What? Then they’d have to give refunds...

This scene sticks with me, especially during the pandemic.  All sports had “a plan” for dealing with covid, but most ignore it when it suits them.  We planned to shut down for 2 weeks! We planned to isolate players! We planned to cancel games! We planned to use backups as needed!

But, ya gotta win AmIRight? And refunds? That’s hilarious. 

The Ocoee Massacre

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the Ocoee Massacre, which is believed to the largest scale voter suppression activity that happened in the US. 

You can read stories about it, like this one

https://theundefeated.com/features/legacy-of-bloody-election-day-lingers-in-ocoee-florida/

Or read a more newsy type report here

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/11/02/ocoee-florida-election-day-massacre/?outputType=amp

Or catch a 45 minute documentary film here:
https://www.wftv.com/news/ocoee-massacre-documentary-film/374fd241-419a-43e7-95ff-4ed007a48d50/

But, the truly remarkable thing is that it did remain essentially unknown, and not talked about, for nearly a century. 

It was not taught in florida schools. I had a vague, very fuzzy, recollection of some mob scene, directed at blacks, somewhere near Orlando. But that's it. 

And in a way, shame on me for not knowing. I lived in another little town very close to Ocoee for a year or so in the early 90s. I went into the rebuilt Ocoee a few times. But didn't know it's history. 

I was aware that in that area, miles from downtown Orlando and the theme parks, racism ran high. There weren't many blacks in the area I was living in, and there weren't many whites in the area around apopka. 

It was strange to me, but I never asked questions. I just went about my business. I guess I assumed that it was somehow a vestige of the old south. 

But now that I'm removed from it for 30 years, and we're at the 100th anniversary of the events, I have to look back on it and shake my head. 

As I said, racism ran high in the area. It bothered me a lot at the time, but I just shook it off. 

Maybe now I'm beginning to understand what it means.

Take a few moments and read about the history and see if you can start to appreciate all that happened there, and what has happened since, and why "Black Lives Matter" is something relevant today. 

Tweet of the day

If you are an every day American, who lives somewhere close to paycheck to paycheck, or maybe have a little savings, why in the world would you vote Republican?

They are not interested in you, only enriching themselves and their friends.

It's time to stop defining yourself as a member of a party and start thinking about your own future, and that of the next generation.

Sciencing at home

This is cool. Use a bar of chocolate, a microwave, and a little math to determine the speed of light. We need so much of *this*

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34199482/chocolate-microwave-speed-of-light-experiment/

Sports and covid intersect

Baseball had a plan that they "followed" very haphazardly. It was just a mess all season.

So last night, it's game 6 of the series. Some player for LA had previously had an inconclusive result, so they tested him yesterday morning.

The results came back positive in the 2nd inning. But they decided to leave him in the game until the 8th - when news leaked about his positive test. Gotta try and win AmIRight?

He was taken out, and was told to quarantine, which apparently meant just going into a room in the stadium, and then coming out to celebrate with the team after they won - naturally sans mask and hugging everyone.

So the sham of their protocol was on full display.

There was a thought that the mlb was probably glad it ended in 6, because having to deal with an outbreak before game 7 would have been problematic.

As a friend of mine said "it's like putting your hand on the stove over and over again just to see if it's hot"

🤦🏼‍♂️

What the Saints, and the Superdome, Mean to New Orleans - The Atlantic

It's funny. I went to a fair number of games growing up, in the orange bowl, and the JRS in Miami.

I had season tickets for a number years and generally enjoyed myself.

But then I outgrew it. The price, the heat, the length of the day, and the realization that it was about money and nothing more undid my excitement for going.

And so I gave it up. Yeah it was a fun lark, and sure, they can have at it and maybe some will enjoy it.

But the experience is very different. And nostalgia is great, but you can't live in the past.

The experience at home is so much better and you can still have friends over if you like.


https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/10/what-saints-and-superdome-mean-new-orleans/616764/


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

The Amazing Randi

Sadly he passed away yesterday, and I think Penn summed it up well. 

I had been an admirer of Randi's from an early age. I liked magic growing up; the notion of illusions and patter, to really sell those illusions, intrigued me.

I think the first time I became aware of Randi was on an episode of "Happy Days" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0596337/

But it wasn't until a few years later, when he started talking and writing about debunking mishigas,  that I really became somewhat of a fan. 

He was using his understanding of illusions to show how easily people are manipulated and set about trying to take down the biggest of the charlatans. 

In the mid 1980s, I was attending a magicians convention and Randi was a speaker. After one session, I started chatting with him and got invited to lunch. My dad and I tagged along, and it was ... well ... amazing. He was fascinating and had led an interesting life. 

We exchanged contact info and stayed in touch a little, then my brother hung out with him a couple of times, and my mom almost went to work for him as an assistant. So we sort of, kind of, knew him. 

But he was always a little standoffish, and a little odd, truth be told. And when I saw the Penn Jillette movie "an honest liar," I understood he was even more interesting and deeper than I ever knew. And maybe a little weirder. 

Anyway, I saw him a few times over the years, at speaking engagements and the SCIOP events we attended. And one time, we happened to be on the same flight, so we chatted before boarding. 

Each time, he was as pleasant as ever, though he didn't specifically remember me. 

I was intrigued by the work he was doing. Always thinking rationally and asking others to do the same. 

I was glad to have met him. I was saddened to hear of his passing. 

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.