gehringer_2

But the circumstances of their presence isn't why their performance is better or worse. If the issue is that the need for skilled labor should be reflected in who immigration policy favors, then MTU's point is exactly valid.

there has always been that contradiction at the heart of populism: The levers of government cannot be fixed by any means. Give me power and I will fix the levers of government. Nonsensical when simplified to its core. But that's because what we are seeing here is also a culture suffused in the Superman myth. The leader can do it because he is special. Ironic that in an age when it's almost impossible for any public figure to escape being show to have feet of clay, the public clamors all the more the mythical Hero. But look at film as a reflection of popular culture in this regard - what do we see but super-hero movies? We've given up on the idea that normal people working together can solve problems and are reinforcing that idea to ourselves everyday. We used to see Mr Smith goes to Washington, now we wait for Thor to save us from Armageddon. The stories a society tells itself matter and the ones we are telling ourselves are not the ones likely to inspire us to get off our own asses and fix it.

I think it has as much to do with the rise of social media. There has always been a big difference between what's said to the next of kin or in a funeral service, and the conversations in the cars of the acquaintance on the way to the funeral. It's just that the latter get shared much more widely because the kinds of conversations people used to have in 'private' aren't as private anymore. But I will grant that what has changed is the acceptance of low class behavior in general, and in a sense, it's I think that's also a symptom of that same blurring between public and private discourse. In the social media era we have monetized the kind of speech that used to remain private - so now we get it marketed in public.

Carter had let military preparedness slide to where he didn't have many good options when things fell apart in Iran. Still, I doubt a more competent Carter could have stopped the revolution in Iran any more than Reagan was able to stop the one in Nicaragua. Like Assad, the Shah had done enough to make sure his ticket was going to get punched by his people. And the Islamist movement was not something new - it had been percolating in the ME since the fall of the Ottomans. They could have done in Khomeini, but big countries prefer the status quo where leaders are off the table - it's in their overall interest not to encourage that level of asymmetric warfare. We've moved off of that stance some in the 40 yrs since Khomeini but at the time I don't think any US gov would have targeted him directly. And of course it's not like Khamemei has been any kind of improvement.

Interesting thing is that Radical Sunni Islam was also just getting off the ground in 1980 with the Siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, but the White House and the American Press were so transfixed by the hostage situation in Iran that the whole event flew completely under the radar in the US, but it was the event that largely paved the way for the rise of Bin Laden/AlQaeda/Isis etc.,

Raymond passes on a 'gimme' empty netter for his mate Larkin. Wings 4-2 final. Redmond spends the game amazed at how much better their defensive zone exits are. Strong game by Holl

Wings get the lead. Now stay out of the box for 5 min.

Ice is starting to tilt toward the Pens...

Raymond, Larkin, Veleno line started to click a little in the 2nd after not doing much in the 1st.

Keene just came in, if Davis doesn't bolt that's two options if Underwood is redshirted. Wouldn't be surprised if Orji could succeed at any skill position at D1 except the one he wants to play.

One good play, but otherwise continues to be snake bit with his puck handling. Getting Tarasenko going would be a good 1st victory for McLellan. I like that McLellan split up Edvinsson and Seider. Two decent pairs is better than two mostly bad pairs.

Not sure what it all means but all Terry Gilliam references get a like.

so why didn't he?

oddly enough, Hoover ended up being quite influential in his post presidential life. Chaired a government re-org program for Truman but probably more his establishment (pre presidency) and fundraising (post presidency) for the Hoover Institution - which has had enduring influence on US politics.

I wouldn't knock the number of caddies Gerald Ford may have put through school...... ⛳

Taking a bad contract and 'Fixing' an under performing player maybe the only way the Wings acquire a top talent. Risky business though.

still in all, he was a much better ex-president than president. He was overconfident and unprepared in 1976 and by 1980 he was pretty much in a state of paralysis in both foreign and economic policy. I'm glad he found personal redemption in his life, but as a purely political calculation it would have been nice if he hadn't done so much to grease the skids for Reagan.

exactly. I think the program assumed it was going to be a throw away year but in hindsight the season turned out to be a missed opportunity all because they didn't come up with a QB.

well -- now we can flush this season out of the memory bank.

If they had put a sign up for tryouts on the bulletin board at the UGLI in August they probably could have come up with a better QB than Warren or Orji.

with no Edwards or Mullings they should have just promoted Orji to running back.

seems likely, but assuming the big 5 aren't interested and the big money isn't there, he might decide playing for a winner is at least a consolation prize. Of course, it's not a foregone conclusion anyone yet considers the Tigs a likely winner.

I think all athletes are driven to 'win' but there does seem to be a spectrum from the athletes whose idea of 'win' is their salary ranking and those for whom the idea of 'win' is games/championships. And you see a good number of guys from the 1st group decide later they wanted to be in the 2nd group.

Scoring big is just a matter of good planning. You simply have to have the foresight to be a FA in the year that the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees all have a need at your position.

Also easy enough to see that the Angels were a bad choice in hindsight, but when Ohtani signed they were only a couple years out from being a solid winning org.