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Are you even from NY state? Most New Yorkers know this: the state’s economy is deeply tied to Canada whether MAGA likes it or not. Canada is New York’s #1 trading partner, fueling billions in exports like medical instruments, jewelry, aluminum, and business services. Over 80% of NYC’s fuel oil and natural gas imports come from Canada. Canadian tourists are essential to local economies, especially in border regions, like Buffalo Niagara, where their absence is immediately felt. Canada also plays a major role in investment, owning significant portions of NYC real estate and employing thousands across the state and vice versa, with plenty of New Yorkers owning land and property in Canada. And when it comes to energy? New York literally relies on Canadian hydroelectricity to keep the lights on. From trade to tourism to energy, New York doesn’t just benefit from Canada it depends on it. Keep it up, Lenny. Maybe someone’s buying it.

In this spirit of this thread, I wonder who is the worst hero to get fisted by? Probably Andre the Giant.

We got the right Josh. No doubt

He was inspired by the 3-13 season under Gregg Williams and the Van Pelt/Johnson QB debate. He's told this story a 1,000 times.

Yes, they are. I don’t know how well-versed you are in the intricacies of the NBA, but most teams with reasonable ownership operate extremely close to the margins. For the 27-28 Bucks, they will have 4 players under contract in TOTAL and only $12M in cap space. They have to get to a roster of at least 13. Now they have access to mid level exceptions, but it’s basically a slot where they can’t pay anybody. Is it the worst thing in the world? No. Can they work around it? They are going to try. Is having basically a starter’s salary in dead money for the next 5 years objectively very bad for a small market franchise with a marquee superstar? Yes, of course. In a league with the most injuries, and the most to potentially lose with guaranteed contracts, yes I am arguing it would be bad for the NFL at large. It would be bad for the franchises and bad for the players and bad for the fans. Well, yeah. Players are getting asked to take pay cuts because they aren’t performing well enough. Their agents are evaluating the market and saying “no one else is going to pay you more than your requested pay cut, so you are better off taking it.” They aren’t just guessing. Josh Allen hasn’t been asked for a pay cut and won’t be as long as he keeps performing well. Dawson Knox and Von Miller have both taken pay cuts because their production hasn’t justified their salaries and they didn’t want to test their luck on the open market. Von is notably on the couch. Star took his paycut and was out the league. It’s not like they took a pay cut and got screwed out of a years salary because other teams wanted to pay him big bucks. To me, these statements are in conflict. How can teams be more careful in UFA and NOT be hesitant to spend? That seems to go hand in hand. And what players hit UFA? Not the superstars, they get locked up or tagged. It’s the NFL middle and lower classes who are desperately trying to get a $5M deal with $2.5M guaranteed. Guaranteeing contracts at this point in the NFL requires putting an entire guaranteed portion in escrow. We have seen teams like the Bengals and Cowboys be hesitant to pay their SUPERSTARS on time. The Bengals are notoriously cash poor. They have 37% of their cap tied up in QB and WR and it was a struggle to get there. Do you think having to dole out the other at least 63% in guarantees is going to be a problem? Of course it would be. And it would be a problem for the majority of the league. I don’t think folks realize how much money ISN’T guaranteed in the NFL. You can’t flip that switch and do a complete 180 without completely fundamentally altering the market and if you try, you will end up with a whole bunch of teams handing out league minimums left and right. If contracts are fully guaranteed, does a Devin Singletary type player get $5M on the market or league minimum? I think we all know the answer to that. I’m not viewing anyone as a problem. There is no problem. The players are making more money than ever. Threatening a strike to get guaranteed contracts that will ultimately, imo, harm the earnings of the vast majority of NFL players, is just bad business. Make less money with a shortened season and make less money overall is exactly what the NFLPA shouldn’t do.

Hey Gunner, how did you ever get into American football and more specifically the Buffalo Bills?

Science. In this case social science. Within the criminological literature, there has been considerable research devoted to understanding the relationship between homicide and social protection, both within the United States and utilizing cross-national samples. Despite the measure of social welfare or social protection used, the results have shown a consistent significant negative relationship between social welfare and homicide. Within the United States, for example, the significant negative relationship between social protection and homicide has been found across standard metropolitan statistical areas (DeFronzo, 1983; Messner, 1986), cities (Sampson, 1987), and even a specific city over time (Chamlin et al., 2002). Cross-nationally, the research has found significant negative relationships between social protection and homicide utilizing different measures of welfare spending, including a decommodification index (Messner and Rosenfeld, 2006; Savolainen, 2000), percent GDP spent on health care and education (Pratt and Godsey, 2002), welfare spending (Gartner et al., 1990; Pratt and Godsey, 2002), and the amount of social welfare spent in US dollars for each nation (Savage et al., 2008). Regarding their study, Rogers and Pridemore conclude that: One key aspect of social protection is that it is meant to act as a safety net for citizens in times of economic downturn or provide a better living standard for citizens who live below or near the poverty line. Ultimately, the aim of social protection is not to reduce inequality but to address absolute deprivation by raising the standard of living of those who live in poverty to a level that provides the minimum necessities to survive day to day. The moderating effect of social protection found within this paper supports this view. We found that nations with higher levels of social protection not only have lower rates of homicide, but also that the strength of the association between poverty and homicide in these nations is weaker. Therefore,while there are many more direct goals of social protection, one important indirect effect of providing greater social protection is a reduction in violent crime.

I totally get the Sphere hesitance. Vegas is definitely not my bag either. The first time my wife and I went down there for a weekend of Sphere shows, it seemed novel and fun to pair the Dead with Vegas. I envisioned walking down the strip at 2 am with a head full of...something...after the show, Hunter S Thompson style. Of course, the truth is that a lot of Fear and Loathing is about exactly the type of bad vibes, greed, and weirdness that turns me off to Vegas anyway, and we got that in spades. Plus, the Vegas I'd have interest in hanging out in -- the Rat Pack, fancy suits, martinis and showgirls scene -- is long gone. It's all a big, stinky, cigarette smoke-y Disneyland down there. Awful. The SECOND time we went down for Sphere show, we just flew in, hung at the hotel pool, went to Shakedown and the show, and flew out. No Vegas shenanigans. Not a fan of what that city is nowadays. Aaaanyyway....I do think the Sphere is worth seeing once in this life. I'm very much an "eyes closed" guy at Dead shows. To the extent that my eyes are open during a show, they're not usually looking at a video screen. All of that said...I had to see the technological wonder of the Sphere and see what the Dead had in store for it, and I'm glad I experienced it. The first night we experienced it, all my friends and I did was laugh the whole time. It was so astonishing, so unlike anything we'd ever experienced, all we could do was laugh in amused shock and glee. And it WASN'T even due to any substances we took. It was just THAT far out! While I enjoyed the Sphere, I'm absolutely looking forward to the Golden Gate Park shows in August. Outdoors, on a sunny summer day, is where Dead shows are best experienced. Can't wait. Always a hoot!

Technically, yes it's illegal. Weed is still a schedule I drug and illegal at the federal level, as is it's cultivation. The feds haven't bothered enforcing for the most part, but if the DEA felt like it, they could shut down every grow operation from Anchorage to Bangor.

Emil Bove is the textbook definition of a political fixer masquerading as a prosecutor. A former Trump appointee, Bove has shown time and again that he’s more interested in shielding power than delivering justice. Whether it’s targeting political enemies or looking the other way when it benefits his side, his brand of selective prosecution is as blatant as it is corrupt. This isn’t law and order and far from draining the swamp - Bove is neck-deep in it.

This made me think who is the worst hero I met. And it's another cricketer. I met Marcus Trescothick at a game about 10 years ago and he was horrible. I was polite, didn't approach in a place where he could be embarrassed or harrased and he was just rude and dismissive. He is now England's batting coach.

We'll get through it, Bill, hang in there. Btw I was just thinking about a pastry shoppe in Brugge. Delightful croissants and the service impeccable.

non sequitur. It's not going to happen collectively, especially at the very top where it matters most. There are a few that might but they also know it won't work without legislation and are lobbying it for it without success. I contribute to my civic club which is trying to fill in the USAID holes and to church charities. In good company with Bill and Melinda Gates. I drive a Subaru and I'm more than satisfied with it.

He didn’t say it was illegal. He said they’re using illegal immigrants, of which 8 were unaccompanied children who were trafficked into this country. Americans won’t bat an eye at the first part.. as you mention, it happens all over the place. They will, however, turn into border hawks when Democrats attack this Administration for going into a facility using trafficked children. Can we just admit this is pretty bad.. and the protesters/Newsom severely messed up by making it - now - a national story? As someone who holds the beliefs you do, this was a major misstep by Newsom for advancing your ideology wishes.

Leh-nerd....sorry to say, no one lives in isolation, unless you are a tribe in Africa, and the fact that Americans will not think about Saskatoon or I don't think today about Kerr county is not the point. You elect leaders to think international. You may not think about Midland Texas, or Brugge, Belgium. But the larger, greater conscious of America should, but America today has it's head up it's own a??.

It's no coincidence that the clear top tier of QB's in Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, and Jackson seem to all be great people and great leaders. Not one have I heard any of these guys throw their teammates under the bus and always take responsibility whether fair or not.

well it's a rate stat so i wouldn't expect it to change much from season to season

I have met some of the "Heroes" that we all admire, and I agree, they usually seem self centered and put off by the "unwashed masses". So glad we have a guy that actually deserves the adulation of the fans, and I'm so happy he is a Buffalo Bill. Happy Birthday indeed, what a great story.

⬆️ C'mon now Finding. You know by now that you need to SPEAK UP!!! 😂

It’s not an illegal farm, it has a commercial grow license. Now if they’re using undocumented labor, that’s another thing. Hyundai got caught doing the same thing in Alabama.

Well that was illuminating.

Synthetic diamonds, baby. Substitution. It is the first thing any competent economist should think about.

WT Actual.... This is a lesson on NEVER just scroll the bottom of a long post TBD LMAO. I did that to the bolded part and was like "WTH????" Needless to say I had to back up and start from the beginning. 🤣

It didn't meet the legal requirement but holding meetings specifically about the Watson contract and how to avoid that happening going forward is collusion. Then the owners senior committee advised against the practice going forward. Is a paper trail to all teams. NFLPA wanting it sealed. Head lawyer of NFLPA part of a private equity company involved in multiple NFL franchises. Allen for instances would not push for a fully guaranteed deal. If he was properly informed and bettering the game for all players he might have. That imo should be the job of the NFLPA. One less week of OTA’s and changing a decimal on THC testing shouldn't be the headline news. Im not super invested but in July it is very interesting. It also takes a handful. Like I said Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Jackson open the gates. Next Garret, Jefferson and other great players get it. First rd picks are starting to get fully guaranteed deals already. Slowly becomes the norm. I don't understand the purpose to agreeing to sealing the case.

The Democrat case for child trafficking.