Zooey wrote:

Why the loathing of Demoff? How is he responsible for any of this? Apart from letting Jenkins go – and afaik nobody knows for sure whose decision that was – what has he done apart from negotiate contracts?

This team is a mess on the field.

I think these guys got distracted by the bright lights, big city. Hard Knocks. All the novelty. I think it was growing pains, but not the normal ones. This was the move.

They need a coach who not only knows his Xs and Os, but someone who can get everyone to focus and buy in. There is more than 4 wins of talent on this roster. If the next coach is any kind of motivator of men, this team will be better next year. I think burning it to the ground would be a mistake, though I sympathize with the feeling.

Clearly, the team needs additions. But what it needs more than anything else is discipline. It needs leadership. It needs to interview Henry V.

I agree. I never figured out why Demoff is so hated. Yeah, he publically lied a lot up until the move but he was just doing what he gets paid to do – Lord Kroenke’s bidding.

He’s not responsible for how the team performs on the field, although I’m not confident he will be the right guy to hire the next coach.

zn wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

Marvin Lewis could be gone from the Bengals.

If true he has to be a leading for other jobs, including the Rams, candidate IMO.

Marvin Lewis won’t be fired…
Link: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bengals-dont-intend-to-fire-marvin-lewis-but-no-extension-past-2017-expected/

Smoke-clogged Beijing should learn from NYC’s mistakes…

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/beijing-smog-nyc_us_5668847fe4b009377b2372bd

Welp, it’s been over 10 hours and I don’t see how 2017 is any different than 2016.

So much for “hope for the new year”…

I’d sign him to a one year, incentive-laden contract with performance based benchmarks.

He has been coasting along on his reputation as of late.

For example, to be paid $20.00 per post maybe he should have to maintain a minimum of 6 “witty retorts” per “I dunno”, instead of the 1:1 WR:ID ratio he’s been posting with over the last few years.

And maybe at least one “Gee, nittany, you’re right. How insightful. I never thought about it like that before.” response per day. I mean, he knows I’m right, so why shouldn’t he acknowledge it?

zn wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

I suppose how much you enjoy it depends on how much of a Star Wars fan you are.

I actually saw the first Star Wars in Hollywood the first week of its release, and went in totally with no expectations and so on. I liked it then, but it never stuck the way other things have. So I enjoyed the movies (first 3 anyway) but would not count myself among the dedicated believers.

When I see them I just keep noticing stuff that keeps me at a distance. Like, for example, why do storm troopers wear armor if does them no good whatsoever. It’s like the empire didn’t want wounded storm troopers, so they just said, okay we’ll put them in this plastic “armor” which amplifies any hit they take anywhere on their bodies so they are automatically killed no matter what.

One thing over time that did stick with me as good was Carrie Fisher as Leia, who refuses to be a damsel in distress type.

I like Carrie Fisher’s quotes about that.

“It’s hard to date once you’re a big Star Wars star, because you don’t want to give people the ability to say, I had sex with Princess Leia’.”

“The father who flipped out about it, ‘What am I going to tell my kid about why she’s in that outfit?’ Tell them that a giant slug captured me and forced me to wear that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn’t like it. And then I took it off. Backstage.”

“This’ll impress you – I’m actually in the Abnormal Psychology textbook. Obviously my family is so proud. Keep in mind though, I’m a PEZ dispenser and I’m in the abnormal Psychology textbook. Who says you can’t have it all?”

I was a big fan of the first two movies. The third was ok but it got a little too cartoonish and cutesy with the Ewok stuff. I didn’t really care for the “prequels” to the original movie – The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars, etc. But I really enjoyed The Force Awakens and Rogue One so now I have a renewed interest in the franchise.

I know what you mean about the stuff that doesn’t make sense like the Storm Troopers’ armor, but I am able to look past it because it looks really cool and has become sort of iconic, so if a future Star Wars film ever lacked it I would be upset. I always tell myself that maybe it isn’t armor per se but it serves some other purpose like protection from radiation or something. It also doesn’t make sense how the Storm Troopers can never hit anything with their blasters, which is a theme that carries over into the newest two films as well.

What makes the original films so good is the characters and the way they interact with one another – Leia, Hans Solo, Luke, etc. The “prequels” got away from that. I really like the new characters in TFA and R1. They have some depth and are likeable again. Because of that I have hope for the future of the franchise and I’m looking forward to the next movie.

Eternal Ramnation wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

More than a few great offensive coordinators were failures as head coach. Turner, Martz, Linehan, McDaniels etc…

Martz has the highest win percentage of any Rams coach. Ridiculous to put him in a list with Linehan and McDaniels fucking ridiculous.

He had more success than Linehan and McDaniels but ultimately he was a failure. He was handed a team that should have been a dynasty and ran it into the ground.

joemad wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

With one game left? What’s the point?

I’ll never understand the idea of firing a coach during the season.

The Bills or players must really hate him…

I bet Rex is the kind of coach players love. My problem with him is that he likes to be the center of attention. Coaches should be directors, not actors.

I hope it’s the Packers and the Steelers. Two teams I don’t hate and it should be exciting with Rodgers and Roethlesberger.

bnw wrote:

I’m not funded. However I am a geologist and geology and its related disciplines are specifically excluded from the “multi-field consensus”. I’ll answer your question but would you care to respond as to why geology is excluded from the “multi-field consensus”?

Geology hasn’t been excluded. And geologists not connected to the petroleum industry are part of the consensus on climate change.

Link: https://skepticalscience.com/Geologists-climate-change-denial.html

“Similarly, in response to the consensus on global warming, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists “respects these scientific opinions but wants to add that the current climate warming projections could fall within well-documented natural variations in past climate and observed temperature data”. You’d call that type of endorsement damning with faint praise.

However, the broader community of geologists seems convinced by the evidence that humans are causing global warming. The European Federation of Geologists says climate change is predominantly caused by anthropogenic emissions of CO2 and poses significant risks to human civilisation. The Geological Society of America concurs that “greenhouse gases have been an increasingly important contributor [to global warming] since the mid-1800s and the major factor since the mid-1900s”. The Geological Society of London states that “evidence from the geological record is consistent with the physics that shows that adding large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere warms the world and may lead to: higher sea levels and flooding of low-lying coasts; greatly changed patterns of rainfall; increased acidity of the oceans; and decreased oxygen levels in seawater”.

With one game left? What’s the point?

I’ll never understand the idea of firing a coach during the season.

zn wrote:

There’s some movement where Greg can go to left tackle, (G) Rodger (Saffold) can go right tackle. Or, keep Rodger at left tackle, Pace at right tackle, and Greg can swing…”

Pace at right tackle?

M’kay, but he’s more suited for left tackle, but I’m not going to complain.

Maybe they can put Saul at center and Harrah and Mack at guard while they’re at it too.

Wow. To openly defy a head coach like that is huge.

NewMexicoRam wrote:

This is an eternal problem. Yes, we need to help, but even handouts, as this gentleman engaged in, is not the answer.

I’m not giving excuses for the problem. But just criticizing people isn’t the answer either.

Well, I think a handout is where you start. Then you look at affordable or even free housing and you do what it takes to get enough for everyone who needs it. Many homeless are that way because they suffer from a debilitating mental illness and this country sucks at treating mental illness. As a physician you know there simply aren’t enough resources or trained mental health professionals in the US. Family physicians instead of psychiatrists are expected to take on more and more of the burden for the treatment of mentally ill patients and imo that shouldn’t be their role.

But, the economic system we have creates an underclass of people so there will always be a certain amount of poverty and homelessness as long as the system exists. I know it’s not going anywhere but as a society we at least need to take care of the those it crushes under its treads.