Each July in the tiny village of St-Arsène, Québec, people gather on Church Street to attend to the annual Antique Tractor Pull. The basis of the competition is simple: tractors of various weight categories must pull charges as far up a hill as they can.
This sport evolved from the traditional horse pull and is now widespread throughout rural North America. Only tractors from 1960 or older with unmodified mechanical parts can be entered to the race. To some aficionados, tractor pulling has become a true passion and refurbishing vintage machines is a full time hobby.


This recipe is a super quick and easy dessert, and a great way to use up stale bread!
Lay the bread in a shallow baking pan or microwave proof dish.
Microwave on high for eight minutes.
If you want to make a this dairy-free, you can substitute the milk for oats, or unsweetened almond milk.


Do you have some question or complaint? I know… but nobody is perfect. You can contact me following me on twitter, and you will also get updated with some nice tricks and trending technology topics.
If you don't like twitting, you also can send me a message using the form below. Thanks for contacting!


text:
using GalaSoft.MvvmLight.Messaging;
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using TransportApiSharpSample.ViewModels;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Maps;

namespace TransportApiSharpSample.Views
{
    public sealed partial class MainPage : Page
    {
        public MainPageViewModel Vm
        {
            get
            {
                return (MainPageViewModel)DataContext;
            }
        }

        public MainPage()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            Messenger.Default.Register<GeoboundingBoxMessage>(this, async (message) =>
            {
                Debug.WriteLine("Message Received!");

                // Sometimes TrySetViewBoundsAsync() doesn't work because the map is not yet loaded.
                // Keep trying until it works...
                bool zoomWasSuccessful = false;
                while (!zoomWasSuccessful)
                {
                    zoomWasSuccessful = await mapControl.TrySetViewBoundsAsync(message.Payload, new Thickness(20), MapAnimationKind.Bow);
                }
            });
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
How to Trace Your Family Tree for Free
Do you ever wonder where you came from? Who your ancestors were?
Perhaps you want to understand what your ancestors were like – did they share common traits with you, perhaps worked in similar occupations?
In the age of the internet, it's never been easier to trace your family tree and in this guide we're going to show you how to go about doing just that… and all for free!
Step 1: Ask your family members
Step 2: Use online tools, census, registers
Step 3: Use other people's research
Step 4: Use the free online BMD directories
Step 5: Search parish records and visit churchyards
Our own case study
This is the quickest way to begin assembling your family tree. Ask everyone in the family for their stories; some may be based in truth and help with your research, others however may be a little off the mark! An example of this; when asking an elderly relative about the family, one researcher (namely the one writing this guide!) was told with great certainty that her husband's family came from Westmorland, Cumbria. On further investigation, it transpired they came from the West Country – Cornwall!
Nevertheless, you should be able to construct a simple family tree from this information. A tree usually takes one of two forms: either horizontal:
Or vertical:
Choose the style that seems right for you.
To fill in the gaps and to go further back in time, the easiest way to progress is via an online family research site.
Step 2: Use Online Tools
Sites such as Ancestry, FindMyPast and MyHeritage all offer a free trial period, after which a small monthly fee is to be paid depending on the amount of access you require from their databases.
To begin, simply start by entering all the details you know about one of your relatives: their full name, where they lived, their date of birth (if known) and then you're off!
It is perhaps easiest to start with the censuses and registers, the most recent of which is the 1939 register. However as this is the beginning of World War Two, some family members may have been called up and some children may have been evacuated away from home and so will not be included.
The following is an example of an entry from the 1939 register:
The house number is in the left hand column, then the number of people in the household at that time, their names, their gender, date of birth, age, marital status and occupation. An entry blacked out with the words "This record is officially closed" means that that person is still living.
The other main sources of information are the censuses. These began in 1841 with very basic information, often just the names of those living at an address.
The 1851 to 1901 census forms, produced every ten years, give us more information. This is an example of an 1851 census:
More information is provided here than on the previous 1841 census. You will find the address, name, relation to head of family, marital status, age and gender, occupation, where born and then – strange to our 21st century eyes – the final column entitled "Whether blind or deaf and dumb".
The last one available to view online, the 1911 census offers extra information, including the total number of children born, how many are still living and how many have died.
From the census records, you can find the names of the rest of the family living at the home address. This allows you to follow new leads and grow your tree.
There is much more information available online than just the censuses. Through the online search tools you can also browse immigration and passenger lists, military records, wills and probate, criminal records and more. If you are looking for information on ancestors in the military, Forces War Records www.forces-war-records.co.uk is a good resource.
A great way to quickly fill in some of the blanks on your family tree is to use research done by others. On Ancestry.co.uk for example, if distant relations have created an open family tree, you can access their research. Please bear in mind not all information gained this way may be correct.
Often as you search further back through the censuses, surnames can get corrupted from those of today. This is largely because in the days when a large proportion of the population could neither read nor write, the census compiler would enter their names phonetically. Similarly for the forenames; quite often a child's baptismal name may not be that by which the child is known to family and friends, and so may be recorded differently on the census.
However if you need to corroborate your findings, or if you are searching further back in time than the 1841 census, you may find the Birth Marriage and Death (BMD) registers of use. You can search for information and also request copies of certificates for a small fee. These certificates can offer a great deal of information to the researcher.
Death certificates include date and place of death, as well as the age at death, the cause of death and information on the informant: whether they were present at the death, their relationship to the deceased, their name and address.
Marriage certificates include date of marriage, names of those getting wed, their ages, professions, addresses at time of marriage, as well as the names and occupations of their fathers.
Birth certificates give date and where born, child's name, name of father (sometimes blank), name of mother, father's occupation (if applicable), name, address and relationship to the child of the informant, and in rare cases, any changes or amendment to the name of the child after registration.
Using these certificates can help confirm (or not!) the facts found from other sources.
There are online resources to help in finding gravestones, such as https://www.findagrave.com/ and https://billiongraves.com/ but these still have limited databases.
When you have exhausted the online resources, a good way of going even further back is to consult parish records or to actually visit the family graveyard and search for headstones.
To search a graveyard and then finally find the gravestone or gravestones really does bring your research to life. You may feel a connection to the people behind the names on your tree as you read the stone, especially if there is an epitaph. You may also discover further ancestors: the stone may commemorate others unknown to you!
Researching your family tree can be fascinating. A search into the Jones line of one family led to the discovery of some intriguing and little known historical facts.
One ancestor, born in 1815, was a coal miner from a small village in North Wales. Whilst researching his part of the family tree, the 1851 census entry was unexpected and fascinating. Here it showed him at his home address in Wales, but married to a woman from Todmorden in Lancashire and with a child born in 1846 in Rouen in France!
And so the question arose – how did a miner from a small Welsh village meet a girl from Todmorden and then end up in France with his family? The clue turned out to be in his occupation: coal miner.
At the time of his marriage, the construction of the Summit Tunnel near Todmorden, part of the Manchester and Leeds Railway, was underway. Begun in 1838 and completed in 1841, it was the longest railway tunnel in the world at that time. Miners were employed to excavate the tunnel and it would appear this ancestor had left his small community in Wales to take up work on the railway.
So that was how he met his wife. But why Rouen? Investigation on the internet led to the discovery that the construction of railways in Northern France in the mid 1800s was largely undertaken by British companies as they had the experience and expertise. Joseph Locke was appointed engineer on the Paris and Rouen Railway and thousands of British navvies, miners and bricklayers were brought over to build it – including this ancestor, it would seem.
Work began on the railway in 1841 (same year as work on the Summit Tunnel was completed) and finished in 1847. Many workers stayed on in France afterwards, finding work on other railway projects. However revolution was to put an end to the British workers' employment in early 1848. Unemployment and low wages had led to civil unrest in Paris and later in Rouen in April, when bad feeling towards the thousands of British and immigrant workers in the north of France boiled over into rioting. The railway companies were forced to evacuate thousands of their workers, who fled to the ports often with only what they could carry in way of possessions. There were harrowing tales of men, women and children starving on the roadside trying to get to the ports and back to Britain.
Whether the family returned to Wales after the completion of the Paris and Rouen railway in 1847 or stayed on in France, we do not know. However had they been caught up in the rioting and revolution of 1848, they would have had little option but to flee home to friends and relatives.
This is just one example of how tracing your family tree can bring your ancestors to life. To travel so far afield for work, even taking his family with him to France, shows this ancestor must have been a man of great courage and drive, determined to provide for his family.
If this has whetted your appetite to find out more about your own past, then now is the time to start your own research. Happy hunting – but beware, it can become addictive!
The History of Welsh Surnames
Have you ever wondered why there are so many Jones' in a Welsh phonebook? Read on to find out why!
Isotopes and Richard III
A skeleton discovered in a car park in Leicester in 2013 displayed spinal curvature as well as evidence of a violent death. Were these the remains of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field? Luckily, isotopic analysis was on hand to help resolve this issue…
The Great Clans of Scotland
Each year almost 50,000 people from across the world meet in Edinburgh, to celebrate Scottish culture and heritage. At the annual Clan Gathering, thousands line the Royal Mile to watch the Great Clans of Scotland proudly parading through the capital.
Ancestry DNA vs MyHeritage DNA – A Review
We tested the two most popular DNA testing kits available. There are others available, but these are the market leaders. We found that for these two kits, initial costs are comparable and the way the DNA results are displayed is also very similar. Both products have clear and easy instructions and the test is easy to do.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Novi police sergeant completes EMU staff, command school.
Novi Police Sgt. Ayren Edgar joined an elite group of law enforcement professionals last week by successfully completing Eastern Michigan University's School of Police Staff and Command.
Edgar, who has been with the Novi Police Department since 2002, worked as a field training officer, use of force instructor and a detective prior to being promoted to sergeant. He was one of 42 law enforcement professionals to graduate from the school and served as the class chaplain.
The School of Police Staff and Command is a nine-month program designed for officers interested in advancing into the upper management ranks. Major topics of study include leadership development, planning and decision-making, human resource management, administration of the police agency and critical incidents and homeland security. The program has graduated more than 2,000 students since its creation in 1985.
For more information about the Novi Police Department, go to cityofnovi.org.


text:
Title: Michael J. Stack III
Subject: Jim Cawley, Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 2014, Jay Costa, Jake Corman, Joseph B. Scarnati
Collection: 1963 Births, American People of Irish Descent, Living People, Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, National Guard of the United States Officers, Pennsylvania Democrats, Pennsylvania State Senators
Mike Stack
33rd Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
Tom Wolf
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 5th district
January 2, 2001 – January 20, 2015
Frank Salvatore
John Sabatina, Jr.
(1963-06-05) June 5, 1963
Tonya Stack
Michael J. Stack (grandfather)
Villanova University (J.D.)
Judge Advocate General's Corps[1]
Michael Joseph 'Mike' Stack III (born June 5, 1963) is an American politician who is the 33rd and current Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. A Democrat, he was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 5th District from 2001 to 2015.
Political career 1
Personal life 2
He was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2014 election, running alongside Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Wolf.[2] The Wolf/Stack ticket defeated the Republican Tom Corbett/Jim Cawley ticket in the 2014 gubernatorial election. Stack took the oath of office January 20, 2015.[3][4]
Stack is Ward Leader of the 58th Ward Democratic Executive Committee.[5]
His grandfather, the first Michael J. Stack, was a United States Congressman from 1935 to 1939. In 2002, he was named to the PoliticsPA list of Best Dressed Legislators.[6]
Senator Stack official Caucus website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Michael J. 'Mike' Stack III (PA) profile
Follow the Money - Mike Stack
2006 2004 2002 2000 campaign contributions
Scott Conklin Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
2014 Most recent
Jim Cawley Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
2015-present Incumbent
Vice President of the United States: Joe Biden (D)
AZ Michele Reagan (R)1
AR Tim Griffin (R)
DE Jeffrey Bullock (D)1
IL Evelyn Sanguinetti (R)
ME Michael Thibodeau (R)2
MD Boyd Rutherford (R)
MA Karyn Polito (R)
MN Tina Smith (D)
NE Mike Foley (R)
NV Mark Hutchison (R)
NY Kathy Hochul (D)
OR Ted Wheeler (D)4
PA Michael Stack (D)
RI Daniel McKee (D)
SC Henry McMaster (R)
TX Dan Patrick (R)
WV Bill Cole (R)2
WY Ed Murray (R)1
AS Lemanu Peleti Mauga (I)
MP Ralph Torres (R)
VI Osbert Potter (I)
4. Treasurer
Political party affiliation:
American people of Irish descent
Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania State Senators
Pennsylvania Democrats
National Guard of the United States officers
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Politics
Puerto Rico, Philadelphia, Virginia, /e Washington, United States
United States Air Force, American Revolutionary War, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina
Republican Party (United States), Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Temple University, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Democratic Party (United States), Republican Party (United States), Pennsylvania, United States House of Representatives, United States Senate
Jay Costa
Democratic Party (United States), Pittsburgh, Incumbent, Pennsylvania State Senate, Pennsylvania
Jake Corman
Republican Party (United States), Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State Senate, Democratic Party (United States), Kentucky


text:
Posts Tagged ''Troops Out' Movement'
Republican Ted Cruz Wants Increased Police Patrols in Muslim Areas
It's not just Trump who is promoting a very anti-Muslim line in America. It's also Ted Cruz, another far-Right Republican. Over on The Young Turks they've actually been debating who would be worse for America – Trump or Cruz. While Trump's been talking about banning Muslims from entering America, for example, Cruz has actually been doing it. He's behind a law to prevent, or at least limit, further Muslim immigration.
After the terrible attacks in Belgium this week, Cruz got up to recommend that there should be increased police patrols in Muslim areas. The Young Turks naturally took a dim view about that. Cenk Uygur, one of the Turks' anchors, who is himself of Muslim Turkish heritage, said that while they were at it, why not move Muslim communities somewhere else, and create a ghetto. He was, of course, being bitterly ironic, but his attack does voice fears that what Trump wants is internment camps for Muslims after the Trumpenfuhrer stated that Muslims should be forced to carry identification documents. And now it seems, Cruz holds similar views on policing Muslims.
Such a policy would be both nasty and counterproductive. Nasty, because it criminalises millions of ordinary people, who aren't terrorists, don't sympathise with terrorism and have nothing to do with terrorism, simply because of their faith.
It's counterproductive because such heavy-handed methods will only increase radicalisation, and very definitely not catch the terrorists themselves. Older Brits may remember a series of riots that shook Britain in about 1981/2 against Maggie Thatcher. These broke out in poor communities throughout the country, and particularly in Black and ethnically mixed areas. Among those affected were Toxteth in Liverpool, Brixton in London and St. Paul's in my hometown of Bristol. The people in those areas have said since that they weren't race riots, though that was how they were perceived at the time. Racial discrimination, and a lack of jobs and opportunities for Black youngsters, was certainly one of the causes of the rioting, as is stated in the Scarman Report. One of the newspapers has also described the riots as 'a series of insurrections against the police'. Certainly there was a very heavy police presence in St. Paul's. It was and is a high crime area, and one resident interviewed in the local media stated that there was a feeling at the time that 'the police were occupying St. Paul's'.
This is what will happen in America if Ted Cruz has his way and starts introducing a heavier police presence in Muslim areas. It will turn Muslims away from co-operating with the authorities and the police, and make violence and disaffection more, not less likely. And it won't stop the real terrorists.
Now it's true that so far, many of the Islamic terrorists caught have come from a network of organisations and mosques. But police are worried about 'lone wolf' attacks, where individuals seeming come out of nowhere to run amok. Several of the terrorists caught have been self-radicalised, through material they've read or watched on the interwebs.
When the IRA began their bombing campaign in Britain in the early 1970s, they had a very clear strategy to avoid detection. They deliberately avoided moving in Irish expatriate communities, visiting Irish pubs or community centres. They kept a very low profile in order to merge with the general British population. And this is what ISIS wants to do with their 'lone wolf' policies. Mercifully, the police were able to catch some of the terrorists, but over the years the IRA was responsible for a series of horrific attacks in Britain which left hundreds maimed and killed. And the presence of the British army in Northern Ireland, who had originally been called in because the RUC was too sectarian and brutal in its treatment of Roman Catholics, became a symbol of the British occupation of Ulster, as it was seen by Irish Republicans and some of those on the wider British Left. Now I wasn't a supporter of the 'Troops Out' campaign, because before the Good Friday peace agreement was concluded it just seemed to me that without the army, the paramilitaries in Ulster, whether Republican or Loyalist, would just increase the violence exponentially until it became far more of a bloodbath than it already was. But there's no doubt that the presence of the army was resented by many, possibly most, Ulster Catholics.
Cruz recommendation of increasing police patrols in Muslim areas is likely to repeat all the mistakes Britain made in policing Black areas in Britain. They will become a focus of hatred for American Muslims, just like many Roman Catholics in Ulster resented the presence of the British army. And like the IRA, the real terrorists will find ways of avoiding them. Cruz's policy is worse than useless. It should be dumped, along with Cruz himself. America's a great country, which deserves better than these intolerant buffoons.
Tags:'Troops Out' Movement, Blacks, Bristol, Britain, British Army, Brixton, Cenk Uygur, Donald Trump, Ghettoes, Good Friday Agreement, Immigration, IRA, Irish, Liverpool, London, Margaret Thatcher, Muslims, Northern Ireland, Pubs, racism, Republican Party, Riots, Scarman Report, St. Paul's, Ted Cruz, the Police, The Young Turks, Toxteth, Turks
Posted in America, Belgium, Democracy, Ireland, Islam, Justice, Persecution, Politics, Roman Catholicism, Terrorism, The Press, Turkey, Unemployment | 1 Comment »
A Memoir of a Brutal Life in British Fascism
Matthew Collins, Hate: My Life in the British Far Right (London: Biteback Publishing 2011). With a foreword by Billy Bragg.
This is a grim book about grim people. Extremely grim and unpleasant people. The kind of people Norman Stanley Fletcher, the balladeer of H.M. Prison Slade, used to describe as 'charmless nerks'. Collins is a writer and researcher for the anti-Fascist magazine, Searchlight. The blurb on the back describes him as the organisation's Northern Ireland correspondent, and states that he is noted for his work exposing the English Defence League. Before he joined Searchlight, he was a committed member of the Far Right. This is his account of his passage through the various British Fascist parties and their allies – the NF, the BNP, Combat 18 and the UDA, before disgust at their leadership and extreme brutality led him to contact Searchlight. His part in exposing a still unnamed Sun journalist as an NF member and a World In Action documentary into Combat 18, supplying arms to the UDA, eventually forced him to flee England for Australia. He spent 10 years in Oz, enjoying a life of carefree pleasure, meaningless sex, and marriage, before finally returning to Blighty to continue the struggle.
Unlike other, more academic books, which analyse the NF, BNP and related Fascist organisations from the perspective of their ideologies, electoral performance and demographic composition of their membership, Collins autobiographical account describes what life in the Far Right is actually like for the rank-and-file members. These are the storm troopers, who spend their weekends travelling across Britain to parade on marches, attend speeches and rallies, and get extremely drunk, threaten and beat up 'Reds', Blacks, Asians, gays, and just about anyone and everyone they don't like. Which really could be anyone and everyone. There's a description in the book of how the NF's storm troopers trashed a pub during a weekend away in Brighton, simply because one of the barmaids objected to one of the skinhead thugs attempting to grab the phone from her hand and demanding that she call him a taxi. Collins makes it extremely clear that these are extremely violent, brutal men.
The 'Political Soldier' NF
Collins joined after the NF had split into two factions. One of these, led by Griffin, was the 'Political Soldier' movement, This took its inspiration from Roberto Fiore and other terrorists from the Italian Forza Nuova. They were attempting to stem the drift away from Fascism under Thatcher by developing new ideological strands, some of which were more left-wing. They took over elements from Colonel Gaddafi's Libya and revolutionary Iran. Some aspects of these new ideologies were more left-wing than the NF's usual stance. For example, during the Miners' Strike one faction within the NF offered help to the strikers, which Scargill obviously declined. The rank-and-file members weren't interested in this. Collins says they had no interest in going to a remote farmhouse to answer detailed questions on their personal political and religious convictions. They are really interested in getting drunk and beating someone to a pulp.
Fascism and Political Violence
And the violence is very, very brutal. Far more brutal than the gang fights kids get into a school. It takes no account of age or gender, and continues even when the victim is on the floor. These are people, who by and large think nothing of maiming and ultimately killing their victims. Collins describes how deeply ashamed he was at taking part in a BNP attack on an anti-Fascist meeting at Welling Library, during which 17 people were hospitalised. Nearly all of these were women. Most of them were Asians, worried about the safety of their children in an area with so much racist violence against them. One of the intended victims was pregnant, and locked herself in the ladies' loos for safety, while the men outside tried to get in to attack her and her unborn child. On their way in, they punched Geoffrey Dixon, the Labour councillor for Greenwich and the caretaker to the floor, and then stamped on them. Collins states that the caretaker never worked again. Some of the victims were so terrified that they jumped from the windows – the meeting was held on the first floor – to escape. Collins states that he and one of the other storm troopers were the only ones to hit men during the assault, which even sickened the other Fascist. Collins himself was so shocked and disgusted that he left and rejoined the NF for a while. Later on Collins tells how the BNP and its supporting football hooligans attacked the Liberal candidate for Bermondsey, Simon Hughes, in his battle bus.
Fascist Violence and Intimidation at University Meeting
And Fascists behave no better when in an academic environment. Collins describes the atmosphere of threat, intimidation and abuse produced by the BNP when they organised an event at which David Irving, the notorious holocaust denier, spoke. Collins does not give the name of the institution, which hosted the meeting, but states that it was held – incredibly – in the International Students' House. The BNP stewarding the event effectively take over the library, at one point stopping the terrified students from leaving, then allowing them to come and go as they wish, but under their supervision. Seeing a group from anti-Fascist Action outside the window, the Nazis immediately begin to make ape noises and shout challenges and anti-Semitic abuse. They also generally behave as drunken louts, indecently exposing themselves, tearing books off shelves, and intruding into small, private discussion groups. A few tried to pick up two African girls, while another tried to press his unwelcome attentions on a blonde woman, who shut herself in her office, leaving the offended Nazi banging on the door and loudly declaring his love and sexual intentions outside. Collins describes it as like a prison riot.
This description of the loutish antics of the BNP, even in an academic environment, is important. In the 1980s a number of branches of the Students' Union passed rules stating that the Union was a 'no platform for racists and Fascists'. It's a controversial decision, as some, who are definitely not Fascists or Fascist sympathisers, feel that it's anti-democratic. There was also obviously enormous controversy when the Oxford Union back in the 1990s invited Irving to speak. Collins description of this episode and the aggressive, threatening and generally disgusting behaviour by the BNP actually shows you how wise the Anti-Fascist groups are to try and keep them off campus, if only to protect the students themselves, regardless of any wider political issues.
Fascists Personally Sad Inadequates
There's a danger in that describing violence, whether by Fascists or any other group of thugs, can also glamorise it, making it appear attractive, even admirable. Collins avoids this. He makes it very clear how brutal and unpleasant it actually is, how ashamed he is of his part in it, and how sad and pathetic the men involved actually are. Pathetic? Yes, really. He states that by and large, the members of the Far Right are so unattractive to the opposite gender that they have actually little chance of getting girlfriends or having any kind of sex life. Collins does seem to have had a string of extremely short-term relationships, but they mostly never called him back. He mostly solved his own problems in finding female company through amassing a collection of porn and self-abuse. When he did finally succeed in getting what looked like a long-term relationship, the girl left him because she couldn't take his involvement in Fascism and its dangers any longer. He is particularly scathing about the sexual inadequacies of his fellow Fascists, and their lack of physical endowment. It's low stuff, but it makes them unattractive at the level such groups aim at. You consider the way violent criminals, like East End White gangsters, and gangsta rappers, are often portrayed surrounded by attractive young women. The message of those images is that if you were similarly a vicious hard man, you too will have girls flinging themselves at you. Collins here shows that in the case of Fascism, this very definitely will not happen. The only people within the Fascist milieu that have any kind of sex life are the skinheads, and he's not impressed with them. He sees them as quite squalid individuals, fathering children with three or four different women, who in turn have other kids by three or four different fathers. The men just seem to use them purely for sex, and he describes the skinhead girls as going from one meaningless, squalid relationship to another with a mattress tied to their backs.
NF's Ian Anderson More Basil Fawlty than Hitler
Some of the Fascist leaders are also less than impressive up close. Collins describes Ian Anderson, the leader of the NF faction he joined, as a rather Fawlty-esque figure. Anderson had a vicious temper, flying into abusive rages whenever anything went wrong, to the point where Collins calls him 'Angry Anderson'. An Oxford drop out, Anderson was physically scruffy and his house a mess. Collins describes him wearing worn, threadbare suits. His living room floor was covered with newspapers and other rubbish. His furniture was similarly worn and threadbare. His settee had no seat, so that if you sat on it, you were effectively sitting on the floor. At one point the house is such a mess that the other leading storm troopers don't want to go there for meetings.
Anderson was trying to lead his faction of the NF away from anti-Semitism in an attempt to make it more electorally respectable. Collins states that some of his fellow storm troopers shared his views. One of his friends told him that while they hated non-Whites, they really didn't understand the hatred of the Jews. This policy was not having much success, however, and Anderson's NF were losing members fast due to competition from the much more aggressive and overtly Nazi BNP, led by Richard Edmonds and Tyndall. Collins and many of the other members were left dispirited and disillusioned by Anderson's leadership. Turnout at parades and marches were tiny often as low as thirty. Towards the end of that section of the NF, they were reaching as low as perhaps ten or twelve. Anderson himself also seemed to regard the NF as a business, to provide him with a personal income, at one point asking the party's governing body to give him £8,000. Even here, his management was not very business-like. Orders and correspondence went unread, and cheques weren't cashed or paid in. Faced with this venality and incompetence, Collins and many others left to join the BNP.
BNP Nazi, Viciously Anti-Semitic
These were overtly, aggressively Nazi. Not only did their literature deny the reality of the Holocaust, but its members also looked forward to a similar policy of racial extermination. Collins states that when he was in there, although in his calmer moments he wanted a bloodless, painful removal of Jews and non-Whites from Britain, he also dreamed of sending them 'to the East', as the Nazis deported the Jews and their other victims to the concentration camps. The BNP also had links to surviving Nazis and members of Mosley's BUF. He describes the chaos and violence at the Kensington Library meeting, which ultimately led to the formation of the extremely violent Combat 18. This was a meeting of the League of St. George, whose doorman was dressed in full Nazi regalia. This was gatecrashed by Searchlight's Gerry Gable and a squad of about fifty anti-Fascists. Despite Gable's appeal for calm, the meeting degenerated into violence and the Nazis were given a vicious beating.
Origins of Combat 18
Combat 18's origins are murky, and there is considerable evidence of state involvement. Charlie Sargent, its founder, whom Collins describes as 'an overweight, knife-carrying, drug-peddling lout', was later revealed to be a police informer. Harold Covington, who was also involved in its foundation, may also have been connected to the American intelligence services. I have seen the accusation that Combat 18 was set up the FBI to act as a honey trap for the Far Right. Collins mentions him, but only to say that he was small fry compared to William Pierce, the writer of the notorious Turner Diaries, and the US National Alliance. Covington was also unpalatable to many British Nazis because of his support for the IRA and connections to American Nazi IRA supporters, like Sean Maguire.
BNP Connections to Ulster Protestant Terror Groups
Far more acceptable to British Nazis was the UDA, and Collins describes how he and another BNP member, Eddie Whicker, answered the UDA's request for British members to provide them with support. The BNP and its members were later revealed by World In Action attempting to supply them with guns. Collins himself appears to have been less than impressed with them. He states that their magazine, Ulster, was full of tradition and history, but had very little in the way of ideology. The UDA seemed actually not to know what it is they stood for, except that they didn't want to be governed by Ireland or indeed anybody else. They were also poorly armed and equipped compared to the IRA. And while they were desperate for British Fascist support, they were less keen on their racism. One issue of Ulster contained an order for attacks on Chinese restaurateurs in the Six Counties to stop. This, however, seems to have been rejected in recent years, as there has apparently been a rise in racist attacks by Ulster Loyalists, disenchanted with the Good Friday agreement. In addition to attacking Leftists, Blacks, Asians and gays, the NF and BNP also laid into Irish Republicans and the 'Troops Out' movement when they organised their marches.
Hooligans and Political Use of violence
Taking part and supporting the Fascists in their violence were an assortment of football hooligans. These include various casuals, as well as hardened hooligan 'firms' like the Nutty Turn Out, and, of course, Millwall. The NF and BNP journey up and down the country in their campaigns, including the northern industrial towns where they attempt to intimidate the local Black and Asian populations. Much of the campaigning and violence takes place in the East End of London and Brick Lane, which has a long tradition of racist violence and resistance to racists since Mosley and his squadristi in the 1930s. Zadie Smith describes the racist violence in the area, and a fictional Asian group, the Bengal Tigers, set up to fight back against the Nazis, in her novel, Brick Lane. Collins also goes into the various motives the NF and BNP have for campaigning. He and many other Fascists had absolute contempt for parliament and democracy, and due to their repeated electoral failures many of them saw standing in elections as a waste of time. Their real focus was on expanding Nazi power through control of the streets. Nevertheless, standing in elections acted as a recruiting tool. They also regarded it as an instrument through which they could make race relations worse, and drum up even more hatred. This should be borne in mind the next time the BNP or any other Far Right group puts forward candidates at an election. They have no intention of making things better for society, only in creating further discord and violence. As for the Derek Beackon and the other NF members, who became the first elected BNP local councillors in Tower Hamlets, Collins states that when he met him was always drunk. He is also immensely proud of the way he and Searchlight managed to have all but two of the seven storm troopers lose their seats at the next elections.
Recruitment through Racial Tensions Created by 'Satanic Verses' Controversy
Collins also provides insight into the way the BNP and NF exploited racial tension created by Muslim outrage at Rushdie's Satanic Verses. He states that for the Far Right, it was simply a case of attacking Asians as usual. However, it allowed them to gain support from Whites frightened by the rise in Muslim assertiveness and aggression.
Conservatives and the Fascist Right
Also linked to the NF and the BNP were extreme Right-wing Tories, such as Western Gaols. Collins describes attending the meeting at the Sudeley Room at House of Lords, where the meeting was addressed by the South African Conservative MP, Clive Derby-Lewis. Later on, as his disenchantment with Fascism increases, another Tory, Adrian Davies, invites him to join the Conservatives and acts as his alibi when he is forced to hide out in Spain for a week, following his exposure of the Sun journalist as a Nazi.
Background of Fascist Members and Supporters
Collins book is also important in that it provides an insight into the background and type of men drawn to the NF. Collins' father was Irish, though Collins himself didn't realise this for much of his childhood, and it didn't matter much to him after he found out. Unsuited to married life, his father gradually became more and more distant from his family until the marriage broke down completely and he left. His family were poor working class, and Collins was a poor, underperforming pupil at school. A remark from his father that if he was Roman Catholic, there'd be no Blacks at his school, and thinking about his family poverty and deprivation led him to conclude, as undoubtedly so many angry poor Whites did, that it was caused by Black and Asians.
His family were also Tories, who read the Daily Mail, watched Jim Davidson, and he fully supported Thatcher's attack on the miners and Norman Tebbit's demand that the unemployed should get on their bikes. This anger and alienation led him first to argue with the Leftist teachers at his school, and to borrow books on modern Fascism from the school library. He then moved on to actively looking for literature and trying to join the NF. A copy of British Nationalist pushed through the front door allowed him to make contact with the Richard Edmonds, the BNP's leader. A meeting with five members of the NF in the local pub impressed him with how normal they were, and their stories about Richard Edmonds led him to join the NF. In the event, he and a number of others ended up in both organisations, with Edmonds and Anderson each asking him to spy on the other's party. Collins joined when he was very young – only 15 – in 1987, and spent six years in the organisation before being forced to flee the country to escape them when he was 21.
Growth of Fascism and New Labour's Abandonment of Working Class
He states in the book that part of the rise in the Far Right was due to New Labour's turn away from the working class. There is also jealousy and resentment at the way Black and Asian culture was celebrated and encouraged, while White working class culture was given no such assistance and enjoyed no similar amenities. These are important points. Owen Jones in the chapter 'Backlash' in Chavs argues that New Labour's abandonment of the White working class for the middle class, and its celebration of Black and Asian culture, although entirely right, has also led many working class Whites to feel abandoned and resentful of the supposed privileges of non-Whites.
This is now extremely important, with the victory in the European elections of extreme Right-wing, populist parties like UKIP and the French Front National. UKIP is anti-immigrant, but has a policy of weeding out Fascists, although it does seem to have an incredible amount of them. Its members are, however, mainly older, working class people, who feel that the established parties, particularly New Labour, have abandoned them.
The book does provide a fascinating insight into what life in the Far Right is actually like for the average storm trooper, as well as giving Collins account of how he became so disgusted with them that he ended up not only working for Searchlight and then Special Branch, the latter not entirely willingly. There are problems, however. As a member of Searchlight, Collins is of course biased in their favour. While they have done a great deal of good in exposing the Far Right and its activities, other anti-Fascists have complained that Gable and Searchlight have smeared them and accused of being Fascists when they have pursued their own investigations independently. They have also accused it of appropriating their work, when this has subsequently been proven to be the more correct. See, for example, Matthew Kalman and John Murray's article about the smears directed at them and Larry O'Hara, 'Another Searchlight Smear Job', in Lobster 30: 26-7. O'Hara has similarly attacked the World In Action documentary on the Far Right for its inaccuracies. Nevertheless, it's still an important, gripping book for its personal account of the British Far Right during the late '80s and early '90s, its connections and the personal lives and motivations of its members.
Tags:'Brick Lane', 'Hate: My Life in the Far Right', 'Political Soldier', 'Troops Out' Movement, 'Turner Diaries', 'Ulster', Adrian Davies, Arthur Scargill, Asians, Bermondsey, Billy Bragg, Blacks, BNP, BUF, Charlie Sargent, Chavs, Conservatives, David iriving, East End, Eddie Whicker, Fuorza Nuova, Geoffrey Dixon, Gerry Gable, Greenwich, Harold Covington, House of Lords, Ian Anderson, IRA, John Murray, John Tyndall, Larry O'Hara, League of St. George, Lobster, Margaret Thatcher, Matthew Collins, Matthew Kalman, Millwall, National Alliance, National Front, New Labour, Norman Stanley Fletcher, Norman Tebbit, Oswald Mosley, Owen Jones, racism, Richard Edmonds, Roberto Fiore, Satanic Verses, Searchlight, Simon Hughes, Skinheads, Special Branch, The Daily Mail, The Sun, UDA, UKIP, Universities, Welling Library, William Pierce, World in Action, Zadie Smith
Posted in America, Australia, Fascism, France, Liberals, LIterature, Nazis, Politics, Poverty, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »


Whoopi Goldberg came out in defense of fellow star Liam Neeson, who is currently embroiled in a controversy over statements he made where he expressed plans to kill a random "black b******" because of an attack his dear friend suffered. While several have come out on social media calling for a boycott of Neeson's movies and asking for him to be banned from the upcoming Oscars, 63-year-old Goldberg had a more restrained view of the 'Taken' star's comments, which were made 40 years ago.
According to the Daily Mail, Goldberg appeared on 'The View' to offer her thoughts on Neeson's statements, claiming people shouldn't be so "surprised" by his anger and desire for revenge after hearing a near and dear one had been raped.
"People walk around sometimes with rage, that's what happens. Is he a bigot? No," she was quoted saying during the show. "I've known him a pretty long time, I think I would have recognized, I've been around a lot of real bigots. I can say this man is not one. You can't be surprised that somebody whose loved one is attacked is angry and wants to go out and attack."
On 'Good Morning America' (GMA) Tuesday, February 5, making his first public appearance since he made the bombshell confession of wanting to kill a black man, Neeson refused to apologize and insisted he was not racist, giving audience members some context on what had prompted him to make the statements four decades ago.
"Nearly 40 years ago, when a very dear friend of mine was brutally raped and I was out of the country and when I came back, she told me about it," he explained. "I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out. I asked her did she know the person and his race. She said he was a black man."
"I thought okay and after that there were some nights, I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence," he continued. "I did it for say, maybe four or five times until I caught myself and it really shocked me, this primal urge. It shocked me and it hurt me. Luckily no violence occurred."
Neeson said he was "not racist" and "was trying to show honor for a friend I dearly loved, in a medieval fashion," adding he would have had the same reaction even if the attacker was "Irish, a Scot or Brit or a Lithuanian." He revealed he later understood the error of his ways and sought out to correct himself. "I did seek help," he said. "I went to a priest, who heard my confession and also later confided in two friends and would go out powerwalking for two hours a day to get this [anger] out of me."
When asked by 'GMA' host Robin Roberts if "he understood the pain of a black person," on hearing those words, the actor replied, "Absolutely, you're absolutely right. And at the time, even though this was nearly 40 years ago, I didn't think about that. It was this primal hatred, I guess, that really shocked me, when I eventually came down to earth and saw what I was doing, looking for a fight."
Neeson's upcoming film, 'Cold Pursuit,' is set to release in the U.S. this Friday, February 8. It will release in U.K cinemas February 22. Watch Liam Neeson's interview on 'Good Morning America' below.


text:
TVG, HORSE RACING RISES TO THE OCCASION DURING THESE TROUBLED TIMES
By John Pricci - On the Line
It really doesn't matter how I feel about the game I love to hate, or hate the game I love, I am thankful for horse racing during one of the most trying ordeals in the history of this nation. Any distraction in a storm.
Forget that handicapping is an exercise that helps keep the farthest recesses of the mind moving on a daily basis for racing fans, enabling them to hang on while senior moments effort to take up permanent residence.
Speaking for myself and many friends, thank the Deity that allows The Great Distraction to mitigate The Great Depression. From a pandemic of emotional distress, there is no immunization.
So I'm thankful for the courageous horsemen who tend to the animals by putting on a show for the rest of us and thankful for TVG, the racing network I hate to love and love to hate.
For all the loquacious pandering and seemingly endless equivocating in a game built on a foundation of opinion, it's God's work they are doing now. And they are doing it quite well.
I know the criticisms and many are unjustified. What's the big mountain about a mole hill of split screens, or that certain tracks get preferential treatment when it comes to broadcasting races live, tracks that pay a premium for the privilege.
Most viewers do not have an appreciation or patience for how television production works. It's not easy, just made to look that way.
Hosts and analysts appear cool and calm but not a single one escapes anxious moments before the red light goes on. Without those jitters, they wouldn't be any good at their jobs.
Horse racing has benefited from a lack of sports programming and sports programming has benefited from the drama of sports competition that horse racing provides. A window has been opened, a door left ajar, a shelter from sheltering-in-place.
My only wish is that N-95 masks and rubber gloves could be provided to every human whose job it is to tend to animals.
No one wanted this "beneficial" lack of competition from sports betting, legal or otherwise, because there is no economic windfall, only survival.
Betting handle for the first quarter of 2020 is down 22%, compared to 1% in 2019. But the window provided by a lack of major-sports competition has been priceless for those seeking shelter from the harsh realities of the day.
At once, the timing of the pandemic came at the best of times and worst of times for horse racing: Triple Crown season. With no major counter-programming. cable networks such as NBCSN, in desperation for live programming has picked up the TVG feed.
Already committed, NBCSN uses prep season weekends to serve as a primer for Derby, Preakness and Belmont telecasts. It's the time for developing new story-lines to keep casual audiences engaged, hoping to prime the sponsorship pump when the action shifts to the parent networks.
TVG has had to adjust to this reality of a larger audience that most likely is unfamiliar with the sport on a basic level, never mind the nuances of jargon, the interaction that exists between humans and beasts, the differences between vertical and horizontal betting pools.
TVG has done this by explaining things that its fans already know without talking down to either audience. It explains that changes in distance or surface is important because genetics or body type deems it so, that the real prize may come later; that a race is a stepping stone, not the brass ring.
There is inside betting information; arcane numbers that measure how fast horses run under prevailing conditions, that grit is as important as ability, that condition is king, and that bad strategy gets the best horse beaten.
TVG has done all this and in trying to appeal to the uninitiated, it reminded all of us tethered to the Thoroughbred they we can still be moved by the sport.
A behind-the-scenes look at production people witnessing American Pharoah's Triple Crown conquest and how on-camera talent are fans first, then reporters and analysts. It was a masterstroke in rise-to-the-occasion programming.
After re-living 2015 in a brand new way, my wife of 51 years, who has been by my side for a lifetime of big racing events live and in person, turned to me yesterday and said: "I just got the chills."
For as many times as I yelled at my television screen during a TVG broadcast, I spoke to my Samsung in a normal tone of voice: "Well done."
Blinking Tote Board Lights Guaranteed to Spark Social Controversy
Considering I hardly ever get a chance to commend the stewards in the viewing stands of Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs, I believe they had a good weekend in a couple of tough spots. Oaklawn Park, not so much.
Yesterday's opener at Tampa was a little tricky in that it could have gone another way. But the stewards got the head-stretch incident correct.
The contact might have been incidental but a clear case of intimidation was exacerbated when the rider on first finisher Mancora applied left handed pressure an instant before making light contact.
Friday's sixth race at Gulfstream Park was even more interesting because had the verdict been different, no one could have argued too vociferously.
At headstretch, it could be posited that Candy Machine purposefully closed the hole on Or'effice, who was charging up the fence to get within perhaps a half length from the lead, or that the rider was bulling his way through and made his own trouble, going up where he didn't belong.
At virtually every track in America, the area at approximately the five-sixteenths pole is the most difficult to adjudicate. It's the seam in the camera zone, not clearly covered by either a pan or head-on view. It's the exact point at which camera angles shift out of necessity.
What is needed at that juncture is an overhead cam. Think 2020 Kentucky Derby. This race was not that momentous but just as with NFL replays, the call or actual events on the field must stand for lack of strong supporting evidence to the contrary. In these case, the stewards have no choice.
What happened at Oaklawn Park yesterday was amateur hour. The 3-5 favorite Answer In was, according to one trained eye, done at headstretch, failing to respond to the whip, remaining virtually one-paced.
Enjoying a perfect trip to that juncture, he did not go on with it when asked, either due to fatigue or inability to handle sloppy going under pressure. Lasting Impression made his run down the center, drifting in a step as he passed Answer In, victimized as much by a drifting General Trev.
West Point Thoroughbreds owes it to their clients to appeal this ruling to the Arkansas State Racing Commission. If the Commission rules the incident altered the outcome of this race in any significant way, they are as unsophisticated as the officials who made a bonehead call in the first place.
DERBY, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, Oaklawn Park, N-95 MASKS, Gulfstream Park, ARKANSAS STATE RACING COMMISSION, TRIPLE CROWN, MANCORA, TVG, 2020 KENTUCKY DERBY, HANDICAPPING, PREAKNESS, Belmont, AMERICAN PHAROAH, West Point Thoroughbreds, STEWARDS, BETTING HANDLE, Tampa Bay Downs, horse racing, NBCSN
John Pricci - On the Line
TAMPA BAY TODAY – JAN 27
GOING GULFSTREAM – JAN 27
Tom Jicha says:
I didn't see the Oaklawn race so I'll bow to your judgement. You know how to watch a race as well as any steward in America.
However, I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. Once the result has been declared official, and most importantly bettors have been paid or screwed, there should be no appeals.
Racing is a betting game. We may wax poetic about the majesty of the horse and pageantry of the game but the fact that Gulfstream could handle about the same on Florida Derby Day without fans and Fonner Park (quick quiz: in what state is Fonner Park located?) is setting records proves beyond all argument that all most fans care about is making–and hopefully winning–a bet.
Once that is out of the equation, nothing else matters.
John Pricci - On the Line says:
Hey TJ, if the appeals process is legally available, I know it won't help bettors, but if I owned Lasting Impression I'd take advantage and exercise my rights.
As small owners in the past, we know how hard it is to win a race. Why should I have to lose a purse because of incompetence? Find the replay and let me know if my suggestion is unreasonable?
BTW, I used the "bothered" horse as a P3 single. I knew I was beaten at the quarter pole–but that's not the point.
When I heard on Twitter about a controversial DQ at OP, I asked which race. Someone told me, I looked and my last comment was the result. I'll be damned if incompetence would be responsible for stealing my money.
And if an appeal goes nowhere, that's fine, but officials need to know that someone is watching.
wmcorrow says:
Mr. Jicha: For a decade at least here at HRI I have harped again and again that it's all about gambling, about cashing a ticket. As you know, I could careless what blue blood wins the Kentucky Derby. Pleased that you wrote 'all most fans (s/be bettors) care about is making ….. a bet'.
Try as I may after many many years, I am still unable to note a difference, what-so-ever, between a claiming race and a stake race when the thoroughbreds are saddling, in the post parade, or during the running of the race. Give me a horse race without an odds-on favorite, anywhere, and all I want are the past performances and how to 'get down' (get the bet in, Alice).
Love the 'game' and still managing to keep my on-line wagering account in the black. Thank goodness that Gulf/Tampa are still operating. I live a quarter of a mile from the best river for fishing for trout in the whole state of Ct. Numerous fisherman are now there.
Cleaned my spinning rod this week. Sure hope I don't have to use it. Have a compost pile that is providing numerous, fat, healthy, worms.
What's it gonna be this summer: gambling or fishing. Geez, even purchasing Foster's has become a challenge.
WMC, glad you still have your priorities in order and good to hear from you.
It's been a minute and in these times you can't take anything, or anyone, for granted…
There might never be a worse call (or non-call) than the one the year before last in the NFC championship between New Orleans and Los Angeles. The commissioner knew it, the official who blew the call knew it, there were lawsuits but the call stood.
If there was a worse call it was the one made by Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series. It cost the Cardinals the world championship. Denkinger acknowledged he was wrong. But the call stood.
Both of these horrendous errors were a little more important than the last race of a day at Oaklawn.
Racing and other sports are supposed to be a diversion from the real world. It's bad enough that not-so-instant replay has screwed up sports. (Did his shoelace touch the line?) Do we want to get to the stage where each team has a head coach and a head attorney?
When you play any game, you realize that referees and umpires are human and make mistakes (as do players). What happens between the lines has to be the final outcome.
Every owner, who gets into the game, knows there are countless ways to lose a race. So do bettors. A bad stewards call is merely one of them.
Just for the record, have you ever been put up as a result of a bad stewards decision? I'll bet you didn't bitch and offer the money back.
TJ, I don't normally do whataboutism, answering or defending an issue with another question or opposite example. But I'll make a ridiculous exception here.
Should wrongfully convicted prisoners have their sentences suspended and their names cleared when DNA evidence proves their innocence in a particular case, or should the original decision be allowed to stand? Told you it would be ridiculous…
But I must admit you are fair; you argued for allowing the unofficial result of the 2019 Kentucky Derby to stand and against reversing the OP stewards decision re Saturday's eighth race disqualification. That's horse racing, right?
If it were my horse, I wouldn't expect the Racing Commission to reverse Saturday's ruling. But I would exercise my right as an American to send a message.
Totally agree with whataboutism? It only works if we can find an absolutely perfect person as a measuring stick.
Comparing an unjustly incarcerated person to a horse who should or should not have come down really pushes the boundaries of absurdism. At least you concede that.
Speaking of boundaries, there are, or at least should be, boundaries for running to the courts on sports decisions. "We are standing outside the Supreme Court, anxiously awaiting the judges' decision on whether there should have been a disqualification in the ninth race at Oaklawn Park on April 3, 2020. The issues have deeply divided this Court…"
Ridiculous? Maybe. But as soon as we accept going to the first court, we have to accept further appeals all the way up the line. It's your right as an American. Right?
But it's a rainy Monday and there's nothing better to do under a stay-at-home order than to debate nonsense like this.
TJ, think your stretching to make the point is as absurd as mine. Sadly, I think our incarceration is just beginning and it's gotten to us already, though I seem to be busier with less racing. Go figure…
But I wasn't thinking about a court of law, a la Gary West, just the ARK Racing Commission, who probably need something by which they can earn their per diem anyway.
Knowing that Terry is a West Point grad, I doubt that he will challenge the stewards (hope his partners don't fire him as a result, however).
TTT says:
My thoughts on inquiries and disqualifications will never be listened to, because social workers have taken over the world. Back in this old war horse's day, jockeys did not veer in front of rivals, or they were taken down. Period. Period. Period. There were far fewer disqualifications, because there were far fewer inquiries, because the jockeys knew what would happen if they even came close to pushing that envelope. That's why it is of no moment whether a man, or a group of 3 men make the judgment that it would not have affected the outcome; screw their opinion. That is not the point. Barry Goldwater said it best, in your heart, you know I'm right. Stop the nonsense. Demand a straight course in the stretch, and no lane changes unless you are absolutely, positootly clear, and do not hinder the forward progress of another animal. Ride like men, not like criminals.
Not to mention that your suggestion would also be in the interests of safety, an issue everyone in the industry likes to talk about.
Horse racing is not the NBA. If you have to ride another man's horse, yours probably isn't good enough.
Love it JP!
Have to admit I'm enjoying playing Fonner Park in Grand Island. I would attend in the 70s when they would ride their entries to the track and the jockeys were weighed on a bathroom scale. Those bull rings are a whole different animal. Aksarben, the house that Jack (Van Berg) built, would also be one of my haunts, then back to Centennial where I ruled the roost for a few years. Never mind this virus, my best friend's father used to kid me that I had the "bonified bug." Live like you want to live and send it in.
Personally, sticking with GP and Tampa, especially the turf there. We've had a pretty good winter by sticking with the lawn. But that's enough action for me these days. Saturday is devoted is gambling but weekday's the handicapping is dominated more by keeping up with news of every stripe.
Best thing I learned this week came from an old Saratoga press colleague, old Doc Fonda, who came up with this 1980 Isaac Asimov classic: "There is a cult of ignorance in this country, and there has always been, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Pardon this terrible analogy, but that philosophy appeared to reach its Apex in 2016.
Allow me to reiterate, live like you want to live………..will defend to the death your right to say it…..
McD says:
Here's to you, as good as you are,
And here's to me, as bad as I am,
But as good as you are,
and as bad as I am,
I am as good as you are,
as bad as I am.
An old Scotish proverb begs the question, so who knew Pricci had Scottish in his DNA?
Lucas Corning says:
I use a trick all the time..since I wash dishes with rubber gloves, there's always one there…I did buy and OXO for trade shows, when I have to open multiple jars…


Name the 5 Countries most affected by terrorism in each Continent.
Thanks for pointing that out, it has been addressed.
Shouldn't Colombia be on that list?
Great catch. I have updated the quiz to reflect this correction. Thanks for playing.
huh, interesting to see the "correct %" and the "your %" being the same. checked out why, and turns out i'm the only one to play this quiz since the last "reset". great quiz!
Yep. Just updated it. Glad you enjoyed.


text:
Grand Island, NE, Beef Production Facility
Hero Flight Program
The team from the Fed Beef plant in Grand Island, NE, continues to support a noble cause to honor the Veterans of the Hall County. Since 2012, the facility helps the community veterans' leaders to make the Hero Flight program a reality.
The plant's support started with monthly burger donations for fundraising events, and later turned into prime rib dinners – both events held by the Hall County Hero Flight program at the United Veterans Club to raise money to take the local Veterans to an honoring trip to DC, where they get to see war memorials and monuments.
In total, there have been ten flights taking around 800 veterans and their spouses from Hall County and surrounding counties to DC. "Our trips are different because it goes for three days, so they have enough time to see all the memorials and monuments – typical flights around the country are just one day," said Justin Bstandig, Grand Island HR Director and Hero Flight Board Member.
The Hero Flight have currently an eight-month waiting list for the veterans to go on this trip. "GI support has made a huge impact not just on the veterans, but the entire community. Without our help, they wouldn't be able to plan all those trips. They're all very grateful for what JBS has done to help our veterans."
Bstandig has been part of the Hero Flight program by helping to organize the trip to DC and also helping the veterans in wheel chair and with difficulty to move. "I would say that I really did not understand the impact until I went on my first trip," he said. After the first flight, the Grand Island team received lots of appreciation letters from veterans and their spouses, and good feedback from the community. "The community took notice that JBS USA cares about them, and that's when I realized that this was a huge deal," Bstandig said.
The facility come up with about 50% of the funding for the trip, just by donating meat, and this support changed completely the Grand Island plant's image and reputation with the community. "It's amazing to see how the community perception about JBS USA changed over the past eight years. Now they see the company as a great corporate citizen," Bstandig said.
"Without JBS USA, the Hero Flight program would not have been possible. We are very thankful for everything JBS USA does to support our community and appreciate our Veterans for their service to our country," said Don Shuda, Hall County Hero Flight Chairman.
The Hero Flight is a chance to give back to the veterans and make an impact in their lives. "On the last trip, I helped one of the veterans, Ernest Hulinsky by pushing his wheel chair around our tour in DC. Because of this he kept calling me his hero for taking care of him and his wife, and I said: 'no Sir, you are the hero'. These moments are just priceless."


text:
What the 2021 NBA Playoffs Have in Common with Dating and Marriage
Home / Hump Day / What the 2021 NBA Playoffs Have in Common with Dating and Marriage
Admittedly, I am a diehard Laker fan.
And it was challenging to watch how the Phoenix Suns ultimately ran through the Lakers in this year's playoffs—taking full advantage of the injury to Anthony Davis and other key contributors on the team. And at some point, it was clear that the Lakers did not have enough runway to gel as a solid, well-oiled unit.
But then there are other teams—decimated by injuries as well, who was projected to go further into the NBA Playoffs—just as many NBA experts assumed the Lakers would. With an injured NBA superstar James Harden gutting out an admirable performance despite his grade 2 pulled hamstring, and an ailing Kyrie Irving unable to play with a sprained ankle, the Brooklyn Nets lost to a very good Milwaukee Bucks team in overtime, despite NBA All-Star and former MVP Kevin Durant having one of the best statistical NBA playoffs series efforts ever in NBA history for the Nets.
That being said, there is one playoff series that ended recently that caught my attention as well—that was the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. And the way it ended has several parallels to dating and marriage.
How so? Well, read on…
The Philadelphia 76ers have two perennial NBA All-Stars on their team—Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, and another soon to be NBA superstar in Tobias Harris. They finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, and many hold the team in high championship regard. Now their opponent, the Atlanta Hawks have been perennial losers for the past two decades, but with an amazing young point guard in Trae Young and mid-season head coach insert Nate McMillian, the Hawks finished the regular season with a winning record and qualified for the fifth seed in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs.
Now considering the Hawks haven't sniffed postseason play in years, it's a foregone conclusion that they will convincingly lose to the Sixers. After all, the Sixers have been dominant in the Eastern Conference the past 5 seasons with regular playoff appearances.
Think again.
With great coaching and preparing for their opponent's strengths and weaknesses, the Hawks defeated the Sixers in a best of 7 game series. Although the series was highly competitive, the Sixers had a quite salient weakness in the final game of the playoff series.
That salient weakness was, unfortunately, Ben Simmons.
Despite the superstar level talent on their team, the Sixers were forced to realize that Ben Simmons was a massive liability to them offensively. This means—despite his reputation for being one of the best players in the NBA, the Hawks kept a bull's eye focus on him and reduced his typical superstar output to that of a very basic and below average basketball player—forcing him to settle for shots from the perimeter and fouling him closer to the basket and conceded free throws to him.
Guess where his weaknesses are? You guessed right—shooting and free throws.
In the pivotal elimination game, Simmons missed 10 of 14 free throws and missed countless shots. His shooting was so bad that he passed up wide-open shots and deferred to his less-notable teammates. After the game and during the press conference, Doc Rivers, head coach of the Sixers, was asked if Ben Simmons could be a starting point guard on a championship team. Doc Rivers responded, "I'm not sure if I can answer that."
Moreover, despite Ben Simmons being in a long-term, lucrative contract, there is speculation that he will be traded now. But it's also rumored that his value as a player has plummeted significantly because of his playoff performance.
Here's the comparison between dating and marriage.
Many people are great at dating—they are attractive, educated, great personalities, and essentially have no issues finding an interested party of the opposite gender. These men can tell you about all of the amazing women they've met and dated. Similarly, these single and attractive women can do the same—they've met some of the most incredible and respectful men and could date a different quality man every day of the week.
So—what do these desirable and eligible bachelors and bachelorettes share in common?
Well, simply put, they are all still unmarried and single.
Dear faithful reader of these KeepingIt100LA blogs: your ability to meet people, engage them, have an exclusive relationship for a few months—only to break up and repeat this cycle will NOT move you closer to a meaningful marital encounter until you put in the self-work.
What's self-work?
Self-work are the things you KNOW that stand between you being a prolific dating prospect but not necessarily a suitable marital partner. Trust me—the two are NOT the same.
During the NBA regular season, superior teams will feast on teams that are generally mediocre and not strong competition. Sometimes the teams are so mediocre, the more competitive teams fall victim to their own apathy and occasionally play down to the level of the competition (message!).
However, the playoffs are different.
The stakes are higher, you're focused on one team over a series of days, and you really get to know the other team quite well. Now each team can isolate an opponent's strong attributes and strategize to make them more susceptible to their weaknesses. Frequent dating encounters don't necessarily provide a true indication of what marriage might look like—especially if you're dating multiple people. Thus, this can hinder your ability to truly know what a person is all about and respond to various unexpected encounters with challenging situations (which is the key to a successful relationship—how a couple can manage their differences and difficulty).
Doc Rivers was asked how he'd remedy Ben Simmons' basketball issues. He said, "Time to get to work right now. Let's get into the gym and perfect every area of his basketball arsenal that hinders his ultimate greatness as a player!"
Same for you—we need to get you into a relationship gym, so to speak:
· Reflect on why your previous dating encounters failed—unrealistic expectations, picking unhealthy and emotionally unavailable men/women, not fully over hurt from the past, etc. Make an appointment to see a therapist—a licensed, trained expert who deals with these issues regularly.
· Realize that you only need one person—not multiple people—to get married. Hold out for what you believe is best for you AFTER you've done the work that includes the sobering new insight about yourself.
· Get in a habit that once it's CLEAR that a person isn't a suitable long-term partner, do not hang around to see if they will change. Ask clear, specific questions about their marital aspirations—and if it doesn't meet your intentional focus for what you are looking for, cut bait. Do not settle for the Oh-key-doke and concede to ambiguous and hard-to-understand directions of a person's future thinking as it may pertain to their desire to get married. Clearly, they are not ready for marriage in general, so do not take it personally.
· Finally, work on your free throws and jump shots.
Picture courtesy of @iludioweddings
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