The entire nation of Canada, right now:
EDIT: Congratulations to Team Canada for winning the gold medals in both Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?
In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.
I really should read my own blog.
Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.
‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’
One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.
Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.
Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.
“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”
if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.
Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.
We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.
Ah, the different things are different argument.
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.
Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.
Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.
Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.
Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard
They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.
Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL
Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.
Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?
Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.
JGabriel
Who is Canada playing against today?
Svensker
Yup. I have also learned (don’t know why I didn’t know, but I didn’t) that offense is pronounced “OH-fence” in Canada, rather than “AW-fence”. Crazy Canadians.
Our son takes the oath of citizenship this week! One down, two to go.
Lurking Canadian
@JGabriel: Sweden
JGabriel
@Lurking Canadian: Danke.
Lurking Canadian
The game has not been close. Almost all the play has been in the Swedish end. If hockey had a possession clock like they use in football it would look like 45:15 or so.
Amir Khalid
@Svensker:
I’ve always pronounced it “of-FENCE” myself.
Fuzzy
Canada owns the hockey world with ease. It is their game and they deserve the golds. Just like the U.S. with basketball.
Tommy
@Lurking Canadian: It was the same with the US. They might have only won 1-0 but as a dude pulling for the US it sure didn’t seem that close.
BD of MN
@Lurking Canadian: So it was like the Canada/USA game only Sweden’s goalie wasn’t as good as ours?
Tommy
@Fuzzy: I joked the other day my niece was over and she openly wondered what a hockey stick was. Pretty sure that doesn’t happen in Canada.
Amir Khalid
So that’s what a nice hockey stick looks like. I’m only familiar with the kind that looks like this.
SiubhanDuinne
As an honorary Canadian (according to my real Canadian friends and former colleagues), I am overjoyed to see Canada win another gold! Nicely done, fellows!
Botsplainer
Everything is bigger in Texas, especially the assholes. A petite jogger gets arrested for jaywalking and failing to identify for fat cops. Police chief says that she’s lucky she didn’t get sexually molested. Firestorm ensues.
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2014/02/20/woman-arrested-on-24th-street-after-crossing-intersection
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I expected team Sweden to put up more of a fight. In other news, Exxon Mobil’s CEO hates American capitalism, and fracking. At least when they happen in his backyard.
Tommy
@Botsplainer: WTF. I am a walker. I walk all the time. I also jaywalk all the time. But I don’t want to get hit by a car nor cause a wreck, so I don’t generally step into the road when a car is nearby. I just might not wait for the light to be green for me. I can see some blame to place all around here but what police officer stops somebody for jaywalking? Maybe somebody with too much free time on their hands.
Amir Khalid
@Botsplainer:
For a police chief to speak of his officers sexually assaulting a member of the public, under any circumstances, is beyond the pale. I think Acevedo came within millimetres of a firing offence.
Schlemizel
Canadian nice ends at the boards. Their womens team is built to abuse in much the same manner as the mens teams do. If we can’t compete on speed we can hurt you enough to slow you down. It works but it spoils a beautiful game. This nasty crap has been becoming more common on the mens side and you can see it if you watch international games from just 3 or 4 Olympics ago vs now. We can expect to see the womens game degraded the same way going forward. It allowed the Canadians to beat a faster more skilled team for the gold. If I were running the program in Finland, Switzerland or Sweden I would be focusing on building the skill set of hacking, elbows and general mayhem Canada has pioneered. It might allow them to compete for gold – screw what it does to the game.
Svensker
@Tommy:
Toronto cop nailed our son for jaywalking a few months ago.
Botsplainer
@Tommy:
Same here. In the city grid, it is pointless to wait for every control device, particularly when the lanes are clear. I probably jaywalk 10 times daily, but never when traffic is coming appreciably close.
In a just world, the chief would say this: “in reviewing the imagery from this event, I was struck by what I saw. I’m initiating a review of Department physical standards, and will be asking this young woman to act as a consultant on issues related to issues concerning our walking/running community as well on unit physical fitness, where we clearly need some work. The money we pay her will come directly from the training budget.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Svensker: The only place I have seen it happen regularly in the US is in Milwaukee (our most German city). OTOH I have sued the Columbus, OH, police department on behalf of an AA client who was maced, cuffed, and arrested for jaywalking.
Tommy
@Botsplainer: I live in a rural area. There are times where it will take the light to change a minute or so and there isn’t a car in sight. So I walk across the road.
Look I get safety. But IMHO it is more the safety of walker and folks on bikes. I am on my mountain bike all the time. Got hit by a car a few years ago. The lady wasn’t arrested or given a ticket. It was kind of like “no foul.” I was like I have as much right to this road as she does and she ran into me. Clipped me.
That article references almost 100 people killed while walking. IMHO the problem isn’t the person walking, it is the person in the darn car. You said it. I said it. I don’t put my 128 pound body in front of a moving car. Jaywalking isn’t why these people are getting killed.
mai naem
Who the hell do Canadians think they are beating the Great Sat…I mean the Great United States? I say we invade them once and for all. We can destroy their soshulized medical system. We can do enough damage to Toronto so that it’s never got any of those stupid “best city to live in the world” awards. We’ll see how their hockey sticks stand up to missiles and AK-47s. Eh?
PurpleGirl
One of the kitten cams I watch is located in Canada (outside Vancouver). The chatters have spent a good amount of time talking about the hockey games. The Canadian watchers have been very proud about the results.
A Humble Lurker
@mai naem:
Damn straight!! That 1812 BS was a fluke! This time for sure!
dww44
Question for Olympics watchers. Yesterday early in the day saw an interview on NBC with one of their commentators with NBC’s resident Russian expert. The Russian was asked to compare Sochi versus Vancouver and the Russian said that the Sochi Olympics were much better than the Vancouver ones for the athletes;in fact he called the Vancouver Olympics a disaster for the athletes. As I came late to the interview, I am not sure if the Russian was speaking only about the Russian delegation or about the Olympics experience of all the athletes. He was subsequently asked if the Russian people and, specifically Putin were/was pleased with the Olympics to which he expectedly replied yes. So, was the Vancouver Olympics not a success?
I went to NBC’s Olympics facebook page to see if I could find a link to the interview but couldn’t. Did see lots of people bashing the NBC coverage. I agree on that. Wanted to watch the figure skating gala last evening, but, honestly it didn’t really exist. Too many human interest stores, too much switching around. No continuity in programing. It’s like they had dyslexia vis-a-vis their coverage. It was impossible for me to establish any sort of connection to these Olympics because the coverage was so disjointed with way too many commercials.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Humble Lurker: You mean the war between the US and Great Britain?
Corner Stone
@PurpleGirl:
I’m sorry….but what?
Corner Stone
There’s not a lot of jaywalking that goes on in downtown Houston. For one, there are significantly fewer pedestrians than comparably sized downtowns. Secondly, you are, no bullshit, taking your life in your hands if you step into the walk against a light or try crossing in the middle of a street.
I always shake my head when I go to NYC or Chicago or San Fransisco or even Miami and watch how people crowd into the street at the curbs waiting for the bumper of the last car to pass so they can push across the street en mass.
Try that in Houston and you will get rolled.
ETA, the last time I saw a ticket for jaywalking I was in the area near Rice University. Those guys don’t play around.
Bob
Indeed, a tidy nation.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: In Milwaukee, you cross only at corners and you wait for the walk sign. If you cross against the light, even if there isn’t a car within miles, you risk a ticket.
Botsplainer
@Corner Stone:
Traffic control device synchronization is a double edged sword for urban traffic planners. It moves cars and cuts back on gridlock, but because of the greater speed, endangers pedestrians. I think in Louisville, it is a mixed model.
We’re actually talking about reverting some more surface streets to two-directional traffic, thereby slowing things down and making downtown more attractive for pedestrians, businesses and residents. Currently, experiments along these lines have been successful.
A Humble Lurker
@Omnes Omnibus:
Oh we got ourselves a scholar here.
In all seriousness yes, the war was against the British, but it involved an invasion of Canada. (Which did not go well.) So I figured it was pertinent.
Corner Stone
I’m not sure why MHP keeps inviting Avik Roy of Manhattan Institute on to the show.
He just keeps lying all the time, and taking time away from valuable conversations.
Tomolitics
Now that was a spoiler, SG! Ever hear of DVRs? Well some of us like watching stuff later than live. Dang…
Corner Stone
Drivers in Austin are pretty much dicks on the freeways and feeder ramps, but generally take it pretty easy in the urban spaces. Mainly because there are quite a few pedestrians, and a significant number of bicyclists.
I remember several years ago I noticed all the buses in Austin had the adaptor in front to take bikes and I was amazed. It’s just within the last two years or so that Metro has started adding the bike holder to its fleet.
Ruckus
@Tommy:
LAPD used to ticket jaywalkers all the time. Don’t know if they still do but would expect it. First it’s a revenue source, second unless someone could point out that no one ever got injured jaywalking, that mindset wouldn’t change. Plus jaywalking might slow down the cars, can’t have that.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in SF during working/rush hours and seen plenty of jaywalking but never anyone getting a ticket but then rarely saw a cop at all.
Corner Stone
@Tomolitics: Let me get this straight. You didn’t want to encounter spoilers for an event the entire world is watching. So you fired up the device in your home that navigates the “world wide web” specifically so you could avoid that info.
Makes sense.
Botsplainer
@Ruckus:
Hell, LA recently prided itself in getting every traffic light synched so as to up the traffic speed.
mai naem
@Corner Stone: Avik Roy is a third rate conservative who’s working on his teevee skills. He’s got to look a whole lot better before he can get a regular gig with FOX. Hell, even on MSNBC, they pretty much only have him on on Sundays.
StringOnAStick
@dww44: The main problem for the Vancouver Olympics was lack of snow and warm temperatures. There was the usual stuff about inadequate housing/hotels and busy roads, but that is a problem for every Olympics; it makes no fiscal sense to build for such a huge number of people when that need for accommodation is unlikely to happen again so there are always issues. The amount of graft that happened to get Sochi built is a new record from what I’ve seen, enough so that even Putin is getting some heat over it (not that anything will come of that).
We have a lot of Canadian buddies that we go on back country ski trips with, and we were on one with all of them when the Vancouver Olympics were just about over. The degree of chagrin over the poor snow conditions was high, along with classic Canadian niceness and embarrassment that they weren’t able to give the games their best (and more typical) snow conditions. The snow was crappy and it was too warm even in the Canadian Rockies during their Olympics.
Corner Stone
Johnny Football ran a 4.56 40yd dash?
Corner Stone
Connor Shaw with a 4.58! Go Cocks!
Corner Stone
@Corner Stone: Make that 4.55 40yd dash for Shaw!
Lloyd Webber
Nice Double Double, y’all
Thlayli
The 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Canada beat the US in the final.
That was the last time Canada won the gold outside of North America (until now), and the last time the US won any medal in Europe (still current).
Elie
@Schlemizel:
I’ve heard this from other people. If true, its a shame. This will impact Canada also as other teams adjust… and there is no way to bring back skill and finesse once the thugs own the game technique…
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Amir Khalid: If it weren’t Texas I’d say it was a fraction of a millimeter. And I was unaware that in Texas there was a “lawful request …to identify herself.” I spent a couple of months routinely dismissing “obstructing” charges for “refusing to identify” (often at arraignment) before we got a specific sergeant trained that the constitution prohibits such a charge. It took having the PD suspend him. He sort of speaks to me 15 years later, but it’s always in a perfunctory fashion. Go figure. Likewise I had no idea that it was possible to verbally resist an arrest. I’d probably get shot by those cops if I’d jaywalked there, as I would be considerably more, er, verbally forceful than this woman.
NorthLeft12
@Schlemizel: Sour effing grapes. Just because the Canadian players are stronger and more relentless than others along the boards, does not mean that they are not as skilled out in the open ice. The Swedes and Yanks did not look any faster than Canada in the last two games.And yeah, we can pass the puck and stop it from going into our net too.
I will be waiting for more whining in 2018.
SRW1
@Schlemizel:
Noticed that also in the semifinal between Sweden and Finland. In the first ten minues or so the Swedes tried to intimidate the Finns with physical violence to the point of having to play 5-3 shorthanded. Given how close that game was, the Swedes were lucky that the powerplay of the Finns was the one subpar aspect of their game.
Origuy
@StringOnAStick: Whistler got a lot of snow later in the season that year. I was there in the summer for an orienteering event. One day was scheduled for the top of Whistler Mountain but the snow still hadn’t melted enough so it had to be moved. I think the Winter Olympics are held too early for some locations that get late snow. Probably next month Krasnaya Polyona will be buried in it.
Ecks
@Schlemizel: This is a load of junk. There is such a thing as dirty clutch and grab hockey, but Canada was not playing it at these Olympics. Canada was beating teams on speed skill, hand-eye coordination (all those times Canadians picked American and Swedish pockets to walk away with possession? That’s skill, not goonery), and a much deeper bench which let them run the other teams ragged by pushing the pace continuously for 60 minutes with no let-up.
Canada played a very defensive game, it’s true, but it was defense through solid positioning, and possession. We just kept hold of the puck, and kept it moving into the opponents zones. The dangerous areas of the ice were always covered, and there was fantastic back-side pressure, cutting off outlets for passes.
If you want to see clutch and grab, watch the way Latvia played against Canada – whenever the puck got to the boards, the Latvians ignored the puck, and focused on stapling the Canadian player’s shoulders to the boards. It’s a levelling tactic for people who can’t keep up.
Canada won those games by being straight up better at hockey. End of story.
Jane2
@Omnes Omnibus: You just say that because you can’t admit we whipped US butt.
Elie
@Ecks:
Was this also true for the Canadian women or does this just apply to the men?
Lurking Canadian
During the years of Soviet dominance, from time to time some wit would suggest that we should put a team of thugs and goons together so we could beat the shot out of the commies an thereby restore Canada to its rightful place atop the hockey hierarchy.
Didn’t work. Never works, especially not on the bigger ice surface.
I didn’t see any of the women’s hockey, but the men’s team was one of the fastest and best at puck handling I’ve ever watched. Like 70s Canadiens calibre. Strange to call them goons.
HRA
My family has a lot of fun whenever it’s the US against Canada. I was born and raised there until a young teen. I am a naturalized US citizen. I always say I have the best of both countries.
In Canada as in the US, use of language and pronunciation is always regional.
I watched all of the hockey games I could find during the Olympics. My favorite days and times in Canada was being on the ice to skate all day and to go over our Red Wing neighbors house to learn hockey with my friends on his backyard ice.
This coverage was the worst I have ever seen of any Olympics and I have seen more than most likely the majority of ages here.
My take is the US hockey team ran out of gas after the first game. I was very sorry to see it happen. There had to be a problem of which we were not aware of except for the Sabers goalie being none too happy having to sit out the games.
Ecks
@Elie: Can’t say, because, to my shame, I only saw the last period of the women’s game (the one that counts, anyway). They weren’t playing that way then… but they were behind and trying to catch up, so you wouldn’t. But Canada / US women’s games are really their own animal. Those teams know each other so well, have such a history of intensity and animosity… It’s just the next battle in a long war for those two.
The issue for the women’s game is that the North American teams are just embarrassingly better than everyone else. The rest of the world is improving, but the North Americans are improving faster. They’ve even started sending N.A. players over to coach Europeans to try to bridge the gap some.
Mnemosyne
We have a whole thread about Canadian hockey goons and no clips from Slap Shot? What is this website coming to?
Elie
@Ecks:
Thanks for the info and background. Always good to hear and to learn broadly…
Obviously, the US needs to assess some things.. like why they would “run out of gas” so badly. Pretty embarrassing that they seemed to quit in the game against Finland. I just don’t understand that at all, really… these are professionals so coaching should not be as huge a factor… it was creepy and unsportsman like if what appeared to be the case was indeed true.
MaryRC
@Ecks:
We were watching the end of the US-Canada women’s game in the office and commenting on how the opposing players wouldn’t even look at each other in the lineup to shake hands afterwards. They hate each other.
Ecks
@Elie: I suspect they were emotionally exhausted as much as anything. Which is a good sign, in a sense, in that it means the players REALLY cared. Plus Canada played a system designed to wear them out.
Basically Canada produces most of the world’s hockey talent, and while it’s highest end players aren’t necessarily any higher end than anyone else’s (maybe Crosby, Lemieux, Gretzky to the contrary), we just have MORE high end players. The cliche is that Canada could probably send two separate teams to the Olympics, each of which could contend for medals. That means the top US forward line is every bit as good as the top Canadian forward line, but after that the US starts dropping off, and Canada doesn’t really. Also, while the US’s goalies are currently as good as the Canadians (if not better), the US defense isn’t nearly as good… which is more a statement about Canada than it is about the US.
So Canada ran all 4 lines, kept shifts very short all tournament (hockey is all about anaerobic sprinting for very short periods), and wore down teams they played.
JoyfulA
@Tommy: And if you use the pedestrian button, you’ll wait for a “walk” until there is traffic that has to stop, and that traffic in all directions then has to wait until they get a green. A lot of time is wasted by all involved.
Bad jaywalking, the kind that kills pedestrians, is crossing in the middle of the block between parked cars, which decreases everyone’s visibility.
(Jaywalking used to be crossing cattycorner; when did that definition change?)
NorthLeft12
@MaryRC: The rivalry has mellowed some from past Olympics, but they still do not like each other much.
In 2002 the US women laid a Canadian flag on the floor of their dressing room and walked all over it and bragged about doing so. The Canadian captain {Hayley Wickenheiser] offered to sign it for the US team after beating them in the final at Salt Lake City.
In 2006, US women players accused the Canadians of running up the score against weaker opponents. We won the gold medal there too.
And since these two teams have met in every Olympic final but one, yeah, there is a lot of animosity and rivalry.
Strangely, the US women seem to win the world championship much more than Canada. So it is not a one sided rivalry at all. And all the games are very, very close.
Ecks
Now that I think of it, Canada also made a deliberate decision to select for speed among its wide array of options. Combine that with rolling 4 relentless lines, it’s almost custom built to wear teams down physically and mentally.
Both US and Sweden played on pretty even terms for the first 10 minutes of each game, then started falling further and further behind.
Elie
@Ecks:
thanks for the great explanation and insight. I appreciate it!
redkitten
It was a great game! I was happy for Price for getting a shutout, but felt bad for the Swedish team and fans. If they’d gotten ONE goal, at least they would have had some fun during the game. But yeah, our guys poured it on and never let up.
I liked this from Twitter: “Sweden vs Canada in the vicious battle of really nice people who are just trying their best.”