War on Christmas (Tree) Jokes (too soon?)

Yooooooo remember when DC and Puerto Rico were gonna be states?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has COVID

Sorry, but somebody has to lose their job for Afghanistan collapse, probably Cabinet-level

If the shoe was on the other foot, everybody here would be baying for heads to roll, and that's not "both-siderism."

State, DoD, somebody.

This has been completely bungled and mis-managed, and it's not OK.

And I agree with full withdrawal, but it needed to be managed properly, and it wasn't. At some point, the honorable thing to do is admit a colossal fuck up and turn in your keys.

On October 7, 2001, the United States and its Partners Began a Bombing Campaign against the Taliban

It's quite possible that the Taliban will commemorate the twentieth anniversary of that day in full control of Afghanistan.

Kabul - the Afghan capital - could literally fall to the Taliban on September 11, 2021, and that's probably an optimistic assessment.

We probably think too much in terms of "symbolism" when it comes to things like this, but good Lord the bookending here. Imagine if the Taliban "take" Kabul on 9/11.

Lollapalooza: The COVID Surge that Wasn't

We heard a lot about how Lollapalooza was a very foolish super spreader event, and that Lightfoot was extremely foolish to let it go on. We saw mocking posts of unmasked young people putting themselves at "extraordinary risk." Fake vaccine cards are being peddled in every alley of the Loop, we were told! How, how could they let it go on, we were asked.

Chicago would surely become the next COVID hotspot.

Two weeks later and, to put it simply, none of that seems to have come to pass.

To be sure, Chicago saw the same Delta surge profile on its curves as everyone else. But the curves on those graphs started before Lollapalooza and, if anything, have even somewhat flattened after Lollapalooza.There's even been a mild trending downward! Here's your Chicago Covid Dashboard: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-dashboard.html

And we have today, this, from today's Billboard article titled "Lollapalooza Wasn't a 'Super Spreader' Event, Say Chicago Health Officials":

fauci told (with apologies to e.e. cummings)

fauci told

him:he couldn’t
believe it(jesus

told him;he
wouldn’t believe
it)the

CDC
certainly told
him,and surgeon general
(yes

mam)
murthy
and even
(believe it
or

not)you
told him:i told
him;we told him
(he didn’t believe it,no

sir)it took
a Plastiflex bit of
the old auto

ventilator
tube;down the back of his throat;to tell

him

(The original, plato told, https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/01/jillyb/plato_told.htm )

We're at the Adams-Yang-Jersey-Apartment-Zoom-Backdrop Expose Stage of the Game

On Youth Soccer, Participation Trophies, and the USMNT

In another thread (this is not a call out!), a poster attributed a laxity among parents and Kids These Days to the phenomenon of supposed participation trophies in youth soccer, adding that nobody keeps score, and it's an "everybody wins" atmosphere. I suppose I'm here to dispute that, but also to point to the political-economic issues that can be seen as a partial factor to the USMNT not making the Olympics (again) this year.

So, first, youth soccer. I have been involved in youth soccer in the US for more than 40 years, as a player, a parent (girls and boys leagues), a coach, and a referee (also girls and boys leagues). I have participated in a variety of kinds of leagues and clubs across five states and in different kinds of locales. When some kids are very small, they may get, like, a little medal or something for playing. But I have never seen a league that didn't keep score, didn't track who was winning, and didn't reserve trophies for the league winners that year/season. I'm not sure where this idea comes from, but it doesn't match my decades of experience in US youth soccer across the country.

Youth soccer in the US is, in fact, extremely competitive, maybe even too much so. Kids get washed out at ages eight, ten, and thirteen, just like in other sports, when they can't move up in skill and so "lose interest." Club soccer in the US is exorbitantly expensive (which leads to problems, about which more later). Every league I've ever seen keeps score and records wins and losses. You know who the strongest players are in each league, and the clubs start scouting kids at age eight. There are, of course, leagues/organizations like AYSO that seek to ensure that every kid can play. They too are competitive. AYSO keeps score, believe me. In fact, the only place I've seen actually trophies given out to every kid in a league was a t-ball league for 4 -5 year olds that my son played in. I'm sure people will now come in and say "when my kid played..." etc. I guess, but I don't think the "participation trophy" is actually a thing that happens much in US youth soccer, above age 4 or 5 anyway. It wasn't in 1980, and it's not today.

So, the USMNT. They missed the Olympics again this year. One of the major supposed culprits is the club system. What's the problem? A season of soccer for a US kid can cost over $2000; between the club seasons and the high end training, you might be in the $4000 range for a season. It's completely nuts. So, our system actually limits development of talent on the front end - many kids who could be developed into top talent never enter the competitive club system because it is simply too expensive. Participation trophies aren't the problem in US youth soccer. Money is.

The counterpoint is, of course, that the club system is also at play for girls soccer, and the USWNT is the best ion the world, hands down. So, how?

Cubs and White Sox allowed to fill 20% of seats to start season (Mayor Lightfoot)