rambling. Right before a guy looks like an FBI agent crosses his path. Darlene (Carly Chaikin) isn’t overly surprised about their friend being dead when Mobley meets to talk with her. She’s cynical, but more so a realist. Yet it’s still not hard for them to wonder what the fallout of their actions will be ultimately, after all is said and done. Such as how Elliot’s been taken by the FBI man, or whoever he is, and they’ve got him tied to a chair. They’re mixing concrete in a barrel, as well. Big plans for him. They’re going to pour it down his throat. No, it’s just another vision, along with dad making it all happen. He forces Elliot to throw up the pills, only to be thwarted when his son, vomit and all, slurps them back down. He’ll do anything to “not be owned.” “I have burrowed underneath your brain, I am nested there, I am the scream in your mind.”

Love that we get a good look at Dominique DiPierro (Grace Grummer) in this episode, seeing more of her, as well as in her personal space. She’s not your archetype of an FBI agent with a drug problem or anything like that. Although there’s some mystery about her. Now she’s involved slightly with the murder case of Romero; her name’s turned up on a list the hacker had in his things. This gets her digging around later, by herself, cosying up to Romero’s mom to get a second look at things. We also get more of Trenton (Sunita Mani), after Darlene and Mobley go see her. They’re all divided. That sense of power, of righteousness keeps throbbing in Darlene, she’s not even scared after their close friend was killed. She also won’t listen to anything else, about Elliot, or getting away to someplace safe. Mobley and Trenton realise the danger of the Dark Army, she doesn’t appear bothered. This leads Mobley to wonder if the brother-sister team aren’t in on the whole thing. Paranoia abound. The full story on Ray comes out further. He’s got a website. He deals with very bad, dangerous, violent people. He is also likely just as violent, maybe as dangerous. He’s doing some kind of shady shit online, that’s obvious. More mystery surrounding him, even after a bit of information. Ray: “We‘re not animals” Meanwhile, Elliot believes he’s rid himself of dad’s influence. He’s taking the right amount of pills, getting enough sleep. Well, sometimes. Adderall has changed his life, he’s even into Leon’s (Joey Bada$$) theories on George Costanza and Seinfeld. He’s actually gotten into basketball. But he’s medicated into another kind of madness. However, he’s starting to see it all differently. No matter what he does there’s always that darkness lurking in him, the damage will never go away. It is inescapable. He’s starting to break down, all over again. In a whole new way. “The scream in my mind is coming back” I worry a bit about Angela (Carly Chaikin), who’s meeting Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) for dinner on a Saturday night. Seems sort of, questionable? Until arriving to find him there with a couple of her colleagues, Sol and Jim. She looks disappointed somehow, though she ought to be happy. Maybe she’s finally being taken seriously. Or maybe not, who knows. Afterwards, Price is alone with her. Tells her those two men were involved with Colby, back when they devastated her hometown. Oh, my. Didn’t see that coming. He’s actually brought her evidence to boot. What’s the ultimate cost? That’s my only thought. Elliot’s starting to see that he’s, despite all the trouble, better unmedicated. He sees the truth when he’s unmedicated. And while, to some others, it might sound insane, it’s all so true. He goes on a rant at his NA meeting about gods, organised religion, and how God “owns you” through belief and the “distortion of reality.” In this sense, God is like a father, his father, many fathers. That evening, Elliot gets a visit from Ray, who still wants help with whatever kind of website he’s been running. Ray tells him about losing his wife several years before, and that’s why he talks out loud at the breakfast table. This dude scares me, some aspect of his personality doesn’t sit right. Elliot winds up back at Ray’s office with him, then things get deeper between them. The guy almost echoes his father’s “control is an illusion.” This is already more dangerous than I imagined. Lord, I’m in love with this TV series! Great writing, fantastic themes being illustrated in ways we’ve not seen before. As much a show about mental illness as it is about hacking. Can’t wait to watch more. Haven’t even finished Season 2, already dying for Season 3. “eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd” comes next.

Mr. Robot – Season 2, Episode 3: “eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd” USA's Mr. Robot Season 2, Episode 3: "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd" Directed & Written by Sam Esmail…

[ecoorganic]

'The Most Intriguing Battle in NCAA History': As College Football Fragments, What Next?

The Big Ten and Pac-12 canceling their fall season has left college football officially divided—and not just among conferences.

At 9 a.m. on what would be an unprecedented day in college football’s baroque, bewildering and bellicose history, a text dropped in from a TV executive who was watching the tumult unfold:

“It’s athletic directors, coaches and players vs. presidents, trustees and lawyers in the most intriguing battle in NCAA history.”

It was the perfect summation of the underlying tension of this Summer of COVID-19.

At that point, nobody was sure who was going to win that epic confrontation. By the end of the day, it was a split decision. Presidents, trustees and lawyers scored two early victories in the Big Ten and Pac-12; athletic directors, coaches and players got an apparent late win in the Big 12.

The first two leagues formally

canceled fall sports, which means for the first time in the 124-year history of the Big Ten and 61-year history of Pac-12, no school in either league will play football. There were Big Ten football champions during World War I, the depths of the Depression and World War II. But there won’t be in 2020.

The Big 12, meanwhile, emerged from a league call Tuesday night saying that it will continue on a path toward playing in the fall. It was a less-than-total declaration, with one league source telling colleague Ross Dellenger: “This doesn’t mean we’re going to play. Students are coming back to campus.”

BARNHART: If ACC, Big 12 Also Bail, Would SEC Go It Alone?

Still, this was big news—and not just for those 10 Big 12 teams and their fans. It was a necessary threshold to reach for the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences as well. If what had been described by sources as a “split” Big 12 stays the course, it means that a majority of the Power 5 is going forward—which was the assurance the ACC needed to stay in the fold.

So it is increasingly likely that college football will happen in the fall—diminished and divided though it will be. This is how it works for the oligarchy that runs the sport. There are alliances at times, but no true solidarity and no central leadership. The prevailing ethos: every rich league for itself. (And in this instance, find a few cardiologists who align their thoughts on COVID-19-related heart issues with what your league wants to do.)

But for those pressing forward to play, heed one warning: The lawyers will be circling. Not the ones counseling conferences to avoid trifling with players’ health, but the ones who will be doing the suing if, God forbid, a player dies, has long-term damage or career-threatening complications. In an email to Sports Illustrated, prominent college sports attorney Tom Mars offered this chilling view of what the Big 12, ACC and SEC could be getting into:

“Whatever conference(s) decides to play football this fall will be taking a ridiculously high risk they may soon regret. I know and have talked with some of the best plaintiff’s lawyers in the country this week, and they’re praying the SEC, Big 12 and/or the ACC are greedy enough to stay the course. If things go sideways, the plaintiff’s Bar will immediately get their hands on the internal financial analyses of the schools (a FOIA layup), get the conference financials through the discovery process, and then just stand in front of the jurors and point to the conferences that decided not to risk the health of their student-athletes. Good Lord, I’d hate to be the lawyers defending those cases.”

And the attorneys lining up to represent plaintiffs? “These are lawyers who’ve already slain bigger dragons than the SEC, and they can afford to finance the most expensive litigation on the planet. As a coalition, they’d be the legal equivalent of the Death Star.”

Sleep well, Big 12, ACC and SEC leaders.

Obviously, the fervent wish is for those who do play to suffer no ill effects. For those who don’t play, there is ample empathy.

It’s heartbreaking for all the Big Ten and Pac-12 athletes, in all the fall sports. It’s brutal for all the thousands of people whose jobs revolve around fall Saturdays in college towns like Ann Arbor and Champaign and Corvallis and Pullman. It’s a sad day for all of us who love college football.

It also could have been avoided, if the U.S. hadn’t blown off its collective responsibility to combat the COVID-19 scourge for much of the summer. The responsibility for that failure starts at the feckless, reckless top, but doesn’t end there. Before we get mad at our local university president or regional conference commissioner for taking away football, we should all grade our own virus film, to use a football term.

DELLENGER: Big 12 Keeps Hope of Fall Season Alive—for Now 

Currently, the score in the most intriguing battle in NCAA history is 2–0 in favor of those who have something bigger to worry about than whether their team wins on fall Saturdays. But back to the skirmish results from Tuesday: The university presidents, who are tasked with thinking about the greater good of an entire campus, did something they rarely do—they said no to big-time athletics. Did they want to? Of course not. It’s unpopular, and it exposes their athletic departments to massive financial hardship. But they made the hard, proper call in the midst of a pandemic that remains difficult to understand and harder to predict.

“There is simply too much unknown risk for us to proceed with the confidence we need to launch our sports seasons,” said Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez.

These decisions were made under considerable pressure, during a rare public showdown between the academic heads of major universities and their more famous (and often more popular) athletic subordinates. Sports fans are loud enough, but the noise in the system at the conference and university leadership level went up several decibels when the players themselves cranked up hashtag movements on social media, and then famous coaches chimed in, and then here came the politicians. When the president and vice president of the United States are both lobbying to play ball, that has to be considered.

The folks in athletics did their part to move the goalposts. Penn State coach James Franklin, in May: “I'm a believer in science. I'm a believer in medicine and listening to the experts.” James Franklin on Twitter this week, when it looked like the Big Ten’s scientists and doctors and experts were favoring postponement: “I love our players & believe it is my responsibility to help them chase their dreams, both collectively & individually. I am willing to fight WITH them & for our program!”

What had been a swift Big Ten progression toward a decision was slowed in the final hours. What had been considered a formality took on a tinge of drama. Would the league really tell a grandstanding Ryan Day, an angry Jim Harbaugh and a forceful Franklin to hang up their whistles until spring?

Yes it would, as led by a rookie commissioner. Kevin Warren, leading the Big Ten, stood in what looked like a collapsing pocket and delivered an accurate (if unpopular) decision. "This is a very, very trying time,” he said Tuesday. “It’s one of those days you hope in your career you don't have to deal with. But that's not the case in life—we have to deal with what's in front of us.”

For so long throughout this staggering journey toward kickoff, college football’s leadership has been embarrassingly weak. The NCAA and president Mark Emmert are virtually absent. Conferences have been fickle and slow, waiting for someone else to lead. It’s gotten so bad that one FBS athletic director stood in front of his football team Monday and apologized for the terrible leadership in college sports. “You deserve better,” he told them.

The collateral damage during all this dithering has been the athletes themselves, left twisting for weeks while trying to maintain focus on workouts for a season that may not arrive. Now that decisions are being made, universities owe them rapid answers on two fronts:

If your team is playing, what will the testing protocols and other safeguards be throughout the season?

If your team is not playing, what will the school do to support you in terms of scholarship, eligibility, access to facilities and mental health?

The split in college football is a microcosm of the split in our society, and much of it falls along the same lines. As a colleague said, a Venn diagram of those angry about canceled football seasons and those angry about wearing masks might be one circle. It’s exhausting—and also not over.

The SEC, ACC and Big 12, along with, potentially, the American Athletic, Conference USA and Sun Belt, still have to get to kickoff. There likely are many more skirmishes ahead in the battle of athletic directors, coaches and players vs. presidents, trustees and lawyers.

Read more of SI's Daily Covers stories here

More From NCAA Coverage From SI.com Sites:

Ohio State Players' Twitter Reaction to Big Ten's Decision ASU's Herm Edwards Talks Pac-12 Football Cancellation Iowa's Ferentz Delivers the News on the Loss of a Season January Football Games Are Nothing New to UW—Just Husky Stadium What Would a Spring College Football Season Look Like?

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