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Francisco 2.0

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Francisco 2.0

  1. https://theathletic.com/1550507/2020/01/21/charania-those-closest-to-delonte-west-say-theyve-been-trying-to-help-him-but-that-ultimately-more-needs-to-be-done/

     

    Quote

    Longtime confidants of former NBA guard Delonte West have wanted nothing but the best for their friend. That’s why they were horrified and shaken this week to see video on social media of him being kicked and punched while sprawled shirtless on a Maryland highway.

    “Really sad,” one of West’s longtime confidants said. “Your heart breaks for him.”

    “We all love Delonte, and we don’t want to see him like this,” offered another. “We want him to figure his life out.”

     

    Quote

    The Prince George County Police Department said Tuesday that West and the other man in the video are believed to know each other  — adding that both refused to press charges and refused to cooperate with detectives. The police department said it is conducting an internal investigation because the video of West in handcuffs was recorded by one of its officers. That officer has been suspended indefinitely.

     

    Spoiler

    Throughout West’s NBA career, the spotlight was placed on his mental health. He said in 2008 that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2010 he pled guilty to two weapons charges and was sentenced to eight months of home electronic monitoring along with 40 hours of community service. West told Slam Magazine in July 2013: “Before that, coaches and GMs, they said I was a tough, scrappy player. They wanted to go war with me on their side. Everything after that incident became, ‘did he take his medicine?’ Oh, ‘he’s bipolar.’”

    In West’s eight NBA seasons, he played for Boston, Seattle, Cleveland and Dallas, spending time alongside LeBron James on the Cavaliers from 2007 to 2010. He played his last game in 2012, while with the Mavericks. He went through training camp with Dallas in 2012-13 before being waived prior to the regular season. West never made it back onto a regular-season roster, spending two separate seasons with the Mavericks G League affiliate in Texas (2012-13, 2014-15) and playing for the LA Clippers in the 2014 NBA Summer League. He also spent parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons in the Chinese Basketball Association.

    Professional basketball allowed West to have structure in his life, to have a level of stability. According to those close to him, that has gone by the wayside since he exited the NBA. 

    West, 36, has most recently worked in construction with his brother, Dmitri, and has struggled to find consistent work, one person close to the former player said. He lives in Maryland with his mother, Delphina Addison.

    Former teammate Jameer Nelson is one of many people who have witnessed West’s post-career distress and offered help. The National Basketball Players Association has maintained close contact with West and made itself available as a resource. His college coach at Saint Joseph, Phil Martelli, and West’s former player agent, Noah Croom, have been in communication with each other — and West — about providing him support. The same can be said for the Celtics and Mavericks. Both Boston GM Danny Ainge and Dallas owner Mark Cuban have been in direct contact at various points, according to those close to West.  They all want him to find his place in life, and they want to be a helping hand when needed.

    The NBPA helped facilitate his residence change from Dallas to Maryland in recent years and extensively supported him financially, as recently as this month, according to sources. Ainge and the Celtics have given him a scouting job to scout games in the D.C. and East Coast area, sources said, but West has had mixed results due to fluctuating attendance. His close friends and family have all stepped in whenever they could.

    But one thing has been made abundantly clear. This is about far more than money. This is about bringing him proper professional assistance. 

    Nelson released a long statement on social media Monday night. It read:

    “I’m sick today my stomach right now seeing the videos of Delonte. To answer everybody that’s reaching out to me about his situation… all we can do is pray for Him and his family and hope that he seeks the proper help. Mental illness is something that a lot of people deal with and don’t even know it, until sometimes it’s too late. I’m not sure what exactly is going on with Dwest but he knows I’m in his corner and will help him get through this. Yes, I’ve spoken to him Over the past several months, just trying to be there as a friend. One thing I do know Is. if you’re having mental, emotional or physical setbacks in life you need to talk to somebody. And when I say talk to somebody. I mean, like a doctor or doctors. Not your parents, homeboy, wife, cousins etc. somebody that has credentials in helping people for what you’re going through. And please be mindful, when you posting videos or pictures of somebody. You may think you’re helping but you might be hurting them even more. People have kids and their kids don’t deserve to be embarrassed. Please Pray!”

    From West’s former teammates and coaches to team officials, all have run into the same issue over and over with him. A trip for him to seek help is scheduled and booked, West agrees upon it, and then he cancels. “He has to want to be helped,” said one person directly involved in setting him up with assistance. One of his former teams, according to a person, tried “too many times to count.”

    Yet, Monday’s incident was a reminder that they have to remain vigilant.

    “This has the potential to end very badly,” his close confidant said, “and we have to help.”

     

  2. 2 hours ago, Landomatic said:

    How long is this whole boating players in and out thing gonna take?  Seems like a major time killer to me.

    More time for Mel Kiper Jr and Chris Mortensen to pontificate.  Plus some cheesy ass videos of a draft pick and their hometown, their grade school football coach interview, etc.

    I also suspect there will be plenty of time for some C-Level musical entertainment whilst we wait for the next pick.

    "And now, live from Circus Circus, it's Demi Lovato"

  3. 7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    huh?

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iranian-mp-puts-3m-bounty-president-donald-trump-head-200121160535164.html

     

    Quote

    An Iranian legislator on Tuesday offered a US$3m reward to "anyone who kills" US President Donald Trump to avenge the assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani.

    American disarmament ambassador Robert Wood dismissed the reward as "ridiculous", telling reporters in Geneva it showed the "terrorist underpinnings" of Iran's establishment.

    Ahmad Hamzeh, a little-known member of parliament, offered the bounty on behalf of the people of Kerman, the hometown and final resting place of the revered Soleimani, who was killed in an American drone strike in neighbouring Iraq on January 3.

     

  4. In looking at the approved NFL proposal for the draft, the players/families will be behind the Flamingo/Linq area in green rooms.  They will be transported down Flamingo (it will be closed off) to the front of the Bellagio, where they will then be boated over to the stage when they are drafted.  Then, they will return to Caesar's new convention center behind Harrah's.  Unfucking real.

     

    13266325_web1_web-bellagiodraftstage2.jp

     

    13266325_web1_web-nfldraftplans3.jpg

     

    I had forgotten Caesars was building a new convention center behind Harrah's.  The NFL is going to get that entire open area behind the giant wheel for their draft shit:

     

    13266325_web1_draft_lane_closures4.jpg

     

     

  5. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/donald-trump-disastrous-encounter-with-the-constitution-very-stable-genius

     

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    On March 1, 2017, nearly six weeks after President Trump had raised his right hand and swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, he struggled to read aloud the words of the founding document. A film crew had come to the White House to record the new president reading a section of the Constitution. Trump chose to participate in the HBO production because he did not want to forgo the chance to be filmed for history, and he knew that as the sitting president he would be the documentary’s most important character.

     

    Quote

    The documentary, titled The Words That Built America, was directed by Alexandra Pelosi, a daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Her conceit was that the country was starkly divided after the ugliness of the 2016 campaign, but the founding documents remained a unifying force for the nation’s factions. Pelosi and her team had a novel and distinctly bipartisan hook: All six living presidents, as well as six vice presidents, would join in reading the Constitution on camera, and other political figures and actors would read portions of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Each performance would be edited to create a lively, unabridged reading of the treasured documents that have united the nation for more than two centuries.

     

    Quote

    On March 1, Pelosi and her crew arrived at the White House, and as they were getting ready in the Blue Room, Trump entered the opulent parlor, which sits at the center of the residence’s first floor and opens onto the South Portico. The Blue Room, distinguished by its French blue draperies and gold wallpaper, is steeped in history. It was where President Grover Cleveland and his wife exchanged wedding vows in 1886, and every December the White House’s primary Christmas tree is erected at the center of the oval-shaped room.

     

     

    Spoiler

    On this day Trump seemed stiff and uncomfortable. Though he was technically in his own home, he did not greet his guests. Rather, he stood waiting for someone to approach him. Pelosi moved in to thank Trump for participating in this special history project, but he appeared to have no idea who she was, apparently not briefed on her political lineage or her role as the director. The president asked for some water, and with no staff bringing any to him, Pelosi handed him a bottle of Aquafina from her purse. “I’ve been into the White House,” Pelosi later said of visits to see previous presidents. “There are always protocols. Here there were no rules, no protocol.” She added, “There’s so much wrong with the whole thing. I’m thinking, Isn’t there someone who’s supposed to guard what he’s eating and drinking?”

    Meanwhile, a White House staffer gave the other crew members instructions about what they could and could not do with the president. The very first rule was for the makeup artist: Do not touch the president’s hair. On his face, light powder only. The next instruction was for the technical crew: Could they make the lighting a little more orange? The president preferred a warm glow on camera. The mention of “orange” struck some in the room as an odd choice. Outside the bubble of the White House, late-night TV show hosts and cartoonists had been mocking the perpetually orange hue of Trump’s skin.

    Pelosi had let presidents and vice presidents choose the portion of the Constitution they wanted to read. Many were wary of reading the section on the rules for impeachment or foreign emoluments. Trump had selected the opening of Article II, the part of the Constitution that addresses a president’s election and the scope of his or her power. It would normally have been the perfect selection for a president—but was an ironic one for Trump, who had spoken of his desire to exercise his executive power as much as possible, including by threatening Congress and challenging the judiciary.

    With LED lights on stilts in front of him, Trump took his seat. “You’re lucky you got the easy part,” Pelosi told him cheerfully. “It gets complicated after this.” But the president stumbled, trying to get out the words in the arcane, stilted form the founding fathers had written. Trump grew irritated. “It’s very hard to do because of the language here,” Trump told the crew. “It’s very hard to get through that whole thing without a stumble.” He added, “It’s like a different language, right?” The cameraman tried to calm Trump, telling him it was no big deal, to take a moment and start over. Trump tried again, but again remarked, “It’s like a foreign language.”

    The section, like many parts of the Constitution, was slightly awkward—an anachronistic arrangement of words that don’t naturally trip off the tongue. Members of the crew exchanged looks, trying not to be obvious. Some believed Trump would eventually get it, but others were more concerned. The president, already bristling about his missteps, was getting angry. He chided the crew, accusing them of distracting him. “You know, your paper was making a lot of noise. It’s tough enough,” Trump said.

    “Every time he stumbled, he manufactured something to blame people,” another person in the room recalled. “He never said, ‘Sorry, I’m messing this up.’ [Other] people would screw up and say, ‘Ohhhh, I’m sorry.’ They would be self-effacing. He was making up excuses and saying there were distracting sounds.… He was definitely blaming everyone for his inability to get through it. That was prickly, or childish.” Though stiff, he eventually made it through without any errors.

    Trump presented a stark contrast to many other readers, including the Supreme Court associate justice Stephen Breyer, who read as if he knew the full text by heart, and Senator Ted Cruz, who “knew it from beginning to end” as a result of performing dramatic readings of the Constitution as a high school student, according to Pelosi. “Donald Trump is a celebrity and he came to perform,” she said. “He had not practiced it beforehand. I don’t think anyone would show up to read the Constitution without practicing it first.”

    Whatever the reason for Trump’s discomfort with the reading, several watching agreed on this much: He behaved like a brooding child, short-tempered, brittle, and quick to blame mystery distractions for the mistakes. “I didn’t expect this, but I felt sorry for him,” another witness said. “When [Vice President] Pence is reading it, when [former vice president [Dick] Cheney is reading it, I knew they knew the Constitution. And I thought, Before he got this job, he really should have read it.”

     

  6. 17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    reconnected with an ex and she damn wore me out this weekend. pictures of her vag should be in museums, it's perfect 

    Rules.

  7. 2 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

    True. He might send out a tweet congratulating every white player on the San Francisco roster for the victory.

     

    Someone should remind him Kapernick played (and kneeled) for the 49ers at one time.  That might be enough to push him over the edge.

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