Winter cricket and bridge thread - Held over by popular demand

https://mobile.twitter.com/AvaDjamshidi/status/1219990969485012994?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-14027100081216172104.ampproject.net%2F2001071857360%2Fframe.html

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-sports-gambler-fraud-charges-20200122-uruvy3ao4jf7xeeumtrg4jp4su-story.html

Sounds like Bilzerian w/o the rich daddy

Still, Gorodesky managed to maintain a following on Instagram, amassing more than 143,000 followers by early last year. In March 2019, he was voted one of the top five accounts to follow by the blog sportsbettingdime.com.

“Gorodetsky isn’t an analytics junky, he largely bets on gut instinct,” the blog said. “That’s part of what makes @BigRobStyle such an entertaining follow.”

Instagram at the influencer level is literally the WOAT social media.

cbs hates trump so much they just hired priebus as a political commentator.

https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/1220032500686376960

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https://twitter.com/cbsnews/status/1220118949150502912?s=21

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Update: Canberra Airport is now shut down due to an out-of-control bushfire nearby.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

– “Fire And Ice”, Robert Frost

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My oldest has, with my complete approval, traveled and stayed in the so called no go zones in Europe. I’ve suggested it’s better not to arrive at the bus stop (not even a station) at skid row alone at like 2am in LA. The only place I’ve ever said is really, please, this is a real no go zone, is any fraternity.

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Did she actually take the advice?

As far as I know.

In college my landlord and I would drive off to the No-Go Zone of Dearborn, MI to have Lebanese food and sweet christmas, they give you so much food there, the portion sizes are definitely not safe. There’s only so much swordfish and hummus a man can eat.

According to my old landlord, it’s a tradition in Lebanon to give your guests more food than they could ever eat. If you ask me, it’s like they’ve declared Islamic jihad on my cardiovascular health.

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You could go wrong eating too much meat, but it’s a pretty :heart: healthy diet. I know a lot of Israeli people in the construction/solar industry here and a I would get ME food with an Israeli friend and he mostly went to Lebanese places - said they were the best.

Seriously, WTF? This sounds like the Hilter Youth, and I don’t mean the Boy Scout and Explorer part of it, but I’ve never heard of the Explorers or Boy Scouts fusing with law enforcement.

The boys told me about their hobbies, their skateboards, and what they wanted to do when they grew up: join the Border Patrol. Then one of their friends came over and mentioned that he was in Border Patrol Explorers.

The interviews and documents paint a picture of an organization similar to the youth outreach programs run by local police departments, except that the community-building and maturity exercises are focused on learning how to track and arrest people, including undocumented migrants.

According to a CBP press officer, the 60 hours spent in the Basic Explorer Academy instructs the teenage students in physical fitness,

Ok

CPR,

Ok

drills,

Ok

and conducting vehicle stops.

WTF?

When it comes to patrolling, the techniques they learn vary by geography. In Maine, Phillips said, Explorers can receive training in operating the radar systems of Border Patrol boats. Explorers in Arizona practice footprint tracking suited to work in the desert. Many troops also receive training in firearm use, at times in outings sponsored by the National Rifle Association. Arrest and deportation trainings are standardized for posts across the country.

What?

Photos from the Yuma and Tuscon Explorer pages on Facebook show the trainees peering from behind CBP trucks or hiding behind creosote bushes and pointing mock weapons at suspects in the distance. Videos show them training in the desert or jumping out from behind dry brush to make an arrest. They run in formation, weaving in and out of cover, seeming to treat the desert like the set of a wartime thriller. Fabian recalled that he and his peers would shout “Bang! Bang!” to indicate when they were shooting someone. Other groups of Explorers carry airsoft guns that shoot plastic pellets and layer several T-shirts to protect their chests.

Fabian explained why his post would practice shooting. “Sometimes [undocumented immigrants] are not compliant when we find them,” he said. “They paid all this money to get here to start another life. They’re not just going to give up when they see us. Some would fight back. Some would be compliant. Maybe they try to kill you or threaten you. Sometimes they pick up an element—a rock lying around, anything. Anything can be used to kill you.”

He added that the Explorers are always instructed not to shoot to kill but rather to disarm immigrants and protect agents.

Another common scenario would involve simulating high-risk vehicle stops at Border Patrol checkpoints, which are scattered across Arizona’s highways. In these exercises, the Yuma Explorers would sit in parked cars, pretending to be migrants, while other Explorers interrogated them through the window. The aspiring agents were supposed to project “officer presence,” or an air of authority, as they attempt to untangle the lies of the migrants, Fabian said.

While role-playing as a migrant, he said, he would often encourage other Explorers to be more authoritative. “If the Explorer didn’t have officer presence, if they looked nervous, I would be rude to them,” he added. “If they stuttered with their questions to me when they’re supposed to be the ones with power, I would be rude or wouldn’t talk.”

The city of Douglas, Arizona, even saw a collaboration between the local Explorers troop and the Douglas High School Drama Club in 2015 after high school actors agreed to play criminals to help raise the emotional stakes of their training.

The theater kids recalled enjoying playing school shooters, armed robbers, and domestic abusers. They were so affecting in their performances, according to former theater club member Nelva Valenzuela, that one of the Explorers told her that the participant “almost cried” during a training exercise. In some exercises, her fellow actors got so caught up in their roles that they began to defeat the mock agents. They eluded arrest with elaborate dialogue and tricks, leading the Border Patrol agent to remind them to “let Border Patrol win.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/scouts-border-immigration-trump/

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Abolish CBP!

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Snowflakes

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A fitting end for a wild ride

A former Oklahoma zookeeper and one-time candidate for governor was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws.

A federal judge in Oklahoma City sentenced 56-year-old Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage — who is also known as “Joe Exotic” — for trying to arrange the killing of a Florida animal sanctuary founder who criticized his treatment of animals. The woman, Carole Baskin, wasn’t harmed.

Ugh. My alma mater continues to embarrass me with their disgusting behavior.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1220361301635076098

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In fairness, assaulting a 13 year old may be the least scandalous thing to have ever happened at a Philadelphia sporting event.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/01/23/doomsday-clock/