HardyBoy

It did (or at least you made sense) and I agree with that perspective as well to a point. I'm not sure what my real deep down thoughts are; it's a nuanced tricky subject. I'm not saying people in general or on here are treating people as being more worthy of empathy based on their monetary worth, but there is a lot of hurting in the world. Actually, maybe that is why people fixate on specific well known people, it allows them to pour all that empathy into a single place and allow them to use that person as a stand it for everyone. I don't know, human psychology is fascinating for sure. Dan Le Batard always says he has the absolute worst level of celebrity. Famous enough to be raked over the coals for any stupid thing he does, but not famous enough for any of the real perks. They have also talked about boundaries on his show, and how people feel like they have this profound relationship with the people on the show, but it isn't real. Like it's this weird psychological thing for people to feel deep connections or friendships with people, but it's so weird for them because people have this huge emotional connection with them based on a character they are on the show, but they have no idea who the heck you are and neither do you have any idea who they are. Like they're a best friend to someone they meet on the street and that person treats them that way, but to them you're just some random person on the street who is coming up acting like you've known each other for years. That's really the celebrity culture I'm talking about, you don't want to get me started on the super celebrity culture (like the Kardashians...that's all so fake and formulaic). Lol, I'm OK having unpopular opinions, I'd be happy touring around with live music bands and working with people to use technology to improve the world for individuals if I could (and watch the Bills of course!).

Isn't that Survivor Bias, just flipped...you only hear about the ones that got caught and make mistakes? Like saying we need more armor on the wings of planes that came back in WWII with holes. Actually, no, that is exactly where you don't need more armor...the places you need more armor can be found on the planes that got shot down.

I really don't like celebrity culture, it's weird, gross and makes people feel like they need to be something that they can never achieve because only the good or bad stuff is ever talked about (we're all shades of grey). Basically what social media has become in terms of people feeling they need to reach of unachievable standard that they see others reaching, but they themselves always fall short. Additionally, I personally feel empathy for anyone I hear as being in the hospital and their family. I don't know if it is the case here, think it's weird that people would value one person as more worthy of empathy than another, based on their bank account. I don't think that's true either, the people who were shot in Tops didnt have a bunch of money, but recevived a lot of empathy because a lot of people heard about it. Basically, I think people feel empathy when they hear about someone in an awful situation (excluding those that knowingly send a pitchfork and torch weilding crowd to go after "windmills and monsters" which shows that they are in fact the real monsters...like what happens in Frankenstein or Beauty and the Beast). So I don't know...because of her platform a lot of people heard about it, so a lot are feeling empathy. I personally feel more angst for the people that had the same thing happen to them, but did not have access to health care and died as a result (assuming that was on the table here). Equally random people to me, their lives have equal value to me, I'd feel equally empathetic if I heard of either passing away or being injured. So knowing the news is causing an empathetic reaction in a lot of people a reason to give updates? Nah, not if it is a matter of someone who is directly involved feeling better or more in control vs someone experiencing adjacent unrequested empathy, especially if that empathy is a result of toxic celebrity culturem Also, lol at the people saying we have an expectation of privacy...pretty sure we just recently found out that is very much not the case sadly.

Not watered down, just 25% sweet tea...got 50% sweet from the sweet side and 0% sweet from the unsweetened side. It's a different drink, perhaps a bit more nuanced. I personally prefer unsweetened myself, but a 75% unsweetened 25% sweetened blend would be something I'd like to try (I moved to Raleigh end of 2020 and fairly new to this sweet tea thing). I have had people make a face when I told them I got a gallon of unsweetened tea from Smithfields. Then they asked me if I knew they had half and half there, I said yes, that I've tried it, but prefer unsweetened in a lot of situations. To which they told me the only people they know who drinks unsweetened tea are their grandparents 🤷‍♂️

Not really an outlier, a bunch of the best players were segregated and not allowed to play in MLB. Also, I'm pretty sure Babe Ruth shouldn't have been allowed to play in the MLB for the same reason based on some stuff I've read, which is really wild. Some great times. Jim Brown has to be the answer though right? Adrian Peterson was the most dominant player I've ever seen. Exactly! I only read the first page before responding, but exactly what you said!

Interesting, I hadn't heard that was a potential risk of sleep apnea (my dad had it, and got a cpap machine, but he ended up dying from cancer at 49, which is pretty damn close to 55). You know what could be cool, or more so really helpful. During the season, having a pinned thread that talks about symptoms or impacts of common medical issues. Like here are some symptoms, if you have any, you need to call someone to schedule an appointment. Having said that, I'm horrible at scheduling doctors appointments, especially given I have ADHD. I like it when I'm seeing the Dr (as a healthy 38 year old that hasn't had a physical moreso blood work in like 5 years), but scheduling an apt, from finding a dr, to thinking about my calendar, to calling them, to adjusting my work schedule, yada yada... I don't know that I have a point to dismount on...I know if I had sleep apnea per my significant other, knowing that it could lead to an enlarged heart...that would likely get me to overcome my anxiety around scheduling a Dr's apt (you know, the thing that would take me like 10 minutes to do, but in the moment feel like a crazy insurmountable obstacle.

If you look at the research on "gateway drugs" though, a lot of it is showing it isn't actually weed, but cigarettes (not sure if that's true with nicotine vapes, since that seems to be a lot less of a rebellious act). @Augie you touched on that meeting the dealer for weed is what gets people into harder stuff. Agree to a point. In my opinion, it's more that one of the individual's friends goes to the dealer and gets something and brings it back to the larger friend group and normalizes it. Cigarettes get people into that friend group, where they then have opportunities to rebel more. Then weed comes in, then alcohol, then the harder stuff. The gatewaying happens before the weed in my experience/based on some research I've read.

And you could totally try and be safe and get a home test kit, but with how potent fentanyl is, the only real way to have it show up in my mind (assuming it is even a powder) would be to dilute the entire amount, test that and then dry it back out. Otherwise, how the heck are you going to catch a few grains of the stuff in a sample. It's just not realistic that people are going to do that, particularly people doing it casually as a one off thing.

No caffeine and nicotine are absolutely drugs, as is alcohol. Nicotine and alcohol are basically the leading causes of death in the US (cigarettes obviously, but alcohol aside from the obvious impacts also gets converted into cholesterol by the liver). The War on Drugs was beneficial in what way exactly? The way I see it is that the war on drugs literally caused this situation we are in. I don't want to get into a situation where we get this thread locked and I think this could be a really positive conversation where we both learn and grow, just probably not in this thread. That said, I strongly encourage you to read about what has been done in the Netherlands and their approach to drugs. Also, check out the research around psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and mdma (ecstacy)and the impacts on PTSD and major depression. It's insane. I've lost way too many friends and acquaintances to this crap (at least five in the last two years, and at least ten overall). None of them were into any serious drugs when I was hanging out with them either (most got into it post college). One wasn't even an addict, just took some benzos and drank too much just about 10 years ago. She was such an amazing person and I miss her so much. Another was one of my best friends from high school's brother. Was close to the brother too. Think that was fentanyl. That one, of all of them got me the worst, like very much not close to starting to even really process it. To the point that I haven't even talked to my friend in almost two years since it happened, let alone written him a text saying I was sorry for his loss cause I don't know what to say. Abstinence only education and punishment are not going to solve these problems.

Well, it was coming from China, so they banned it coming in from China, so then it moved to being made in Mexico and other places. Fixes tend to have unintended consequences, and when people take a perspective that something is easy and not a nuanced problem...you get into the mess we're in now.

Only read the first page, so might have been said. My understanding is it comes down to two main things. The weight of the baseball is a lot less. Throwing a baseball is much more like dry firing a bow...go outside and throw a heavy ball vs a feather with the same arm speed, you'll feel the force on your elbow with the feather. Second, it is the position of your hand when you throw a baseball vs a football and the release point that puts more strain on the elbow. I read an article on it a while back on ESPN.com or the athletic maybe. Definitely interesting.

The first 2:30 might be my favorite Pat McAfee Show moment I've ever seen. Just had me grinning!

More stories please!!!

I'm not very flexible...

Did the study(ies) differentiate between players in the middle of big contracts and players on deals that are easier to get out of?

It's not the au pair duties, it's the stuff he has a personal assistant take care of, or really the personal assistant he likely hired for his wife, since the mental load typically falls on the mom. Honestly, I should really just hire a personal assistant on the sly, I'm sure it's not all that crazy on something like Fivr...I'd to blame it all on society, which to an extent it is, but I'm just not good at multi-tasking on top of having adhd.. Sorry for the moment of vulnerability on a Bills message board, but just like in the nfl, actually playing the game is the fun part, the real work is in all the preparation and planning.

The point is do you realize how absolutely insane it would be for the numbers to be a sequence from one through seven or whatever? Like that is mind boggingly low, but it is just as likely as any other set of numbers that comes out. The lottery is a scam, don't play it.

Eh let's maybe avoid comparisons to Greek mythology? Roy Hobbs?! Oh for the love of Zeus!

I like the idea in concept, but lotteries are evil things that prey on the poor. 50/50 drawing in the stadium though sounds like a good idea, but 8 games a year for 10 years is 80 games to get $200m... you'd need to raise $2.5m per game! Oh and you had said $300m! You'd need an actual lottery, which again are evil evil things...not against gambling, I'm against deluding people through intentional and targeted marketing, who only have $5 a week extra maybe, that they could win the lottery. That should go in the bank, not a lottery, where the heat from the cash would be more valuable than the ticket if they just lit their cash on fire. There are some cool banks that are doing cool things like that actually in terms of ethical lotteries. /rant and yes I'm a blast at parties! Also, I always put 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 on my lottery tickets...before you tell me I'm nuts, it's just as likely that comes up as any other combination. Stop playing the lottery people, it's a scam.

Unless they go up on you by 10 early and can run on you all day and you can't stop them to get the ball back. I think you'd almost rather get in a shootout where the other team is scoring 42, but in less than five minutes a drive. Scoring 7 points on a 12 min drive and getting one stop to give up 0 is the same as scoring 14 pts on two six minute drives, but giving up 7. I have a feeling the bills defense will become very aggressive this season and play a wide 9 style like Schwartz did... they just have the offense to pull that strategy off now.

Interesting the Bills are on ESPN instead of ABC right? Wonder if that has something to do with Minnesota being central time zone?

He's a 6'4" receiver with a huge catch radius, amazing hands (like elite) and reports out of the first part of his first camp was him and Davis were extremely impressive in terms of route running and grasping the offense as rookies. He could be a huge asset as a red zone target if nothing else.

Hodgins? That wr draft class was insane and all the reports out of training camp said both Davis and Hodgins were crushing it, especially in terms of preparation and grasping the offense, before he got hurt.

Way too early to say that based on last season. He was injured and missed a ton of training camp. We have no idea what his success metrics look like for the off-season and how he's tracking towards those.

Couldn't you argue this is a good thing somehow, in terms of finding more value players? Teams are still going to only be able to pay x% to the position group. It doesn't reset the market as much as move the money to the top guys, which means more prove it one/two year deals for the rest. Is that the right type of thinking, or somewhere along the lines of losing to an NFC team boosts your playoff chances?